chapter 36
36 – The Three Are Ducks (10)
A magician who successfully ascends to the middle level is not even half of the top tier.
Excluding the fools who recklessly rushed ahead, the magicians currently stationed in the battlefield are at least of the 5th level.
It was a stage where they had acquired the ‘reputation’ based on their actions so far and started generating their own complete magical power within their blood.
In the conference room, filled with such people, there was not a single magician who could escape using their own power, except for Vina.
“No, I…!”
“Capture that guy!!!”
“Block the exit!! What are the guards doing!!”
“Don’t let a single finger move!!”
“Hey, you! Contact the Intelligence Department!! There must still be people remaining in the battlefield, right?”
“Suspend all transportation! Cut off all the tracks!!”
“Close down the battlefield! Report that we’ve found the owner of the gallery!”
As soon as Vincent opened his mouth, an immense magical power surrounded him from all directions.
The congratulatory and friendly gazes that were present just moments ago were now completely filled with hostility and greed.
What would happen if the gallery’s hidden ace, Jude, revealed himself?
There was no clearer answer to that curiosity.
“Kkeuk, keoheok…!”
A sound of bones shattering echoed from his body, lying on the floor of the conference room.
Though he was wearing defensive artifacts, they were nothing more than a sugar coating in front of nearly a hundred wizards.
High-ranking wizards could unleash devastating magic with just a handful of mana contained in their breath.
Putting aside the circumstances, Vincent was quickly overwhelmed by their unified intention to subdue him.
– G-Gently…
“Yeah, be gentle. You might really kill him.”
– Kill, kill…!
“Oh really? Then let’s watch a bit longer.”
I raised my sword high so that Salsali could have a better view.
Everyone seemed to be solely focused on him, paying no attention to me sitting in the corner.
Naturally, my concern should be the gallery.
As expected, an unprecedented chaos ensued, with an overwhelming amount of posts pouring onto the bulletin boards, making it difficult to block.
—–
[Have you lost your mind?!]
Why did it suddenly self-destruct?
– No way, right?
– Does this mean the gallery will be shut down?
– It’s cold, it’s scary…!
– The posts have already been deleted.
– Is this just a joke?
– Did you accidentally post it with your alternate account?
ㄴ What did you write wrong? You just put an introduction in the title.
—–
—–
[Because they were caught breaking the Sacred Wall, they ended up committing suicide…]
That’s harsh.
– Is it really because of the bees?
– Social suicide vs. ordinary suicide.
ㄴ I think it’s both…?
– After this happened, will they still be considered as a candidate for the Sacred Wall?
– Are the bees embarrassed?
ㄴ Honestly, it’s a bit embarrassing.
ㄴ If I were caught, I would be immediately expelled from my family. Of course, now I only live with suspicion. Ju, Juwoo… Juwoooooah!
ㄴ Wowww! Booowaaah!!!
ㄴ Expel the Bee Gang!!
—–
—–
[So, Juwo was a member of the Elemental School?]
Ah, I knew it would be like this.
No matter how much you guys criticize, the ultimate authority in Matap was an Elementalist after all?
All those idiots who kept babbling about Meteors and Summons, let’s break their heads open.
– So, Meteors are water magic, you bastard?
– What do you mean the ultimate authority? At most, it’s ranked 3rd among the Hundred Families.
– Does being ranked 3rd look like sh*t to you? Are you a direct descendant of the Seven Sages? hahahahaha.
– The Elemental Faction supports the Ju-Ddak!
– Our “Tactical Nuclear Research Institute” supports the Ju-Ddak too!
– The “Gonic Union, Defeated by Ju-Ddak,” supports it too!
– All the hidden scumbags are coming out.
– It looks like Ju-Ddak might die, so let’s take our clothes off and go right away. hahahahaha.
—–
—–
[Breaking News: Vincent Ebon captured at the Vinsen Ebon Works]
He couldn’t escape since he was in the conference room.
The atmosphere in Wangseong is currently in chaos.
They were dragging him away, completely bound, and he couldn’t even walk properly.
It will surely be revealed soon after the announcement, right?
– So in the end, Ju-Ddak wasn’t the Topju.
– Is the gallery still functioning normally?
– Come to think of it, with what ability did the Elemental Sorcerer create the gallery?
ㄴ They’ll figure it out on their own now, the Information Department.
– Isn’t this just another game that Joo-dak is playing with us?
ㄴ Joo-dak has started bullying in real life now…? It’s just a natural disaster.
ㄴ I’m so scared.
—–
For now, I let the fire continue to spread.
The important thing was that even if the accusations were dropped in the end, other sins would be revealed during the investigation process.
Just in case, I thought about telling the Paddaks, but the way to deceive the enemy was to deceive your allies first.
—–
– Genius Blond Girl: You’re finally dead, you despicable human.
– Genius Blond Girl: Even in death, you left in an artistic way.
– Genius Blond Girl: I am now free, so I’ll be leaving.
– Genius Blond Girl: Even if I get released from the basement floor, I won’t…
– Administrator: (Photo)
– Administrator: (Night shift schedule)
– Genius Blond Girl: Alive!? Sere…haho…jdi…hanu…ring…na…ㅡㄹ
—–
Vincent was constantly drawn to Mariel, who kept provoking him, so I assigned him to the night shift for a month to keep his mouth shut.
