The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 2

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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 002
But the true shock came next.
[Global Announcement!]
[An Awakened One of the Earth Channel’s sole EX-Rank has been born!]
[Birth Region: Seoul Tower Zone]
[Only one EX-Rank Awakened One may exist per channel.]
A notification that reverberated across the entire world.
For the first time in fifteen years, a word I’d never seen appeared.
EX. Extraordinary. In other words, transcendent rank.
‘Could it possibly be… me?’
[Upon the death of an EX-Rank Awakened One, a new EX-Rank Awakened One will be born.]
[Upon the defeat of an EX-Rank Awakened One, the EX-Rank Awakening will be inherited.]
In summary, it meant the entire world might come to kill Choi Kang-mok.
Choi Kang-mok hastily opened his status window.
‘Status window.’
An exclusive tool visible only to Awakened Ones themselves.
My personal interface materialized.
───────
[Status Window]
Name: Choi Kang-mok
Awakening Rank: EX
Job: ■■■ (Localization in progress)
Nickname: –
LV: 1
───────
‘It really is EX.’
The unfamiliar EX rank twisted my sense of reality.
And then the job field.
Incomprehensible symbols floated there.
[Job ■■■ localization has been completed.]
[Job ‘Burst Damage Dealer’ is now activated.]
‘Burst Damage Dealer?’
It meant dealing damage in concentrated bursts.
It had become an incredibly common term recently.
Though it was the current meta strategy keyword, I never expected it to appear as an actual job title.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Even if everyone in the world came for me, it would be fine.
I had finally achieved the awakening I’d dreamed of.
What more could I possibly ask for?
But this wasn’t where it ended.
[EX-Rank Awakening privilege has been applied.]
[EX-Rank skill, ‘Tower Entry’ has been created.]
‘Tower Entry?’
───────
[Tower Entry]
Enter the Tower of the current region.
Ordinary items cannot be brought inside.
Maintain invincibility for 30 seconds after returning.
Current region: Seoul
Accessible floors: 1 and below
Cooldown: 24 hours
───────
A remote Tower Entry pass.
No need to stand in line anymore, no need for permission.
If necessary, I could even conceal my identity.
A privilege befitting an EX-Rank Awakened One.
‘I want to try it.’
[Will you use the skill ‘Tower Entry’?]
[Current region: Seoul]
My fingertips tingled with anticipation.
I wanted to enter immediately and test my magic.
But I shook my head quietly.
‘Patience.’
If it becomes known that I’m an EX-Rank Awakened One, it will be dangerous.
Countless assassins must be flooding into Seoul.
Drawing attention would be suicide.

* * *
As I stepped through the entrance, my breath caught in my throat.
I locked the door, leaned against the wall, and drew a deep breath.
‘Settle yourself.’
The Tower. The ‘first entry’ into each floor matters above all else.
Because the clear rank is determined by it.
A single record divides rewards and grades.
“Exhale.”
It still didn’t feel real.
‘Can this actually work?’
There was only one way to find out.
[‘Tower Entry’ is being used.]
[Current Territory: Seoul Tower]
Blinding light enveloped me.
A sensation of space warping.
The characteristic vertigo of entry washed over me.
[Accessible Floors: 1st Floor and below]
[You have entered Seoul Tower, 1st Floor.]
Beneath my feet, wind brushed past.
[Current Level: 1]
[Level-up cannot exceed twice the cleared floor.]
A verdant meadow where grass blades rippled in the breeze.
Fifteen years ago. This was the field I had first cleared.
The scenery and air were identical to back then.
“I’m here.”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
The awakening that had felt unreal finally became tangible.
[1st Floor Challenge: Eliminate all slimes in the field within 10 hours (5/5)]
Translucent, gelatinous slimes crawled sluggishly across the meadow.
A few approaching creatures touched my leg with a soft tap.
It stung lightly. A non-threatening presence.
But if left unchecked, they multiply.
‘This is how you acquire a novice mage.’
Incidentally, this was a strategy Choi Kang-mok had discovered fifteen years ago.
“The landmark rock… still here.”
A triangular stone with a sharp apex pointing north.
I took a hundred steps without checking my direction.
Each footfall aligned perfectly with the path etched in my memory.
[Congratulations!]
[You have discovered the hidden area, ‘Tomb of Statues’.]
