The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 53

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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 53.
Hidden Piece.
Unprecedented—not just on Earth, but perhaps across all realms.
It might be the first occurrence even among the 393 destroyed worlds combined.
That’s what a Hidden Piece is.
A domain of the Abyss hidden beneath the System itself, unforeseen even by the Deities.
‘So my honor was this substantial.’
Honor points first opened in Episode 4.
My honor score was nothing short of overwhelming.
The unit itself was entirely different.
As a result, there was no accessible difficulty level in the current System.
For example, ‘Easy’ difficulty allows entry from 0 to 500 points.
‘Normal’ ranges from 500 to 1,000 points.
‘Hard’ spans 1,000 to 5,000 points.
Beyond that, ‘Very Hard’ opens from 5,000 to 8,000 points.
From 8,000 points onward, the ‘Hell’ difficulty opens—accessible only to top-ranked players, the avatars of the Deities.
But I’ve never heard of anyone entering a difficulty beyond that, even in my past life.
‘Since this is unprecedented, even I don’t know what awaits.’
Incomprehensible.
Beyond understanding.
Unreachable.
The words themselves carried an oppressive weight.
One misstep could mean death.
The real question was why my honor score was so astronomically high.
It didn’t seem like a score obtainable from ranking first in the Hall of Fame three consecutive times.
Could the Hall of Deities be linked as well?
Unlike other Deities, Rag and I are recognized as a single entity.
‘Even if I manifest Rag’s true form, it could still be dangerous.’
More than that.
If I brought Park Ha-yan and Park Ji-hoon, they would both certainly die.
That was the problem.
Originally, I had planned to bring only Park Ji-hoon.
The Demon King’s protégé.
With solid durability and combat sense, I intended to carve a path ahead while he served as a capable porter behind me.
Episode 4 has a rule: ‘Progress is only possible when a Party is formed.’
The gate to the Demon Realm opens only when at least two people unite.
Solo entry is impossible.
‘What am I to do.’
My mind grew tangled.
I cannot proceed alone, yet bringing them means death.
Of course, I could have chosen not to challenge it.
Entering the Demon Realm isn’t mandatory.
Whether to challenge or not is a personal choice.
I could simply stay holed up at home and be done with it.
But.
Refusing to challenge brings a catastrophic penalty.
‘If the clear rate falls below 10%, demons of that difficulty level manifest on Earth.’
If the clear rate of challengers who attempt a newly opened difficulty falls below 10%, a warp gate of that difficulty opens in the real world.
And demons pour through, initiating mass slaughter.
Fail the Easy difficulty, and lower-tier demons appear.
Fail the Hell difficulty, and high-tier demons drop into the heart of Seoul.
But right now.
‘I’m the only one who unlocked the Incomprehensible difficulty.’
Only my party has access rights to this difficulty across the entire world.
In other words, if I don’t enter and clear it?
Zero challengers.
Zero percent clear rate.
As a result, demons of the ‘Incomprehensible’ difficulty descend upon reality, hastening the apocalypse.
A catastrophe that would split Earth in half was inevitable.
‘What am I to do.’
I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose.
Park Ha-yan and Park Ji-hoon were watching me with peculiar expressions.
As the silence stretched, curiosity seemed to bloom within them.
“Um, hyung.”
Park Ji-hoon spoke carefully.
“Your honor score is incredibly high, isn’t it?”
“….”
“How many points did you get? Could it be ten thousand?”
Park Ha-yan, too, kept her hands clasped while staring at my lips.
I didn’t answer.
1.35 million points.
Incomprehensible difficulty.
There was no point explaining—they wouldn’t comprehend it anyway.
Park Ji-hoon cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“By the way, hyung, did you know the next Episode would progress today? Didn’t you tell us yesterday to come by 11 AM this morning?”
A sharp question.
But deflecting was simple.
I took a sip of canned beer.
“I have some precognitive ability.”
“Ah!”
Park Ji-hoon struck his palm with his fist.
“Exactly! You have foresight, hyung! That’s how you picked out all those expensive artifacts from Antique Street so easily! Ah, I could slap my forehead!”
Truly a simple fellow.
He believes without a shred of doubt.
Park Ha-yan was nodding beside him, gazing at me with reverent eyes.
She seemed to regard me as some grand sorcerer who could pierce through the veil of the future itself.
I set down the can.
A decision had to be made.
