Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 34

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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 34. Han Yeon Group
The Twelve Superior Races.
The twelve most exceptional beings in existence.
Among them, the Dragon Race was unmatched in the field of Magic.
From birth, without anyone teaching them, they could wield fifth-tier Magic, and upon becoming a mature dragon, they naturally reached ninth-tier with each breath.
After living a thousand years and reaching the stage of ancient dragon, the world of tenth-tier Magic opened before them. Beyond that, one could ascend higher or plateau depending on individual effort and talent.
Yet the Dragon Race was a monstrous species that could achieve up to tenth-tier without any particular effort. With the blessing of birth alone, they more than fulfilled their role as masters of Magic.
The ruler of such a race was Sephiro.
One praised for possessing skill so exceptional that it had no precedent even among the Dragons themselves.
An absolute being who had pioneered Magic of the thirteenth-tier and beyond—tiers that had never existed before!
Yet the name ‘Sephiro’ was taboo among demons.
An object of both hatred and dread.
This stemmed from a war that had taken place in the distant past.
There had been a time when Sephiro alone trampled the lords of the Abyss like insects beneath his feet.
To him, nothing was impossible.
He dismissed all limits as trivial.
He always toyed with the Abyss through methods that defied all expectations.
……If it were Sephiro, crossing dimensional boundaries would be child’s play.
He could transform into human form, or pierce the human mind and control the body directly.
‘There’s no way a human could know that name unless it came from Sephiro himself. If I assume this man is Sephiro, everything falls into place.’
No demon merchant, no creator would reveal that name to a human.
The fact that he learned the Merchant’s Rules from Sephiro was the same.
If this human had a close connection to Sephiro from the start—or more to the point, if this was a body controlled by Sephiro—it held credibility.
Sephiro, with his infinite wisdom, would see through the Merchant’s Rules without even looking at them.
Bankrupting countless creators and gathering twenty-one coins would have been a trivial matter for him.
Every circumstance from beginning to end pointed to one conclusion.
This human was Sephiro.
…….
Dagon worked the abacus in silent stillness.
If he truly were Sephiro, he had to uncover what this ‘Exclusive Contract’ meant.
After a long silence, Park Chan-woo spoke to Dagon.
“Still wrestling with doubt?”
“…Why me?”
“You’re asking why you want to form an Exclusive Contract with me?”
“There must be many demon merchants ranked higher than me. Why specifically me?”
No matter how he worked the abacus and calculated the possibilities, he couldn’t grasp it.
Confused, Dagon asked, and Park Chan-woo merely shrugged.
“I hear that taking the World Tree Fruit directly without the guild’s consent was quite impressive.”
“That… you know about that too?”
This concerned ‘practical matters’ not written in the Merchant’s Rules.
Clear evidence that he knew even the practical details.
At this point, Dagon had no capacity left to be surprised.
Of course, Park Chan-woo’s high regard for Dagon stemmed from his ‘honesty.’
Though facing bankruptcy, he had never encountered a demon merchant who openly revealed his own worth.
Moreover, Dagon had frankly stated that the World Tree Fruit held a value of approximately seven million.
It all matched what Park Chan-woo already knew.
“…I have no choice. I understand.”
In the end, Dagon nodded his assent.
He had come to realize there was no answer but to form the contract.
Then, moments later, he grasped another startling fact and asked.
“You… what’s your name? Now that I think about it, we’ve already transacted, so why don’t I know your—”
To form a contract, one must know each other’s names.
But they had already conducted one ‘transaction’ before that.
When a demon merchant completes a transaction, the name of the other party automatically reveals itself to him.
He doesn’t even have to try to know it.
The true name appears above their head.
Yet he did not see the name.
No name appeared above his head.
As if the very existence itself were absent.
Dagon stared down at the unconscious man on the floor.
‘Han Min-o.’
The name hung above his head: Han Min-o.
The merchant’s ability was functioning normally.
“There’s no way you don’t know.”
“I really don’t… Wait. Could it be… Is it actually *that* name?”
“*That* name?”
“Seph… Damn it!”
Even in a situation like this, it was difficult to speak Sephiro’s name aloud.
But if Sephiro were truly omnipotent, such a thing would be possible—he could circumvent the merchant’s authority or seize the mind itself to render the name invisible.
Watching Dagon’s peculiar behavior, Park Chan-woo stifled a hollow laugh.
