The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 138

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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 138
Lee Kang-nam sent a system message.
[You seem desperate for my approval. Don’t you dare ask for it.]
After successfully transmitting the message, I spoke.
“I’m going back into Seoul Tower.”
“Why?”
“I need to head to Pyongyang. The EX-rank Awakener is waiting at the Magic Research Institute.”
“Oh, the Magic Research Institute!”
It was a place I’d been wanting to visit anyway.
They say just entering raises your intellect, but I was only half-believing it so far.
No matter what, does that even make sense?
I traveled to Pyongyang via the EX Layer.
Travel through the EX Layer is truly remarkable.
“I made the right choice naturalizing. It really feels like a social elevation.”
An era was approaching where nationality itself was power.
“Isn’t this what the new nobility of the neo-imperialist age looks like?”
“Do you always talk this much?”
Bessius tilted his head in confusion.
“Listen, Lee Kang-nam. Aren’t you a tank?”
“That’s right.”
“This is the Mage-Only Corridor. What’s a tank doing here?”
I had received permission through the director’s authority.
But I decided not to explain.
“What are you doing here?”
I studied Bessius carefully.
The talkative type, and even more curious than that.
His question “What’s a tank doing here?” really meant “Tell me how a tank got in.”
‘You’re dying to know, aren’t you?’
Absolutely not telling him.
“What, cat got your tongue?”
….
“How exactly is a tank like you in here?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s no reason I should.”
“Want me to give you a reason?”
“Try if you can. Real combat is different from mock battles.”
Real combat generally favors tanks over mages. Magic demands an extraordinary level of concentration, after all.
In actual combat, throwing a punch with your fist is faster and more efficient than concentrating intensely to chant a spell.
Lee Kang-nam raised his fist.
I wanted to drive my knuckles straight into that irritating bridge of his nose.
“I’m a mage. A civilized person. I don’t fight recklessly.”
As we bickered back and forth, we arrived at the Ayla Magic Research Institute.
The moment I stepped inside, my intellect increased by +4.
“Wow… so this buff actually exists.”
The saying about it being the holy ground of mages wasn’t an exaggeration.
This was a genuine elevation of status.
A familiar face was waiting at the entrance.
“You came? Bessius.”
“Christine?”
I reflexively swung my staff.
[hahahahaha]
My advanced ridicule creation magic shone brilliantly.
Whenever I see Christine, I have to do this.
Christine’s and Lee Kang-nam’s expressions became remarkably similar.
From behind them, Choi Kang-mok saw it all.
“Bessius. I have a proposal for you.”
“What is it?”
“About our historic duel.”
At those words, Bessius’s ears perked up.
“So you do acknowledge me after all.”
He used the word historic.
He wouldn’t have used such a word for Christine or Lee Kang-nam.
“How about we broadcast it live?”
I had begun my activities in earnest.
I’d already issued warnings to the lords at the EU Conference Hall.
Now I needed to display my power somewhat.
If I crush the Grand Mage Bessius before everyone’s eyes, those small fries won’t dare challenge me.
“…What? Live broadcast?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, I hadn’t thought about it.”
High-rankers avoid broadcast exposure.
Their full strength could be revealed, and unexpected weaknesses might be exposed.
Mages, whose bodies are fragile as paper, were especially cautious about exposure.
Choi Kang-mok chuckled softly.
“We could do a recorded broadcast instead.”
[LOL?] appeared above Mayo’s head.
I deliberately manifested magical characters so that everyone could see them.
I consumed one EX Coin due to the enormous amount of driving energy required.
-Is this the correct way to express it?
-It’s vulgar, but oddly addictive in tone.
-It lacks refinement but has destructive power. I’ll study it a bit more. 🙂

* * *
When Raymond first summoned me.
Kang Pal-do was paralyzed with fear.
“Please… let me live.”
The second time. He was furious.
“You insane bastard of a mage…!”
By the third time, he attempted negotiation.
“If you’re going to pierce my belly anyway, shouldn’t you at least give me compensation?”
Raymond’s answer was simple.
“Why would I, when I can pierce it without giving anything?”
The fourth and fifth times.
Kang Pal-do had half given up by now.
The sensation of his belly being pierced gradually became familiar.
Even the alien, horrifying sensation became bearable.
And Raymond’s words that “the more you extract, the luckier you become” didn’t seem to be a lie.
‘My luck has become mysteriously better.’
Breaking past one million subscribers had been so difficult.
But after that, it became surprisingly easy.
Now two million subscribers are within reach. At this pace, I’ll hit two million within a week.
And then another stroke of fortune rolled in.
‘A mock battle between an EX-rank Awakener and Bessius?’
I managed to secure exclusive broadcast rights to it.
The EX-rank Awakener directly chose Kang Pal-do to film it.
‘Is this real?’
Even standing before Choi Kang-mok and Bessius right now, it doesn’t feel real.
This is a dream. Even if it’s reality, it’s still a dream!
Kang Pal-do asked with trembling excitement.
“Did you recognize my skills?”
Raymond interjected.
“Because you seem like you’d be least likely to die.”
“…What?”
“Where else would you find someone with survival-specialized luck as powerful as yours?”
At that level, magical shards could be flying everywhere and you’d still dodge them.
Through continued extraction (?), he had become a concentrated luck mine.
Raymond continued with a slightly more courteous tone.
“Director of the Research Institute. Would it be alright if I observed this mock battle as well?”
Bessius broke into a grin.
“Professor. It seems you too wish to witness firsthand this century’s grand clash between two brilliant mages, hmm?”
“What are you talking about?”
Raymond wasn’t here because of the mock battle.
If it were merely a mock battle, it would’ve been better for just Choi Kang-mok and me to do it.
“To protect the mine.”
“…What?”
“We can’t have our precious mine dying, now can we?”
Luck alone might prove insufficient.
So I decided to participate as an observer in the mock battle.
Kang Pal-do felt slightly bewildered.
Was this… a promise to protect me?
Irritating as it was, there was something oddly reassuring about it.
‘Is this… Stockholm syndrome?’
Similar, yet difficult to define—that peculiar emotion.
My feelings were complicated.
In any case, the world’s attention began pouring in for this clash of the century.

