Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 65

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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 65. Creator Community
The Tower of Arrogance had vanished.
Something no one could have imagined.
The impossible had come to pass.
When the tower suddenly disappeared, South Korea fell into chaos.
But chaos was not confined to South Korea alone.
Rather, the tumult there paled beside the uproar that erupted elsewhere—a roar that drowned out everything.
The Abyss.
The Demonic Realm, where hundreds of billions of demons and lords made their homes!
―The Tower of Arrogance went bankrupt?
―That thing could go bankrupt?
―Hah. I don’t believe it.
―If the tower went bankrupt, does that mean the lord of Arrogance actually exists?
―No, it must mean the tower itself was serving as a Creator.
―Either way, this is unprecedented.
―Who on earth bankrupted it?
The name of Arrogance was always being discussed among Creators.
The Trials that accompanied that name were each one a marvel in itself.
They possessed a creativity so daunting that no one dared approach it, and a worldview entirely their own.
This was precisely why Creators strained so hard to have their Avatars conquer ‘Arrogance’.
They could acquire vast quantities of Coins, and by adapting Arrogance’s unique ‘Trials’ into their own Abyss, they could replicate them.
There was good reason for the saying that imitation is the mother of creation.
Creators regularly mimicked each other’s Abysses.
Of course, they claimed those works as entirely their own.
Creators always said it.
“My Abyss is the greatest!”
“My Abyss is the most creative!”
They spoke of their Abyss as something special—created entirely by themselves from beginning to end.
They claimed to have crafted alone every aspect: the terrain, the Trials, the progression, even the monsters that appeared.
But was that the truth?
Absolutely not.
They explored other Creators’ Abysses through their Avatars, secretly stole their creations, and then boasted as if they had made them.
Among all names, ‘Arrogance’ was the one Creators referenced most frequently.
In short, ‘Arrogance’ was the Creator of Creators.
Yet until now, nothing bearing the name of Arrogance had ever gone bankrupt and vanished.
Utterly unprecedented.
It was only natural that such uproar should follow, given that no precedent existed.
This was on an entirely different scale from the usual bankruptcy of individual Creators.
As a result, the ‘Creator Community’—where Creators shared information among themselves—was ablaze with fervent discussion.
―Where did the Tower of Arrogance go bankrupt?
―Earth. It happened in a nascent dimension.
―Huh. Not the Twelve Races?
―So ‘Arrogance’ was defeated in a place where the First Race War hasn’t even occurred yet?
―An anomaly in a nascent dimension—the kind of backwater that only the small-time Creators bother with.
―Even the Twelve Races never conquered ‘Arrogance’.
―Hmm. Earth, you say…….
―How could mere humans possibly conquer ‘Arrogance’?
The Creators could only tilt their heads in bewilderment at a riddle they simply could not solve.
Earth.
A nascent dimension barely touching the infinitely expanding Abyss.
The humans there were weak beyond measure.
Moreover, since the Coins obtainable from a nascent dimension were limited, it was a place only the ‘small-timers’—insignificant Creators of little consequence—bothered to pay attention to.
Most Creators paid it no mind whatsoever, and yet something remarkable had occurred on Earth.
Because.
…Neither the Twelve Races nor their lords had ever dared to conquer ‘Arrogance’.
Yet now, humans barely beginning to grow had conquered ‘Arrogance’.
Disbelief did not begin to cover it—they had crossed into outright incredulity.
There was simply no way to accept it as true.
Humans.
Frail creatures dwelling on that small planet called Earth.
To be incorporated as the thirteenth race, humanity would need to consistently perform well in the Race War, but the demons of the Abyss weren’t even entertaining the thought that humans could ever become the thirteenth race.
“Humans are incompetent and powerless.”
“They’re a race destined to vanish once the Race War ends anyway.”
“There’s no value whatsoever in demons investing in them.”
Compared to the other Twelve Races, humans were weaker than infants.
The Twelve Races could reach the level of the Ten Realms simply through birth and growth, whereas humans were feeble in every conceivable way.
While the Twelve Races all possessed overwhelming talents incomparable to other species, human talent was so thin that it barely registered—less than the dirt beneath their fingernails.
No growth potential. No value in investing.
This was why the powerful Creators and demons of the Abyss showed little interest in Earth.
They considered merely creating an Abyss on Earth to be an “investment.”
Let alone forming an Avatar Contract, or bestowing greater rewards?
What need was there to do such things for insects that wouldn’t even qualify as a thirteenth race?
Thus humanity’s reputation in the Abyss had hit rock bottom.
And yet.
Perhaps humans possessed something like a blessing that no other race had.
The defeat of Arrogance. It does pique one’s curiosity somewhat.
Still, I can’t imagine humans placing in the rankings of the Race War, even if that were true.
Whether this is an ending or a beginning remains to be seen.
It bears further observation.
Something incomprehensible had occurred.
Humans conquered Arrogance without any special privileges, and they hadn’t even fought the first Race War yet.
The fact that these humans, whom they had dismissed as insects, had conquered Arrogance carried considerable implications for the Creators.
Perhaps they were a race worth a modest investment after all.
Buying low and selling high was a valid investment strategy even among Creators.
Creating an Abyss on Earth now cost very little Coin.
But creating an Abyss in the dimension of one of the Twelve Races consumed an enormous amount of Coin.
If humans became the thirteenth race and entered that dimension, it would be too late.
If one were to invest boldly, now was the time.
Ah, it seems the Second Night is beginning on Earth.
A festival for demons, wouldn’t you say?
You never know—shall we make a small investment?
During the Second Night? Or on Earth itself?
