Above Your Head

This is from number 30 to 40.

“Thank you.”

Genie placed a large box next to me. Click. Ten daggers shone brightly in the box as it opened with a click. It had always been the case, but there was no reason for me to use a hammer just because my class was a blacksmith. Why would I have to refine metal with a hammer when we were living in the era of the Great Universe? With an elemental aptitude for metal, I could mold metal as easily as clay – not only materials like steel, but rare metals such as mithril.

Therefore, the process of smithing the swords was overseen by Genie from beginning to the end. No matter how hard humans struck with a hammer, they could not exert a greater force than machines, which pressed down with a force of hundreds and thousands of tons. No matter how delicate a human was, they were unable to match the sophistry of laser cutting and CNC (Computer Numerical Control) controlled processing.

Instead, I drew my aura and focused my efforts on something that Genie couldn’t do: spiritual processing.

Crack!

Sparks were created from the blade of the dagger. The blade was only 20 centimeters long, so even a child would be capable of swinging the weapon.

My attributes were metal and lightning.

Instead of imbuing the weapon with certain properties, I enhanced it with the attributes themselves. The weapon itself was transformed into a container using the metal attribute, and the lightning attribute was contained within.

Crack! Boom!

Along with a loud noise, the blade was split into two pieces. It was a disastrous failure. I placed the broken pieces in a box next to the original container. It was only common steel, but I had to treat it separately because the materials were obtained from the stage.

“Please recycle it.”

I will recreate it in the same form.

“Thanks.”

Crack! Boom!

A new dagger split into pieces as I answered. Immediately, I tossed it into the box.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I repeated the same work over and over again. I had endless practice opportunities since I was using Napoleon’s magical energy. Labor was truly great. I was attempting something difficult, but I started to get a rough idea after breaking about 160 daggers.

Pat!

Unlike any of the attempts before, the entire dagger became permeated with lightning. The steel of the dagger itself was transformed to contain the attribute of lightning. In fact, I had just created a special type of metal – something along the lines of lighting steel.

“Since the stupid vending machine doesn’t update with any rare metals, I have no choice but to make it myself…”

Kieek!

My hand glided over the dagger and engraved certain letters with the power of attributes.

- Lightning Blade. No. 1

“I finally made one.”

If I wanted to maximize power, it would have been better to try it on a larger blade. But I was aiming to create something to be used as a secondary weapon, and it would be easier for women and children to use if the weapon was smaller and weighed less.

Pat!

After trashing another 100 or so daggers, I succeeded once more.

- Lightning Blade. No. 2.

Then I succeeded after 50, and then 30. The success rate continued to climb as I became accustomed to the process, and after a while, I achieved a success rate of about 50%.

Around that time, Genie called out to me.

Captain-nim.

“It’s here.”

I immediately returned my consciousness to reality from the Unique World. My body was resting under a demonic tree. As soon as I opened my eyes, I struck the demonic tree.

Crack!

Even though it was a mere tree, it was equipped with armor. It was quite durable, but in the end, it could not withstand the destructive power of vibrations as long as it existed in the physical world.

- Clear!

- Would you like to start the next battle? If you knock down multiple enemies in a row, the number of clears will cancel an equal number of death procession. At the end of the stage, the death procession will be confirmed and cannot be reversed.

I gaze up at the sky to see the floating text. A small dot was growing in size from far away in the dark sky.

- Kuwaaaang--!

It was a giant dragon. Even though it was a living creature, it boasted a massive size. It was even bigger than Ares, even though he was nearly 30 meters tall. Considering its massive wingspan, the enormous creature could rival an apartment complex with 10 to 15 stories. Its unrealistic size made it feel as if I was facing a natural phenomena rather than an enemy.

Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights.

Indigo.

As my feet touched the ground after a small jump, the ground shook with an enormous explosion. Indigo projected a wide range of vibrations on the material I was in contact with, and depending on its use, it could cause earthquakes or even massive storms.

Booom!

All the nearby buildings either collapsed or were completely destroyed. As I intended, my actions drew the aggro of the Spector Dragon Raffley.

Fwoosh.

For a moment, I felt like I was being sucked in.

“What?”

I became tense as I gazed up at the sky. My eyes were far beyond human standards, so I was able to see Raffley turn its head toward me in the sky. In addition, I could see a dark energy starting to gather in its mouth.

Captain-nim!

”Yeah! Here it comes!”

