Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: Star Mage Battle (3)
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The first match had ended, and the tournament entered a brief lull.
They were preparing for the next match, but the result had been so shocking that even the commentators and host needed a moment to regroup.
The arena was abuzz, but viewers watching the broadcast worldwide were equally stunned.
└ Whoa, that was insane.
└ Everyone see that? Blasting Energy Bolts—zing! Zing!—to dismantle all those skills and take down the mage?
└ For real... Energy Bolt. I can use that too.
└ LOL, the commentator said it makes no sense to dispel magic with Energy Bolt.
└ I don't think it was Energy Bolt. Looked like a new dispel-type spell.
└ Yeah, and the speed was ridiculous.
Viewers left comments in real time as they watched the broadcast.
Some lamented not snagging tickets.
Scholars raved about how it opened new horizons in the magic world.
Their debate centered on [Was that really an Energy Bolt?], but sadly, no mage strong enough was there to verify it.
Some time passed like that.
- Alright, alright, alright...! Everyone, calm down. Take a deep breath and settle your excitement! Suuuuuuck it in~! Exhaaaaale! The first match was a massive upset! So we can't help but look forward to the second...!
As caster Spirit began introducing the next match, the crowd quickly snapped out of it, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Yeah.
This was what a tournament should be.
If two top rankers were evenly matched and just probed each other cautiously?
Some might call it brilliant psychological warfare, but most folks found it boring.
But this?
This was fun.
Forget the money—it was refreshing and explosive.
"Go on, just win already, Starry Sky!"
"I lost everything betting the folder anyway! Might as well root for Starry Sky now!"
"Do Ha-rang! Do Ha-rang! Do Ha-rang!"
Public opinion flipped in an instant.
Rather than the Magic Tower, which had cost them money with underwhelming skill, hearts turned to Starry Sky for delivering pure entertainment.
"Hoo, hoo..."
In the waiting room, Do Ha-rang took deep breaths this time.
Hearing the cheers calling her name from outside...
'It's making me more nervous instead.'
Even after watching Emily win right in front of her.
The anxiety lingered.
"Sis... how did you do it? What should I do when I go out? How do I win?"
"...Ha-rang."
Emily smiled softly.
"Yeah?"
"Just go out there."
She recalled the past.
When Do Ha-rang announced she was leaving the Magic Tower.
The elders were too corrupt to stomach, so she was applying to join Starry Sky.
Emily had followed without hesitation.
Better to build bonds as a founding member in a new guild than slave away for the elders.
Life didn't have to be all about honor.
But.
'That casual lifeline I grabbed turned out to be a golden one?'
She chuckled.
Nodding with a smile, Emily met Do Ha-rang's eyes again.
"Just go out and fight. You'll figure it out."
Before long.
Emily was saying the exact same thing as Arin.
* * *
"You fool...!"
Elder Asher glared coldly at Brandon as he was carried off.
'How little effort did he put in all this time?'
To get beaten by a mage like Emily.
His cheeks trembled with rage.
He'd already lost a fortune.
'Because of that worm...! My entire fortune's gone.'
First match win, second match win.
Betting the folder on both meant one loss wiped him out.
Even if he won his match, the money was gone.
Asher seethed with unbearable fury.
"Asher."
At that moment.
Tower Master Sophia approached from the back of the waiting room.
"You ignored my warning."
"Tower Master...!"
Asher looked up as if to plead, but she whipped her head away coldly.
But.
"..."
Sophia was just as shocked.
It was something.
A combat style that upended conventional mechanics!
'Using mana efficiency in battle?'
It was astonishing.
Think of it like this.
High-tier spells were guns, cannons, missiles, and such weapons. Mana efficiency was the user's proficiency.
'Like a kid with a high-performance missile versus an adult with a gun.'
The kid doesn't know how to fire the missile.
Doesn't have the strength to press the launch button.
So they lose to the adult with the far weaker gun.
Of course, once they learn some mana control, the gap would close.
Once grown into an adult, it'd be even.
'This...'
Even if the elders had heeded the warning and trained hard, the outcome wouldn't change.
If Ha-rang fought Emily the same way?
Elder Asher would lose too.
'Ah.'
Sophia sighed inwardly.
So even if the Grand Elder and I fight our best, it's a draw at best?
'We're completely screwed.'
Ju Dong-hun.
That guy wouldn't play a losing game.
But Ju Dong-hun.
The Grand Elder was different from those elders.
Cainard had rock-solid fundamentals.
Mana efficiency alone.
That Emily girl wouldn't even reach Cainard's toes.
'He's truly serious about magic.'
* * *
- Aaaaaah! Can you see it!?
- Yesssss! It's just like the first match, incredibly!
- What is happening! The famous! Dark Mage Asher!
- Korea's White Magician Do Ha-rang is dominating him! He can't even fight back—he's just taking hits! Aaaah, does this mean darkness can never beat light!?
The second match ended much the same.
Do Ha-rang, stepping into the arena, dismantled Asher just like Emily had.
Only difference?
Unlike Brandon, he took a bit more punishment.
"Guh... guhgh..."
Asher finally collapsed, foaming at the mouth before passing out.
[Ding!]
[Rankings have been updated.]
[Refer to the world ranking board.]
The rankings shifted again.
Do Ha-rang, formerly 104th, snatched Asher's 74th place.
Naturally, Asher dropped to 75th.
