The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 9

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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 009
[Skill, Energy Bolt (S) activated.]
Energy Bolt fired not once, but twice.
Due to the talisman’s effect, two mana spheres erupted forth.
‘Controlling this is difficult.’
I’d anticipated it beforehand, but the reality far exceeded my expectations.
To use a soccer analogy, it felt like suddenly dribbling with two balls at once.
Except when those balls touched my feet, they burst.
I had to account for even the fragments of the burst ball.
Most mages don’t concern themselves with magical fragments.
They’re just magical debris, after all.
But ‘Dil-Jjik-Nu’ is different.
If the fragments scatter wrong, even the caster dies.
Even with invincibility, missing the one-second window means death.
‘Focus, Choi Kang-mok!’
[Ancient Wheel defeated.]
….
[Ancient Wheel defeated.]
Energy Bolts doubled in number.
And with them, fragments multiplied more than twofold.
The difficulty I felt through my skin was incomparable to the beginning.
Several of those fragments hurtled toward me.
‘Brown ones mean corpse fragments.’
Slightly less dangerous.
Dil-Jjik-Nu’s magical fragments cause death even from a graze.
Corpse fragments only need to avoid vital spots.
With armor equipped, I could endure somehow.
“Ugh.”
My left arm hung limp, but it was bearable.
‘Now!’
[Skill, ‘Invincibility’ activated.]
Invincibility.
A sensation similar to when I exited the Tower washed over me.
A translucent barrier tinged with white light enveloped my body.
Invincibility blocked the magical fragments.
‘I survived.’
Barely, though.
I couldn’t grasp the principle or mechanism behind how ‘Invincibility’ operated.
It felt like a child who’d just learned addition suddenly encountering calculus.
‘It’s fine not knowing yet. Magic is always like this anyway.’
There was plenty of time ahead, so I could research at my leisure.
However, regarding the Energy Bolt, my pride had taken a slight blow.
‘My magic… is this truly all I can muster?’
Whether the quantity increased or not,
this could not serve as an excuse.
Magically speaking, I had failed.
‘Simply striking with force isn’t magic. That’s just a fist.’
Non-contact destruction.
I would revisit this research next time.
[Congratulations!]
[Seoul Tower Floor 6 has been cleared at EX-Rank.]
My research agenda had expanded once more.
Penetration attribute bestowal.
Contemplation on non-contact destruction.
The operational principles of invulnerability.
And fundamental magical control.
‘In any case, I’ve cleared an EX-Rank floor.’
Everything proceeded according to plan.
‘Hm?’
But just now.
‘There was… someone present.’
There had been a person besides the monsters.
I had clearly seen a silhouette.
[Exiting the Tower.]
I returned to reality.

* * *
Kang Hye.
The youngest of the Choi family, she was currently completing the Explorer course at Korea University.
She had temporarily declined scouting offers from the Incheon Guild and Busan Guild, citing her student status.
-Hye, if you want to go to Incheon or Busan, go ahead.
-No way. Older brother. I still prefer Seoul.
There were several reasons why I remained in Seoul, but one of them was my second-oldest brother, Choi Kang-mok.
-I need to check in on my younger brother from time to time too.
Choi Kang-mok rarely showed any sign of struggle in front of his older brother and younger sister.
Yet the Kang-mok I saw was somehow different.
He always seemed precarious.
I understood all too well how difficult it was for an Unawakened person to survive in Korea.
-Older brother, you know I don’t have any friends, right?
-Yeah, I know.
-Playing with my younger brother is fun.
-….
-He has such a good eye for things. And his theoretical knowledge is incredible.
The memory was hazy, but someone had told me when I was young.
My younger brother was once unparalleled even among the first generation of Awakened individuals.
That seemed to be the truth.
-I even got an A+ on a mage-related assignment thanks to my second brother’s help.
Even without stepping into the field himself, he had eyes sharper than anyone.
Conversations with Choi Kang-mok often left me astonished.
When and what to tackle at each moment.
Where hidden spots might be concealed—his intuitive grasp of such things was exceptional.
In the past, it seemed like mere natural instinct.
But now, knowledge had been added to that intuition.
-Sometimes he reminds me of a sports director?
Unable to play actively on the field, yet possessing a vision and perspective all their own.
My explanation was long, but the conclusion was that I would stay in Seoul.
-Anyway, I’m staying in Seoul. Older brother, you know my unique ability, right?
The unique ability I had possessed since awakening.
It was ‘bloodline’.
An ability that maximized an Explorer’s capabilities when targeting blood-related family members.
Only my eldest brother, Gang-cheol, knew about this ability.
-Older brother, why don’t you become a climbing player instead of a support player?
-This suits my aptitude better. I don’t have the talent for climbing anyway.
-Tch. My unique ability is so good but there’s nowhere to use it. Or just have a nephew. A nephew would be blood-related too.
I deliberately didn’t tell Kang-mok.
I didn’t want to burden him unnecessarily, since he was Unawakened.
One day, as she sat by the window in a corner of the library, she felt a peculiar pull.
‘…Do I want to attempt a Tower Infiltration?’
It was similar to how one seeks food when hungry.
That kind of sensation.
The ‘Tower Infiltration’ skill was something most Explorers possessed.
It differed from how EX-Rank Awakened entered the Tower.
A skill that allowed one to invade a floor currently being conquered by someone else, provided certain special conditions were met.
While the success rate was nearly zero, the skill itself was commonplace.
‘I should try it.’
Almost no one practiced the Tower Infiltration skill.
Publicly documented successful Tower Infiltrations numbered only two.
Across the entire world.
The consensus was that studying something else would be better than practicing this.
[‘Tower Infiltration’ is being used.]
Naturally, a notification saying ‘Failed’ should have sounded.
But today was different.
[Your unique ability, ‘Bloodline’, resonates with ‘Tower Infiltration’.]
[Infiltration possible location: Seoul Tower Floor 6]
‘Floor 6?’
A place I had already entered and exited multiple times during practical training.
I didn’t hesitate long.
[Will you infiltrate?]
And the moment I entered,
[Congratulations!]
[Seoul Tower Floor 6 has been cleared at EX-Rank!]
I saw it.
My older brother’s back.
I witnessed the Hall of Fame activate clearly.
Nickname: ‘-‘.
EX-Rank.
Kang Hye immediately reached for her phone.
She was about to say, ‘Brother, wait right there. You’re home now, right?’, but quickly changed her words.
One could never be too careful.
The Eight Lords were desperately searching for the EX-Rank seat.
What if someone happened to overhear?
I decided to be cautious about even the slimmest possibility.
Feigning a cheerful voice that no one else could hear, I spoke.
-Hey bro, where are you? Oh, you’re home? Got it. I’ll grab some chicken and head over! I’ll be there soon, so just wait for me!

