The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 103

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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 103
Choi Kang-mok’s expression had transformed.
For the first time in ages, he was smiling.
Seeing this, Kang Hye felt a wave of relief wash over her.
“Look at you grinning like that. It’s been forever.”
Lately, no matter what he did, his expression remained clouded.
Even after sleeping soundly, eating well, and clearing an EX-rank dungeon.
Today, though—his face bore the light of some newfound revelation.
‘At times like this, I should ask.’
His eyes would gleam with that unmistakable spark.
Whatever topic he broached, it inevitably spiraled into magic theory.
It didn’t matter if she couldn’t follow everything.
A well-timed reaction was all he needed to keep himself entertained for hours.
“Yeah. Raising my agility turned out to have decent results.”
“…Agility?”
Just yesterday, he’d been struggling.
“Want to see my mock battle record?”
“…What? Bronze rank?”
A banner blazed into existence.
The bronze gleam that testified to a ’10-win streak’.
The moment he suffered even a single loss, it would vanish.
To reclaim it, he’d need another ten consecutive victories.
Either way, it was impressive.
“Did you bully Christine again?”
“No. I always beat Christine.”
That wasn’t boasting.
There was no pride in defeating an opponent you were guaranteed to beat.
“Then who did you fight?”
“Vicario.”
“Really?”
Lee Kang-nam, Christine, and now the Holy Knight Vicario.
He’d faced all three top-ranked hunters from completely different classes.
Kang Hye immediately grasped what that meant.
“You defied matchup logic again.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
Kang Hye’s gaze kept drifting back to the title.
For hunters, it was a difficult credential to obtain. Manipulation was impossible.
The system determined victory and defeat,
and titles were never granted through fraudulent wins.
“Was it easier to land hits because your agility went up?”
“Yeah. The sense of reversal was pretty significant.”
Right after facing the Legion Commander, the speed difference felt far more pronounced.
After experiencing both, I set myself a new objective.
“I need to research how to easily catch fast opponents.”
Kang Hye blinked.
Normally, he would have phrased it as something like ‘research on the correlation between agility and casting speed in magical combat, evasion response’, but that wasn’t his style anymore.
“Or just snipe them from a distance before they even move….”
It was that kind of thinking. He had changed. Slightly. Or perhaps, considerably.
He didn’t seem to realize it himself, but something was definitely shifting within him.
“But… I have to admit, Bronze is really enviable. Seeing it in person, it’s incredibly brilliant and impressive.”
“Right?”
Choi Kang-mok felt satisfied. Ten consecutive wins, zero losses.
My eyes kept drifting to the banner’s effect.

* * *
Spaloti, the Naples Lord, was furious.
“Why did you do something like that!”
“Then what method do we have?”
The mock battle with the EX-Awakened was no mere test.
Out of respect? To gauge his abilities?
None of that.
“The curse will activate properly.”
To the world, he was known as the Holy Knight Vicario.
But that was merely a facade. His true identity was a ‘Fallen Holy One’.
A curse sorcerer masquerading as a Holy Knight.
“Throughout the mock battle, I embedded curses across his entire body.”
On the surface, it appeared like a blessing.
Energy that reinforced mana and breathed vitality into him.
So meticulously crafted that even an EX-Awakened would struggle to detect it as a curse.
“I know. I know it well.”
That curse only worked on mages.
A tiny foreign object lodged within the mana circuit.
Magic activates. But it falters. Like a stone dropped into the middle of a stream.
The flow splits, and control goes awry.
“A curse that induces mistakes in combat mages.”
That alone was sufficient.
Combat mages were inherently weak. One mistake, and they drop dead.
That was why no one chose to become a combat mage.
“Yes. I will induce mistakes.”
On the 37th Floor, flame assassins appear.
The moment the EX-Awakened stumbles, I’ll rush in like lightning and sever their neck.
“But what if you fail?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
The curse. The battlefield.
Both are the worst possible places for an EX-Awakened.
“Considering the matchup, the EX-Awakened will die there.”

* * *
[You have entered Floor 37 of Seoul Tower.]
[Challenge: Defeat 70 Flame Assassins]
“This place is perfect for practicing against fast enemies.”
Flames erupted from the crater as assassins materialized.
Their speed was relentless, their spacing tight.
A location promising dense, unforgiving combat.
“Still, first things first….”
An EX clear came first. That was the priority.
As the stone tower came into view in the distance, Choi Kang-mok cast a short blink.
It was far more aggressive than before.
The very movement of a battle mage.
This refinement of myself was, in the end, a ‘magical transformation.’
“If this too counts as magical enlightenment, then so be it.”
[Skill, Energy Floor Plate (Creation) activated.]
In that instant, my heart sank once.
Thump!
An impact the size of a child’s fist pressed against my chest.
Precisely that intensity.
‘Hm?’
A subtle snag rippled through my mana circuits.
Whether it was a foreign object or a momentary disturbance, I couldn’t be certain.
‘I must have imagined it.’
People sometimes experience sudden heart palpitations, sudden ear blockages, or involuntary body spasms like hiccups.
It was nothing more than that.
‘Well, the heart can skip a beat now and then.’
I dismissed it.
My gaze returned to the stone tower.
[Forgotten Fire Spirit’s Stone Tower (Prestige Art Forest Central Reinforced Reconstruction)]
It was more solid than Floor 36.
Azure flames flickered across its surface, and the exterior bore not a single crack—hard as steel.
‘The black domain has been manifested!’
When Energy Floor Plate is used, a black space forms beneath the domain.
Energy bolts shimmered and crossed like a tempest—the final signal before completion.
This time, the energy formation would finally be complete….
Crash!
[Forgotten Fire Spirit’s Stone Tower (Prestige Art Forest Central Reinforced Reconstruction) has been destroyed.]
[Seoul Tower Floor 37 cleared.]
[Clear Grade: EX]
I had failed.
[!Seoul Territory-Wide Announcement!]
[The curse shrouding Seoul Tower Floor 37 has been destroyed.]

