Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 66

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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 66. Pursuer and Fugitive
《’Night’ has begun.》
《The Abyss of the ‘Second Night’ will open shortly.》
《Earthlings wishing to participate must gaze upon the ‘moon’ at once.》
《The event will commence once one million participants gather.》
《Should this number not be reached within sixty minutes, a ‘Death Abyss’ will open across all of Earth.》
“……It’s happened again.”
The hospital room reeked of disinfectant.
Yi Hyuk-su murmured softly, his eyes fixed on the window.
On the night the full moon rose, ‘Night’ had come, as always.
Yet Yi Hyuk-su had spent this time honing himself for precisely this day.
‘Mother.’
He turned his head toward the hospital bed.
Soft, steady breathing.
A woman lost in the deep sleep of a child.
She was Kim Ji-yeon, Yi Hyuk-su’s mother—a woman who had collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage ten years prior and fallen into a vegetative state.
Once skeletal and wasted, her health had improved dramatically.
Her body had regained substance, and a healthy glow had returned to her skin.
A full recovery remained distant, yet her healing was unmistakable and swift.
More than that.
Over the past month, she could hold coherent conversations for roughly two hours each day with a clear mind.
―I-it’s a miracle! A true miracle has occurred!
The doctor’s words had proven true—a miracle had happened.
Everyone who knew her condition was astounded.
They had abandoned all hope.
The doctors had, and even Yi Hyuk-su himself.
They had said that even if she awoke, she would be far from her former self.
Some functions of her brain might never work properly again, they had warned.
Yet the Kim Ji-yeon who awakened was unchanged.
She had treated Yi Hyuk-su as she always had.
There was no word for it but miracle.
This had all begun after the ‘First Night.’
‘The Seer.’
Had he never met that man, he would never have witnessed such a miracle.
If only he had failed to administer the Elixir to her that day…….
Kim Ji-yeon would not be here now.
Yi Hyuk-su would have been left alone in the world, isolated and utterly singular.
The shadows that clouded his perception would never have brightened again.
But on that day.
From the moment his mother, Kim Ji-yeon, had opened her eyes.
Yi Hyuk-su’s world had transformed entirely.
‘You’ll challenge the Second Night too, won’t you.’
And so Yi Hyuk-su had devoted himself entirely to this night.
He had not climbed the Tower of Pride; instead, he had relentlessly pursued the Abyss.
While all eyes had fixed on the Tower of Pride, Yi Hyuk-su had monopolized Korea’s Abyss dungeons for himself.
He had amassed countless Coins, acquired superior equipment, and rapidly ascended in Level.
The Seer had told Yi Hyuk-su to become a savior, but he harbored no such grand ambitions.
His purpose was singular.
To become strong enough to protect his mother under any circumstances.
‘I will catch up. And I will surpass.’
To do so, he would have to surpass even the Seer.
In Yi Hyuk-su’s estimation, the Seer was supreme—a being beyond reach.
The one who hunted the Water God alone.
The one unique monster who could mock and laugh at demons themselves!
Yi Hyuk-su wanted to catch up to him.
No—he wanted to surpass him.
And then, standing shoulder to shoulder, he wanted to ask.
What was his true identity, his real name?
……If his prediction was correct, the Seer would participate in this night as well.
This time, he had no intention of merely receiving aid.
The distance between him then and him now was as vast as heaven and earth.
“…….”
Clink!
Yi Hyuk-su withdrew a Leather Pouch from his breast—one protected by Security Magic.
Inside it lay five Coins, no less.
It was a treasure layered with multiple spells, including Invisibility Magic that only he and his mother could see.
A contingency to protect his mother in any worst case.
Even if the Creators opened an Abyss in this hospital, she would be safe.
At least his mother would be.
A thin smile crossed his face.
Yi Hyuk-su smiled.
And then.
“I’ll be going, Mother.”
He gazed out the window.
At the full moon hanging in the sky.
《Participation is now complete.》
《One million participants have gathered.》
《Participants will now enter the Abyss of the Second Night.》
《Each participant will be granted one of two roles.》
《Pursuer and Fugitive.》
《Pursuers must capture Fugitives.》
《Fugitives must escape from Pursuers.》
《Time limit: until dawn.》
《All participants with a Contribution Score of 100 or below will perish.》
《Capturing one Fugitive grants a minimum Contribution Score of 100 points.》
Yi Hyuk-su tilted his head as the cascading messages appeared before him.
Pursuer and Fugitive.
‘Is it something like tag, cops and robbers?’
The nuance was roughly similar.
Participants would compete against one another according to their assigned roles.
This was somewhat different from how the Twelve Divine Generals hunt had proceeded on the First Night.
That time, the focus had been on pooling strength and tackling it together.
‘Which role I receive will be crucial.’
To chase or to be chased.
Yi Hyuk-su ran a hand along his jaw.
Another message quickly appeared.
《Congratulations!》
《You have been selected as a Pursuer.》
《By completing hidden Quests scattered throughout the Abyss of Night, you can earn additional rewards or receive significant aid related to your Pursuer abilities.》
《Furthermore, as a Pursuer, you may seize the Mark inscribed on a Fugitive’s chest and make them a Prisoner.》
《Prisoners must obey the Pursuer’s commands without question.》
《Destroying the Mark results in the Prisoner’s death.》
《Marks can be destroyed, exchanged, or stolen.》
《Beware lest another Pursuer steal your Marks.》
《Your Contribution Score will be calculated based on the number of Marks you possess at the time limit’s end, and the types and count of Quests you complete.》
《The higher your Contribution Score, the better the Grade of your final reward.》
《Estimated survival rate: 11.1%》
《We wish you fortune!》
* * *
《Congratulations!》
《You have been selected as a Pursuer.》
Han Shin read through the message slowly.
