Chapter 170

When you thought about it, the 'System' wasn't just and unbiased. It just operated for a few Rules, and mankind hadn't been able to completely figure out what those were.

'Let's assume that there can be Rules that contradict each other.'

If I assumed the Rule applying to the System right now was 'sacrifices to open the Gran Seoul Dungeon are necessary', then it was a fixed fact that sacrifices were needed.

But what about the method to procure those sacrifices?

'Luring and hunting… by making a flash scenario that didn't exist in the past.'

Was this method really a suitable Rule for the System? Or was it merely a workaround to create sacrifices? If this was a workaround…

I recalled a saying.

–A 'problem' is a problem because someone thought of it as a problem. If no one takes issue with it, it won't become a problem.

There was some sense in it. If no one had an issue with something, it wouldn't become recognized as a problem. What if the same applied now?

'The System isn't a party you can reason with.'

If an Intermediate Administrator was using a cheat to make fools of the Players, you could just reason with them. They were a party you could reason with, to some extent. But not the System. Even if you tried to speak to nature, there was no way nature would listen.

'Conversing with the System, huh…'

That was a totally different concept from physical speech. If you wanted to talk to the System, you needed a System method. And I realized what kind of method that was.

'Judgment of the Law.'

You could talk to the System by using a setting determined by the System.

[Judgment of the Law]

Regulations/laws created by the accord of society's majority.

Actions tacitly and universally deemed good.

The System's Rule will be temporarily set to 'Just'. The caster will be given the rights of an 'Arbitrator' towards all acts that defy justice. The Arbitrator officially files objections to all acts that contradict justice, can mete out due punishment within set bounds to those who contradict justice, and will be conferred the requisite power and authority.

This was the item the Lady of the Scales had gifted me. I focused on one line in the description.

The System's Rule will be temporarily set to 'Just'.

Going off this sentence—

'Temporary justice.'

That meant it wasn't 'absolute' justice. That one sentence revealed that the System wasn't perfectly just by default.

The caster will be given the rights of an 'Arbitrator' towards all acts that defy justice.

And if I used this and was given the rights of an 'Arbitrator', I would be able to talk to the System by way of the System.

I didn't think about it for long.

[Use 'Judgment of the Law'?]

I used it right away.

['Judgment of the Law' is taking effect.]

[Setting the target for 'Judgment of the Law'.]

[Please think of the target for 'Judgment of the Law' in concrete terms.]

I thought of it in concrete terms. The opening of the Gran Seoul Dungeon. The 'inadequate sacrifices' to make that happen. Or the 'workaround', the crooked method produced by the System's blind pursuit of its goal of creating sacrifices.

['Judgment of the Law' has taken effect.]

['Judgment of the Law' has discovered a 'factor that contradicts justice'.]

My body suddenly seemed to grow light.

[You have received the rights of an 'Arbitrator'.]

It was hard to put into words. It felt like my level instantly skyrocketed—my body was as light as a feather. It was just a feeling, but I felt powerful, like a wave of my hand could create typhoons and flames would shoot from my mouth when I spoke. Almost as if… I had become a supreme being.

In an instant, I realized how I was supposed to think, how I should guide this situation.

'I will correct the crooked workaround.'

This one 'premise' revealed the Arbitrator's authority.

[Proclaim the Arbitrator's command.]

[The Arbitrator's command will become alive and correct the 'injustice'.]

There was still a little time left in Cognitive Dissonance.

"I shall correct the crooked workaround."

At the same time—

[The Arbitrator's command has been proclaimed.]

[Correcting the 'injustice'.]

The world instantly turned to black and white, like a field with a Pause authority in effect.

[Restructuring the field.]

A Pause authority actually did take effect. The System voluntarily used a Pause authority without the interference of any Guardians or Intermediate Administrators. I'd never seen such a thing happen before.

[Reestablishing justice in accordance to the Arbitrator's command.]

[The System accepts the justice.]

[The difficulty of the field will be adjusted according to the level of the current Players and the scenario difficulty (Low).]

It was as I thought. The System used a cheat to achieve its 'objective'. I corrected that cheat with Judgment of the Law.

The Players around me apparently heard the same notices.

"Wait, the difficulty is greatly decreasing!"

"The heck is an Arbitrator?"

"No idea. In any case, the difficulty's gone down."

In the meantime, a few Players ignored my warning and went into the D-Tower. Another few paced in front of the doors, some of whom turned and left.

I heard conversation all around me.

"Hey, do you remember the face of that insanely strong-looking Player just now?"

"Huh…?"

"We should remember him if he showed that much strength, but…"

"Yeah, his face was so ordinary that I don't remember it."

"I can't remember his face at all. Kinda like…"

"Like we had a dream?"

"Yeah, exactly! You know how you can remember what you dreamed right when you wake up but then forget it as time goes on? Kinda feels like that."

"Same here. It's really fascinating."

Cognitive Dissonance had played its role well, it seemed. If there weren't any Players here with the intuition to penetrate my Cognitive Dissonance, no one would remember me. They would all just be left with a fuzzy memory, a bare recollection of a Player who blocked the door and gave them a warning.

* * *

The notices continued for me.

['Scenario Outline' acquired as per the Arbitrator's rights.]

[The Arbitrator's rights will last for as long as the current field exists.]

[The 'Scenario Outline' will automatically expire when the current field expires.]

[Scenario Outline]

Korean server scenario #311.

Lives are required for the opening of the 'Gran Seoul Dungeon'.

31,100 Player deaths.

Scenario progression: [Survive for 24 hours] or [At least 31,100 humans die]

All that was bolded. The condition to open the Gran Seoul Dungeon seemed to be the death of at least 31,100 people within 24 hours.