* * *
Kang Pal-do launched the live broadcast.
[Kang Pal-do LIVE: Bessius VS EX-rank Awakener]
“Can you see it, everyone? That’s… uh, what is it… that… the mages’ exclusive… uh, lecture hall? It’s a place used exclusively for NPCs, but anyway, that’s what it is.”
The live viewer count had already surpassed 500,000.
Subscriber numbers exceeded 2 million and were racing toward 3 million.
My body trembled and my tongue went stiff, words refusing to come.
Sudden dread seized me.
‘Damn this live broadcast jitters!’
Ever since witnessing the Dragon Palace’s destruction before my eyes, I’d developed broadcast anxiety.
That sensation of ocean currents crashing down. It had been horrifying.
[Activating automatic relay system.]
I simply couldn’t explain it verbally.
I switched to AI narration instead.
[The screen you are viewing shows a hidden sector of the Ayla Magic Research Institute—the NPC-Exclusive Magic Lecture Hall.]
[A mock battle field will open in the NPC-Exclusive Magic Lecture Hall.]
[Current time: 3:50 PM. Ten minutes remain until the clash.]
[The two mock battle participants are currently discussing the detailed conditions of the match.]
[In ten minutes, we begin.]
The screen went dark.
Yet within that darkness, the entire world converged.
The viewer count exceeded one million.
Choi Kang-mok made the first proposal.
“What if we make the mock battle a no-equipment match?”
“Sounds good.”
Bessius grinned wickedly.
It was exactly what he wanted anyway.
It’s estimated that EX-rank Awakeners possess mysterious items.
I’m not entirely sure, but they’re strange artifacts that assist mages in every conceivable way.
This time, Bessius spoke.
“We don’t need to match levels, right? You’re EX-rank after all.”
“Whatever you prefer.”
Bessius’s level was higher.
My current level was fixed at 80.
Bessius’s level was 104.
“Listen, EX-rank Awakener. Is there anything else you want from me?”
“Nothing.”
“There must be something.”
Bessius’s eyes narrowed.
“There’s something you want from me.”
“?”
“You’ve been dying to see my refined [Sylphid’s Melody], haven’t you?”
“?”
There was nothing wrong with watching it, but at least it wasn’t today’s objective.
“You’re hoping I’ll use that spell in this mock battle, aren’t you?”
“? No.”
“It’s a mage’s battle. You can be honest.”
“I’m telling you, no.”
“I’ll show you anyway. The polished official version. You’ll be quite impressed.”
-Precisely controlled advanced magic… Mayo finds this intriguing.
-Opportunity often appears at unexpected moments.
Our
manifestation of high-tier spirits may gain enlightenment from this.
A heart floated above Mayo’s form.
Somehow, Mayo was becoming increasingly mage-like.
Bessius spoke again.
“In exchange, you have to use that ICBM of yours.”
“ICBM?”
“The space liberation ballistic spell.”
“Ah. You mean the sniper spell.”
-For an Earth-level mage to mention space liberation is quite exceptional.
I’m curious whether you’re merely mimicking the word or if you actually understand the concept.
It was rather intriguing, I must admit.
So what exactly makes a Grand Mage different?
“Do you know about Space Liberation?”
“Not well. But I heard Raoul shouting about Space Liberation.”
“Raoul?”
“That fool who tried to kill you—the assassin.”
“….”
“You turned him into a cripple, didn’t you?”
“He became a cripple?”
I thought he’d escaped safely, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
“Didn’t you do that on purpose?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Bessius tilted his head at my genuinely confused expression.
He showed me a video on his phone.
“Shattered! Annihilated! Erased! Decomposed! Evaporated! Dismantled! Collapsed! Torn! Scattered!
The liberation of space!!”
”
I flinched in surprise.
‘What?’
Mayo reacted as well.
-That is definitely
a part of
us.
-I found it strange that things had been so quiet recently, but it seems our consciousness has been separated.
Mayo’s body crackled with static. It seemed genuinely flustered.
I examined the video multiple times with keen interest.
I needed to understand how something like this could have happened.
‘Let me start with a mock battle.’
[Entering the mock battle field.]
Kang Pal-do’s streaming screen brightened as the commentary resumed.
[The current mock battle space has no radius restrictions. Climate is fixed. Visibility is unlimited. No terrain interference. The stage is completely flat.]
[Two mock battle participants have entered the fully open field with no obstructions to the horizon.]
But something seemed off.
“You, you…!”
Bessius wore an expression of disbelief.
“You did such a thing?”
Something shocking had occurred.

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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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