Chapter 30
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 030
Chapter Title: All-Nighter Work
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Lee Dong-gyu stared blankly up at the sky.
Boom boom boom...
Magic bullets manifesting around the Association President intercepted the hundreds of fireballs raining down.
At first, he thought the barrier hadn't fully blocked the fireballs, forcing the President to handle them personally.
The fireballs that touched the barrier didn't vanish—they just slowed down.
But then came the iridescent glow from the collisions between the fireballs and magic bullets.
The moment he saw it, Lee Dong-gyu realized the truth.
'...This isn't the Association President's magic.'
The entire phenomenon was the work of asd123's scrolls.
The membrane stretching like rubber amid the falling fireballs, freely expanding and contracting.
The intent embedded in that membrane calculating trajectories, speeds, and more while holding the fireballs in place.
Then, magic bullets fired along the predicted paths.
Screeech—boom.
A large-scale spell that would require multiple top-tier mages working together to even attempt—and asd123 had crammed it into a single scroll.
'No... maybe it's only possible because it's a scroll?'
If a mage's spell was speech filtered through minimal processing, a magic scroll was like refined writing.
Free of the need for revisions, scrolls followed a fixed framework, making complex implementations easier than live casting.
'...Of course, that only applies if the creator's skill is exceptional.'
Lee Dong-gyu swallowed hard as the Association President urgently called out to him.
"...Snap out of it! We need backup!"
The scrolls consumed so much mana that the President could only sustain their activation.
"Its true body is a nine-headed serpent. If you don't destroy all nine heads at once, it'll regenerate endlessly!"
That was why the subjugation team had been kept to a minimal size.
Coordinating attacks on nine heads simultaneously was hard enough—more people would only make timing harder.
Yet the President, who had planned to handle seven heads alone, couldn't even lift a finger now.
"Call in at least seven hunters with high burst output!"
High-ranking mages like Councilor Shin and Councilor Jeong could multi-cast, of course.
But the thing's defenses were too high—splitting mana would spike the failure rate too much.
"...Understood!"
As Lee Dong-gyu dashed toward the temporary command post, asd123's email from minutes ago popped into his mind.
From: asd123
If you need offensive magic scrolls as well, please send an email.
Issues of firepower and timing.
The most effective solution was right here...
Did they really need to make this complicated?
Lee Dong-gyu paused and fired off a reply.
Five minutes earlier.
Back in his workshop, Park Ha-jun dove straight into examining the 2-circle circuit for Mana Arrow without a break.
'As expected, not too tough.'
No need for complicated deliberations here.
'The inner framework is just like Magic Bullet.'
All he had to do was swap the shape-handling geometry for an arrow form.
Of course, no other creator would grasp [Mana Arrow] through such reasoning.
This was only possible because Park Ha-jun perceived circuits as 'shapes and spaces.'
He understood their essence more precisely than anyone.
'The Association still hasn't replied, though.'
What could he do?
It was already 6 a.m., and he had to prep for work in an hour. Might as well draw these to fight off the sleepiness.
'Not sure if I'll even make it to work...'
He reached for the mid-grade parchment with his quill—
From: Urgent Item Buyer
[...in the current situation, we'd be grateful for as many scrolls as possible. If you can produce the maximum within 20 minutes, we'll buy them all...]
An email from Lee Dong-gyu.
"Hm..."
Park Ha-jun hadn't optimized for efficiency yet, so the Association President's mana was running low.
They needed at least seven scrolls, but...
That was the bare minimum—the core request was for as many as possible.
'...All of them, bought outright?'
For reference, when Park Ha-jun first used [Accelerated Manifestation], he'd drawn the 3D-based 'Purification' circuit in just 20 minutes.
This 'Mana Arrow' was entirely 2D-based, excluding the attribute shapes.
Could he really just craft and ship them one by one?
Park Ha-jun pondered briefly, then shook his head.
'...The situation must be that dire.'
Maybe his concern was unnecessary meddling.
The Association wasn't some amateur outfit...
If they needed his scrolls despite their elite talent, the crisis must be severe.
Steeling himself, Park Ha-jun opened the [Exclusive Shop].
The reason for eyeing the next-tier quill out of nowhere was simple.
'...Gotta buy it if I want to make more.'
In truth, the high-grade Magic Quill only boosted drawing precision by 2 over mid-grade.
Yet it cost 1 billion won.
Hardly a cost-effective item.
But for Park Ha-jun right now, it was no waste at all.
Drawing precision meant the quill shouldered the energy cost of precisely expressing the creator's intent.
Easier precision meant faster speeds.
Lower energy drain kept peak speed steady even in repetition.
And above all—
To buy this, he'd need the high-grade one first anyway.
The shop required owning prior tiers to unlock the [Purchase] button.
'Used to seem impossible... now it feels within reach.'
He was dying to know what ancient-grade circuits were.
Anyway.
He boldly purchased the high-grade Magic Quill.
[Gold: 451,975,230G]
"..."
Watching the hundreds digit drop from 5 to 4 in real time stung a bit.
But it was fine. This commission would refill it.
He stocked up on high-grade parchment from the [Exclusive Shop] too.
Securing the parchment on his workbench, he picked up the manifested quill.
'Oh...?'
