Chapter 212 – It Was You

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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If anyone had heard, they would ask what nonsense I was spewing.

That is natural.

For me to abruptly claim I was the creator of Anomaly.

There was no way to prove it.

But the Archmage would know well. Why Jesse, who had almost no magical knowledge, knew about Anomaly, which was a higher concept than it.

“…Could it be?”

A master and disciple might not exist among mages?

I agree.

But I was not a mage, I was a Demon Hunter. So I had engaged in quite profound conversations regarding magic and Anomaly with Jesse.

The Archmage let out a hearty laugh, “Huhu.”

“Yes, there is certainly such a memory. Damn it.”

Did she trace back the memories contained in Jesse’s mind or the pointed hat?

Her expression, which had been overflowing with composure from beginning to end, became slightly serious.

It seems she is gradually figuring out the situation.

‘Although you’re late.’

This is Granfel, who lives for pride and dies for pride.

If you took someone else’s pride lightly in front of such a Granfel.

You must pay the price.

That price goes without saying.

Let’s see whose pride is more upright and fanatic.

“But passing a judgment that forbids access to Anomaly. Do you have the right to do that no matter how much you are the creator? I do not understand what you mean.”

Those words are right.

The path towards Anomaly was not an actual physical path.

I could not block it.

However, I was someone who, while not a mage, was the Chief Mage of the Mage Tower.

Thanks to that, I knew very well what mages were most reluctant about.

“The absolute limit of magic you all had aimed for.”

Therefore, I declared.

“I shall reach the end of Anomaly first.”

“…!”

In other words, I would intercept your truth.

That was precisely the only way.

To crush your pride, Archmages.

A question that returned after a brief silence.

“Can we take that as a declaration of war against us?”

Since silence means affirmation, of course.

Ah, excluding the fainted Jesse since she is innocent.

I racked my brain.

‘It truly is an unpredictable and clamorous day until the end.’

Is it said that extremes meet?

To become hostile not with just one, but with Archmage’s’.

I questioned if the effect of the vastly increased luck was really doing this.

Even so, I did not doubt it.

‘Because I had properly confirmed the effect of luck.’

So…

Shall I think about it in reverse?

There must be a clear reason why this situation was being treated as luck.

I looked back on today, which had been exceptionally arduous.

During that time, a memory from the Mage Tower came to mind.

To be exact, Marcelo’s written passage.

──────

The Tower Master showed a reaction for the first time.

──────

Simultaneously, the Archmage’s voice came to mind.

-“As the Chief Mage of the Mage Tower, do you not know better than anyone else?”

-“Correct. Speaking in the Mage Tower’s terms, it’s ‘truth’.”

The Archmage before my eyes knew too much detail about the Mage Tower.

Furthermore, possessing the status of a Transcender to enter the Sociality of Space-Time meant they had formed at least a ‘Circle’ as a mage.

Within the knowledge I possessed, there was only one mage who had formed a Circle in the Mage Tower.

I spoke quietly.

“It was you.”

Simultaneously, the quest window flashed.

[Quest: Reconstruction of the Mage Tower]

The truth behind the contradiction existing in the Mage Tower.

At present, when even the goal of the Mage Tower, the pursuit of truth, had turned impure.

Overhaul the Mage Tower from its foundations.

-Encounter the Tower Master. (Success)

The moment my guess became a certainty.

The aftertaste could not have been more bitter than this.

As expected, there was a reason why the downstream water was not clear.

‘Because the truth the Tower Master was thinking of was something like this.’

Even the Elders, including Karimzeva.

The Senior, Skilled, and Adept Mages below them too.

They had no choice but to be trapped within the fence called truth.

However, at this moment, the flashing quest objective was not just that.

-Find the true truth. (Ongoing)

Yes, the Mage Tower had thrown away its truth that existed only in name.

Because they had started taking action to search for the true truth.

Because they had changed.

Tower Master, it means the situation has changed a lot while you were floating in the magic power sphere.

At this point, we do not have any more stories to share.

“Saying ‘you’, I do not know what you are talking about.”

I got up from my seat and spoke.

“You have no talent for acting.”

“…Acting?”

“I advise you to stop even now.”

