Were you salty? Then you should have made a better game.

- Kwaaaang--!

I hid myself under the eaves at the distant roar. The Specter Dragon passed overhead and moved away in an instant. I decided after watching the shrinking figure for a while.

“Hmm. All right. Let’s go with that.”

What are you talking about? Go with what? The Specter Dragon?

Another guide using the dragon?

“No, not this time. I wouldn’t say I used the dragon for the guide. Rather, using the dragon was the result of the guide.”

You sure are good at using a guy who’s flying around while shooting breaths.

“I told you, I’m not using him. It’s a result.”

I took a short break after speaking. When it finally came time to take action, I placed my hand on the gun at my waist.

- You are currently Master rank (temporary)

- Accessing the Cradle of Justice!

- 1,512,351,888 people are currently observing you!

“That’s a little less than before.”

I couldn’t help but frown. I had shown something remarkable for the intermediate stage of level 13, but the number of viewers had decreased. Rather than viewers leaving out of disinterest, this meant that the total number of viewers had decreased due to a problem.

The number of people might have decreased because some of them were lacking Justice Points. Some people might be unable to receive Justice Weapons if they accumulated too many bad deeds, even if they were gifted Justice Points from others.

“I guess.”

It was unfortunate, that that was as far as my sentiments went. I decided to start the guide. If we succeeded in achieving a perfect clear, no one would die anyways.

“Well, let’s get started now. As I announced, you have to be over level 5 for this guide to work. To be exact, you need to be able to kill the level 5 evil spirits or the baby chimeras without a golden mirror or a blessed dagger. I think it should be possible because the average levels should have gone dramatically.”

I don’t know if it would have been possible in the past, but it would not be difficult now. Even a regular old lady was level 10 nowadays.

“But don’t come out of the cradle unless you’re confident of killing the level 5 enemies. You’re going to mess up the guide and get yourself killed.”

I started the guide in a similar fashion to yesterday’s broadcast – I started reciting everything that they needed to memorize.

- The locations of monsters over time, the farming sections, structures of the puzzles and how to solve them, the list of questions and passwords required to unlock, the attack patterns of monsters and locations of their ambush.

I continued the guide while reciting all of the information.

- Kikikiek! Kyakyakyah! Kukukuku!

“Now, here is a specter. Naturally, you can kill it with the mirror when it’s having a seizure like that. But… I have something I have to do, so I’ll just kill it personally.”

- Resentment… Resentment!!! Kuhahaha! I am!

The specter screamed while rushing at me. It was a spirit of death and madness, a collection of curses that drove the living to death! But Life Energy granted the practitioner an increasing resistance to all attributes with continued training. So to speak, it was a training method of semi-tankers.

Instead of avoiding the enemy, I unsheathed my auxiliary weapon and stood face-to-face. Naturally, it wasn’t a blessed dagger.

Craacck!

The specter in front of me was a high-ranking monster that even sword masters couldn’t defeat easily. However, the creature’s body flickered as lightning jumped from the blade. Since ancient times, lightning was the supreme symbol of yang, a favored tool of the exorcists. I had crafted tons of lightning blades, which were obviously filled with the power of lightning. They worked wonders against ghosts and evil spirits.

Thud! Craaack! Thud! Cracck!

I exchanged blow for blow. The lightning blade pierced the specter’s body every time it lunged at me. Otherwise, the specter was so fast that it was impossible to launch a successful attack while avoiding its attacks. Since the method of Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights lacked in attacks against spiritual beings, the Lightning Blades were consumed like crazy.

Perhaps it was after consuming around the 30th lightning blade.

- Kyaaahk!

In the end, the specter perished with a scream.

“Haa… Phew… I’m so tired. Oh I hate ghosts so much. I’m just going to take a short break.”

I plopped down on a nearby chair after speaking.

Pat!

In an instant, the surroundings brightened up. Even though I had sat down in a wooden chair, I was now seated in a beautiful throne. The crowned throne graciously welcomed my body with its fluffy cushions.

- You are currently Challenger rank.

My bloodied body quickly recovered. Since the ranks of the throne corresponded with the recovery rate, I was healing at a rapid pace. While I was at it, I had a quick meal before continuing with the guide.

That’s about how it went – for 40 hours.

It was a long time, but relatively fast, considering that the time provided for the hard stage of level 13 was 800 hours. It would be impossible to clear it in such a quick time unless you were knowledgeable about all the enemies and the terrain of the stage.

