The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 288

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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 288
Kang Pal-do couldn’t help but harbor suspicion in that moment.
‘Is the Personified System’s departure and all that just a scam?’
He had witnessed all the “betrayals” that Choi Kang-mok had endured thus far.
But he’d never seen one with such brutal intensity before.
‘How could you stab him in the back like this?’
For the first time in ages, his body trembled uncontrollably.
Kang Pal-do, the survival-specialized miner of the Lucky Mine, desperately wanted to flee this place.
He had no idea how that mad lunatic Choi Kang-mok might rampage.
“Of all things to touch….”
He had touched Choi Kang-mok’s reverse scale.
His family?
“The Mine will be taking a brief hiatus due to personal matters.”
-Hey, Pal-do, you bastard!!
-You’re not a mine, you’re….
The viewers were dumbfounded.
A hiatus was one thing, but what in the world was a “brief” hiatus?
[The broadcast has ended.]
Kang Pal-do swallowed hard.
Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
“What do we do, Raymond?”
“What do you mean, what do we do?”
Raymond remained remarkably composed.
“Trust is repaid with trust.”
Kang Pal-do took a step backward.
Raymond, who scratched his belly, was ordinarily quite an ordinary miner.
But the Raymond before him now was anything but ordinary.
‘This bastard’s eyes have gone mad too, haven’t they?’
Something felt different from usual.
A sane man like himself could sense something in his gaze—an intensity he could never hope to match.
“Miner. Why did you end the broadcast?”
“…Does it look like I did?”
Raymond exhaled a light sigh.
“Your faith is still insufficient.”
….
“Listen well, Miner. Faith as small as a mustard seed can move a great mountain and cast it into the sea. All miracles spring from faith.”
“What nonsense is this….”
It seemed his mind had been corrupted upon entering the Gate.
‘I need to keep my wits about me!’
Fortunately, the aura of an unprecedented stroke of “luck” still lingered.
What if I were to graft this aura onto Kang Hye, who hangs upon the Cross?
Wouldn’t that make her survival far more favorable?
But then, wooden vines erupted from the ground, binding Kang Pal-do’s arms and legs.
It was binding magic.
“Raymond, you absolute madman!”
“You seemed intent on causing trouble.”
“Hey, are you in your right mind right now?”
“You’re the one who’s lost your mind, Mine. Come to your senses. This is a space of Trust. Believe. If you believe, it will be realized! Haha!”
Kang Pal-do thrashed against the restraints, but it was futile.
Kang Pal-do screamed silently within.
‘If I ever associate with this bastard again, I’m truly done for!’

* * *
Kang Hye felt somewhat afraid.
‘I have to withstand my brother’s attack?’
───────
However, the attack magic in question must be pure offensive magic containing no technique whatsoever.
───────
In other words, techniques such as damage control cannot be included.
Choi Kang-mok, soaring on Baek-ik, came into view.
“Brother.”
“This Gate seems to have gone mad.”
Choi Kang-mok flew toward Kang Hye, who hung upon the Cross.
Had my heart ever raced with such urgency?
“Hye. Are you alright?”
Nails were driven through her palms.
Kang Hye smiled faintly.
“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt.”
No, that was a lie.
It hurt.
But she could not let it show.
‘I have to steady my brother’s resolve.’
Had the situation been reversed, she would have done the same.
My brother would have pretended it didn’t hurt either.
To give him even a moment more of composure.
“It seems all I need to do is withstand one of your attacks.”
Just one.
Only one would suffice.
“No. There must be another way.”
What about destroying the Gate itself?
Using the Seal of Justice?
Circumventing the challenge?
“With preemptive clear magic….”
My mind went completely blank.
Since I began learning magic, I had never felt this dizzy before.
“Brother.”
“Be quiet. I can’t concentrate.”
“I’m the owner of this Gate.”
Once designated as the Gate’s owner, certain truths become apparent naturally.
“There’s no way to circumvent it.”
There’s only one method to clear it.
Taking my brother’s attack head-on with my body.
Kang Hye didn’t think the System had backstabbed her.
“The difficulty here is the lowest.”
….
“You just have to trust.”
Trust that nothing will happen.
That even if my brother’s magic hits me, nothing will occur.
That this magic won’t hurt me.
“What kind of….”
If I were my usual self, I might have agreed to some extent.
After all, miracles that defy explanation sometimes happen through ‘trust’.
But I couldn’t do that when my family’s life was at stake.
“I trust you, brother. So you trust yourself too. It’s okay to use magic on me. Then we’ll clear it easily.”
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
I bit my lip.
Kang Hye had always been like that since childhood.
She had always sent that same unwavering gaze of trust.
Even when she was a first-generation awakener of Strong Tree.
Even when she became unawakened and fell behind society.
Through reawakening to now.
Kang Hye’s attitude had never changed once.
It was incomprehensible even to me.
“I know it’s difficult, brother. I think I’d feel the same if I were in your position.”
Rather, the one receiving the magic has the easier heart.
Kang Hye understood that well.
“If you can’t trust yourself… trust me.”
….
“When have you ever seen me talk nonsense to you?”
“I’ll destroy this space.”
As if shattering the Tower’s outer wall.
Then I would be able to escape this place.
Kang Hye shook her head.
“This entire space is me.”

