Chapter 6

The Returning Archmage Is a Max-Level Player Chapter 6

Indeed.

The scene unfolding before his eyes was overwhelming.

KABOOOOM-!!

The entire cavern shook.

The torches all went out at once, and explosive flames poured out in every direction from the altar.

The bedrock cracked, and the walls melted.

The Devourer could not even scream.

When the flames died down, the only thing remaining was the timer floating in the air.

9:59.

The time from start to finish. Just one second.

Ding-!

-New user ‘Kim Dohyun’ has cleared the tutorial.

-Converting combat method and survival time into points and beginning settlement.

-...

-...

‘Does it normally take this long?’

‘It’s taking a while.’

The settlement message remained frozen for quite some time.

According to the information he had researched beforehand, the results were supposed to appear immediately after the tutorial ended.

Kim Dohyun was furrowing his brow when it happened.

Ding-!

-You have achieved the fastest clear time!

-The basic reward will be multiplied by 10.

-You have acquired 10 ‘F-rank Mana Cores.’

-Highest-point clear! As an additional reward, all stats increase by 0.2!

-You have achieved 1st place in the Tutorial Ranking!

-An astonishing achievement!

-As a reward for achieving this feat, you will receive the special reward ‘Token of Conquest.’

It was more than he had expected.

The moment the reward messages appeared, changes occurred within his body.

His mana increased.

0.2. It could not be called a particularly large amount, but he could clearly feel the density of mana flowing along the orbit change.

The same was true of his body.

His existing physical abilities had been roughly twice those of an ordinary person.

But now, strength amounting to twice even that had permeated his muscles.

“Not bad.”

It was growth achieved in a very short period of time.

Having experienced firsthand just how arduous it was to increase one’s strength through training on the Rodinia Continent, the difference struck him even more deeply.

It was astonishing.

He had known Babel granted strength, but this exceeded his expectations.

‘Now I understand why the Awakened are so obsessed with clearing Babel.’

With this kind of growth, it was only natural for people to become fixated on it.

Moreover, Babel followed the principle of high risk, high return.

The higher one climbed, where clearing became harder and more difficult, the greater the rewards became as well.

But that was precisely why he needed to be careful.

‘I can’t let myself be consumed by the objective.’

If he became obsessed solely with the desire for power, he would lose sight of his original purpose.

In the end, he needed to maintain his center.

Kim Dohyun calmly emptied his mind and was about to shift his gaze when.

-Please select whether you wish to be listed in the ranking.

-1. Public registration.

-2. Private registration.

-Even if you choose private registration, you may switch to public registration later.

There was nothing to think about.

‘Option 1 is insanity.’

It was not entirely without advantages.

In fact, the benefits were obvious.

Fame. Heroic treatment. Offers of naturalization from countries around the world.

Even his most urgent problem, money, would be solved immediately.

But there were not only advantages.

‘There will be risks.’

Perhaps he was being overly cautious.

But the possibility could not be dismissed.

And now, he was no longer alone.

‘Family.’

Precious people he had to protect.

He could probably take care of himself for now.

But with his current strength, he could not guarantee his family’s safety as well.

The Awakened Association would likely protect them, but he could not trust them completely.

‘I need to move as safely and carefully as possible.’

In fact, during the wars on the Rodinia Continent, there had been people who betrayed the heroes out of jealousy or personal greed.

Those bastards had been the most troublesome.

He knew better than anyone that someone who stabbed you in the back was more dangerous than an enemy standing directly before you.

‘I’ll reach the top anyway.’

Money. Fame. All of it would naturally follow.

It would not be too late to reveal himself to the world after completing his preparations.

Kim Dohyun immediately selected private registration.

-Private registration complete.

-The rankings of floors you have cleared can be checked at any time through the Babel System.

-Ranking updated.

[Tutorial Ranking]

1st. Private.

2nd. Ryan Cooper.

3rd. Private.

4th. Zhang Hao.

5th. Takeda Yuki.

Immediately after checking the ranking window, a new hologram appeared in the air.

-The tutorial is ending.

-Returning to Earth.

____________

Wooooong-

Pure white light filled his vision before fading away.

When he opened his eyes, what touched his feet was not cold, hard bedrock, but old linoleum flooring.

Home.

Just as when he had entered Babel, the space around him had changed in an instant.

“...I still can’t get used to this.”