* * *
Beep, beep, beep!
Her fingers jabbed at the entrance keypad with far greater urgency than usual.
“Oppa!”
It was Kang Hye.
“Oh, you’re here?”
Choi Kang-mok felt slightly awkward.
Twenty years old. She’d only just stepped out of her teens.
He’d carried her on his back through most of her childhood, but now she’d grown so much that physical affection felt strange between them.
“I have something serious to tell you.”
“What is it?”
She leaned in close and whispered.
“I just successfully infiltrated the Tower.”
…
Choi Kang-mok had already been troubled by other matters.
Tower infiltration was a fairly familiar concept.
Countless explorers must have been attempting the “sixth floor infiltration.”
All of them failing, no doubt.
“If I’m right, just nod. Back then, you saw me, didn’t you? That silhouette. That was me.”
He nodded.
From Choi Kang-mok’s perspective, it was a relief.
The person who’d infiltrated the Tower was Kang Hye.
A relieved laugh escaped him.
Realizing the situation, Kang Hye blinked her eyes before—
“You’re insane, seriously.”
—she reached out to tap his arm.
It was a habit.
Whenever Kang Hye found something funny or impressive, she’d tap the arm of whoever was beside her.
“Wait!”
“What?”
“Don’t hit me. It could actually get dangerous.”
“Oh, oh, okay. Got it.”
Kang Hye carefully lowered her hand.
‘I can’t ask oppa for details.’
It was better not to know anything related to the EX-Rank.
‘It’s the EX-Rank, right?’ She wouldn’t ask him directly.
As a promising explorer, she’d deduced enough.
‘Is it an automatic counterattack ability? That would make sense for an explorer.’
Explorers always possessed powerful methods to protect themselves.
Her brother likely possessed a “counterattack-type” ability.
It’s considered an essential ability for first-rate explorers.
‘Wow. I was just in danger, wasn’t I?’
After a brief moment had passed.
Kang Hye cupped her cheeks in her hands.
“Re-awakening… so that’s what it was…”
Laughter burst forth. Then came the tears.
And then laughter again.
My heart, my emotions—they were bouncing wildly out of control.
“Choi Kang-mok, *sniff*. You… *sniff*, you deserve it, you really do…”
“…”
“You’ve suffered so much, *sniff*, so very much. From now on, let’s walk only on flower-strewn paths, *sniff*.”
After another brief moment had passed, when the runaway emotions had finally subsided and a measure of reason had returned.
Kang Hye became aware of her own shamelessness.
“Ugh! Damn it!”
Face flushed crimson, she sank into the sofa chair.
‘God. I’m insane. This is a total blanket-kick moment!’
A dull ache throbbed through her head.
In truth, Choi Kang-mok found the situation equally awkward.
“The chicken’s getting cold. Let’s eat.”
“Give me the drumsticks.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I’m embarrassed.”
Today’s drumsticks (two of them) went to Kang Hye.

* * *
Chicken sat in my mouth, but I couldn’t taste it.
Kang Hye was still reeling from confusion.
Was this really happening right now?
‘My brother is an EX-Rank? Does that mean I can finally tell him the truth? That I have a bloodline ability?’
In truth, my lips had been itching to speak for a long time.
Keeping secrets even from family turned out to be far more difficult than I’d imagined.
There was a reason that old fairy tale about the king with donkey ears existed.
“Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“I have a special ability.”
“I figured.”
Choi Kang-mok spoke while tearing into a chicken wing.
“A promising explorer just happened to succeed in infiltrating the Tower, and specifically on the 6th floor where I was?”
“…What?”
“Countless explorers are already attempting to infiltrate the 6th floor of Seoul Tower. Yet only you succeeded? That’s far too precise to be coincidence.”
Betting on the possibility of meeting an EX-Rank, many explorers were still attempting to breach the 6th floor.
Not a single one had succeeded—except Kang Hye. That was far too unnatural.
I was slightly embarrassed that I’d overlooked this fact in my excitement.
Still, as an explorer, I was her senior.
If a junior saw through something a senior missed, that didn’t exactly preserve the senior’s dignity, did it?
Right. Time to act like a proper senior.
“Then, little brother. Try to deduce what type of ability I have.”
“Hmm?”
“A true explorer should be able to sketch the whole picture from a single clue. That’s the fundamental skill.”
Kang Hye decided to act like a proper senior.
“Come on! Choi Kang-mok, first-generation prodigy—let me see that intuition of yours!”

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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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