Magic Monopoly: Reborn as the Sole Magic Tower Master-Chapter 268: Episode

“Aaaaaargh!”

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Those were some powerful screams.

Listening to them nonstop, I felt like my ears were going to start bleeding.

I was putting Ha Yerin through her paces at the outdoor training ground Jeong Seojin had rented for us.

She was sprinting frantically through the air, stepping on shields she conjured beneath her feet.

The wind spell Aiolos closed in behind her, while arms formed by the earth spell Gaia reached up from below.

“Please, spare me! I’m begging you, stop now! Kyaaaaaah!”

Cupping my hands around my mouth, I shouted back, “If you want to live, then run!”

This training was a recreation of the third-floor trial.

She was on the verge of tears, but she was handling it well. By now, she had gotten pretty used to creating shield platforms and leaping from one to the next.

When I challenged the third-floor trial, I had Ea, so I cleared it right away, but she needed to go through some trial and error.

Still, seeing how quickly she adapted, it was clear she really did have talent.

After making a full lap of the training ground while dodging Aiolos and Gaia, she dropped back to the ground and charged straight at me.

“You’re deaaaaaad!”

Even through her sobs, her shout was vicious. She had definitely flipped a switch.

I stood up, laughing.

The highlight of this recreated third-floor trial was the black golem—my role.

If she managed to land even a single hit on me before Aiolos caught up, she would win, and the training would end.

Of course, if I used my real skills, she would never clear it, so there were handicaps.

Right now, I wasn’t allowed to take a single step outside the small circle drawn on the ground, and I could only use first-order magic.

She summoned second-order Wind Cutters to both arms and hurled them at me.

’The trajectory is way too simple.’

Folding my arms, I laid shields in the air to block them.

As the blades of wind clanged against the shields and spun away, she formed gauntlets around her fists and yelled, “That annoying face of yours!”

Her left foot scraped along the ground as she closed the distance.

“Just let me hit you once!”

Then she threw a full-force straight punch.

I pretended to yawn and extended my right arm, gently pushing her incoming fist aside.

At the same time, I formed a gauntlet on my left hand and threw a counterpunch.

“Oh!”

She bent ninety degrees at the waist, slipping under my fist.

As my fist shot out and my body locked into the motion, she smoothly arched her back. A magic circle was emblazoned across it.

’This is the move I used to use...!’

“Take thiiiiiis!”

Her T-shirt split open as blades of wind blasted out.

I had to admit, she caught me off guard.

However...

“It still feels unnatural.”

I twisted at my core, pivoting my stance, and calmly chopped the side of the incoming Wind Cutter with the edge of my hand.

CRACK!

She had formed it in a rush, reducing its density, so simply wrapping my hand in mana and striking it was enough to shatter it.

“Ah...”

“Too bad.”

As I straightened up, a green wind roared in behind me.

“You’re out.”

WHOOSH!

She hunched over as the wind slammed into her. Simultaneously, Gaia rose from the ground and wrapped around her legs like ropes. I pushed her to the floor.

“That makes twenty deaths. Congratulations.”

She remained silent.

’Hmm. What’s with this mood?’

Normally, a taunt like that would have her shrieking and charging at me to yank out my hair or bite my arm.

This time was different. She hugged her knees to her chest, her head hanging low. I couldn’t see her face, but I could hear her sniffling.

’Did I go too far?’

She had been doing so well for weeks. This sudden change threw me off.

Maybe everything she had been bottling up had just exploded.

I hesitated, then walked over and dropped to one knee beside her.

“Yerin, are you—”

“Eek! D-Don’t look over here!” she shrieked, recoiling in a panic. Only then did I realize she was covering her chest.

“You perverted psychopath!”

I was too stunned to speak.

I gave her my jacket to cover up. From what I could gather, when she’d drawn the magic circle on her back and fired the Wind Cutter, the hook on her bra had been sliced clean off.

Then Aiolos had swept in and blown the torn garment away... Well, no need for further details.

She sat there hugging her legs, still sniffling.

“Yerin.”

“...Don’t come any closer. You’re a creep who preys on minors.”

I covered my face with my hand and sighed.

“You’re the one who fired a Wind Cutter off your own back. Why are you yelling at me?”

“Hmph, whatever! It’s your fault for making me do this kind of training, Mister!”

The sulky pout of her lower lip told me she wasn’t truly angry—just looking for an excuse to whine.

I was quietly trying to soothe her when my phone started ringing.

“I’m going to take this. I bought a bunch of clothes and underwear and put them in that bag over there, so pick whatever you want and get changed.”

“Y-You even bought underwear? You really are a per—”

“Bora picked them out, so don’t worry.”

I moved far enough away that she wouldn’t overhear and answered the call from Jeong Seojin.

“Hey, Seojin. What’s up?”

—“Tower Master. I’m calling to report on an impending catastrophe in Korea.”

