Chapter 21 - Chapter 21

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 21

Chapter Title: Infiltrating the Mage Tower

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Northwest of Alteon.

A massive city where buildings clustered together dominated the space even from a distance.

It was huge.

This enormous mass, occupying more than half of the northwest, operated by its own rules—a self-contained society and a meticulously planned mini-city.

The Mage Tower.

The term encompassed the entire city-like architectural complex sprawling around the central Mage Tower, ruled by mages as the dominant class.

Players here encountered merchants trading forbidden goods or lowlifes lurking in back alleys, tormenting people beyond the mages' watchful eyes.

'And the missions mostly involve assassinating mages who've joined hands with that trash.'

The ruler of this place was the Mage Tower Lord.

He was praised for managing the tower rationally.

But behind closed doors, the lore stated he conducted all sorts of unethical experiments—like human vivisections—solely in the name of advancing magic.

Seo-jun scaled the wall.

Then, leaping across the rooftops of buildings encircling the squat tower, he headed toward the center.

At the heart stood a colossal tower built layer upon layer from white bricks.

Not comparable in height to real-world buildings, but in terms of footprint, it rivaled or exceeded ordinary high-rises.

Spotting crowds flowing in and out of an entrance that looked at least three meters tall, Seo-jun dropped down from the rooftop and blended into the throng.

"Alright, let's go carry out the assassination."

About the Mage Tower.

Seo-jun had deliberately memorized only the basics and skipped the fine details.

Prepping via external sites was fine, or piecing together lore while playing worked too.

But he wasn't going for a safe, vanilla stream.

"No? First time seeing the Mage Tower? Don't I just climb to the top?"

Seo-jun slipped into the Mage Tower amid the crowd.

"Well. Let's try it out."

The interior was indeed as vast and airy as it had appeared from outside.

Seo-jun glanced around.

People in long-sleeved robes dotted the space here and there.

"Those NPCs the mages? Way fewer than expected."

So most were civilians?

"No pickpocketing."

Seo-jun shut it down flat and scrutinized the interior for the way to the next floor.

The centers of the second and third floors were open, lending a sense of space, with shops lining the walls.

It was just like...

"A shopping mall?"

Of course, far more labyrinthine—like an anthill—but strip it to essentials, and it evoked the everyday image of one.

A fascinating place in all sorts of ways.

Seo-jun located the spiral staircase linking floors one through three and ascended to the third.

And then.

He spotted an NPC who looked like a hooded mage and tailed him.

The NPC wove through the anthill-like maze of third-floor passages toward somewhere.

As Seo-jun followed, he sensed the floor level gradually rising.

At some point, people vanished from the surroundings.

The NPC passed through a door guarded by two sentries, and Seo-jun halted briefly.

He figured this was the entrance to the fourth floor, but uncertain, he checked the chat.

A flood of 'ㅋㅋㅋ' meant he'd gone wrong; otherwise, right.

Fortunately, right on track.

"Hmm. More guards?"

"Got it."

Seo-jun approached them.

"This is a restricted area..."

He parried effortlessly, neutralizing both, then shoved open the hefty iron door.

The instant his foot crossed the threshold.

Seo-jun's body locked up.

Whoosh.

"Intruder. Tough luck."

From afar, someone hurled a fireball conjured in their palm straight at Seo-jun.

Instinct screamed to move, but his body wouldn't budge.

The prickling static sensation suggested paralysis.

'Gonna have to tank it?'

Then the paralysis broke.

But the spell was already upon him.

His stellar reaction speed saved him—he flung himself sideways the moment control returned, dodging the fireball.

"Holy shit... Thought I was toast."

"Phew."

Seo-jun exhaled in relief and began scanning his surroundings warily.

No telling when that scenario might repeat, after all.

Whoosh.

"Lucky you. Try this on for size?"

From the far side of the expansive lobby, a mage spawned fireballs in both hands and launched them.

But no binding effect gripped Seo-jun this time.

'Dodge while closing the gap?'

No. There was the mission.

