Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Temporary Administrator
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*Cough! Cough! Hack!*
Harsh coughing sounds like his lungs were about to burst out at any moment.
The retching that went on as if he were about to vomit up his insides finally paused for a breath.
His throat felt thick with phlegm, and a bony finger dotted with age spots flicked at the tiny cage.
*Squeak! Squeak!*
A single mouse the size of a finger, scurrying madly inside a cage about a handspan wide. Watching it, Elf Elder Twirn unfolded the handkerchief that had been covering his mouth.
Dark red bloodstains.
Twirn's wrinkled eyes narrowed at the sight, and he irritably tossed the handkerchief aside before speaking.
"We must... grant their demands quickly."
As soon as possible... He muttered in a hurried voice when someone approached him.
"Elder Twirn... The Great Elder—no, humans entered Gamur's estate, and after that, Gamur went out."
A voice tinged with hesitation, and soil-brown hair mixed with green.
Twirn glared at the elf ranger whose hair still hadn't fully lost its green tint, then opened his mouth.
"Went out? That Gamur went out?"
The raspy sound was too jumbled for speech, too clear for mere wind.
His once-green hair and eyes had lost their luster, now gloomy mud-brown locks and dull purple irises.
The green elf he had been was gone; now, even the Eyes of Truth were lost, reflected as a wretched old monster in the mirror on the wall.
"That one who's sat so nobly in his place since before I became an elder?"
After a bout of phlegm-rattling coughs that felt like they would heave up his heart, Twirn wiped his mouth—red blood smeared on the back of his hand.
"Merely 320 years..."
The time he, a common green elf rather than a high elf, had lived.
Such were the limits of birth. Some lived longer than ordinary elves simply because they were born high elves, forever young and beautiful.
He still knew nothing of the world's truths, the far-off skies beyond, his curiosities unresolved—only new doubts piling up.
The reason for the Star's Throne and the living gods. Imperfect gods and miracles.
The underbelly of this world.
He had lived long for a green elf, but he couldn't go without knowing anything properly.
Thus, rebellion was needed against the useless limits of birth. Even evil gods were gods—why defy them?
If he could just live longer...
*Squeak!*
Twirn pressed a sharp nail extending from his drying fingertip into the tiny mouse's neck.
A faint squeak of death, then the worthless body went limp.
"With Gamur away, this is our chance... We'll enter the ruins once preparations are ready."
"Yes."
"The Great Elder's barrier... I'll break it."
You all retrieve what they want from inside.
As Twirn left with those words, the mouse behind him twitched back to life, shuddering, and resumed its frantic scurrying in the cage.
* * *
Damn moss rock.
I let out a short groan at the moss rock charging straight at me without a word.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Kane tangled with the weird parasitic aura beast, Luna with the moss rock.
I threw up shields on both sides, binding the weakest foe targeting me—the moss rock, no, Leaf—to halt its feet momentarily, then timed Luna's leap to deploy a burst shield.
Using the burst shield's rebound, Luna twisted in midair to stomp Leaf's head, but Leaf raised a hand, blocking with its arm and thrusting a knife-hand strike at Luna's body.
"This is a total mess. I just need to grab that power source inside. What do you say? Should we thin out the enemies by even one?"
The man fighting Kane grinned creepily as he spoke, but Kane ignored him, plotting a path outward and pressing the attack.
He wielded both magic and martial arts.
The man swung his staff like a sword, mixing in spells to blind Kane's eyes or bindings like ghostly hands rising instead of vines.
If the situation weren't so urgent, I'd identify them by sight, but right now, even a moment's obscured vision was unacceptable.
If Kane hadn't held back from slicing the control room wall just now—or if Luna and I weren't here—he'd rampage freely, but the space was too cramped for full power.
Fights erupted on both sides, with me supporting from the center, but my impatience grew, not knowing when mass-produced golems or that man's Evil God Cult allies might arrive.
'Need to take out one side at least.'
I bit my lip, then shouted loudly.
"Hold on!"
"Yes! Young master!"
"Got it."
I layered shields on Kane and Luna before leaping into the obliquely sliced control room.
No intention of allying with the Evil God Cult, so only Leaf and the mass-produced golems remained.
They attacked us now as unauthorized intruders. And for some reason, in the original story, the cult only stole the power core.
'But recalling what Moss Rock said midway through the original.'
The authorized one. Meaning, the one who could become master here.
I'd aimed for that from the start, but with the cult right on our heels, it was now the only way.
Entering the control room, I ignored the man-sized blue pearl and scanned everywhere.
Buttons galore, especially the big red one screaming "self-destruct" with its cover. Obvious.
I hastily pressed everything but the red one—no response.
"Where do you think you're going! Don't interfere with the young master."
As I entered, Leaf followed, and Luna blocked it.
Luna's attacks had landed several times, denting Leaf's body here and there, but its slow regeneration meant leaving it would just tire Luna out.
In the end, I ripped off the cover and slammed the red button—still silent. I scowled.
