Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 27

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

Episode 27: Treasure Chest
Boom!
The massive hippopotamus creature collapses.
As the beast—easily three times the size of a normal hippopotamus—crashed to the ground and shook the floor, the people gathered around erupted in applause.
“Ooooh!”
“Our saviors!”
“We believe in you, we believe!”
More than thirty people stood witness.
Among them were members of the Yeomyeong Study Group who had followed Lee Hyeok-soo from the beginning, as well as those who had entered on a reckless whim and found themselves in mortal peril.
They gazed at the two men before them with uniform admiration.
……
“I won again this time.”
A tiny, shrunken Gold Box rested in the man’s palm.
For contributing the most to slaying the colossal hippopotamus, it had come to him as a Quest reward.
Lee Hyeok-soo, by contrast, received a Silver Box as the second-highest contributor.
The man let out a soft laugh.
“Still, that wasn’t bad. Except you were tensing your shoulders and wrists too much. Since you’re not used to a real blade yet, just fix the habit before it takes root.”
……
The man had offered his critique to Lee Hyeok-soo.
He had a habit of droning on at length about sword stances, the proper way to engage monsters, and the like.
But Lee Hyeok-soo maintained his silence.
There was no reason to welcome someone who had appeared out of nowhere to offer unsolicited advice.
‘What is this guy?’
After cutting off Yu Han-seop’s arm, Lee Hyeok-soo had continued hunting monsters throughout the Abyss.
In the process, he had saved people, and naturally a group had formed around him.
Though they praised Lee Hyeok-soo as a “savior,” he himself harbored no grand ambitions of becoming such a lofty figure.
There was only one reason he had entered the Sushin Abyss.
To protect his mother.
If South Korea remained safe, then his mother would be safe as well.
Yet at some point, this man had appeared and asked to join the group, and since then had done nothing but poke and prod—not quite hindering, but certainly pressing.
“Come now. Wouldn’t it be time to form a Party?”
The man kept insisting they form a Party together.
Of course, Lee Hyeok-soo knew from experience that forming a Party wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
After all, thanks to traveling with the Seer, he had been able to kill the Dragon God in the First Night of the Abyss.
But this situation was different.
The fact remained that this man, creeping close with false familiarity, was wearing on him.
Lee Hyeok-soo was not a social person by nature.
He was well aware of it himself.
Yet he also knew well that someone suddenly acting close to you was rarely ever worthwhile.
When Lee Hyeok-soo turned away, the man continued to rattle off the advantages of forming a Party.
“If we form a Party, we can divide the rewards according to Contribution. Quests will become easier, and we’ll level up more smoothly. And if we work together, we can even kill the Water God.”
Thump.
Only when the Water God was mentioned did Lee Hyeok-soo come to a halt.
“I have no intention of forming a Party with someone whose identity I don’t even know.”
“…It’s Han Shin. Han is my family name, Shin is my given name. I’m thirty-one years old.”
“Lee Hyeok-soo.”
Though his reply was curt, Han Shin laughed.
Speaking only one’s name suited his style better anyway.
In the world that lay ahead, what would age and occupation matter?
What truly mattered was martial power.
Only overwhelming strength—the power to shatter flesh and bone—would represent everything.
‘He certainly has talent.’
Han Shin held Lee Hyeok-soo’s abilities in high regard.
The more they fought, the more he clashed with monsters, the faster he adapted at an astonishing rate.
Clear evidence that his fundamentals were already solidly grounded.
It seemed he had been seasoned in combat from the start.
‘And he has an edge to him.’
Of course, the quality Han Shin valued most was something else entirely.
…He was almost without fear.
He did not avert his eyes, did not retreat—a fearlessness that commanded respect.
Like a beast, possessing an instinct to tear at an opponent until death.
‘To think there exists another being like me in this world.’
Admiration spilled from his lips.
Han Shin had always been different from childhood.