* * *
Spaloti, the Naples Lord, grew tense.
‘Surely, he must have noticed.’
Vicario had already been evacuated back to his homeland.
The problem came after that.
‘What excuse can I make?’
Should I pretend ignorance?
Or claim I didn’t know Vicario’s holy power would collide with the curse?
His mind grew tangled.
Then, a summons came from the Seoul Guild.
‘…Here it comes.’
He met with Lee Byung-gyu in a state of tension, but the response was unexpected.
“I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Pardon?”
“It appears the EX Awakener intends to continue with EX clears.”
“…I understand. We cannot force the matter, after all.”
Only after hearing those words did Spaloti become certain something was amiss.
Had the EX Awakener failed to notice the curse?
Or had he noticed and simply feigned ignorance?
‘What is this?’
Could he truly not know?
Or was he pretending not to know despite being aware?
‘The latter seems more likely. But… why?’
He was a figure known even as a curse dissolver.
Failing to detect Vicario’s curse lacked credibility.
Rather, Spaloti’s mind grew more complicated.
‘He’s plotting something. Definitely.’
Of course, he wasn’t.
He truly hadn’t known.
Vicario’s curse was certainly intricate, but Dil-jjik-nu’s operational mana was far too overwhelming to detect it.
Throw a stone into flowing water and the current splits, but hurl a glass marble at a runaway train and all that remains is powder.
In any case, Vicario and Spaloti’s minds had become extraordinarily complicated.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok felt somewhat pleased with himself.
───────
[Hall of Fame – 37th Floor]
[Continental] [Individual]
1. -(Seoul EX)
2. Vicario (Naples, SSS)
…
───────
‘When I think about it, isn’t this far more impressive than Bronze?’
Rank 1 on every single floor from the 1st to the 37th.
Even without the glittering banners adorning the record, this achievement itself was a symbol.
The energy floor plate had failed again, but my mood wasn’t particularly sour.
“EX-rank clear. Everything went according to plan.”
Entering the 38th floor would require at least two hours.
Just then, a system message arrived.
It was from Raymond.
[Accept the Combat Magic Quest.]
Choi Kang-mok immediately headed toward the Ayla Advanced Magic Research Institute.

* * *
[Entering the 4th Floor of Ayla Advanced Magic Research Institute.]
I stepped into the 4th Floor, a level accessible only to those with special clearance.
Professor Raymond sat at a desk in the distance, lost in deep contemplation.
‘His concentration is remarkable… should I approach him now?’
Fortunately, an exclamation mark hovered above his head.
───────
[Available Quest List]
1. A Thousand Arrow Rains
2. The Explosion of Light and the Incarnation of Shadow
3. Silent Target Hunt
───────
The list that had previously appeared fragmented and distorted now displayed in clean, bold text.
‘Quests available from a professor-level mage. More precisely, from an advanced combat mage.’
My heart beat once, distinctly.
‘I should examine the Quest descriptions.’
Let me start with the first one—A Thousand Arrow Rains.
‘Huh?’
[Access denied by administrator authority.]
The second and third quests yielded the same result.
No matter how many times I tried, the outcome remained unchanged.
“I really am fortunate.”
-You are justified in considering yourself the protagonist of this world. 🙂
–
We are
a world unto ourselves.
Choi Kang-mok chuckled softly.
I had learned to filter Mayo’s words appropriately by now.
“There was a time when I believed that too.”
Without those days, I might have grown arrogant.
But I knew the truth.
Fly too high, and you fall harder.
In this world, there is no such thing as a protagonist.
‘I cannot afford arrogance.’
This was not skill—merely fortune.
Even if that were not true, it was better to believe it.
Choi Kang-mok quietly retrieved an item.
[Administrator Authority Execution Document has been used.]
[The Quest list has been executed under administrator authority.]
At that moment, Professor Raymond lifted his head.
His gaze froze mid-air for a moment.
“Director of the Research Institute? When did you arrive? I had only finished compiling the Quest list… Wait? Why is this already executed? Huh? Hold on, how did you do this?!”

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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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