The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 351

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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 351
351
3.
Deep within the Tomb.
A subtle shift occurred at the very heart of the Tomb, where countless empty masks lay arrayed—the deepest and most central point of that vast chamber.
Crack.
Fissures spread, and one mask underwent a transformation.
Where there had once been nothing, a jester’s mask materialized first, followed by a mask that appeared melted and distorted.
The Tomb remained infinitely silent.
Yet the masks that had suddenly appeared all gazed toward a single point.
Upon a great throne-like chair rested a single mask that gleamed with golden radiance, and before it was inscribed a single line of text.
[He who awakens all masks shall draw forth the sovereign’s mask from the abyss.]
Alongside that enigmatic sentence, the empty masks could only stare at the chair with hollow, vacant eyes.
4.
Roooaaarrr———!!!
The violent, wave-like breath that erupted from Fiora’s mouth proved too much for the mask to withstand; its form crumbled and vanished.
“Kee…”
The mask puppet’s final cry cut short, never reaching completion before it disappeared.
As the puppet vanished, a message materialized before Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes.
[You have defeated the ‘Marsh Mask’ in the Mask Trial.]
[You have obtained the ‘Marsh Mask’.]
“I suspected as much from observing its abilities, but it seems ordinary descriptive words attach themselves too, not just concepts.”
“Masks can embody whatever characteristics they need to.”
“I see.”
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded at Helena’s explanation.
He understood well enough that Helena had offered him a subtle hint.
He decided to move forward without dwelling on it further.
Right on cue, another system message appeared.
[Do you wish to challenge the next trial?]
[Yes / No]
[If you exit the trial now, you may leave with all rewards obtained thus far.]
Of course, there was no question of leaving the trial.
Yoo Sung-hyun pressed Yes without hesitation.
The space began moving once more, like an elevator.
However.
Grinding, grinding, grinding.
“Huh?”
-This time, ah, it continues moving forward.
-It appears to be a space configured like a cube.
“Hmm, they certainly put considerable effort into this.”
“Ahahaha, so it really is Fesil?”
Though everyone reacted differently, since we were simply being moved to another location,
nothing dangerous occurred.
I felt that as I looked around, but there wasn’t any particular change, and we continued moving.
Where were we heading?
While I remained still with that thought,
a room soon appeared, and it looked different from the previous ones.
5.
Kim Eun-seok had admired Indiana Jones since long ago.
However, he was just one of those typical Korean students who had given up on his dreams early, thinking that such exploration and adventure wouldn’t exist in reality.
But then an opportunity to fulfill that dream arose.
None other than the Eternal World.
To become another version of myself and explore a different world!
How romantic could it be!
Kim Eun-seok, delighted to finally pursue his dream, fortunately possessed talent for the game as well, allowing him to level up faster than others and reach the Eighth Region.
Having his abilities recognized, Kim Eun-seok—or rather, Baren—was now quite satisfied with his work as a member of the Exploration Team.
On top of that, he was also a content creator, running his channel alongside the Exploration Team.
‘This is going to be huge!’
One might say he was simply spreading the Exploration Team’s records without permission.
But that was what the Exploration Team wanted in the first place.
They wanted others to know about the places they had explored.
Most player members of the Exploration Team, excluding NPCs, were also content creators.
While Baren’s channel hadn’t achieved the massive success of the Guild YouTube Channel, it had a considerable following.
He commanded an impressive 500,000 subscribers, making him a mid-tier content creator with solid demand.
So this time too, he couldn’t hide his considerable excitement.
“I think we’ve found a proper location this time.”
Though he considered the content aspect, Baren genuinely enjoyed exploration, which is why his viewers enjoyed it as well.
-Wow, it’s been forever since we found Ruins, right?
-For real lol
-Seeing Baren excited makes me happy too.
For real, lol
-Yeah, it’s been so long since we found something!
While the viewers celebrated the new discovery, they noticed something strange.
Only fifteen people from the Exploration Team, including NPCs, had set foot in these Ruins.
And yet—
[You have entered the Tomb.]
[The Trial of Masks has begun.]
[Current number of people in the Tomb: 30]
“Huh? What is this?”
“Wait? There are other people besides us?”
“We’re fifteen strong, and more than half of us weren’t the first to discover this place?”
“What? We weren’t the first ones here?”
The Exploration Team members panicked upon reading the system message.
They’d been thrilled, believing themselves to be the first discoverers, but that wasn’t the case at all.
It was understandable.
How much they had anticipated this moment.
The disappointment cut deeper because of those expectations, but in that instant, only Baren quickly regained his composure and was about to speak to the team members when—
“Everyone, we don’t know what might appear, so let’s prep—”
But Baren’s words were cut short, and as if teleported, they scattered in all directions.
When they found themselves in a new room, looking around in confusion, trying to make sense of their surroundings—
another system message appeared.
[The Mask Trial can be conducted in groups of five.]
“Hmm, it looks like this trial requires us to split into teams of five, doesn’t it?”
Everyone nodded at Baren’s words.
At least there was one silver lining: they’d brought only those with considerable combat experience.
-What is this????
-Seriously, they’re forcing us to split teams???
-What’s the difficulty level!?
-Is this even okay????
-The atmosphere is getting intense???
Baren’s viewers were equally flustered.
Baren had discovered quite a number of Ruins and Tombs so far.
