◈ Episode 189. A Clear Exchange

The rise of the Zero Mountains.

It was predicted to be so destructive that it would bring everything humanity had built back to zero. The world’s greatest thinkers debated the setting of the Zero Mountains.

“A dragon lives at the top?”

” …… this nonsense rises to the earth?!”

“What kind of unrealistic mountain did Cosmo create!”

“Even if they were to appear from the sea right now……!”

As the mountain range rises, it will have a huge impact on the surface of the ocean.

How destructive would the resulting earthquakes and tsunamis be?

This wasn’t just a problem for a few countries.

“No country will be able to stand as a barrier against such a tsunami. Literally every country, every civilization, will be covered by the sea!”

The despairing news reached leaders around the world.

” ……How can we minimize the damage?”

No one could answer the question.

It was inevitable.

Even before the cataclysm.

Even afterward, human science had been advancing at a frightening pace.

But hasn’t it always been in the direction of destruction?

That was why it was impossible to say there was no answer.

It was.

Until then, humanity had overlooked it.

A concept completely different from science.

That otherworldly [magic] existed in reality.

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Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

Magic Tower.

The world has begun to hear about Magic Tower.

The lobby of Magic Tower.

Yoon Jongjin made an urgent phone call somewhere.

The recipient was, of course, PD Hyun Yongseok.

“……Senior, I told you I’d make it up to you, right?”

-What are you talking about?

“No, I mean the incident with Hoyeol’s flower garden!”

Today’s arcana.

The main camera director’s intuition.

The fact that it’s a shitty intuition was revealed to everyone while covering Hoyeol’s flower garden. Hoyeol tending to his flower garden became a hot topic for viewers.

It was writer Kim who recognized the possibility.

I will make up for that mistake.

I took a camera with me.

Yoon Jongjin lurked in the lobby of Magic Tower.

“I’ve been dying for days, and it was worth it.”

He says meaningfully.

-I’ll send you the video. You can edit it yourself.

Tut-tut.

Yoon Jongjin said that and hung up the phone.

Hyun Yongseok furrowed his brow.

Even without him, the station was paralyzed.

“I’m an idiot for getting excited about the Zero Mountains for a moment.”

No matter how scary an occupational disease is.

I can’t believe the end of the world didn’t come first in my mind.

Sure, I was worried.

There’s nothing a mere station PD can do in the face of a natural disaster.

By the way, this guy’s professionalism struck again.

“Let’s see what all the fuss is about ……?”

Click.

Click, click, click.

Immediately, Yoon Jong-jin’s angle appeared in real time.

Hyun Yongseok’s pupils widened when he saw it.

“What, what.”

On the stairs of a strange magic tower.

An unusually large number of mages were descending.

Unlike in the past, the tower had begun to engage in outside activities.

But that was only to a limited extent.

Marcelo and a few others had been the only ones to show up outside.

But now.

“……!”

Chief Mage, Marcelo.

The twenty senior mages, all of them, followed.

They were followed by a procession of hundreds of adept and apprentice mages.

That alone was astonishing enough.

Soon, Yoon Jongjin’s angle zoomed in on someone.

A gentle-looking woman, closer to old age than middle age.

Her robes were unusually decorated and patterned.

Just by looking at her attire, one could recognize her status.

Hyun Yongseok muttered.

“……Is she an elder mage?”

An elder mage who was called a demigod?

What that meant was simple.

It meant that all the mages of the Magic Tower, except for the tower master, had appeared in the world. This was a sight unheard of even back when Arcana was just a game……!

“What on earth could be the reason……?”

A possibility flashed through my mind.

It was.

There was only one reason for them to move at this moment.

“The Zero Mountains……!”

Hyun Yongseok asked himself a question.

“The Heavenly Magic Tower, just for that one reason?

Today’s Arcana PD.

Hyun Yongseok’s knowledge of Arcana is commensurate with his position.

He knows what mages are like in Arcana.

‘Mages are arrogant.’

To be fair, they can be arrogant.

Unlike other classes that required equipment commensurate with their level, mages had the power that flowed through their bodies as their weapons and armor.

‘The Magic Tower is the pinnacle of such mages… … .’

Moreover, stagnant water rots.

They hadn’t interacted with the outside world for a long time.

This behavior was unbelievable.

But Hyun Yongseok was quick to judge.

“No matter what, a scoop is a scoop.”

Without hesitation, he began preparing for the special broadcast of Today’s Arcana.

