Chapter 81
Chapter 81
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 81
As So-yul infused mana into the scroll.
KUGUGUNG-.
Massive crystal fragments began falling from the ceiling with a crash, and the floor also began to shake as if it were alive.
"UWAK!"
"It's shaking again!"
The investigation team was all anxious due to the repeated terror, but.
"I'll stop it."
As So-yul removed her hand from the scroll, the vibrations soon subsided.
Then, as if to prove this wasn't a coincidence, she caused the vibrations again.
DUDUDU-.
And when So-yul put down the scroll, the vibrations stopped as if nothing had happened.
"Was, was it real?"
"Then everything that happened until now......"
This was a phenomenon that Seo-jin, who had become 'the master of The Great Cavity', had orchestrated with So-yul, but there was no way the Mage Tower's investigation team could know this.
Then there was only one meaning to this situation.
"......"
Everyone who saw So-yul's demonstration silently turned their heads toward Kang Jin-tae.
So-yul didn't miss that opportunity and raised her voice.
"I trust everyone understands now. Kang Jin-tae, that person used the scroll to cause vibrations in The Great Cavity. He had used artifacts he prepared in advance to pretend to protect you all while winning your favor."
At So-yul's outcry, Kang Jin-tae shouted with a pale face.
"Th, that's a lie! That's all a lie! I didn't do anything......!"
But his desperate protest was buried in the murmuring of the investigation team.
"Shut up, you bastard!"
"Using our lives as collateral......"
"Catch him right now!"
So-yul continued her explanation to the angry investigation team members.
"What do you think was the reason he won favor like that and then insisted that a fact-finding team should be dispatched to our Taebaek? I'm sure you all understand now."
At So-yul's words that drove the final nail, Shelly and Fernando demanded an explanation from Kang Jin-tae.
"Please explain properly, Dr. Kang."
"Is what Guild Leader Han So-yul said true?"
"N, no, I......"
Kang Jin-tae trembled all over and precariously leaned against a corner of the wall.
Cornered, he clutched his head and pointed at Zhang Wei-an while shouting.
"I, I only did what I was told! I, I was being used! They said they'd give me a huge sum! They lured me with money to live on for life and honor!"
Following Kang Jin-tae's pointing, the investigation team members' gazes focused on Zhang Wei-an.
"......"
But Zhang Wei-an maintained a calm expression with his hands behind his back, just as usual.
He simply opened his mouth and threw out a single word.
"Disappointing, Dr. Kang."
He looked at Kang Jin-tae with cold eyes.
Since the situation had come to this, that person was no longer of any use.
Then he would just eliminate him.
Zhang Wei-an closed his eyes and slowly caressed the magical tool in his pocket.
'Anyway, this whole affair was something Kang Jin-tae himself planned and carried out.'
He had condoned the plan because it could completely uproot Taebaek, which was backed by the Climber Association and the Korean government that owned the Tower.
No matter how much it was a setting sun, Taebaek was certainly a threatening enemy. If there was a chance to eliminate it, there would be nothing bad about it.
Therefore, Yellow Dragon had supported that plan from behind the scenes.
However, Yellow Dragon had evidence that all of this was carried out under Kang Jin-tae's leadership. If they wanted to cut off the tail, they could cut it off as much as they wanted.
And if they were going to cut off the tail anyway.
'It would be better to cut it off for sure.'
Because dead men tell no tales.
KKUUK-.
Zhang Wei-an infused energy into the magical tool in his bosom.
This was a kind of curse incantation placed on all mages and researchers who enter Yellow Dragon Mage Tower.
When the specific wavelength of power that Zhang Wei-an emitted reached them, the curse would take effect, causing the target to suffer cardiac arrest within a few days.
This was close to the realm of Taoism, so even if they underwent autopsy or magical dissection, the cause couldn't be known.
Some might call it a cruel measure, but for mages and researchers involved in magical research that was a state secret, it was a necessary 'safety device'.
If only Kang Jin-tae would keep his mouth shut.
'This incident will be remembered as the deviation of a single researcher who harbored dissatisfaction with his home country's Mage Tower and defected.'
Zhang Wei-an looked at Kang Jin-tae while hiding his smile.
UUUNG-.
Then, just as the magical tool's wavelength was shot toward Kang Jin-tae.
SHWIIK-.
A sharp spear flew over and disrupted the flow of power.
