"Hey, you can see me, can't you?"
The hoarse voice kept echoing, like a fly buzzing around his ears. Dex struggled to maintain his composure.
Besides irritation, only continuously accumulating anger remained in his heart.
There had been some before, but now there was nothing left.
A figure over two meters tall, humanoid in shape, surrounded by swirling black aura, was chattering incessantly in front of him.
Its body leaned forward, hunched over.
Its five fingers formed pitch-black claws, about twenty centimeters long.
Four eyes gleaming with bloody light stared directly at Dex.
It completely ignored the several passersby around, as if Dex was the only person in its eyes.
Carrying a bag of items purchased from a convenience store in his left hand, Dex walked toward his residence with steady steps.
It seemed as if the two existed on different layers, not interfering with each other.
The black shadow monster followed beside Dex, like a reincarnated repeater, constantly muttering without stop.
Except for Dex, everything around—including the entire world—seemed to have been paused.
Dex stopped in his tracks, a hint of astonishment appearing in his eyes.
The book cover was exquisite, with golden borders and beautiful patterns on the four corners.
Within it, dynamic scenes of mountains, rivers, sun and moon faintly appeared and disappeared, and amid the changes seemed to contain all things in the world.
This was indeed his golden finger that had arrived two and a half years late.
He had dreamed of a book, and within that book existed gods, monsters, dragons, angels, and other fantastical beings.
Two and a half days ago, he felt the world had changed.
Rather than saying the world had changed, it was more accurate to say he himself had changed.
His eyes had become capable of glimpsing a more real aspect of the world.
Besides this, he had encountered five others in the past two days.
Like stepping on chewing gum, they had stuck to him.
But all the other monsters had been torn to shreds by the one before him.
Dex focused his attention on the Universal Catalog.
Because the first page of the catalog was none other than himself.
The function of the Universal Catalog could be summarized in twelve characters:
Collect catalog entries, illuminate catalog entries, receive rewards.
As long as he visually observed something of certain value, the Universal Catalog would record the corresponding entry.
He hadn't expected that he himself would also be recorded in the Universal Catalog.
His catalog entry now already met the conditions for automatic illumination.
This was the exclusive title for seven beings who stood at the apex of ability users in this world, far surpassing other ability users.
Each Royal Authority was an existence comparable to a human-shaped nuclear weapon.
But the sanctuary deployed by Royal Authorities had defenses strong enough to directly withstand atomic bomb explosions without a scratch.
Glancing at the black shadow monster that had been following him for two and a half days, Dex had no time to think about anything else.
Dex discovered he had 'arrived' in a brilliant and profound cosmic starry sky, as if he had transmigrated again.
It was covered with runic script, with marks that seemed naturally formed.
This was the source of Royal Authority power—the Dresden Plate.
Seven streams of light in different colors flew from the plate toward above.
The seven streams of light transformed into seven great swords of various forms.
The Sword of Damocles showered down light that fell upon Dex.
First Royal Authority: Silver of Immutability.
Second Royal Authority: Gold of Destiny.
Seventh Royal Authority: Colorless Chaos.
Dex felt tremendous power.
Dex, who had unknowingly closed his eyes, opened them again.
A trace of seven-colored light flashed through his azure blue pupils.
"The current me seems somewhat terrifyingly strong!"
Dex clenched his right fist, feeling the surging power within his body.
The second page recorded the black shadow monster before him.
While the Universal Catalog's power to halt everything hadn't yet dissipated, a faint silver-white glow emanated from around his body.
The sanctuary power of Silver Authority could manipulate gravity.
Raising his right hand, crimson flames appeared.
Dex channeled the anger accumulated in his heart into firepower, viciously slapping the black shadow monster's large face.
The crimson flames quickly spread from the black shadow monster's slapped face, expanding to all parts of its body in the blink of an eye.
The black shadow monster that had been pestering Dex for two and a half days just disappeared like this, turning into a wisp of black smoke under the burning flames.
Dex, feeling relieved, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Because of the black shadow monster, he had been on edge for the past two days.
Fortunately, though the golden finger was late, it had arrived, and now he could be at peace.
Looking around, there were no abnormalities.
Dex no longer lingered and walked toward his residence.
He didn't encounter any more beings similar to the black shadow monster.
A three-story detached house with a courtyard, covering 360 square meters—this could be considered a 'wealthy household.'
Dex, with a relaxed expression, plopped down on the sofa and with a thought summoned the Universal Catalog.
Looking at the catalog information for the Claw Specter, Dex slightly narrowed his eyes.
If nothing unexpected happened, the Claw Specter should originate from the "Mieruko-chan" worldview that he knew of.
The reason was that he had yet to encounter familiar existences like Miko Yotsuya or Hana Yurikawa.
Having been transmigrated for two and a half years so far, he had gained a certain degree of understanding about the world he was in.