Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 77

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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 77. The Monster Yi Hyeok-su
Of course, Park Chan-woo’s praise had been well-intentioned.
To be suspicious, to choose solitude, to be stubborn and reluctant to hear others out—in other words, it meant he despised causing harm to those around him above all else.
Some would hear this and say:
Surely not hurting others is only natural.
‘Those who once upheld their convictions had all vanished.’
But as time wore on, such moral sensibilities eroded rapidly.
The unspoken social contracts dimmed and faded; the selfish became the mainstream, those willing to see others suffer so long as they gained something themselves.
The ones with conviction.
Those who preserved the old ways, who revered ancient values—they were dismissed as relics of a bygone age, all of them swept into history’s dustbin.
Only Yi Hyeok-su saw his convictions through to the very end.
‘Yi Hyeok-su is a good man.’
This was why Park Chan-woo thought of Yi Hyeok-su as a ‘good man.’
Because he held righteous beliefs.
Because he never lost himself, not even at the end.
In a barren future, that alone was reason enough to be called ‘good.’
But there was more to it.
Though he could not speak of it, there was a decisive reason Park Chan-woo thought Yi Hyeok-su was a good man.
‘…The only Crusade Order member who climbed the Divine Dragon Temple without any thought of personal gain.’
Humanity’s final expedition.
The journey to face Sephiro, the Divine Dragon of the Divine Dragon Temple.
Scattered humanity had gathered its last strength for this difficult expedition.
A hundred thousand Crusade Order members strong.
Yet could humanity, already twisted by selfishness, truly have united their strength for nothing but the noble cause of human salvation?
Could individuals and individuals, groups and groups, have spoken with a single voice?
Of course there were interests that transcended all of that.
‘We did not go to vanquish Sephiro.’
The very premise was wrong from the start.
The reason a hundred thousand Crusade Order members climbed the Divine Dragon Temple.
It was not for conquest.
As Park Chan-woo recalled the Crusade Order’s true purpose, his teeth ground together.
‘……We went to beg. To plead for our lives.’
From the beginning, everyone had agreed that Sephiro could not be vanquished.
But Sephiro had once ‘saved’ the minor races.
They came to realize that if they drew Sephiro’s attention, or offered a suitable sacrifice, they could receive protection as Sephiro’s slaves or pets.
After that, the focus became: who could furnish the most ‘suitable sacrifice to draw Sephiro’s attention.’
Whoever prepared a sacrifice worthy of capturing Sephiro’s interest would become humanity’s new master—a thought as naive as it was pathetic.
‘What a damnable thing it was.’
Was it not pitiful?
Was it not tragic?
To accept defeat without ever truly fighting.
To climb so painfully to the Divine Dragon Temple only to kneel.
So Park Chan-woo had hidden his true purpose.
He was willing to sacrifice all hundred thousand Crusade Order members if it meant reaching the past.
Ultimately, Park Chan-woo had no interest in hunting Sephiro either.
Who had genuinely wanted to ‘vanquish’ Sephiro?
Remarkably, only Yi Hyeok-su.
That was why.
That was why he thought Yi Hyeok-su a good man.
“By the way, did you acquire a class related to the Lion King by equipping the Lion King’s Equipment?”
Park Chan-woo asked, having set aside his brooding thoughts.
Yi Hyeok-su, snapping back to attention, nodded.
“…I advanced my class. To ‘the Lion King’s Beloved Disciple.'”
“Beloved Disciple? Don’t tell me it’s a Hidden Class?”
“So I’ve heard.”
…….
This time it was Park Chan-woo who was left speechless.
He’d asked half-hoping it wouldn’t be true, and yet here it was confirmed.
He himself had evolved his class to ‘Demonic Swordmaster’ thanks to Kankun’s Heart and gained two ‘Hidden Traits,’ but strictly speaking, Demonic Swordmaster was far from a true Hidden Class.
In this world, the name ‘Hidden’ held significance only because it concerned the ancient, unique existences.
Like the Lion King.
There exist beings of unparalleled power who reveal themselves to no one in the world.
