The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 97

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Return of an EX-Rank Mage Episode 097
Zhang Ping, the Beijing Lord, kicked the Vice Lord’s shin with his foot.
“Is this all you’re capable of?”
Numerous Tunnelers and rankers had vanished.
The Tunnelers were one thing, but the infiltration unit consisted of elite operatives carefully selected to penetrate Seoul.
Losing them all at once was a painful blow even for Beijing, a city teeming with talent.
Especially now, as Beijing transitioned from a city-state toward becoming unified China, such a loss could severely damage Beijing’s authority.
For this reason, they couldn’t even spread word of the damage.
‘Did he calculate even this?’
Probably so.
The EX-Rank Awakener was meticulous, after all.
“Are you certain this was the EX-Rank Awakener’s doing?”
When Zhang Ping pressed further, the Vice Lord nodded and handed over documents.
“According to explorers’ investigations, the trail leads toward the Ayla Magic Research Institute.”
The circumstances were sufficient.
Though direct confirmation was difficult due to the border, it was enough to be certain without further investigation.
“Look at this.”
The Vice Lord produced photographs circulating on various community forums.
It was a photo of people wearing robes being dragged into the research institute, bound in rope, one after another.
Though their faces were obscured, Beijing’s side recognized them instantly.
“They are definitely our infiltration unit.”
…This was almost deliberate.
Whether he intentionally left witnesses or was openly mocking them.
“Is this… mockery?”
Zhang Ping clenched his teeth.
Phantom sounds echoed in his ears.
-You won’t even be able to spread rumors about this, will you?
The Vice Lords trembled with rage.
“We must take revenge at any cost.”
But Zhang Ping raised his hand to stop them.
“No. Set aside your anger for now.”
Everyone’s expressions hardened simultaneously.
“Right now, we’re being swayed by his rhythm.”
Thinking about it, everything was part of his design.
He deliberately exposed a gap in the border, allowed Tunnelers to infiltrate, then captured them wholesale and mocked us.
We’d fallen for it completely.
Looking back, this was undoubtedly a trap.
He intentionally loosened the border to lure Tunnelers in, then abducted them all while continuing his mockery.
“The more we act now, the greater our losses become.”
The Tower Civilization 2.0 era was upon us.
Now was the time for internal discipline and organizational restructuring.
“The fact that he covered his face suggests he has no intention of escalating this into a public diplomatic incident.”
Zhang Ping turned this over in his mind.
It was evidence that he was conscious of international scrutiny.
Even he wasn’t reckless enough to destabilize the entire order.
“We focus on what truly matters.”
An EX-Rank Awakener wasn’t the priority right now.
Completing “One China” was.
I couldn’t afford to let this upset the board.
“For now, the momentum is his.”
Resisting this current would cost me far too dearly.
I needed to catch my breath until the tide turned.
“I’ll leave him be for the time being.”
My voice dropped low.
Yet the resentment beneath the surface was difficult to conceal.
‘But someday, without fail, I will settle with him….’
My gaze darkened.
Now was not the time.
But that day would surely come.
‘I will make the EX-Rank Awakening my own.’
He is thorough and wise.
Yet even the cleverest fall prey to their own schemes eventually.
I would not miss that opportunity.

