Rampage to Your Heart's Content
The worst enemy is coming to you all. A new boss monster, the Tower Master, has been added. Appearance location: 'Earth-wide'.
The shocking news spread like wildfire.
The most bewildered of all was none other than the AAU.
A new boss monster called the Tower Master? If that was true...
Yoon Sugyeom swallowed dryly.
"That phrase 'worst enemy' won't be hyperbole anymore."
Even back when Arcana was just a game, mages had always been treated like royalty. Just having a mage-class build—regardless of level—was enough to get recruited into a top guild. It was only natural.
Mages were one-man armies. Depending on their skill, they could do even more.
They were one of the noble classes back then, factoring in the investment costs. The growth difficulty was hellish, but if you managed to raise one, the rewards were guaranteed.
"That's how Arcana was set up."
You could tell just by looking at the Empire. It had unified the vast Arcana continent—or close enough. Yet compared to its endless legions of soldiers, the number of Empire-affiliated mages was a drop in the bucket.
"Straight-up, it was a balance patch. The Mage Tower."
Mages could shake the balance of the Arcana continent. So when it was just a game, the Mage Tower acted as their leash, keeping them in check.
But now that Arcana was reality, the tower's mages weren't NPCs anymore. The settings couldn't last forever.
They'd agonized endlessly over that fact at first. He still couldn't forget the day the Mage Tower materialized in reality.
"It was total panic for us."
"We pulled all-nighters every day until the Mage Tower made their official statement."
"Thinking back, we should be grateful now."
The Mage Tower outdid a nuke in terms of danger. Who could've guessed it would become humanity's staunch ally?
It was all thanks to the tower's chief, Hoyeol.
In that sense, this update hit even harder.
"No word from the Mage Tower side?"
"Just now, we got contact from players staying at the tower as apprentice mages. Elder mage Yugweed is about to share her thoughts on the incident!"
"Phew. At least the whole tower hasn't turned on us."
A sigh escaped amid the tension. Seong Hyunjun and Yoon Sugyeom exchanged glances. They shared the same question.
Seong Hyunjun's lips twitched.
"Why isn't it Hoyeol this time?"
Until now, Hoyeol had always been the one speaking for the Mage Tower to the public. The tower's real power, the chief—and a player. No one bridged reality and the tower like him.
Seong Hyunjun's eyes widened.
"...No way. He's already one step ahead, anticipating the emergency update?"
"It's not 'no way.'"
"Huh? Got some hunch, senior?"
"There has to be a reason the Tower Master turned enemy to players. Hoyeol would know it. He has to."
"...Because they're from the same tower?"
"Yeah. Yugweed's probably figured it out too."
Yoon Sugyeom nodded with conviction.
But his assurance didn't last.
In the Mage Tower lobby, Elder Yugweed appeared before the press.
-"We never anticipated the Tower Master showing hostility."
Seong Hyunjun stammered.
"...N-not even a hint?"
The AAU hadn't predicted the Tower Master floating in a mana orb in a coma. But even if not exact, they could've guessed something similar.
"Still, that's a pretty composed reaction, right?"
"Yeah, from that steady voice... She knew the Tower Master had gone missing. Damn it, if only we knew what crumbs the tower's hiding."
"Right? We can't tell how the settings manifested."
They'd witnessed it countless times: a few lines added to preserve Arcana continent balance in the official guidebook boomeranging back as 'real' threats into reality.
In that light, more speculation would just give them headaches. Yoon Sugyeom shook his head.
"Alright, let's focus on the crisis at hand for now."
The Mage Tower's issues? Meaningless compared to the threat right in front of them.
Those mighty Arcana mages. The pinnacle of them all, the Tower Master.
Now an enemy of humanity.
"Damn, the dragons only just took flight."
Yoon Sugyeom's language turned rough. That said it all—no answers in sight.
Most crucially, the Tower Master hadn't appeared in a rift. It had simply exited the tower and leaped straight into reality.
The update details spelled it out clearly: appearance location 'Earth-wide'.
"Is the Tower Master planning to zip east, then west?"
"Who could keep up with that mobility...?"
"Only Hoyeol among the players."
The AAU racked their brains. But they were wrong from the start.
The Tower Master didn't need portals to pop up from east to west.
Weeeeng—
A blaring alarm. The front monitor switched automatically.
The sudden warning didn't faze anyone.
"...!"
They'd heard this exact tone recently. The moment the dragon launched from Zero Mountains' peak.
Branch chief Park Minjae spoke up.
"Damn it all, incoming transmission from the Another Space Ho."
His voice trembled unfamiliarly.
"Asteroid cluster inbound to Earth."
"...What?"
"Presumed to be the Tower Master's Meteor Strike."
"!!!"
That was what transcendents were.
*
Truly rampaging spectacularly, our boss!
Devouring magic tomes was part of my daily routine, never skipped.
