The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 299

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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 299
Kang Pal-do pondered.
The Earth Emperor was generous enough to sell awakening orbs to other dimensions?
Absolutely not!
The Earth Emperor was simply obsessed with magic.
A man who didn’t care where his goods were sold!
This man was truly insane!
“That’s not it.”
“What?”
“Giving unawakened individuals the chance to awaken is a good thing, isn’t it?”
So I deliberately didn’t stop it.
I even set the price reasonably.
Except for the quantity I promised to Proltas, who had hastily sent an envoy to pay respects, I didn’t interfere with the supply at all.
Kim Chul-in, a member of the Boddari Union and an executive of the EX Salvation Corps, had managed this appropriately well.
“If you can do something good, you should do it.”
Choi Kang-mok had not forgotten the sorrow he experienced during his unawakened days.
Even now, somewhere in this world, someone was weeping from that same sorrow.
“This bastard….”
So he wasn’t simply a madman.
“You really are an emperor, aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about now?”
Choi Kang-mok chuckled softly.
Kang Pal-do was fine in most respects, but occasionally he spouted nonsense.
In any case, Kang Pal-do staggered forward.
“This is shocking….”
I thought he was obsessed with magic alone, but that wasn’t the case?
Was everything people said just an act?
Was he truly an emperor all along? Am I being deceived as well?
At that moment, the AI activated automatically and the broadcast began.
[The great mage has not forgotten his days as an unawakened individual. He did not turn away from their sorrow. This is the grace, the benevolence, and the love of the great mage. An infinite compassion given freely without price.]
Meanwhile, Choi Kang-mok entered the Classroom.
Finally, his first official lesson.
A reunion with Pease.
Class was scheduled to begin at 9 o’clock.
Current time: 8:58.
Choi Kang-mok charged an energy bolt in his hand.
Pease, who had suffered a (?) defeat just before, would not come unprepared.
I was certain of that.
-(Light): Fighting again? Is that alright?
-(Mayo): This time will be different.
Hidden within him was a trump card he had yet to reveal to anyone.

