The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 82

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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 082
Choi Kang-mok could not have been unaware.
Shenyang was merely a facade; the true authority lay elsewhere.
Beijing. China’s central command.
‘That’s what irritates me most.’
They shirk responsibility while hiding behind the scenes, parading Shenyang as the face of operations.
A calculated strategy to sever ties at the first sign of trouble.
Such hypocrisy made Choi Kang-mok’s skin crawl.
[A mage-exclusive passage has been opened between the (former) Pyongyang Tower and the Aila Advanced Research Institute.]
A long, slender tunnel connecting the Pyongyang Tower and the research institute materialized.
Upon exiting the Pyongyang Tower, I could now choose between two exits.
The standard exit, or the mage-exclusive exit.
[The passage is protected by ‘invulnerability’.]
[Upon the director’s direct visit, the grand opening will commence.]
“Huh? The research institute is complete.”
“S-Strongtree! I wasn’t finished talking——.”
Choi Kang-mok vanished.
“It’s done?”
Choi Kang-mok entered the 1st Floor of Seoul Tower.
He moved to the 1st Floor of the Pyongyang Tower—the occupied Tower—then attempted to exit.
[Exiting Tower (Pyongyang).]
[Please select your exit.]
It was different from a standard Tower.
“Oh. Two exits.”
[Standard Exit]
[Mage-Exclusive Exit]
My heart quickened.
Even though some time had passed since my awakening, seeing the word ‘mage’ made my pulse race.
It felt as though the system itself was acknowledging me as a mage.
[Exiting through the mage-exclusive passage.]
[Director’s visit confirmed!]
[Will you open the passage and research institute?]
‘No.’
I would hold off for now.
There was no rush to decide after exploring first.
[The director has chosen to defer opening.]
[You may open it at any time.]
A brilliant flash erupted.
Mana light rippled, and my vision shifted.
I found myself standing in a quiet corridor.
“A corridor protected by invincibility itself.”
An elongated tunnel stretched before me. The walls were transparent, and starlight flowed beyond them.
It felt like swimming through the cosmos in an aquarium.
‘That must be the exit.’
A rectangular glow at the far end.
Passing through that doorway, what unfolded before my eyes was a spacious, brightly lit lobby.
“A state-of-the-art hospital lobby?”
Floor-to-ceiling windows.
An open structure with everything hollowed out to the upper levels.
Indoors, yet somehow possessing a grand sense of openness.
Choi Kang-mok stepped cautiously inside.
[Advanced Research Institute Visitor Benefit!]
[Mage-Exclusive First-Time Visitor Bonus!]
[Intelligence +5]
“Huh!”
Choi Kang-mok flinched in surprise, and simultaneously felt somewhat unsettled.
An increase in intelligence was naturally something to celebrate.
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to feel purely joyful about it.
‘Why am I not happy about this?’
An increase in intelligence was a mage’s growth itself.
However, that also meant an enhancement in magical power.
Just how much stronger would my damage become?
It terrified me.
And that wasn’t all.
If intelligence rose too much, there was a possibility that synchronization with Mayo would accelerate rapidly.
I still hadn’t found a way to prevent that synchronization.
‘This isn’t befitting a mage.’
Where in this world could you find a mage who feared an increase in intelligence?
I should act like a mage.
I would grow by wielding magic with wisdom and restraint.
An increase of +5 intelligence should be manageable.
[Will you unlock the 2nd Floor of the Aila Advanced Research Institute?]
Choi Kang-mok encountered notifications and interfaces distinctly different from those of ordinary players.
[Required Currency: 30,000,000,000 Diamonds]
‘Wow.’
The unit of required currency alone was staggering.
It started from thirty billion.
The 1st Floor where I now stood was bright and clean thanks to white lighting and an organized space, resembling a hospital.
However,
from the 2nd Floor visible beyond the staircase, everything was locked in ashen darkness.
It meant unlocking was necessary.
‘How much do I have in my system account again?’
Choi Kang-mok opened his system account.
Then he closed it immediately.
‘I don’t even need to count.’
There were far too many zeros.
The moment I tried to count exactly how many,
my eyes began to ache.
