Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 109

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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 109. Striking a Deal with Adora
The first question that came to mind was, naturally, this one.
Why was Adora here?
And how had she even entered this place?
More puzzling still — how could she have arrived before him?
“What method did you use?”
He asked with a trace of suspicion in his voice.
Close as they might be, she was still a witch.
There was only one being he trusted completely, without reservation — the Sacrifice God.
Adora’s reply came with a note of resignation.
“It appears to be a side effect of the Soul Contract. My territory and this one suddenly connected.”
The Soul Contract.
A pact sworn between Park Chan-woo and Adora.
It signified an absolute bond operating on an entirely different plane than an Avatar Contract.
According to its description, she was to be his “soul’s companion and support,” so it was hardly strange that his territory had become linked to hers.
And yet.
“What were you doing here?”
It seemed odd that she would arrive the moment the connection formed.
More than that — she had been waiting by the portal, as if she’d known he was coming.
Had Adora harbored ill intent even for a moment, he would have become nothing but dust of the Abyss the instant he crossed over.
“I was waiting. For you to cross over.”
“Waiting for me to cross over? Why?”
“Would it be acceptable if I used this territory?”
She cut through the pleasantries and went straight to the heart of the matter.
Indeed, Adora had been waiting for Park Chan-woo.
Valhalla — the territory of warriors, ruled by Aheta the Lunar Lord, and used as the venue for the Second Night — held considerable value.
But the suddenness of the proposal caught Park Chan-woo off guard, and he could only tilt his head in confusion.
“Don’t you have a territory in the Abyss?”
Through the Black Witch’s little finger, Adora had seized the qualification of Creator.
At the same time, she would have been granted a certain portion of territory within the Abyss.
Specifically, the space capable of generating a Creative Abyss.
“I’m not sure where to begin explaining this.”
Adora fell silent for a moment.
Her hesitation was palpable.
Yet without an explanation, she would never receive permission to use Valhalla.
Park Chan-woo waited in silence, and after a long pause, Adora finally spoke.
“The territory I was given was… pitifully meager. I didn’t become a Creator with any existing foundation, you see. I tried to expand it, but I alone was insufficient.”
Only a Lord of the Abyss could become a Creator.
Adora, by contrast, was a witch of the Abyss — not a lord. Even if she acquired the Creator’s qualification, her foundation was lacking.
To expand territory, one would need to invade like the Conqueror Khan, or employ some other sophisticated method — tasks far beyond Adora’s solitary reach.
To accomplish anything alone, without even a basic support structure, was impossible.
Expanding influence using a wasteland of a territory was equally difficult.
And beyond all that.
Adora was still growing.
Compared to the true Lords of the Abyss, she was like a child.
She could not yet manage the countless demons that those lords commanded.
Perhaps, once the talent the Black Witch had coveted bloomed and matured within her — but even then, a “superior territory” would be necessary.
Park Chan-woo, grasping the general outline, spoke.
“You’re thinking of using Valhalla’s land as your territory to create a Creative Abyss?”
“Yes. Valhalla is among the most valuable regions in the Abyss, so creating a Creative Abyss here should be quite feasible.”
To create and execute a large-scale Creative Abyss like the Second Night, no ordinary territory would suffice.
It had to be considerable in worth — which explained why the Lunar Lord Aheta had held dominion over it.
Park Chan-woo paused to reflect.
He understood, broadly speaking, how a Creative Abyss came into being.
“Creators establish a Creative Abyss within their own territory and link it to the world.”
That was why uninvited intruders in one’s Creative Abyss were shown no mercy.
It amounted to trespassing on one’s territory.
Would a lord simply stand idle while someone unauthorized invaded his land?
Of course he would attempt to annihilate them.
“The level and effects of a Creative Abyss depend on the value of the territory used to create it.”
Creating a high-Grade Creative Abyss required multiple conditions.
Various elements would shift depending on the characteristics of the Territory.
If it were to take place over the sea, it would be fair to say the Creator had built the Creative Abyss in a Territory where water’s nature ran strong.
Thus, a Creator needed Territories with diverse characteristics.
That was all the information he possessed about Creators.
“I’m not saying I’ll use it for free. I’ll pay rent.”
Instead of using Valhalla’s land, he would pay a usage fee.
It was a remarkably unconventional proposal.
The rent would surely be in Coins, and that was far better than letting the land sit idle.
Clink!
Clink!
Clink-clink-clink!
The moment Park Chan-woo thought this, Coins piled high upon Adora’s palm.
He blinked.
Adora possessed far more Coins than he’d anticipated.
Sensing his gaze, Adora offered an explanation.
“I wagered every Coin I had in this Second Night. Thanks to that, I was able to acquire quite a few Coins.”
There had been elements of gambling involved.
What Adora had wagered her Coins on was the Survival Rate.
While most Creators bet on Survival Rates between ten and twenty percent, Adora had bet on eighty percent or higher.