Sufficient time had passed, so I had already returned Dragon Knight to the Unique World. I was equipped with relatively light armor and a predator, which had transformed into an iron mask, so I positioned myself like a sprinter and started measuring the time.

As the hairs on my back began to shoot up in a dizzying sense of crisis, I shot off the ground with the power of the accumulated vibration.

Boom!

I ran. No, perhaps it was more appropriate to say that I fired. I had traveled a distance of more than 550 meters in only a second! It was a little slower than a bullet fired from a rifle, but faster than a pistol’s bullet. It was a new speed record for me. Nevertheless, the shockwave from the blast trailed behind me and overcame me in an instant.

“Keuk!?”

The world started to spin as I curled up into a ball. The impact caused me to fly for an additional few hundred meters, and I finally came to a stop after shooting through and destroying several buildings.

Are you okay?

“Heugh… Huah… Ugh, my back is cooked.”

I observed my surroundings while grumbling and saw that about a ninth of the city was decimated. All the buildings, as well as the walls of the stage.

“All right… That should do it for checking. What about Raffley?”

He’s leaving in a cool manner after letting off a single breath.

“I can’t let him get away like that.”

I took out the golden mirror from my arms and pointed it towards Raffley.

Crack!

The golden mirror shone brilliantly for a moment, then cracked with a loud noise. The Spector Dragon Raffley was simply much too large for the golden mirror to capture.

- Kwaaaang--!

Raffley immediately turned around with a loud roar, then started to fly toward me.

“Oh, this is giving me the chills. I should have expected it. When it’s attacked it comes personally to shit on me instead of a simple breath.”

I had experimented enough.

I spoke at once.

“Start the stage!”

- Stage will be opened!

- Level 13. Difficulty is set at intermediate.

- Destroy the Demonic Tree in 200 hours.

- The stage will start in 10 seconds.

- 10. 9. 8. 7…..

Raffley disappeared from my sight and I was transported to the northern gate of the city. I could see a tightly closed door behind me. I was located in the farthest place from the southern gate where the Demonic Tree was located.

“I see a possibility.”

What possibility? Don’t tell me you’re not trying to catch that ghost dragon. Are you?

“Of course not.”

Then what more is there to do? You’ve already cleared more than 100 times so far.

I laughed at their confusion.

“Why wouldn’t there be more to do?”

I entered the nearest hidden point. After a meal on my throne, I summoned my pistol Justice Weapon and spoke while accessing Cradle of Justice.

“There’s the guide.”

I logged on to the bulletin board and created a post.

- I’m planning to release a guide for the intermediate stage of level 13. Even a level one will be able to clear it. (Iron Mask)

I moved onto the content.

- Just as I wrote in the title, I am planning to release a guide for the level 13 intermediate stage in 12 hours. Even a level 1 will be able to clear the stage. Don’t complete the stage just yet. Wait and watch before you clear. For those of you in the Cradle of Justice, you should also come out and clear the stage to receive compensation.

Then bye.

It was simple in title and in content, but the reaction was intense. More than tens of thousands of comments appeared in the blink of an eye.

- What the? Is this the real Iron Mask?

- It really is him! I’m watching him live right now. He even wrote a post for us!

- No, but the title doesn’t make any sense, does it? Even the weakest of monsters are over level 5 in this stage. How could there be a way for a level 1 to clear it?

- Iron Mask. People are different from you. It’s not like they are failing because they possess insufficient stats.

- Even so. This doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

- Everyone! Don’t be fooled! This man is the incarnation of the devil, the servant of Satan. He is attempting to seduce mankind! If you look closely at what he’s done so far, you can spot countless symbols and hidden meanings in his actions!

- What’s wrong with you? Are you crazy? Do you even have eyes? How many people do you think survived thanks to Mr. Iron Mask?

- It’s true that many of Iron Mask’s actions haven’t made sense so far. In fact, what if he’s an NPC created by the End Project? Maybe he’s a device made to bring greater despair to humankind in the end.

- What the fuck are you talking about? How did these people even get in the Cradle of Justice? They’re completely nuts!

- I love you, Iron Mask! I want to meet you someday! My name is Christina and I am 23 years old! And, and…

- Wow. Look at the speed of the replies… There are already over 70,000 of them. It’s literally impossible to read through every single one of them.

I skimmed through the comments, then turned off the screen before starting the guide again. I didn’t need much.

The core of the guide was Raffley, and I had been able to confirm a few facts about him.

1.           When Raffley recognizes a disturbance in the stage, it shoots a breath towards the place before disappearing. If Raffley is attacked and is able to successfully identify the assailant, it will find and chase the target until the target is killed.

