Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 286
Chapter Title: Claiming the Rewards
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Rumble rumble rumble! Rumble rumble!
Sky and earth. Jet-black lightning leaping from every direction my gaze could reach.
Just as hot ice couldn't exist, jet-black lightning shouldn't exist either.
"The resistance is fierce."
Kwachijijik! Pajijijik!!
And yet, what I was seeing with my own eyes was unmistakably jet-black lightning.
[System: Due to the absence of the prerequisite 'Spirit Medium' trait, the spell's effectiveness is reduced.]
Within expected range.
As anticipated, activating the spell without the [Spirit Medium] trait prevents a proper seal. That said, I couldn't afford to lower its power.
With no other choice, I adjusted the spell's effects.
"Even Jang Hyun-deok said there'd be no medicine if things went south!"
There was supposed to be an event where the [Guardian of the Sealed Chamber] assisted. But that's no longer possible, so I had to handle it alone.
"Hoo—"
Exhaling once more, I repaired the incantation of the [Demon-Sealing Array], which was burning coldly amid the jet-black lightning.
Kiiiiiing!!
Blue, red, yellow, white, black—cycling in order, a rainbow of five colors spreading in all directions.
With a jjjeojeojeok—the sound of freezing—I felt the space-time beneath Ulsan Rock come to a halt.
[System: The 'Demon-Sealing Array' has been completed.]
[Achievement unlocked! You have sealed the 'Underground Ruins of Seoraksan'.]
[You have obtained the advanced achievement: 'Follower of the Sealed Chamber's Teachings'.]
[As a reward for the achievement, you gain 'Spell Proficiency: Protective Series' and additional experience points.]
[You have thwarted the descent of the 'Great Origin', stolen an artifact imbued with his power, stopped the cultists plotting his advent despite the dire conditions imposed upon you, and even sealed the Underground Ruins of Seoraksan to block any potential issues.]
The ensuing nonsense from the message windows.
[While there was some admittedly rough-and-tumble messiness in the process, judging solely by the results, it's undeniable that you made the best choice.]
"Why add pointless crap that ruins the mood?"
But the message window's point wasn't entirely wrong. I had forced it and overexerted myself.
"No, hold on. The messy part was you! If you hadn't pulled that cheap trick, why would I have had to regress!"
And on top of magic phobia, a ridiculous [Dog Phobia] manifesting at the worst timing?
"If you're gonna make me play the game, do it fair! You rotten bastard!"
I swung my fist and yelled, but as always, no satisfactory response came.
[You have sealed the 'Underground Ruins of Seoraksan'.]
[You have defeated numerous cultists (Old Voices). Your understanding of the 'Great Origin Cult' increases.]
[You have sealed a 'Hound of Tindalos'. Your understanding of 'Tindalos' increases.]
[You have defeated numerous fixers. Your understanding of the underworld increases.]
[You have...]
Message windows endlessly listing whom I'd defeated, whose influence I'd gained, what I'd obtained, and what achievements I'd earned.
After a long-winded litany, the conclusion arrived.
[You have accumulated sufficient experience to reach the next stage. Level increased by 1.]
[You have accumulated sufficient experience to reach the next stage. Level increased by 1.]
[You have accumulated sufficient experience to reach the next stage. Level increased by 1.]
And somehow, I obtained a massive amount of magic stones.
No matter what happened, you got this. Because you did that, you get this. Because you did this, you get that...
[System: Scroll down to claim your rewards.]
"What? Why are you giving me so many artifacts?"
Moving to the base of Ulsan Rock, I found an enormous pile of artifacts stacked up.
"These must be the weapons from the guys Moon Kyung-nam brought."
Originally ordinary weapons, but when the ruins' entrance collided with Ulsan Rock, the magic power dwelling within erupted everywhere—turning these weapons into random artifacts... An utterly contrived explanation was provided.
"Sheesh. Fine, do whatever's convenient for you."
I used a shrinking spell to collect the mountain of artifacts.
"Plenty of them, but nothing useful."
It was like running dozens of random weapon pulls, all perfectly avoiding exactly what I needed.
Mostly low B-grade artifacts, and the occasional super rare ones were unusable for a wizard.
[Merciless Avalanche (S-grade Weapon): A warpick that endured a surreal disaster. It fused with a magic stone by chance, gaining magical power, but became even larger and heavier.]
[Restrictions: Strength stat 18 or higher.]
[Merciless Destruction: Destroys the opponent's armor...]
How the hell was I supposed to use something like this?
"Well, I did get the [Sword of the Flesh]."
[Sword of the Flesh (L-grade Weapon): A magic tool said to be made from a hardened piece of flesh from the 'Great Origin'. It takes the form of a sword with seven prongs, but cannot cut matter. More akin to a tool for rituals or ceremonies.]
[Power to Slash Time: Slash time itself to halt its flow. Duration proportional to Spirit. However, each use infuses a random Madness into the mind.]
[Power to Slash Barriers: Slash space to create rifts to other dimensions. However, each use infuses a random Madness into the mind.]
[Agent of the God: Charisma +2.]
[Flesh of the God: Can serve as a vessel for the 'Great Origin's' descent. As long as you possess this sword, it will yearn for you.]
[Old Voice: The possessor constantly hears the 'Great Origin's' whispers. Unbearable nightmares and Madness shall befall you.]
[Violator of Space-Time: Each use of this artifact's power grants entities beyond space-time the strength to punish you.]
[Gift of the Origin: Greatly increases the probability of encountering entities related to the 'Great Origin'.]