"......!"
PIING-.
After disrupting the power, an antique spear stuck into the ground in front of Kang Jin-tae.
THUD.
A figure who appeared boldly in the center of the gathering place where the investigation team was assembled, simultaneously with throwing the spear.
PABAK-.
He retrieved the spear stuck in the ground with disciplined movements and glared sharply through his sunglasses.
"What is this commotion?"
It was the appearance of Lee Seo-mun, the person who would put an end to this long disturbance.
***
A few days later.
[......Like this, with the shocking internal whistleblowing by former Yellow Dragon Mage Tower Chief Researcher Kang Jin-tae and the securing of additional evidence, the suspicions of Yellow Dragon Mage Tower's organized interference with The Great Cavity exploration and research ethics violations have been revealed as fact. The association immediately formed a fact-finding committee and announced intensive investigation into Yellow Dragon Mage Tower......]
"Hihi."
Taebaek Mage Tower. Han So-yul's office.
With the sound of pleasant news coming through, So-yul was lying on a plush sofa, searching internet news articles and grinning.
Every time So-yul's finger scrolled the terminal, provocative headlines dealing with this incident passed by.
Their content was consistent.
The organized criminal facts of Yellow Dragon Mage Tower that started under Kang Jin-tae's leadership had surfaced, and intensive investigation was underway.
Not only the ringleader Kang Jin-tae but also the person in charge, Zhang Wei-an, was expected to not be free.
In the worst case, Yellow Dragon would lose its authority as a 'Mage Tower' representing the nation and be demoted to a mere guild.
If that happened, they would be excluded from various rights and benefits provided by the Climber Association and Mage Association, so Yellow Dragon would fall far behind in magical research competition.
On the other hand, the stock price of Taebaek, which had successfully completed The Great Cavity exploration and exposed Yellow Dragon's conspiracy, was on the rise.
The political circles, who were always looking for something to pick at, and companies that only supported profitable research were all in a frenzy trying to get a piece of the action somehow.
In addition to this, if they announced research on Mana Sacs and leeches obtained from this expedition......
"Hehe."
So-yul was grinning with a completely relaxed face, drawing a rosy future.
Across from her.
Seo-jin, who was drinking warm tea placed on the table, chuckled at that sight.
"Are you that happy? Isn't it an article you've seen enough to be sick of?"
"Sick of it? Not at all. It's interesting every moment. It feels new every time I look at it."
So-yul smiled brightly as if ten years of pent-up frustration had been released.
"It's all thanks to Seo-jin. I'm always indebted to you."
Thanks to Seo-jin, they achieved great results at the Mage Tower level and were able to escape Kang Jin-tae's vicious plan.
So-yul and the team members all worked hard, but if you were to pick the number one contributor, it would naturally be Seo-jin.
Seo-jin shrugged his shoulders as an answer and lay arrogantly on the sofa.
"If you know that, continue to treat me well."
"Hey, I'm treating you well enough. I even overlooked you going to the underground ruins on your own and taking the genuine scroll."
"What forgiveness. Taebaek is safe because of me."
After The Great Cavity incident, to help with damage control and fact-finding investigation, Seo-jin had confessed several facts to So-yul.
The matter of secretly infiltrating Taebaek Mage Tower's underground ruins, discovering traces of Yellow Dragon there.
And the acquisition of the S-grade item Time Distortion Magic Book that maintained The Great Cavity's seal, and the fact that Kang Jin-tae had taken its counterfeit, the Spatial Coordination Scroll.
The fact-finding investigation team examined the ruins under Taebaek based on this information, found traces of Yellow Dragon, and the truth of the incident was revealed.
However.
'Not all the truth was revealed.'
Because the existence of the Time Distortion Magic Book that Seo-jin had tucked into his robe, that is, the genuine article, was decided to be kept secret between him and So-yul.
Therefore, it was necessary to transform the counterfeit Spatial Coordination Scroll that Kang Jin-tae possessed into the real thing before the fact-finding investigation.
Although there was no way to accurately distinguish its authenticity with modern magic, if they kept digging, they might find strange points.
Seo-jin linked the authority of 'the master of The Great Cavity' that he possessed to the counterfeit.
So that the fact-finding investigation team could reproduce The Great Cavity's vibrations even with the counterfeit.
It was evidence manipulation close to a perfect crime, but.
