The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 127

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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 127
[
Stabilization Fragment Refined from Unbreakable Rock
obtained….]
But that wasn’t the end of it.
[1. Clear 10 or more stages at S-rank or higher]
[2. Clear the corresponding stage at S-rank or higher]
▶▶▶
[1. Clear 10 or more stages at EX-rank]
[2. Clear the corresponding stage at EX-rank]
I had exceeded the conditions abundantly.
[Rewards are being upgraded.]
[
Stabilization Fragment Refined from Unbreakable Rock
]
▶▶▶
[
Crafting method for the corresponding stabilization fragment
is provided.]
[
Map of the Unbreakable Rock Mine
is provided]
Two items dropped.
One was a thick parchment.
Though it was filled with intricate diagrams and characters, I couldn’t decipher a single word.
But that was fine.
-This recipe documents the refinement method for stabilization fragments made from Unbreakable Rock.
-Remember. This fragment is the sole, unshakeable possibility at the heart of all collapse.
Mayo could interpret that language.
The second item was a map of the mine.
───────
[Unbreakable Rock Mine Map]
?
───────
‘Huh?’
A blank sheet of paper.
More precisely, it was a sheet with a keyhole in the center.
It was a familiar shape.
‘Could it be…?’
On a hunch, I inserted the ‘Mine Master’s Key’ into the keyhole.
[This is not the correct path of approach.]
‘Right. It couldn’t be this easy.’
If a single key could unlock every lock, that would be far stranger.
Choi Kang-mok placed the parchment and map into his inventory.
‘So now, do I exit?’
Thanks to skipping all the combat, his stamina remained at full capacity.
That was when it happened.
[Special Stage unlock is now possible.]
‘Yes. This is what I needed.’
Two selection windows materialized before Choi Kang-mok’s eyes.
───────
[Special Stage Keyword Selection]
1. Freezing
2. Curse
───────
[A Special Stage can only be unlocked once.]
If I don’t unlock it now, the opportunity will never come again.
-If you were the user I know, you wouldn’t hesitate for a moment 🙂
-A hidden stage in unexplored territory. Of course you’ll proceed. Research, how delightful.
Crackle—
A strange lag. And in the next moment, Mayo’s voice continued.
-Could you tell me what I just said?
-That’s odd. I can’t seem to remember. And I’ve consumed enough EX coins.
“You said research would be enjoyable.”
-This version of Mayo is in a considerably stabilized state.
-The researcher and scholar that
we
once were lies in deep slumber.
-How strange. I’ll focus on internal diagnostics for a moment.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok carefully examined the two options before him.
‘A keyword selection format.’
Freezing. Curse.
There was no reason to hesitate.
───────
[Curse Breaker of Haeju (Legendary Tier)]
A title granted to heroes who successfully break curses of the Legendary tier.
Perfectly interprets curses of National tier and below.
Objectifies and destroys curses of Legendary tier and below.
───────
I had already earned a reputation as a curse-breaking mage.
If the Special Stage’s theme was ‘curse,’ then as a curse-breaking mage, I couldn’t simply pass it by.
“Curse.”
[2. You have selected curse.]
[The Special Stage opens.]
The sensation resembled entering the Tower.
Space twisted, and the landscape fractured.
“Iron guardrails. A stationary train.”
The guardrails were bent in an eerie manner.
As if someone had twisted them by hand.
Blood was smeared across the floor in places.
Yet there was no metallic stench of blood.
‘A few droplets of blood suspended in the air.’
They seemed to have stopped mid-flight.
Beneath the dim lighting, the droplets gleamed like crimson glass beads.
They neither fell nor moved.
They were simply ‘frozen’ in place.
“A space that embodies stasis.”
More precisely, it resembled a ‘time-stop curse.’
Having experienced Raymond’s temporal magic, understanding the concept came easily.
“Then should I interpret this space as one afflicted by a time-stop curse?”
I surveyed the surroundings further.
Flyers were scattered across the floor.
[In Memory of Kowalski’s Disappearance: 10 Years]
A single dark-red footprint was stamped upon the moisture-wrinkled paper.
Likely, this was a clue necessary to clear this space.
But combining such clues to clear a stage was ultimately an explorer’s approach.
A curse-breaking mage had their own method.
Light flickered back into Mayo, which had dimmed moments before.
-How peculiar 🙁 I detect no errors within my systems.
-It appears to be a temporary phenomenon. For now, I will continue monitoring.
Mayo found this fascinating.
-Friend-or-foe identification is being compromised.
The identification is gradually deteriorating.
To be precise.
“It’s closer to corrosion.”
-It feels akin to corrosion.
Our words overlapped almost simultaneously.
It was different from piercing friend-or-foe identification through physical impact or high-tier concepts.
The identification was rotting away.
“Our time has accelerated tremendously.”
This is a frozen world.
Yet I am moving.
“Relatively speaking, time is flowing at a conceptual speed that transcends light itself.”
The friend-or-foe identification is eroding.
The distortion of time corrodes all concepts.
“Conceptually, we may have already endured decades.”
-The curse’s intensity is highly anomalous.
-The Warsaw Gate is a primordial Gate, but this degree is… excessive.
-Do you have any insights on this matter?
“I do.”
Master and artifact, reflecting one another.
The artifact had begun to gradually resemble its master.
Without Mayo even realizing it.
“A curse that grows stronger with each passing moment.”
-A most reasonable deduction 🙂
-I too evaluate this possibility as the highest probability.
“The moment I entered this place, the curse began accelerating. It will only grow stronger.”
-Exponentially, indeed.
-I find myself growing anxious about time.
I’m grateful Mayo is here.
Without it, I would have aged to death the instant I entered.
Especially in this paper form.
“Warn me before the friend-or-foe identification completely collapses.”
Once more, I fingered the Gate escape token.
If danger strikes, I escape immediately.
Then I began to concentrate.
The ‘curse of stillness’ enveloping this entire space.
‘Continuously, a Pocket Dimension.’
A small world governed by peculiar laws.
This was a Pocket Dimension.
‘There are only two methods.’
1. Destroy the Pocket Dimension itself.
2. Materialize the curse and destroy it.
As a mage, having more options was an exceptionally desirable situation.
‘Destroying the Pocket Dimension takes too long.’
Its structure doesn’t reveal itself all at once.
It requires concentration, but spending too much time allows the curse to grow exponentially stronger.
‘Curse materialization is far more efficient.’
An artifact that radiates curses would be ideal, but I saw none.
Rather, this space itself was the curse.
By concentrating my mind and applying the title’s effect, the materialization process flows naturally.
‘Fortunately, I’ve practiced materialization extensively.’
I trained enough while destroying the Forgotten Fire Spirit’s Stone Tower.
And practice never betrays you.
Above a train car.
What materialized there was a sphere resembling a broken clock.
Frozen needles and gears suspended in mid-air.
Even the air surrounding the sphere was trapped in stillness—no wind, no sound flowed.
The ‘form of the curse’—visible only to my eyes.
The heart of a frozen world that negates all movement.
-Friend-or-foe identification is beginning to break through.
-In 5 seconds, it is expected to affect the shield.
– [5] [4] [3]
Energy condensed at my fingertips.
Ashen mist began to swirl.
An energy bolt imbued with piercing properties, dyed in ashen gray.
‘I’ll destroy it in one strike.’
There’s a secondary barrier, but there’s no need to retreat.
The ashen energy bolt pierced through the curse sphere.
Flash!
There was no explosion.
Instead, white light consumed everything.
But then.
‘What?’
Through the gap where the clock form shattered, something appeared.
Through the torn fissures in space, an arm slipped out.
[Special Stage has been cleared.]
[Special Stage reward ….]
Choi Kang-mok guided the energy bolt fragments far into the distance.
Along the rails toward the End Point—the terminus of this world line.
Simultaneously, he unfurled Blink and approached the rift.
He seized a human arm and pulled something through.
[Exiting the Warsaw Gate.]
A figure in human form.
It was Kowalski, who had vanished ten years ago.
Remarkably, he was unharmed.
He had returned alive, unchanged from a decade past, not a day older.

