The administrator’s first serious attack was a column of energy in the same blue as the labyrinth walls — concentrated, direct, the width of an arm.

Kai dodged it to the right.

The column struck the white wall behind him and left a black mark the size of a door.

Kai looked at the mark.

Looked at the administrator.

"Now that’s pressure."

The :D didn’t change.

"Ah. Now you feel it."

"Now there’s something to feel."

---

The second attack came before he finished the sentence — not a column, five projectiles of the same blue in a spread, covering the dodge angles Kai had used on the first.

Kai didn’t dodge sideways.

He threw himself to the ground, rolled, and got up inside the spread where the five projectiles had already passed.

The administrator looked at him.

"Interesting."

"Thanks."

"It wasn’t a compliment."

Kai launched his right elbow to the administrator’s side — the point where Resonant Impact had created the distortion before.

The administrator twisted its torso and the elbow struck the chest instead of the side.

Kai felt the impact in his elbow up to his shoulder.

The administrator stepped back half a meter.

"It also wasn’t an invitation to hit me."

"I know."

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ THE ADMINISTRATOR MAKES JOKES WHILE FIGHTING ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Dr_Snow: "it wasn’t a compliment" / "thanks" — Kai and the admin have the same humor]

[Drakeking: the admin twisted its torso to protect the distortion point. already identified it as a weakness.]

[Jack_Moore: Kai noticed it too. both learning simultaneously.]

[Brandon_Haddan: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[RagingMutant: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ LET’S GO ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[Jesse_Williams: viewers: 23,400,000] 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

---

The administrator launched blue energy from both hands simultaneously — not projectiles, continuous currents sweeping the floor from left to right as if it were cleaning the chamber.

Kai jumped.

The currents passed beneath his feet.

In the air, with no foothold, the administrator launched a third vertical attack — from above downward, straight to where Kai was going to land.

Kai didn’t land where the administrator calculated.

He bent his knees in the air, shifted his center of gravity, and landed a meter and a half before the projected point.

The vertical attack struck the floor between them.

The white floor turned black at that point.

Kai was already running toward the administrator.

Three steps. Knee to the side. Qi concentrated.

The administrator absorbed the blow and sent him back with a palm to the chest — not energy, physical force, the kind Kai hadn’t seen the entity use until that moment.

Kai went two meters back.

He repositioned.

"It fights hand to hand too."

"I am a level five administrator. I have access to everything this world offers."

"Including martial arts?"

"Including any combat system documented in Aethon."

Kai considered this.

"And the undocumented ones?"

The administrator didn’t respond immediately.

"What about them?"

---

[DraconicLegacy: "AND THE UNDOCUMENTED ONES?" — KAI FOUND THE POINT]

[Dr_Snow: the administrator has access to everything documented. Kai’s martial arts are from another world. they’re not documented.]

[Drakeking: Kai said it without drama. just as a question. and the admin didn’t respond.]

[Jack_Moore: the admin’s silence is the answer.]

[Brandon_Haddan: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[RagingMutant: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ THERE IT IS ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[Jesse_Williams: Kai identified his only advantage in two questions. without a system. without visible analysis. he just asked.]

---

The administrator launched a combination — blue energy from the left, physical palm from the right, simultaneous.

Kai blocked the palm with his crossed forearm and dodged the energy by leaning his body back.

The block cost him his left forearm up to the elbow — the impact of something using physical force from a level five administrator, which turned out to be considerably more than anything he’d blocked before.

He stayed on his feet.

The administrator looked at him.

"You’re still standing."

"Yes."

"That block should have sent you to the ground."

"Almost."

"But not completely." The administrator tilted its head — the goat horns changing angle, the pointed ears moving slightly. "That is statistically improbable for someone without active defensive magic."

"I have Qi."

"The Qi documented in Aethon is not enough to absorb that level of impact."

"Mine isn’t the one from Aethon."

---

From the edge of the chamber, Lira watched.

She had been watching since Kai threw the first strike — arms crossed, sunglasses in her pocket because the situation required full vision, the zero percent magic that hadn’t changed.

The administrator said something about it being statistically improbable for Kai to still be standing.

Lira let out a short laugh.

"Welcome to the club."

The administrator looked at her.

"Pardon?"

"The improbable thing." Lira nodded toward Serah. "She also thought it was improbable. I thought it too." A pause. "We all think it’s improbable. It keeps happening anyway."

The administrator processed this.

It looked back at Kai.

"How long have you been interacting with him?"

"Enough," Serah said, from her position.

---

[DraconicLegacy: LIRA SAID "WELCOME TO THE CLUB" TO THE ADMINISTRATOR HAHAHAHA]

[Dr_Snow: the admin asked how long they’ve been with Kai and Serah said "enough." that sums it all up.]

[Drakeking: Lira explaining the collective experience of everyone who’s fought Kai to the administrator]

[Jack_Moore: "we all think it’s improbable. it keeps happening anyway" — Lira as involuntary spokesperson]

[Brandon_Haddan: the admin taking notes on Kai while fighting him. interesting priority.]

[RagingMutant: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ CLUB OF THOSE WHO THOUGHT IT WAS IMPROBABLE ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[Jesse_Williams: club members: Serah, Lira, Eris, Jameson, the S-rank vampires, the labyrinth boss, now the admin.]

---

The administrator returned to combat.

This time without the distance of projectiles — it entered hand-to-hand directly, with a speed that was different from the labyrinth’s physics because it didn’t have the limitations of something built from fortress material.

The first strike was a palm to the chest — straight, fast, with the exact timing of something that has analyzed Kai’s defense pattern and calculated the moment where his right forearm is committed after a previous block.

Kai took the hit.

He went a meter and a half back.

He got up before finishing the retreat — using the backward momentum to convert it into the impulse for the next step forward, the same principle as against the A-rank bear in Sector 7 Chapters ago.

The administrator wasn’t expecting him to come back that fast.

Kai’s elbow reached the neck — not the distortion point, a new one, where the suit’s surface had a slightly different texture Kai had noticed in the second exchange and now confirmed with contact.

The administrator stepped back one pace.

At the neck point where the elbow had landed, another distortion.

Two points now.

The administrator looked at them.

"You’re mapping my structure."

"Yes."

"With every strike."

"Yes."

"That’s..." the administrator searched for the word. "Methodical."

"It’s normal. I was a martial arts fighter in underground bouts. What did you think I was going to do."

---