After Regressing, I Gained the Power of the Demonic Dragon - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 53
[You can use the Purified Corruption Crystal as a material for black magic.]
Sang Hyuk’s eyes gleamed.
This was the first material he could use for the Reconstruction of the Black Magic Record.
But there was no time to examine it closely.
A new settlement window appeared above it.
“Beginning final settlement for the Four Spires of Plague.”
[You have achieved the shared objective.]
[You have met the personal promotion contribution threshold.]
“Promoting to Silver Tier in the Eastern Channel.”
[Regular Channel Personal Record]
[2 Wins 0 Losses → 3 Wins 0 Losses]
[1st Place in Personal Contribution]
[Match MVP]
[South Korea / Lv.33 / Private]
[You have earned personal ranking points and league currency as victory rewards.]
[You have earned personal ranking points and league currency as MVP bonus rewards.]
[South Korea Channel League Season Points +5]
As the final settlement ended, a blue light engulfed the battlefield.
나만재밌으면됨 vanished from the field without another word.
화살아껴씀waved toward Sang Hyuk even as light swallowed him.
“See you in Silver!”
방패는안접음 gave a brief nod in parting.
The moment Sang Hyuk bowed in return, his vision flooded with blue.
Whoosh!
When he returned to reality, PlayerNet already had the promotion match results posted.
[Eastern Channel Silver Promotion Match]
[South Korea / Lv.33 / Private]
[Battlefield: Four Spires of Plague]
[Clear Time: 03:42]
[Spires Maintained: 4/4]
[Central Guardian Stone Durability: 100%]
[Corrupted Spires Cleansed: 1]
[Silver Promotion]
[Match MVP]
Comments exploded beneath the clear record.
[Korea/Lv.31] RecordBoardRefresh: What the—one player quit from the start and you’re telling me 4/4 spires and 100% guardian stone durability?
[Korea/Lv.36] RulesPopupDaily: That troll is 나만재밌으면됨, right? The one notorious for sabotaging promotion matches in Bronze. And he still cleared it like that? Insane.
[Korea/Lv.38] ToiletBeforeBossRoom: In a battlefield where you’re supposed to grind your teeth for twenty minutes… and he eliminated the source of plague itself, clocking out in under three minutes ㅋㅋㅋ I can’t even imagine the time if that troll wasn’t there.
[Korea/Lv.32] AverageMansCalculator: Beep boop! Another Impossible Left match—calculation error detected!
[Korea/Lv.33] ImpossibleLeftDevotee: Not a calculation error. I’ve already input: if Impossible Left is there, we always win.
[Korea/Lv.42] SojuInRiceBowl: Summary of this promotion match: Impossible Left did the impossible again~
[Korea/Lv.33] NewbieGuardian: Seeing him hard-carry with a troll on the team is so inspiring~ I’m heading to grab my Channel League participation ticket right now!
[Korea/Lv.36] RulesPopupDaily: Me too ㅋㅋ If Impossible Left’s putting in that kind of effort, I should contribute to our country’s score too.
Similar posts multiplied rapidly.
Players who couldn’t fight as overwhelmingly as Impossible Left were pulling out their dormant participation tickets to add their strength to South Korea’s score.
The movement appeared immediately in the queue.
Korea’s Bronze and Silver wait times, usually sparse, filled quickly.
Players who’d seen Impossible Left’s match were entering their own battlefields to fight.
One match.
Then another.
Victory points from other Korean players stacked neatly atop the score Sang Hyuk had brought.
The score gap between South Korea and the country ranked directly above them on the national standings shrank rapidly.
Finally.
Flash!
South Korea’s name rose one rank higher.
[South Korea Channel League National Season Ranking]
[63rd → 62nd]
New posts poured onto PlayerNet.
[Korea/Lv.31] RecordBoardRefresh: South Korea moved up to 62nd!
[South Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian Corps: Impossible Left finished a match and the queue got so backed up that he actually climbed in rank!
[South Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup: Started at 64th place and already climbed two spots lol Is this the Impossible Left effect?
Sang Hyuk’s victory was far more than a single match won.
It was a spark of hope that set South Korean players in motion, one by one.
Sang Hyuk’s victory was calling back to the battlefield even those players who had grown accustomed to defeat and left their entry permissions unused.
South Korea, which had started at the season’s lowest point, began its slow climb upward.
This was exactly the momentum Sang Hyuk had wanted to create.
Before his return, with each defeat, the number of participants from South Korea in the Channel League had continued to dwindle.
A sense of resignation spread—why bother going out there just to lose—and with each unused entry permission, the gap between South Korea and other nations only widened.
But now it was the opposite.
Those who had witnessed Sang Hyuk’s victory began to think they might give it a try themselves, and they headed to the Channel League’s battlefield.
Those choices translated into actual points, pulling South Korea up one more rung.
Sang Hyuk gazed briefly at South Korea’s name—now ranked 62nd—then closed PlayerNet.
Now it was time to confirm the rewards from the Promotion Match.
‘Let’s go to Oego.’
He had no way of knowing what changes might occur if he absorbed the Purified Corruption Crystal.
He had no intention of experimenting in the real world where anyone might see.
Sang Hyuk used the Sealing Key to enter Oego.
Whoosh!
* * *
Hummmmm!
The moment Sang Hyuk crossed the threshold of Oego, crystals embedded in the ceiling blazed to life in sequence.
The Guardian Beast, who had been surveying the First Storage Area, immediately turned its head.
Upon spotting Sang Hyuk, it approached with a light, easy gait.
[You’re back.]
[Where’ve you been this time?]
“The Channel League.”
Sang Hyuk came to a stop before the Guardian Beast.