Anyway, most of the users seemed to believe that Joo-dak, or rather Vincent, would completely fall into ruin like this.
Gently, as if in a good mood, she kept swaying her body, wanting to indulge in the pleasure of blood.
However, not everyone was so optimistic.
Just a moment ago, Vina, who had completely buried the bait of “a frozen lake view that becomes even more beautiful,” came up to me and said,
“Pack your things, Sagam.”
“What? Already?”
“It seems like the barrier of the field is being closed to prepare for the risk of the self escaping. We don’t know how long it will take for it to reopen once it’s closed, so we plan to get off before the express stops.”
“Vina, aren’t you interested in what will happen to Vincent in the future? I heard that the train terror incident was also his horoscope.”
“Well, I don’t think he’ll be punished heavily just for that.”
Unlike the lower ranks of the Baekga, the Undra family is wealthy and owns land all over the tower.
Vincent himself was a talented elemental sorcerer who had originally been on the verge of entering the upper echelons.
Although he lost the Traphalgar Lake and had a falling out with Glesia due to the train terror, it didn’t mean he would completely collapse.
“If he really is the core of the gallery, then the charges will increase.”
“Do you think so?”
“The core is a cowardly human who never handed over his power to me. So, he wouldn’t do something foolish to expose himself.”
Because the moment you entrust the core to you, the gallery will turn into an ice magic worship meeting.
It was clear that all the writings unrelated to ice magic would be cut, and the freezing would come.
Anyway, the process was poor, but the result was roughly accurate deduction.
However, Vina had overlooked one thing.
The reason I wrote the post as the administrator account was because I never intended to receive any proper punishment from the beginning.
“To be honest, I might not be that scared.”
“What?”
Although there were many anti-fans of Joo-Ddak, there were also many fans.
Depending on the purpose of the gallery, most people liked it for its concept and light humor, but a few even worshipped me to the point of making me uncomfortable.
“If we have to pinpoint a reason, it’s probably because they find me distracting.”
Especially when it came to climbing the tower.
Even in the conference room, there were wizards who debated whether they should help Vincent without attacking him.
Even now, I noticed some movement in a few dead forums, organizing rescue missions for Joo-Ddak.
If it were revealed that I had impersonated them, the spark that would ignite would be a problem that he would have to endure.
*
“So, Vincent, you’re saying you have no connection to the gallery?”
“Then what about the post history that’s here?”
“….”
“Well, it was just a simple joke! How could we, as Elementalists, imitate the witches’ tricks?”
The interrogation room hastily arranged within the public office.
The Ondra family’s defense attorney vehemently denied their criminal activities.
They didn’t know the intentions behind the administrator’s announcement, but they were innocent.
The incident on the train was simply aimed at the Glaesia faction, and any attempt to escalate the damage was the work of the perpetrators.
There was no clear evidence that they had hunted down promising individuals from other families in the sniper posts.
Even if it were true, the administrative branch of the magic tower could not intervene in the struggle between families, as it was purely a matter of ethics.
“Are you saying that right now?”
“Yes, Si-en. Come over here for a moment.”
“Boss!”
“It’s not what you think. Right now, outside…”
Vincent let out a deep sigh as the information department agent, who had been prying with a suspicious look in his eyes, disappeared with his superior.
The magical circuit throughout his body was screaming in pain due to the beatings inflicted by the magicians under the guise of suppression.
The injuries were so severe that he needed immediate treatment from the Sacred Sect, but what hurt even more was his inner turmoil.
The lawyer dispatched in a hurry from the Undra Family wiped away his cold sweat and spoke to him.
“There shouldn’t be any problems.”
“Of course not. Did you dispose of the notes?”
“Yes, I burned them so that no evidence remained. But, Vincent…”
“What is it?”
“Well, um, nothing.”
The observant magician closed his mouth, but his suspicion remained in his eyes.
It was a look that questioned whether Vincent, who had recently emerged as the leader of the ‘Bees’, representing abnormal desires, in the gallery, was truly the one.
At that time, it wasn’t such a forum, and it was a place where they simply simulated terrorist plans, so he was furious.
Even the post written by Vincent himself had changed to titles like ‘Wooahh’ or ‘Booahh!’ like that of a fool.
The content had been altered to things like ‘I want to stick my tongue in a bee’s butt and go lalala’, ‘I can’t resist anymore after looking at the bee’s butt’, so there was no use in defending himself.
“Anyway, don’t worry too much. At most, it’ll just be a fine…”
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“What just happened?”
At the lawyer’s assurance that there was no need to go to the basement, Vincent was about to close his eyes for a moment.
Suddenly, his broken magic circuit rang an alarm.
It was strange because there was no sign of any presence around.
Vincent quickly took out his orb and spread his magic as far as possible to detect anything unusual.
The lawyer next to him also realized belatedly and fell into contemplation.
“It seems like the barrier has… been broken.”
“….”
The barrier that was hastily closed after sending off the last train in case they tried to escape through dimensional magic or something.
Its fragments were scattered throughout the entire boundary, as if snow was melting.
Even the information department seemed confused by the intrusion from an unknown external force.
Just as Vincent felt the sense of crisis and was about to get up from his seat.
“What is this? I thought it might be real, but it’s an impersonator.”
A girl holding a Libra and a bouquet of flowers appeared before them.