Hyun Yongseok’s judgment was spot-on.

Channel VBC.

Today’s Arcana special.

On the screen, Marcelo opened his mouth.

-I have been saved, and I will save you.

……You’ve been saved?

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Out of billions of people.

There was only one person who immediately recognized the meaning of the words.

Only one, Hoyeol, stared at the screen.

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The words that I, Grandfell, lived by.

“In all things, there is give and take.”

Marcelo.

Those words, so full of meaning.

He was taking it seriously!

I was beginning to wonder if I should return to the tower, because as soon as the update popped up, there was an uproar.

‘Suddenly, the Zero Mountains.’

It’s going to be followed by a massive natural disaster.

Not monsters, but natural disasters that would wipe out the human race.

The experts on the news sounded so serious.

Well, I didn’t send a telepathy.

I can’t believe Marcelo made the first move.

I’ll be honest, I’m a little impressed with him…….

“Procedures are meant to be followed.”

……I’m impressed, but you’re impudent, Grandfell.

I’ve submitted my leave of absence, it’s normal to handle it on your own.

But contrary to what it says.

I’ve been working on my grooming.

I was a member of the Tower, even if it was a parachute.

I looked out the window at the elixir fields.

“Excessive moisture actually rots the roots.”

……Don’t compare a mega-tsunami to water in a watering can, Grandfell.

Anyway, the point is, you can’t sit idly by in the face of a natural disaster like this.

“And after every trial comes a reward.”

And it wasn’t just any other region, it was the Zero Mountains.

A dragon lives at the top.

Virtually the last half of the Arcana Continent.

It’s a region that can be a stage of activity.

After entering the 500 level range.

The experience points accumulated in the Quernberg Machine Tower would be eaten up day by day…….

No, I gained and advanced to 95 levels.

‘Although I didn’t feel the increased experience requirement.’

Obviously, it’s impossible to gain that much level by just clearing rifts.

Unless, of course, you’re in a hunting ground where monsters are constantly present.

‘It’s definitely going to make me less worried about experience.’

As long as I can get past the flashy updates.

If you ask me if I’m confident in my ability to stop a natural disaster of global scale, I’d say yes, of course I am.

Lee Hoyeol, who used to protect himself behind the Magic Tower, is no more.

Why?

Anyway, I skipped the intermediate process.

I have the Circle in my heart.

[Current achievement: Circle (1,000% increase to all magic manifestations)]

If an attribute has an affinity, magic has manifestation.

I was going to test the power of that circle.

There was no time to waste.

As I raised my magic power, it definitely felt different than usual.

Goh-oh-oh.

…… Is this the power of the circle?

A high-level magic, a portal, that appeared out of thin air.

A portal that even Marcelo had to work hard to interfere with.

You could say it was instant.

I never thought it would manifest so quickly.

It was a growth that surprised even me.

Always.

As for me, Grandfell was as unfazed as always.

“This is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with the forces of nature.”

He merely murmured and paced.

“I will not adjust my power to defy the laws of nature.”

Really.

“Come on, nature.”

Seriously, in many ways……!

*

The location of the Zero Mountains has been determined.

Pacific Ocean.

Mankind was troubled.

“Expert Bai, should we rejoice in this?”

“Well, let’s just say we’ve avoided the worst.”

“My opinion is a little different.”

“What do you mean by that, Expert Huang?”

“It was impossible to escape without damage. If it had been created somewhere else on the continent, the area would have been devastated, but humanity could have minimized the damage. But this……!”

“Uh-huh, are you saying that the smallest sacrifice must be made for the greater good?”

Yes, I am.

It may have been a heartless statement to some.

It was the truth.

“Don’t you all know, this is not a damage that can be easily divided and lost!”

But at this point, getting upset wasn’t going to change anything.

The Zero Mountains are created in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The entire human race is faced with dealing with the aftermath of its creation: the threat of hundreds of meters of tsunamis, something you only see in disaster movies.

It was all predestined.

It was then.

“Uh, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have breaking news……!!”

“……?”

The studio had just gotten the news.

The anchor spoke urgently.

“We have news that all of the mages in the Magic Tower have gone outside. According to the AAU, this is unheard of, even before the Cataclysm, but we have more details from the scene……!!”

Magic Tower began to move.

Chief, senior, adept, apprentice, and even an elder mage.

The full power of the Magic Tower stepped through the portal.

With only one word to say.

-I have been saved, so I will save you.

The mages of such a tower were discovered.