Those who merely watch the world from behind a curtain.
They had been searching for someone to carry on their existence and legacy.
And in the past, Park Chan-woo had failed to become the Lion King’s disciple.
This was why Park Chan-woo knew of the Lion King’s existence.
‘It must be Yi Hyeok-su, then.’
The Sword King, Yi Hyeok-su.
The Lion King had recognized this one’s extraordinary talent.
Yet an unresolved question lingered.
“Only the dead can inherit the Lion King’s name. Aren’t you among the living?”
Yi Hyeok-su was a living man.
The Lion King had said something similar when refusing Park Chan-woo.
—The living cannot inherit the name of the dead. If you wish to inherit my name, come to me when you are dead.
He’d been flatly rejected.
It had been a difficult path to find him at all.
Suddenly, Yi Hyeok-su tilted his head in confusion.
“He just said to do it.”
…….
Wait. What?
……Could it be that his talent was deemed insufficient, and the refusal was merely a fabrication?
Park Chan-woo asked again, just to be sure.
“Did you meet the Lion King directly during your class advancement?”
“For only a brief moment……”
“And even so, the Lion King told you to simply become his Beloved Disciple?”
Beloved — written with the character for love.
It meant a disciple especially cherished by the master.
A bond that transcended any ordinary master-disciple relationship.
That the arrogant Lion King would simply say “go ahead” — it was hard to believe.
Yi Hyeok-su blinked once, as if nothing were amiss, and replied.
“He was quite clear about it. Don’t refuse—just do it.”
“No trial whatsoever?”
“There doesn’t seem to have been any trial.”
“Your talent must have impressed him greatly…… very greatly indeed.”
Though loath to admit it, Park Chan-woo found he must.
Yi Hyeok-su’s talent.
The Lion King was one skilled in the use of Sword Energy.
In matters of sword talent alone, Yi Hyeok-su was far superior to himself.
Park Chan-woo, when still a Knight, had sought out the Lion King for an examination.
After unspeakable hardship, he’d barely managed to pass, yet the Lion King remained unmoved.
He had rejected him by speaking in circumlocutions.
‘I held those words as gospel truth. How utterly shameful.’
But at the time, Park Chan-woo had believed them absolutely.
He’d sincerely thought his lack of status as the dead—being merely alive—prevented him from inheriting the name.
Now he saw the truth: it was simply insufficient talent.
Had the Lion King been more direct and told him plainly of his lack of aptitude, he would have become a Mage far sooner.
Park Chan-woo spoke, pushing through the intense vertigo that rose within him.
“Still, wielding the Lion King’s Magic would have been an entirely different matter.”
“The Lion King engraved his name upon the equipment. That’s how I gained the ability to use the Lion King’s Magic.”
He’d even carved his name into the equipment?
That was a mark of a true successor in substance and name alike.
He’d driven the nail in completely, preventing any other ancient being from ever claiming it.
But there was one point that needed clarification.
“It’s not a skill, but Magic. And magic of an exceptionally high order at that—unique magic.”
“……Is there a difference between skills and magic?”
“It’s a matter of perception. If you treat the magic you wield as mere game skills, you’ll quickly hit your limits. Conversely, if you regard it as true magic and pursue the deeper truth, there will be no limit to your growth.”
Words carry weight.
A small difference in thought and perception transforms everything.
Such is the difference between skill and magic.
The Abyss had descended, people awakened, and certain skills were granted to them.
If one thinks of magic simply as “game skills”—abilities that work like a game—then magic will never evolve.
But if you regard magic as dealing with supernatural phenomena, pursuing truth, then magic naturally evolves.
Yi Hyeok-su’s expression wavered between doubt and belief.
“Just because of one word difference…….”
“One word can change everything it means.”
“Ah…….”
Only then did Yi Hyeok-su nod slowly.
Right.
A single word’s difference could change everything.
One word could birth a misunderstanding—or clear a thousand-gold debt.
Yi Hyeok-su had caused plenty of misunderstandings through speech in his time.