“You two.”
The moment I spoke, both of them straightened their spines.
“Form a Party together.”
“Pardon?”
“And proceed on your own. Park Ha-yan, your honor score is higher, so if you become the Party leader, the ‘Hard’ difficulty will unlock.”
I was telling them to pair up and enter the Dungeon together.
Bewilderment crossed both Park Ha-yan’s and Park Ji-hoon’s faces at my words.
“But, hyung—what about you? Weren’t you coming with us?”
Park Ji-hoon’s eyes widened.
“Yesterday you specifically called us saying there was something we needed help with. That’s why I sharpened this sword completely….”
“Is it because you’re worried I’ll be a burden?”
Park Ha-yan’s voice trembled slightly.
It was clear she was wounded by the thought of being abandoned by her benefactor, deemed useless.
Even the wind spirit that hovered near her drooped dejectedly.
I shook my head firmly.
“No.”
I had no choice but to tell them the truth.
“If you form a Party with me, you’ll both die with 100% certainty.”
“…What?”
“If you follow me, you won’t come back alive.”
Inexorable.
There was no need to elaborate on the weight that word carried.
But these two perceptive individuals would have instinctively grasped that my words about certain death were neither jest nor intimidation.
The atmosphere grew heavy and oppressive.
I’d expected them to nod and retreat, given how bluntly I’d spoken.
After all, no fool would throw away their life, no matter how indebted they felt.
In this mad world, nothing was more precious than one’s own life.
And yet.
“…I will go.”
It was Park Ha-yan who broke the silence.
She rose from her seat.
Her fists clenched tight, she stared directly at me.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I said you’ll die.”
I furrowed my brow and continued speaking.
“I appreciate your resolve, but I won’t accept a meaningless death.”
“It won’t be meaningless.”
Park Ha-yan’s eyes held no wavering.
“If it weren’t for you, I would have been no different from someone who died in that airplane crash.”
Then she stepped closer to me.
“You saved me when I was rotting away in that hospital bed, barely breathing. My life is already a bonus you’ve given me. So if my benefactor walks into danger, I’ll lead the way and carve a path through.”
Stubbornness.
No—it was trust bordering on blind faith.
Park Ji-hoon, standing beside me, scratched his head vigorously.
Then he chuckled and adjusted his longsword.
“Ha, seriously. This little girl’s got more guts than I do, and I’m the Guild Master of the Black Tiger Guild. How could I run away alone and save face?”
Park Ji-hoon grinned and stepped in front of me.
The Black Tiger Guild.
A guild he’d established with my funding and Chairman Park’s support.
On the surface, he was the Guild Master, but many of Chairman Park’s subordinates were included in its ranks.
Additionally, surveillance of Yamamoto was being conducted through the Black Tiger Guild.
Park Ji-hoon laughed softly.
“I’m in too. One hundred percent death? Nah, you wouldn’t let me die like that, hyung.”
He thumped his chest and continued.
“If it weren’t for you, I’d have spent my whole life as a vegetable in a hospital bed. Why not risk death one more time? I can at least shield you, hyung!”
I was at a loss for words.
These foolish people.
I save their lives, and they’re eager to throw themselves into hellfire.
“….”
I looked between the two of them.
Both had a fierce glint in their eyes.
These weren’t people who would listen to reason.
Especially Park Ha-yan.
I knew from my past life that once she set her mind to something, her stubbornness was unbreakable.
‘I can’t enter alone anyway.’
A party requires a minimum of two members.
The door only opens if I bring at least one other person.
What if I separated these two and dragged some random stranger off the street to form a party?
That innocent person would be dragged into an incomprehensible difficulty level and meet a gruesome death without understanding anything.
That wasn’t something I could do as a mage—or as a human being.
‘I won’t let them die.’
I swallowed a bitter laugh internally.
I am someone.
An existence that has devoured the Deities and become the master of the Tower of Gods 55th Floor.
I had confidence that I could keep those two bastards alive by any means necessary.
Of course, they would suffer tremendously in the process.
I rose from my seat.
“Do not regret this.”
“We absolutely won’t!”
“Thank you so much!”
I opened the System window.
I pressed the Party Invitation button.
Ding!
[Kim Jung-seok has invited ‘Park Ji-hoon’ and ‘Park Ha-yan’ to the Party.]
[Party has been formed. (3/12)]
The party was established.
