The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 232

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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 232
One versus Twelve.
Following the dimensional war between Earth and Neroph, countless Writers abandoned the conflict.
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[I cannot expend any more ink here.]
[This is… a catastrophe.]
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The Writers had confronted the limits of their talents.
They came to understand with brutal clarity that their capabilities were insufficient to contain or subjugate magical anomalous entities.
Most of the Light-tier Writers experienced this reckoning.
Yet not all Writers in the open worldview treated this content so lightly.
Where Light-tier Writers exist, Heavy-tier Writers inevitably follow.
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[But we are not cowards like them.]
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Instead, a faction emerged that burned with even greater creative fervor.
A peculiar phenomenon unfolded—Light-tier Writers withdrew while Heavy-tier Writers delved ever deeper into immersion.
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[The combat magical anomalous entity is greatly stimulated by the ‘robes’ of Neroph’s mages. We cannot comprehend the logical flow, yet this development is welcome to us.]
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What it desires is unmistakable.
A robe superior to what it currently possesses.
It requires a ‘magnificent’ robe that transcends Earth Civilization’s standards.
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We shall reestablish the logical structure and causal relationships anew.
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This era is founded upon the Tower Civilization.
The saying that all things begin and end with the Tower is no mere platitude.
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We have been mistaken all along. Every attempt to subjugate magical anomalous entities by increasing the Tower’s difficulty was flawed. As a side effect of such methods, the rewards for magical anomalous entities became excessively generous.
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For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Choi Kang-mok, monitoring the Writer notes in real-time, laughed with exasperation.
“Wow, these bastards don’t even care that I’m watching this?”
At first, they cowered and fled.
Now they’ve become utterly shameless.
They’re brazenly listing their plans as if to flaunt them—what kind of lunatics are these?
If everyone were sensible mages like me, the world would be such a peaceful place.
Kang Hye also furrowed her brow.
She was just a mage who loved magic, so why was she so desperate to capture them?
“What are you trying to do about it?”
“I’m going to reverse the causal relationship.”
It wasn’t a difficult concept to grasp.
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[Past]
1) Increase difficulty → Better rewards.
※ Raising difficulty disadvantages the challenger → The Tower’s nature imposes various limitations.
[Present]
1) Improve rewards → Difficulty increases.
※ Better rewards advantage the challenger → Can maximize the difficulty scaling.
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To summarize the Writers’ approach:
【I’ll give you what you want. In exchange, accomplish something harder.】
“They’re trying to lure me to the Tower by dangling rewards I’d covet. It’s a trap of sorts.”
“…Does that actually work?”
“Apparently it does.”
“Don’t traps usually get set in secret?”
They’re laying it out in the open like this?
“Those lunatics don’t follow normal logic. Common sense doesn’t apply to them.”
“Fair point.”
Kang Hye paused mid-sentence, startled by a sudden realization.
‘Wait a moment.’
Upon reflection, perhaps they were being clever after all.
‘If they suddenly offered an extraordinarily magnificent robe as a reward…’
A trap? A snare?
What good would it do?
That mage would undoubtedly make a beeline for the Tower.
‘They’re actually brilliant…?’

