The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 161

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-162

About seven and a half hours had passed since the start of the open raid match.

—It’s truly overwhelming! The Korean team! They’ve swiftly conquered even the upper boss rooms and are surging ahead!

The match unfolded similarly to previous open raids.

The Korean team surged ahead with overwhelming speed. The UK and the US tried their best to keep them in check, but it was largely ineffective.

—Korea’s strategy is the same as before. The US and the UK are already aware of how to counter this strategy! Yet, they are completely helpless!

Even though the US and the UK were deliberately trying to stop Korea, it had no impact on the overall trend.

That’s how overwhelming Korea was.

—Commentator Raymond, why is this such an overwhelming situation? Surely, Korea, having exposed their ultimate strategy, should have been at a disadvantage in this match…

—That’s a good question. As Ms. Thales said, Korea should have been at a significant disadvantage in this match. Korea had previously exposed all their power due to an unfortunate incident, and perhaps because of that, the US and the UK abandoned their pride and joined forces from the start.

All indicators pointed to Korea’s disadvantage.

Therefore, experts predicted Korea’s disadvantage.

No, even if not at a disadvantage, they predicted a close match.

But what do you know?

Upon closer inspection, far from being a close match, Korea was dominating.

Much more overwhelmingly than the previous match.

—The reason for this result lies in the individual players.

—Individual players?

—Yes. To be precise, it’s because of Shin Hayul and Adela Stewart. It has to be said that it’s because of these two.

Commentator Raymond chuckled with an absurd expression.

Announcer Thales tilted her head, as if she didn’t understand what he meant.

—Those two. They’re completely different people from the last match.

—Different people?

It was impossible to understand what he meant.

—Ms. Thales is a layperson. Since you don’t know much about magic, it might seem no different from the previous match, but the magical abilities of those two are incomparable to before. They’ve made remarkable progress.

All their stats are incomparable to before.

Shin Hayul is untouchable, and Adela Stewart has become strong enough to overwhelm Kyle and Dahlia.

—What on earth did they do for a week to achieve such extreme evolution? I can’t even imagine.

Raymond clicked his tongue.

—Did they realize something at the brink of death… something like that?

—Hmm. It was a very dangerous incident. They might have gained some enlightenment through that experience.

At that moment, Raymond grabbed the microphone and stood up.

—Now! As I speak, Korea’s Shin Hayul and Adela are entering the last boss room alone! The US and the UK are currently distracted by the other eight members of the Korean team and haven’t noticed yet!

—They don’t seem to have even considered that they would go to attack the final boss alone!

The announcer also stood up, and the atmosphere grew increasingly heated.

—The newly placed boss monster this time is the Thousand-Faced Insect. It’s a powerful monster comparable to the Three-Colored Tiger. It remains to be seen how they will conquer this alone! The attention is focused on them!

At that moment, the Thousand-Faced Insect appeared before Shin Hayul and Adela.

And the battle began immediately.

At first, the battle was on par, but as Shin Hayul, who had been preparing something, began to participate in the battle in earnest, the tide turned.

A bizarre scene unfolded where two students, only 18 years old, were toying with the final boss of the open raid.

Commentators, casters, and viewers alike were shocked by the spectacle.

On the internet, posts about Shin Hayul and Adela were being updated every second, and their battle was a hot topic.

“Tsk.”

While everyone was in shock, admiration, and cheers.

There was one person who was alone, revealing his murderous intent.

“You pathetic bastards. Cheering for such a match…”

Shin Jihan.

A twisted soul, consumed by the poison of inferiority.

He cursed, looking at Shin Hayul on the hologram screen.

A filthy and disgusting gaze.

It was a ferocious expression that clearly showed his desire to tear that face apart right now.

“…Is it ready?”

Shin Jihan tapped the side of the chair with his index finger.

The clicking sound, ringing every 2-3 seconds, revealed his anxious state of mind.

“The preparations were all completed yesterday. We’ve also set up a barrier to avoid Kim Seokhyun’s eyes, and we’ve also installed a blocking barrier in case of any unforeseen circumstances.”