Finally, I arrived in front of the Demonic Tree.

Ares asked in disbelief.

Wait a minute. Isn’t this… just a very normal approach?

Captain-nim. Level 5 players will not be able to keep up with this guide. You killed all the chimeras and evil spirits on your way here, but killing all of them with just the golden mirror would be…

The role of main and auxiliary weapons in the stage was enormous. Even if you were below the level of the stage, the powerful weapons allowed for clears utilizing guides.

But the problem was…

All of these weapons were consumables.

‘It’s always so tight.’

The number of charges or uses on the main and secondary weapons were always lacking without fail. Unless one utilized a cheat-like guide, as I made for level 13 intermediate stage, players were placed in a situation where they were forced to fight at least one enemy without the assistance of weapons, an enemy that was similar in level to the stage.

‘Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem if you could follow the guide perfectly.’

But that was impossible. People made mistakes. For example, a level 13 chimera and specter would die if they were illuminated with the golden mirror four times. However, even if one shot missed, the missed shot needed to be made up with the player’s blood and flesh. Practice could make perfect, but…

‘There are no second chances on the stage. Failure is equivalent to death.’

With such thoughts flitting by my mind, I began to walk back towards the south gate.

“By this time, you should be cleaning up the area near the north gate, then farming and utilizing all the memorized information. As I said, you need to have at least 2 blessed daggers and a golden mirror with at least a single charge.”

It was something I repeatedly mentioned throughout the 40 hours of the guide. Unless you could fight the enemies with your own power, it would be best not to mimic my exact movements, but rather scour the initial areas for extra weapons.

“Then I will begin the actual guide. Everything I’ve done until now was just the foundation – essentially what you need to follow. What I prepared is a way to control the difficulty of the stage as you move through it. It’s something called damage amplification.”

With that being said, I returned to a farming area that I had passed by earlier. I had confirmed the presence of a specter hiding in one of the nearby reward boxes.

I explained.

“If you point the golden mirror at your opponent, it will inflict holy damage to the target. It’s capable of killing a level 13 specter in just four shots, so it could be considered a very powerful and holy object.”

In fact, sacred artifacts at the level of the golden mirror were rare even in the Great Universe. Killing a level 13 with a few reflections? It was like this: A genius would overcome trials and adversities to become a sword master. Then after prolonged training, the genius would reach even higher heights. However, a regular man would appear in front of the genius and kill him with a gun.

In terms of technological advancements, it was an impossible feat for Type III civilizations. It would only be possible for a Type IV civilization, for technology that incorporated the three major attributes.

“But all of you are probably thinking that this power is lacking, right? I said it only required four shots, but it might be hard to land all four.”

A single blow was easy to land. If you were familiar with the monster’s location by checking the moon’s position, you would be able to ambush the monster. But as soon as you landed a single blow, the level 13 monsters will start running amok. At worst, they would run around at the speed of a bullet to kill the player.

I flashed the mirror towards the reward box.

- It hurts...

Kwaaang!

I stabbed the dagger into the box before the screams finished resounding. After stabbing two daggers into the box, the specter disappeared. It was probably around level 13.

The golden mirror was still fully charged, and its count had not deceased. It was because the dagger had landed the finishing blow rather than the golden mirror.

“This is actually a pretty fraudulent trap. It explodes without giving any notice at all. Moreover, it is impossible to identify a trap box with any regular abilities.”

I was able to endure the trap, but quite a few people had died. Even if they were able to survive… it was likely that they would become mentally disabled and suffer PTSD for life, just like some military veterans. The curses of the specters and chimeras had the basic effect of destroying the mentality of the subject.

“But it’s quite vicious as well, since you can’t avoid farming because of the traps.”

Therefore, it was crucial that the players obtained the golden mirror before immersing themselves with farming, and that they charged the golden mirror by means other than reward boxes. It was a pretty cumbersome process, but it was much better than rolling the death dice every time you opened a reward box.

“Instead, there is a bonus as well. The specter in the box will not take four shots to kill, but rather one. With a blessed dagger, you would have to stab eight times, but instead, two is enough. In other words, if they are in a box, the damage dealt to them is multiplied by four times.”

- It hurts…

Whoosh!

I stabbed the blessed dagger into the next reward box before the scream finished. Then, I leisurely strolled to the next reward box.

