The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 257

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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 257
A few hours earlier.
Kang Hye grinned wickedly.
“Those cowardly, filthy Authors.”
No matter how I think about it, I’m delighted.
They ran out of ink before they could finish me off.
Just how much ink did they pour into this anyway?
Something constructive and worthwhile—like supporting promising explorers in the Lower Dimension—that’s what ink should be used for. I have no idea why they wasted so much of it tormenting a single mage.
‘For now, no one will be bothering my brother!’
Especially now that I’ve perfected both dimensional severance assassination magic and tracking magic, those cowardly bastards hiding behind anonymity and wielding their pens will likely lie low for a while.
How refreshing!
But then I noticed something odd in a community forum.
[But at this point, aren’t the Authors the victims?]
“Are you serious right now?”
If my fist gets hurt from punching someone’s head, is that the head’s fault?
Of course it’s the fist’s fault.
I refuted that logic with about 42 sentences in my reply.
And then I thought.
‘My brother’s first priority is probably Correction Magic, right?’
How could I help with that?
How could I provide assistance worthy of an EX-Rank advisor?
‘Wait.’
‘Correction Magic’ was essentially magic that interfered with the system’s settings.
It mimicked the effect of the Seal of Justice.
‘What the Authors do is pretty similar to Correction Magic, isn’t it?’
She was an explorer.
She lacked understanding of ‘settings’ like the Dimensional Monster Red Cat, and her comprehension of magic like Mage Choi Kang-mok was insufficient.
She didn’t know the fundamental principles.
But the results were similar regardless.
‘Then there should be clues on the 70th Floor?’
The place where the Authors had ‘interfered very directly.’
Even the Tower had partially agreed with them.
“Originally, the boss should be inside the Tower by default… but they forcibly changed that, probably.”
They had extracted the boss outside the Tower.
They had hidden it in the Barbarian Warriors’ Dimension, hadn’t they?
To defeat the 70th Floor boss, I had to undergo dimensional transfer to the Brain.
‘It was an unusual progression and strategy.’
How many forced values had they assigned to make that happen?
For every action, there is a reaction.
Just as raising difficulty excessively results in absurdly generous rewards.
Kang Hye stroked Red Cat’s back as she spoke.
“Red. If you forcibly tamper with the settings, there are side effects, right?”
“Indeed, there are.”
The dimensional monster’s dignity had taken considerable damage, but Red Cat didn’t mind.
It wasn’t bad to look good in front of Kang Hye.
“That place even fought against the Writers and the Tower.”
The Tower had stepped forward to demand ‘compensation claims’ from the Writers.
It was a place where numerous fractures had formed in many ways.
“The settings became patched up like a tattered rag.”
Seriously. Even thinking about it again makes me furious.
To go that far just to catch my brother.
Anyone watching would think my brother was a boss monster. It’s ridiculous.
My brother is just a kind and ordinary mage.
“So wouldn’t that be the perfect place to learn [Correction Magic]? With the settings all jumbled up, the laws should have become unstable. What do you think?”
“Your younger sister’s maid speaks with a talent for saying the right things.”
Red Cat sensed that an opportunity had arrived.
I could finally land a proper blow against the ‘Light Mayo’ alliance.
Then, Igniasha spoke.
“I saw it, though?”
“?”
“?”
Kang Hye and Red Cat’s eyes turned toward Igniasha.
Igniasha flinched in surprise and changed what she was saying.
“This cat has seen it.”
“Seen what?”
“A Spirit Tree.”
“A Spirit Tree?”
“Huh? You don’t know what a Spirit Tree is?”
Igniasha looked back and forth between Red Cat and Kang Hye with an expression of bewilderment.
Idiots, how could you not know this?
“You don’t know what a tree that gestates spirits is?”
“Spirits are born from trees?”
“Spirits are born anywhere!”
Igniasha finally realized it.
These creatures really don’t know about Spirit Trees?
“Everything you mentioned was only possible because of the Spirit Tree?”
The Writers aren’t gods or anything.
The Tower can’t do whatever it wants either.
To impose various forced values, a catalyst is necessary.
Just as a surfactant is needed to mix water and oil.
“Igniasha is shocking!”
How could I not know this?
Kang Hye finally recalled something.
───────
[Activating a dimensional junction is difficult with Earth’s level of magical civilization, but with ■■■■’s assistance, it becomes possible. Therefore, we strengthened NPC restrictions to prevent ■■■■ from reaching Iraq.]
───────
“So that was a narrative trick!”
I naturally assumed ■■■■ was Raymond.
I thought they’d blocked Raymond from coming to Iraq.
“It was the Spirit Tree! Igniasha, the Spirit Tree can move, right?”
“Why do you keep asking obvious things?”
From Igniasha’s perspective, it was no different from asking “Do humans breathe?”
Setting aside that my younger brother’s butler was somewhat foolish, I grew frustrated not knowing where to even begin explaining.
Spirits simply knew everything from birth!
“Where is the Spirit Tree right now?”
“Hmm.”
“Ah, you don’t know? Sorry.”
Having given hints this far, the rest falls to the explorer’s task.
I’m not a god—how would I know everything?
“Of course I don’t know! Spirit Trees aren’t common on Earth!”
A fragment of a god sensitive to energy—that was Igniasha.
After a few seconds, Igniasha spoke.
“Hmm, it seems to be trapped on the 70th Floor?”

