Admin 6 focused very hard on the city he was designing, hoping everyone else was doing the same.

One wall of the shared office they now had was covered in screens. The screens showed what players were doing. On one particular screen, Avi and Nikki were about to enter Floor 11.

Floor 11 had previously been his Floor 17. It was the first boss floor in the Master Dungeon, and the only players to visit so far had been scouts.

Avi had Nikki close her eyes before passing through the entrance. It was cute. Her reaction when she recognized the floor was one of pure joy. Together they ran to the lake, thrilled to be there.

Admin 6 prayed no one was paying attention. Sweat dripped off his forehead as he tried to keep his eyes off the screen.

The four velociraptors recognized Nikki and Avi. At that moment there was so much happiness on Floor 11. Even the spinosaurus seemed happy to see them.

Admin 6 regretted everything. Sending them had been a horrible idea. Sending the dinosaur floor had been a horrible idea. Accepting the position of Admin had been a horrible idea. Deciding to cut back on his coffee intake had been a horrible idea. Choosing to-

"You ok there?" Admin 1 asked, startling him. "You look sick."

Admin 6 shook his head, summoning an iced coffee. "Headache. It's fine, it's just warm in here." He lifted the cup and drained half of it in one go.

Admin 5 watched him. "Maybe we should turn the temperature down, I'm feeling warm too."

The other admins agreed. They paused in their programming, stretching and summoning snacks. Soon the room's temperature dropped, making Admin 6 cold.

Meanwhile, Avi was trying to pass the velociraptors through the entrance barrier. It wasn't working.

Admin 6 tried to not watch. If he looked at that specific screen, someone might follow his line of sight. That would be bad.

"Oh hey, my players finally got to the catgirl floor," Admin 2 said, watching a screen on the left side of the wall.

"They were the last ones, right?" Admin 5 asked.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Yeah," he answered. "I sent more solo players, working in a big group is slowing them down."

"No one's continuing on yet?" Admin 4 asked, scanning through the screens.

It took all of Admin 6's self-control to not launch himself in front of the screen Avi and Nikki were on.

"There's a pair, but it looks like they're just scouting," Admin 5 said, pointing.

All eyes went to the screen. Nikki and Avi were standing on the stair side of the entrance, examining the barrier. The velociraptors bounced on the other side of the barrier.

"All the groups have sent scouts, right?" Admin 2 asked, watching. "It is a smart thing to do."

"Yeah," Admin 1 said.

Giving up whatever they were doing, Nikki pulled a pack of sushi from her inventory and tossed pieces to the velociraptors.

"Is she… feeding them?" Admin 3 asked.

Admin 6 wiped the sweat off his face before replying. "Yeah, they do that," he said casually.

Admin 5 looked at him. "Wait, I've seen them," she said. "When I went to visit you once. Right? And you were watching these two feed dinosaurs."

"Yeah," he said, remembering. "Yeah, these are them."

On the screen, Nikki and Avi turned to go back to Floor 10.

"Why did you choose them?" Admin 5 asked.

"They're fun to watch," he shrugged. "It's a break from the murderhobos."

"Fair," Admin 2 decided.

"Ok but can they win?" Admin 1 asked.

Admin 6 nodded. "Absolutely. They reset plenty of cycles. And they do fight, they just like to… hug cute things, I don't know."

Admin 5 was watching him doubtfully. "What about the rest of your players? Are they good, are they winners, or are they just entertaining?"

"Both! All three!" he snapped. "Look, even if I deliberately chose my worst players, all that means for you is a greater chance of winning. Right? So why are you so worried about it?"

"Whatever," she said, turning back to her monitor. "I'm sorry I cared."

Admins 1 and 2 were glaring at him.

"Ok, sorry I yelled," Admin 6 said. "But I made my choice of players and I stand by it. Even if you said something that made me rethink everything, it's too late now. If my players bother you, then don't watch them."

"Ok, whatever," she said, still annoyed.

Admin 6 took a drink of coffee.

"So you chose your weirdest players?" Admin 3 asked.

"Pretty much. Weirdest doesn't mean worst though."

"I look forward to seeing what they do," Admin 4 said, looking back at his monitor.

Admin 6 felt something in his mind relax as the other Admins went back to work. His group was now established as weird players. Nothing more, nothing less.

Perfect.