The numbers were climbing by the second, and my gaze couldn’t keep pace.
‘I’ll ask Chul-in to give me a summary later.’
From what I’d gathered in passing, even after various deductions, my daily income was somewhere between 100 and 200 billion.
I had no idea of the exact figure, and money was simply overflowing.
[300 billion Diamonds are consumed.]
[The 2nd Floor has been unlocked.]
Color began to return to the 2nd Floor.
The escalator that had been frozen until now slowly began to operate, and Choi Kang-mok ascended to the 2nd Floor.
[You have entered the 2nd Floor.]
White walls, a pristine corridor.
Empty rooms lined up on both sides.
[Mage employment is available.]
[Available Mages: Apprentice, Novice, Intermediate]
An Intermediate Mage’s daily employment fee was a staggering 100 million.
In monthly terms, that was 3 billion.
I could hire talent worth 365 billion annually.
“…Ha.”
A ‘research institute,’ they said. It was a money-devouring beast.
Still, I was curious.
What exactly could they do to earn that much?
‘I should at least try it, shouldn’t I?’
What in the world could they possibly be doing to earn 100 million a day?
In annual terms, that exceeded 30 billion.
I decided to hire one person first.
[You hire an Intermediate Mage.]
A nameplate materialized in one of the empty rooms.
[Owen]
The white door shifted to a verdant glow,
then clicked open as a middle-aged man in robes stepped out.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Owen. You must be the director of this institute?”
“Yes, you’re a mage?”
“Of course.”
Owen was a mage summoned from another dimension.
His employment was a kind of ‘ritual’ conducted through the system.
He was an entity dispatched to serve as an ‘NPC’ at hub facilities in this world.
“I’ve been dispatched to facilities such as hubs to fulfill the role of an NPC.”
“I see.”
It was quite a refreshing premise.
A mage from another dimension, no less.
“How many floors of this dimension’s Tower have been conquered? No, allow me to deduce it myself.”
He surveyed his surroundings.
Then he flared his nostrils, savoring the air.
“I detect an exquisitely refined aroma at its peak. Let me see… for a research facility of this scale to be established, you must have cleared at least the 80s.”
“….”
Choi Kang-mok found himself momentarily speechless.
Humanity had only just surpassed the 50s according to the World’s Three Major Guilds.
“What troubles you?”
The intermediate mage Owen exercised maximum social grace while gauging his employer’s mood.
‘Ah, it seems my underestimation has disappointed him.’
Reading one’s employer’s heart was also a virtue of the employed.
Owen cleared his throat and continued.
“I said ‘at least’—a minimum estimate. Upon reflection, I’d say you’ve surpassed the 85th floor.”
“We’re in the 50s.”
“The Tower has 500 floors….”
Owen mustered his social grace once more.
“Haha! Our employer certainly has a delightful sense of humor….”
He wrung out his last ounce of social grace.
“Truly the 50s?”
“….”
“But how did you summon me? What is this hub facility?”

* * *
The intermediate mage Owen accepted it far more readily than expected.
-The world has always been full of incomprehensible things, after all.
Magic itself is no exception.
Sometimes accepting something outright proves better for one’s sanity than understanding its principles.
Having accepted this, he continued his explanation as an NPC.
“Ordinarily, I conduct research upon receiving commissions from employers.”
A notification window appeared before Choi Kang-mok.
[Available Research List]
“Upon completion, magical treatises are generated. You might think of them as a type of grimoire.”
He would create and provide ‘treatises’—items that elevated magical proficiency.
Energy Bolt was among the list.
Being a beginner spell, the research required only twenty-four hours.
I was about to commission it when—
“Hm?”
───────
[Available Research List]
…
【Mana Barrier】
…
───────
Mana Barrier research was possible.
───────
[Mana Barrier]
Type: Treatise
Rank: 1 Intermediate Mage (Assistant support required)
Tools: Magical furnace, alchemy table, mana crafting tools (Aila Advanced Research Institute equipment may substitute)
Environment: Aila Advanced Research Institute 2nd Floor or higher
Duration: 600 hours (production time decreases with assistant support)
Required materials: ….