* * *
After hearing the entire explanation, my heart raced with anticipation.
It all made perfect sense.
“Learning correction magic would be easier with a Spirit Tree, wouldn’t it?”
Normally, to learn fire-attribute magic, one must go to a place where fire energy is strong.
And to learn water-attribute magic, the principle is to go where water energy is abundant.
That’s the most efficient approach.
To learn correction magic, then?
Simply go to where the Spirit Tree exists!
Moreover, that place already has its various system parameters distorted.
It’s the perfect location to learn correction magic, which manipulates those very parameters.
“Those vicious Authors.”
They naturally guided me to think of ‘Raymond’.
To hide what the Spirit Tree actually was.
I’m fortunate to have discovered this now.
“Igniasha. Thank you.”
“This is nothing to speak of.”
Igniasha’s pride swelled visibly.
Even now, I’m not your rival?

* * *
[Entering the 70th Floor of Tower (South Korea).]
The landscape of the 70th Floor bore striking resemblance to the Barbarian Warriors’ Dimension.
A complete tropical rainforest region.
Light Mayo offered an observation similar to before.
-(Mayo): It’s far too hot and humid.
-(Light): For a pristine creature like myself, this place is absolutely dreadful!
-(Mayo): But it matters not. To master magic, one must venture into a tropical rainforest—or worse, if necessary. Light, being a beast, wouldn’t understand such dedication.
Red Cat, having lost the spotlight to Igniasha, felt slightly reassured.
Their alliance doesn’t appear particularly solid either.
There will be an opening.
The position of companion cat belongs to me.
I surveyed my surroundings carefully.
“The challenge system isn’t activating.”
That must mean the Tower’s systems are severely compromised.
They should have exercised more restraint.
‘Is that why the Spirit Tree is trapped here too?’
Igniasha was startled.
“Does that mean we’re trapped as well?!”
Red Cat, whose wariness had briefly surfaced at Igniasha’s unexpected contribution, relaxed once more.
A spirit’s brief moment of activity was due to its special nature, but its true essence was undoubtedly just an ordinary spirit.
Why worry about that? The Mage was with me.
In fact, Choi Kang-mok wasn’t particularly concerned.
“Don’t worry, Igniasha. I know how to cast an escape spell.”
“A butler knows escape magic?”
At some point, the title had changed from “contractor” to “butler,” but since that had nothing to do with magic, I didn’t pay much attention to it.
“You don’t know my escape magic?”
“A butler casting escape magic…”
Red Cat bit down on Igniasha and lifted her up.
Igniasha struggled, but she couldn’t match the dimensional beast’s raw strength.
Subtly, Red Cat had also changed the title from “master” to “butler.”
“The butler’s escape magic is more effective and superior to any escape magic this cat has experienced. Igniasha, you really have no eye for talent. Anyway, we have nothing to worry about, right?”
At Red Cat’s words, Choi Kang-mok nodded slightly.
I felt good from the clear “trust” and respect my companion cat was sending.
A prison becomes merely “a place that was once a prison” if you destroy the bars and walls.
If necessary, I could just break through and escape.
‘Since [Damage Recovery Charges] applies here, the Writers will foot the bill anyway, so whatever.’
Of course, this wasn’t the Writers’ fault, but I didn’t care.
Does someone get tormented because they’re at fault? The world has always been absurd.
[‘Arbitrary Setting Value’ is forcibly applied.]
[All ‘Damage Recovery Costs’ occurring on this floor are charged to the ‘Writers.’]
As expected.
I knew it!
I could cast my escape magic without worry.
Then I absolutely shouldn’t make an ordinary exit.
Even if a challenge appears and I can make a normal exit, I won’t.
I’ll destroy everything on my way out. My mood improved.
Looking around, there were only trees everywhere.
“Baek-ik.”
Now that I’d mastered flight magic, it was so convenient.
Floating in the sky and looking down, a veritable “sea of trees” stretched out before me.
North, south, east, west.
Every horizon visible in my sight was covered entirely with trees.
“So I need to find the spirit tree here.”
I was quite confident in tracking magic for assassination… but this kind of tracking was my first time.
With such a vast area, it wouldn’t be easy.
Since it resembled the Barbarian Warriors’ Dimension “Brain,” it was at least continental in scale.
It would take considerable time and effort.
‘For the sake of corrective magic.’
I had already waited fifteen years.
I could endure and persevere as much as necessary.
Patience may be long, but its fruits are always sweet.
Igniasha spoke with perfect composure.
“Shall I summon the Spirit Tree?”
Red Cat’s eyes widened in shock.
“Can you even do that?”
“Why couldn’t I?”
….
Red Cat’s amber eyes trembled. A sense of crisis surged within me.
This bastard is rising again?
Though Red Cat couldn’t see it, Light Mayo’s form was also shimmering faintly.

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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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