'Unauthorized access, huh?'
Meaningless no matter who touches it?
I whipped my head around to the blue pearl floating in the center.
I was pissed, thinking slowly. What was a game? Making the opponent rage was victory.
That's what the cult wants, right?
I twisted Kruger's ring, eyed the subspace in my mind, then reached for the blue pearl with my other hand.
―Scanning information. Human race confirmed. No administrator rank present. Temporary...
What was that?
The moment it touched my hand, a voice drilled into my head, but I shoved it into subspace before registering.
―Power source stolen! Power source stolen! Releasing all barriers. Approving operation of all golems. 10, 9, 8...
Ah, so that's why the Spirit Forest in the original and Innocent Saga ended up that way.
"Out of my way. I don't have time to play with the likes of you."
"Then I'll just force my way in. If you can."
"Where do you think you're going!"
The moment I stole the core, noise erupted outside—Leaf and the cult trying to breach the control room.
I hastily pulled the core from subspace and placed it back in the center. The system voice resumed in my head.
―Scanning information. Human race confirmed. No administrator rank present. Register as temporary administrator?
Yes. Yes, yes!
―Registered as temporary administrator. Alert canceled. Golems moving to hangars.
When it prompted for a name, I said 'Kang Su-ho,' then flung Kane inside like a powerful spell as cult minions burst in amid smoke.
The man stared, smiling leisurely yet radiating killing intent with his eyes.
"Hand it over."
"Didn't you hear life is first-come, first-served?"
I grinned, waved my hand, and invoked the control room's function.
"Expel."
"What?"
―Expelling 132 entities excluding 2 designated by temporary administrator.
The man's eyes widened as a faint mana barrier enveloped him, vanishing in a blink like teleportation.
Expel: random teleport for unregistered personnel.
Fortunately, mass-produced golems and cultists had clashed midway, thinning their numbers.
With that, the core's mana seemed nearly depleted—the ruins vibrated faintly, ceiling lights dimming to power-save mode.
―Greetings, temporary administrator.
Leaf approached, its cracked arm and leg from fighting Luna slowly regenerating.
The party's tank from the no-comms group, golem Leaf. In the original, only Kane could telepathize—probably because Kane was registered as temporary admin.
I checked Kane and Luna with potions, codex, and Lepida's healing buff, then eyed Leaf.
[Leaf—Supreme Golem of the Ancient Airship Ellenion]
Main Traits: [Regeneration (B-)] [Mana Heart (SS)-Inactive] [Obedience (S)]
Hidden Traits: [Writing (D)] [Illustration (S)]
Author? Rolling Moss Rock?
Seeing the hidden traits Writing (D) and Illustration (S), I felt a moment of disbelief.
No wonder the novel wasn't popular. I followed out of fandom, but...
All sweet potatoes, watered-down soda, grim setting without even solid gags.
The traits explained it. Should've tried webtoons for more popularity.
I swallowed the rising fan-fueled anger and smiled at the expressionless moss rock—no, Leaf—staring blankly.
Long green hair, green eyes, doll-like beauty without expression. Elf-like at a glance, but round ears.
"Registering designation via temporary administrator rights."
I added Kane as co-administrator to the airship Ellenion.
Wanted to add Luna too, but racial discrimination—the ship only registered humans.
"Is this what you wanted?"
"Yeah, no joke, right?"
After registering, Kane fiddled around checking things out. I leaned back in a dust-free chair, ages old.
All invading cultists randomly teleported out. Now no one enters the ancient ruins—no, Ellenion—without my permission.
Time for a breather.
"So... he's on our side now?"
Luna, who'd been fighting Leaf, poked its cheek suspiciously. I nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, our party's tank."
"Huh? Tank? Well, it regenerates after damage..."
Luna eyed Leaf oddly; Leaf ignored her. It only responded to registered admins like me or Kane.
Settings could probably be tweaked somewhere. Otherwise, Leaf wouldn't have nicknamed itself Rolling Moss Rock for writing.
In the original, after the cult stole the core, all golems poured out chasing them, mistaken for a monster wave by elves, mutual destruction.
So Kane must've found and saved Leaf, half-buried in dirt and green moss.
"Something intriguing underground."
Kane waved his hand in the air and spoke. I pulled up Ellenion's hologram window too.
Mass-produced golem legions and commander units like Leaf were human-sized, but the underground hangar held golems several times larger.
Like the puzzle before entering—meant to catch dragons?
The armored golem's exterior nullified and reflected magic; higher units could emit mana from weapons like beams.
Mana emitted like light? That's a laser.
'Robots?'
Moss Rock, author. You didn't say the worldbuilding was this huge.
A has-been, unrecognized hero vs. demon king tale. Straight fantasy, right?
I knew about the airship from Moss Rock's flashbacks. Flying ship? This thing's an aircraft carrier.
I exhaled and smiled at Kane staring piercingly.
"No."
"Why not."
Fight the armored golem? You'd smash them all anyway. I shook my head, waving for him to rest.