'It feels… like someone made a rough schema of the scenario.'

Outline.

A general description or plan.

The scenario definitely felt like a general description. Underneath the bold text were words in italics.

In the case of a variable related to 'justice', total scenario revision.

Revised field monster spawns.

City Fox: 11

City Wolf: 31

Lycanthrope: 22

Orc: 17

(Enhanced) Goblin Soldier: 1 (D-Tower 1st Floor)

Orc Warrior: 21 (D-Tower 2nd Floor)

Troll: 5 (D-Tower 2nd Floor)

Troll Soldier: 3 (D-Tower 2nd Floor)

Orc Archer: 5 (D-Tower 2nd Floor)

Fanged Mole: random spawn (D-Tower Underground 1st Floor)

Dungeonization of the Gwanghwamun D-Tower.

1st Floor: (Enhanced) Goblin Soldier – same as the Tutorial Dungeon

2nd Floor: Hidden Piece – Find the Hidden Pathway!

Conditions to find the hidden pathway:

Once found, mana crystal is used on the escalator

Mana crystal: acquired upon destroying the green sedan on the Underground 1st Floor

Clear Crystal will be generated upon hunting all monsters on the 2nd Floor. Destroying the Clear Crystal will end the entire scenario.

3rd floor: hidden monster: Black Troll spawn

I reeled back in shock.

'What the hell?'

I practiced justice using my Arbitrator rights and got this. For an outline, there was quite a lot of detail.

'A Black Troll will show up?'

A tremor shook through my body. My heart began to thud.

'That's a Grade 4 Exotic.'

Later, people would start calling valuable and rare monsters 'Exotics'. Exotics were made up of a total of five grades. Any Exotic was worth tens of thousands of dollars just for the corpse. Even the corpse of the lowest Grade 5 and relatively frequently spawning 'Leon' was sold for $70,000.

But the Black Troll wasn't just a Grade 5, but a Grade 4.

'A Grade 4 Exotic. The Black Troll.'

Black Trolls had a very high chance of dropping an item called 'Regeneration Serum'. Of the three to four Black Trolls found worldwide every month, one to two of them would drop a Regeneration Serum.

It wasn't in my plans, but even so, that was a monster I absolutely had to kill.

'I can see where it is and what I'm supposed to do.'

The only problem was that I was an Observer and couldn't get the Regeneration Serum if I hunted the troll myself. That meant I would have to hunt it with the Players here.

'That would be a bit hard…'

The overall level of the Players here was simply too low. Someone would inevitably die in the process of trying to get the Regeneration Serum. I missed my Giantgod party members.

'Oh, but wait.'

I recalled one of the notices that had streamed past earlier.

[The Arbitrator's rights will last for as long as the current field exists.]

I was currently the 'Arbitrator'. A sense of vigor was coursing through my veins like I had become a supreme being. Of course, I wasn't saying I was really a supreme being, but it definitely felt like it.

'Maybe this sort of thing will work?'

I thought of it in my head. If I temporarily had the rights of an Arbitrator within this field and thus held the true power to correct the 'workaround' in effect within this field…

[The Arbitrator's rights are currently intact.]

Right now, I was an Arbitrator who could not condone this workaround and injustice. I had the power to rectify, or rather, the duty to rectify without fail. I focused on that. I wasn't all that aware of it, but I was probably meditating while standing up again.

[The System acknowledges the Arbitrator's duty.]

[The 'Arbitrator's role' will temporarily assume the highest priority setting.]

[Based on the highest priority setting, the restriction conditions of the 'Observer' class will be temporarily disabled.]

[The 'Arbitrator's role' is valid only while the current field exists.]

I just attempted it with a 'can't hurt to try' attitude because I thought it might be possible, but it really worked.

What was this feeling? This familiar, yet unfamiliar feeling of just trying something and succeeding in one shot?

'Whatever, it's good for me that it worked.'

The restriction conditions of the Observer class disappeared. At least within this field, I wasn't an Observer, but an Arbitrator. And from this situation, I became completely sure of one fact.

'The penalties of the Observer class aren't permanent.'

They weren't an 'absolute' that could not be changed no matter what you did and tried. The penalty was bound to go away one day, maybe once I reached level 50 and had my second advancement or made a second contract with a new Guardian. Or when something happened afterwards.

'Whatever it is… I can get rid of this penalty.'

When that happened, I would be able to stand tall and proud not as an 'observing sovereign', but as an 'acting sovereign'. My heart continued to tremble.

'I can become stronger.'

That thought echoed in my brain. I could become truly strong. When I first came back to the past, my goal was just to live a happy and harmonious life with my family, to be the smith of my own life, but now, a slightly different goal seemed to have taken root in my heart.

'Getting stronger… is enjoyable.'

It was like I simply came to enjoy Playing more. In this respect, I did indeed seem to have exceptional talent, though I would only be sure once I got past level 40.

In any case, I walked forward.

[Cognitive Dissonance is no longer in effect.]

The duration of Cognitive Dissonance ended. I walked past the crowd towards the D-Tower.

"Hey, the building's supposed to be dangerous."

"Dude, think about it. With all the Players here, it might actually be safer here than inside!"

"Hey!"

A few people tried to stop me, but I didn't respond. I just made my way to the doors.

[Enter the D-Tower?]

I immediately went inside.

[Entering the D-Tower 1st Floor.]

The field changed, and I arrived on the 1st floor. I saw a few bodies—they were the people who had rashly gone inside without heeding my warning. It was unfortunate, but there wasn't anything I could do for them. There didn't seem to be any survivors in the immediate vicinity. I walked forward.

Curiously, there was something that sparked my interest.

'Oh ho.'

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