He was stronger than others and instinctively knew how to fight.
His muscles grew with every breath, and he demonstrated an innate gift for wielding weapons.
But Han Shin had no interest in athletics.
Even a master who’d trained his entire life needed only a month to be surpassed.
National representative? World champion?
Whatever field required physical prowess, Han Shin excelled at it.
Defeating them took no more than thirty days.
Had he been born in ancient times, he would surely have been called the God of War.
So how could he find interest?
‘Back then, everything was boring.’
In modern society as it stood, his abilities were nothing but a curse.
Refining his body meant nothing when there was nowhere to fully employ it.
A blood-soaked battlefield?
No matter how strong one became, there was no stopping bullets.
So Han Shin had lived concealing himself.
…Until the Abyss appeared.
‘The Abyss is a world made for me.’
He trembled with barely contained exhilaration.
At last, a world had emerged where he could test the limits of his power.
A place where firearms meant nothing.
A lawless realm where only the strength of flesh could prove one’s worth.
The perfect world of survival of the fittest!
‘I will reach the apex.’
Become the strongest.
And thereby save humanity.
Become the world’s ruler, its guiding force.
But he could not accomplish all of this alone.
He needed reliable subordinates to serve as his hands and feet.
For instance—
Lee Hyeok-soo. Someone like this man, possessed of such brilliant, radiant talent.
Talent yet to bloom—Han Shin could cultivate it himself.
“Let’s capture the Water God. Lee Hyeok-soo.”
Han Shin spoke with emphasis.
Moments before, when Lee Hyeok-soo had mentioned the Water God, he’d paused.
He’d genuinely been considering hunting the Water God.
Reckless, perhaps—but all the more to Han Shin’s liking.
…….
Lee Hyeok-soo deliberated.
Han Shin was certainly formidable. Though Lee Hyeok-soo had never seen him in the First Night of the Abyss, both his raw power and equipment were clearly formidable.
In a direct confrontation, honestly, the odds favored Han Shin.
Lee Hyeok-soo didn’t know where this monster had come from, but if he wanted to capture the Water God, forming a Party would make things far smoother.
The method of forming a Party was simple.
Once two people clasped hands, it formed automatically.
Han Shin extended both hands without hesitation.
“Why keep thinking about it? I want to save South Korea too. But I can’t capture the Water God alone. Isn’t it times like these when we should combine our strength?”
…….
Lee Hyeok-soo’s hesitation stemmed from a different concern—Han Shin’s true identity.
What if Han Shin was an Avatar?
It was entirely possible.
But hunting the Water God was also a grave matter.
That was when it happened.
“Hmm?”
Han Shin tilted his head.
Then, suddenly rummaging through his garments, he withdrew an empty glass vial and frowned.
‘…The Lich’s vitality that had been contained in the Life Vessel has vanished.’
It was peculiar.
Preparation for himself.
To annihilate the Lich Necromancer, he had hidden the Life Vessel beforehand.
Once he drew close and shattered this glass vial, the guardian protecting the Altar would vanish.
The Barrier would naturally dissolve as well, and he could open the Treasure Chest atop the Altar and seize the “Preparation” within his grasp.
By having people witness this process, he would establish himself naturally as the “savior.”
But it was gone.
The vast life force that should have been contained within the Life Vessel had vanished.
‘Surely not….’
Han Shin’s brow furrowed inwardly.
Had the Lich died?
And someone had opened the Barrier?
Even if that were the case, opening the Treasure Chest would be impossible.
Only he knew the magical pattern required to open the Treasure Chest.
Well, to be precise, that Lich who served as the Altar’s priest would know it too… but how could a husk with its soul sealed away possibly reveal that method?
Han Shin breathed slowly and deeply.
‘Still, they’ll never open that chest.’
Yes. His “Preparation” was safe.
He was certain they could never take it.
“What’s wrong?”
