Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 5

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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 5. Tier-Ending Gear
Thump-thump! Thump-thump! Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might burst.
His breath came in sharp, rapid gasps.
But he couldn’t bring himself to calm down.
‘Eternal Grade… this can’t be real.’
Eternal Grade items almost never dropped even from Diamond boxes.
Before his regression, he’d managed to secure only three Eternal Grade weapons in total.
Items found in the Abyss were divided into eight grades in all.
Normal, Rare, Unique, Epic, Ancient, Legendary, Eternal, and Zero.
Gold boxes topped out at Epic.
Even Platinum boxes could yield no higher than Legendary.
An item that should never have been possible.
‘I’ve heard whispers that when a box’s grade increases, it occasionally produces items beyond its usual tier.’
But even that was extraordinarily rare.
Yet an Eternal Grade item dropping from a Platinum box—he’d never heard of such a thing in his life.
Aside from the Holy Grail of the Sealed Demon God, he possessed no Zero Grade equipment or tools, making this the highest tier he could obtain from the Abyss.
But the shock wasn’t merely about the grade.
‘They’re all tier-ending gear.’
Just reading their names made his mind go blank—the kind of equipment that people commonly called ‘tier-ending.’
The World Tree Staff, the Helm of the Destroyer King, and Gaze Knight’s Great Sword were all items among the highest echelon of Eternal Grade equipment.
No matter how high one’s level, without gear like this to back it up, one could never rise to the rank of High Ranker.
As the exclusive domain and proof of the strongest, calling them ‘tier-ending’ was a title no one would dare dispute.
What about the Heart of the True Dragon and the Grimoire of Stars?
Consuming the Heart of the True Dragon could transform one’s constitution entirely.
The Grimoire of Stars was used when advancing to the class of Star Mage.
Any spellcaster treading the path of magic would drool over either of these.
‘And I’m asked to choose only one?’
Honestly, it wasn’t an easy decision.
Though Park Chan-woo wished to walk the Path of Truth, he had originally been a warrior and knight.
The Helm of the Destroyer King and Gaze Knight’s Great Sword bore no relation to a mage, yet knowing their worth, he couldn’t simply discard them.
‘Gaze Knight’s Great Sword was one of the Sword King Lee Hyuk-su’s favorite blades.’
Specifically, that great sword was one of five prized blades in the collection of the Sword King Lee Hyuk-su.
The image of him shattering the Horse King’s skull with that very blade was as vivid before his eyes as if it had happened yesterday.
How he’d envied that moment.
Park Chan-woo had never been fortunate with equipment.
Most critically, he didn’t possess a single proper blade.
‘If I started with that sword, I could walk the path of a knight far more perfectly…’
Its absurdly broken passive effect raised the level of all sword-related skills.
He could wield far greater might as a knight than before.
But Park Chan-woo deliberately shook his head.
His aptitude did not lie with the blade.
Rapid growth was possible, but mastery would elude him.
Not even with a superior sword and fuller armor would it change.
He would never reach the heights the Sword King Lee Hyuk-su had attained.
Hadn’t he already learned this lesson once before?
His choice had been decided from the very beginning.
《You have completed your reward selection.》
《You have obtained the ‘World Tree Staff.’》
Name: World Tree Staff
Level: -98
Grade: Eternal
Description: A staff crafted by Argzos, the god of blacksmiths, using the World Tree as its material. According to ancient lore, in a distant age when magic flourished in a highly advanced civilization, only those called the ‘Grand Mage’—the greatest mages of their time—could wield this staff.
Equipment Slot: Staff, One-Handed Weapon
Attack Power: 31
Durability: 1,500
Unique Options:
(1) Magic Power increases by 10.
(2) Elevates the Grade of all magic by one tier.
(3) Transcends one chosen magic into Grand Magic.
Park Chan-woo’s pupils trembled faintly.
The unique options attached to the World Tree Staff were brutally potent.
Nothing but abilities that any mage would dream of adorned it.
‘Grand Magic. It means converting magic into Divine Power.’
The most crucial was the third and final option.
Transcending a single chosen spell into Grand Magic meant granting it performance equivalent to Divine Power itself.
Park Chan-woo smiled faintly.
Though he wasn’t yet even a mage.
……But that would change soon enough.
‘I’ll walk the Path of the Grand Mage.’
The Dragon God General Sephiro.
Countless had faltered trying to reach that monster.
Yet Park Chan-woo’s magic alone had left a wound on its flesh.
The sovereign of magic itself had marveled, calling him a Grand Mage.
If he truly began walking the Path of Truth, he could achieve results far different from before.
‘It’s already evening.’
