◈ Episode 39. Performance Test (2)
Twenty senior mages of the Magic Tower.
They were mages who represented their respective schools.
Naturally, they were not on particularly good terms with one another.
Were they not mages, whose pride was already fierce to begin with?
That alone was reason enough.
The senior mages competed for the position of chief mage.
The Magic Tower’s chief mage.
It was a seat that only one mage of a generation.
Only the mage who had reached the summit could occupy.
In that sense, the senior mages of the current generation got along fairly well.
It was all thanks to their common enemy, Chief Mage Marcelo.
“Tsk, tsk. I knew he would cause trouble someday.”
“Locking himself up in his laboratory every day must have dulled his senses.”
“Wasn’t it an absurd idea to begin with?”
The Crystal Hall.
In the space where the regular conference had been held, twenty senior mages were gathered.
The reason they were making small talk while hiding their true thoughts was simple.
“Joint research with an adventurer. What nonsense.”
Marcelo’s decision.
They had gathered to take issue with that misjudgment.
To drag Marcelo down from the position of chief mage and leave the seat vacant.
There was more than enough chance of success.
Above all, an adventurer?
“Heh heh. It seems he had nowhere else to turn?”
Back when Arcana had been nothing more than a game.
In other words, before the world-view interference occurred.
Adventurers had been unknown beings.
They possessed the immortal authority of reviving even after death.
But here, in the world of adventurers, they no longer had that immortality left.
Even their one and only possibility had vanished.
“Even if such an incident did occur at the regular conference. We still do not know the truth, do we?”
“Exactly. For all we know, that vague, cloud-chasing research may have simply happened to snag onto an adventurer flailing his arms by pure chance!”
“More than anything, it is utterly impossible to believe. That an adventurer could understand magic.”
The senior mage of the Healing School, Bellier Yusia.
She quietly kept her mouth shut.
The Crystal Hall.
In that special space, not even a single breeze blew, and yet.
Tremble— For some reason.
Her drooping, pale green curls were quivering faintly.
Because Bellier was barely holding back the laughter that threatened to burst out. ‘Ah, how funny. Truly, do they really want to go this far?’ It was not her impression of the adventurer, Lee Hoyeol.
Bellier, too, still did not trust Hoyeol.
But when it came to Marcelo, the story was different.
The founder of theoretical magic, Marcelo.
He made no distinction between magic or schools.
The Magic Tower, and even magic passed down outside the Magic Tower.
Marcelo had founded theoretical magic, which could systematize that vast breadth of magic into theory.
Thanks to that great achievement, Marcelo became a senior mage, and not stopping there, immediately took the position of chief. ‘Even if they talk for a hundred days, would they so much as scratch that achievement?’ No matter how much they coveted the chief’s seat.
In truth, they themselves probably knew it as well.
No matter how hard they racked their brains, there was no normal way to take Marcelo’s position.
That was why they were betting their lives on this opportunity.
Withdrawing her sneer, Bellier looked around. ‘……
Of course, more than anyone else.’ The Black Magic School, Matisse Dean Karl.
That man must be grinding his teeth the hardest.
Matisse was the one who had raised black magic, which had been treated as a heretical discipline, to its current position.
The general consensus was that if Marcelo had not appeared like a comet, the current chief mage of the Magic Tower would have been Matisse. ‘Well, yes. Though ifs are only ifs.’ Bellier lightly shrugged her shoulders.
It was about time.
She heard noisy chatter.
“It seems he will have difficulty even entering on time, will he not?”
Yes, as they said, the proof of qualification had already begun.
Joint research with the chief mage.
As he would receive the same treatment as the chief mage.
A strict proof of qualification was bound to follow.
Honestly, an adventurer.
She did not expect him to be able to pass the qualification test. ‘When they are grinding their teeth like this.’ One could tell just by looking at the firmly shut entrance.
Three different types of sealing magic manifested in a triple layer.
It was enough to make even Bellier click her tongue. ‘Unless it were Marcelo.’ Even most senior mages, herself included, would take quite some time to undo that seal.
In that sense, the result of the qualification test was already obvious: failure.
After all, there was not much time left until the appointed hour……
Click—!
“……?”
It was then.
The first seal was released.
No, the sound did not stop there.
Click—!
Clack—!
Sounds rang out in succession.
In an instant, the triple-layered sealing magic had been undone.
The three senior mages who had manifested the magic were aghast.
“I-Impossible!”
“……
He broke through that so quickly?”
“……
Could it be Marcelo? Is it Marcelo?”
The door opened.
But Marcelo was not there.
One lone shadow stood in the backlight.
At that moment, a memory surfaced in Bellier’s mind. ‘……
No way?’ It was a story told to her by an adept mage of the Healing School.
Cle.