“I got promoted—I’m Silver Tier now.”
The Guardian Beast tilted its head quizzically.
[Being Silver Tier is a good thing?]
“It means I’ve climbed one rank higher than before.”
At that, the Guardian Beast’s violet eyes suddenly gleamed bright.
Both tails wagged contentedly.
[Then congratulations, Master.]
“Thanks.”
Sang Hyuk slowly stroked the Guardian Beast’s head.
It accepted the touch without complaint.
A moment later, as Sang Hyuk turned toward a low stone platform set deep within the First Storage Area, the creature tilted its head again.
[But why did you come straight back?]
“There’s something I wanted to check.”
Sang Hyuk retrieved the Purified Corruption Crystal—no larger than the palm of his hand—from his Inventory and set it on the stone platform.
Within the crystal, the Power of Corruption churned slowly, casting a deep crimson light.
The Guardian Beast followed and brought its nose close to the crystal.
[Yuck!]
It jerked its head back in alarm, then rubbed the tip of its snout with a front paw several times.
[What’s that smell? What is this thing?]
Sang Hyuk chuckled at the sight.
“Who told you to stick your nose right up to it?”
[I was checking because it’s something I’ve never seen before.]
“So what did you find out?”
The Guardian Beast regarded the crystal with a look of distaste.
[It smells rotten.]
“Well, it contains the Power of Corruption, so you’re not wrong.”
[Did you bring it back from the Channel League?]
“It’s a reward from the Promotion Match.”
[What do you use it for?]
“It’s a material for crafting a new Black Magic Record.”
[So you’re going to absorb it now?]
“Yeah.”
The Guardian Beast’s face crinkled slightly again.
[You’re not actually going to eat it, are you?]
“It gets absorbed into the Black Magic Record.”
[Either way it ends up inside you, doesn’t it?]
“At least I don’t have to taste it that way.”
The Guardian Beast didn’t look entirely convinced, but offered no further protest.
Instead, it settled onto the stone bench across from Sang Hyuk, keeping its eyes fixed on the crystal.
Sang Hyuk turned his attention back to the crystal as well.
Now came the moment to absorb it directly.
The instant Sang Hyuk placed his right hand on the crystal, the Heart of the Apocalypse Demon Dragon beat with a heavy thud.
Thump.
The Black Magic Record unfurled in his mind’s eye.
On the first line, Decline was carved in place.
Below it, Dark Seal shimmered with a faint light, locked until level fifty.
Next came the page of Reconstruction, which opened at level thirty.
Over the empty page floated the form of a Purified Corruption Crystal.
[You may use the Purified Corruption Crystal with Reconstruction.]
[The crystal will be completely consumed upon absorption.]
[Do you wish to proceed?]
‘Absorb.’
Crack.
A hairline fracture spiderwebbed across the crystal’s surface.
A deep crimson energy poured through the gaps, flowing up Sang Hyuk’s hand and seeping into his chest.
Thump!
As his heart beat again, the remaining power in the crystal drained away all at once.
The crystal, which had fit in the palm of his hand, rapidly shrank to nothing, leaving not even dust behind.
In his mind’s eye, the crimson energy gathered into the center of Reconstruction’s empty page.
No words appeared above it.
Only the gathered energy trembled, refusing to take solid form.
「You have absorbed the Purified Corruption Crystal.」
[The Power of Corruption is recorded on the Reconstruction page.]
[Current status: Incomplete.]
[For now, you can only summon the power you have absorbed.]
[Refine this power in actual combat and complete it as a new black magic art.]
Merely absorbing the material was not enough to complete a black magic art.
Extracting the power from the crystal and depositing it in Reconstruction was only the first step.
It would be Sang Hyuk’s responsibility to give that power form and purpose, to complete it as a black magic art.
When Sang Hyuk opened his eyes, nothing remained on the stone bench.
Sang Hyuk spread his right hand and drew forth the power lingering in the Reconstruction page.
Swish.
Crimson energy coalesced at his fingertips.
Sang Hyuk attempted to push the power beyond his hand.
But the energy failed to travel even a hand’s breadth; it lost its form and scattered into the air.
He had succeeded in drawing the power forth.
That was all.
The energy did not yet gather or disperse according to his will.
It had no form worthy of being called a black magic art.
The Guardian Beast’s gaze shifted back and forth between Sang Hyuk’s empty hand and his face.
[The crystal’s gone.]
“But the power it held remains in the Black Magic Record.”
[So you’ve created a new black magic art?]
“Not yet.”
The Guardian Beast’s ears tilted slightly.
[Even though you’ve used all the material?]
“I’ve only extracted the power from the material. Now I have to decide what I’m going to do with it.”
The Guardian Beast watched for a moment where the crimson energy had just scattered.
[So this time you’re creating the black magic art yourself.]
“That’s right. I’ll have to build it from here.”
The Guardian Beast’s two-pronged tail rose slowly.
[When it’s finished, show it to me first.]
“Why?”
[I’m going to leave it as a new record in Oego.]
Sang Hyuk’s eyes widened slightly.
“The Black Magic Record I created?”
[Yes.]
[The power you’ve forged is a legacy that Oego must safeguard.]
The Guardian Beast swished its twin tails as it spoke.
[And I want to be the first to see it.]
A faint smile crossed Sang Hyuk’s lips.
“All right. I’ll show you first when it’s complete.”
The Guardian Beast’s violet eyes gleamed.
Sang Hyuk opened the Black Magic Record in his mindscape once more.
In the chapter on Reconstruction, a crimson force shimmered formlessly, its surface unmarked by any name.
It had neither name nor purpose yet.
On the next battlefield, he would refine that power directly, perfecting it as his first Black Magic art of his own.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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