Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 39

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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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Chapter 39. Divine Beast
Affiliation: Earth / Human / South Korea
Name: Park Chan-woo
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Height/Weight: 179cm / 65.3kg
Level: -89
Strength 3(1+2)
Vitality 13(1+12)
Agility 8(1+7)
Intelligence 3(1+2)
Mana 27(1+26)
Status: Weakest, Sickly, Frail, Nonexistent, Terminal Condition, Heavenly Poison Immunity
Total Attack Power: 255
Total Defense Power: 147
Class: Mage (11Lv)
Available Spells: Reflection (Great Magic, Unique), Heavenly Punishment (Lightning Magic, Unique), Ultra Regeneration (Passive, Unique)
Remaining Class Level Points: 0
Equipped Items:
World Tree Staff(-98Lv, Eternal)
Frost Crown Helmet(-95Lv, Legendary)
Demonic Armor(-98Lv, Epic)
Arahan’s Golden Mystery(-89Lv, Ancient)
Demonic Gauntlets(-98Lv, Epic)
Drunken Benefit Belt(-95Lv, Unique)
Hermes’ Shoes(-92Lv, Ancient)
Abyss Item Inventory:
Easter Egg(001), Mage’s Stone(Mana+9, Legendary), Nihility(Eternal), Coin(41)
Pet: Bokshil(15lv, Eternal)
Park Chan-woo stared at his status window in disbelief.
Not a single flaw to be found.
Everything traced an upward curve.
Attack power, defense power, level, every stat had climbed sharply.
But that wasn’t all.
‘My magic ranks have increased along with the class level.’
Upon reaching Mage Class Level 11, the rank of every spell in his arsenal had ascended one tier.
From Rare to Unique.
Something he’d never experienced before.
Having advanced to Mage at level 90, he’d never pushed a class level to 11 until now.
‘When class level reaches certain thresholds, special effects take hold.’
Spell ranks might increase, stats might surge, or perhaps the number and grade ceiling of learnable spells would expand.
For Park Chan-woo, it was nothing short of a miracle.
His entire body should have trembled with joy, yet his expression remained grimly serious.
“…My height and weight have dropped.”
Something had diminished.
He’d lost a centimeter in height, now standing at 179cm.
His weight had fallen from 71 kilograms to 65.
Compared to immediately after his Regression, the change was vertigo-inducing.
Yet it wasn’t as though muscle had built up in compensation.
‘I’ve been running ceaselessly, but I’ve been equally mindful of eating.’
One might expect weight loss from never resting, yes—but wasn’t this shift far too extreme for that?
Moreover, he’d eaten regularly, on schedule.
He’d made effort to consume carbohydrates, protein, and fat in balanced measure.
He hadn’t stuffed himself, but neither had he scrimped.
‘It must be the Abnormal Status.’
He was dying.
Even as his stats climbed, his physical condition seemed to deteriorate unchecked.
Raising stats alone was no solution.
And after attempting to solve the fundamental problem with World Tree fruit, hadn’t he nearly shortened his Terminal Condition window instead?
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin, lost in thought.
‘I have to keep his condition from getting any worse.’
Getting stronger mattered, of course, but deteriorating further was unacceptable.
Usually strength and bodily condition went hand in hand.
Park Chan-woo was the exception.
The harder he pushed to grow stronger, the worse his body became.
…So what was he supposed to do?
“Dagon.”
Poof!
The moment Park Chan-woo spoke the demon merchant’s name, smoke billowed and he materialized.
In a decidedly awkward posture.
“……Please refrain from summoning me on days other than those we agreed upon.”
Twice a month.
They’d arranged to conduct their transactions only on the 15th and the last day.
However, ’emergencies’ were an exception.
And for Park Chan-woo, this situation qualified as nothing less than an emergency.
“What were you doing?”
“Reading, sir.”
“Demons read books?”
Caught off guard by Park Chan-woo’s question, Dagon straightened his knees and back before answering.
“A merchant’s studies know no end.”
“Though your sales ranking must be among the lowest, you certainly have admirable spirit.”
“…….”
Among the lowest didn’t begin to describe it. Dead last.
Dagon kept quiet about that fact out of shame.
Part of him wanted to indulge in some private despair, but he didn’t have the luxury for that now.
Though Dagon had said ‘reading’, he’d actually been poring over texts related to Sephiro.
‘The being most suited to the title of Absolute.’
…The more Dagon learned, the more monstrous Sephiro became.
He began to understand why the lords of the Abyss despised him.
Arrogant and presumptuous, he scorned even the lords themselves.