[Born of Antiquity: Increases the probability of encountering 'Primordial Beings'...]
A tremendously powerful item, but saddled with an absurd number of penalties.
'But I can use it all for free, right?'
The Madness infusion? Blocked by [Abyssal Madness]. Nightmares? Handled by [Wings of the Night Veil Cloak].
"Encounters and such are just duplicate penalties from the inferior [Feast's Offering] anyway."
The only real issue was the Tindalos-related clause.
I'd sealed the one that had been stalking me so far, but it was just a temporary measure.
To hunt the [Time Traveler], a new one would probably show up soon.
"Not right away, but maybe if I overuse [Time Stop]?"
If that happened, I'd just beat it down again or activate a [Demon-Sealing Array] to seal it.
[Level 72 achieved!]
[Level-up reward: 1 bonus stat point to freely allocate.]
[Sufficient experience unlocks 7th-circle magic usage. Note that to properly use 7th-circle magic, you need a grimoire containing 7th-circle spells or relevant training.]
I allocated the bonus stat to Spirit.
"Time to shore up the mental side."
Including [Time Stop], many spells relied on Spirit. This was the best choice now.
If I got a few more decent artifacts, I could push Spirit close to 30.
****
Kim Shin-hwa
Class: Wizard Who Gazes into the Abyss
Level: 72
Magic Tier: 7th Circle
Madnesses: [Mask Obsession (Latent)], [Dog Phobia]
Strength 5 + 4 (Embers of the Northern Pleasure Sect)
Vitality 8 + 3 (Four Signs True Sword Stance (Green Blade))
Agility 8 + 2 (Wings of the Night Veil Cloak)
Intelligence 30
Spirit 21 + 2 (Necklace of the Body Snatcher)
Charisma 20 + 2 (Sword of the Flesh)
****
"Anyway, it's been a while since I leveled up."
My mood improved considerably.
[Once again, you have prevented this world's destruction. To avert the conditions before even the precursors appear—truly remarkable foresight.]
"You mocking me?"
Handing out regression rewards and penalties, then calling it 'foresight'? Purely to rub it in.
Turning my brief good mood sour in one breath...
[But take heed. The 'Great Origin's' power is immense, and his wisdom infinitely deep. He will be watching you, the one who impeded his will.]
Yeah.
I'd plugged up the Great Origin's ruins, but his avatar still lingered.
Besides.
'In truth, the [Sword of the Flesh] itself is the Great Origin's flesh, altar, and ruins.'
Mismanage it, and it could invite even greater danger.
* * *
Having claimed all the rewards, I returned to where the others were gathered.
"Hmm, not satisfied."
Glancing back at Ulsan Rock, the forcibly completed sealing incantation's form didn't sit right with me.
Kikikikikikik-
Not a physical sound, but anyone sensing magic could detect the noise.
A crude analogy: the creaking of poorly meshed incantations.
"I went to all that trouble to seal it, but it won't hold long like this."
I'd sacrificed duration to maintain output, so it was inevitable...
Using Intelligence and the [Spell Mastery] trait, I calculated the [Demon-Sealing Array]'s sustainability.
"Shortest case... roughly... about 19,500 minutes."
13 days and 13 hours?
Worst-case estimate, so it'd actually last dozens of times longer—but this game always spawned worse than the worst, so no optimism.
"Even ignoring traits for activation, isn't this too stingy?"
I scratched my head, pondering. Should I ask another abyssal entity for help?
When sealing the [Smiling One], the [Living Flame] assisted, letting me perfectly control it.
"No, wait. Their tiers are dozens apart."
The Great Origin ranked about fourth from the top among abyssal entities.
Asking middling ones would just get absurd demands or outright ignores.
"Better to fetch Jang Hyun-deok and recast the spell."
Where the hell had that guy wandered off to?
Probably nothing wrong.
I hadn't added location tracking—too inhumane—but alarms and protective spells for emergencies were fully applied.
None had triggered, so...
"Hmm..."
One conclusion came to mind, but I ignored it and muttered.
"Yeah, he hasn't even reached Sokcho yet in real time."
I'd been so busy, moving faster than time itself.
My subjective time felt endless, but objective time since he vanished wasn't that long.
As my thoughts veered elsewhere, Kwak Dae-yong came running from Moon Seung-hee's container.
"Hey! Professor Kim! Professor Kim!"
"Ugh, what? Something wrong?"
"Ah, good, you're okay. I was worried you were still up there, but you came down just in time?"
"Up there"—meaning Ulsan Rock, now a sealing stone for the Great Origin.
"But 'good timing'? What do you mean?"
"Oh, right. Hurry over here. The director's condition is off."
"Moon Seung-hee?"
I couldn't finish my thoughts and rushed to Moon Seung-hee.
"Wizard!"
Moon Seung-hee's voice nearly a scream.
Thankfully, she was fine.
The problem was Lee Sun-bin.
Pajik, pajijijik!
Lee Sun-bin floated slowly, emitting jet-black sparks from her entire body.
Whoa, what the hell?
"She was fine just moments ago! What—what happened? Wizard? Wizard?"
Moon Seung-hee shook my collar with a half-mad expression.
I gently pushed her away and said.
"Director, I can handle this. So please, just calm down a bit!"
Annoying that they'd targeted Lee Sun-bin on purpose, but the fix was simple. I'd solved similar issues plenty of times.
'No, rather, going this far just to share magic power with me.'
Thanks to this, I could siphon the Great Origin's magic power.
Soon enough, they'd pay for this pointless stunt.