The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 21

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Return of an EX-Rank Mage Episode 021
News broke that EX-rank Awakener had signed a contract with Seoul Guild.
System capture images proving the EX-rank clear record flooded the community alongside bold headlines.
[EX-rank Awakener Signs One-Year Contract with Seoul Guild.]
[EX-rank Awakener to Seriously Challenge Seoul Tower?]
The entire nation erupted in discussion in an instant.
[What’s EX-rank Awakener lacking that they’d contract with Seoul Guild?]
└If it were me, I’d go to Incheon lol. Did they really turn down 50 billion won annually?
└EX-rank Awakener isn’t on a level you can imagine, seriously.
└This is practically charity work. Like rescuing a perennial bottom-tier team.
└Actually, it’s surprisingly difficult to ignore regional loyalty lol
└So that’s why all the Seoul natives abandoned Seoul and transferred elsewhere lol
[Seriously though, isn’t EX-rank Awakener dating Lee Byung-gyu?]
└Now that I think about it, that’s the most realistic explanation lolol
└Or maybe family?
└If it’s not something like that, there’s no way to explain why they chose Seoul, real talk.

* * *
Meanwhile, Busan’s lord Shin Chae-ryung was seething with rage.
“These bastards think they can just do whatever they want.”
“Please calm yourself, my lord.”
They sign a contract at this timing?
Using Park Sung-hyun and his sister as hostages?
Seoul Guild declared through an official statement that they would prioritize protecting EX-rank Awakener, whose level was still low.
And they added this: they would show no mercy in retribution against any force that threatened EX-rank Awakener.
“This is directed at me, isn’t it?”
“It appears so.”
The power of life and death over Park Sung-hyun and his sister now rested with Seoul Guild.
Though the incident remained hidden from public view, Shin Chae-ryung couldn’t move recklessly on this matter.
Park Sung-hyun was her lover, after all.
Shin Chae-ryung clenched her teeth.
“How dare Seoul presume to…”
She wanted nothing more than to declare a guild war immediately and inflict humiliation upon them, but she couldn’t.
“The EX-rank Awakener must die.”
At this point, I’ve thrown caution to the wind.
I must inherit the EX-rank grade by any means necessary—even if it means killing them.
“Seoul Guild is actively protecting them, so it won’t be easy. And there’s the matter of Park Sung-hyun and his sister.”
“Silence. I already know all of that.”
Assassinating EX-rank Awakener in reality was nearly impossible.
“In the end, I have no choice but to activate the Grace Project.”
“Are you serious?”
The Grace Project.
A covert internal operation the Busan Guild had been conducting in absolute secrecy.
Creating artificial conditions that made ‘Tower Infiltration’ possible, allowing them to sneak into the Tower undetected.
The primary objective was to recruit or secure promising prospects from within.
Depending on circumstances, they had also forcibly seized essential items when necessary.
“Isn’t Tower Infiltration becoming feasible about now?”
“It is possible. In fact, we just acquired a Tower Infiltration Scroll yesterday.”
‘Tower Infiltration’ was an extraordinarily difficult undertaking.
It required massive sacrifices, time, and manpower.
Yet coincidentally, the scroll had fallen into their hands just yesterday.
In every way, it seemed the heavens favored the Busan Guild.
Just as they always had.
“These bastards will probably make their move in earnest.”
The contract between the EX-rank Awakener and the Seoul Guild.
They were now launching a massive promotional campaign, stirring the entire nation.
Within this whirlwind of attention, they would undoubtedly attempt to make their mark decisively.
“They’ll announce an official Floor 8 challenge.”
The EX-rank Awakener possessed unusual abilities.
Tower entry was possible without physical proximity, and remarkably, re-entry could occur within just twelve hours.
Now they would brazenly publicize those extraordinary capabilities.
“I know which Tower they’ll enter.”
Obviously, it would be Seoul Tower.
“I know the time.”
I knew the exact entry time as well.
The Seoul Guild had announced it.
In precisely four hours, the news would break: ‘Seoul Guild Member EX-rank Awakener’ challenges Floor 8.
