“Hmm hmm. I’ve been told I look quite young.”
I deepened my voice more than usual, speaking nervously.
The staff member’s gaze fixed on me. My heart raced as if they had seen through my disguise.
Could it be? Did they figure me out?
“You do look young. The beard is nice, but it makes you seem a bit older. You might look even better without it.”
The staff member handed me my mage certification with a polite smile after saying that.
I took it with a grin.
Looking older is a relief in this case.
“I’ll give it some thought. Well, may I enter now?”
“Yes, everything is confirmed. Mage Jinwoo Kim, you may proceed.”
“Haha. Thank you.”
Smiling, I stepped into the tower.
“Whew.”
The moment I entered, I let out a sigh of relief.
“…I thought my heart was going to explode.”
Even now, my chest thumped rapidly.
If I’d been caught, I’d have been hunted by the association for the rest of my life.
This wouldn’t be the last time something like this happened if I planned to keep working outside. I’d need to get used to it.
The interior of the tower revealed a small space with a circular blue portal at its center.
Portals were a convenient means of transportation present in all towers. Using this portal, you could quickly move to the desired floor.
I slowly stepped into the portal.
As soon as I entered, I felt my body lift. The tower’s mysterious magic enveloped me.
Then, I heard a voice in my head.
[Accessing the portal.]
[Which floor would you like to travel to?]
[You can currently access up to the 27th floor.]
A peculiar, genderless voice.
In this world, people called it the “Will of the Tower.”
“Take me to the 10th floor.”
[The 10th floor has already been cleared by ‘Jung Yoon-Seul.’ The rewards for revisiting will be diminished. Do you still wish to proceed?]
A familiar name caught my attention—Jung Yoon-Seul.
She was one of the few S-rank support mages in the world. Also, she was the mentor of Kim Yunjin, a support mage instructor at the academy.
From what I remembered, she’d been attempting to conquer the 27th floor of the Tower of Proof for over a year without success.
But that wasn’t relevant right now. I just needed to enter.
“Proceed.”
There were many types of towers in this world, each with unique settings, difficulties, and backgrounds.
For example, the “Tower of Annihilation,” introduced later in the novel, was infamous for its extreme difficulty.
The monsters were not only overwhelmingly powerful, but the traps, player debuffs, and other challenges made it nearly impossible to clear, even for S-rank mages.
Conversely, there were easier towers, such as the “Tower of Trials” and the “Tower of Survival,” where most floors had already been conquered by the three great guilds.
The monsters in these towers were weaker, their patterns simpler, and there were few traps. This made them a favourite for the guilds, as brute force was often enough to clear them.
[You have entered the 10th floor of the Tower of Proof.]
[The Tower of Proof remembers you.]
“…Phew.”
The Tower of Proof was harder to categorize.
Its monsters were relatively weak—F to D-rank—and even boss monsters rarely exceeded B-rank.
Yet, even the major guilds hesitated to challenge it. Why?
The reason was simple. The Tower of Proof was full of traps, hidden monster patterns, and intricate magic formations that required meticulous effort and time to clear.
The puzzles scattered throughout the tower also contributed to its notorious reputation.
For me, these features made it the perfect choice.
With my limited mana and inability to sustain prolonged battles, I needed a place that emphasized strategy over brute strength.
Plus, I knew about the “hidden floor” of the Tower of Proof, mentioned only in the novel’s side story.
“Well, this is spooky.”
I scanned my surroundings. The floors were marble, giving the area a clean, almost pristine feel unlike typical dungeons.
However, the lack of light made the atmosphere as dark as any dungeon.
Towers usually required players to clear rooms one by one to progress.
I advanced cautiously, keeping my guard up.
—Grrrr…
A growl echoed from the distance.
I channelled mana into my body and focused on the darkness ahead.
Soon, a large wolf-shaped figure emerged from the shadows.
Its red, glowing eyes pierced through the gloom.
Though it resembled a wolf, it wasn’t one. The four eyes on its face gave it away as a monster.
I immediately conjured a spell. A glowing orb of light formed in my hand, illuminating the area.
The wolf reacted instantly, leaping at me.
—Raaawr!
I released the orb, sending it flying toward the wolf at high speed.
The fearless creature charged straight at it, only to have its head pierced through by the spell.
—Awooo!
The wolf let out a pained howl before collapsing.
A message appeared in front of me.
[You have achieved the ‘First Hunt’ achievement.]
[Reward: 1,000 points.]
The victory notification appeared.
But it wasn’t over yet.
—Raaawr!
Another wolf lunged at me, its sharp teeth aimed at my neck.
“Ugh!”
I quickly reinforced my legs with mana and leapt backward to create distance.
Yet, the wolf kept pursuing.
It was challenging to focus on spellcasting in such close combat.
“Tch!”
I gathered mana into my entire body.
Though I had basic training in physical enhancement, I wasn’t entirely helpless in melee combat.
I deflected the wolf’s attack to the side and struck its head with a powerful punch.
—Whimper!
The wolf startled, hitting the ground hard.
Seizing the moment, I cast a spell and fired it at its head.
—Bang!
The wolf’s head was pierced, and it fell lifelessly to the floor.
The whole encounter lasted barely two seconds.
“…Phew.”
That was close.
I hadn’t expected there to be two of them.
The wolf’s body slowly disintegrated into dust, leaving behind a glowing red stone.