* * *
Raymond fell silent for a long moment.
‘I believed my disciple was Trust itself!’
But he was wrong.
It wasn’t the disciple—it was the disciple’s sister.
And his admiration deepened.
“Trust incarnate itself.”
Her faith in Choi Kang-mok was incomprehensible.
No matter that they were family.
How could anyone trust to such an extent?
“Perhaps only at that level does one deserve to be called Trust.”
Kang Hye’s faith had manifested into this space.
This space itself was Kang Hye.
“The moment the outer wall shatters….”
That damage would transfer entirely to Kang Hye.
The Mage’s magical power, that is.
“In contrast, my disciple’s faith still falls short.”
Could the disciple truly prove his faith?
From what I see now, it seems impossible.
He continues searching for alternative methods.
Kang Hye spoke.
“Trust me, brother.”
“Be quiet.”
Kang Hye’s expression hardened.
“I’ve always believed in you. Even when others mocked your efforts as foolish, I always supported you.”
“….”
“So why have you never once believed in me?”
“It’s a different matter.”
“It’s not different.”
Kang Hye spoke again.
“This Gate’s difficulty is the lowest. I believe you’ll clear it at EX-rank.”
The master of this space.
Kang Hye actively imposed one condition upon the challenge.
[Time limit has been set.]
[The Mage must use offensive magic within 3 minutes.]
[If you do not attack within 3 minutes, ‘Trust’ will cease to exist.]
Kang Hye spoke.
“If you don’t shoot, I die.”

* * *
Choi Kang-mok bit his lip.
Until now, Kang Hye had always been there for me.
But today felt different.
[2:58]
[2:57]
Time slipped away mercilessly.
Three minutes.
Such a brief span.
‘Please.’
I had to devise a solution.
Three minutes.
This won’t work.
Stop, time.
[2:57]
[2:57]
Remarkably, the timer halted momentarily.
Without any magic being cast.
Raymond, who had manifested an enormous telescope to observe, gasped in wonder.
“Temporal magic…!”
And he understood.
“This space was optimized for mastering temporal magic!”
It was not merely a space to test Trust alone.
This space itself had been designed for Choi Kang-mok.
“Because my disciple so desperately wished to master temporal magic…!”
Trust had known this truth all along.
No wonder the spacetime felt twisted when I entered here.
[2:58]
[2:59]
[3:00]
Instead, the timer had extended.
Spacetime was warping further.
Raymond chuckled softly.
“Not magic… but Trust itself.”
The pinnacle Raymond had always envisioned.
A miracle where intricate theories unfold with perfect precision, without endless repetition.
An ability wielded not through mana or study, but through trust!
Kang Hye smiled softly.
“That’s how miracles happen.”
I didn’t hear those words.
I didn’t even notice that I had stopped time itself.
‘How can I…’
How can I use magic safely?
‘Attack magic without destructive force.’
I could create that.
But it’s impossible without ‘technique’.
Damage control is absolutely necessary.
Under normal circumstances, if the target were a dummy, I could manage it somehow.
But not today.
The target is Kang Hye. My younger sister, whom I love more than anyone in the world.
‘I can’t, I can’t…’
What if I fail?
If I fail,
‘Kang Hye will…’
disappear.
Kang Hye continues speaking.
She says this difficulty is the lowest setting.
‘The lowest?’
The person who set it to the lowest difficulty is Kang Hye.
The person who set the timer is also Kang Hye.
The master of this space is also Kang Hye.
‘And I…’
didn’t trust her at all.
The situation leaves me no choice, but what if it were reversed?
If I were the one desperately saying, ‘Just trust me once’?
If I were setting a timer myself while saying, ‘Trust me just this once’?
‘If it were Kang Hye…’
It would probably have been different.
Always, forever, she has shown me inexplicable faith and trust.
This time would have been no exception.
‘And I…’
I should, at least once.
At some point in life, shouldn’t I repay the trust I’ve received?
Though the method is certainly infuriating.
“You really…’
For the first time in a while, I resented Kang Hye.
No matter what, why resort to such an extreme method?
“For now, I’ll trust you.”
Just as Kang Hye had done. I decided to try it once myself.
In that moment, I was filled with confidence that defied logical explanation.
Today, somehow, it felt possible.
Without artifice.
Magic that dealt no damage whatsoever seemed on the verge of manifesting.
No—it would manifest.
That instant.
[Faith has been proven.]
[You have passed the trial.]
[Gate ‘Trust’ has been cleared.]
The Gate had been cleared.

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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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