“I know the floor.”
I was intimately familiar with that floor’s information.
This was a favorable situation for the Busan Guild.
“Will you truly activate the Grace Project?”
“They need to know.”
What the consequences are for challenging Korea’s strongest Guild.
They needed to learn exactly who they had dared to touch.

* * *
Every Guild maintains hidden reserves of power.
Not officially acknowledged, yet everyone knows.
Underground operatives, or as they’re called—”shadows.”
Publicly, no one admits to it, yet the vast majority of Guilds worldwide quietly deploy their shadows.
One of the Busan Guild’s shadows.
Jo Ju-won, the necromancer, trembled violently.
‘I’ve been given the Grace Project.’
I was tasked with infiltrating Floor 8 of Seoul Tower, where an EX-rank Awakener would challenge.
The directive was to kill him and inherit the EX-rank status.
Success would earn me a promotion to Vice-Lord.
‘If I truly become EX-rank…!’
The risk wasn’t negligible.
What if I inherited the EX-rank and returned only to have the Busan Guild stab me in the back?
Death was a real possibility.
Yet without risk, there is no reward.
‘This is a gamble worth taking.’
Shouldn’t one acquire an EX-rank at least once in a lifetime?
He met with Shin Chae-ryung for the first time in private.
“You understand the details?”
“Yes, I’ve reviewed everything.”
“There’s a high probability he possesses considerable poison resistance.”
“That presents no problem.”
Poison was never part of my plan anyway.
Floor 8 is where the Tower’s first humanoid monster—the Ghoul—appears.
And Jo Ju-won was exceptionally skilled at commanding Ghouls.
Floor 8 was a necromancer’s stage.
“I won’t be careless. I’ll proceed assuming a high-level explorer with considerable defensive capabilities.”
“Your confidence is reassuring.”
Jo Ju-won confirmed once more.
“Am I truly permitted to kill the EX-rank Awakener?”
“Yes. Kill him and return.”
The Lord’s unambiguous murder order had been issued.
“I’ll need several additional materials.”
“Spare no expense.”
Shin Chae-ryung was equally committed to this operation.
She unlocked the Guild’s entire vault, generously providing all manner of materials to strengthen the Ghouls.
Jo Ju-won smiled.
Slowly, deliberately, pulling his lips upward as if savoring the moment.
‘EX-rank awakening is now mine.’
The Busan Guild will handle all the preparations.
Whether we can infiltrate the Tower depends entirely on the Busan Guild.
“You’re ready, aren’t you?”
“Of course. If you can just get me inside successfully, I’ll bring back results for certain.”
If they could just get me to Floor 8, I was confident I could kill the EX-rank Awakener.
It was a desperate opportunity for me as well.
‘I absolutely must succeed on Floor 8.’
Why had I been chosen from among so many shadows?
Because Floor 8 was where ghouls appeared.
If I failed this time, the opportunity would pass to the others.
It was truly a heaven-sent chance.

* * *
[Entering Seoul Tower Floor 8.]
The sunset painted the edge of the sky in crimson.
Beneath it, a desolate cemetery revealed itself.
Weeds tangled wildly, and countless tombstones lay half-destroyed and abandoned.
It was a space untouched by human hands for ages, suffused with the stench of death.
[Current Level: 16]
[Level-up cannot exceed twice the cleared floor level.]
‘I don’t know what kind of interference the Busan Guild will attempt.’
But you can’t let fear stop you from doing what needs to be done.
Regardless, I had to proceed.
[Floor 8 Challenge: Eliminate all ghouls spawned over two hours]
The Tower’s first humanoid monster.
Though admittedly grotesque in appearance, they clearly bore a form similar to humans.
‘What truly matters is clearing it at EX-rank.’
I couldn’t know whether the Busan Guild members would come or not.
But delaying the clear just because they might come would be foolish.
You can’t let fear stop you from doing what needs to be done.
‘Normally I’d have to keep killing ghouls for the full two hours, but there’s no need for that.’
There was a hidden clear condition.
The ‘Resurrection Stones’ embedded throughout the cemetery.