His intentions so often got twisted in translation that he’d learned to speak as little as possible—to live a life of silence.
That was how formidable and mysterious the power of words truly was.
Skill and magic.
Simply calling them differently alone shifts one’s entire perception.
It changes how you approach them.
The difference is enormous: treating them not as skills to be used easily like in a game, but as magic that transforms reality, pursuing truth with each use.
That gap widens with time, and no amount of belated realization can close it.
‘He really is the Prophet.’
Yi Hyeok-su was certain now.
The man before him truly was the Prophet.
No doppelgänger would offer such subtle counsel.
Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t.
The Prophet’s wisdom and vision ran that deep.
‘Magic. Everything I use is not mere data-constructed skills—it is magic that follows truth.’
And in that moment, he gained enlightenment.
Just one word’s difference.
Yet his entire way of thinking shifted.
Wasn’t this enlightenment itself a kind of magic?
Though everything unfolds like a game’s system, he mustn’t let even his own consciousness believe it was truly a game.
Trapped within the framework of a game, one can never escape that frame.
Just as one cannot surpass the limits set by the Creator if one only walks the paths the Creator laid down.
―Yi Hyeok-su. Do you think I’ll clear the “Second Night” using ordinary methods?
The Prophet’s words from moments before echoed anew in his mind.
Ordinary methods. The paths laid by the Creator—he would never follow them.
That’s how he could stand above the Creator.
Without a frame, without limits, he could forge his own way.
Just as the Prophet’s magic moved to a different rhythm than other Mages’ magic.
‘Ah!’
Yi Hyeok-su’s body trembled violently.
He shut his eyes at once.
It felt like the shell that had been holding him captive had just cracked.
Had he not witnessed Park Chan-woo’s extraordinary deeds, he would never have felt such fierce exhilaration.
He would never have taken his advice to heart.
But Park Chan-woo was special to Yi Hyeok-su.
Without the Prophet’s help, without his intervention, Yi Hyeok-su would have lived a life full of regret.
Because he received the advice with a sincere heart, he could gain this understanding.
And this small enlightenment, beginning as gentle ripples, soon swelled into a tide.
The result was this:
《You have attained Seeker’s Enlightenment.》
《Your Disposition has changed to Truth-Seeking.》
《The “Skill List” in your Status Window will be renamed “Available Magic.”》
《The Comprehension and Proficiency of all Magic will increase.》
《All Magic effects increase by 10%.》
《All base stats increase by 3.》
《Physical ability and Magical Power have achieved harmony.》
《The stat cap for Magical Power has been released.》
He had transcended his limits.
Though not a mighty leap, the frame was unmistakably shattered.
This single step was far from insignificant.
‘…Gain enlightenment just from a few words of advice?’
Park Chan-woo watched him and clicked his tongue.
Yi Hyeok-su sat with his eyes closed, absorbing the understanding he had gained.
So his mastery wasn’t limited to the sword alone.
He possessed considerable magical talent as well.
A man who had spent his entire life wielding a blade had altered his very perception from merely a few spoken words.
A shift in perception was a shift in worldview.
Breaking through fixed assumptions and broadening one’s worldview invariably wrought tremendous change.
The very density of the magical power he radiated had grown perceptibly stronger.
‘He shattered the innate limitation that bound a swordsman.’
Swordsmen were born with weak magical power.
Because they prioritized physical strength, most carried restrictions placed upon them instinctively.
They would unconsciously impose these boundaries, channeling their focus into rapid physical growth.
But now Yi Hyeok-su had torn through that very restraint himself.
From just a handful of words of counsel, he had broken free of his own shell.
Physical might and magical prowess had begun to harmonize.
Park Chan-woo shook his head slowly.
He seemed to have misjudged him all along.
The Sword King, Yi Hyeok-su.
He had believed Yi Hyeok-su possessed talent for the blade alone.
But Yi Hyeok-su’s true talent, his true nature, transcended imagination.
In short.
‘This man…… is a monster.’
……Perhaps even a monster with brilliance that outshone Han Shin’s.
That was the essence of the man called Yi Hyeok-su.

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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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