The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 10

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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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The Return of an EX-Rank Mage Episode 010
Choi Kang-mok chuckled softly.
The sight of my youngest sibling showing off was nothing new.
Whether in childhood or now, little had changed.
“A target-specific buff based on bloodline affinity?”
“Huh…?”
Choi Kang-mok had pierced through the essence in an instant.
But the process mattered more than the result.
Kang Hye asked again.
“Why, why did you deduce it that way?”
“When I was an Unawakened, there’s no way I would have set it to target someone specific from the start.”
“….”
“Given your personality and the fact that you’ve kept it secret from me all this time, it’s obviously bloodline-based.”
You must have been considerate of me when I was Unawakened.
“….”
“What? Am I wrong?”
“W-well. As an explorer, your talent is abundant. Quite impressive.”
Kang Hye trembled slightly.
He was my older brother, but sometimes he frightened me.
“Huh? I’m not an explorer though?”
“Right. You wouldn’t be an explorer.”
Everyone had already deduced as much, but I decided not to dig deeper.
There was no need to know the exact details about an EX-Rank.
Knowing more would only be more dangerous.
“Anyway, one of these abilities is a blessing, right? It’s like this….”
This time, Choi Kang-mok was genuinely startled.
“Really?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
‘Bloodline Blessing’—one of the subcategory abilities under bloodline affinity.
“Share the description window with me.”
“Hold on.”
Sharing description windows was common among close Awakeners.
“This actually works….”
It was nothing special, yet tears nearly spilled from my eyes.
I knew how desperately my older brother had lived as an Unawakened.
Tears actually began to fall.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
───────
[Bloodline Blessing]
Bestows a blessing upon those connected by blood.
Reduces the cooldown of one designated skill by half.
※ Effect applies once per blessing.
※ Can only be applied to one person, and any existing blessing is removed when a blessing is applied to someone else.
───────
Choi Kang-mok let out a quiet laugh.
‘This is incredible.’
The skill to be blessed was already decided.
‘It has to be [Tower Entry].’
With this, the Tower entry time would be cut down to twelve hours.
“I was actually craving some magic practice anyway.”
It was difficult to practice outside.
The Tower required a twenty-four hour wait. She was cutting that in half?
For Choi Kang-mok, this was an enormous privilege.
“Give me the blessing.”
“Giving a blessing isn’t difficult, but….”
All I had to do was kneel and place my hand on the other person’s back while praying for about a minute.
Kang Hye tilted her head.
‘He wants to practice magic?’
Isn’t he supposed to be an explorer?
Well, multi-classing has become the trend lately.
An explorer with some magical ability? Is his counter-type ability magic?
Instead of asking, I expressed some concern.
“Is it okay to clear it consecutively like this?”
Reckless climbing causes physical and mental exhaustion.
Especially, it deals significant mental damage.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Everything ended so quickly that there was nothing to deplete in the first place.
My body was just built differently.
My mind was actually clearer than ever.
“Don’t push yourself too hard. Suddenly, you just collapse. I’ve seen plenty of beginners like that. There’s a reason they say ‘low-floor tyrant.'”
“Thanks anyway.”
“…For what?”
“Just… everything.”
Back when I was an Unawakened, there were strange coincidences in my life.
Like a half-used debit card that somehow had just enough balance to last a day.
Or delivery app coupons that always arrived on days when I couldn’t afford a meal.
Or a few thousand won mysteriously appearing in the transit card I kept in my wallet.
I never bothered to find out who orchestrated these magical occurrences.
I already knew without asking.
Kang Hye exhaled softly.
I brushed off my hands, feigning disgust.
“Don’t kill the mood with creepy talk. Just do what you’ve been doing.”
That tone was actually the oldest reassurance of all.
The world had changed, and there was no place for the Unawakened.
Not even within family.
In an era where one had to learn how not to become a burden before becoming family.
Choi Kang-mok, though Unawakened, was undeniably a member of the family.
Choi Kang-chul. Choi Kang-mok. Kang Hye. One of the three.
A family that even the Unawakened could clearly feel.
Society had no place for him, but home always did.
That’s how I endured fifteen years.
I never said things like I’d treat you well.
Because he’d actually have a fit if he heard that.
“Come on, give me a blessing.”
***
The wealthiest Guild in Korea.
With the Incheon Guild openly declaring its intention to recruit the EX-Rank seat.
Other Lords were now openly throwing themselves into the recruitment war for the EX-Rank seat.
Shin Chae-ryung, the Busan Lord, was one of them.
‘Money won’t win this.’
The Incheon Lord had offered a salary of fifty billion alone.
An absolutely insane proposal. Was it just the salary? You can tell the whole by looking at one part.
It was obvious the other conditions would be equally generous.
The Incheon Guild, which had secured multiple mineral Gates, could afford it.
‘If the orthodox method won’t work, then underhanded tactics will have to do.’
EX-Rank? Of course it’s impressive.
But they were clearly still at a greenhorn level.
‘Having cleared Floor 6, their level can’t be more than 12 at most.’
It was time to consider methods like kidnapping and brainwashing.
Of course it would involve considerable risk, but to obtain an EX-Rank, such risks had to be accepted.
