The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 256

—————
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 256
Lee Byung-gyu, the Lord of Korea, was greatly startled.
Because Owen had appeared as the representative of the Sea Dimension delegation.
‘Wizard Owen?’
When did Owen, who claimed to be the real power behind the Ayla Advanced Magic Research Institute, go there?
And how did he become the delegation representative? Was he originally from there? Did someone use brainwashing magic? That would be illegal, wouldn’t it? But Owen does have the image of someone who might commit illegal acts….
‘Of course, he’s never actually committed any crimes, supposedly.’
My thoughts grew complicated.
Owen winked with a grin.
He had concluded various agreements with the Sea Dimension Rotin.
‘The terms are extremely favorable to us.’
The various conditions benefited Earth.
Especially, they were very favorable to Korea.
He even promised to acquire the legendary grimoire he mentioned retrieving before, within this month.
Moreover, there was a clause for ‘bulk purchasing of Baek-ik Scrolls.’
The terms were extraordinarily generous.
“Is there a particular reason the Sea Dimension needs Baek-ik?”
“It looks cool.”
But they’re offering this much money?
It’s practically a gift at this point?
Owen continued speaking.
“Luxury goods are naturally expensive.”
As a lord, Lee Byung-gyu had to consider the situation from multiple angles.
And he reached a conclusion.
‘Owen doesn’t seem to be on their side. So the conclusion is….’
Unbelievably,
‘A scam?’
It appeared he was running a con on the pirates.
They say the Barbarian Warriors and he have little difference in intelligence—was that actually true?
It was somewhat absurd.
Without showing it, I spoke.
“This is a matter that requires confirmation from the EX-Rank Awakener, though.”
Lee Byung-gyu knew well.
‘He’ll probably approve it. And he’ll enjoy it.’
Even if it didn’t make money, he’d be pleased.
Because it was practical magic training.
‘My magic can even make ships float!’ sort of thing.
A flying magical publicity vessel, one might say.
‘Well, that works.’
One of the Lord of Korea’s greatest duties was keeping the EX-Rank Awakener in good spirits.
To put it more elegantly, it was mental care.
‘It’s unlikely to happen, but if that person’s mental state ever collapsed… Earth would be doomed.’
We were already at a point of connection with the Higher Dimensions.
The gap in power between Earth and them was unmistakable.
A single individual was bridging that chasm.
Some critics argued that the dependency on EX-Rank Awakeners was excessively high, but there was no helping it.
This was reality.
“Our plan is as follows. We’ll purchase Baek-ik Scrolls in bulk to create a massive Baek-ik. My assistants and I will help with the construction.”
The assistants would certainly be worn down in the process, but that was their burden, not Owen’s.
“Yes.”
“Imagine how magnificent it would look attached to the captain’s line, flying through the sky?”
Of course, no one could guarantee what level of performance such a constructed Baek-ik would actually achieve.
“Everyone will look up in awe.”
“….”
As Wenno said, at this point in time it was practically a luxury item.
Or to put it more charitably, a ‘luxury brand.’
“I’ll make absolutely certain the Director doesn’t lose out. If he does, I’ll stake my hair on it, hehehehe.”
…Didn’t he have very little of that to spare? Lee Byung-gyu chose not to mention it.
As a result, the terms of diplomatic relations with Rotin were excellent.
Owen even sent a system message.
[Would you please convey this to the Director? Tell him that this proud intermediate mage of the Ayla Advanced Magic Research Institute is conducting ‘preemptive diplomacy’ to be of service to him. ※Preemptive diplomacy is a magical diplomatic method invented through inspiration from the Director’s magic.]
Thus, without Choi Kang-mok’s knowledge, a highly effective form of ‘preemptive diplomacy’ was completed.