‘So I’ve gone and convinced him I’m Sephiro.’
Mistakes are harmless enough, but Sephiro, all the same.
The feeling was strange.
And yet, he couldn’t deny it either.
‘My real name isn’t being read. The merchant’s authority isn’t functioning properly. Is this the influence of Non-existence as well?’
To conceal one’s true name from a demon.
There could be no greater blessing than this.
Why else would creators hide their names?
A name was proof of existence itself.
If Park Chan-woo’s identity remained hidden, it would be possible to slip free from this unreasonable situation.
But the water had already spilled.
Since things had come to this, leaning into the misunderstanding was one viable strategy.
He’d never imagined that Sephiro—his very enemy—would prove useful in this way.
“Yes, the name you’re thinking of is correct, Dagon.”
Park Chan-woo committed to it.
He declared himself the Dragon God Sephiro.
In that instant.
“……!!!”
Dagon’s pitch-black face drained to ashen white.
‘One final hurdle remains.’
Words alone couldn’t make Park Chan-woo into Sephiro.
When the contract was sealed, there was potential for his true name to be revealed through the process itself.
The last test would be whether the name Dagon perceived would actually function at the system level.
Since this was the first time a demon merchant had ever failed to read a contractor’s name, there was no experience or knowledge to draw upon for such a situation.
And so, he was curious.
Even if his true identity were exposed, he could simply brush it off as a joke.
Park Chan-woo hardened his expression and lowered his voice.
“My patience ends here, Dagon.”
“Ah, understood.”
Dagon, recovered, shifted to a more respectful tone and proceeded with the work.
《’Dagon’ requests an Exclusive Contract.》
《Do you accept?》
《The contract between ‘Dagon’ and ‘Sephiro’ has been concluded.》
《’Dagon’ may not trade with any other entity, and ‘Sephiro’ may not trade with any other demon merchant.》
《’Sephiro’ must trade with ‘Dagon’ at a value of 5,000,000 on a thirty-day cycle.》
《In exchange, ‘Dagon’ may retain only a 20% profit margin from ‘Sephiro’.》
《Should the contract be violated, the violator must pay the other party ten times the penalty value.》
《Failure to pay results in the violator’s annihilation.》
……It went through.
Whether the demon merchant Dagon’s perception had influenced the system was unclear, but the system too recognized Park Chan-woo as ‘Sephiro’.
‘So this actually works.’
Park Chan-woo was inwardly astonished.
Something genuinely impossible had just occurred.
A demon merchant who couldn’t read a name was unheard of.
The merchant’s authority to read names was absolute.
Even a creator, if standing before a merchant’s gaze, would have their name laid bare.
Which was precisely why creators never kept merchants close.
In the Abyss itself, ‘demon merchants’ were treated as pariahs. There was no way such lowborn could ever come into the presence of a lord.
All of this had been recorded in the ‘Demon Dictionary’ that Sephiro had circulated.
‘It must be purely because of Dagon’s perception.’
Park Chan-woo paid little attention to Sephiro’s name appearing in the system.
That wasn’t what mattered right now.
‘Something beyond reason just happened.’
And it had turned out favorably for him alone.
As Park Chan-woo rather than Sephiro, he could negotiate with another demon merchant, or back away from unfavorable terms.
……
Dagon wore an expression of resignation.
He seemed to have accepted everything.
There was no longer any room for doubt.
That was when it happened.
《’Easter Egg (001)’ has received fortune!》
《The contract terms are being adjusted.》
《’Dagon’ may only retain a 15% interest rate from ‘Sephiro’.》
It was bleeding him dry beyond even the cruelest of terms.
Manipulating the system’s numbers at will—another impossibility made real.
“……Ah.”
The corners of Dagon’s eyes, having surrendered all thought, glistened with moisture.
* * *
The transaction had been a resounding success.
He’d obtained the World Tree Fruit from Dagon, a Superior Elixir, and Hermes’s Shoes.
With the Superior Elixir, he’d saved the life of the man whose arms and fingers had been severed.
Having forced Dagon into such a corner, he could afford such mercy.
After that, Park Chan-woo prepared to execute his next plan.
‘From here on, it’s a race against time.’
Thirteen Dungeons across South Korea remained uncleared.
To clear them all within the allotted time, Hermes’s Shoes were essential.
Wearing them caused movement speed to become absurdly fast.
Park Chan-woo examined the winged boots closely.