The night’s events are overseen by Aheta, the Lunar Lord. That seems worth investing in.
True enough—we’re unlikely to lose money at minimum.
And by observing, we might learn what talents humans actually possess.
Several Creators began deliberating seriously.
The Creator Community was precisely such a place, where every Creator broadcast their own information.
《The Creator of Death has joined the Creator Community.》
The Witch of Death, Adora, had set foot in that community.
* * *
The collapse of the Tower of Arrogance, the defeat of Arrogance, set more than just the Creator Community in motion.
“Does anyone here have information related to this incident?”
“Please, if you have a source, sell it to me!”
“What about those merchants who headed to Earth last time—do they know anything?”
The Demon Merchant Guild.
The demon merchants there were in an equal uproar.
The fact that a Trial bearing the name Arrogance could be bankrupted had been revealed.
Naturally, the number of “customers” taking interest in this incident exploded.
Requests for information on how, and by what means, it had been bankrupted were beyond counting.
Yet among the demon merchants, few understood the actual process.
“Dagon! Do you happen to know anything about this?”
“Pahahaha! What would that fool know?”
“You’re asking the wrong person.”
“He’s dead last in performance year after year. The incompetent wretch couldn’t sell a single thing at that festival either—that’s Dagon for you.”
When one merchant sought out Dagon, the other demon merchants broke into open laughter.
Dagon had failed to post any sales even at the recent Earth Dungeon Summoning Festival.
What could such a Dagon possibly know about a matter of such magnitude?
A waste of time.
All it did was wear out their mouths.
“…….”
In the midst of the chaos, Dagon quietly read his book.
Though the emergency had summoned every merchant to the Guild, they too felt adrift in confusion.
Dagon alone remained composed.
Because he knew.
Among all the demon merchants, he alone knew.
The true nature of this incident, its sequence of events, and the mastermind behind it all.
‘Sepirot. He is a god.’
Dagon believed with absolute certainty that Park Chan-woo was the dragon god Sepirot.
This incident only strengthened that conviction.
The only being who had defeated Arrogance.
What else could he be but a god?
If he sold this information, Dagon would become the center of the Merchant Guild.
But he could not sell anything related to it.
That was the nature of their contract.
However, he could speak somewhat about how the Tower of Arrogance had gone bankrupt.
He could tell them about Adora and Kankun too.
‘In business, trust comes first.’
But Dagon shook his head.
Park Chan-woo was an exclusive contractor and a lifetime customer.
Dagon could not be the first to break faith with him.
He swore to himself that he would say nothing related to any of it.
“Look at him. Won’t say a word.”
“Tsk, tsk. So much for hoping.”
“Just like always—last place Dagon.”
The merchants turned their attention away from him entirely.
Dagon did not mind.
Instead, he focused on the conversations scattered throughout the Guild hall.
“Is there any way for our Guild to get involved in the Second Night?”
“How are negotiations with the Lunar Demons progressing?”
“Insane. Are Creators really participating in droves?”
“There’s no way our Guild can miss this festival—it’s a chance to boost our numbers!”
“We’ve received a response from the Lunar Demons! They say we might be able to station some merchants at Secret Quest Five!”
“That’s all?”
“Requests are flooding in from other guilds too…!”
“What about the specialty shops? They’ll need merchants there too, won’t they?”
“They’re all full already! Well, there is one shop left.”
“Which one?”
“Only the Fame Shop remains!”
“Sigh. At this point, there’s probably no one at the human level who could even use that place.”
“Who would step into the Fame Shop at a time like this?”
“You’d get zero results in there!”
That was when it happened.
“I’ll take it.”
Dagon, still absorbed in his book, quietly raised his hand and spoke.
The mediating merchant tilted his head and asked.
“Dagon! What are you saying you’ll take?”
“The Fame Shop, sir.”
“…Did you not hear? You won’t be able to generate any results in there.”
“I’ll give it a try anyway.”
…
The merchants listening in sneered inwardly.
‘Fool.’
‘Yeah, he really does have the worst instincts in the Abyss.’
‘Just do the opposite of what he’d do and you’ll succeed.’
Here, Dagon was nothing but an incompetent merchant with no real achievements.
A merchant who would have been cast out long ago if not for his father’s influence.
And yet, because of that very same influence, one they could not entirely dismiss.
The mediating merchant let out a long sigh.
“Fine. Give it a shot.”
Once permission was granted.
A sharp shriek tore through the air!
Dagon clenched his fist hard, a grin spreading across his face.
‘I’ve got it. The opportunity.’
He’d seized the chance to make his greatest mark yet.
Park Chan-woo.
If that man used the Fame Shop, first place in commissions was as good as guaranteed—and Dagon would be the one collecting it.
Dagon had been appointed manager of the Fame Shop itself, granting him authority to oversee every item offered for sale there.
‘It’s also a chance to survey the Lord of the Moon Aheta’s treasury.’
Not all of it, perhaps, but he could select certain treasures from that vault to stock in the Fame Shop.
As manager, he’d have that much discretion at least.
And if he filled the shelves with only those treasures Aheta had authorized—chosen specifically for what Park Chan-woo would need most—the game was far from over.
‘They’re the fools, every one of them.’
Dagon’s eyes gleamed as he regarded the merchants who’d mocked him just moments before.
They had no idea who Park Chan-woo truly was.
Only he knew.
The magnitude of that man’s power.
What he was capable of.
The miracles he had wrought!
He alone possessed this knowledge.
The thrill of that secret was beyond words.
A thin smile curved his lips.
‘How exquisite. A night full of promise indeed.’

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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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