Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 3
The goblin vanished without leaving even ashes behind from Seo-jin's black lightning.
Seo-jin let his right arm that had discharged the black lightning drop limply as he exhaled roughly.
"Huu."
His right arm was tingling due to the residual current that couldn't be expelled in time.
The overloaded mana circuit turned black like a tattoo and remained intact on his skin.
Seo-jin looked down at his blackened arm and frowned.
'As expected, it's too much for this body right now.'
It was difficult for an ordinary person's body that hadn't even gone through awakening to withstand the backlash of black magic.
But there was no choice. If his abilities were lacking, his body had to suffer.
'From now on, I'll do it properly.'
After dealing with the goblin, Seo-jin approached the guide and tapped on the glass wall.
"Next."
"......"
Seo-jin shouted at Min-young, who was staring at him blankly.
"Next!"
"Yes, yes!"
Min-young snapped to her senses and pressed the button.
BEEP-.
As the button was pressed, the next stage's monster appeared before his eyes.
SQUEAK SQUEAK-!
It was a gremlin, a small demon that hides in mechanical devices and breaks the machinery.
There were two of them.
Seo-jin glared at the gremlins gradually approaching him and clenched his fists tightly.
'......I succeeded in reverse-calculating the surrounding mana concentration from the previous battle.'
Originally, mages read the mana concentration of their surrounding environment and implement magic based on this.
The basic framework of casting magic is to suck in the mana scattered in space into the middle dantian, namely the 'mana heart', and process it into the desired magic through mana circuits.
However, Seo-jin's method was a little different from other mages.
Due to a disease called 'cardiac vessel occlusion', Seo-jin's mana heart doesn't function normally.
The reason why Seo-jin initially struggled when he entered the tutorial room, and why his first attack failed so pathetically, was because he couldn't read the surrounding mana concentration due to cardiac vessel occlusion.
'A mage who can't feel the surrounding mana.'
Even a deaf pianist would be in a better situation than this.
What Seo-jin ultimately chose was black magic.
'Black magic is magic used by offering sacrifices like blood, life, emotions, or mana as a price.'
By contracting with high-ranking beings like demons through the upper dantian and offering sacrifices, one obtains the power of defying heaven.
Unlike regular magic, it's not greatly constrained by surrounding mana concentration, and it doesn't use the mana heart either - it was a method perfectly suited for Seo-jin.
However, black magic isn't omnipotent either.
There are side effects where the body and mana circuits deteriorate, and madness reaches the brain, gradually causing one to suffer from insanity.
The more one uses black magic, the more one becomes a madman with neither sound body nor mind.
This is especially true for the method Seo-jin mainly uses, which gains power by making mana flow backwards in the body.
This was also the reason why Seo-jin was called the Mad Mage before his regression.
'Anyway.'
Thanks to the previous trial and error, he had finished calculating the tutorial room's mana concentration and the amount of mana consumed for casting magic.
What remained was to achieve maximum efficiency with minimum mana.
Currently, in his unawakened state, Seo-jin only had the basic amount of mana that living beings possess.
WHOOSH-.
The black lightning that shot out from Seo-jin's fingertips pierced through their necks in one go.
SQUEAK-.
The two gremlins collapsed with a thud, unable to even scream with their necks pierced.
Unlike the previous flashy lightning explosion, this was an extremely refined use of mana.
"Huu."
After easily killing the two gremlins and catching his breath once, Seo-jin thought.
'The current maximum record for the tutorial room is stage 9.'
That record set by Sword Star Ju Won-jae remains unbroken even now, years later.
'But that's only until today.'
BEEP-.
Along with the buzzer sound announcing the start of stage 3 tutorial, Seo-jin leaped forward.
'Today, I will surpass that bastard.'
***
Min-young couldn't believe what she was seeing with her own eyes.
'Th-this is just...'
Seo-jin was clearly marked as 'unawakened' in the system, yet he was casting magic without any restrictions.
FLASH-.
Every time he waved his fingertips, black lightning streaks scattered like spider webs.
FLUTTER FLUTTER-.
SQUEAL-!
This pierced the monsters' vital points without an inch of waste or excess and cut off their breath.
Truly amazing movement and magic casting speed.
It was overwhelming skill that even Min-young, who had worked as a guide for several years, had never seen before.
This wasn't just about what she had seen in person.
Even the top-tier raid mages she had only encountered in videos couldn't operate magic as precisely and quickly as that man.
Most mages cast magic from the rear to provide supporting attacks while warriors attract the monsters' attention.
This was the first time she had seen a mage fighting while weaving through enemies like this.
While staring blankly at Seo-jin's figure, Min-young suddenly had one question.
'No, but how is damage going through?'
Apart from the casting speed and precision of magic, this situation was very strange.
Taking the tower entry test means one hasn't awakened yet, or has just awakened and is entering the tower.
That man must also be at level 1.
In contrast.
"SQUEAL-!"
The monsters appearing in the tutorial increase in grade and level by stage, and additionally, the number of individuals increases by one each time.
Generally, the greater the level difference with the opposing monster, the less likely attacks are to connect.
However, Seo-jin's magic pierced the enemies' vital points in an instant, as if mocking such commonly accepted magical principles.
Meanwhile, Seo-jin had dealt with four knolls from tutorial stage 4 and was already rushing toward five lizardmen from stage 5.
***
How much time had passed?
CRACKLE-.
Seo-jin cleared the tutorial without taking a single breath, as if someone was chasing him from behind.
And at the end of that long battle.
CRASH-.
The intense black lightning extending from Seo-jin's fingertips simultaneously severed the necks of nine trolls.
