Chapter 21
Northwest of Alteon,
A massive city with clustered buildings loomed from afar, dominating the space.
It was huge.
This massive chunk that occupied more than half of the northwest was a society with its own rules, a planned small city.
The Magic Tower.
This term collectively referred to the entire city structure formed broadly around the central Magic Tower, where mages were the ruling class.
Players could encounter merchants dealing in forbidden goods, or back-alley thugs harassing people away from the eyes of the mages.
‘And there are missions mainly assigned to assassinate those mages colluding with such thugs.’
The ruler of this place was the Tower Master.
He was praised for managing the Magic Tower rationally, but in the background, he conducted all sorts of unethical research, like human experimentation, under the guise of advancing magic.
Seojun climbed up the wall.
Jumping across the rooftops of buildings surrounding the low-rise tower, he headed toward the center.
In the center stood a massive tower built with layers of white bricks.
Although it couldn’t be compared to the height of real-world buildings, in terms of land area, it was as large or even larger than some average buildings.
Seeing many people entering and exiting through a large entrance that seemed at least 3 meters high, Seojun descended from the rooftop and merged with the crowd.
“Alright, let’s go for an assassination.”
-Assassination X Destruction O
-Entering the Magic Tower by just walking through the front door, LOL this is the best
-Do you know anything about the Magic Tower, Seojun?
About the Magic Tower.
Seojun had intentionally only kept the basic settings in mind and hadn’t delved into the details.
It was fine to prepare by studying external sites or gathering information while progressing through the game, but…
That wasn’t the kind of broadcast he aimed for.
“Nope? This is my first time seeing the Magic Tower. Isn’t it just about getting to the top?”
-Wow, today too, just going in headfirst without thinking
-This is why we watch his broadcast.
-The Magic Tower might be tough though?
Seojun blended into the crowd and entered the Magic Tower.
“Well, let’s give it a shot.”
Indeed, the interior was as spacious and high as it appeared from the outside.
Seojun looked around.
He occasionally spotted people in long-sleeved robes.
“Are those NPCs mages? They seem to be quite few.”
Then, most must be regular people?
-Mages should be rare, naturally.
-The first, second, and third floors of the tower are like a market, so it’s vast with lots of ordinary people. The real deal starts from the fourth floor.
-How about some pickpocketing?
“No pickpocketing.”
Seojun firmly dismissed the suggestion and started carefully examining the interior to move to the next floor.
The central areas of the second and third floors were open, providing a sense of openness, and the stores were attached to the walls.
It was almost like…
“A shopping mall?”
Of course, the structure was more complex and maze-like, but stripping it down to the core elements, it resembled a shopping mall one might imagine.
-It’s kind of similar.
-They even have a library like a school!
It seemed like quite a fascinating place.
Seojun found a circular staircase leading from the first to the third floor and ascended to the third floor.
Then,
he spotted an NPC who looked like a mage with a hood and followed him.
The NPC navigated through the maze-like passages of the third floor, heading somewhere.
As Seojun followed, he felt the ground gradually rising.
Suddenly, there were no more people around.
The NPC passed through a door guarded by two soldiers, and Seojun paused.
He thought this might be the door to the fourth floor, but since he wasn’t sure, he checked the chat window.
If it was filled with ‘LOL,’ then Seojun was in the wrong place; otherwise, he was in the right place.
Luckily, it seemed he was in the right place.
“Great. More guards?”
-They’re easy prey now.
-Should I destroy their weapons or parry them?
-Let’s take them down quickly.
“Yes.”
Seojun approached them.
“This area is off-limits…”
Seojun parried lightly, subdued the guards, and opened the fairly large iron door.
And the moment he stepped inside…
Seojun’s body froze.
Flare.
“An intruder. Too bad.”
From afar, someone hurled a fireball created in their palm toward Seojun.
Seojun’s instincts tried to move his body, but he couldn’t budge.
Feeling a tingling sensation like that from static electricity, it seemed he was paralyzed.
“Should I just take the hit?”
At that moment, the paralysis wore off.
And the magic was already closing in.
Thanks to his excellent reflexes, Seojun dodged to the side the instant the paralysis wore off, avoiding the fireball.
“Damn, I almost died.”
Did someone actually survive this?
-His reflexes are amazing LOL
-There goes the chance for Season 1’s first death.
-Knew we could trust you!
-He didn’t study up on the Magic Tower, huh? Tsk tsk.
Seojun let out a sigh of relief and started to stay alert.
If the same situation repeated, it would be troublesome.
Flare.
“Your reflexes are good. How about this?”
From across the vast lobby, a mage created fireballs in both hands and hurled them.
But this time, there was no binding effect on Seojun’s body.
“Hmm, should I dodge and approach?”
No, there was a mission.
Seojun used the skill Weakness Detection.
To face the Tower Master, it would be good to see the weave of the magic.
The background flipped in an instant.
And in his vision, the fireballs burned more fiercely.
He saw a line traced on the fireballs.
Seojun smiled and quickly sliced the two incoming fireballs in half.
“Wow, magic really has a weave.”
Didn’t expect this.
Since magic was a new field to Seojun, he had no clue about the form of the weave.