Park Chan-woo gazed out the window.
The sun that had been setting gradually was now completely submerged below the horizon.
Darkness had filled the world.
Soon everyone would drift to sleep, one by one, in preparation for tomorrow.
At this hour, all people were letting their guard down.
Surely the Abyss wouldn’t open again today.
Surely this wouldn’t keep repeating.
The Park Chan-woo of the past had thought the same.
‘They won’t spare us any consideration.’
Park Chan-woo looked up at the full moon.
Soon, a brief message appeared before the eyes of all humanity.
《’Night’ has fallen.》
《The Abyss of the ‘First Night’ will open shortly.》
《Earthlings wishing to participate, please gaze upon the ‘Moon’ immediately.》
《The event will begin once 2,000,000 participants have gathered.》
《Should the above number not be reached within 30 minutes, ‘Death’s Abyss’ will open across all of Earth.》
Night had fallen.
A night that for some was the cruelest, and for others perhaps the most vital.
Park Chan-woo was already gazing at the moon.
‘If Death’s Abyss opens, at least tens of millions will die.’
Death’s Abyss was the worst.
Humanity had experienced ‘Death’s Abyss’ once in the past, and ever since had spared no effort to ensure the participation numbers were met.
Reapers appeared across the globe and indiscriminately slaughtered people—and would continue until sunrise.
Yet if one participated in the ‘Night’s Abyss,’ the rewards were boundless.
It didn’t open often, and the more special the ‘Night,’ the greater treasures it yielded.
Naturally, the Abyss of the ‘First Night’ was more special than any other night.
He’d heard that Priceless Treasures—items beyond valuation—had been discovered in abundance.
‘I didn’t participate back then.’
But the past version of himself had been unable to enter this Abyss.
The terror of what he’d experienced at noon had left him too afraid to attempt it.
It wasn’t only Park Chan-woo—most people had felt the same.
Naturally, people worried whether the ‘2 million’ participants would even be reached.
But.
‘There are more mad fools in this world than anyone realizes.’
Now Park Chan-woo had become one of them.
What he wanted from the ‘First Night’s Abyss’ was exactly two things.
‘…To obtain the Mage Class and find the Mage’s Stone. I will succeed in these two at any cost.’
Two things that would become the foundation for rapid growth.
The Mage Class and the Mage’s Stone.
It was also called the Philosopher’s Stone, and it had supposedly been discovered in the First Night’s Abyss.
Of course, it had only been found—not claimed.
No one had actually obtained the Mage’s Stone.
But to truly walk the path of a Grand Mage, one must find it.
The Mage’s Stone was a Growth-type Treasure whose benefits multiplied the sooner it was obtained.
If he could only obtain the Mage’s Stone at this moment, he would surely draw one step closer to the Dragon God General Sephiro.
‘I will surpass you. I must, Sephiro.’
Park Chan-woo wanted more than that.
To become an absolute being whom no one could oppose—that was his goal.
Soon the words that had awaited him appeared before his eyes.
《Participation has been completed.》
《Two million participants have gathered.》
《The participants will now enter the First Night’s Abyss.》
《You must work together until dawn to slay the Twelve Divine Generals!》
《Everything needed to kill the Twelve Divine Generals exists within that Abyss.》
《If you fail to slay all of the Twelve Divine Generals, all participants ranked 20,000th in Contribution or lower will perish.》
Boom!
In that instant, a tremendous explosion erupted far in the distance.
Something that had fallen from the sky like a comet vaporized the surrounding area.
‘One of the Twelve Divine Generals.’
One of the Twelve Divine Generals had appeared in Korea.
—Lee Hyuk-su, if you could return to the past, what would you most want to avoid?
—…Only a madman would ask such a strange thing. If I went back to the past, what exactly should I avoid?
Sword King Lee Hyuk-su.
One of humanity’s strongest, the third to reach Level 99.
On the path toward the Dragon God Tower. When the entire strike force was dying.
He never fled from an approaching battle, and despite his unyielding spirit of challenge earning him the name “Abyss Hunter,” he answered Park Chan-woo’s question with an expression of utter disgust.
—…Obviously the First Night’s Abyss. Other Twelve Divine Generals can be defeated, but that Dragon God General—there’s no way to kill it.
If I could turn back time, I would avoid the First Night’s Abyss without question.
And I would absolutely never face the Dragon God General.
‘Lee Hyuk-su must be here as well.’
Park Chan-woo watched the world stain with Abyss and thought.
The Sword King Lee Hyuk-su was in this Abyss.
And the Dragon God General—once called the worst and most vicious in all of history, the one who had brought 1.98 million to their deaths—was also here in Korea.

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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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