Seo-jun activated Weak Point Detection.

He needed to scout magic grains ahead of facing the Mage Tower Lord.

The scenery inverted in a flash.

And within that vision, the fireballs blazed even fiercer.

Solid lines traced across the fireballs came into view.

Seo-jun grinned and cleaved both hurtling orbs clean in half with one stroke.

"Damn, magic has grains too."

Didn't see that coming.

Magic was unfamiliar territory, so he had zero intuition for their grain patterns.

Seo-jun chuckled and charged the mage.

Four more fireballs flew his way, but with weak points exposed, they inflicted zero damage.

"Gahk."

The mage's health bar was puny.

Unlike melee trash mobs that demanded multiple hits sans parry.

"This has some spice. Fourth floor, right? On track?"

"Hmm, so why'd you all clam up earlier?"

"No, this isn't a spoiler..."

How could not a single soul spill it?

Seo-jun caught every scrolling chat, but none dropped the answer.

"Sigh, playing dirty. Won't ask anymore."

Probably tripped a door sensor or stepped on something.

Best guess for now.

'Gotta head upstairs anyway.'

The Mage Tower's pinnacle was the eighth floor.

Seo-jun scoped out the fourth for the next stairs.

Junk items galore.

Surprisingly broad passages led to labs decked out in wildly varied vibes.

And mages deep in their work, ignoring Seo-jun entirely.

This was the true Mage Tower, worlds apart from floors one through three.

"Hmm, intruder's me, but ignoring me like this? Can't let that slide."

Seo-jun sidled up to a focused mage and smashed a flask with his blade.

"Y-you? An intruder?"

"Knew you'd react."

Seo-jun prodded the researching mage to study more spells.

The mage spotted him and triggered a magic circle tattooed on the back of his hand.

He instantly warped to the room's entrance, putting distance between them before casting.

"Oho, teleport."

Ice arrows materialized midair and streaked toward him.

Seo-jun triggered Weak Point Detection once more to inspect the spell's grain.

Weak Point Detection's cooldown was one minute.

He confirmed the ice arrows' grain and slashed true.

Still no feel for it.

Seo-jun held position to probe further.

But the mage held fire.

"What gives? Holding back 'cause it's a lab?"

Seo-jun checked chat and grimaced sheepishly.

No wonder the guy looked beat.

He dispatched the mage and poked around other rooms.

Beyond fireballs and ice arrows, he clocked grains on vine-binding spells, rock-trapping summons, and more.

Truth be told, winnable without grains.

'Grains are just a bonus in this game.'

But.

Recall Richard—no damage until armor grained.

Might need 'em.

Without, it'd be ten hours wailing on durability or hunting alternatives, but grains ended it instantly.

Seo-jun was prepping for exactly that.

Intuition said the mission-poster was the actual dev.

'No empty conditions like that.'

With that in mind, he climbed the stairs to the fifth.

"Finally. Why hide the upstairs stairs like this?"

"Emergency stairs should connect straight through. What if you can't find 'em during evac?"

"Well. No key needed."

Seo-jun reached the fifth, found an identical iron door, and opened it.

Behind it stood a guard and a mage.

Yet upon spotting Seo-jun, they simply waited inside.

The guard drew sword and raised shield; the mage summoned magic atop his hand. That was it.

"Well, aren't you bold."

Seo-jun caught a chat unable to resist spilling beans.

"Ah. Confusion debuff? Step inside and get it? They're waiting me out?"

"Thanks. Spill more since it's out."

Seo-jun sifted generous chat intel.

Two routes to the top: outer walls or inner halls.

"Ah, so debuffs per floor. Outer walls trigger alarms. Fifth's confusion."

Inner halls meant eating debuffs.

Fourth: transient paralysis, as experienced.

Fifth: left-right body confusion.

Sixth: sluggish slow.

Seventh: vision-stealing darkness.

"Naturally. When have I ever stealthed out of fear? That's not my style of assassination."

Seo-jun visualized the inverted left-right sense and strode into the fifth floor's interior.

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