Chapter 11

The Returning Archmage Is a Max-Level Player Chapter 11

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The border region, a public hunting ground.

As if replacing the ceasefire line that had now lost its purpose, a massive defensive wall rose high enough to block the view.

Looking up toward the top of the wall, heavily armed guards could be seen stationed at regular intervals. Detection equipment operated without pause from the watchtowers.

The security itself was not the only thing that was strict.

The Korea Awakened Association had already eliminated powerful entities of rank C or higher that were capable of damaging the defensive wall.

On the surface, it was a place where safety was guaranteed.

Even so, not many Awakened preferred coming here.

The reason was simple.

Because reality was somewhat different.

The fact that it was an open hunting ground meant no one knew when, where, or what kind of monster might appear.

Even if powerful entities were eliminated in advance, the land beyond the defensive wall still belonged to the monsters.

No one could know what threat or monster might suddenly come at them.

Of course, there were Awakened capable of dealing with that level of danger.

Anyone rank D+ or higher should be able to respond with some flexibility.

But they did not come.

Once every three days, when Babel’s cooldown reset, it was more convenient and profitable for them either to rechallenge floors they had already cleared or complete commissions requested by their guild or association.

On the other hand, if they left the border region in an attempt to increase profits by taking more risks, the danger level rose sharply.

In the end, the Awakened who came to the public hunting ground were those still classified as beginners, rank E or below.

Most came either for training or to earn a modest income.

Of course, Awakened below rank E did not try to move alone.

Traveling in at least a party was the safety measure they had devised.

“Judging by how clearly the footprints remain, I think it’s somewhere nearby.”

Fang Claw.

A beast-type monster that ran on four legs, ranked F+.

It was a creature that attacked Awakened using its agile movements and sharp claws as its main weapons.

“Everyone behind me. Sora, please get ready so you can cast your magic immediately.”

Seo Minjun stepped to the front with his sword drawn and his shield raised.

Han Sora nodded and began gathering magical power in both hands.

They moved cautiously, maintaining enough vigilance to overflow.

It was at that exact moment.

Kraaaagh-!

A shadow burst out from the bushes and swung its claws at Seo Minjun.

Clang-!

Seo Minjun’s shield knocked the claws aside.

At the same time.

As though he had been waiting for it, Jung Taeho rushed in and drove a strike into the monster’s flank.

One.

It was not difficult.

But it was not over.

Grrrr-!

Two more shadows sprang out from both sides.

Three.

“Looks like we’re unlucky today.”

Seo Minjun gritted his teeth.

And for good reason. One and three were literally worlds apart.

In fact, what had been a one-sided hunt turned into an evenly matched battle.

Gulp-!

Centered around Seo Minjun, who swallowed dryly, tension spread throughout the party.

“While I draw their attention. Taeho, take the one on the right. Sora, please handle the one on the left.”

“Okay!”

“Yes. Leave it to me!”

A fierce battle broke out.

Seo Minjun blocked the Fang Claw’s claws with his shield and held its attention. In the meantime, Jung Taeho drove his sword into the right creature’s flank.

The magical power condensed in Han Sora’s hands erupted.

Boom-!

The Fang Claw on the left took the spell head-on and rolled across the ground. One hit.

Meanwhile, Jung Taeho was still entangled with his own opponent.

But thanks to Seo Minjun drawing its attention, Jung Taeho had struck first and pierced a vital point, so it would not have been an exaggeration to say the victor had already been decided.

Indeed, the Fang Claw continued resisting by swinging its claws, but after several more exchanges, it could not endure and collapsed.

Only one remained.

“Last one! Let’s finish it off!”

At Jung Taeho’s shout, all three concentrated their attacks at once.

Thud-!

The final monster collapsed to the ground.

Ragged breathing spread through the area.

Still, since they were a party that had been coordinating for several days, they managed to finish without taking major damage.

“Jackpot! A Mana Core dropped!”

Jung Taeho grinned brightly as he pulled a dark-red crystal from the monster’s corpse.

“Oh, nice.”

“Let’s split the Mana Cores we get from today’s hunt three-three-four. Sora gets four.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

At Seo Minjun’s immediate agreement, Han Sora’s eyes widened.

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Of course. Without your magic, Sora, we wouldn’t have been able to hunt this easily.”

“No. If Taeho hadn’t held the front, I wouldn’t even have been able to use my magic.”

Seo Minjun cut in.

“That’s not wrong... but it doesn’t change the fact that your magic is impressive, Sora. How many mages at our beginner level can kill an F+ rank monster in a single hit?”

Mage.

Among the Awakened, it was the classification for those who primarily used magic.

They were fewer in number than Awakened who focused on close combat, and their spells had the drawback of requiring time to cast, but the power of a single strike was overwhelming, and Han Sora’s magic was indeed powerful.

But it was not all positive.

“Still... my preparation time is too long.”

“Think of it positively. We formed a party to make up for each other’s weaknesses, didn’t we?”

At Jung Taeho’s words, Han Sora’s expression brightened, the burden in her face easing.

“Thank you. Since I’m getting a larger share, I’ll really work hard!”

The atmosphere was good.

After hunting together recently, they had realized that they worked well as a team.

While Seo Minjun held the front as the tank, Jung Taeho attacked from the side, and Han Sora finished things with magic. Their coordination was beginning to take shape.

Thanks to that, their hunting efficiency was not bad either.

In fact, their income had noticeably increased compared to usual.

Just thinking about the money that had piled up in his bank account over the past few days was enough to make Jung Taeho smile.

Feeling good, he spoke.

“Should we hunt a little more?”