Thanks to that, I knew exactly what that meteor shower pouring from the sky was.
'Crazy, a tenfold Meteor Strike.'
Even if part of some plan.
They're dead set on blowing Earth to bits, what the hell?!
Meteor Strike. A spell most mages didn't even know existed.
Just look at the casting process. Scanning asteroids in space—not the sky—pouring mana to interfere and drop them. That was the buildup.
How many could pull that off?
So I declare: You need 'circles' to cast Meteor Strike.
I opened my mouth.
"Celebrating your escape, are you?"
I gave my take on that grand spell, Meteor Strike.
"But the fireworks are aimed wrong, Tower Master."
Calling nukes fireworks.
What a bluff...
But I don't spout empty words.
Reversal Magic activated.
I watched the Meteor Strike reverse, shooting straight back into the sky.
Yeah, as Grandfell said, now it really looked like fireworks.
Suddenly, voices rose.
"What...? The meteors are going backward?!"
"Wait. That's—that's Lee Hoyeol!"
"What?! Where?!"
"Mom, it's not shooting stars—it's fireworks!"
Citizens poked heads out windows, staring at me.
As you see, this was a densely populated urban area.
I spoke calmly, but my heart raced.
'Good thing I went all out—scrambling with everything I had, digging every well I could, even growing elixirs myself to form circles...!'
If I'd cramped up mid-struggle?
I couldn't have even detected the Meteor Strike.
Obviously. It wasn't my spell.
A stranger's unfamiliar magic.
'Normally impossible.'
But as a transcendent, it changed.
Manifestation encompassed all magic-related stats. Detection, interference—included.
Grandfell's already awe-inspiring vision, now 1,000% clearer thanks to this embarrassing setting.
In that sense... maybe Grandfell and I are anomalies ourselves.
Exploiting 'settings' and [system] so thriftily—two entirely different concepts.
Anyway.
I couldn't let the Tower Master keep dictating forever.
I gathered mana, tracing the Tower Master's mana signature.
Pinpointed from the Meteor Strike, easy to lock on.
Without delay, I manifested a portal straight to those coordinates.
"...Fighting!!"
A voice from behind stopped me cold. Someone mustering courage.
It sparked a wave of cheers.
"Sniff, thank you... really...!"
"Please win, Mr. Hoyeol!"
"We'll cheer with utmost dignity!"
...First time hearing this live.
Sure, I'd clashed with players plenty.
But civilians? Never crossed paths.
Maybe that's why my shoulders felt heavy.
From the burden? I'd prefer that!
I intoned shamelessly.
"Truly modest wishes."
Yes. This damn pride wouldn't feel burdened.
The real reason my shoulders ached?
This jacket flapping even now...
.
.
.
Talk about no manners, Raymon Sean.
Even for an emergency update, isn't announcing the level standard protocol?
Sure, transcendents made levels irrelevant.
'Still, we could guess, right?'
Stepping from the portal, I looked up.
And realized.
I'd only scratched the surface of circle power.
The Tower Master didn't need a battlefield.
It created one.
Seemed like normal sky, earth, mountains, forest to the naked eye.
But dense mana roiled everywhere.
I caught on quick.
'Not real.'
All 'mana clumps.'
Everything in my sight was illusion magic.
Jaw-dropping manifestation skill.
'Sorry, Nasrow.'
Senior illusion mage Nasrow. His illusions paled in comparison.
Regular illusions fooled targets. This tried fooling the world.
I was standing on mana pretending to be ground, after all.
But.
"Illusion magic again?"
Who am I? Grandfell?
Back when I was a fresh player, barely level 100, no invite to the regular conference.
I strode into the Mage Tower clacking my shoes.
And pierced the Tower Master's illusion.
That's why I could say it casually.
"Tower Master, unexpectedly, you've made no progress."
What scheme drove this chaos? I didn't know.
But the Tower Master's body—its hostility.
I'd gauged it clearly from the ten Meteor Strikes.
So I went all in too.
Aligning the Hexagonal Brooch.
Straightening my attire, checking active buffs.
No [Predator-Prey Relationship], as expected.
Per the update, the Tower Master's body counted as a boss monster.
◈ Current Set Effects: 2/6
◈ 1. All base stats +2.
◈ 2. Damage to boss monsters +10%.
Without [Predator-Prey], that 10% boost mattered.
Of course, irreplaceable was [First World Tree's Blessing], propping up my pitiful mana compared to the Tower Master.
Plus, the Tower Master's body? No magic tools like mine.
It emerged bare from the mana orb.
Setting aside the flapping Dawn Jacket.
I was wrapped in epic-grade gear rare even in the tower.
Finally, the upper demon king's unwitting gift: grasping the anomaly's might.
Facing the worst enemy, the Tower Master, alone?
Reasonable, yet intricate calculations.
But it didn't end there.
Suddenly, rippling mana in the air.
From the manifesting portal.
An unexpected ally appeared.