The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 72

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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 72
Episode 72
“A woman?! Do you have plans with your girlfriend?!”
“Ahem, are you two close?”
My mother Lee Na-kyung, visibly excited, and my father Yoo Kwang-jin, pretending indifference while clearly intrigued.
I glared at Yoo Mi-na as if to say I knew this would happen, but she feigned ignorance and smiled mischievously.
That troublemaker, honestly.
I tried to calm both of them down.
“No, she’s just a university classmate.”
“But she is a woman, right?!”
“…Yes, well, for now. But it’s not just her—I’m meeting with university classmates in general.”
“Sigh, I thought you had gotten yourself a girlfriend… but I guess not.”
My mother’s blatant disappointment actually left me bewildered.
Was she really that disappointed?
As I stood confused.
My father Yoo Kwang-jin spoke up.
“Well, if you show your disappointment so openly, you’ll put pressure on him. Besides, it’s not like he’s unpopular or anything—don’t worry unnecessarily.”
“But still…”
“Sigh.”
At least my father Yoo Kwang-jin covered for me.
Whenever women came up in conversations about my friends, Lee Na-kyung would get excited.
She was disappointed that I’d never brought a girlfriend home, apparently.
Regardless, I didn’t forget to glare at my sister.
She just keeps saying unnecessary things.
Meanwhile, Yoo Mi-na remained confident.
What did I do~
She grinned with that expression on her face.
‘My sister really…’
I trailed off without finishing.
Since everyone was gathered together.
As I tried to eat quietly.
Both my mother’s and father’s gazes remained fixed on me with interest.
The pressure felt so heavy I thought I might choke.
I lifted my head to look at both of them, as if asking why they were staring.
My mother Lee Na-kyung nudged my father Yoo Kwang-jin’s side.
“So… will you be leaving late tomorrow?”
“Ah… no. I think I’ll head out around lunchtime. It’s a lunch appointment, after all.”
As I answered, I double-checked my schedule just in case, and it was correct.
I had planned ahead for this.
“I have a Quest to finish tomorrow, so I’ll complete that, do a raid, and then head out for the appointment.”
“Huh…?”
“…?”
“A… raid?”
“Yes. Why… are you all reacting like that?”
Everyone’s expressions turned bewildered at my mention of running a raid before heading out.
I looked back at my family in confusion.
Even my older sister, who was playing the game, had that same dazed look.
That made it even more surprising.
Mother was the first to ask, apparently unable to make sense of it.
“But… if you have a lunch appointment… wouldn’t you prepare from early on…?”
“Men naturally have short preparation times.”
“What?”
But that didn’t mean people usually played games before heading out, did it?
Or did they?
Was this normal for people my age?
Even Mother Lee Na-kyung was confused now.
Father Yoo Kwang-jin, being a man himself, scratched his head at my response.
Wasn’t that unusual?
That’s what he thought, but he didn’t press the matter.
He didn’t know much about Eternal World anyway.
Yoo Mi-na, who knew Eternal World best, asked with an incredulous expression.
“Didn’t you already raid today?”
“I did.”
“You cleared the Fortress of the Past this morning.”
“Right.”
“And tomorrow… you’re going to raid… again?”
“Yeah.”
“….”
Blink, blink.
I looked at my sister as if asking what was strange about that.
Yoo Mi-na stared at me in disbelief and shook her head.
“You’re completely insane.”
She had suggested it herself, but this seemed to be taking it too far.
Usually when Yoo Mi-na spoke so harshly, Lee Na-kyung would step in and say something, but she didn’t this time.
It was proof that she secretly agreed with Yoo Mi-na.
I tilted my head at my family, genuinely puzzled.
‘I have time anyway, so what’s wrong with doing a raid before I go?’
That’s what I thought, and I was confused.
My family all thought to themselves as they watched me.
‘He really has no interest in dating yet. Our Yoo Sung-hyun….’
‘I’m not sure if marriage is going well.’
‘Sigh, focus on reality instead of the game.’
That last remark applied to Yoo Mi-na herself as well.
Still, Yoo Sung-hyun’s condition seemed more serious.
Even so, they were all good-hearted family members who ultimately held their tongues.
1.
Ji Hye-jung, Team Leader of the User Management Team.
She gripped her throbbing head and stared at a screen with an expression that suggested she had no idea where to even begin.
It was a screen she could only see because they had decided to collaborate with the NPC Management Department.