-Wow, even magic can be cut
-Should I get Weakness Detection? That skill is so cool LOL
-It’s only cool because Seojun is doing it. Don’t be fooled.
Seojun grinned and charged at the mage.
Even though four more fireballs came flying, they couldn’t harm Seojun with the weak points detected.
The mage’s HP was low.
Unlike close-range NPCs, even minor ones required multiple hits unless parried.
“This is fun. Is this the 4th floor? Am I in the right place?”
-Yes
“Huh, then why did I freeze earlier?”
Silence
-Spoiler Alert
“No, this isn’t a spoiler…”
How come no one’s telling me anything?
Seojun kept an eye on the chat to not miss anything, but there was no message revealing the answer.
“Sigh, I’m not going to ask anymore.”
Probably,
It could be that opening the door or stepping on something caused it.
For now, this is the best guess.
‘In the end, I have to move to the next floor.’
The top of the Magic Tower is the 8th floor.
Seojun looked around the 4th floor to find the next path.
Various miscellaneous items,
Wide corridors decorated in a variety of styles, and
Laboratories where mages were deeply engrossed in their work, paying no attention to Seojun.
This was the true Magic Tower, different from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors.
“Wow, they’re not even paying attention to an intruder.”
Seojun approached a concentrating mage and slashed a flask-like object with his sword.
What? LOL
-His personality is something else LOL
-His mindset is different from ours.
-???: They were just ignoring you, why act like this?
“Who, who are you? An intruder?”
“As expected, you reacted.”
Seojun had provoked a mage engrossed in research to observe more of his magic.
As soon as the mage noticed Seojun, he activated a magic circle engraved on the back of his hand.
The mage instantly teleported to the entrance of the room, distancing himself from Seojun, and cast a spell.
“Oh, teleportation.”
An ice arrow formed in mid-air and flew towards him.
Seojun once again used Weakness Detection to check the weave of the magic.
Weakness Detection had a cooldown of one minute.
Still, he couldn’t quite grasp it.
Seojun waited calmly to observe more.
However, the mage couldn’t cast another spell.
“What’s going on? Is it because this is a laboratory and he’s being cautious?”
-No, that’s not it.
-Nice imagination LOL
-Info: Teleportation consumes a lot of mana. He’s just exhausted.
Seojun checked the chat and showed an embarrassed expression.
The mage indeed seemed particularly tired.
Seojun dispatched that mage and inspected other rooms.
Besides ice arrows and fireballs, he observed various other magic like plant-based binding spells and spells that raise rocks to imprison.
These were NPCs he could defeat even without knowing the weave.
‘It’s just a bonus experience in this game.’
However,
Recalling the fight with Overseer Richard, where no damage was dealt until his armor was destroyed, he realized knowing the weave might be crucial.
Without knowing the weave, he might have spent about 10 hours aiming for the durability to drop, or he would have looked for other methods.
Thanks to the weave, he finished it in an instant.
Seojun was preparing for that very possibility.
He had a gut feeling that the person who gave the mission was actually the creator.
‘They wouldn’t have set such conditions for nothing.’
Thinking that, Seojun climbed the stairs to the 5th floor.
“Finally found it. Why do I have to search separately for the stairs to the next floor?”
-So that people don’t skip the 4th floor and look around.
-Ah, the mages can use teleportation devices (it’s true). The stairs are for emergencies.
“If it’s for emergencies, they should be directly connected. What if someone can’t find the stairs during an evacuation and can’t escape?”
-True
You listening, developers?
-The stairs are for aesthetics.
-Don’t try to understand the mages’ sense of aesthetics.
“Well, at least I don’t need a key.”
Seojun reached the 5th floor, found a similar iron door, and opened it.
He saw guards and mages standing behind the door.
But for some reason, they just stood there waiting, even after spotting Seojun.
The guards drew their swords and raised their shields, while the mages generated magic in their hands, but that was it.
“What’s this?”
LOL
Did they notice?
-This time it’s a disorientation debuff.
-Really?
Seojun noticed a chat from someone who couldn’t resist giving a hint.
“Oh. Is it disorientation this time? So, do you get debuffed if you go inside? And they’re waiting for that?”
-Got it!
-Who gave it away in the chat?
No sense of subtlety LOL
“Thanks. Now that it’s out, tell me more.”
Seojun read through the helpful chats and gathered information.
To reach the top of the Magic Tower, there were two paths: the outer wall and the internal passages.
“Ah. So, you get debuffed on each floor, and to avoid that, climbing only the outer wall triggers the alarm magic. The 5th floor has a disorientation debuff.”
Using the internal passages meant accepting the debuffs.
The 4th floor had temporary paralysis.
The 5th floor had a disorientation debuff that reversed left and right senses.
The 6th floor had a slowing debuff.
The 7th floor had a darkness debuff that impaired vision.
-Yeah, so people climb the outer wall and switch to the interior at 4th and 6th floors.
-The darkness debuff is the worst. Avoid that one.
-Disorientation is also terrible.
-Climb the outer wall.
-You’re not really going to climb the wall, are you?
“Seriously, when have I ever snuck in stealthily? I don’t do that kind of assassination.”
-That’s not assassination LOL, you’re hilarious.
-Exactly, this is why I watch.
Seojun imagined the reversed senses and walked into the 5th floor’s interior.