With a soft rumble, the earth trembled, and four expressionless stone statues emerged from the ground.
Place your hand upon them and meditate in prayer, and a class shall be bestowed upon you.
───────
[Aila]
A statue emanating an enigmatic power.
───────
Just like fifteen years ago—a Mage.
Nothing else mattered to me.
[You have been granted the temporary class ‘Novice Mage’.]
That was the notification I should have received.
[A superior class is already fixed.]
[Class acquisition has failed.]
What?
[The superior class ‘Dil Jjik Nu’ subcategory, ‘Mage’, is now activated.]
“That’s surprising.”
It was Choi Kang-mok, whose Awakening had been revoked.
Startled by a young sprout, startled again by a pot lid—such is the way of things.
I steadied my racing heart.
‘All roads lead to Seoul.’
In any case, I had become a Mage once more.
[You have been granted the Skill Book ‘Energy Bolt (Random)’.]
Back in the Slime Field, I lifted the Skill Book.
Though somewhat surprised, everything had proceeded according to plan.
“Phew.”
Back in the Slime Field, I drew out the Skill Book.
This was a measure of potential.
The grade of magic that emerged from this Skill Book would reveal my talent as a Mage.
Fifteen years ago, I had drawn an A-rank.
The same grade as the world-class Mage Christine.
‘Then what about this time?’
[You attempt to acquire a skill by using the Skill Book ‘Energy Bolt (Random)’.]
The pages split open, and white light poured through the crevice.
That radiance enveloped my body gently.
Magic was returning to me.
[You have acquired the skill ‘Energy Bolt (S)’.]
‘S?’
The initial acquisition limit was A-rank.
Yet an S-rank had emerged.
It seemed to be the EX-rank correction at work.
‘Whether it’s EX-rank correction or pure luck, I’ll take it.’
There was only one thing that mattered.
‘Magic had returned.’
The sensation I had yearned for so desperately now dwelled at my fingertips once more.
Fifteen years of absence meant nothing.
My body, my hands—they remembered.
I channeled supernatural power within the framework of skills, giving it form and mana, manifesting it upon reality.
The more precise the imagination, the higher the completion of the circuit.
It was different now from fifteen years ago, when I drew magic by instinct alone.
Theory and knowledge that didn’t exist back then now stood like a tower, solid and towering, supporting my every thought.
‘And the rank is S.’
The higher the rank of magic, the clearer every process becomes.
‘I’ll push my concentration to the limit.’
Magic gathered in my hands.
[Skill, Energy Bolt (S) activated.]
Crackle!
The supernatural power I had craved so desperately—’magic’—unfolded.
[Slime defeated.]
Choi Kang-mok tilted his head in confusion.
‘One shot?’
Fifteen years ago, in the same situation, I had needed four Energy Bolts.
Even accounting for the S-rank, this was strange. It wasn’t even a critical hit.
My elation quietly faded.
Magic demands a price. Usually it’s just mana consumption.
But if the magic exceeded normal parameters?
‘Abnormal power comes with abnormal cost.’
It was different from before.
Fifteen years ago, I was reckless; now I was cautious.
“Hah…”
Once more.
This time I cast deliberately and calmly.
[Skill, Energy Bolt (S) activated.]
Crackle!
[Slime defeated.]
The second cast was identical.
Impact, stun, destruction.
It shattered to pieces in an instant.
It was no coincidence.
This was a class trait.
‘Now I understand what “Damage Dealer” means.’
The true nature of this bizarre class was finally becoming real to me.
What’s the cost?
“Mana reserves are manageable.”
If I recklessly expend it in excitement, the consequences would be truly dire.
Mana depletion brings months of aching torment, like a prolonged hangover,
and in severe cases, recovery eludes even years of convalescence.
With particularly wretched luck, it progresses to ‘circuit burning.’
The phenomenon where one’s magical pathways incinerate. Magic becomes forever forbidden.
Still, I can afford a few more attempts in this situation.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to learn through direct experience.’
Fifteen years of theory had accumulated within me.
But knowledge from books and knowledge earned through the body are fundamentally different.
“Very well. Let me begin practical training….”
[Slime defeated.]
[Slime defeated.]
[Slime defeated.]
?
I haven’t cast anything yet?
[Calculating clear rank.]
[EX-rank clear achieved!]