Tukish, who was handling the work next to him, replied with a bright smile.

In his mind, he was cursing, ‘Who do you think you are, ordering me around?’ but he didn’t show it on his face.

“Just now, Ms. Shin Se-ah was also discharged from the hospital. Now, when she returns to her hotel room, the suggestion will be activated… then everything will be over.”

Tukish glared at Shin Hayul on the hologram screen.

“Today is the last day we’ll see that annoying guy. So, please enjoy it. If you think of it as his last struggle before death, doesn’t it look rather cute?”

“…Indeed.”

The sound of Shin Jihan tapping the chair gradually slowed down.

As if regaining his peace of mind, the sound that had been heard every 2-3 seconds decreased to about 0.5 seconds.

“Thinking about it that way, it’s not that it doesn’t look cute. It feels like watching a clown desperately performing tricks.”

Shin Jihan crossed his legs leisurely. When he thought about it, there was nothing to be anxious about.

“You haven’t forgotten the promise, have you?”

“Yes, of course. As compensation for causing concern to our client, we will not receive any commission…”

“The commission doesn’t matter. What’s important is the Divine Eye. And Hayul’s Vision Magic.”

“Yes, of course. We will find a medium for Shin Hayul’s Divine Eye, even if it means digging out his eyes, and hand it over to you. And we will extract his Vision Magic through brainwashing and deliver it to you.”

Tukish smiled.

“You, our client, can cover up all the crimes by placing the blame on Shin Se-ah with the fake evidence you have prepared. You just have to say this.”

“Before Hayul died at Se-ah’s hands, he entrusted everything to me and handed over his Divine Eye and Vision Magic.”

“Excellent.”

Tukish clapped exaggeratedly.

‘It feels like I’m appeasing a child.’

Looking at Shin Jihan, who was smiling, he clicked his tongue inwardly.

* * *

8 PM.

All the matches were over.

We were having a party back at the hotel.

“To commemorate the Olympic gold medal and breaking the all-time record, cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Everyone cheered at Soonchan’s lead.

Seniors, instructors, and even engineers. Everyone was raising their glasses with incredibly excited faces.

“Wow. It’s really happening.”

“Hayul, thank you! It’s all thanks to you!”

“Mom! I won a gold medal!”

The seniors grabbed my hands with tears welling up in their eyes.

They looked at me with intense eyes, as if they thought of me as their savior.

“No, it’s all thanks to the seniors for following me so well. What did I do?”

It was a bit overwhelming, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

No, honestly, it was good.

It was a strangely warm feeling, different from the gold medal and the record.

“Kuh-huh-huh! Leader Shin! You’ve really worked hard! It’s all thanks to you!”

Suddenly, Senior Hee-yoon ran towards me, hugged me tightly, and burst into tears.

“I’m sorry for misunderstanding you at first! I really~~~ love you! You know? This older sister really believes in you!”

She smelled strongly of alcohol.

It seemed like someone had given her alcohol.

“Hey, hey. Stop it. You’re drunk.”

Senior Jinseok intervened to stop Senior Hee-yoon, but…

“Leader Shin~ I really…!”

It was no use.

She didn’t even listen.

He tried to forcibly pull her away, but she was so strong. She wouldn’t budge.

“Ugh. Sorry. I can’t help it. Just stay like that for a while. She’s been through a lot.”

“I don’t mind being like this…”

I glanced at Soonchan, who was watching us from afar.

His eyes were like those of a dead mackerel.

His dark expression clearly showed that he was thinking, ‘Should I kill that guy?’

If I stayed like this, Soonchan would probably turn dark.

“Senior, go to Soonchan instead of me. Soonchan also went through a lot of hardship at first. Because of you.”

“…Ah. Right. Soonchan! That’s right.”

At that moment, Senior Hee-yoon let go of me and looked around.

Then, she made eye contact with Soonchan and ran towards him.

“Soonchan! This older sister loves you too! You know?”

“S-Senior? Ugh!”

Soonchan’s body bounced like a mackerel thrown onto land.

His goofy expression was pathetic. Was he that happy?

