The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 20

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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 020
Two EX Coins.
A hundred percent more expensive than before.
But when you consider it the price of your life, it was a bargain.
‘Without Shield, I would have died on the seventh floor.’
Efficient distribution mattered, but keeping Shield at full capacity—a hundred points—was non-negotiable.
[Shield’s stat has increased to 6.]
[Remaining Coins: 4]
My Pocket Dimension grew more resilient.
And I felt another change taking root.
Nothing in this world is free, but sometimes a steep price brings rewards worthy of its cost.
[First 5-Stat Clear achieved! 6-Stat milestone reached!]
[Initial Privilege has been applied!]
[The rank of the corresponding ability (Shield) has increased!]
Something new began to unfold.
Mayo laughed—ho ho ho!
-I, Mayo, am displeased at being mistaken for a carnivorous plant, hehehehe.
Mayo’s cubic form crackled and then reformed into a neat hexagonal cube shape.
-Shield now includes a special function. Deployment preparations are complete.
-The function is called ‘Grant’.
[Shield has been granted the ‘Grant’ attribute.]
Even without grandiose explanations, understanding came naturally.
I grasped it as easily as breathing.
‘I can apply it to others too.’
The original Shield operated on an ‘area’ basis, so it only worked when I was with Mayo.
But now I could ‘Grant’ a weakened version of Shield to others.
Applying it to Kang Hye immediately seemed perfect.
The Explorer profession inherently carried constant danger.
‘I’ve already filled Shield to a hundred.’
When it depletes, I can refill it.
It was time to consider investing in other categories.
[Unlocking ‘Security’. (Remaining Coins: 3)]
[Subcategories for ‘Security’ have been created.]
───────
[Security]
1. Wiretap Detection: 0 (+)
2. -(Locked)
───────
The structure was intuitive.
Information had already leaked to the Busan Guild.
‘Eavesdropping Detection’ was well worth the investment.
[‘Eavesdropping Detection’ stat has increased to 1.]
[Remaining Coins: 2]
“Hm?”
Beep-beep— an alarm sounded.
It was Mayo’s warning signal from the Small World, audible only to Choi Kang-mok’s ears.
The Small World glowed red throughout.
The effect resembled an ambulance siren.
[Eavesdropping has been detected.]
Choi Kang-mok’s expression twisted slightly.
But with my current stats, pinpointing the exact location was difficult.
‘Let’s see who wins.’
[‘Eavesdropping Detection’ stat has increased to 2.]
[Remaining Coins: 1]
The glowing red area gradually shrank.
It pointed toward the entrance.
-What kind of bastard would pull something like this?
Choi Kang-mok looked around but couldn’t identify exactly what the eavesdropping device was.
[‘Eavesdropping Detection’ stat has increased to 3.]
[Remaining Coins: -]
The glowing red area narrowed further.
Inside the shoe rack.
Beneath the slippers.
‘Gum?’
More precisely, it was an amorphous artifact with no electromagnetic signature.
An eavesdropping device designed to evade detection, crafted by a Creation-type Awakener.
It was certainly an intentional trace left behind by someone.

* * *
I sent a message to Kang Hye through KakaoTalk.
[There’s a listening device in the house. Come over and make it disappear naturally.]
Shortly after, Kang Hye arrived at my place.
As an Explorer, detecting surveillance wouldn’t seem out of place for her.
“Oppa, did you make an enemy of someone?”
“An enemy? What enemy would I have made?”
I’d been mocked plenty of times.
But I’d never actually made an enemy.
“I’m picking up a surveillance scent somewhere.”
Kang Hye continued her act with practiced ease.
“It’s closer to an ability than a mechanical device. Here, found it! Under the shoe sole.”
Kang Hye irritably stomped on the listening device and crushed it.
“What kind of lunatic taps a civilian’s house?”
In that instant.
Beep— beep—
An alarm began sounding again.
I made a sharp “shh” sound to warn her.
I spoke with only my lips.
-There’s another listening device.
[Surveillance is being detected.]
The entire space glowed red.
It meant surveillance was spread throughout this entire space.
I furrowed my brow.
A listening device stuck under a shoe sole?
This was cruder than I’d expected.
Though that made sense.
It could have been placed by the assassin Kim Yu-jun, or by the Vice-Guild Master Park Sung-hyun.
If it was applied wholesale to all ‘EX-rank Awakener candidates’, it wouldn’t be a particularly high-priority operation.
But.
‘The ability activated the moment I removed the listening device?’
This wasn’t mere surveillance.
It was a double trap.
A scheme that required considerable effort.
‘They’ve almost figured out who I am.’
This changed things considerably.
Kang Hye’s expression turned bewildered as she spoke with only her lips.
-I can’t handle this alone. Should I call the Seoul Guild?
Even Kang Hye, a promising prospect with exceptional potential, couldn’t neutralize it.
That meant whoever did this possessed considerable skill.
Choi Kang-mok stroked his chin thoughtfully.
‘What should I do?’
There were three options.
1. Seek the Seoul Guild’s assistance and eliminate the surveillance.
2. Deliberately leak false information to confuse the enemy.
3. Raise the Surveillance Detection stat to unlock the next ability.
‘Hmm.’
Accepting help from the Seoul Guild?
It wasn’t a bad option, but if I could resolve this myself, that would be preferable.
False information?
It consumed too much mental energy.
I refused to waste energy at a time when I wanted to focus on magic.
Then Mayo interjected.
-This Mayo…
-Handle me more forcefully, more intensely… please…♡
-Error detected.
-The sentence just displayed is one of ‘our’ languages.
-Upon the current user’s correction request,
deletion
will be executed.
-Yes, obliterate me violently, let’s go together, far away hehehehe
The stat window unfolded before my eyes of its own accord.
───────
[Defense]
1. Shield: 6
2. Interception: 1
3. (Locked)
───────
-This Mayo has
our
space and identified the intrusive ability.
-According to the criteria, this is deemed hostile action.
-I report that the activation conditions for the Interception Protocol have been met.
Interception was not an offensive ability but a defensive one.
It could only be used for defense.
Normally, it would be unusable.
But now, combined with Surveillance Detection and recognized as hostile action, the activation conditions for Interception had been satisfied.
A [!!!] icon flickered on Mayo’s body.
-Awaiting user authorization for Interception.
“Nice.”
A green magic circle materialized near Choi Kang-mok, and from it erupted a torrent of emerald light.
-Die, you worthless vermin!
The green beam of light struck across the space in multiple directions.
Kang Hye trembled violently.
“Brother, what is this?”
It was difficult to discern precisely.
But it was far more than simple magic.
Some kind of law was being manifested upon reality itself.
An utterly unfamiliar sensation.
It felt like physically destroying something invisible.
A chill ran down my spine.
[No eavesdropping detected.]
-The assigned objective has been processed normally.
-Did my response meet your standards, Master? …
>_<?
"I've eliminated the eavesdropping."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"…How?"
You're barely a novice Awakener around level 14?
Even if you're EX-rank, you should still be progressing through the tutorial phase?
Kang Hye shook her head in disbelief.
"No. I'm just not going to ask."
Ever since he dealt with the assassin Kim Yu-jun.
My older brother had defied all logic.
"I guess I just have to accept he's a madman."
Kang Hye was smiling wryly.