Kim Dohyun muttered as he looked around the cramped room.

A thirty-three-square-meter villa. It was an environment completely different from the house he had once lived in.

It was bitter, but there was no reason to feel depressed.

After entering Babel and experiencing it firsthand, he could say with certainty.

He could change things soon.

‘Claim rewards.’

When he recited the phrase inwardly, just as he had researched beforehand, a translucent window resembling a game interface appeared before his eyes.

It was one of the convenience functions granted to Awakened.

Clear rewards were automatically stored there.

Simply put, it was a one-way storage box where items could be taken out but not put in.

It was somewhat disappointing, but since it was merely a convenience function, he had no complaints.

In the first place, the function itself was not what mattered right now.

Kim Dohyun’s eyes gleamed as he checked the stored items.

-Token of Conquest ×1.

-F-rank Mana Core ×10.

The first thing his gaze landed on was the Token of Conquest.

The moment he focused on it, an information window appeared.

[Token of Conquest]

Grade: Special

A token of Babel granted to one who has overwhelmed everything.

The description alone did not reveal its exact use.

But considering the nature of the Tower, it was unlikely to be something bad.

‘There’ll definitely be a use for it.’

The Archmage’s intuition told him so.

Having received help both great and small from that intuition throughout fifty years of battlefields, he had no reason to doubt it.

All the more so when it was the intuition of an Archmage who had transcended his limits.

‘Ten Mana Cores, no less.’

The market price of a single F-rank Mana Core was roughly 300,000 won.

Ten would be three million won.

After the 10 percent tax was deducted, the amount he actually received would drop to 2.7 million won.

‘And I only spent around ten minutes inside the Tower.’

Even most of those ten minutes had been used to set up the magic circles.

The actual clear itself had taken only one second.

In a single second, he had earned money that would be difficult to make even after working for an entire month.

Kim Haeun’s worn skate bag suddenly came to mind.

The faded shoulder strap. The frayed zipper. The worries she could not bring herself to voice.

‘...With this much income.’

A smile spread across Kim Dohyun’s lips at the realization that he could at least put out the immediate fires.

“To think one of these is worth 300,000 won.”

Through his internet research, he already knew that Mana Cores had an enormous range of uses.

From national defense to materials for Awakened equipment, medicine, and energy. There was hardly an area where they were not used.

Even so, 300,000 won for a single F-rank core still felt expensive.

Naturally, his curiosity was stirred.

Feeling curious, Kim Dohyun took out one of the dark-red crystalline Mana Cores from storage and held it in his hand.

At that moment.

He understood immediately.

“This is...?”

Kim Dohyun raised the Mana Core with startled eyes.

His suspicion became certainty.

‘Mana.’

It was only the size of his thumb, but the density of mana condensed inside was fairly high.

It would be difficult to use in its current state, but if he could unravel the crystalline structure, that would be another story.

He could draw in the mana condensed within the Mana Core using the gravitational pull of his orbit and absorb it.

If enchanting was the technique of ‘putting’ magical power into a target, this was the opposite. The process of ‘extracting’ magical power from a target.

With his ability to control mana, it was entirely possible.

“This changes things completely.”

Originally, he had planned to sell them all and use the money for living expenses.

But if he could absorb them as mana, he needed to reconsider.

‘There’s no reason to sell all of them.’

If he followed his heart, he wanted to absorb all ten.

But he had to consider reality as well.

There was a cooldown before reentering Babel.

Exactly three days. It reset at 6:00 a.m.

Since he had entered today, that meant his next entry would be possible after 6:00 a.m. on August 7, three days later.

Three days.

Short if one considered it short, long if one considered it long.

But he had to think about the three years his family had endured.

‘Quickly. But precisely.’

Because of the restriction, it was impossible to obtain an unlimited number of Mana Cores.

However.

That was all the more reason to invest.

The quantity of ten itself had been granted as a reward for achieving the fastest clear time.

In the end, if he succeeded in achieving the fastest clear on the 1st Floor as well, he would be able to obtain rewards at the same multiplier.

Of course, that depended entirely on whether achieving the fastest clear was possible.

‘It’s more than possible.’

Babel was not structured so that one was suddenly dragged inside.

He could enter whenever he wanted.

Which meant he could prepare thoroughly.

‘Never fight a prepared mage.’

It was an old saying passed down on the Rodinia Continent.