Though invisible to Choi Kang-mok’s eyes, flames erupted above the Seoul Tower.
“Hey, look over there!”
“Fireworks are bursting from the Tower?”
A sight never witnessed before.
And the ‘Hall of Honor’ had been updated.
───────
[Hall of Honor (1st Floor)]
[Republic of Korea]
1. -(Seoul, EX)
2. Kim Yu-jun (Busan, SS)
3. Tomato Moller (Incheon, SS)
…
───────
An anonymous name.
A solitary EX-rank had emerged.
“What is this?”
“An EX-rank clear?”
“What? Seoul Tower? That perpetual last-place Seoul?”
Everyone was astounded.
“Damn it, a real EX appeared!”
“Seoul actually produced a top-ranker?”
[Kim Yu-jun’s dominance is insane—spent 5 billion and still stole first place!]
The Seoul Guild, which managed the Seoul Tower, was thrown into emergency lockdown.
“Seal the exits immediately!”
“Find the EX-Rank Awakened One!”
It was inexplicable.
“We cannot locate the EX-Rank Awakened One!”
“They appear to have vanished.”
“The CCTV footage shows nothing—no trace whatsoever.”
The Tower had been cleared, yet the person had simply disappeared.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok stared at the notifications as if entranced.
[You have been granted 1 EX Point.]
[You have been granted 100,000,000 Diamonds.]
I had never heard of EX Points before, but Diamonds were unmistakable currency.
‘…I earned 100 million.’
From a single floor. From the first floor alone.
The rewards were overwhelmingly staggering—almost dizzying in their magnitude.
And then came the final notification.
[You have obtained an EX-Rank Talisman Fragment (1/5).]
Depending on the clear rank, one obtains a talisman of that corresponding grade.
Collecting all five pieces completes the Talisman, which amplifies an Awakened One’s various abilities.
‘It’s real. Now I truly feel it.’
After fifteen years, I had reclaimed magic in my hands once more.
That sensation had not dulled in the slightest.
It remained vivid enough to make my heart tremble.
‘Why the slime burst completely when I didn’t even hit it properly—that requires further analysis.’
And there was one more thing demanding investigation.
The price of this strange magic.
I had to uncover it.
Then, a sharp, piercing sensation struck my left shin—the inner side of my lower leg.
It was where the slime had bitten me earlier.
A needle-like, acute pain surged through the wound.
“Ugh!”
My body lurched.
My breath caught, and my vision wavered momentarily.
‘Slime venom?’
I rapidly recalled the toxicological data from my memories.
The average reaction of slime venom, its toxicity, its rate of spread.
All of it should have been negligible.
But now. My skin was rotting.
‘My fingertips are tingling.’
I pressed my palm against my forehead—fever was setting in.
My body was reacting violently.
It wasn’t mana exhaustion.
It wasn’t the precursor to circuit burning either.
This was unmistakably a signal that ‘my body itself was deteriorating’.
‘Temporary weakening of physical abilities? Or permanent? Was this the price?’
There was no time to deliberate.
My body was already responding.
The cost of excessively amplified magic.
That backlash had returned as the collapse of my physical durability.
‘My body has grown weak.’
Strengthened magic.
The price for it was a weakened body.
My throat grew parched.
I felt a genuine threat to my life.
‘I need an antidote potion and a healing potion.’
Fortunately, I was now an Awakened One.
“Awakened One Shop.”
[The Awakened One Shop has been activated.]
───────
[Awakened One Shop]
[Floor 1]
1. Healing Potion (Lowest Grade) – 3,000 Diamonds
2. Antidote Potion (Lowest Grade) – 3,000 Diamonds
3. Mana Potion (Lowest Grade) – 4,000 Diamonds
───────
I purchased the antidote potion and gulped it down desperately.
‘It’s not working.’
My breathing grew ragged.
“Gasp… gasp!”
The healing potion showed no effect either.
My body was on the verge of paralysis.
At this rate, I would become the first Awakened One killed by slime poison.
‘I must find a way. I must.’
I refused to surrender.
If I had given up now, I wouldn’t have endured those fifteen years.
I had survived that eternity and reclaimed magic in my hands.
I cannot give up now.
My body was crumbling, yet my mind had grown sharper than ever.
‘There’s a way…!’
There was.

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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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