The mana enveloping the feather was denser than mid-grade.
[Accelerated Manifestation]'s requirement was mid-grade or higher, right?
Because mana coating started at mid-grade.
But this high-grade quill's coating was thicker.
'...Might draw even faster than I thought.'
With that, Park Ha-jun emailed Lee Dong-gyu and began drawing circuits in earnest.
Around then, Lee Dong-gyu arrived near the temporary command post and checked asd123's reply.
From: asd123
Understood. I'll make as many as I can. Sending via item as I finish them...
'As many as possible... no pre-made stock this time either, huh.'
Still fine.
He already knew from the Councilor Jeong treatment that asd123's production speed was insane.
'Should get at least three.'
Clutching that sliver of hope, Lee Dong-gyu rounded up the assembled hunters.
The top hunters couldn't hide their confusion at the sight of him.
"What the hell's going on up there in the sky?"
"Why'd the general barrier drop already?"
"Is the Association President safe...?"
Contrary to their worries, things were going smoothly.
But no need to celebrate prematurely.
Lee Dong-gyu skipped replies and spoke gravely.
"We're forming an emergency subjugation team. All B-rank or higher hunters specialized in offense, step forward. Others, anyone your guild can summon within 30 minutes..."
Thankfully, the hunters complied readily.
Joining meant a share of rewards from this special monster.
"Mt. Taesan Guild has Guild Master Kang Moo-jin coming personally. Onhwa Guild is summoning..."
In just over 10 minutes, he lined up the high-burst hunters.
"Depart in 5 minutes. If you don't make it, alternates on standby will..."
He announced to the hunters, then stepped out briefly.
His destination: the temporary item storage.
This held the paired item for the one he'd given Park Ha-jun—receiving only, sadly. One-way from asd123 to him.
But then—
Clunk clunk.
The machine was already running. asd123 had sent something.
'Yeah, 15 minutes passed already.'
At asd123's pace, two or three scrolls by now, easy.
As he approached—
"?"
The floor was messy. Not dust—high-grade parchment scattered everywhere.
Even two or three would have him marveling, 'Classic asd123,' while picking them up.
But counting them...
"...Nine sheets."
Each scroll's specs screamed asd123 quality.
"Hm..."
At this point, even awe felt numb...
He'd planned around two or three realistically.
Though deep down, he'd hoped asd123 could exceed that.
'...Just stop trying to define the guy's limits.'
Speechless, he gathered the nine scrolls—
Thud.
The transfer item spat out one more.
'Yeah, one extra as backup...'
But then—
Clunk clunk.
It started up again right after.
"Please... you can stop now..."
Seemed his 'as many as possible' got misinterpreted.
Nine was a stretch—he'd meant close to the max, not literally.
Thud. Clunk clunk.
"..."
In the end, Lee Dong-gyu collected 14 scrolls and headed out with the newly formed subjugation team.
Before long, morning sunlight peeked over the horizon.
Screeech—boom boom boom.
The iridescent bursts against the dawn glow scattered even more brilliantly, like fireworks.
Amid the drifting rainbow dust, twelve hunters took solemn positions.
A 6-circle grand mage, the Association President.
The Sword Saint, an A-rank who clawed to S-rank borders through sheer effort.
Councilor Shin and Councilor Jeong, perfected 4-circle mages.
Kang Moo-jin, who punched his way to the A-rank pinnacle.
⋯
Korea's finest hunters, no doubt.
However.
The central Association President lacked surplus mana, sustaining asd123's [Barrier] scroll.
The other nine elites stood at a distance, clutching asd123 scrolls, doing nothing else.
"...Did they really need to call us for this?"
Lee Dong-gyu gave an awkward smile.
"Haha... Better safe than sorry, right? Your skills are top-notch, but cast times and attack speeds vary."
True. Their raw power was unmatched anywhere.
But syncing hits on exact points at precise timing? Tricky.
Hence, asd123's scrolls as the top priority.
"What a humiliating spectacle."
Kang Moo-jin grumbled, but the Sword Saint laughed heartily.
"...What's wrong with a fresh change? When else would I get to try this?"
True to their mastery, they kept composure even here.
But the mana-draining President had to hurry them.
"...Enough chatter. Let's begin."
Time to kill the shell.
That fell to the Sword Saint's peak burst.
"Haha... Right."
The Sword Saint stepped forward, hand on his sheath—then released it like it'd burned him.
Councilor Shin frowned.
"What are you doing? Can't you see the President's struggling? Joking around even now..."
The Sword Saint looked puzzled.
"Hm? I figured the monster's reactions were trash, but guess not."
"...?"
As Councilor Shin blinked in confusion—
Slash—!
Green ichor sprayed like a fountain from the severed snake head.
The snake's body soon sizzled away from the cut.
In its place loomed a being with a serpent lower body and human torso.
With the fireballs halted, the President gained a breather and lowered his voice.
"...Stay sharp. Get cocky like you did with that last one, and you'll learn why I call this thing the shell."
At his words, a system message appeared to all Korean Awakeners.
Vasuki (9%) Subjugation
📍 Drive Vasuki—who bargained with the Chaos God Kali to escape his clan's curse—from Earth!
🎁 Reward: Tiered by contribution