The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 263
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 263
263
A ghost who served the Necromancer Lord, no less.
I would have preferred to listen to her story at leisure, but unfortunately, time was a luxury I didn’t possess.
I hadn’t come to this place alone, after all.
As Yoo Sung-hyun made that determination and moved to absorb Basilae’s memories and experiences.
Basilae spoke with visible delight.
-Ah! My memories… and please, I beg you, find where the Necromancer Lord slumbers.
‘Slumbers?’
I started to ask for clarification.
But there was no need to wait for an answer.
Because Basilae’s memories and experiences were already flowing into me.
Within those memories that poured in like a panorama lay the entirety of her life.
I received the memory that she was a far more formidable mage than I’d imagined, a mage who served the Necromancer Lord—the master of necromancers—and the memory that the Necromancer Lord himself had once been human.
This was somewhat unexpected.
‘The Necromancer Lord was human.’
Well, Helena was human too, after all.
There was nothing strange about it, really.
It was just that hearing “Necromancer Lord” naturally conjured images of a lich.
In any case, as I absorbed the memories.
Text materialized before my eyes.
[You have displayed abilities beyond your current stats through ‘Unknown Power’.]
[Wisdom +10, Intelligence +10 permanently increased.]
Indeed, because Basilae had been such a powerful mage.
My wisdom and intelligence rose by considerably high amounts.
Though I received a rather satisfying reward, I learned that the Necromancer Lord was not here.
By the time Basilae had grown old and was dying, the Necromancer Lord had already left this castle.
He had only left behind his loyal servant in this castle.
And then, in that distant future, the City of Seven Lights, Lumencia, was born not far from here.
The Necromancer Lord was not here and had departed to another region, but I could roughly discern where he had gone.
More than that, there was something that pleased me.
‘There really was a hidden piece.’
I thought so with satisfaction.
If a true hidden piece existed, obtaining it was only natural.
Still, they had brought me here.
It was right that I go with them.
Having thought that far, I simply pondered what to do next.
“Yoo Sung-hyun?”
“Ah, yes?”
“Is something the matter?”
Ir asked with a slightly worried expression.
Yoo Sung-hyun had suddenly stopped in front of the castle entrance.
It was natural to feel concerned.
Yoo Sung-hyun himself realized he’d been staring blankly for a moment too long and was about to say something.
Flodin spoke first.
“We’ve been playing for quite a while now.”
“Ah, that’s true. It’s already quite late in Korea time.”
“And in Japan time too.”
“There’s barely any time difference between Korea and Japan, though.”
Since the party consisted of Japanese players Stella and Flodin, and Korean players Ir and Bask.
Yoo Sung-hyun’s time was similar to theirs.
It was definitely getting late.
It had taken considerable time to reach this point.
The distance itself wasn’t that far.
But there had been quite a few monsters along the way.
If Yoo Sung-hyun had come alone, he might have already entered the castle and claimed the hidden piece by now.
But they said this party’s pace was quite fast compared to most.
“Hmm, should we meet again tomorrow morning then?”
“This place is a save point anyway.”
“The castle entrance where the story begins is usually like that.”
“Haha! That sounds good! Sung-hyun seems pretty tired too.”
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded in response to Bask’s words instead of objecting.
It certainly wouldn’t be bad to rest before continuing.
“Is tomorrow Monday okay with you?”
Ir asked cautiously since tomorrow was Monday, and Yoo Sung-hyun nodded.
It was a pointless question anyway.
Even the Prism Effect party without a guild earned several times what ordinary office workers made in a month.
Players at this level who didn’t make a living from the game were rare.
Once Yoo Sung-hyun agreed.
Ir carefully gauged the mood and spoke again.
“How about 10 AM Korea time?”
Ir said this to everyone.
But it was really a question directed at Yoo Sung-hyun.
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded and answered that he understood.
“Sounds good. See you then.”
“Great, great. Everyone did great work! Sung-hyun, you did great too!”
“Everyone did great work.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Haha, great work everyone!”
And so they all exchanged farewells at the entrance, which was a save point, and logged out together.
Yoo Sung-hyun exchanged greetings in the same manner.
He glanced once at the Lich Lord’s Castle before logging out.
[The Eternal World awaits your return.]
Yoo Sung-hyun emerged from the Capsule and stretched his stiff body.
Then he pondered.
‘The Necromancer Lord isn’t there, but the hidden piece exists.’
As he entertained such thoughts, one problem arose.
Hidden pieces were good.
But how could he discover it naturally?
That was his greatest concern.
‘If I were alone, I could just go find it, but since we’re together, this part isn’t so easy.’
I had to act convincingly, after all.
Well, I’d figure something out tomorrow.
Yoo Sung-hyun dismissed the matter with that thought.
Tomorrow’s problems would take care of themselves tomorrow.
“Sung-hyun, are you out? Come eat dinner~”
“Yes, I’m coming.”
At the timely call of his mother Lee Na-kyung, Yoo Sung-hyun headed outside.
2.
As if the bitter cold had seeped in.
A Grand Hall where pale blue ice accumulated in extreme abundance.
There stood one whose eyes gleamed with an ominous light.
The one who had slumbered for so long lifted empty, hollow eyes and gazed distantly into the distance, as if peering at something far away.
Within the Great Hall where the throne of jade stood.
The one standing rigidly behind the throne—naught but bones—held the biting chill within and gazed upon that place, opening his mouth in astonishment.
-My lord, has my lord returned?