After all, treasures are seized by those with courage.
“I authorize more drastic measures.”
“I’ve been waiting for this.”
Belonging to the Busan Guild.
Assassin Kim Yu-jun’s lips curled upward.
Officially, he was a Scout.
But his primary mission was to bring promising talents from across the nation to Busan and have them conquer the Busan Tower.
His preferred method was kidnapping and torture.
“If we wait any longer, they’ll grow too strong.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The weight that came with the name “EX-Rank” was immense.
I had to secure recruits before leveling up and growing stronger.
The one saving grace was that even the Seoul Lord hadn’t figured it out yet.
That meant the probability of other Lords remaining unaware was high.
So that’s why Lee Kang-nam of the Daegu Guild was resorting to such desperate measures.
“This is the candidate list compiled by the Seoul Guild.”
“You managed to obtain it quite skillfully.”
It was an EX-Rank candidate list created by the Seoul Guild.
High-grade intelligence obtained from a spy planted within the Seoul Guild.
Acquiring this had required considerable time and ten billion won.
Kim Yu-jun, who had reviewed the list, spoke.
“We’ve already made contact with most of the high-priority individuals on this list.”
In that process, one had died and several had become crippled, but it didn’t matter.
In this new world, hundreds or more disappeared or died every single day.
Right now, securing an EX-Rank Awakener was the absolute top priority.
‘The name Choi Kang-mok.’
Though marked with a priority level of “very low,” I couldn’t afford to overlook anyone.
The address was listed as XX-dong, Songpa District, Seoul.
“I’ll go check it out.”
Kim Yu-jun cursed under his breath.
‘It was a fake address!’
The location turned out to be an abandoned rooftop room where no one lived.
***
Vice-Master of the Seoul Guild.
Han Sang-hyun, the Scout Department’s Vice-Chief, rushed into the Guild Master’s office.
“We’ve tracked Kim Yu-jun’s movements.”
While Kim Yu-jun was on the move, the Seoul Guild hadn’t been idle either.
They had planted false information among the candidate list.
Each staff member managing the list received different information.
“Where did he go?”
“Songpa District, XX Ward.”
They had meticulously crafted and planted the information to flush out the spy.
“Which staff member has the Songpa District information?”
“It’s Lee Min-ha, the deputy. What should we do?”
“Detain them immediately. Include their family and trace their accounts.”
“Understood. What about the EX-Rank candidate?”
“Bring Manager Choi Kang-chul in first.”
When Choi Kang-chul entered the Guild Master’s office moments later, Lee Byung-gyu laid everything bare.
“…So, Kim Yu-jun is on the move. It won’t be long before he finds your brother’s real residence. As you know, he’s a vicious bastard. He leaves no evidence. There’s no physical proof, but I’m certain he’s the one who turned two Awakeners into cripples recently.”
Seoul’s Lord, Lee Byung-gyu, bit his lip.
He hadn’t expected them to act so recklessly.
“The Busan Guild. They’re moving faster than anticipated.”
I had deliberately met with Lee Kang-nam at the Daegu Tower.
It wasn’t that I truly wanted to cooperate with Lee Kang-nam—I was probing how much information he possessed.
‘Lee Kang-nam is completely in the dark as well. If that’s the case, we still have time.’
That’s what I had concluded, but it wasn’t quite so simple.
“Now that we’re under suspicion, my brother is no longer completely safe.”
But I couldn’t simply assign protection to Choi Kang-mok alone.
If I were to assign protection, I’d have to do it for all the EX-Rank candidates.
That way, suspicion could be avoided.
But personnel were critically short.
“Inform your brother of the situation immediately. Time is not on our side.”
***
The eldest of the Choi family.
Choi Kang-chul spoke.
“I’m sorry. Information leaked.”
Kang Hye bounced with indignation.
“Why is Seoul Guild security so sloppy?”
“….”
“That’s why we’re always dead last!”
“….”
“Whoever leaked this information—I’ll kill them!”
Unlike the fuming Kang Hye, Choi Kang-mok remained composed.
“Why should you apologize, hyung?”
Such people exist everywhere.
It’s difficult to filter them all out.
Choi Kang-chul continued with difficulty.
“Among the EX-Rank Awakener candidates, several have become vegetables.”
It’s hard to confirm, but there are also dead.
He didn’t mention that part.
“A guy named Kim Yu-jun is looking for you.”
“Is that so?”
“We estimate he’s an Awakener from a special forces unit specializing in torture and assassination.”
“So he’s not just some ordinary ranker.”
Choi Kang-mok’s expression grew serious.
A skilled assassin approaching?
That was certainly dangerous for me.
“And he leaves no evidence behind. Our best guess is….”
There are several possibilities.
But he shared the most likely one.
“It seems he creates a virtual space for assassinations.”
“A virtual space?”
“Yeah. Like entering inside a Tower or Gate.”
There, whether torture or murder occurs, no evidence remains.
Even the corpse disappears.
That’s what we’re estimating.
“It’s only a matter of time before he finds this place. This location may not be safe…. Shh!”
Kang Hye pressed a finger to her lips.
“There’s something outside.”

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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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