His Absolute Magic, which had toyed with the Abyss countless times, was depicted terrifyingly in every text.
Dagon didn’t know why Sephiro, despite being a dragon of unknowable nature, had chosen to appear in human form in this shabby world, but such was his inscrutability.
How could a mere demon merchant possibly comprehend the thoughts of a being possessed of such transcendent status?
‘Unknowable. Is there anyone to whom that word applies more perfectly than Sephiro?’
The titles by which Sephiro was called were innumerable.
He alone was the ‘Divine Slayer’ who’d felled a supreme lord, the ‘Transgressor of Truth’, the ‘Herald of Chaos’, the ‘Speaker of Endings’, the ‘One Who Stands Above Infinity’, and countless others…….
“……Why have you summoned me? Is there something urgent to trade? No, wait…….”
That monster bearing over a thousand titles had just called upon Dagon.
Dagon studied him nervously, but then recoiled in horror.
Specifically, at the fur-ball draped across his shoulders.
“Wh-what is that horrible creature?!”
“…Horrible creature? You don’t mean Bokshil?”
Shiver-shiver-shiver-shiver!
Dagon stumbled backward, trembling violently.
It was instinctive, not a conscious choice.
The presence of Bokshil had inspired such alarm in him.
Chirp?
“Aahhhhh!”
The moment Bokshil tilted its head, Dagon let out a shriek.
Puzzled by Dagon’s reaction, Park Chan-woo took a step closer.
“P-please, stay away!”
Dagon’s face went ashen instantly.
It was hardly a normal response to something so small and cute.
“Why are you acting like this?”
“B-but isn’t that a Divine Beast?!”
……A Divine Beast?
A sacred creature.
Or rather, a term used to describe divine animals.
Yet Bokshil’s true nature was Anubis.
Though it had undergone a brilliant transformation and evolved by consuming holiness, it was far from what one would call a Divine Beast.
At least the Divine Beasts that Park Chan-woo knew of were truly extraordinary creatures.
‘Sometimes, from the borders of the Abyss, monsters called Divine Beasts would burst forth.’
Without exception, they were colossal, majestic beasts that wielded divine power at an absurd level.
Occasionally, when the Abyss created by a Creator overlapped with another’s territory, they’d spill out, and the Abyss would sound an emergency alert.
Most demons would flee, and the Creators themselves would hesitate.
Moreover, Divine Beasts made no distinction between demon and human—they annihilated all who trespassed on their domain.
Since the Abyss itself would be destroyed nine times out of ten, when a Divine Beast emerged, you didn’t look back; you used a Coin to escape.
‘Insane! Carrying a Divine Beast around like a pet!’
Yet Dagon couldn’t have been mistaken.
Demons and Divine Beasts were natural enemies.
The aura emanating from that furry mass was unmistakably the same as that of a Divine Beast.
The Divine Beast’s aura wasn’t strong yet, but the power sleeping within it was far from ordinary.
When he’d seen it before, there’d been no sense of this.
Had it been hiding itself then?
In any case, the only one capable of carrying a Divine Beast around like a pet would be Sephiro.
‘…It has to be Sephiro.’
Dagon swallowed hard.
The moment his certainty that this man was Sephiro solidified.
“Ah, in any case… what business did you have summoning me?”
Dagon straightened his posture.
Though Divine Beasts and demons were mortal enemies, his counterpart was Sephiro.
No—a Trader.
He took the deepest breath he could and regarded him carefully.
Then Park Chan-woo spoke.
“Can you buy height or weight for a price?”
“…We cannot sell anything beyond the goods and information in the Merchant Society’s inventory.”
Demon merchants dealt only in goods and information.
Height and weight were entirely out of the question.
There was no way such things could be bought or sold.
“What about a fattening potion or something?”
“Hmm, there is a Transformation Potion that temporarily alters one’s appearance. Or perhaps you’re referring to an Elixir that restores the body’s vitality?”
Park Chan-woo shook his head.
Taking an Elixir would simply register as a buff effect.
An increase in attack and defense power for a hundred hours—that was all.
‘…There’s no solution.’
Certainly, the demon Merchant Society wouldn’t have anything like a fattening potion.
No one would need such a thing anyway.
How could he restore his height and weight to normal?
“I….”
“……?”
“The human body is quite inefficient.”
Dagon examined Park Chan-woo carefully.
He could immediately see that his height and weight had diminished.
He could sense why he was troubled about this.
‘Even the mighty Sephiro doesn’t seem to understand the human body well.’
Of course—dragons could live without sleep or food.
Their bodies didn’t weaken.
They were creatures akin to spirits, sustaining themselves on Mana.