—Um, Senior Mage Bellier. If. Just if. If there was truly someone who spoke to me without an invitation…… Would that mean he saw through the Tower Master’s illusion magic?
Cle was not a child who said frivolous things.
So Bellier had asked in return.
Had there been such a person?
—That silver hair…… Ah, no! I misspoke.
Though she had not finished speaking.
That child, Cle, had clearly said that.
Tap— Soon, the man revealed himself from within the backlight.
Bellier’s pupils widened.
“!”
Because his hair was unmistakably silver....
The Crystal Hall.
This place where the regular conference had been held.
I did not expect to return here so quickly.
And to prove my abilities, at that.
I looked over the faces of those gathered.
As written in the quest, there were twenty of them.
So these were senior mages.
Every single one of them exuded a sinister atmosphere.
If I were to compare only the pressure I could feel…… ‘All of them are definitely above Harkon.’ Harkon’s level was a staggering 600.
Then just how high were the levels of these mages?
I was realizing anew the level of the Magic Tower.
However.
Tap— Whether I liked it or not.
As though enjoying their gazes, I walked to the center of the Crystal Hall.
Then I opened my mouth.
“It seems someone played a prank on the door.”
As though I found it extremely displeasing.
The cause of this displeasure was clear.
Right now, I desperately wanted to get off work……!
The conference, the Yusra Archipelago, then back to the Crystal Hall where the conference had been held.
I had briefly shut my eyes in the laboratory.
But there was no way that would relieve the fatigue of a body that had been worked to the bone.
And in the midst of that, this quest appeared.
No matter how accustomed I was to proving myself.
Was this not far too lacking in propriety as a schedule?
Does the Magic Tower not have labor laws or what?
“I am not so idle as to play along with your pranks.”
I am sick and tired of overtime……!
Did my dissatisfaction get through to them?
I saw a few of them flinch.
Looking at them, I continued.
“If you have wasted my time with such childish pranks.”
I want to go home.
“I will formally hold you responsible for it.”
I want to pour hot water over myself.
“!!!”
At my words.
Three people reacted particularly strongly.
I wondered what was wrong with them, but only for a moment.
The quest window flickered.─Prove your ability. (In Progress)●Convince a majority of the senior mages. (3/20)
Then an answer came.
“……
We withdraw our objection to Chief Mage Marcelo’s decision. We also acknowledge the adventurer Lee Hoyeol’s qualification for joint research.”
Naturally, I thought.
Yes, you should have acted that way from the beginning.*
[Someone has uncovered the secret of the Yusra Archipelago.][The ancient kingdom, the Yusra Kingdom, reveals itself.]
Who was the “someone” who had made a mark on Arcana’s history?
For the mass media, there was no better piece of gossip.
Rather, because nothing had been revealed, there was no need to take responsibility.
That meant they could say whatever they wanted.
For the sake of ratings.
As sensationally as possible.
“As expected, I think it was Skal.”
“You mean Skal, the number one player in the rankings?”
“Yes. Is Skal the kind of person to be satisfied with a single island’s treasure? He must have defeated the great evil and pretended not to know in order to keep up that mysterious concept of his.”
As expected, it could only be Skal.
There were quite a few who thought that way.
But that argument had a huge blind spot.
“Hey, damn it, if Skal had taken it down, his level would’ve gone up.”
That was right.
Skal’s current level was 406. To say he had defeated the Seven Deadly Sins’ Greed, which was nearing level 650, the increase was far too small.
Then another possibility emerged.
“I still think it could only have been the Lionheart Knights?”
That was the most probable option.
Moreover, in the case of Lionheart, there were even witnesses.
“I’m telling you, it was like a single flash of light! They just smashed through the skeletons and advanced!” Level 650.
A monster with numbers a player could never possibly handle.
But if it was the Lionheart Knights, called the strongest in the Empire, then perhaps it was possible.
Besides, they had helpers.
“Gaon and Berserker. And finally, Lee Hoyeol as well. With that much force, wouldn’t they have been able to at least make a go of it? You know, assuming Harkon went all out.”
After speculation and debate.
Public opinion was gradually narrowing down.
The Lionheart Knights and the players had joined forces to defeat the great evil, the Seven Deadly Sins’ Greed. However, for those who knew the truth, it was frustrating.
“Sigh. I can’t even show them this. Seriously!”
This is driving me crazy.
Thump, thump!
Nam Taemin, who had been watching TV, beat his chest.
As expected, the only person who sympathized with him was his older brother.
“They really spread the wings of imagination in the strangest direction. What did we even do? In the end, the one who defeated the great evil was Mr. Hoyeol alone.”
Nam Cheolmin had the truth of that day remaining as a video.
The battle from that day, watched through Nam Taemin’s field of vision.
No matter how many times he replayed it, he could not help but be astonished.