“But that’s not really the case. In fact, the effect of this box isn’t to increase the damage received by the specter by four times, but rather to quadruple the damage being dealt.”

…What do you mean? Even after you killed a specter, you had to point the mirror four times to kill another one, right?

Just as Ares pointed out, the power of the golden mirror wasn’t quadrupled after going through the process of pointing the mirror into the box, then killing the monster with the dagger. If that were the case, other people would have found the trick as well. But it wasn’t the case, and I had only figured it out because I could see the title of objects.

“Well, it’s quite simple, really. The reaction only begins as soon as you shine the reward box with the golden mirror. If you quickly equip a blessed dagger and stab the specter to the death, the golden mirror’s count won’t decrease, and the damage will quadruple.”

I paused for a moment. However, no shocks of wonder or astonishments greeted me. I shrugged because I figured people would be confused still.

“I’m sure everyone is wondering what I am talking about. What? No. I’ve tried it before, but it didn’t work! There must be some people who are saying such things.”

- It hurts…

Whoosh!

I stabbed a blessed dagger into the reward box as I explained.

- It hurts…

Whoosh!

Again, and again. I used up all of the blessed daggers in my possession, and there were no more traps remaining either. Out of about 20 reward boxes located throughout the map, there were a total of six traps.

“But that is because the golden mirror is under restriction, even while the damage is being amplified. I’ve gone through this process six times now, but the golden mirror’s restrictions will not be effective after going through three amplification processes. In other words, after amplifying the damage three times, you will be able to kill chimeras and evil spirits with a single flash.”

And that would leave more than enough charges on the golden mirror to clear the stage. Was that all? If an enemy died from a single attack, anyone would be able to clear the stage without a hitch unless they really let down their guard.

“This is the end of the guide. But I guess I will need to prove my words to you.”

I moved to the square located at the heart of the stage. The surroundings were quiet because I had already eliminated all the monsters along the path.

I looked up to the sky. Viewers using the Cradle of Justice were able to freely change their perspectives within three meters of my body, so they would look toward the sky as well.

“Now, here is a question for all of you. Every time the golden mirror goes through the process of amplification, its power quadruples. So, what would be the damage increase for the golden mirror after going through six amplification processes?”

- Kwaaaang--!

Specter Dragon Raffley made its appearance from the distant skies. I held up the golden mirror, pointed it towards the dragon, then spoke.

“The answer is 4,096 times.”

Flash!!!

A brilliant flash emitted from the golden mirror and covered the surroundings, blinding my sight. Even though I possessed superhuman strength, my arms trembled as I attempted to hold the golden mirror in my arms.

Finally.

Craaaaackkk!

A loud noise resounded throughout the area. The intensity of the sound was on another level compared to any shots fired prior.

- Kwaaaaanggg!!

A loud roar caused the very air to vibrate. As I squinted and looked up at the sky, I could see Raffley shining brilliantly.

“Wow. It looks like an apostle of a god or something.”

But it was a specter dragon in reality.

After lurching violently, Raffley’s humongous body began to fall to the ground.

Booom! Boooooom!

The gigantic body of the specter dragon crashed into the city and destroyed numerous buildings.

The notifications immediately went wild.

- 1,438,436,777 people are in awe!

- You have accumulated 7,912,223,924justice points!

The amount of Justice Points I received had decreased, but I wasn’t disappointed. I felt uncomfortable when they presented me with the points, upgrading my useless Justice Weapon even further when they couldn’t even save their own lives.

At the same time, another line of text appeared in front of my eyes.

- The system will be updated in part.

- It has been confirmed that a certain player has hunted an NPC using an unusual method!

- The Specter Dragon Raffley will no longer appear!

“Hmm? What is this?”

I became confused at the unexpected notice.

“…Why bother?”

The stage wasn’t a game that rewarded you by clearing additional conditions. This was a failure of a game, and the only way to obtain additional compensation was by laboring away. I killed the specter dragon because I wanted to test the damage of the amplified golden mirror, not to obtain anything extra.

But a patch was issued immediately, not to stop the damage amplification, but rather to prevent the appearance of the specter dragon?

“It can’t be…?”

An idea came to mind like lightning.

“No way…”

I started running. I didn’t have to wander because the southwestern buildings of the city were demolished in a straight line.

“No way!!”

I finally reached it. At my destination… was the burning body of a giant specter dragon.