“Do you know you’ve been spurting out nothing but enigmatic words since earlier? This is my first time meeting such a difficult man. Besides, if it’s acting, didn’t I throw it away since earlier? It was thanks to you, Chief Lee, keeping a straight face even at my trivial joke.”

No.

The acting I was telling you to stop.

Was not talking about imitating Jesse.

“The adventurer Jesse Heinness. Was granting her the rank of Adept Mage out of the intention to closely observe the Archmage’s vessel?”

“…!”

“However, one doubt comes to my mind.”

At my words, the Archmage’s expression began to stiffen.

“Unlike the previous Archmages, is your body not properly floating inside the magic power sphere? If your words are true, that action is a clear violation of the one-to-one transmission procedure.”

“…Well, I do not know what you are talking about.”

“As I said, you have no talent for acting, Tower Master.”

“!”

What I was telling him to stop was his self-staged drama.

I did not know what ulterior motive you had to go as far as breaking the Archmages’ procedures.

To intentionally separate your body and consciousness.

And doing such a dangerously reckless thing.

“I shall treat this matter as a secret for the time being.”

Tower Master, it is not because I am worried about you.

“I do not wish to disappoint Chief Marcelo.”

Until the moment he was dying from the terminal curse.

Because I felt sorry for Marcelo who had worried about you, Tower Master.

I am telling you to not misunderstand.

The moment I brought up Marcelo’s name.

No composure could be found on the Tower Master’s face anymore.

Screech!

The sound of the chair dragging nervously.

Then a sharpened voice continued.

“Wait, is it okay for you to leave your seat just like this? I would be worried if I were you. Don’t tell me you forgot the fact that I am controlling this kid’s body?”

Is that a threat?

You still seem unable to properly grasp the situation.

I could just return those words right back at you.

I retorted coldly.

“Tower Master, you should bear in mind that your body is also in my hands. And let me advise you once again. You really have no talent for acting no matter how I look at it.”

Moreover, the reason the Tower Master occupied Jesse’s body.

Was influenced by the vastly increased luck.

I had been vaguely guessing it.

[Remaining Time: 3 minutes 21 seconds]

He even said it with his own mouth.

Saying he experienced heaven’s luck to see the outside world for the first time in a while.

I felt that I benefited from my occupational hazard again.

‘Is it because I only dealt with such vicious demons?’

When it came to distinguishing malice.

I could do it brilliantly.

So I do not know what circumstances caused you to commit such a deed, but.

I could not feel malice from the Tower Master threatening me by holding Jesse hostage.

‘Besides, there is concrete evidence above all else.’

It was the Tower Master whom the great Marcelo had respected. If I denied Marcelo’s discerning eye, it would be equivalent to denying myself, who occupied the Chief Mage seat thanks to him.

Therefore, the acting I told you to stop since earlier was.

Talking about that unsuitable villain acting, Tower Master.

Bite.

The Tower Master bit his lower lip with Jesse’s face.

Then he looked at me and spoke.

“…You have no manners, Chief Lee.”

What?

I have no manners?

Me, who lives and dies for formalities?

“Must you expose your superior’s flaws like that?”

…Ah, I will have nothing to say if you drag rank into this.

I stayed still because I had nothing to say.

The Tower Master’s complexion changed once again.

The way his expression shifted swiftly depending on the situation.

It felt like I was really looking at a company head, so it was scary.

‘As expected, one cannot ignore experience.’

At the moment I was clicking my tongue inwardly.

“Chief Lee. Since you have seen through everything clearly, it cannot be helped. No matter how much I think about it, you have to become my accomplice.”

…But, wait, an accomplice?!

Am I crazy to ride the same boat as a superior who stinks completely?

The best strategy in social life was to not grab onto a rotten rope.

However, at this moment, my vision flashed.

[Quest: Reconstruction of the Mage Tower]

The truth behind the contradiction existing in the Mage Tower.

At present, when even the goal of the Mage Tower, the pursuit of truth, had turned impure.

Overhaul the Mage Tower from its foundations.

-Encounter the Tower Master. (Success)

-Stop the Archmages’ Conspiracy. (Ongoing)

Only then did I realize.

‘…Wait, it was acting starting from there?’

It seems I must retract my words about him being bad at acting?

*

A Dragon had glided!

That breaking news spread throughout the world.