In this game of chasing and being chased, he had drawn the role of the chaser.
Given his temperament, hunting prey suited him better than fleeing.
Yet.
‘For a mere game of tag, the estimated survival rate is absurdly low.’
Barely 11.1%.
This was proof that the game would be brutally intense.
A death match where participants killed one another.
Though that was surely not all there was to it.
‘Aheta wouldn’t have prepared only this much.’
Han Shin had received some guidance from Aheta, the Moon Lord who’d completed the Avatar Contract, but even he didn’t know all the details.
That was the rule, apparently.
Even the great Aheta wasn’t free from the Abyss’s rules and regulations.
…In any case.
‘They’re all competitors.’
The Pursuers competed against one another as well.
It wasn’t simply a matter of raw power—the requirement to raise a Pursuer’s abilities by completing Quests was worth paying attention to.
Depending on those abilities, the balance of power could shift entirely.
Han Shin clenched his fist, then opened it.
In truth, it didn’t matter much.
No human stronger than him existed.
Of all Aheta’s advice, one part gnawed at him most.
【Many Creators have taken an interest in tonight’s Abyss.】
Creators with an interest in this….
Not small fry—Creators of a caliber that even Aheta had to mind were paying attention to tonight’s Abyss.
‘So there are quite a few Creators of a higher rank than Aheta.’
From his experience so far, he’d encountered no Creator who surpassed Aheta in stature.
Yet the way Aheta spoke suggested beings even more formidable existed.
‘Drawing the attention of all the Creators wouldn’t be so bad, would it?’
Han Shin smiled faintly.
After all, this field—the Second Night—was his domain alone.
* * *
《Congratulations!》
《You have been selected as a Pursuer.》
Im Chang-yeol, the director of the Seoul Alliance, raised his head.
The alliance members beside him began to show signs of new vitality in their eyes.
“Though our qualifications differ, we are one.”
Im Chang-yeol rallied his members.
Whether Pursuer or Fugitive, their solidarity came first.
And in that same moment.
《Congratulations!》
《You have been selected as a Pursuer.》
Kim Byeong-han, too, succeeded in obtaining the qualification in tonight’s Abyss.
‘I’ll make them all Prisoners.’
His desired outcome.
A chance to correct his previous mistake.
How humiliating it had been.
The tower had collapsed, and he’d received no reward whatsoever.
―ㅋㅋㅋㅋ What’s up with that bastard Kim Byeong-han?
―Man, that’s hilarious. A pathological liar in the end stages?
―Is it Ripley syndrome or something?
―Trying to play hero in his own twisted way?
―Since when does history work like that
―Maybe the legendary weapon he found was ‘Why am I the one who’s embarrassed’?
―ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ This guy’s just too funny
He’d become a megastar, just as he’d wished.
The price was being cursed with every insult imaginable as a compulsive liar.
Between the internet, newspapers, and broadcasts, the abuse was so relentless he’d nearly lost his mind.
But Kim Byeong-han was no pathological liar.
He would prove it tonight.
Without fail.
No matter what!
……And at that very moment, in another place.
《Congratulations!》
《You have been selected as a Fugitive.》
“Hmm…….”
Park Chan-woo swallowed hard.
Somehow, tonight seemed to be unfolding in a direction somewhat different from what he remembered.
* * *
Pursuer and Fugitive.
In an ordinary game of tag, there ought to be more Fugitives than Pursuers.
But this was the Abyss.
Worse still, this was the Second Night’s Abyss—prepared with grinding teeth by the Moon Lord Aheta after the First Night had ended in failure.
“What is this? Why are they all Pursuers?”
“Is there even a single Fugitive out there?”
Everyone’s assumptions shattered.
Reality ran counter to all expectation.
No matter how carefully they searched, they couldn’t find a soul cast in the role of Fugitive.
From the start, there had been not a whisper of explanation about the ratio of Pursuers to Fugitives.
It was only then that people began to wonder.
‘Isn’t the proportion of Fugitives absurdly low?’
‘If we can’t catch even one, we die!’
‘Could that be why the predicted survival rate was only eleven percent?’
Fail to earn one hundred Contribution Points, and you die.
Not by ranking, but by absolute score—death is determined by numbers alone.
Two paths to survival existed, but the problem lay elsewhere.
Completing a Quest grants only a single point.
“What does this mean, that we all die?”
A hundred Quests to earn a hundred points, yet they had less than half a day.
Time was hopelessly insufficient.
Panic seized the crowd.
An infinite competition where only a handful could survive had begun.
Yet mercy came in one form: finding the Fugitives proved easier than expected.
An hour into the Second Night’s start—
“Are all those red dots on the map the Fugitives?”
“That’s got to be it!”
“They’re close by!”
“Run! All of you, run!”
“First one to catch a Fugitive wins!”
A map had appeared.
The red dots marked upon it were unmistakably the Fugitives.
Without hesitation, the crowd surged toward the crimson markers.
To catch Fugitives and increase their Prisoners—only then could they gain the upper hand in this ordeal, or so their instinct screamed.
At last, drawing near to one of the red dots—
“What… what is that?”
“This is insane…!”
“That’s… a Fugitive?”
The identity of the Fugitive that emerged left everyone aghast.

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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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