'There are people who are deceived, but no one who suffers losses.'
Kang Jin-tae and Yellow Dragon paid the price for their crimes as was natural, and Seo-jin acquired the demon's Energy Core that was the source of The Great Cavity's abnormal phenomena, so there would be no more mana disasters in The Great Cavity.
Everything was resolved smoothly. Wasn't it well done?
But while So-yul acknowledged Seo-jin's achievements, she still questioned what needed to be questioned.
"Still, going into the underground ruins without my permission was wrong. Rules are important."
Not just ordinary rules, but rules made by agreement among all mages for the safety of The Great Cavity, which held the fate of the 11th floor.
To this, Seo-jin asked calmly.
"Even if Taebaek would be in danger because of those rules?"
Seo-jin's question pierced So-yul's ears.
So-yul was at a loss for words.
"......"
It was a question she wanted to avoid desperately, but she couldn't avoid facing it.
Because Seo-jin's words were right a hundred times over.
If Seo-jin hadn't entered the underground ruins according to the rules So-yul put forward, Taebaek might have suffered tremendous damage from being caught up in Kang Jin-tae's scheme.
It wasn't just this incident.
Perhaps Kang Jin-tae leaving Taebaek with malice and anger, and Taebaek Mage Tower's gradually declining performance, were also because of those rules.
Because of So-yul's stubbornness, which was written as rules but read as a petty sense of justice.
So-yul quietly lowered her head and said.
"I know I'm stubborn."
"It's fortunate that you at least know."
Rule compliance. Where did So-yul's sense of justice about this originate?
The responsibility of being a guild leader? Or research ethics as a mage?
Or perhaps the weight of being the daughter of her late father, Association President Han Kyeong-cheol?
Seo-jin didn't know which was the correct answer.
But living like that would always result in losses. Not only for herself but also for the group she belonged to.
In Seo-jin's view, this was very irrational and stupid.
However.
Seo-jin opened his mouth indifferently while sipping tea.
"It's fine to continue living stubbornly like that. The world needs people like that too."
Even if it means suffering losses, even if it means worrying. Wouldn't the world need at least one person who would walk the righteous path of keeping rules?
If everyone ignored minor laws and agreements for immediate benefits or great causes, this world would fall into chaos.
Someone must pursue righteousness even if they receive criticism and suffer losses.
Although Seo-jin couldn't be such a great person, he was capable enough to help those who lived that way.
"So, leave the bad work to me."
So-yul held her breath for a moment at Seo-jin's words.
So-yul looked at Seo-jin as if momentarily moved, then soon burst into a small laugh and asked.
"Then wouldn't it be the same thing in the end?"
If you collude with someone who will do bad work for you, aren't you the same kind of person in the end?
When So-yul asked playfully, Seo-jin shrugged.
"Then don't leave it to me, just get foolishly taken advantage of like this time. I'll solve it."
"No way."
So-yul scratched her cheek awkwardly and added a word.
"From now on, I'll try to do better."
So that she could keep rules and righteousness while not needing to borrow the hand of a bad wolf-like man.
After that, Seo-jin, who had been spending time joking with So-yul for a while, put down his teacup and said.
"I need to stop climbing the Tower for a while."
"Pardon?"
Although So-yul was slightly surprised by Seo-jin's words, thinking about it, it wasn't that surprising.
Seo-jin's Tower climbing speed was abnormally fast, unprecedented.
He had already reached the 11th floor in just a few months since clearing the tutorial.
If he maintained the same speed continuously, even a superhuman like Seo-jin would collapse from exhaustion.
"Please do that. While you're resting, how about going outside the Tower?"
"Outside."
Since his regression, Seo-jin had lived only inside the Tower without ever going outside.
There was no reason to go outside the Tower in the first place.
Outside, he couldn't become stronger or gain anything.
For Seo-jin, who was trying to reach the top of the Tower and prevent the predetermined destruction, life outside the Tower was just a waste of time.
"Rather than going outside where there's no mana, it would be better to do training inside."
"If you do that, either your body or mind will break somewhere. It's necessary to forget everything and rest deeply sometimes."
"Hmm......"
So-yul's words also had some merit.
Although it varied depending on the climber's constitution and stats, the high mana concentration inside the Tower was certainly burdensome to the body.
Also, due to the special nature of Black Magic, mental management was necessary to some extent.
"I'll try going out once."