The great evil had been shaken the moment it faced Hoyeol.
The barrage of skills poured down upon that creature.
It was an overwhelming battle unlike anything he had ever seen before.
Nam Cheolmin nodded.
“I can understand that feeling.”
“Oh, right! Hyung, you were possessed by an imp too.”
“Yes. I must have looked exactly like that. That imp was completely terrified back then. As expected, before Mr. Hoyeol, whether it’s an imp or a great evil, there isn’t much difference, is there?”
Lastly.
The scene of Hoyeol placing the crown upon the awakened king once more.
And revealing the truth of the Yusra Archipelago.
Nam Taemin lowered his voice and imitated Hoyeol’s line.
“It is time to set right the past wrongs. Nameless king. Kya.”
This was drama, this was a movie!
When the video ended like that, Nam Taemin cried out once again.
“……
Ugh, there’s no epic like this!”
And only we can see it.
And we have no choice but to sit still and listen to that baseless speculation.
The reason was simple.
“It’s frustrating, but we have to endure it. What else can we do?”
Above all, the video fully revealed Hoyeol’s combat power.
They could not release such a video without Hoyeol’s permission.
Nam Cheolmin continued.
“Still, he might need it someday. So we should preserve the recording carefully. In that sense, it was fortunate there weren’t many eyes watching.”
Excluding the Lionheart Knights.
The only ones who directly witnessed the battle between Hoyeol and the great evil were Nam Taemin and Leoni.
Both of them had given their guild members the order to retreat early on.
“True. We shouldn’t create a situation we’d have to feel ashamed of in the first place.”
They had incurred yet another great debt to Hoyeol.
What had they even done?
Yet Hoyeol had given them the opportunity to participate in the reconstruction of the Yusra Kingdom.
Thanks to that, Nam Taemin and the members of Gaon had received the precious quest [Reconstruction of the Yusra Kingdom].
So they had no choice but to repay that grace.
“We really have to work hard, hyung.”
Everything in life involves give and take.
Until now, they had only received.
So that someday, they could become the ones who gave in return.
Nam Taemin, who had been making up his mind, suddenly muttered.
“……
By the way, that brat will keep her mouth shut, right?”...
“Ah, my ears are itching.”
Scratch, scratch—Leoni scratched at her innocent head.
Of course, scratching her head wasn’t going to untangle the mess inside it.
Damn it.
Leoni irritably flung the remote control away.
“I’m not watching.”
Maybe there’s something fun on somewhere.
With that thought, she had flipped through the channels.
But no matter where she turned, it was all talk about the Yusra Kingdom.
The truth of that day, or whatever.
Who had brought down the Great Evil, and so on.
Leoni slumped limply on the sofa.
The corners of her mouth slowly rose.
“……
They don’t even know anything.”
I know everything, you know?
What happened back then?
The sense of superiority she felt without even realizing it.
That sense of superiority was, in its own way, precious to Leoni.
“Sis, are you really not going to tell us?”
“What the hell.”
“No, I mean! You told only us to stay out, so what happened?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know either.”
“Ah, that’s so unfair!!”
Precious enough that she didn’t want to share it even with guild members who were practically her own sisters.
“What on earth happened? I heard you even came back with a quest?”
Leoni simply gave a shrug.
However, her mind was still a mess.
As they progressed through the quest, the Berserker Guild’s influence and ranking would naturally rise. Yes, as guild master, she should have been purely happy about it, but…… ‘……
Doesn’t this mean I owe him again?’ At this rate, will I ever even get him to treat me to a cup of tea……?
As she agonized over it, Leoni muttered without realizing it.
“……
I wonder what he’s doing.”
“What do you mean, what’s he doing? Sis, do you know what time it is? He’s probably sleeping.”
“……
W-what? Who? Who’s sleeping?!”
“Who else? Aren’t you talking about Lee Hoyeol?”
“W-what?! No, I’m not! What do you guys know?! Shut up, will you?!”...
Drip, drip—drops of sweat fell.
……
I was not yet asleep.
After washing up, I had intended to throw myself straight into bed.
But my body refused.
Because I had realized my own weakness.
Even if I had defeated the Great Evil on my own.
Without the help of the Lionheart Knights and the other players, it would have been impossible.
Had I been alone, far from reaching the Great Evil, I would have been surrounded by skeletons and collapsed from mana exhaustion.
That fact.
Was something the pride in my heart could not allow.─Train your weakened body. (Repeat) ▲●Run 20KM (Success)●Push-ups 1,000 times (Success)●Pull-ups 500 times (Success)●Burpee test 300 times (Success)
Only after confirming that message.
Thud—I collapsed onto the floor as if I had fainted.……
Damn it, my dark history.
I’m going to die before I overcome it……![You have met the conditions.][Rewards will be issued.]
I barely managed to open the status window.