The viewers who’d watched his broadcasts all this time were practically semi-experts themselves, and even to their trained eyes, this room felt ominous.
Like the elevator-like room from before, countless masks began sprouting from the walls.
And the identity of those masks was—
“Deer?”
None other than deer masks.
Masks bearing the heads of taxidermied deer filled the walls, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
And the viewers felt it too—chaos erupted.
-Seriously;;;;
-Ugh, this turned into a horror game??
-This is kinda scary?
-Kkkkkk what’s so scary about this? Sigh, I’ll just sleep with mom today.
Haha, what’s so scary about this? Let me go change my underwear real quick.
In the midst of all this—
a section of the wall opened, and a doll wearing a deer mask emerged.
With its articulated, puppet-like form, Baren shouted with considerable tension.
“Combat stations!”
Baren boasted the finest combat prowess among the Exploration Team members.
He issued the order, and all the team members responded, preparing for battle.
Though the sudden appearance caught them off guard, these were skilled users, so they quickly adapted to the deer-masked figure and engaged in combat.
How much time had passed?
One of the antlers adorning the deer mask fell away, and in the next moment, Baren’s blade pierced straight through the creature’s heart.
“Kee-kee-kee-kee…”
The puppet finally released a dying shriek before collapsing lifelessly.
The deer mask proved weaker than anticipated.
It hadn’t taken very long at all.
Still, the battle had drained considerable stamina—several members of the Exploration Team slumped down in exhaustion.
“Whew, that was brutal.”
“It was easier than I thought, but it was definitely mid-tier raid difficulty.”
“Exactly.”
The Exploration Team members exchanged comments, and the viewers agreed with them.
-For real, that was a sweat-inducing fight.
That was worth watching.
-Baren’s gotten stronger than expected.
Your movements were pretty good though? lol
-But what’s Baren doing?
As one viewer mentioned, Baren was glancing around as if searching for something.
Now that the battle was over, he intended to explore the chamber, but at that moment, Baren felt something peculiar.
Then, suddenly, a system message appeared.
[You have defeated the 『Deer Mask』 in the Trial of Masks.]
[You have obtained the 『Deer Mask』.]
A mask identical to the deer mask he’d been fighting moments ago materialized.
After Baren examined it along with other items in the chamber, another system message appeared.
[Will you challenge the next trial?]
[Yes / No]
[If you end the trial now, you may exit with all rewards obtained so far.]
“Hmm.”
Baren murmured as if deliberating.
Naturally, the Exploration Team members erupted in commotion.
“No turning back now!”
“We’ve barely scratched the surface—shouldn’t we push deeper?”
“Absolutely! Absolutely!”
“Though if you think it’s too dangerous, just let us know.”
The Exploration Team members spoke in unison.
The viewers also typed away eagerly in the chat.
-Please challenge it!
-If Baren backs out now after coming this far, he’s not Baren.
If it’s Baren, I’m definitely eating it lol.
As they all spoke, Baren glared at them as if to say they were spouting nonsense.
And she spoke as if disappointed.
“What, can’t you all see that?”
“Huh? What?!”
“Huh?!”
“Gasp!?”
“That, that thing!?”
Everyone looked toward where Baren was pointing.
On the floor, obscured by the deer masks, there was a groove carved out—something like a slot where an object could be placed.
-How did he spot that in such a short time?
-That’s Baren for you! That’s Baren for you! That’s Baren for you!
-He must have noticed even while fighting.
-That’s why he found it right away.
The viewers acknowledged it, and the other Exploration Team members felt the same way.
“I, I didn’t notice it even during combat. That’s impressive…”
“Right?”
“Anyway, if we put the mask in there, it should fit perfectly, right?”
At another Exploration Team member’s words, Baren nodded and looked at the deer mask in his hand.
Typically, with mechanics like this, the chance of it being a trap was extremely low.
The other Exploration Team members couldn’t hide their considerable excitement either.
Of course, there was only one thing to do in a situation like this.
‘Adventure!’
The moment Baren, thinking that to himself, inserted the mask into the groove.
The entire room moved and descended like an elevator.
Since it resembled the appearance when they first entered, several Exploration Team members flinched and muttered nervously.
“Could it have been a trap after all?”
“No, if that were the case, they wouldn’t hide a trap so thoroughly…”
“R, right.”
Thus, the room moved from the deer mask chamber.
When the room’s movement finally ceased, a space with a distinctly different atmosphere from the previous one appeared.
First, there were no masks on the walls, and it didn’t feel like a place for combat.
So when they thought nothing would change after this, suddenly.
One wall slowly began to open.
The Exploration Team members who saw it immediately looked caught, and Baren too, with a rueful expression, raised his sword and shouted.
“Prepare for combat!”
As everyone tensed and the wall opened completely.
A man wearing a black mask walked out.
Adorned with a crown made of obsidian and an elegant robe embodying the night itself—a man whose very presence commanded dominion.
Clack, clack.
Those who saw him prepared for combat at first, watching him emerge masked, but at Baren’s words, they all had to stop.
“The Demon King?”
At Baren’s words, the man in the black mask—Yoo Sung-hyun—looked at him awkwardly and offered a response.
“…Hello?”
Naturally, the viewers erupted into chaos at Yoo Sung-hyun’s appearance.
-Why is he showing up here!?!?!?

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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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