I approached the remnants and picked up the stone.
It was a mana crystal, a valuable resource in magitech.
I could sell this later at the mana crystal market for pocket money.
With a stone this size, I’d make about ten thousand won. *6.8 USD*
“Well, at least I’ve covered my travel expenses.”
“Where is it?”
I shone light into the darkness with my magic sphere, staring at the wall.
My eyes were starting to ache from staring at walls for so long.
“Hmm…”
According to the description in the novel, there should be a special marking around here.
“Ah, is this it?”
Muttering to myself, I looked at a circular symbol etched into the wall.
In any other dungeon, it would have been an unremarkable design I’d simply walk past.
However, knowing the details from the novel, I couldn’t ignore it.
Placing my hand against the wall, I sensed a faint flow of magic.
The sensation reminded me of the barriers I had dismantled during past dungeon lessons.
“This has to be it.”
There was no way magic would be leaking from a wall without reason.
I was confident that behind this wall lay the path to the hidden floor.
With conviction, I immediately activated the Outsider’s Privilege.
[Unique Trait, ‘Outsider’s Privilege,’ has been activated.]
[Deciphering the magical formula…]
“…”
When I activated the trait, the flow of magic became visible to me.
Intricate magical formulas woven with concealment spells appeared across the wall.
Deciphering such a complex formula would normally be exhausting, but my unique trait made it manageable.
“Alright, here we go.”
I placed my hand on the wall and began altering the magical formula piece by piece.
Though the barrier’s concealment made it hard to locate initially, dismantling the formula itself was surprisingly straightforward.
Minutes passed as I worked meticulously.
―Thud, rumble…
A bright white light emanated from the wall, and it slowly began to crumble away.
[Achievement unlocked: ‘Barrier Expert.’]
[You have earned 2,000 points as a reward.]
“Got it!”
Dismissing the achievement window, I looked beyond the crumbled wall.
Behind it was a staircase, just as described in the side story of Modern Mage.
The side story explored events occurring after the main story’s conclusion, detailing the discovery of this hidden floor ten years later.
But now, it had revealed itself to me.
“Time to head up.”
Just as I was about to ascend the staircase, I remembered something.
“Right, there was supposed to be a demon sighting tonight…”
Focusing so much on finding the hidden floor had made me forget.
I quickly checked the time using my student notebook.
[6:20 PM]
The demon sighting was set to occur at 9:30 PM.
“Three hours left, huh.”
That was more than enough time.
Confident I had plenty of room to maneuver, I began climbing the stairs.
The cheerful chatter of youth and the buzz of happiness filled the air.
Despite the lingering chill of winter, a large crowd had gathered by the Han River under the night sky.
They were here for one reason: to enjoy the Han River Fireworks Festival scheduled for 10 PM tonight.
“Seo-jun, Young joon, come over here!”
“Hm?”
Lee Hyun-joo smiled as she called out to Lee Seo-jun and Shin Young joon, who stood in front of her.
Behind them, a grand bridge bathed in radiant lights served as the perfect scenery.
Taking a few steps back, Hyun-joo raised her student notebook and activated the camera function.
Click!
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Young joon, who disliked having his picture taken, launched toward Hyun joo, who retreated with a smirk.
“Relax, you guys look good together.”
“Good together, my foot. Just give me the notebook, and I’ll take your picture.”
“Really? You’re offering?”
Hyun joo’s eyes lit up at Young joon’s unexpected generosity.
“Yeah, hurry up and hand it over. You only called me here for this, didn’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Obviously I’m joking. C’mon, pass it here.”
Handing over her student notebook, Hyun joo smiled brightly.
Seo-jun and Hyunjoo stood together, exuding a natural charm that caught the attention of passers by, who watched with envy and admiration.
“Do we really need to take a picture?” Seo-jun asked with a faint frown.
“Of course, it’s for memories,” Hyun joo replied, sidling closer to him.
Reluctantly, Seo-jun gave the camera a smile.
“Alright, here goes. One, two…”
Click!
As the shutter sounded, Hyun joo relaxed her pose.
“How did it turn out?”
“Not bad. You two look good no matter how the picture’s taken.”
“Well, aren’t you the charmer,” Hyun joo chuckled, moving to check the picture.
“Let’s see how good Young joon’s photography skills really are,” she teased.
Seo-jun leaned over her shoulder to look.
“Not bad, but… the skyline’s cut off on the side.”
“Come on, it’s fine,” Young joon said, slightly annoyed.
“Fine? Half the bridge is missing. Can you redo it?”
Young joon, about to retort, suddenly froze as he noticed something in the photo.
“Wait a second. What’s that?”
Both Hyunjoo and Seojun turned to him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look here,” he said, pointing at the corner of the photo.
Zooming in, they saw a man in a black hat standing in the background behind Hyun joo and Seo-jun.
“What about him?”
“Look closely.”
As the image expanded, details of the man became clearer.
His hollowed cheeks and deep dark circles suggested a state of ill health.
At first glance, he appeared to be an ordinary person.
But then they saw his eyes.
“…Oh no.”
Seo-jun muttered under his breath.
The man’s eyes lacked whites, entirely consumed by black—a characteristic trait of a demon.
Although demons in human disguise were nearly indistinguishable, a demon’s true nature occasionally revealed itself through such anomalies, especially under stress or instability.
Moments later, Seo-jun spun around.
The man in the black hat was gone.
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