The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 168

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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 168
Raymond’s opening remark was quite impressive.
“That was a refined Dispel spell. You could certainly call yourself a true Dispel mage.”
Truly, the insight of a professor.
I had been somewhat confused because of a mere intermediate-rank mage, but thanks to a professor-level mage, I could finally feel reassured.
Just to be safe, I double-checked.
“An intermediate-rank mage told me my magic was destruction magic.”
“Ha ha ha! What kind of idiot like Owen would say something like that?”
Raymond sensed that his student was experiencing some confusion.
This is why a mentor is necessary.
He created a flame made of water in his right hand and showed it to me.
Transparent water overall. The shape of fire.
“Is this fire or water?”
Choi Kang-mok thought for a moment before answering.
“Fire.”
“No. Water.”
Raymond ignited an identical flame in his left hand and asked again.
“Is this fire or water?”
“Water?”
“No. Fire.”
The two spells were essentially identical.
Logically, it made no sense.
They were the same thing, yet he called one water and the other fire.
Raymond held up the flame in his right hand and asked again.
“Then again. Is this fire or water?”
“But you said it was water just now…”
Choi Kang-mok watched his mentor’s expression carefully.
I was beginning to sense what he was trying to say.
“This time, I’ll say it’s fire.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you define it however you wish.”
If I say water, you’ll say fire.
If I say fire, you’ll say water.
Choi Kang-mok had reached an understanding.
“Magic is a miracle that manifests according to my belief!”
Professor Raymond smiled broadly.
“Exactly. My lectures truly are the best.”
He brushed his hands clean and this time conjured two completely genuine flames.
Anyone could see they were fire.
“I’ve decided to call this water.”
A short distance ahead.
I hurled flames toward a fireplace whose creation date remained a mystery.
Bang!
The fireplace’s flames extinguished with the sound.
As if water had touched it.
Choi Kang-mok marveled at this in many ways.
‘When did he summon that fireplace?’
Moreover,
‘That faith in magic… it’s truly unparalleled.’
Indeed, a true professor.
This is how a mage should be.
I must believe in my own magic.
I cannot waver. Another lesson learned today.
Compared to Raymond, I still have far to go.
“Thank you for such profound instruction.”
“My teachings were excellent, but… honestly, I’ve never had a student follow my lessons this well before. It’s truly remarkable.”
“I nearly fell for the deception of an intermediate-rank mage.”
“Haha! I don’t know who that fellow is, but you should keep your distance. To think there’s another scoundrel like Owen in this world.”
Raymond glanced subtly at Choi Kang-mok’s expression.
It seemed Owen was indeed the culprit.
For reference, Raymond was currently keeping Owen in check.
Regardless of magical prowess, Owen was becoming a central figure at the Research Institute through his exceptional social skills.
Apparently, many teaching assistants and NPCs had begun following him.
At this rate, he might steal away all of his student’s trust.
“You must always be wary and cautious of the words of smooth-talkers. Honeyed words often become poison in the end.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
Intermediate-rank mage Owen.
“I didn’t expect it, but he seems to have a slightly sinister side.”

* * *
After hearing the full explanation, Kang Hye fell silent for a moment.
‘Hmm… actually, wouldn’t Owen’s perspective be closer to common sense?’
If she were to pursue the truth, Owen’s interpretation seemed more plausible.
Kang Hye was one of the few people who truly understood Choi Kang-mok’s magic.
Even if something wasn’t a curse, he believed it was one so firmly that he transformed it into a curse and then dispelled it.
‘Professor Raymond’s explanation sounds like a scam….’
But the results spoke for themselves.
In the end, it was dispelled, and the dispel worked.
It looked like destruction, but it was dispelling and negation.
‘Well… as long as my brother is satisfied.’
What did the truth matter?
What did common sense matter?
As long as it was enjoyable, that was enough.
There was just one thing that irritated her.
“I never thought China would get in bed with otherworlders.”
“Tell me about it.”
Mayo was equally indignant.
-No matter how much
our
Shenyang is coveted, they crossed a line they shouldn’t have.
-They dare covet
our
land?
Of course, in the distant past it had been Chinese territory, but now it was Korean land.
The System itself had acknowledged it as such.
“It’s a good thing my brother established a new stronghold, or things would have gotten messy.”
“Well, true enough.”
Kang Hye narrowed her eyes.
“You don’t seem very interested?”
“As long as the Magical Research Institute is fine, that’s all I need.”
In truth, whether Shenyang belonged to Korean territory or remained unclaimed mattered little to her.
That said, she wouldn’t hand it over to China, but determining which sphere of influence a territory fell under wasn’t a mage’s concern.
That was something a Sovereign had to worry about.
Kang Hye spoke.
“Still, it felt satisfying.”
Throughout history, she couldn’t recall China ever being humbled so thoroughly.
No, it had never happened.
‘Well. Nothing surprising about that.’
After all, Foster, the London Sovereign who had earned fame as one of the World’s Three Major Guilds, had come all the way to Korea not in a private jet but in a borrowed fighter jet.
A surge of unwarranted pride swelled within my chest.
“Anyway, thanks to my brother and China’s clash, the bastion system got incredible publicity.”
The public’s understanding of ‘bastions’ remained vague.
The fact that occupying a bastion and planting a Guild flag could absorb an entire territory was still unclear to most.
“Wars are going to break out all over the world.”
Particularly, movements to seize regions possessing special Gates like the Mine Gate were being detected everywhere.
In a rapidly transforming world, countless nations had begun eyeing invasion beyond mere competition.
Kang Hye exhaled deeply.
“And we don’t know when those otherworlders will attack again.”
“Exactly.”
The timing was too convenient.
As if the system were deliberately fostering division.
A kind of difficulty adjustment, so to speak.
‘Well, politics isn’t my field… huh?’
Then, a global announcement appeared.
[!Global Territory-Wide Alert!]
[Main Event: ‘Continental National Championship’ is commencing!]