The aftermath was enormous.

Because it was news that made even the players who were hunting monsters in the Zero Mountain Range without fear hesitate.

“…Don’t tell me, it’s not flying toward us, right?”

“Hey, what kind of boss monster in the world comes out to the entrance to greet you?”

“Right? It’s just a pointless worry, right?”

In fact, until receiving the information from the AAU.

The players in the Zero Mountain Range had not noticed any signs.

Because the Zero Mountain Range was extremely high.

Unless it was a loud noise like the roar produced when Ho-yeol and the Sword Saint Shegwin fought, it was natural not to hear it.

Southwest Zero Mountain Range.

The Giant Alliance’s base camp.

Analyst Nam Cheol-min recited the incoming information.

“A phenomenon similar to the Broken Dimensional Crack Rift was caught at the absolute summit of the Zero Mountain Range… The information that has come in so far ends there. Are things fine on your side too?”

-“Yeah. Nothing except that the rabbits are terrifyingly tough.”

“That’s a relief. It is said the dragon’s appearance was not captured anywhere else after it glided from the absolute summit… As expected, it is most probable that it headed to the Arcana Continent through the generated Rift.”

-“Really? The expert next to me also said the exact same thing as you, hyung.”

“…Expert?”

At Nam Tae-min’s words, Nam Cheol-min tilted his head.

What kind of dragon expert in the world was he referring to…

No wait, could he be with Mr. Ho-yeol?

-“I’m not talking about Mr. Ho-yeol, I mean the Dragon Knight, Skal.”

“I thought… Wait, no, S-Skal?! Why is Skal next to you?”

-“Ah, well, he joined us a little while ago.”

“W… What?!”

Nam Cheol-min’s eyes widened.

Who was Skal?

The epitome of mysticism.

A player who had never descended from the top of the official Arcana rankings despite not belonging to any guild. Furthermore, his potential alone was evaluated as the highest grade among the highest grade classes, a Dragon Knight!

Such a Skal joined the Giant Alliance?

In that instant, a calculator was beaten within his head.

‘If things go well, even Shining, and World Unification too…’

Our Giant Alliance might be able to surpass them!

Of course, Nam Cheol-min’s wings of imagination did not last long.

As Nam Tae-min, who finished his desperate struggle with the rabbit, added his words.

“That’s right, it was pride.”

Glare.

Hearing those words, Leoni, who was next to him, glared.

‘No, do you think that alone would be enough explanation?’

From Ho-yeol and dragons to the Class Quest.

Skal’s joining of the Giant Alliance was intricately and complicatedly intertwined. It was a story where recounting the whole story from start to finish would not be enough.

But treating it as just simply pride with one word, how could anyone understand that!

“I knew you would understand, hyung.”

“?!”

…However, there was someone.

Leoni felt her mind grow distant once again.

Don’t tell me, am I the abnormal one…?

Damn it, her head throbbed.

“Really, everyone’s crazy…”

However, Leoni’s headache did not last long.

“A, Aaaargh!!”

Skal, who was combing his precious horse Alexander’s tail.

Screamed in shock.

Neigh!

Thwack!

The startled Alexander ran wild and kicked with its hind legs due to that, but.

Skal, who actually got hit, didn’t show any sign of pain, as if he was used to it.

Rather, it was to the extent that Hisagi and Schreig were worried.

“Are you alright, Mr. Skal?”

“A terrifying sound just rang out.”

“…Somehow, that Skal over there is not the image I knew. Unnie?”

Although murmurs could be heard from here and there.

Skal did not have the mind to care about that.

Even more than getting hit in the groin by a horse’s hoof.

Terrible letters had appeared before his eyes.

“…N-No.”

When he heard the news that a dragon glided, he thought, ‘no way’.

He tried his best to ignore it by thinking ‘It wouldn’t be, it can’t be’.

However, now with a new quest window flashing.

He could no longer deny it.

[Class Quest: All Dragons Gathering]

Tears welled up around Skal’s eyes.

“…A Great Family? They returned to the Arcana Continent? All dragons convene?! Just what does this mean! How long has it been since the dragon moved, what kind of incident did you cause somewhere again. For such a quest to…!!”

It was the moment when the aftermath of heaven’s luck began.