───────
There were several materials needed, but they were all obtainable.
Choi Kang-mok immediately contacted Kim Chul-in of the Boddari Union.
The moment Choi Kang-mok pressed the call button, Kim Chul-in’s voice erupted with enthusiasm.
-Of course! I shall secure everything within the hour! No, rather, this is my honor! All materials shall be provided as tribute! You may trust me. Especially Saudi Arabia has been quite favorable to us! We are grateful for the EX’s blessing! This too is your grace!
In any case, the materials were settled.
Choi Kang-mok asked.
“Owen, what exactly is assistant support?”
“Ah, that.”
Owen’s eyes gleamed.
It was the gleam in the eyes of someone brimming with hope.
“Slaves… ahem, rather, excellent research assistants, I should say.”
“Does assigning assistants shorten the research time?”
“Indeed. A mana barrier, at most, can be reduced to 6 hours.”
600 hours compressed into 6 hours?
“It reduces by that much?”
“It’s less a highly advanced study and more akin to repetitive labor, truth be told.”
Moreover, the cost of hiring assistants was remarkably cheap.
Employing five of them ran only a few million Dia.
Literally pocket change.
“I introduce myself—Spencer.”
“Hello, I’m Nariel.”
“…I’m Piana….”
The assistants appeared.
Faces as mechanical and expressionless as machines.
The weariness clinging to them was unmistakable.
Among them, only Owen radiated enthusiasm.
“Welcome, you youngsters! Let’s begin this thrilling research!”
[Research on ‘mana barrier’ has commenced.]
Six hours after the research began—with only one person excited about it.
[Research on ‘mana barrier’ has been completed.]
Owen handed Choi Kang-mok a thick stack of A4 papers.
With utmost seriousness and a proud expression.
Choi Kang-mok’s eyes widened.
“What is this…?”
“A thesis.”
[You have obtained the thesis: ‘Research on Mana Barrier Manufacturing Techniques for Enhancing the Durability and Efficiency of Magical Protective Barriers’.]

* * *
The cover read like an academic paper, and the contents were even more academic.
───────
● Paper Title – Research on Mana Barrier Manufacturing Techniques for Enhancing the Durability and Efficiency of Magical Protective Barriers
● Researcher Name – Nahshon Azarael…Abiel ben-Zakur
● Affiliation – (Former) Pyongyang, Aila Advanced Research Institute
…
───────
Choi Kang-mok immediately shared the contents with the Seoul Guild.
And a few hours later.
[Breaking News] EX-Awakened Discovers ‘Mana Barrier’ Manufacturing Method!]
[The global magical community reels in shock and astonishment…]
Of course, Shenyang didn’t believe it.
“Seoul has started a war of public opinion.”
“It must be a clumsy fabrication.”
A manufacturing method couldn’t just appear out of nowhere.
If it could, the World’s Three Major Guilds would have created it first.
Even Shenyang had barely managed to create it with the help of graduate students (teaching assistants) from the system building ‘Magic Academy’.
But then another piece of news struck the world.
[Breaking News] EX-Awakened Releases ‘Mana Barrier Recipe’ Worldwide for Free!]
[Complete version provided—approximately 200 pages in A4 format]
Shenyang’s vice-lords hurriedly obtained the recipe and examined it.
And then, they fell silent.
“….”
“….”
Though they hadn’t attempted actual production, they could tell.
It was flawless.
Moreover, it was far more refined than their own internal recipe.
“They released this for free?”
It made no sense.
No matter how powerful an EX-Awakened was, to simply throw away such invaluable information.
“There must be a hidden reason.”
“There’s clearly a benefit to it, so they chose disclosure over secrecy.”
“Then the question becomes—what is that benefit?”
At that moment, one of the vice-lords spoke hesitantly.
“…Could it be they’re just trying to mess with us?”
“Nonsense!”
“That man unified South Korea and even achieved the absorption and unification of North Korea.”
“He’s a monster who consolidated the fractured nation’s public opinion into one.”
The lord of Shenyang reached his conclusion.
“More of a lord than any lord could ever be. That’s impossible.”
It was entirely possible.

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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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