“…No, it’s nothing. In any case… shall we complete the Party arrangement?”
At Lee Hyeok-soo’s question, Han Shin forced a smile and replied.
* * *
The Lich Necromancer, Yan.
Once a priest of the Orcs, he was now meeting annihilation.
By now, most of the petals had entered Anubis’s jaws.
Yet Yan was joyful.
At last he could find peace, and if that end came through that “being,” it was truly perfect beyond measure.
“I humbly offer my death to you.”
The one who calls death, guides it, and consumes it.
Yan rightly offered his death to him.
He should have died long ago.
In the war with the foreign race, his fellow Orcs had been annihilated, and Yan alone had guarded the Altar.
To fulfill his role as priest, he had sacrificed his life to erect the Barrier.
But gradually, he had become a Lich.
‘Ahetha. Cursed god of night.’
Ahetha, that god of night, had turned Yan into a Lich and bound him there.
The foreign races who followed Ahetha had turned Yan’s world into a sea of flame, and beings like himself who possessed special abilities were forcibly sealed under the name of “death.”
After that, Yan had been trapped in the Temple of Death for a long time.
Anubis had been the guardian protecting the Temple of Death but had fallen into corruption, and the temple’s master had changed to “Ahetha,” yet….
“I behold the one who shall be the master of ‘death’!”
Yan accepted annihilation with joy.
He did not know why that being walked alongside humans, but there was no doubt that such an entity was deeply connected to death itself.
Gulp!
Radiant Anubis swallowed the final petal.
At that moment.
《’Radiant Anubis’ has consumed the ‘Flower of Life (Legendary).’》
《The deferred death of ‘Orc Priest Yan’ has been fulfilled.》
《’Radiant Anubis’s’ Ability Score growth rate increases by 1.1 times.》
《’Radiant Anubis’ has gained 10 Latent Ability Points.》
《The ‘Pet’s’ Latent Ability Points can be directly set by the owner.》
Radiant Anubis underwent rapid growth.
Moreover, he obtained the “Ability Score growth rate” itself.
It was a miraculous effect.
‘Better than an Elixir.’
Consuming death seemed similar to a human consuming an Elixir.
And he had a full ten freely allocable Ability Points.
This was something that even the finest Elixir could not provide.
“I know the magical pattern needed to open the Treasure Chest. I shall undo it with my final remaining power.”
In an instant, the Lich Yan’s body, which had been frozen in place, began to move.
He raised his staff toward the Altar.
So it was.
Whoooosh!
Brilliant light poured from the Altar.
The light rushed into the Treasure Chest.
And then.
Creak-eeeek!
The Treasure Chest opened.
“Thank you, for granting me peace……”
The moment Yan’s words ended.
Psshhh!
Yan’s body turned to dust and scattered.
《Orc Priest Yan has found peace.》
《Hidden Quest ‘Hunting the Lich Necromancer’ has been completed.》
《Rare Achievement ‘The One Who Led the Lich to Death’ has been unlocked.》
《Prestige increases significantly.》
《You have been awarded 1 Coin.》
《The grade of treasure in the Treasure Chest has risen one tier.》
A Hidden Quest with a rare Achievement.
Humans ordinarily had no way of obtaining Coins except by bankrupting the Creator.
But if the Creator placed Coins directly as a reward, the matter was entirely different.
‘He meant to give everything to that one.’
The Creator who had contracted with him seemed quite eager to shower rewards on the author of this Arrangement.
The rewards themselves, the Achievements unlocked—all of it was generous.
Depending on the Prestige acquired thereafter, different Abysses and Quests would open up, along with new Titles, so the work of steadily breaking Achievements and building Prestige was quite vital.
Park Chan-woo chuckled softly and moved toward the Treasure Chest.
He was intensely curious what had been left in this Arrangement at the end of such a labyrinthine process.
Without hesitation, Park Chan-woo peered inside the box.
And then.
“……Insane.”

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