As a result, she’d been able to acquire nearly thirty times her original Coins.
She’d only had two Coins to begin with.
“You’re saying you gambled?”
His head spun for a moment.
Wagering every Coin she owned amounted to the same thing as outright gambling.
In other words, she could have been ruined.
Had something extraordinary occurred and he died, Adora would have died as well.
Stripped of the Creator’s qualification, with no protection from the Abyss, left alone, the Black Witch would never have let Adora go unharmed.
Adora shook her head.
“I don’t consider it gambling when you place your bet with certainty in victory.”
“Gambling is gambling. Don’t ever attempt something so reckless again.”
Park Chan-woo spoke firmly, his words carrying weight.
If Adora were ruined, matters would become difficult in every way.
Her Creator’s qualification shielded her from harm, and the moment she lost that qualification and the Black Witch identified Adora, Park Chan-woo would die alongside her.
To contend with the Black Witch that had clawed its way up from the Deep Abyss, one had to be at least Demon God Rank.
He was far too young to stand against such a being.
That was when it happened.
‘Is she… laughing?’
A faint smile played at the corners of Adora’s mouth.
Stiff though it was, it was unmistakably a smile.
Was this situation amusing to her?
Soon Adora spoke.
“Are you concerned for my life?”
“That’s an obvious question.”
Adora’s life was not hers alone.
It was the same as his own.
He had to avoid, at all costs, a future where Adora was ruined.
“I understand. I won’t attempt anything reckless.”
Adora nodded quietly in compliance.
Park Chan-woo exhaled in quiet relief.
“I’m relieved you understand.”
“In any case, regarding the usage fee for the Territory—what do you think?”
“Fifty Coins as permanent usage fee for the Territory?”
“No. One Coin per day. This is fifty days’ worth for now.”
“If you pay that, you’ll have barely any Coins left.”
“Well, about five will remain.”
“Keep them.”
At the suggestion that he would advance fifty of his fifty-five Coins, Park Chan-woo immediately expressed his refusal.
To this, Adora spoke cautiously.
“Is one Coin per day insufficient?”
“It’s not so much a shortage as it is that creating a Creative Abyss consumes considerable Coins, or so I understand.”
“True enough.”
“Can you create a proper Creative Abyss with five Coins?”
“Hmm, perhaps something quite small, but……”
It would be virtually worthless.
From what he knew, creating a genuine Creative Abyss required dozens, even hundreds of Coins.
A value that weak humans alone could never fill.
He would open a gambling house to recoup his investment.
No other Creator would cast a covetous eye on a Creative Abyss built with merely five Coins.
The likelihood of anyone participating was vanishingly small.
In short, a waste of Coins.
Park Chan-woo deliberated.
Several approaches came to mind, but he had to determine which was most promising.
‘Coins can be transferred without any conditions attached.’
Coins were the Abyss’s one and only currency.
They functioned as a critical element for every being that inhabited the Abyss.
Above all, they could be transferred.
‘Which means I could give my Coins to Adora.’
Just as Adora had tried to give him Coins as a usage fee for his territory, he could transfer Coins to her in turn.
The Avatar Contract that Creators and humans entered into followed a similar logic.
When a human bound by an Avatar Contract acquired Coins, they dedicated a set proportion to their Creator.
Thus Creators were compelled to invest in cultivating their Avatars.
That was why they used their own Coins to arrange various benefits for their Creators.
But unlike them, Park Chan-woo and Adora could exchange Coins directly.
If that were the case……
‘I can wager with my own Coins.’
It meant he could venture into the Creators’ gambling houses himself.
As that thought took shape, Park Chan-woo inwardly shook his head.
‘……If I did that, one failure and I’d be finished.’
A single mistake could cost him everything.
Hadn’t he witnessed it countless times?
Creators consumed by gambling, bankrupted and ruined.
Even with small wagers, participants’ outcomes could lead to far greater losses.
Stepping into their gambling houses was dangerous.
In truth, the very idea of entering a game they’d already rigged was foolish.
No matter how skilled he was at creating variables, he couldn’t guarantee success every time.
Which meant……
‘Rather than entering a gambling house of their making, I need to make them enter one of mine.’
He needed to draw Creators to his gambling house instead.
Having quickly organized his thoughts, he spoke.
“I’ll invest.”
“……Invest? You mean……?”
“I mean to put my Coins into the Creative Abyss as my stake.”
“……!”
Adora’s frame trembled faintly.
She hadn’t anticipated he would actually commit to an investment.
Park Chan-woo continued.
“In exchange.”
“…Do you have terms?”
Adora’s expression hardened further.
An investment. Moreover, one being made without even charging usage fees.
It couldn’t be for nothing.
What condition would he ask for?
Adora felt a trace of tension as she studied Park Chan-woo.
Then he opened his mouth.
“How would it be if we built it together? The Creative Abyss, that is. Of course, we’d split all the Coins earned from this territory sixty-forty.”

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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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