* * *
Thanks to Kang Hye, Choi Kang-mok secured both rewards and broke into a satisfied grin.
“Excellent.”
The Quest Clear Token required no deliberation whatsoever.
───────
[Available Quest List]
I cannot provide a translation for this text as it does not appear to be valid Korean. The characters shown are not recognizable Korean words or syllables.
I cannot provide a translation for this text as it does not appear to be valid Korean. The characters shown do not form recognizable Korean words or meaningful content.
I cannot provide a translation for this text as it appears to be random Korean characters that do not form meaningful words or sentences in Korean.
───────
I wasn’t entirely sure what they were, but they seemed like they’d prove useful.
After all, these were Quests that Raymond—a high-level combat mage and professor-grade mage—was actively overseeing while interfering with the system settings.
Choi Kang-mok immediately traveled to Shenyang and entered the Research Institute. But the harvest he’d anticipated never materialized.
[A professor-grade mage is currently conducting research.]
[Entry to Floor 4 has been denied.]
[Forced entry is possible with Director authority.]
[Would you like to force entry?]
“You don’t interrupt someone during magical research.”
Choi Kang-mok shook his head and turned back. There was no point in disrupting the research atmosphere unnecessarily. Instead, all the way back, he gazed contentedly at the Core of the Absolutely Unbreakable Stone and smiled with satisfaction.
“With this, I should be able to properly test out Energy Barrier.”
I couldn’t resist. I headed straight to Seoul Tower Floor 4.
The training dummy was the obvious choice.
[Skill Energy Barrier (Creation) has been activated.]
[The dummy has been destroyed.]
[Exiting the Tower.]
“Are you serious? It couldn’t withstand that?”
The spell wasn’t even fully perfected yet.
The dummy was far too fragile.
I entered again and tried it on bare ground, but
[Damage capacity exceeded.]
[Forcibly exiting the Tower.]
I was forcibly ejected.
It seemed I’d need to climb higher floors to properly practice this.
“Should I try Floor 20 then?”
Thanks to the Bloodline Blessing +9 effect, there was no cooldown up to Floor 20.
I entered immediately.
[Damage capacity exceeded.]
[Forcibly exiting the Tower.]
“…Floor 20 won’t work either.”
I laughed involuntarily. The Reconstruction Layer on Floor 4 was actually more durable. Once again, I was expelled before Energy Barrier could fully manifest.
“Good grief.”
They said this was the Tower Civilization 2.0 era, but the Tower had become needlessly troublesome.
In the old days, they’d reconstruct after destruction, but now they evict you before it breaks.
“Still, once I hit the 30s, things should get interesting, right?”
The atmosphere shifted noticeably from the moment the Flame Giant appeared.
The pressure, the presentation, the stamina requirements—everything was on a different scale than the lower floors.
My characteristic way of thinking was kicking in.
‘Yeah, perfecting it in real combat is always best.’
A moment of choice.
“So it’s either repeating Floor 31 or attempting Floor 32 for the first time.”
The deliberation was brief.
“Training in actual combat is definitely the way to go.”
[Entering Seoul Tower Floor 32.]
Floor 32 should be a bit tougher, right?

* * *
[You know Floor 31 and above are classified as high floors, right?]
“They say only Korea has high-rises like this, bullshit.”
└You need at least Floor 45 to be called high floors
└These guys inflate the average the most. What percentage of the world population do you think reaches Floor 30 or higher?
└By global standards, Floor 30 and above are recognized as high floors
The debate over whether it qualified as “high floors” continued, but in reality, Floor 30 and beyond was the realm of “true players.”
It was the exclusive domain of the talented—those with skill, sense, luck, and preparation all combined.
A line was drawn there that couldn’t be crossed through sheer effort alone.
[Isn’t the 30s EX’s real testing ground?]
└Here comes another proof-seeker
└Ugh, I’m tired of this
└What? EX just cleared Floor 31? Nice work~
The voices that had predicted even EX-rank Awakeners would struggle from the 30s onward
were shattered by a single EX-rank clear notification.
From that moment, the world’s attention turned toward Seoul.
Especially, the reaction from Italy was intense.
[Could they possibly surpass Vicario?]
└Don’t talk nonsense
└He’s the only player who has both the Heart of Ignis and Phoenix Feathers
└Right, that combination is basically a cheat code
└Who’s going to surpass Holy Knight Vicario with both of those?
[But what if the next floor is also EX?]
└From Floor 32 onwards, the curse debuff drops your clear rank by 2 levels
└Unless you’re a Holy Knight class, you’re guaranteed to take the debuff
└Perceived difficulty reduced by 3-4 tiers. Commoners cannot enter
└Heart Fragment + Feather both required to nullify the curse
Meanwhile, Spaloti, the Lord of Naples in Italy, reached out to the Seoul Lord.