In that instant, the blood-red message I had witnessed appeared before Park Ha-yan and Park Ji-hoon’s eyes as well.
[Party Leader: Kim Jung-seok]
[Party Leader’s Honor Points: 1,357,790]
[A Demon Realm gate of ‘Incomprehensible’ difficulty opens.]
“…Cough!”
Park Ji-hoon gasped sharply the moment he saw the message.
His legs buckled beneath him as if they had given way.
Park Ha-yan’s face had gone pale as well, her hand covering her mouth.
“One… one million, three hundred fifty thousand….”
And Incomprehensible.
Only now did they truly grasp what insane commitment they had just accepted.
“We depart.”
As I extended my hand, the air tore open grotesquely, and a blood-red vortex swirled forth.
A wormhole leading to the Demon Realm.
“If you have regrets, you can still leave the Party now.”
Park Ji-hoon swallowed hard at my words.
But he shook his head vigorously.
“I-I’m going! I’ll follow right behind you, sir!”
“…I’m coming with you.”
Park Ha-yan likewise wrapped the wind spirit around her body and nodded with firm resolve.
* * *
Tokyo, the rooftop of a skyscraper in Roppongi.
Whoooosh!
A blood-red dimensional gate was opening above the Japanese archipelago as well.
Episode 4, ‘The Abyss’s Invitation’.
As countless Japanese Awakeners gazed up at the sky in terror.
A man stood at the rooftop railing.
Yamamoto, the Combat Emperor.
Second place in the Hall of Fame.
An avatar with the War Deity as its true form.
Ding!
[Party Leader: Yamamoto]
[Party Leader’s Honor Points: 20,200]
[A Demon Realm gate of ‘Complete Hell’ difficulty opens.]
“Is everyone ready?”
Yamamoto turned and spoke.
Behind him stood eleven elite Awakened warriors in formation.
Core members of Japan’s greatest guild, the Warrior Guild.
The strongest party members he had personally selected and trained.
“Complete Hell difficulty. The ultimate battlefield that only I, Yamamoto, can access.”
20,200 points.
The result of dragging up my score from 8,000 points right after Episode 3 through relentless slaughter and Quest clears.
A score that other avatars wouldn’t dare present.
They could at best challenge the ordinary ‘Hell’ difficulty.
It was thanks to my competitive spirit igniting and consuming large quantities of Nectar.
With this score, I was certain I had surpassed NONAME.
‘If I clear the Complete Hell difficulty, I will truly touch the realm of legend.’
The enormous rewards that would fall there.
If I monopolized them, I could seize the first-place position in an instant.
“All of you, stay sharp. The demons of Hell will be on an entirely different level from the trash we’ve faced so far.”
“Yes, sir! Guild Master!”
The party members answered in unison.
But one among them, the mage Satoshi standing in the rear, had a subtly different gleam in his eyes.
On the surface, he was a loyal member of the Warrior Guild.
But in reality.
‘The Black Tiger Guild.’
A double agent moving under substantial payment from Park Ji-hoon of Korea.
Satoshi caressed the artifact hidden in his breast pocket.
-Monitor Yamamoto’s every move.
-Especially, join up with Yamamoto in the next episode.
-This artifact can record video under any circumstances, so be sure to keep it with you at all times.
Instructions from the Black Tiger Guild.
A massive sum of 5 billion won for the task.
The compensation was far too enormous for a simple errand.
Satoshi knew well what kind of monster Yamamoto was.
Playing spy under him was a tightrope walk with his life on the line.
But the compensation offered by Korea was sweet enough to justify the risk.
Thanks to it, I could finally repay all the debts I owed.
‘Why is the Black Tiger Guild keeping such close watch on Yamamoto?’
Satoshi’s gaze fixed upon Yamamoto’s back.
That was when it happened.
“We depart.”
Yamamoto drew his katana.
The killing intent radiating from the blade consumed the rooftop.
‘…NONAME.’
Yamamoto glared at the swirling dimensional gate, baring his teeth.
‘I don’t know who you are, but the moment you clear the Perfect Hell, your reign at the top ends.’
He was certain of it.
The difficulty he had unlocked—Perfect Hell—would be the final boss of Episode 4.
Unaware that an even deeper abyss called ‘Incomprehensible’ existed beyond it.
“Let’s go. Time to conquer true hell.”
He walked toward the gate of hell.

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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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