Destroy them first, and the ghouls stop spawning.
The Resurrection Stones’ locations are fixed, and the clear information has already spread.
‘There are seven Resurrection Stones.’
Ghouls were monsters in the form of rotting corpses shambling about.
They possessed poison damage far stronger than slimes and physical strength exceeding humans, but their intelligence was nearly nonexistent and their speed was slow.
‘With my shield, I don’t need to worry about their attacks.’
The ghoul rushed forward and attacked, but it was meaningless.
A Shield stat of 6, no less.
That’s the defensive power of a level 150 tank-class Awakener.
At this point, damage doesn’t penetrate at all.
‘I just need to find and destroy the Resurrection Stones.’
Choi Kang-mok recalled the official strategy.
[Before breaking the first Resurrection Stone, you must hunt exactly three Ghouls. Only then will the Resurrection Stone break easily.]
This was knowledge countless Awakeners had discovered through countless attempts and experience.
You had to eliminate three Ghouls and destroy the Resurrection Stone for it to break easily.
Because the Resurrection Stone’s defense and durability were formidable.
‘But it won’t matter.’
My class was Damage Compression.
A class that crushes through sheer damage output.
The Resurrection Stone’s defense and durability were weaker than the dummies on Floor 4.
‘I’ll destroy the entire tomb in one strike.’
Near the tomb where the Resurrection Stone was buried.
The Resurrection Stone was hidden beneath that grave.
Choi Kang-mok concentrated his focus.
‘I’ve practiced penetration properties enough.’
Fourteen times total over the past week.
I’d steadily honed my sense of it.
‘Drawing up my mana…’
The mana gathering in my hand shifted to an ashen gray.
A clearer ashen gray than last time.
‘Perfect.’
I’d gained 2 levels upon entering Floor 8.
Each level increase caused mana pressure to skyrocket exponentially.
I had to account for that sufficiently.
‘If I apply penetration after impact, it’ll be too late.’
This was the moment to change my approach.
Before the spell reaches its target, I imbue the mana pressure itself with penetration properties.
‘If I can condense the mana pressure into the shape of a spear…’
It wasn’t easy.
Unlike magic, mana pressure was an unexplored field from the start.
Since it didn’t have a specific form like magic, I had to rely purely on intuition.
‘Recall that sensation when the Ancient Wheel shattered.’
Move one beat faster than the mana pressure.
Seizing that moment, I pierce through the tomb and destroy the Resurrection Stone.
‘But at this level, can it even be called an Energy Bolt?’
A slight doubt crept in, but there was nothing I could do about it.
For now, I was still low-level.
I need to take this one step at a time.
[Skill, Energy Bolt (S) activated.]
‘Did it work?’
I seemed to have achieved partial success in condensing my mana pressure.
The way I used Energy Bolt was effective too.
Controlling it was difficult because of the doubled talisman, but I adapted well enough.
Whoooosh—!
Several tombs were pushed back by the mana pressure.
Thanks to properly adjusting the direction and precisely setting my targets, mana fragments didn’t scatter toward me.
‘Perfect!’
This was wisdom born from my experience with the Ancient Wheel.
Hadn’t I been startled when mana fragments from afar bounced toward the nearby Ancient Wheel?
If I set a Ghoul further away as my target from the start, the mana fragments would scatter in the opposite direction, making this area relatively safer.
The beginning of my strategy was remarkably successful.
[Resurrection Stone destroyed.]
But only the Resurrection Stone was destroyed.
[Ghoul defeated.]
….
[Ghoul defeated.]
Notifications rang out endlessly.
Starting from the tomb where the Resurrection Stone was buried, all the Ghouls behind it were swept away.
It was as if a massive wave had washed through that direction.
“I could conduct further research into expanding this into area-of-effect magic.”
As my level rose, it grew more powerful.
In fact, two more Resurrection Stones shattered.
[Resurrection Stone destroyed.]
[Resurrection Stone destroyed.]
Now only four Resurrection Stones remained.
At this rate, clearing it as an EX-rank seemed effortless.
But then.
“Success, it seems.”
Someone had intruded into the Tower.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————