* * *
With permission from the Seoul Lord, Spaloti visited Korea in secret.
“This is maddening. Is this really happening?”
Entry to Seoul via London Tower.
The journey from Naples to Seoul took less than three hours.
I felt less exhausted than when I’d flown by plane.
And immediately, a System Message appeared.
[You have entered Seoul’s jurisdiction.]
“So this is the new civilization. The heart of Gigapolis.”
Seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t help but acknowledge it.
The streets were alive, Awakened ones were everywhere,
and the city writhed like a living organism.
After marveling for some time, I sat face to face with Lee Byung-gyu, the Seoul Lord.
“Vicario is the pride of Italy.”
Naples, the symbol of Italy.
At its center stood ‘Holy Knight Vicario’.
And Naples, the Guild that overwhelmingly dominated the Floor 30s rankings, was the most preferred city among mid-to-high-tier players.
“Does the EX Awakened One plan to continue attempting EX clears?”
“We cannot know his plans.”
“It will likely be difficult. From Floor 32 onward, the rank reduction debuff activates in earnest.”
From Floor 32 onward, the rank reduction curse begins.
Only when both the Heart Fragment and Feather are together can that curse be offset.
“With Vicario, an SS clear is guaranteed.”
“…I see.”
“Two Explorers, two Healers, the EX Awakened One, and Vicario. Six people are sufficient.”
Pride radiated from Spaloti’s face.
“Vicario is the only Holy Knight in the entire world who simultaneously possesses both the Heart Fragment of Ignis—a bound item—and the Phoenix Feather.”
Lee Byung-gyu swallowed the words: ‘The EX Awakened One has both of those too? And they’re unbound items.’
But this question came first.
“I’m curious about your reason for making this proposal.”
“To establish diplomatic relations with Seoul.”
I felt it the moment I arrived.
Seoul was the nexus of a new era.
The city destined to become the center of Gigapolis.
I had to maintain good diplomatic relations with Seoul at all costs.
“What if you connected one floor of Naples Tower to us?”
Before I could even finish speaking, the Hall of Fame updated.
───────
[Hall of Fame – Floor 32]
[World] [Personal]
1. -(EX, Seoul)
2. Vicario (SSS, Naples)
…
───────
All color drained from Spaloti’s face.
‘How on earth…could this happen?’

* * *
[You have entered Seoul Tower Floor 32.]
[Challenge: Defeat 40 Intermediate Flame Giants]
The overall terrain was nearly identical to Floor 31.
Scorching heat rose from the ground, and lava erupted sporadically across the inferno landscape.
A solitary tower visible in the distance caught my attention.
───────
[Forgotten Fire Spirit’s Stone Tower (Remodeling 1)]
───────
‘Hm?’
The difference was that ‘Remodeling 1’ had been added.
It was certainly different.
Reinforcement materials had been affixed to the outer walls, and it looked unmistakably sturdier.
“Excellent.”
If it had become even more durable, this was the perfect condition for experimentation.
This time would be a practical test of formation magic.
“Let’s begin.”
I positioned the ‘Unbreakable Stone Core’ around the stone tower and began laying down energy formations on top of it.
But as I attempted it, I felt something was lacking.
“I’ll need throwing magic and retrieval magic as well.”
The path ahead was long.
There was a mountain of things to master and research.
The spark of magic within my chest continued to burn brightly.
“Good. Finally I can properly complete the energy formation….”
Crash!
The stone tower collapsed.
[Seoul Tower Floor 32 has been cleared.]
[Clear Grade: EX]
I had failed again.
“You said you remodeled it….”
Choi Kang-mok stared at the collapsed stone tower with a rigid expression for a moment, then nodded slowly.
Right—magic experimentation had never been the priority to begin with.
The paramount objective of the plan had always been clearing an EX-Rank dungeon.
“Everything is proceeding as planned.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————