Emily rose to 91st, Brandon to 92nd.
Yakjon Ji Do-ik, formerly 100th, fell to 101st.
"Kuhahaha! Splendid as expected!"
The Berserker shot up, laughing heartily.
"Good, very good!"
"Nice oneeee, Ha-rang! You and Emily both hit high ranker status?! Congrats!"
Starry Sky's rankers gazed at Do Ha-rang with moved expressions.
The VVIP seats members cheered as if they'd won themselves.
The positive effect of the matches.
Cheering together, sharing victory's joy—it fostered unbreakable camaraderie.
"Sis! Siiiis! It was real!"
Returning to the waiting room, Do Ha-rang hugged Emily tight.
"I won so easily! I could see everything the elder was doing!"
"Right? Right?"
Having finished their two matches, they clung to each other, basking in victory.
So joyful.
Tears even glistened at the corners of Do Ha-rang's eyes.
The psychological burden she'd carried all this time vanished in an instant.
"Whoa..."
The arena's atmosphere mirrored the first match.
Not total silence, but a hollow emptiness.
"...We have to admit it now."
"Starry Sky's magic curriculum is better than the Magic Tower's. They proved it in the matches. Do Ha-rang was right all along."
"They didn't rig it, did they?"
"Rig it?"
Someone snorted.
"Think about it, friend. Why would rankers like Asher and Brandon bother rigging? For money? Rankers already have plenty. Losing this badly hurts way more—reputation tanks, brand value gone."
"Right, and the system already confirmed it."
"Man, who would've thought..."
"Can't ignore Starry Sky magic anymore? No mage will head to the Magic Tower when they could join Starry Sky."
"But that's not true."
"Why not?"
"Starry Sky's elite-only."
"Ah."
Since the Jisuryong incident, Starry Sky was famous for rejecting even ranker applicants.
You couldn't join even if you wanted.
And that fact only boosted the guild's allure.
"Damn, Starry Sky's the real deal."
"Thought it was just bravado at first, but it's confidence from real strength."
"Whoa, strong enough to shrug off rankings... Makes sense—the guild master himself is a cheat. Youngest and fastest hyper ranker."
"...I wanna join too."
A guild even rankers can't enter.
Joining skyrockets your growth beyond anyone.
"Isn't this above the Big 3 now?"
Someone asked.
But.
"Nah, that's too much."
Immediate rebuttal, as if it overreached.
"The Magic Tower's true power isn't those elders. It's the Tower Master and Grand Elder."
"Exactly."
"The real game starts now."
"Whoa, it'll be fun regardless of the result? Next is Ju Dong-hun versus Cainard?"
Before savoring the second match's afterglow, attention poured to the third.
Unavoidable.
It was that enticing.
"Hoo."
In front of the waiting room door.
I took a short breath.
My turn at last?
"You brat, those girls came back winning. You won't lose, right?"
An old man muttered from behind.
He'd skipped training for matches—summon time minus one day.
'Don't jinx me.'
I chuckled.
'I haven't practiced spells at all.'
Our deal with the old man.
No other arts until mastering the basics of all arts.
I hadn't glanced at spell basics.
But.
What was this boiling confidence?
"Professor."
Arin called from beside me then.
"Yeah?"
"Win easily and come back! Fighting!"
As expected.
Arin cheered with zero doubt.
The most magic-proficient in the universe—sans constellations—telling me to win easily.
What better guarantee?
Plus, I'm that magic master's professor!
The universe's strongest mage is my student!
"Got it, got it."
Grinning warmly, I ruffled her hair, then stretched my limbs.
- Alright alright alright alright! Kept you waiting! It's about to start! If the previous were warm-ups, now it's main event time! First, come on out! Magic Tower's Grand Elder! Current second-in-command of the magic world! World ranking 13th! Caaaaaainaaaaaard!
Hearing the slightly hyper caster Spirit.
"Hoo."
I slowly awaited my call.
* * *
From the back of the waiting room.
"Arin! Arin!"
Do Ha-rang asked.
"You told the guild master to win easily earlier?"
"Yes."
"Can he really win? Against that Cainard?"
Do Ha-rang looked slightly incredulous.
Emily beside her perked up her ears, genuinely curious.
"The guild master hasn't joined magic training for half a year."
Before that.
The guild master using magic at all was shocking.
'A necromancer using magic?'
Do Ha-rang clicked her tongue inwardly.
Taming monsters like Arin was cheat enough, now personal magic too?
Plus magic, sword, spear, bow, hammer, club—nothing he couldn't wield.
Honestly.
'Shouldn't he be rank 1 with summons alone...'
That was our guild master.
Of course, separately.
Grand Elder Cainard was the real deal.
A cut above elders like Asher.
"Hmm."
Arin smiled awkwardly.
"If we're talking basics, that Cainard might be more solid than Professor. In magic, anyway."
His mana was elder-level in the magic world.
Frankly, Cainard was a true mage.
Asher? Brandon? Damian?
Flashy shells with empty insides.
A real mage handles mana like their fingers.
"Th-then. What do we do?"
Do Ha-rang fretted.
Even the guild master couldn't?
Too greedy?
As she pondered.
"It's fine. Just watch."
Arin smiled brightly.
At the same time, she gazed at the professor heading to the arena.
'Beside our professor... are absurd existences.'
Ones she couldn't yet reveal to them.
'Beings so great... even "ancient magic" is too lowly a term for them.'