* * *
Kang Pal-do’s System AI had evolved as a tool to exalt Choi Kang-mok.
Through countless data analyses, this outcome proved most optimal for Kang Pal-do’s survival.
There was one aspect the AI had never addressed.
It was Choi Kang-mok’s ‘Stats’.
Neither Choi Kang-mok nor Kang Pal-do’s AI had deliberately mentioned it.
One day prior.
Choi Kang-mok sat cross-legged in an empty room where no one else was present.
“It seems the time has come to increase my stats.”
A measure of confidence had taken root within me.
Now, raising my stats would not thrust me into the face of death.
Faith in myself. Confidence in magic.
Now I could finally breathe freely from the constraints of stats.
“The Professor probably doesn’t know I haven’t been raising my stats… No, wait.”
He likely knows.
That combat monster couldn’t possibly be unaware.
Everyone must be keeping it in mind.
-(Mayo): But there is one thing they will not know.
Preparing for stat increases is possible.
But the damage that increases with each stat raise?
-(Mayo): That is not something one can prepare for through preparation alone.
No matter how formidable Pease is, he cannot stop a natural disaster.
He can only minimize the damage from one.
“I myself cannot foresee how powerful my magic will become.”
Even I could not easily predict this realm.
If raising Intelligence by 1 doubles my strength?
Then would raising Intelligence by 2 quadruple it?
-(Mayo): The damage increase of a great mage cannot be calculated with ease. If I may humbly add, I believe that itself would be arrogance 🙂
Choi Kang-mok flinched in surprise.
Through Mayo’s admonition, I came to understand.
I had grown far too accustomed to the flattery and praise of those around me lately.
Sometimes such candid words prove invaluable.
“I was merely attempting rough calculations….”
Mayo’s words were true.
The very attempt to calculate was arrogance and hubris.
Even the mage themselves does not know this.
Only one thing matters.
Not fearing this incalculable surge in damage.
Believing that I can bear and control this damage.
Having confidence.
“At first, I was worried you might consume me….”
-(Light) : Pfft!
Light, merged with Mayo, laughed loudly.
Who would consume whom?
Could mere ‘Mayo’ possibly consume a ‘great mage’?
-(Light) : From what I see, it’s the opposite.
Rather, Mayo should be the one worried.
About not being affected by the
corruption
emanating from a great mage’s mental world.
-(Light) : This one keeps insisting on being a mage.
Always claiming to be a true mage.
While not being a mage at all!
Being an artifact instead!
Losing sense of self and becoming
corrupted
into assimilation with the mage.
-(Light): That one’s already beyond redemption.
I could see Igniasha licking her front paws.
Igniasha had completely lost her identity as a fragment of divinity and a fire spirit, reduced to nothing more than Choi Kang-mok’s ‘tool for temporal magic’.
Her appearance tailored to Kang Hye’s taste was merely a bonus.
Since she herself seemed satisfied, there was no real problem—but what mattered was one thing.
A ‘mage’ affects those around them through
corruption
, or rather, influence.
If corruption had ranks, this was the highest.
-(Light): Remember this, you’re not a mage, Mayo. You’re an artifact meant to support a mage.
-(Mayo): ….
-(Light): If you don’t keep your mind straight, you’ll be affected by
corruption
in an instant.
Shocked, Mayo remained silent for a while before finally asking.
-(Mayo) : Then what is your identity, Light?
-(Light) : I’m a destruction-specialist mage.
Focused on analyzing stats, Choi Kang-mok didn’t hear the conversation between Light Mayo.
-(Light) : Did he truly not hear?
Or did he choose not to hear?
Or perhaps, was he pretending not to hear?
I’m sure he genuinely didn’t hear that….
-(Light): Unless you’re a primordial beast of my caliber, it’s difficult to escape the influence.
Around that time, Choi Kang-mok furrowed his brow.
“Did I miscalculate something?”
The stat window looked distinctly off.
───────
[STAT WINDOW]
Strength: 50 (21 +5 +24)
Stamina: 40 (35 + 5)
Agility: 60 (44 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 7)
Intelligence: 60 (55 + 5)
*Remaining Stats: 39
───────
The remaining stats I’d been diligently accumulating all this time totaled 39.
If I invested everything into intelligence….
“99, then?”
Not 100.
It was because I’d recklessly invested in agility while facing the Flame Queen.
“It won’t reach 100?”
Even dumping all remaining stats wouldn’t get me to 100?
How do I describe this feeling?
It was similar to having a loss recorded in a mock battle.
Naturally, once you reach 99, you want to complete 100.
99 and 100 were numbers in entirely different dimensions.
To exaggerate slightly….
I felt like a failure who couldn’t enter a new dimension and ultimately fell short.
Red Cat quickly leaped onto Choi Kang-mok’s shoulder and spoke.
“This feline’s thoughts differ somewhat.”
Never mind Igniasha—I couldn’t lose to Mayo either.
“Recall the battle record, my butler, my one and only butler, my beautiful master!”
───────
65 Battles / 99 Wins / 0 Draws / 0 Losses
───────
The System, that sycophantic lackey, had delivered the finest flattery.
If Pease was the monster of combat, then the System was the monster of flattery.
The praise an AI spouts operates on an entirely different wavelength than ordinary flattery.
“At this juncture, 99 might very well be the most perfect number for a great mage!”
One remained.
Room for improvement.
That singular, slightly regrettable 1.
“Perhaps that paradoxically means perfection!”
“Is that so?”
Choi Kang-mok accepted it readily.
Now that I thought about it, there was nothing to regret.
If I looked for ways to raise my stats, there would surely be more.
“What could there be?”
Ah.
Just as the Labyrinth had hidden stages, what if the Tower also had concealed floors?
A hidden floor that no one had ever discovered, never conquered!
A special one that only those with the qualifications of the 100th Floor Boss or equivalent could ascend….
“I wish something like that existed.”
Red Cat sensed it instinctively.
That it would come into being before long.
And it would be presented as though it had always existed.
In any case, Choi Kang-mok invested in Intelligence.
───────
[Stat Window]
Strength: 50 (21 +5 +24)
Stamina: 40 (35 + 5)
Agility: 60 (44 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 7)
Intelligence: 99 (94 + 5)
*Remaining Stats: –
───────
Now there was no need to anxiously raise Intelligence by one point or Stamina by one point.
My magic had advanced, and my physical capabilities as a mage were perfected.
Red Cat didn’t overlook the ‘logic’.
‘If the damage increase far exceeded expectations and was beyond anyone’s imagination….’
No matter how perfected the body was.
Couldn’t even perfect physicality crumble?
‘Most would think that way, but a [Great Mage] is different!’
That conviction would work another miracle.
Consciously, I was only applying that miracle to temporal magic and healing magic, but that domain would continue to expand.
It would likely manifest more abundantly and more clearly during lessons with Pease.
Then, one of Choi Kang-mok’s items was destroyed.
“Huh?”
The calculation tool Emily had made.
The Emily Custom had shattered.
It couldn’t withstand my magical power.
“I didn’t do anything….”
I hadn’t even performed any calculations—it just broke.
The heightened intellect felt tangible and real.
“Well, Emily should have grown just as much as I have.”
I could create even better computational tools.
That’s what I believed.
“Should I head to school?”
What kind of lecture materials had Pease prepared?
Choi Kang-mok was also a mentor to someone (Salia), so I understood well what it meant to carry a mentor’s resolve.
He had probably prepared a great deal.
Kang Pal-do’s AI activated on its own again.
[A mage with 99 intellect. And a magical creature who has accepted a disciple. The second, third, and fourth
confrontations between the two—
a lecture that breathes with life has begun.]
[!Korean Territory Notice!]
[A lecture will begin shortly.]
[All personnel within Magic University are advised to evacuate immediately.]
[Magic University’s System is advised to assume emergency defensive posture at once—]
Bzzt—
The System AI stuttered for a moment.
[There is no need to assume a defensive posture.]
Whether we defend or not.
The outcome will be the same.
There, Light Mayo found her purpose.
Thanks to Light, Mayo was temporarily freed from the corruption(?).
-(Mayo): It seems my role will be to protect Magic University.
I must hone my wide-area shields.
That is the path to assisting a great mage.
So that the great mage may receive even higher quality lectures.
-(Mayo): Someday.
Victories: 99.
Intellect: 99.
Still one step remains on this journey.
Just one final 1 before perfection.
Imperfect because of that lack—yet paradoxically perfect at 99.
-(Mayo): This mage right here is the final piece. I shall become that 1.
The Return of an EX-Rank Mage Episode 299 Complete

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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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