* * *
Lee Byung-gyu, the Korean lord, and Choi Kang-chul, the EX-rank dedicated team leader, found me together.
“From the Sea Dimension Rotin….”
As expected.
I was overjoyed.
“There’s a dimension that needs my Baek-ik?”
“That’s correct.”
Choi Kang-chul asked.
“Can you create scrolls?”
“I’d have to try to know for sure.”
This was modesty befitting a mage.
I was already confident I could create them.
“I’ve done it many times before, so I’ve got a decent feel for it.”
And that was the truth.
Creating scrolls wasn’t particularly difficult.
‘It’s far easier than containing my magical fragments.’
The sense of relative difficulty was considerable.
It seemed that sometimes attempting difficult tasks first provided significant aid to magical growth….
‘Wait.’
Come to think of it,
‘Was that preemptive practice?’
Preemptive training really appeals to me.
Everything about it is remarkably effective.
If there are opportunities to hone ‘preemptive training’ in the future, I won’t hesitate.
In any case, creating Baek-ik wasn’t difficult.
Choi Kang-chul marveled.
‘I heard scroll creation was supposed to be quite a difficult task… but he’s doing it easily.’
Since I’m not a mage, I don’t fully understand, but I’m proud nonetheless.
My younger brother is something to be proud of.
“How about it? Can you mass-produce them?”
“If I set aside time and do one at a time, it should work?”
“Understood. Don’t overexert yourself getting absorbed in magic.”
“Yeah, don’t worry.”
Meanwhile, Owen was horrified when he heard the news.
“What? You’re doing it alone?”
I’ve already had all the assistants standing by.
“Wait. You’re already finished? That can’t be right. It’s not the final version yet, is it?”
What, does he think scrolls are made by just tapping them together?
There must be at least hundreds or thousands of failures before a scroll is created.
Something made this easily would naturally have magical errors….
‘None?!’
The mage Owen was far more shocked than the non-mage Choi Kang-chul.
“This is possible?”
And apparently mass production was feasible too.
He collapsed with a thud.
I need to prove my value.
I have to help with mass production alongside the assistants!
He muttered as if his soul had left his body.
“Right. The original spells were so explosive anyway… I suppose it could happen.”
Converting those spells into scrolls, then scrollifying a peaceful version of ‘flight magic’ would be relatively simple.
And then he shrieked!
“Regardless! Does this even make sense!”
Outside the door.
The assistants whispered among themselves.
“Is he having another fit?”
“How many days has it been? Let’s just ignore him.”
In any case, the Baek-ik scroll had been delivered to Rotin.
From this single transaction, Choi Kang-mok had secured approximately 200 billion won in cash.
They had calculated it not in ‘diae’ but in ‘won’—a message conveying: ‘We are this cooperative with you. Your currency is more than qualified to be the foundation currency of the new era.’
Hawk was certain.
The emperor of the new age would surely understand and respect our message.
Naturally, Choi Kang-mok understood none of it.

* * *
As Light Mayo emerged as a formidable rival, Red Cat spoke.
“Honestly, you’re not really a rival….”
Red Cat didn’t view Igniasha as a competitor.
Igniasha’s expression turned bewildered.
“What? This cat cannot accept such a thing!”
“Whether you accept it or not doesn’t matter to me.”
“Hisssss!”
“Hissing won’t change anything.”
A bit of hissing wouldn’t transform a non-rival into a rival.
Compared to Light Mayo, a hissing spirit was nothing.
Red Cat fell into deep contemplation.
“At this rate, my position as the favored cat will be in jeopardy.”
There was only one master, yet there were many ‘cats’.
That spirit before my eyes kept insisting it was a cat too.
‘I’m the only true cat, but….’
In any case, there were too many freeloaders.
Light Mayo’s rapid rise was deeply troubling.
‘I need to do better.’
Do what?
How much?
For the first time in my monstrous existence, I felt a fierce desire to grow.
A growth hunger that transcended my very nature.
It surged up and stirred the dimensional beast within me.
‘The position of true favored cat belongs to this body!’
I would leave Igniasha to its hissing.
Instead, I needed to devise a way to surpass Light Mayo.
But I wondered if that spirit might have some useful idea, so I decided to ask.
“The master is currently obsessed with [Correction Magic].”
“Yeah, that’s right, but so what?”
Igniasha was indeed unhelpful.
Just an ordinary spirit.
A pitiful spirit that wanted to be a cat but could never become one!
“Correction Magic is fundamentally a spell that touches the system’s settings.”
“And?”
Igniasha still seemed to have no particular thoughts.
“There must be a way I can help…!”
Amber eyes blazed with intensity.
I could not lose to Light Mayo.
In the midst of this, Igniasha spoke.
“I know how to do it.”
The expression and tone suggested bewilderment at such a simple matter, but Red Cat couldn’t hear it.
How could I help my butler master correction magic?
Red Cat’s contemplation deepened.

* * *
The mage Choi Kang-mok, having achieved preemptive diplomacy, was now delving deeply into correction magic.
I had earned hundreds of billions, yet felt little satisfaction.
Lee Byung-gyu had said, “No matter how foolish Rotin is, they sent a circle instead of a diamond. There’s some political message in this,” but I barely paid attention.
I had little interest in anything beyond magic.
‘I must master it.’
I had always been sincere about magic, but lately that intensity had grown even stronger.
“No matter how I think about it, this is unfair.”
A simultaneous EX++ clear reward of just one Mythic-grade robe?
And it was the robe promised on the original schedule at that?
“I can’t just let this slide.”
I absolutely had to master correction magic and correct this injustice.
A practical sense of grievance!
And curiosity about new magic!
My heart burned with determination.
“Professor Raymond has gone silent….”
He said he was researching correction magic, but there’s been no word.
Would he later claim he taught me something and make unreasonable demands?
But the clue came from an unexpected place.
“Brother!”
Official job title: Explorer of Ascension.
Publicly known as ‘Supernovasuper’, the second-ranked candidate on Earth.
Unofficially, an ‘EX-rank Advisor’.
“I’m busy.”
“I found a place that could be incredibly helpful for creating correction magic!”
An ordinary mage would rarely speak so casually of ‘magic creation’, something difficult to achieve even once in a lifetime, but Kang Hye paid no mind.
After all, her brother creating magic was quite natural!
Kang Hye continued with an excited expression.
“Still busy?”
“Not busy. I’m free.”
I knew you’d say that!
“I think you should go to Tower Floor 70!”
“The 70th Floor?”
“Yeah, Igniasha mentioned it….”
Thus began my journey into correction magic.

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