The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 116

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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 116
Raymond exhaled a sigh of relief.
“It’s fortunate that your sister is here.”
Kang Hye shared a special bond with Choi Kang-mok.
Not only were they blood relatives, but they had already interfered with each other’s existence multiple times through bloodline blessings.
They had a history of accompanying each other to the Tower on several occasions.
“Using your sister as a conduit, I should be able to infiltrate the floor where the Research Institute director resides.”
Fortunately, Kang Hye possessed one EX Coin.
Using it as a sacrifice, I constructed a mana circle, maximizing Kang Hye’s Tower Infiltration ability.
Once a few preparations were in place, infiltration would become possible.
However, besides Raymond and Kang Hye, there was one more person attempting to enter the 41st Floor.
Twenty-four years old this year.
A content creator dreaming of becoming a million-subscriber YouTuber—Kang Pal-do.
“This is guaranteed to skyrocket my views.”
His recent concern was subscriber count.
Stagnant at 900,000 for two years.
Just now, it had even dropped to 890,000.
“I need to capture an EX-Rank Awakener.”
All of Korea was in an uproar right now.
EX-Rank Awakeners were dangerous.
A notification appeared before his eyes.
───────
[Unique Authority – Luck’s Gambit]
An exclusive ability for streamers.
A gambling-type infiltration skill that allows entry into Tower progression zones.
Live filming and streaming are possible.
However, it can only be used once in a lifetime.
Infiltration Success Rate: 44%
On failure: Certain death. No resurrection possible.
───────
“Today is the day.”
He turned on the broadcast.
[The Day of Luck’s Gambit]
Viewer count surged explosively.
– His unique authority really crosses the line lol this is extreme
– Yo let’s make today’s broadcast title [Kang Pal-do’s Funeral LIVE]
– 56% chance of death and he’s just walking in? This guy’s actually insane
– Won’t this broadcast get flagged? People actually die?
– Kang Pal-do: EX hyung, I came to rescue you!
– EX hyung: ??? Why is there an extra corpse?
Concurrent viewers surpassed 50,000.
It was exhilarating.
Stuck at 900,000 for two years.
Yet in just five minutes, I had broken through 1 million.
“I’ve finally become a 1 million subscriber YouTuber! Guys, I’m going in with [Luck or Death].”
– Is this guy just trying to bait us?
– If that’s baiting, he should quit being a YouTuber lol
– First time watching Kang Pal-do’s stream? He’s not entertaining, but he keeps his word
– Whatever he says, he does it. But only while he’s alive!
His face was angular and square-shaped.
That’s why cold sweat poured down the face of Kang Pal-do, whose nickname was “Square Man.”
‘Damn, I’m scared.’
Then, a whistle sounded.
It was a Seoul Guild member managing the Tower.
They were rushing over after receiving the report.
“Stop right there…!”
Kang Pal-do shouted loudly.
“Guys, here I go!”
[Activating unique ability, ‘Luck or Death’.]
[Infiltrating Seoul Tower 41st Floor.]
The ability activated like pulling a trigger.
In an instant, my entire body was ejected from ‘reality.’
Space without up or down collapsed, and a falling sensation defying gravity rushed in.
My eardrums felt like they were being pierced, blood draining away.
My breath was cut off, and simultaneously my consciousness was swept away.
It felt like someone was tearing through my eardrums and whispering probabilities.
44 percent.
Or the end.
My consciousness faded, then I felt myself sucked into the Abyssal Deep.
Cold water. Immense pressure.
And.
[You have entered Seoul Tower 41st Floor.]
I survived. I actually made it through?
Ugh! As I opened my mouth, bubbles erupted.
Water Layer.
Kang Pal-do had made no preparations whatsoever for the Water Layer.
“Ugh, damn it, wait!”
-I believed in the octagon shape ㅠㅠㅠ
-But isn’t this drowning?
-This crazy bastard entered the 41st Floor without even bringing a mana barrier? Is this real?
– Wow, breaking through 44% and then drowning? That’s a real tragedy of life.
Still, it wasn’t so bad.
He wasn’t an ordinary Awakener, after all.
‘Observer Mode! Observer Mode!’
The streamer who entered the Tower through a special route could use ‘Observer Mode’.
[Observer Mode usage conditions satisfied]
[Switching to Observer Mode.]
My body lifted, and I began drifting like a phantom across the sea.
The Tower’s environment no longer exerted any physical influence.
Color began returning to Kang Pal-do’s face.
“Phew… done. Brothers, from here on, I’m just watching.”
Before my eyes stood a palace made of light.
Fortunately, I had arrived at the Dragon Palace in one go.
[Using skill, ‘Auto Description’.]
I borrowed the skill’s power.
The system narration replaced Kang Pal-do’s voice, describing the Dragon Palace.
[The traces of myth where the pressure of the Abyssal Deep, gravity itself, and time all bow down….]
[The palace was literally constructed of light….]
[A color unseen on the surface. Light more delicate than emerald yet deeper than lapis lazuli slowly danced, enveloping the palace….]
– Wow, that opening intro is insane
– Is this some game trailer?
– But where’s the EX-Rank Awakener? lol
– What’s dangerous about this? It’s pretty romantic right now
Then the water trembled.
Something like a premonition of death crept up my spine.
‘What is this… I’m scared.’
A tension that didn’t transmit through the screen.
But my spine certainly responded.
My instinct was telling me something.
I didn’t know exactly what, but something was coming.