If Sephiro, a dragon, had transformed into a human body, it made sense he might not understand the inefficiency of human physiology.
“The human body requires considerable time to recover. And proper nutrition and rest must first be in place.”
“I know that already.”
“Might I examine you?”
“Do as you wish.”
The moment permission was granted, Dagon moved.
Rather than examining Park Chan-woo himself, he rummaged through his living environment.
When Dagon opened the refrigerator in the kitchen afterward, his expression darkened.
“Your refrigerator contains nothing but convenience food. Are you even eating proper meals?”
“It’s nutritionally sufficient.”
“Several items have expired, haven’t they?”
“There’s no problem consuming them.”
“The smell is so… No, why aren’t you throwing it away?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not spoiled.”
Dagon’s eyes trembled sharply.
Dagon understood humans well.
It was essential knowledge for becoming a merchant, and more importantly, understanding them made transactions far easier.
Yet Park Chan-woo’s lifestyle differed vastly from the typical humans Dagon knew.
Even if Sephiro was pretending to be human.
How to describe it—like witnessing the imperfect side of a perfect being.
Dagon let out a small sigh.
“……Please, have a seat.”
“……?”
“I’ll need to purchase ingredients first. Then I’ll prepare a meal for you. Just sit and eat, if you would.”
Park Chan-woo tilted his head, puzzled. “Can a demon merchant cook human food?”
“Can a demon merchant cook human food?”
“Preparing dishes from various races is something of a hobby of mine.”
Park Chan-woo thought it odd that a demon would have such peculiar tastes.
* * *
Dagon’s cooking exceeded all expectations.
It rivaled that of a professional chef, if not surpassed it.
As for nutrition, there was nothing more to say.
“Does it suit your palate?”
“Excellent.”
“Ah, and this isn’t a transaction. Consider it a service for my exclusive contractor. Please don’t worry.”
“I understand. I’ll trouble you often from now on.”
“…….”
There had been no mention of transaction from the start.
Dagon had offered of his own accord.
It was work that held no monetary value.
And Park Chan-woo, understanding this, accepted Dagon’s kindness.
Over the next three days, Dagon saw to all of Park Chan-woo’s meals.
Perhaps because of this.
His weight, which had dropped to sixty-five kilograms, recovered to sixty-seven.
His height returned to one hundred eighty centimeters as well.
‘Good.’
Adequate meals and rest.
It seemed those two things had been the problem after all.
He had overlooked that beyond mere nutrition, ‘proper meals’ were necessary.
‘I owe Dagon thanks for this.’
Before the regression, he had been able to function on minimal food.
But now he was a modern person requiring genuine satiation.
Without eating properly, even basic bodily functions grew difficult.
Still, thanks to Dagon’s care with meals and comfort, his physical condition was optimal.
‘Rest is sufficient now. It’s time… to ascend the tower.’
All his effort to recover had been for this single purpose—climbing the tower.
Once he began, he would see it through to the end.
While he rested, the world underwent tremendous change.
Innumerable towers rose across the globe.
‘The Tower of Arrogance!’
Those towers, which only those who had broken through the limit level in the First Awakening could ascend—called the Tower of Arrogance.
The towers trained Awakeners and pitted them in competition simultaneously.
‘One reason the Creators had prepared Arrangements for incarnations.’
The Creators had known beforehand that these towers would rise.
Thus they had attempted to feed their contracted incarnations various Elixirs under the guise of Arrangements.
For only those who had achieved First Awakening could climb these towers.
‘The Creators hope their incarnations perform well on the Tower of Arrogance.’
Even the Creators did not know who had built the Tower of Arrogance.
It was known only by the name of an unknown Creator—the Lord of Arrogance.
However, when an incarnation contracted to a Creator climbed the Tower of Arrogance and achieved results, substantial benefits returned to that Creator.
Moreover, in the Abyss, the name “Arrogance” carried considerable weight even among Creators.
‘The Lord of Arrogance. Even Han Shin failed to uncover the meaning behind that name.’
Many had sought to unravel the meaning of arrogance.
Han Shin was one of them.
But in every tower that bore the name of arrogance, humanity had never once—
‘In the past, no one had ever reached the summit.’
No one had ever climbed to the top.
No one had ever laid eyes on the summit.
The Tower of Arrogance, in particular, imposed strict conditions.
Only First Awakeners could gain entry to the Tower of Arrogance—that was the singular rule.
Once a Second Awakening was achieved, entry became impossible; and since even First Awakeners could enter only once, he had devoted himself entirely to recovering his body.
‘To see the end.’
And Park Chan-woo intended to see the summit of that place.

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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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