The Sorcerer's Handbook

As the sun rose over the horizon, its rays spilled into the heart of Azura. The city seemed to bloom like a flower touched by a Miracle, shyly opening its petals.

Traffic on the roads thickened, swarms of drones filled the sky, and people of all races began another calm, contented day. Annan’s car remained parked not far from Holy Spirit Complex. By now, the Red Hats had erased every trace of the previous night. The suspect was apprehended, the body was removed, and the victims were sent to hospitals for psychological care.

Perhaps the ordeal of the beastman sorcerer would be the talk of neighbors for a few days, but life here moved fast and was fulfilling. Soon, the discordant noise would be forgotten.

Ashe and Annan watched in silence as the Red Hats carried out their duties. When the first shafts of sunlight hit the car, it struck Ashe like a slap to the face.

The cult leader spoke slowly, ”So this is the ’reality’ you wanted Harvey and Iger to see?”

Annan replied, ”Something like that, I carefully selected tasks I knew would affect you in just the right way.”

”Your real target was that blonde man, wasn’t it?”

”Exactly. It’s an ordinary assassination task. In the past, I would never have accepted it. Even if my methods were fully legal, the Book of Gospel would still have lowered my office’s rating. But now it doesn’t matter. To give you these experiences, the office is already compromised. Consider it burned to the ground.”

”What was your plan?”

Annan held up three fingers. ”Identify the target, find a proxy, then let the proxy take care of the target.”

”But how do you control the proxy?”

”Everyone has desires. The Book of Gospel doesn’t force anyone to suppress them; it only helps conceal your actions with lies. In pursuing your desires, you inevitably encroach on someone else’s interests. Yet beneath the layers of deception, you neither notice the harm you cause nor realize when others harm you. The social web the Gospel weaves is intricate, but fragile at the same time. All I have to do is lift the curtain of lies. What follows is merely the natural collision of desires.”

”In other words, you can destroy anyone’s life?”

”It depends. Some targets are easier than others. And as I said, these tasks lower the office’s rating. Anyone with ambition wouldn’t take them. Not everyone has exploitable weaknesses. For instance, those on the Unattached Ranking have no social connections to destroy.”

”Newcomers like you, who have just arrived in the Gospel Kingdom, are like tiny flies, not yet caught in the web. But as long as you live here, interact with others, and pursue your desires, you will eventually become entangled. You will use the Book of Gospel to harm others silently, and they will do the same to you.”

In fact, if you know nothing, you can be happy. Life is on easy mode. The Gospel constantly weaves curtains of lies, shielding you from the world’s filth and letting you embrace the happiness of your dreams. You can enjoy peace, occasionally indulge in dark impulses, and live comfortably.”

The Purple Moth observed the cars streaming past and spoke softly, ”With such a sophisticated social system, the Book of Gospel reduces pointless internal conflicts. With the leaderboard as motivation, productivity soars, and happiness indicators, such as security, resident satisfaction, and quality of life, remain high. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

Annan flicked her amethyst earring and glanced at Ashe. ”Do you like the Book of Gospel?”

Ashe asked, ”How do Harvey and Iger feel about this?”

”They didn’t answer directly. Harvey seemed furious, while Mr. Perskin appeared almost uncontainably delighted.”

”Of course. Harvey hates having his life controlled, while Iger believes he can manipulate anyone through rules...”

Annan turned her gaze to Ashe. ”And you? Do you despise this system, or do you want to use it?”

”I’m not naive enough to judge a society that has upheld the stability of the Gospel Kingdom for centuries based on words alone. Still, you’ve achieved your goal.”

”Oh?”

”I will do everything to obtain the Divine Lord’s wish,” Ashe said, eyes fixed on the inverted city above. ”Not to change anything, but to hold a piece of leverage, something that ensures I myself will not be changed.”

If Ashe had remained entirely unaware, he could have continued living blissfully ignorant in the Gospel Kingdom. But now, having glimpsed the vast web the Book of Gospel wove, there was no way he could calmly accept his fate.

On reflection, he realized that despite the Blood Moon and the Gospel Kingdom having vastly different social systems, they both worked to confront the same fundamental problem. They had to find a way to reduce friction between the gears of society as productivity reached extreme levels.

When everyone could survive with minimal labor, the traditional family structure naturally collapsed. Humans were inherently selfish; giving was contrary to their nature. In the past, scarcity forced people to band together to survive, and because work consumed nearly all of their time, there was little opportunity for desires to surface.

Once productivity reached a certain threshold, two challenges arose. People suddenly had the time to pursue pleasure and seek a better life, while also being able to sustain themselves without relying on others. If left unchecked, these factors would stall society, depress fertility rates, and intensify tensions between races, classes, and regions, squandering social energy on pointless internal conflicts

To counter that, the Blood Moon Kingdom and the Gospel Kingdom offered two radically different solutions.

The Blood Moon Kingdom hit the accelerator and went full throttle. It didn’t wait for families to collapse naturally. It abolished them outright, creating a society of orphans. Everyone began life alone. Consumerism was aggressively promoted, discrimination was banned, and systems like the Blood Moon Tribunals, Moon Candy, and mud cafe encouraged people to vent their anger. Children could simply be purchased.

By contrast, the Gospel Kingdom concealed contradictions rather than confronting them. If society were a chaotic game, the Book of Gospel served as its ultimate solution. It regulated everyone’s desires, masked conflicts, and, behind a clever curtain of lies, allowed citizens to live in apparent happiness. Leaderboards encouraged progress, giving everyone hope. Citizens, accustomed to the ”easy mode” of life, followed the Gospel’s guidance on fertility, employment, and education, creating a self-sustaining virtuous cycle.

Through this comparison, Ashe finally understood the scale of the Divine Lord’s miracle imposed on the kingdoms. No. It was a true feat of divinity.

The Blood Moon Lord had engineered a sustainable yet exploitative system: the Blood Moon Promotion System. It ignored societal contradictions, used them to hide the exploitation of the second race, and relied on a few elites to propel society forward.

The Omniscient Weaver, in contrast, wielded the absolute authority of the Book of Gospel to suppress and conceal all social conflicts, turning educated citizens into obedient participants. Work, reproduction, and consumption were meticulously calculated and controlled. Compared to apocalyptic, destructive power, this top-down miracle that reshaped every individual’s fate made Ashe feel infinitesimally small.

”I’m glad you are finally standing on my side,” Annan said with a smile. ”As I thought, compared to intangible temptations, a real threat is the only way to make you willingly join my plan.”

Ashe glanced at her. ”But Miss Annan, is it really all right to stir our desires like this? I won’t even mention Iger and Harvey. They’ve never known restraint and only look out for themselves. Are you really that confident in the contract?”

Annan extended her hand. ”The purpose of a contract is to tear it up. What comes next isn’t necessarily hatred. It could just as well be an alliance. Let’s cooperate sincerely, each carrying our own hidden agenda.”

Ashe looked at her seriously and took her hand. ”Oh, and don’t forget, you promised to help me top up my game account once I finish the mission—”

”Ten thousand copper coins,” Annan replied.

”No way. Ten thousand copper coins only cover a pass and a monthly card. I also need the big monthly card, newcomer packs, limited-time packs, and the pass level-up pack, otherwise I can’t reach level 1000...”