None other than the screen of Overpalace itself.
“Haaa.”
The NPCs of Overpalace, all bound by various restrictions.
Among them, their leader bore the most powerful constraints of all.
Black Star.
With most other organizations, only the leader would face such severe restrictions, but Overpalace was different.
Constraints were placed not only on executives but even on those who could be called mid-level executives.
In other words, even mid-level executives here surpassed executives of other organizations.
And now they were attempting to lift some of Overpalace’s restrictions.
‘Is this really the right call?’
Lee Won-sang had suggested the idea, and Lee Jae-kyung had laughed while cursing and saying to do it immediately—a plan born of that moment.
Was this really correct?
If they lifted some restrictions only to reapply them, no major problems should arise.
Right now, they needed to prevent Hero Luke from approaching Yoo Sung-hyun and executing him.
Stopping Hero Luke was not easy.
He hadn’t fully matured yet, making his level too ambiguous to place constraints on him.
So the idea of using Overpalace was quite brilliant.
But for that same reason, she hesitated over Overpalace.
Well, Lee Jae-kyung said he’d take full responsibility anyway.
Unsure, she began adjusting various restrictions.
Of course, she didn’t touch the constraints on Black Star or the executives.
Touching those could cause a truly continental-scale catastrophe.
Her choice fell on the mid-level executives.
There was no need to inform them about Hero Luke.
Overpalace already knew all about him.
She simply needed to lift just a few restrictions.
Team Leader Ji Hye-jung made sure to carefully check that Hero Luke wouldn’t be killed, and then
she processed the complex series of procedures and lifted the restrictions only very briefly.
And Team Leader Ji Hye-jung, somewhat worried, switched to another screen.
‘Hero Luke….’
The reason she was implementing this measure now was her fear that Hero Luke might harm Yoo Sung-hyun.
But surely Hero Luke wouldn’t be hostile, would he?
With that uncertain thought, Ji Hye-jung leaned back into her chair as if sinking into it.
Let there be no complications.
However, there was a fact that Ji Hye-jung did not know.
No—a fact that only Yoo Sung-hyun in this entire world could perceive.
Had Yoo Sung-hyun witnessed Hero Luke’s screen, he would have seen a translucent specter standing behind Hero Luke, its form fragmented like corrupted pixels.
The ghost of Hindel stood behind Hero Luke.
2.
Yoo Sung-hyun emerged from the bathroom early in the morning.
Behind him trailed the steam that had filled the bathroom.
Refreshing.
He had showered from the start of the morning and dried his hair thoroughly.
Normally he would apply lotion and decide what to wear, but this time Yoo Sung-hyun dried his hair and immediately headed to his room, standing before the capsule.
He intended to log in right away.
Before that, he checked his phone to see if there was anything he needed to do.
Quite a few messages had accumulated while he slept.
[Lee Su-jung – Everyone, don’t be late tomorrow.]
[Lee Chul-min – Got it.]
[Jung Ha-rin – Of course, haha.]
[Song Jae-min – Hey, so Sung-hyun’s really coming?]
[Seo Yu-jin – Su-jung said she was coming? She was already in our chat room anyway.]
[Lee Chul-min – Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve seen Sung-hyun. I heard he was discharged recently.]
[Jung Ha-rin – Right, haha.]
[Lee Su-jung – Anyway, everyone come tomorrow without being late! Don’t forget it’s by 1 PM! Sangsu Station.]
….
….
(Continued below)
There were quite a few more messages after that.
It felt wrong not to read and reply to them.
[Yoo Sung-hyun – I’ll make it on time too.]
After sending one message, Yoo Sung-hyun headed straight to the capsule with satisfaction.
He had set an alarm anyway.
He would leave at exactly the right time.
As Yoo Sung-hyun logged into the capsule.
A familiar message appeared along with a sensation of weightlessness.
[Welcome to Eternal World, another world and an eternal world.]
[May fortune smile upon you, Player 『Yoo Sung-hyun』.]
The location where he had last logged out.
Yoo Sung-hyun appeared in front of the Inn, and as he entered it.
The Innkeeper with a warm impression acknowledged his presence.
“Ah! Welcome, welcome! Are you the gentleman Philip mentioned?”
“Yes, yes. I heard you’d be keeping the key for me…”
“Ah, here it is. I’ve already collected the storage fee from Philip, so take it without worry.”
