Side Story: The Admin’s Tax

  The sun had barely set when Adrian first learned about the Admin’s Tax. It had been a quiet evening, the kind where the city of Mandaue still felt somewhat normal. He had spent hours testing the Genesis Ring’s limits, experimenting with how to filter the cosmic energy venting from the world. But when the message appeared on his screen, everything changed.

  The air shifted. It wasn’t a breeze or the changing of seasons—it was the weight of something heavier, something immense, creeping into his chest. A pang of unease settled in. The notification blinked in front of him:

  The Admin’s Tax

  10% of all harvested energy will be siphoned off to maintain the planetary shield. Failure to comply will result in catastrophic instability.

  Adrian’s heart sank. He had been expecting some kind of consequence, but the Admin’s Tax was something he hadn’t anticipated. A tax on survival. The energy they harvested—the energy he had to fight for—wasn’t all his to keep.

  That meant the world’s fate wasn’t just in his hands. It was being shared with an unseen force, something more powerful than he could fully comprehend. The cost of protecting Earth from the Cosmic Tide was steep, and Adrian had become the enforcer of that cost.

  He stood in the center of an abandoned street, the world around him still twisting in chaos as the energy continued to warp the city. In the distance, the high-pitched shrieks of Aberrants echoed through the air, signaling the approach of more mutated creatures. But all Adrian could focus on was the message. The weight of the tax. The implications for humanity.

  It wasn’t just about surviving anymore. It was about living in a new system where rules weren’t negotiable, where every choice came with a price.

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  In the quiet, abandoned streets, Adrian looked at the horizon. He could see the faint glow of the local Node—the very thing that had connected him to this reality. It pulsed with power, ready to receive the harvested energy from the chaos, but now, it came with a caveat: the Admin’s Tax.

  He clenched his fists, frustration boiling inside him. He knew that the system he had created was designed to save humanity, but the rules were never meant to be kind. The cosmic energy that had been unleashed was overwhelming, and in order to filter it, Adrian had to fight, kill, and collect—but he would never fully keep the spoils.

  The first Aberrant appeared from the alleyway, its grotesque body dragging itself forward, snapping its teeth in hunger. Adrian’s instincts kicked in immediately. He raised his hand, feeling the Genesis Ring pulse with energy, and blasted the creature into dust. As its body disintegrated, the energy siphoned directly into the local Node.

  But then, the notification pinged again.

  The Admin’s Tax

  Energy harvested: 0.07%

  Admin’s Tax: 10%

  Adrian cursed under his breath. The numbers were barely moving. He needed more power, more energy, but the system wasn’t giving him a break. Every moment he spent harvesting energy, it was being drained away by the tax. No matter how hard he fought, no matter how many monsters he destroyed, he was never going to have it all.

  A cold realization hit him.

  This wasn’t just a tax on the energy—it was a tax on his very soul. It demanded a price. For every moment he spent fighting for the future, there was a cost that could never be erased.

  It was only a matter of time before Adrian would have to face the full implications of the Admin’s Tax. If he wanted to save the world, he would need to continue harvesting the energy, continue fighting—but he would never be able to keep it all. And as he looked ahead, seeing the city on the brink of total collapse, he realized that the tax wasn’t just financial—it was moral. How much could he sacrifice before it was too late?

  In the distance, the Typhon-Aswang Hive was drawing closer, its massive shadow casting an ominous presence over the city. Adrian felt the weight of the ring on his finger, the power coursing through him, but at the same time, he could feel the drain. It wasn’t just the tax—it was the exhaustion of having to keep fighting, keep harvesting, while knowing that the cost would never stop.

  The world needed him, but the price for saving it was higher than he had ever imagined.

  He looked to the horizon, where the local Node was slowly filling with harvested energy. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. The Admin’s Tax had taken its cut, but Adrian wasn’t done. He couldn’t be. The world would burn if he stopped now. And if that meant giving everything he had—his power, his energy, his very will—then so be it.

  With a deep breath, Adrian turned back to the streets. The fight wasn’t over. The tax would never stop, but neither would he. The world was counting on him. The system was counting on him.

  And no matter the cost, he wasn’t about to let it fall apart. Not yet. Not while he still had the power to fight.

  Adrian braced himself for the battles to come. The first wave of the Hive was nearing, and the energy in his body felt ready to burst.

  The fight for survival had just begun.