A helicopter flying over the Zero Mountains.

It was in the angle of the camera.

Quadruple-quadruple-quadruple!

The Zero Mountains erupted with a roar.

Its size and speed of creation were such that it could be said that a new continent was being created in real time.

At the same time, the roiling waves looked like something you would only see in CG in a disaster movie.

Swoosh!

But the camera wasn’t pointed at the Zero Mountains.

It was pointed at the mages of the Magic Tower floating in the sky.

Bensch, a senior fire mage, shrugged.

“Science is inefficient, isn’t it, Senior Vangrit?”

Tudu-tudu-tudu.

To fly in the sky.

I can’t believe I have to ride in a machine that makes that noise.

Vangrit, Senior in Pure Magic, replied coolly.

“I suppose there are pros and cons to everything.”

“There are pros and cons. What do you think you’re doing with magic, senior Vangrit? There’s nothing so great as magic in the world. Now, just like this. Isn’t that how you can calm those wild waves?”

“that is… … . It’s not my opinion, it’s what Chief Lee Hoyeol said, right? Everything has pros and cons. The search for [『Anomaly』] began with that recognition.”

“…….”

When did he say that without me knowing?

At a roundtable, being scolded by Matisse Senior.

Was it when I was curled up in a ball and dozed off for a bit?!

Vangrit turned to Bensch in confusion.

“You don’t mean to tell me that you disagree with this chief……?”

“Oh, no! How could that be?”

Goooooo-

Bensch hastily drew up his magic.

“That was just a momentary lapse in my concentration on this manifestation. Unless it’s magic I’m using to burn again, I’m clumsy, haha……. You know how I feel, don’t you, Vangrit Senior?”

A magic to calm the Pacific Ocean.

There was no complicated process of interference needed to calm the sea.

One by one, the mages of the Magic Tower are called the Chosen One.

Their vast magical power controlled the waves with ease.

“Look, it’s a sight to behold!”

A sight that spread across the world in real time.

Like a lie.

No, like 『magic』.

The waves that were about to drag humanity to destruction began to subside.

The elder mage, Yugweed, chuckled.

“This is a new kind of cooperation, Marcelo.”

“Thank you for joining us.”

“It’s also new to feel embarrassed when people say thank you.”

“Ah…….”

“It’s a joke. a joke.”

Yugweed looked at the Zero Mountains, which were slowly revealing themselves.

Indeed, it was a giant mountain that could move the entire Magic Tower.

Why, its highest nest…….

“This place smells of old bad blood.”

A dragon was crouched there, the winner of the Dragon Magic War.

It was because of them that the entire Magic Tower moved.

Dragons that had fallen asleep in their nests during the commotion.

If any of them were to wake up, it would be…….

“It would be a real disaster.”

Everyone went to the tower to deal with such an unfortunate incident.

That’s why Yugweed kept a watchful eye on the Zero Mountains.

Yugweed could sense something was up.

“…… Chief Marcelo.”

Magic Tower, the loser of the Dragon Magic War.

The lesson he’d learned.

No one should disturb the dragon’s sleep.

The lesson must not be forgotten.

The magic circles that manifested at the bottom of the mountain.

One of those circles had been destroyed.

What it meant was simple.

“Something has changed.”

Whoever did this, we’ll never know.

The Zero Mountains are vast as far as the eye can see.

And within it, an even deeper abyss of a hundred thousand caves.

So we must prioritize our objective.

“Let’s focus on restoring the magic circle.”

Restoring the destroyed magic circle.

Marcelo, the founder of theoretical magic.

Yugweed knew his capabilities better than anyone.

It wouldn’t be easy, she knew.

The Dragon Magic War was a distant memory, wasn’t it?

Even if she could grasp the structure of an ancient magic circle, assimilating, interfering, and manifesting it was a different matter. Yugweed muttered softly.

“…… Those winged lizards must not have much patience.”

But Yugweed had forgotten, too.

Someone as impatient as dragons.

Such a man existed in the Magic Tower.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

“You’re all in trouble.”

“……!!!”

“I, too, will return to my duties as Chief at this time.”

Flowing silver hair.

Consistently dressed.

And a steady voice.

“I will take care of the restoration of the magic circle.”

And then.

“……, Chief Lee Hoyeol?!”

I did it.

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What does it matter that it’s an ancient magic circle?

『Reversal magic』.

One blow and you’re back to normal.

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note: Dragon Demon War -> Dragon Magic War