* * *
[What’s this Continental National Championship?]
Countries within the continent fight each other over the Tower.
└Which nations fight which? Is there a lottery?
└Nope, it’s designated
└Designated?
As the international community watched nervously, additional rules were revealed.
[If championship matchups don’t occur, the Tower collapses]
└So participation is mandatory
└What happens if you lose?
└You become a vassal state for 1 year
Defeat in the national championship meant becoming a vassal state for one year.
[At least 50% of all rewards go to the victorious nation]
└That applies to Tower-related rewards, right?
└Gate rewards are included too
└And you get a vassal state record lmaooo
Even a vassal state record would be created, visible to all.
In other words, a ‘humiliation index’.
It looks like it will have a big impact on the national rankings too.
└But wait, if it’s designated… what about China?
└Didn’t they get marked by the EX-rank Awakener?
└They did apologize and prostrate themselves though…
Lol, looks like I’m about to get called out right away.
Numerous nations exhaled in relief.
They could manage confrontations with other nations, but a confrontation with Korea posed a genuine problem.
That country had one mage who was far too far outside the normal parameters.
[But we don’t even know what the confrontation will entail]
└If it’s combat, EX-rank Awakener alone can carry it easily
└Even if it’s not combat but related to Haeju, same thing
└Dispel-related stuff seems plausible too
Meanwhile, a heated conference erupted within China.
“We must avoid being designated by Korea at all costs.”
“Perhaps we should designate somewhere else first….”
That wasn’t possible.
Designation priority varied according to national ranking.
Within the Asian continent, South Korea held the number one national ranking.
“Korea has priority in designation.”
By contrast, China ranked fifth within the Asian continent.
“If there’s a right to designate, there must also be a right to refuse designation. We need to find a systemic solution.”
No precedent for a refusal right had ever been discovered.
Yet they believed without doubt that a method existed.
Surely, a refusal right would exist.
And that belief was answered.
“We’ve found the refusal right!”
It was the unique ability of an Awakener.
They possessed no other ability—just the singular power to refuse designation.
He, who had lived almost like an unawakened person, suddenly rose to become China’s hero.
However, Lin Zhiwei, the former Shanghai Sovereign and current China Sovereign, pursued a somewhat different approach.
‘Human persuasion comes first.’
Even if they avoided designation this time, what about next time?
And the time after that?
‘Eventually, we’ll clash with Korea.’
At least while I’m alive.
And it’s something that shouldn’t happen while an EX-rank Awakener is alive.
A more fundamental solution was necessary.
‘If we refuse through the refusal right and add the resentment of refusal on top of that….’
Getting marked by an EX-rank Awakener?
The very thought made her vision darken.
Lin Zhiwei gathered all manner of treasures and artifacts and journeyed to South Korea.
She was prepared for accusations of humiliating diplomacy.
Though domestic Chinese opinion was fierce, she believed without doubt that this was the wise path.
‘This isn’t a fight. It’s not a confrontation.’
I must cast aside my pride. A national competition?
That wouldn’t be combat—it would be an execution.
‘I must never clash with him directly.’
In the end, she had secured an opportunity for a private audience with Choi Kang-mok.
In the Korean Guild Secret Chamber, Lin Zhiwei knelt and pressed her forehead to the floor.
She looked every bit like a vassal paying homage to an emperor.
“If it is possible, would you refrain from designating us as opponents?”
Of course, this single request would not suffice.
She might need to promise an enormous array of concessions.
But she had to avoid being selected as a national competition opponent.
That was far preferable to being targeted.
Then Choi Kang-mok spoke.
“Sure, why not.”
“Of course, this alone isn’t enough… What?”
Lin Zhiwei nearly lifted her head without thinking.
This easily? He’s forgiven me?
“I’ve received your apology.”
“…I am truly sorry. I swear I shall never bring dishonor upon you or Korea again.”
“I’ve already received that promise before.”
Choi Kang-mok had no desire to meet with sovereigns over such matters.
“I’m a mage. Discuss these things with the sovereign.”
….
If he kept doing this, he’d be treated like a sovereign himself. He didn’t like it.
Why did they keep treating him like an emperor when they should treat a mage like a mage?
If they were going to bring something, they should bring rare grimoires, not gold.
“Then, might I ask which nation you intend to designate?”

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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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