* * *
Heavy-tier Writers possessed fundamentally different depths of skill and experience compared to Light-tier Writers.
They commanded vast reserves of ink and maintained connections with numerous sponsors.
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[An Anonymous Chat Room for isolating magical anomalies has been created.]
[■■, ■■■, ■, ■■, ■■, ■■■… ■■, ■■■, ■■■ have entered.]
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They had opened a secret chat room to isolate and eliminate the magical anomaly.
Only Writers across the entire universe possessing special qualifications could participate anonymously.
While opening and maintaining this chat room consumed astronomical amounts of wealth and ink, it remained well within the Heavy-tier Writers’ capacity to sustain.
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■■ : Must provide at minimum Legendary+ grade, possibly Mythic tier
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To evade any potential ‘tracking’ by the magical anomaly, all their nicknames were encrypted, and the system even automatically unified their speech patterns through translation.
Currently, they had adopted [Earth Community-style translation format].
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■■■: Can produce Mythic (appearing) grade
■■: Ambiguous stuff won’t cut it. Needs to be genuinely Mythic tier.
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Various disputes arose.
Whether it was truly right to distribute genuine Mythic-grade items regardless.
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■: Didn’t the system hand out Mythic grade when they were a newbie?
■■: Why would the system have given out Mythic grade?
■: Ah….
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The system had always stayed one step ahead of the Writers.
It had already been improving rewards to raise difficulty accordingly.
To counter the magical anomaly.
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■■■: The problem is the containment didn’t work at all
■: The system seemed to have foreseen this day already
■■■: But it survived anyway and became a monster
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The Writers fell silent for a moment.
This was a method the system had already failed at.
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■: Aren’t we going to fail too?
■■: Someone still has to try
■: That
Mage
—if left unchecked, the universe itself might be destroyed someday
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Even in the Anonymous Chat Room, the term for ‘magical anomalous entity’ had been unified as ‘Mage’.
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■■: High risk, high return
■■■■: Mythic-grade robe, let’s go!!
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An invitation arrived for Choi Kang-mok.
[Invitation]
The format was similar to what had come before.
However, what differed from previous invitations was that the reward was explicitly stated.
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Clear Reward:
Pallium Praetoris Legionis Ignis
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“They really went all out with the name, didn’t they?”
They must have done this intentionally.
Just like when the old Tower was reconstructed and they called it Prestige Central or something.
-It’s Latin, sir.
-If translated, it means the Robe of the Flame Legion Commander.
-It’s a robe that allows you to utilize six red wings.
The grade is nothing short of Mythic.
‘Red wings…!’
That ability which had made me break into a cold sweat.
With that, I could soar through the sky freely.
-The Requiem effect is automatically applied.
-As a sacrifice to trigger the Requiem effect….
Mayo’s body gleamed.
This was, in every sense, a magical anomalous entity
Mage
-specialized,
Mage
-exclusive custom-tailored item.
-Damage, sir.
Consuming Damage to trigger other effects was already a familiar concept.
And it’s been applied to this reward item.
My eyes went wide.
“Consume Damage to unfurl red wings, then.”
Essentially, the supply is infinite.
That wasn’t the end of it.
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Special Ability: [Devouring Flame]
[Devouring Flame]
Burn the currently equipped robe to absorb 1 existing option
(※Can only be used once)
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The tilted lettering suggested some coercive force had been applied.
In other words, an item corrupted and modified.
“So I can keep the existing Blink ability as well?”
The scheme was transparent.
They were brazenly laying a trap and inviting me to walk into it.
[Will you enter Tower Floor 80?]
“Brother! You can’t!”
Kang Hye, who had been watching carefully, hurled a restraint rope at me.
These days, Kang Hye was serious about her binding techniques.
‘If brother goes berserk, only I can stop him!’
Since she couldn’t employ lethal techniques, binding was her best option.
Surprisingly, she possessed a genuine talent for restraint arts.
‘I have to prevent him from even entering the Tower.’
First, physical restraint.
Then, restrict skill usage as well.
She focused her concentration intently….
“What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“What are you doing?”
“Aren’t you entering the Tower?”
“Would I enter?”
Kang Hye was taken aback.
“A Mythic-grade robe was offered as a reward?”
And yet you’re not entering?
“No matter how you look at it, this is too suspicious.”
The Writers’ schemes weren’t a one-time occurrence.
Choi Kang-mok exhaled a sigh.
“I’m not some madman.”
“…You’re not?”
“Of course not.”
Igniasha’s eyes widened.
“My contractor is in his right mind?”
Am I dreaming right now?
In truth, even Red Cat hadn’t anticipated this turn of events.
I’d assumed that upon seeing that robe, he would charge straight into the 80th Floor without a second glance.
“At the very least, one must make minimal preparations before entering. The foundation of magic is built slowly from the ground up.”
“…I suppose that’s true.”
Igniasha sought instruction from her master with a reluctant expression.
“Master. It seems the Contractor’s standards are rather inconsistent.”
“This cat does not think so.”
“Huh?”
Red Cat sighed at her disciple’s obtuseness.
The master’s standards have always been consistent.
“The master’s standards are always applied in a manner favorable to himself.”
“Usually, that’s what people call inconsistent….”
“Shh.”
Red Cat raised a paw and covered her mouth.
“A great magic. The art of selective application.”
“…Shameless.”
Meanwhile, Choi Kang-mok pointed to the fine print on the back of the invitation.
“Look at this, Kang Hye.”
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※No robe awarded if Tower is destroyed
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“They’ve made it so I can’t destroy the Tower?”
It was so naturally phrased that I nearly overlooked it.
It’s not that I can’t destroy it… it’s that if I do, I won’t get the robe?
Kang Hye didn’t press the point.
“What could this mean?”
“Hmm. They’ve planted some dog-like challenge that requires destroying the Tower to escape?”
“Exactly.”
Choi Kang-mok glared into the void.
“These bastards have rigged the game amongst themselves.”
No.
Even so, I’m a Writer too.
I can legitimately use a Writer’s pen.
Cowardly, filthy bastards.
“They pretended to show everything while dumping garbage into the Writer’s Notes, then set up their own separate scheme.”
A new form of notification appeared.
[!Writer Domain Notification!]
Not a regional domain, but a professional one.
A simultaneous announcement rang out to all Writers who had entered the secret chat room.
[
mage
has discovered the existence of the Anonymous Chat Room.]
[For security and safety purposes, the chat room will be closed.]
[All members are forcibly removed.]
[Creation of similar chat rooms is prohibited for the next 30 days.]
Choi Kang-mok’s expression twisted into a grimace.
“I told you so. I knew this would happen.”
“….”
I had completely neutralized one of the Writers’ schemes.
Thirty days—that was time gained.
Red Cat, Igniasha, and Kang Hye all wore identical expressions.
‘Was that pure luck? Or is he actually a genius?’
Kang Hye was the first to break into a smile.
“I’m reminded again—you really are like a genius mage, oppa.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The way you deal with the Writers is truly befitting a mage.”
“Is it?”
Red Cat marveled at the sight.
Blood relations still reign supreme.
Igniasha felt unsettled.
Why is a genius mage suddenly being mentioned? How is any of this mage-like?
???????
Without understanding, mastery is impossible.
Being a spirit is not easy.

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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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