Details appeared before his eyes.
Name: Hermes’s Shoes
Level: -92
Grade: Ancient
Description: Boots imbued with a wind spirit. The wearer is said to be able to run like the wind.
Equip Slot: Footwear
Defense: 25
Durability: 2,000
Unique Options:
(1) Movement speed increases by 50%.
(2) Obstacles can be overcome easily.
(3) Agility increases by 5.
(4) Running endurance is extended.
Excellent.
With these, he could clear Dungeons quickly without rest.
He switched his equipment at once.
《’Demonic Boots (-98Lv, Epic)’ has been unequipped.》
《’Hermes’s Shoes (-92Lv, Ancient)’ have been equipped.》
In an instant, his body felt light as a feather.
‘I’ll consume the World Tree Fruit after clearing every Dungeon.’
Eating the fruit immediately could trigger something unpredictable. He needed to prepare thoroughly before attempting it.
Park Chan-woo’s eyes gleamed.
And then.
《’Fire Fiend’ has been defeated!》
《’Fire Dungeon’ cleared!》
《’Fire Dungeon Abyss’ is ending.》
He tore through the Dungeons at a frenzied pace.
* * *
Han Min-o felt as though he’d awakened from a long dream.
He couldn’t have believed that falling into the Abyss and having his fingers and arms severed was reality.
Yet the dream had been far too vivid.
‘It wasn’t a dream.’
When he opened his eyes, he was in a narrow room.
The hellish Abyss had vanished without a trace.
‘Torn and severed marks…….’
His arm was reattached, but the scars from the lacerations remained.
It was proof that everything he’d endured was real.
‘That man saved me.’
A vague image of a man flickered through his mind.
A nameless stranger had pulled him back from the brink.
His savior. His benefactor.
‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.’
Though he didn’t know how to repay such a debt, Han Min-o spoke his gratitude with absolute sincerity.
“……Whoever you are, mysterious benefactor—I swear I will repay this kindness.”
He was the sort of man who felt compelled to repay any debt he incurred.
The moment an opportunity arose, he resolved, he would make good on that promise.
Zing!
Suddenly, the phone beside Han Min-o chimed.
With trembling fingers, he reached for it.
He tapped the screen, and a notification of unread messages appeared.
「Come to the office at once.」
The message itself was unremarkable.
Except for one detail—the sender was labeled “Chairman.”
The chairman of the Han Yeon Group. His father.
What he’d told the Demon Merchant hadn’t been a lie.
‘An abandoned son, wasn’t I…….’
Yet his father had sought him out only once in the past ten years.
They barely maintained any contact at all.
He’d spent more than a decade locked away in that cramped room.
Part of him recoiled at the summons, but refusing would only result in being dragged there by force.
His father was that sort of man.
An absolute decision-maker who bent everything to his will.
“Hah.”
Exhaling slowly, Han Min-o dressed himself and stepped outside.
He drove through Seoul and entered the parking garage of a gleaming skyscraper in the heart of the city.
The headquarters of the Han Yeon Group, sixth-largest conglomerate in South Korea.
A man in uniform greeted him at the entrance.
“Welcome, Young Master.”
“……The Chairman summoned me?”
“Yes. I’ll show you the way.”
He followed the man into a VIP elevator, ascending to the thirty-first floor.
They stopped before the conference room entrance.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump!
His heart hammered wildly in his chest.
The chairman of the Han Yeon Group. His father was a man of steel.
Han Min-o couldn’t even imagine what words might pass between them.
Yet he clenched his fists firmly.
‘I died and came back alive in the Abyss. Compared to that, this is nothing.’
He’d walked through hell itself.
There was no reason to fear meeting a living man.
Han Min-o quietly opened the conference room door.
“……You don’t need bodyguards?”
“I don’t.”
“No matter how inhuman you are, your opponent is a real monster.”
“I can protect myself.”
Inside the conference room, two familiar men were in conversation.
One was his father. The chairman of the Han Yeon Group.
And the other…….
‘Damn it.’
The most feared person in the world.
A man more terrifying than his father stood in this room.
……Had he been summoned here with this man too?
But in their eyes, Han Min-o might as well have been invisible.
He was treated as though he didn’t exist at all.
Han Min-o bit his lip, lowering his head before he managed to speak to them.
“I… I’ve arrived, Father. And, um, um, Han Shin… brother.”

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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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