2.           The time it takes for Raffley to reappear after disappearing is fixed at 143 minutes. It only takes one minute and four seconds for Raffley to move through the entire stage.

“Good. There shouldn’t be anything else.”

I was satisfied with the guide and waited at the starting point of the stage, the north gate. Twelve hours passed after I published my initial post.

I placed my hand on the justice Weapon.

- You are currently Master rank (temporary)

- Accessing the Cradle of Justice!

- 1,723,456,257 people are currently observing you!

“Wow. One billion seven hundred million?”

It was rather ridiculous, but the number of viewers had risen even higher in the meantime. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that half of humanity was currently watching me.

“How can so many people access the Cradle of Justice? Not everyone should possess a Justice Weapon… Oh, I see. They must be sharing justice points.”

It was possible to access the Cradle of Justice even if one possessed an iron-rank weapon of justice. In other words, one could access the cradle if they were gifted even a single point of justice from their family or acquaintances.

“Well, I think we have enough people watching, so I’ll get started.”

As usual, I started the guide broadcast.

“The monster’s locations are not random. Can you see the moon in the sky? Pretend you have a protractor in your hand. Position over the horizon. When the moon is in a position of 10 degrees…”

I farmed for items while explaining.

“Don’t have any needless thoughts and just memorize it. Ah, you have to memorize all the farming locations as well. The golden mirror is randomly placed in one of five places… Obviously, you need to memorize it.”

“I’ve interpreted all the messages here. I will write down their meanings starting from now, so memorize it. You need to memorize it in order to minimize your movement while farming for items.”

“Ah! Wouldn’t it be a bit simpler if I did it like this? Please stop with such stupid thoughts and just memorize it.”

“This is what the terrain looks like. You can go back this way as well. You need to enter this place when the moon is 20 degrees, 60 degrees. If you missed both, it should be 150 degrees. If the timing is wrong, please wait. The time limit is 200 hours, so there is no need to be impatient. You’ll die if you’re impatient.”

“You must use the golden mirror as you farm for items. If an evil spirit pops out instead of a reward box, you might die instantly. Instead, if you use the mirror while the evil spirit is still in the box, you can kill it with just one reflection instead of four.”

“Memorize this.”

“Memorize this too.”

“Memorize it. Just memorize it.”

After a while of farming for items, the golden mirror was charged to a certain extent. I laid down the mirror at an angle on the side of a building near the northern gate. Obviously, the mirror was still facing the sky.

“Now. After you do this, come back to the north gate and hide in the warehouse.”

The guide wasn’t difficult. Even elementary school students would be able to clear the stage if they studied the guide thoroughly.

“Finally, you need to have at least three blessed daggers by the time you lay down the mirror.”

It was then.

- Kwaaaang--!

The Spector Dragon Raffley made its appearance with a loud roar. It crossed over the stage, and as it passed over the city,

Crack!

A flash of light appeared on Raffley’s body. It was quite obvious, really. I had laid down the golden mirror to reflect Raffley the moment it passed through the sky. Naturally, Raffley turned its head at once and shot its breath toward the golden mirror.

Boooom!

The earth trembled with a tremendous shock. As I slowly exited the hidden point, I could see Raffley disappearing into the distance.

“We’re practically done.”

How are we done? You’re still at the starting point, right?

Ares asked. Instead of answering, I moved towards the location of the golden mirror.

The surroundings were destroyed, including the walls, which could be considered the outside perimeter of the stage.

Huh? Don’t tell me…?

Ah, now I see… Yes. The demonic tree was encountered after leaving through the south gate. That means…

I explained while the two voices reveled inside my head.

“Now walk straight along the walls and destroy the demonic tree outside the south gate with a blessed dagger. Now.”

The stage was quite large, but all you had to do was walk. In fact, if anyone faithfully followed my guide from start to finish, they could clear the stage without having to enter a single battle.

“This is the end of the guide!”

As I shouted loudly,

- 1,588,531,969 people are in awe!

- You have accumulated 11,591,328,924 justice points!

“Oh, stop giving me those points. I really don’t have any use for them.”

I grumbled while smiling.

‘To be honest, this is nothing short of a trick.’

It’s something I would have never done if this were a normal game. I would never call this a guide, and I would never publish anything of the sort.

‘But if the End Project is changing the game on a whim, changing the game in a ridiculous manner.’

I would also make a befitting, ridiculous guide.