“Let’s go.”

“I’m good with that.”

With Jung Taeho in the lead, the party began moving again.

But something had changed.

“...There’s no presence at all.”

Seo Minjun noticed it first.

As expected of the one with the sharpest senses in the party, he detected something strange.

This was clearly an area where monsters appeared, yet the surroundings were far too quiet.

The party moved cautiously while feeling both doubt and vigilance, and it was not long before they stopped.

“This is...?”

Jung Taeho’s mouth fell open.

The same monsters they had hunted earlier, Fang Claws, were sprawled across the ground.

At a glance, there were nearly ten of them.

The fact that so many corpses were scattered in one place was astonishing in itself.

But the most surprising thing was something else.

There were no signs of a fierce battle.

All that remained on the ground were faint traces of electrical current still rising into the air.

It had not been a battle.

It was closer to a hunt. Or rather, a massacre so one-sided that it could be called a slaughter.

“What the hell is this?”

“Is today one of the Association subjugation team’s deployment days?”

On days when the subjugation team was deployed, hunting efficiency dropped sharply. That was because no monsters remained in the areas they swept through.

That was why Awakened who used the public hunting grounds made sure to know the subjugation team’s deployment schedule, and Jung Taeho could firmly shake his head.

“No.”

“Then what the hell is this?”

Because it was impossible to predict, no one could easily answer.

Had about a minute passed in silence?

Seo Minjun cautiously offered his opinion.

“Maybe... a high-rank Awakened came out to hunt?”

Indeed, there were occasional cases where rankers blocked in their Babel progression came to hunting grounds near Gates to gain combat experience and seek growth.

To low-rank Awakened, it was incomprehensibly dangerous behavior, but in the first place, the actions of high-rank Awakened who had already gone beyond the realm of ordinary humans were difficult to judge by common sense.

No, more importantly, the appearance of a high-rank Awakened was not the real issue right now.

“This direction is no good.”

Seo Minjun looked around regretfully.

If a ranker had swept through here, the monsters nearby would have been completely wiped out.

There was no reason to remain.

“Let’s go the other way.”

“That’s a shame. I had a good feeling today.”

“It can’t be helped. Let’s move.”

Suppressing their disappointment, Jung Taeho’s party headed in the opposite direction.

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“Yaaawn...!”

A group of Fang Claws rushed toward Kim Dohyun as he let out a long yawn.

Four of them.

But it was meaningless.

Kim Dohyun was periodically activating the ‘Search’ spell enchanted into his ring.

He had sensed their approach long ago.

In fact, before the Fang Claws even entered range, his necklace reacted.

Hissss-

The instant the Charge spell ionized the atmosphere, an electrical current, Lightning Bolt, shot from Kim Dohyun’s casually sweeping fingertips.

Crackle-!

The Fang Claws could not even get close.

They were struck by Lightning Bolt and collapsed to the ground with their limbs sprawled out.

“This is easier than I expected.”

Since he had not yet personally gathered data on the strength scale of each rank, he had been somewhat tense at first.

‘They’re ridiculously weak.’

Of course, weak monsters were a good thing since they were easier to hunt.

But he could not be entirely happy about it.

“Maybe it’s because they’re weak. They barely drop Mana Cores.”

Perhaps Babel’s basic principle applied here as well, because weak monsters did not drop Mana Cores easily.

He had killed at least forty monsters over two hours.

“And I only got six.”

That was about three per hour.

It could not exactly be called a tiny number, but compared to the efficiency he had originally expected from Babel, it fell far short.

“I suppose that’s natural.”

If Mana Cores could be obtained this easily in the first place, they would not have maintained such a high value.

“Still, if I combine the twenty Mana Cores I already have stored with what I collect by working hard today and tomorrow...”

Kim Dohyun furrowed his brow and calculated mentally.

“I should barely be able to meet the cutoff.”

The efficiency was definitely poor.

But the other methods were even worse, so there was no alternative.

‘I’ll just have to work hard.’

He forced himself to regain his determination, put the Mana Cores he had obtained back into his pouch, and strode forward energetically.

But things did not go as smoothly as he had hoped.

“...I can’t see any monsters at all.”

Perhaps because he had swept through the surrounding area, not a single monster was being detected by the Search enchanted into his magic item.

‘I need to search a wider area.’

Time was limited.

He could not afford to wander around inefficiently.

“Scan.”

A 2nd Circle wide-range search spell activated, consuming a fair amount of mana.

At the same time.

Invisible detection waves spread widely around Kim Dohyun.

Right after the wide-range search spell swept a much broader area than the Ring of Search.

Kim Dohyun’s gaze fixed in one direction.

“People...?”

Since it was an open hunting ground, detecting people itself was not strange.

He had picked up the presence of other Awakened several times before.

But this time was clearly different.

One side was surrounded.

Even through sensation alone, he could clearly read the situation as one side trying to corner the other and use violence against them.

Kim Dohyun’s expression turned cold.

“Rodinia or Earth. There are jackals everywhere.”

Raiders.

Ruffians who did not hesitate to use violence and plunder for their own benefit.

Kim Dohyun greatly disliked this sort of person.

‘I’m not exactly a saint. But I’m not a bad person either.’

He had, after all, been praised as a hero.

He could not simply pass by injustice.

No, more than that.

If he allowed injustice like that to continue, it would eventually harm him as well.

The moment you turn a blind eye to the evil before you, that evil gradually grows.

And when it finally reaches you, there will be no one left to help.

If you can help, you should.

“Been a while... Shall I go clean up some trash?”

Kim Dohyun’s eyes lowered coldly.