That was how powerful a mage became after completing their preparations.

There was no way he would fail.

‘Nine to one. Keep only the bare minimum for living expenses and absorb the rest.’

Having finished his calculations, Kim Dohyun sat down on the floor with a Mana Core in his hand and began preparing to process it.

____________

Around the time Kim Dohyun was checking his rewards.

BabelNet. The massive online community used by Awakened was in an uproar.

─Did you guys see the Tutorial Ranking?

└Why would I look at that?

└Isn’t Ryan still number one anyway?

└First place just changed.

└Stop lying.

└It’s true. Check it yourself.

└Holy shit, it really did??

└What the hell is this?

└Isn’t this the first time in ten years??

└Been a while since we’ve seen a private entry.

└Who the hell is it?

The Tutorial Ranking, which had not changed even once in ten years, had changed.

It was an issue capable of shaking the entire world.

Naturally, the community exploded into chaos, but since the new first place had registered privately, there was no meaningful information available.

Still, it was not as though there were no clues whatsoever.

“The Devourer was killed...?”

The expression of Han Seungjae, President of the Korea Awakened Association, hardened gravely.

And it was not only Han Seungjae.

Every major executive of the association had been put on emergency alert.

“Yes. We just received word from an Awakened who completed the tutorial. They said the Devourer had disappeared and been replaced by a new monster.”

At Choi Doyoung’s words, a strange light entered Han Seungjae’s eyes.

And for good reason.

The ranking update and the Devourer’s defeat.

Both happened on the same day.

If those were the only facts, they might have been dismissed as coincidence.

But that was not the end of it.

“China, the United States, India, and other countries are currently conducting intelligence operations to uncover the identity of the new first-ranked individual.”

It meant the Awakened in question had not come from any of the countries that had previously maintained the top rankings.

Which meant.

“I cannot say with one hundred percent certainty.”

Choi Doyoung put down the documents and continued firmly.

“But there is a very high probability that the new first-ranked individual is Korean.”

Han Seungjae felt one side of his chest grow hot.

‘Rank 1!’

And they had even taken first place in the tutorial.

Under the current tutorial restrictions, one could not receive proper external support, meaning it was a place where results depended entirely on one’s own ability and talent.

In fact, the existing Tutorial Rankers—Ryan Cooper, Zhang Hao, and Takeda Yuki—were all powerful individuals currently ranked near the top of the world rankings.

It meant the person’s growth potential was limitless.

“...Can we find them?”

At Han Seungjae’s question, Choi Doyoung furrowed his brow and answered.

“To be frank, it will not be easy. Judging from their choice to remain private, they are an extremely cautious individual. Until they reveal themselves personally, they will likely do everything possible to conceal their identity.”

It was a reasonable judgment.

But they could not give up.

“Since they completed the tutorial today, identify anyone who recently completed Awakened registration. Also monitor those who register from this point onward and track anyone who stands out.”

“Understood. I’ll begin by checking the list of recent registrants, and I’ll also tell the registration offices to stay alert.”

Han Seungjae rose from his seat and looked around at the major executives.

“As you all know.”

His voice lowered.

“This may be our last opportunity.”

Korea lacked powerful Awakened.

The reason was clear.

The political establishment was reluctant to provide funding and benefits for Awakened, and even what support was barely secured was gradually eaten away by those trying to line their own pockets.

As a result, talented Awakened had repeatedly left the country in search of better treatment abroad.

“We cannot afford to lose any more talent to foreign countries.”

A fire ignited in Han Seungjae’s eyes.

“I’ll personally settle things with the politicians, no matter what it takes. Everyone else, focus solely on finding the person ranked first.”

“Yes, sir! We’ll keep that in mind!”

The thunderous response echoed throughout the grand conference room.

Han Seungjae nodded and left first.

The remaining executives were beginning to rise from their seats one by one when.

“Hey. Operations Support Director.”

Choi Doyoung stopped Lee Jaeyoon.

“What? Why?”

“You have to keep your promise.”

The corners of Choi Doyoung’s mouth rose.

His gaze slowly turned toward the view of Yeouido outside the window.

“Just in case, I already prepared the full-body skintight suit you’ll be wearing for the run.”

“...Can’t you let it slide just this once?”

“Absolutely not.”

At Choi Doyoung’s firm answer, Lee Jaeyoon’s face turned bright red.