Yet the aura faded immediately.
The aura that seemed to be the lord’s vanished.
And a somewhat unpleasant aura seeped in.
The aura of a different lord, not his own, was felt.
Because of this.
The one of naught but bones, awakened by the lord’s aura, blazed pale blue light within hollow eyes and exhaled an ominous chill.
How dare.
What place was this.
An invasion by another lord.
I had sensed countless auras breach this castle throughout the ages.
Yet they were insignificant things.
Even if my undead minions, who would resurrect anyway, were destroyed, I paid them no mind.
But a lord is different.
How dare another lord trespass upon the territory of the great Necromancer Lord.
I could never forgive this.
—Serve the Lord faithfully… Protect the Lord’s Castle.
With eyes gleaming brilliantly, the ancient skeletal figure that had slumbered behind the throne began to move.
Barseon, who had once been the Lich of the Necromancer Lord in ages past, awakened.
Different from the hidden piece in Yoo Sung-hyun’s memory.
Another hidden piece awakened and stirred into motion.
3.
The next day.
[Welcome to another world, the eternal Eternal World.]
[May fortune smile upon Player Yoo Sung-hyun.]
Though it was Monday morning.
All four of them were already logged in and gathered together.
When Yoo Sung-hyun arrived to find them already assembled, he was somewhat taken aback.
He had been told to arrive by ten o’clock, so he’d gone for a morning run and eaten a hearty breakfast, arriving ten minutes early nonetheless.
Yet they had arrived even sooner.
Yoo Sung-hyun approached them with an apologetic expression and asked.
“Oh, have you been waiting long?”
“Huh? No, no! We just arrived around the same time.”
“That’s right.”
“We haven’t been waiting long at all.”
“Haha! You’re not even late.”
They all responded so casually.
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded gratefully instead.
Then he scratched his cheek slightly, thinking he should have come out even earlier.
In any case, what mattered was that they had gathered.
Ir spoke as he observed them.
“Let’s go in with vigor today too!”
“Ir’s overflowing with energy again today.”
“Right?”
“Haha, that scatterbrain’s at it again.”
The party members chided the overly excited Ir in unison.
Yet they were all smiling, and everyone seemed to share Ir’s enthusiasm.
Their excitement was equally matched.
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded as he observed how well they got along.
So then, if we enter naturally, might we obtain the hidden piece?
With that resolve in his heart, he entered the Lich Lord’s Castle.
The interior of the Lich Lord’s Castle was teeming with undead of exceptional prowess compared to those outside.
Since the castle was constructed like one vast dungeon.
There was no inconvenience in combat.
Most were undead, and a notable common trait among them was that many, like Razak, wielded frost magic.
Thanks to that, Yoo Sung-hyun’s Inferno Road was able to gain considerable power.
Purple flames that held supreme advantage in matchups swept through and engulfed the Skull Knight.
Since the Prism Effect party had inflicted considerable damage beforehand, it seemed the finishing blow had been applied—the skeleton melting away in the flames.
As an added effect, the flames rippled and forcefully pushed a brick on the wall.
Click—.
“Huh, huh?”
“What was that sound just now….”
“…I heard it too.”
“It’s not a trap.”
Bask, whose class was rogue-type, spoke at the end.
Everyone felt relieved, though.
Since they didn’t know what might appear, everyone was on guard at that moment.
The wall opened near where the sound had come from.
A place that looked like a secret chamber appeared.
“Huh, what!?”
“Was there a room like this…?”
“It didn’t appear in the strategy guide….”
“Then this is!?!”
Everyone’s eyes widened as they gulped and entered the room.
It appeared to be a Mage’s Laboratory—various books and experimental tools were visible.
There were also several journals, but they couldn’t be examined.
“Wow, a, a place where a mage seemed to have been!?”
“…Really.”
“Those are skill books over there.”
“Who wrote this one?”
Everyone explored the room with curiosity.
Well, Yoo Sung-hyun already knew everything about this place.
Still, it would be strange to show no interest.
So Yoo Sung-hyun moved about and examined the skill books.
They were all Unique grade.
Satisfied with the higher-than-expected grade, Yoo Sung-hyun looked around further, but.
There was nothing worth taking besides the skill books.
Moreover, even though the skill books were Unique grade, they were all Dark Magic-type skills.
“Ah, all the skill books are Dark Magic-type.”
“It’s a bit disappointing.”
“Well, we can still profit by selling them.”
“Oh? Looks like we can each take one with us?”
“Seems like it.”
Yoo Sung-hyun also chimed in agreement.
Everyone nodded their heads.
Ir glanced at his other party members and did something subtle.
Then.
“Yoo Sung-hyun?”
“Yes?”
“Each of us can take one of these, but honestly, without you, I don’t think we would have made it this far. So we’re only taking one for the four of us, and we’ll give you the rest.”
“What???”
Yoo Sung-hyun tilted his head in confusion at those words.
He thought they could just each take one and sell them.
“Come on, we rode the bus here, so this much is only natural. I’m even sorry we’re taking one at all.”
“But still….”
“No. It’s not a mage-type skill anyway, and none of us are Dark Mages.”
“Hmm.”
With them saying this much, it felt wrong to refuse.
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded in acceptance.
Everyone smiled brightly.
Their willingness to give something even in this way felt genuinely grateful and heartwarming.
Yoo Sung-hyun thought he should find more hidden pieces for them and began to move.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The entire castle began to tremble slightly.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————