* * *
Though known as a YouTuber who constantly produced extreme content, Kang Pal-do was, in truth, a coward.
Yet the reason he could repeatedly engage in dangerous content was because his survival instinct had developed with unusually sharp and acute sensitivity.
Today was one of those days.
A feeling that whatever he did would turn out fortunate.
Kang Pal-do was someone who had devoted his entire being to survival through that instinct.
Using ‘Luck Reversal’ was also a choice drawn by that day’s intuition.
‘I’m definitely in Observer Mode.’
Observer Mode was an ability to step outside this world and witness everything from a non-physical vantage point.
Yet something felt wrong.
Boom—!
Underwater, yet a deafening explosion echoed.
A chilling coldness swept across Kang Pal-do’s spine.
‘What, what the hell!’
Above the Dragon Palace.
The space that would have been sky on land was tearing apart.
A dimensional rift split open without light or sound.
Something was descending from beyond it.
The system’s spatial interpretation. The narration continued.
[Spatial liberation. The dimensional space opens and ….]
‘Wait!’
Automatic description.
The system narration was running wild on its own.
It wouldn’t stop. Something was broken. This world itself.
Rumble—!
Thunder-like vibrations.
Underwater. Yet it blazed.
Dozens of silhouettes clad in flaming armor poured down like a torrential downpour.
[Burning flame spirits descend through the waters and ….]
The Dragon Palace’s ceiling tore open, its pillars crumbled.
[The mythology of the Abyssal Deep begins to shatter.]
I was in Observer Mode. Theoretically immune to all harm, yet an inexplicable dread welled up within me.
My survival instinct screamed warnings.
A premonition that Observer Mode itself might be destroyed.
‘…I need to escape.’
But escape was impossible.
My entire body had frozen as if paralyzed.
Like a foreign object, I could only float suspended in the void, staring blankly at the Dragon Palace.
[Emerald-hued silhouettes. Women bearing emerald harps lined up beneath the surface and ….]
Ting—!
The harp’s melody tore through space itself.
A verdant shockwave rippled outward, engulfing the Dragon Palace in a single breath.
Thousands of tons of ocean currents responded to the vibration, beginning to rampage.
[The vibration spreads as water shatters and ….]
Another silhouette emerged from the maelstrom.
A boy wielding shields in both hands appeared and struck the ocean currents.
Pillars, outer walls, and the palace itself crumbled.
[Too shabby to call a palace, yet too soon to call it ruins….]
Within the warping space, stone golems surged upward.
Groooarrr!
The golems spawned from the twisted rifts roared in unison and hurled their fists toward the Dragon Palace.
Crash!
The palace demolished in an instant. Now nothing more than ruins that could no longer be called the Dragon Palace.
It was merely.
[…’what the Dragon Palace used to be’]
In other words, evaporation.
[A dissolution so pristine it’s unclear whether it was destruction or transcendence. The vibration spreads further.]
Against that vibration, a colossal current surged forward. Even in observer mode, I felt absolute certainty that death was approaching.
My body would shatter. There was no explanation needed.
I simply knew.
Death was drawing ever closer.
No thoughts came to mind.
I was simply overwhelmed by the phenomenon before my eyes.
I was left dazed and helpless.
Then. A voice reached me.
“My [beloved disciple] is completely destroying the Dragon Palace!”
“What?”
“Did the Dragon Palace perhaps offend my beloved disciple somehow?”
Raymond spoke in a panic.
“We need to get out of here. If we stay like this, we’re all dead.”
Right now, we were like a small boat swept along by a raging current.
We were already being violently carried away somewhere.
An enormous pressure bore down on us.
Water leaked even through the highest-grade magical barriers.
But right beside me, I spotted a large, rough-looking muscular man.
“Professor!”
“Don’t worry. He’s just fainted from fear!”
Raymond extended an ‘invisible hand’ and pulled the man—Kang Pal-do—toward us.
It felt magical.
This guy has an aura specialized in survival.
Wherever I go, I won’t die. I’ll make excellent use of you as research material.
“But next comes Sung Gwang, the archer wielding the Bow of Light.”
He lifted his head and cried out.
“White radiance burning in the Abyssal Deep!”
But there was no time to witness even that.
If I stayed here any longer, I’d be caught in the shockwave of the high-ranking spirit meteor and wouldn’t even leave bones behind.
“Professor!!”
The ocean current was so fierce that my voice didn’t carry properly.
It felt like being inside a massive thunderstorm.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t exit!!”
“That’s possible!! My beloved disciple’s destructive power is so overwhelming that the Tower went dead for a moment!!!”
Raymond paused to think.
At this rate, I was in danger too.
‘Escaping alone is possible.’
The problem was Kang Hye. She was the blood relative of the Research Institute Director, no less.
If I could save her, saving her was proper research etiquette.
‘And this one here.’
Makes excellent research material.
Yes, I’ll save her.
“This will hurt a little.”
I thrust my hand into Kang Pal-do’s chest.
From the black hole in his chest, I extracted a shimmering essence.
I pulled out one glimmering force from within.
I’m only borrowing it temporarily, so it’s fine.
He’ll suffer from severe headaches for a few days, and some abdominal pain too… a slight sensation of suffocation as well… but it’s better than dying.
Besides, I myself won’t be in pain, so it’s acceptable.
“Fortune be mine—!”
Yellow light spread throughout the entire Tower.
In that instant.
A system notification appeared.

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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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