* * *
Choi Kang-mok had summoned his older brother, Choi Kang-chul, to the house this time.
"The Busan Guild seems to be targeting me. I found surveillance devices planted throughout the house."
"Right now…."
"Don't worry. I've completely removed them now."
Choi Kang-chul looked toward Kang Hye.
It was fortunate to have an Explorer for a younger sibling.
"Good work, Kang Hye."
"I didn't do anything."
"What?"
Kang Hye gestured toward Choi Kang-mok with her chin.
"Kang-mok handled it himself."
"How?"
"I have no idea."
"You're an Explorer, aren't you?"
Explorers are a job class skilled in ability detection.
Moreover, Kang Hye's level was at least twenty levels higher than Choi Kang-mok's.
Yet even watching directly beside him, she couldn't figure out what he'd done?
"Beats me. The guy's insane."
….
"Suddenly there was this massive boom and green light flashing everywhere, and then the surveillance was just gone."
….
"I'm serious. I saw it myself."
Mayo slowly rose into the air.
-#OP_protagonist_confirmed #overpowered_combat_deployment #subtle_madness_detected
-※These expressions are reactions used by one of the 'previous users' in situations similar to the 'current user's'.
-This Mayo… found those reactions favorable.
"Anyway, hyung and Kang Hye, you both should probably stay here for a while."
This place, where the Pocket Dimension had unfolded, was currently the safest location.
Unless they started firing heavy artillery like cannons at us.
"The Busan Guild will be targeting me."
The moment the surveillance was destroyed.
Now they would begin to suspect this place most of all.
They would have noticed that the surveillance ability had been destroyed.
"But they won't be able to mobilize their full strength."
They couldn't afford to move openly.
They wanted to monopolize the EX-rank Awakener.
"You sound certain the Busan Guild will attack."
"Yeah. They're probably not in their right minds right now."
"What's your reasoning for that judgment?"
It was easy to infer from the Busan Guild's reaction.
"If they were in a rational state, they wouldn't have launched such a public relations campaign."
Regardless of what they were thinking internally,
they wouldn't have openly cursed an EX-rank Awakener on the surface.
"What matters now is urgency. Their judgment has become clouded."
If that was the case, then this was actually an opportunity.
"I suspect the vice-guildmaster had a particularly special relationship with Park Sung-hyun and his sister."
The reason didn't matter either way.
What mattered was the fact itself—that their eyes had gone mad.
"Wouldn't it be better to request protection from the Seoul Guild instead?"
"It's difficult to trust the Seoul Guild completely either."
There's no one who could remain detached with an EX-rank succession right before their eyes.
Perhaps only Lee Byung-gyu and the vice-guildmasters under him?
Even that's not a certainty.
"In the end, I have to prove myself."
That's the only way to prevent a second or third Busan Guild from emerging.
Being safe under the Seoul Guild's protection and becoming safe by proving I have the strength to protect myself are entirely different matters.
Assassins from across the nation are already targeting an EX-rank Awakener.
There are mountains of people willing to risk their lives for an EX-rank succession.
So a clear warning was necessary.
"I need to show them. What happens if they make the first move."
I need to demonstrate with my own body that pursuing EX truly demands risking one's life.
Even to the Seoul Guild, which stands on the brink of a formal contract.
"This was a mountain I had to overcome, one way or another."

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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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