“…I was wondering, but does Soonchan like that wild girl?”

Senior Jinseok approached me and asked.

“Yes, it seems so.”

“…Wow. He has a unique taste. Well, is he the type to keep spiders at home?”

“Haha.”

I quietly laughed it off.

“Well, she’s not a bad person.”

“Please help them get together.”

“I will. I don’t know if Hee-yoon has any romance cells. Hehe.”

Senior Jinseok patted my back heartily and walked away from me.

“My friend! There you are?”

Kyle approached me, who was alone.

“The people on the Korean team are all so nice! Is that why you have such great teamwork? Haha!”

Behind Kyle, Dahlia approached with her arms crossed.

“Kyle. Why are you smiling so happily? Don’t you have any pride?”

Kyle, with a big smile on his face, and Dahlia, with a very bitter expression.

They were two very contrasting people.

“It’s a party, so you should smile! Right? My friend?”

“Haa. You’re really… How can you join the winning team’s party so shamelessly?”

Dahlia sighed and shook her head.

It wasn’t something Dahlia, who had attended the party with Kyle, should say.

“You were clearly showing that you wanted to come.”

“I, when did I!”

Dahlia shouted.

Her face turned red, as if she had been hit right on the mark.

“I heard it through Sarah? That Dahlia wants to be friends with Adela.”

“Sarah…!”

Dahlia gritted her teeth with a resentful expression.

“…Did you call me?”

Perhaps because she heard her name, Adela, who had been blankly drinking her drink nearby, peeked her head out.

Her face was very red.

…Did she drink too?

“Ah, Adela Stewart. It’s a good night. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

Adela replied with a more dazed expression than usual.

Her tone was more clumsy than usual.

The way her words trailed off made it clear that she was drunk.

“Hello! Nice to meet you!”

Kyle reached out his hand to Adela. He meant to shake hands.

Adela slowly took his hand.

“I look forward to working with you in the future!”

“In the future… does that mean you want to be friends?”

And she said something that the usual Adela would never say.

“Of course! Absolutely!”

Kyle replied with a hearty laugh.

“Hmm… Okay.”

Adela replied with half-closed eyes. She was staggering quite a bit, looking quite precarious.

“Me, me too…”

Dahlia, who had been watching Kyle and Adela’s conversation from the side, spoke with a determined expression.

“Me…”

I heard that Dahlia had no female friends other than Sarah.

Given that Dahlia was like that, it wasn’t strange that she wanted to be friends with Adela.

…It seems like she doesn’t know how to approach her because she hasn’t had any friends until now.

“…Sleepy.”

At that moment, Adela fell sideways.

I supported Adela with my body.

“She fell asleep.”

“…”

Dahlia looked like she was about to die.

What is this, after she had finally mustered her courage!

That was the expression she seemed to be making.

“I’ll arrange a time for you to talk to Adela later. Don’t be too disappointed.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

Adela didn’t really have anyone she could call a friend either.

And if Dahlia became a good friend, it wouldn’t be bad. Even if not, it wouldn’t be bad for the two of them to become friends.

“Okay. Then it’s fine.”

Perhaps because Adela had fallen asleep.

The anxious and urgent look had completely disappeared.

And she was back to her confident, womanly self.

“Then I’ll be away for a bit. I think I need to take Adela to her room.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Have a good time. Friend.”

I lifted Adela up and held her in my arms.

“Yeah. Have fun.”

I gave them a brief nod and headed towards the hotel.

“Umm.”

Adela mumbled in her sleep.

She passed out after drinking just one glass before. She’s still like this.

The head of the Shinbi family was a heavy drinker. Did she take after her mother?

I was thinking such thoughts as I entered the hotel lobby.

Buzz!

At that moment, the phone in my pocket vibrated.

I adjusted my hold on Adela so I could hold her with one hand, and then took out my phone.

[Restricted Caller ID]

There was only one person who would call with a restricted caller ID at this time.

I slowly answered the phone.

“Hello.”

—Hayul, it’s me.

As expected, the caller was Se-ah.

—There’s something I want to talk about alone. Can you spare some time now?