“Ah! Thank you so much. I’ll definitely come again. Your potato stew is so delicious that I’m sure I’ll be visiting often.”
“Puhuhuh! Our potato stew really is something special. Come again soon!”
After finishing my conversation with the affable Innkeeper.
I stepped out of the inn, key in hand.
There was even a note that Philip had left behind.
『Though I do not doubt the abilities of the successor,
a guardian whom even Kah-hoo-koo—greed incarnate—has abandoned stands watch.
Exercise caution.
One additional note: this key is for a door, not the cave entrance.』
A note laden with clues.
Yet it held little significance for me.
I possessed Kah-hoo-koo’s memories.
These were facts I already knew.
I had undertaken the Quest to obtain the key, not for the note itself.
I summoned Anemor and mounted its back.
In an instant, we ascended over a hundred meters into the sky.
Feeling the familiar exhilaration, I withdrew Kah-hoo-koo’s treasure map.
[Hidden Quest completed. The location of 『Treasure Goblin Kah-hoo-koo’s Treasure Map』 is now marked.]
A red dot appeared on the nearby map.
That must be the location the treasure map indicated.
‘It’s farther than I expected.’
I had thought it would be near Serodin.
But it wasn’t.
Even with Anemor’s flight, it would take roughly an hour to reach.
Had I gone on foot, it would have taken at least half a day, wouldn’t it?
I was grateful I had obtained Kalisha not long ago.
In any case, I set off immediately toward that red dot.
Whoooooosh——!
The landscape blurred past rapidly, and the wind howled fiercely, pushing against me with tremendous force.
Yet I remained unperturbed, gripping Anemor’s feathers as I soared gracefully through the air.
Though the strong wind whipped my hair about, I felt oddly refreshed.
An hour-long journey could easily have grown tedious.
But captivated by the allure of flight, I savored every moment until I arrived.
“Phew, here it is.”
So it was a key for a door, not the cave entrance.
I understood immediately what that meant.
The location marked by the red dot held no cave—only a sheer cliff face, cleanly carved.
There was no sign of a cave anywhere.
But I already knew where the entrance was.
I approached the Cliff and reached out toward a spot at mid-height.
Part of the cliff shimmered like heat haze—the work of an illusion spell.
‘Where on earth did they manage to find something like this?’
With Kah-hoo-koo’s memories, I understood exactly how it was constructed and marveled at the craftsmanship.
Of course, Kah-hoo-koo hadn’t originally created this place.
But it was Kah-hoo-koo who had concealed the entrance after it was revealed.
To keep it hidden from everyone.
As I prepared to pierce through the illusion and enter.
I placed Anemor, who was grimacing at the narrow entrance, into the Underworld.
There was no helping it.
I had to go alone.
I could summon him if needed, and besides, my own combat prowess was considerable enough.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of my footsteps echoing through the cave felt somewhat eerie.
Though it meant little to me.
After walking for quite some time.
I discovered the iron door from my memories.
From here on, it belonged to the original Ruins, not Kah-hoo-koo’s work.
The key itself had been crafted by analyzing the Ruins’ door mechanism.
The iron door was quite massive.
It stood at least three meters tall, and each panel was roughly a meter wide.
‘Hmm.’
Without the key, I likely wouldn’t have been able to enter.
The door itself clearly bore magical reinforcement.
I simply inserted the key and turned it.
The sound of ancient hinges creaking accompanied the iron door’s opening.
Creeeeeak—!
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The vibration traveled through the ground and up into my feet.
As the massive iron door swung open and I stepped inside.
A Ruins entirely covered in crystals blazed with light, dazzling my eyes.
The brilliance was so intense that I squinted, trying to shield myself, but it was futile.
Surrounded entirely by crystals, the glare was almost painful.
However, the intense radiance faded after the initial moment, gradually dimming until it no longer stung my eyes.
The Ruins, softly glimmering with its crystalline structure, felt both ethereal and like stepping into a fairy tale palace.
‘Wow.’
A place like this existed.
I was glad I had recorded video footage beforehand.
Such a beautiful sight ought to be shared with the world, don’t you think?
As Yoo Sung-hyun contentedly surveyed his surroundings and wandered through the interior.
Between the crystal pillars, I could see a ghost repeatedly poking just its face out, withdrawing it, then poking it out again.
“…What are you doing?”
-Eek!? M-me, you can see me!?
The ghost’s face flushed red as it startled at Yoo Sung-hyun’s words.

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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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