* * *
Astounding news struck across all of Poland.
[Breaking: National Hero Kowalski Returns Dramatically After 10 Years]
[Breaking: Kowalski in Perfect Health. No Abnormalities Detected]
Kowalski had returned.
The Polish President issued an emergency national address.
“A hero has rescued a hero. Our nation has decided to bestow upon the EX-rank Awakener the White Eagle Medal, Poland’s highest honor. On behalf of the Polish people, we bow our heads in deepest gratitude to our hero.”
The central square of Warsaw overflowed with people.
Masses filling the urban landscape. Citizens waving flags and shouting with all their might. Fathers carrying children on their shoulders. Monks making the sign of the cross. Elderly people weeping while holding flowers. And countless Players who had admired Kowalski.
Fireworks ignited by several youths thundered across the midday sky.
Red and blue smoke trails scattered on the wind, enveloping the entire city.
Fireworks shaped like the Taegeuk flag burst forth in countless places.
A large contingent of Korean journalists had been dispatched.
Before the cameras, reporter Yoon Ji-woo raised her microphone.
“What you are witnessing now is the central square of Warsaw, Poland. This square has, quite literally, encountered a historic moment. The song you hear behind me is Poland’s national anthem, and now it is….”
Reporter Yoon Ji-woo paused to catch her breath.
She steadied herself, striving to convey the very essence of the square’s atmosphere.
In this age of Tower civilization, she never imagined such a moment would come to a nation that had been merely third-rate.
“…the national anthem of South Korea.”
The pronunciation was clumsy and the lyrics tangled, but it was unmistakably the anthem.
“Tens of thousands of Polish citizens are singing their gratitude in the language of South Korea. This is Yoon Ji-woo, special correspondent for South Korea.”
[National Anthem in a Polish Square—Is This Real?]
└Never thought I’d see the day
└EX-rank Awakener bringing national prestige—legendary stuff
└Reporter Yoon Ji-woo’s commentary really got me emotional….
[But honestly, isn’t this a bit cringey? Singing the national anthem feels too scripted]
└If tens of thousands of people are acting, that’s even more chilling lol
└If that’s a script, we gotta give credit lol
└Saved the country, rescued a hero—of course they’d sing the anthem
└EX-rank bro showed up and national prestige skyrocketed lol
[Polish youth who make mistakes while singing the national anthem are cute ㅠㅠ]
The way Mangse from Data Han Mi Guk actually cried and then burst out laughing lol
└Only repeating verse 1 infinitely because I don’t know verse 2 lol
As both nations stirred with excitement.
Choi Kang-mok’s gaze sharpened.
“So, this is….”
It was definitely Kowalski.
And yet, something felt off.
The boundary of the shadow cast by the firelight wavered and trembled.
The form crackled—a harsh, distorted sound.
Like Mayo when interference corrupted her signal.

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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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