The trolls' heads rolled on the floor, scattering blue blood.
Their massive corpses soon became mana particles and scattered away.
At the same time, a guidance announcement flowed out.
[You have cleared tutorial stage 9. The time taken is 641 seconds, which is a new record.]
"Haa, haa."
With that last strike, he had reached the maximum tutorial record that Sword Star Ju Won-jae had set.
Now only the final stage 10 remained.
Min-young beyond the glass wall swallowed dry saliva and hesitated over whether to press the button.
'A button that none of the association's seniors have ever pressed until now.'
She couldn't bring herself to press the button because she couldn't predict at all what would happen next.
Moreover.
'It's too dangerous now.'
HUU- HUU-.
Seo-jin was staggering in place and barely catching his breath.
Separate from the divine skill he had shown so far, Seo-jin looked quite exhausted.
Was this the price of wielding powerful magic?
One of his arms was completely blackened, and his eyes were so bloodshot that the whites appeared red.
Continuing the test in this state would be pushing it.
However, despite his exhausted appearance, Seo-jin glared at Min-young and said quietly.
"Next."
Seo-jin expressed his intention to continue taking the test.
'He might die at this rate.'
Min-young clenched her fists and tried to dissuade Seo-jin.
"It would be better to stop here. This is already the same record as the Sword Star, you've done well enough......"
"Next!"
Seo-jin shouted with his red eyes flashing.
"HIIK!"
Overwhelmed by his ghostly appearance, Min-young pressed the button with trembling hands.
CLICK-.
Confirming that Min-young had pressed the button, Seo-jin once again made the mana in his body flow backwards to prepare for the next possible battle.
RUMBLE-. RUMBLE-.
However, instead of summoning stage 10 monsters in the tutorial room, bright lighting illuminated the space and a guidance announcement echoed.
[Thank you for your hard work. The tutorial test administered by the association ends here.]
[You can settle your rewards. If you choose to settle, you can select benefits.]
Along with the guidance announcement, a list of benefits floated up before his eyes.
[Monstrous Strength]
[Stalwart Defense]
[Swift Movement]
.
.
.
[Mana Sensitivity]
Only then did Seo-jin let out a deep sigh and relax his tension while returning the mana in his body to its original state.
"Huu."
'Just as Won-jae said.'
The tutorial test ends at stage 9.
After that, rewards can be settled.
The information he had proudly boasted about to his party members in the past was true.
Won-jae didn't reveal the benefit skill he received as a reward back then, but Seo-jin knew what he had chosen.
After catching his breath, Seo-jin scanned the list of benefits that appeared before his eyes with sharp eyes.
'Well, well. This is like a honey pot.'
There wasn't a single benefit that wasn't tempting.
[Monstrous Strength] was a skill that granted tremendous power transcending humanity by itself.
Final strength increases by 30 percent without question.
This affects the coefficients of all physical-type skills and also influences the strength requirements for equipped items.
[Stalwart Defense] was also a groundbreaking ability that reduced damage taken by as much as 30 percent.
It also provided a special ability where even if one suffered damage leading to instant death, 1 health point would remain.
In terms of survival, it could be considered the best, so for climbers fighting with their lives on the line, it was no different from an extra life.
[Swift Movement] goes without saying.
Considering how important agility stats are for combat mages fighting on the front lines, its value is immeasurable.
This was also the benefit that Sword Star Ju Won-jae had chosen in the past, and he had made full use of this trait to dominate battlefields.
Finally, [Mana Sensitivity].
Seo-jin swallowed his saliva while looking at this trait.
'This is a passive skill that helps mana circulation in the body and increases mana sensitivity.'
If he obtained this trait, he might be able to feel the mana in his surrounding environment.
It was an ability that Seo-jin, who couldn't handle the mana heart in his middle dantian, had always yearned for.
To borrow the expression of Grand Mage Gu-ren, who had owned this skill before regression, one can detect mana within hundreds of meters around without being conscious of it.
With this, he might be able to escape from the mana oppression that had always tormented Seo-jin and advance several more stages.
"......"
He was momentarily tempted, but Seo-jin's choice was already decided.
'I didn't come to stage 9 for this.'
Getting this trait wouldn't cure his cardiac vessel occlusion anyway.
Seo-jin clenched his fists tightly and opened his mouth.
"I will not settle the rewards."
At Seo-jin's decision, the guidance announcement sounded again.
[You will not settle rewards. Instead, the administrator's test will proceed.]
Min-young's eyes widened at hearing the guidance announcement.
'Th-the administrator's test?'
The tower was originally an unknown world beyond humanity's wisdom and control.
Therefore, humanity calls the being that governs this tower the 'administrator'.
The fact that the Climber Association and the Tower Entry Management Office oversee the climbing tests for lower floors is all due to a contract with the 'administrator'.
It serves as a kind of filter to reduce climbers' damage and enable efficient tower strategy.
However, fundamentally, it is the 'tower's will' that gives tests to climbers.
The administrator's test was one of the few instances where the tower's will manifested directly.
Unlike Min-young, whose head had gone blank at this historic event, Seo-jin calmly looked at the empty air.
SHIMMER-.
After a while, mana particles began gathering in the empty air.
The mana particles, like an amorphous ghost, soon transformed into the form of a handsome young man dressed in a neat suit.
Snow-white hair and blue eyes.
With a mysterious appearance like a sculpture crafted by God, he greeted Seo-jin with courtesy.
[Nice to meet you, unawakened Lee Seo-jin. I am the tower's administrator, Nimrod. You are......]
At the same time.
CRASH-!
The black lightning that Seo-jin unleashed struck toward the administrator.