Seojin informed me about the “Cataclysm” and “Red Gate” disasters. As I listened, the gravity of the situation became clear.

“So we have to stop two catastrophes on our own, without any international support?”

—“Yes. Foreign news outlets are reporting a seventy percent chance that Korea will be destroyed. Some guilds have already tried to flee the country after hearing the rumors. SG Company, one of the Top 10, was even caught trying to run by the Association President and the executive board.”

If even a Top 10 guild was trying to flee, things were bad. Very bad.

I closed my eyes, lost in thought.

—“Tower Master, this is purely my personal opinion, but...” Seojin hesitated for a moment before continuing. “I think you should not participate in the coming battle.”

“Huh? Why not?”

—“Our ultimate goal is to stop Nemesis. To do that, I believe rooting out the enemy within is our top priority. If we leave them be, they’ll just keep causing trouble.”

“That’s true.”

—“If you join the fight against the catastrophes, your identity will inevitably be exposed.”

I knew what he was getting at.

My covert investigation into the demons was producing clear results. If I joined the battle, the entire world would learn of my existence, and the investigation would become much more difficult.

“Then what about the disasters in Korea?”

“Originally, these are disasters that were supposed to be stopped without your help, Tower Master,” Seojin said calmly. “Over the past five years, many catastrophes have struck, and we’ve heard the phrase ‘on the brink of destruction’ more times than we can count. But every time, we somehow endured.”

I folded my arms, mulling it over.

“Mister! I’m done changing!”

Ha Yerin came running over in her street clothes.

I pressed a finger to my lips. She quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and sat down nearby, pulling out her own phone.

“I see you’re training the Child of Mana.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think of her?”

“She’s a hard-working genius. Once I get her on the right track, she’ll devour everything in her path.”

“Oh, that’s very promising.”

“Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I’ll think more about the disasters. There are ways I can help without revealing my identity, and if Korea really is in serious danger, I’m not going to just sit back and watch.”

“Understood. It is only my opinion, so please act according to your own judgment, Tower Master.”

“Got it. Let me know if you get any more intel.”

After a few more words, we ended the call.

Seeing that I was done, Ha Yerin trotted over.

“You looked super serious just now. Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing,” I answered lightly, checking the time on my phone. “Since you’re already changed, let’s go get something to eat.”

“Okay!”

“Hmm, what should we have for lunch? I was thinking blood sau—”

“Blood sausage soup again?”

Ugh, she’d figured out my menu pattern.

“Then you pick.”

“Cream risotto?”

“For that money, I’d rather get a good bowl of gukbap.”

“Ugh, Mister!”

* * *

Yusin and Ha Yerin trained straight through the evening.

Yusin apologized, saying he had work and couldn’t drive her home. Yerin bravely told him it was fine.

She took a bus and arrived in her neighborhood.

It was a bleak night. The shabby, deserted alley. She couldn’t understand why the path she always took felt so creepy tonight.

’Well, Mister has always driven me home until now.’

When she was with Yusin, she could relax and let her guard down.

He was the first person to truly recognize her worth, the one who had reached out when she was at her lowest. She was deeply grateful.

Now that he was gone, the empty space he left behind felt vast.

’Ugh, I’m not a little kid. Come on, just go.’

She stepped into the same shabby alley as always and started walking.

’...Ah, damn it.’

She felt someone behind her.

The footsteps were heavy; she couldn’t tell if they belonged to a person or a monster.

’It’s probably just someone passing by. Don’t overreact.’

She steeled herself and quickened her pace. The presence behind her sped up as well.

’Oh, shit! I’m so scared! What am I supposed to do?!’

Yusin called her a crybaby. She always denied it, but before she knew it, tears of fear were welling in her eyes.

What good was being a player? Being scared of walking alone at night was unavoidable. Ever since she’d become someone who attracted monsters, that trauma had only gotten worse.

In the end, she had no choice but to turn into an alley she didn’t usually take.

’D-Did they pass by?’

She leaned her back against the wall, but just as she started to feel relieved, she sensed the presence entering the alley as well.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. She couldn’t just walk faster anymore; she broke into a run.

The footsteps chasing her sped up too.

Just a little farther. Just a little more, and she would reach an open area. She twisted her body to cut across into another alley, and at that moment—

Someone leaped out from the side.

“Eek!”

She screamed and fell to the ground. A large figure loomed in the darkness, looking down at her.

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

The figure remained silent.

When the dark figure blinked and took a step toward her, she freaked out and scrambled backward.

The figure slowly opened its palm.

A single blue orb of light rose from its hand and burst, brightening the surroundings considerably.

“Can you see me now?”

Once she finally saw who she had run into, her eyes went wide.

Her fear instantly flipped into shock, and the shock turned into pure joy.

“...No way!”

The person she had dreamed of.

The goal of every aspiring mage.

The strongest mage in the world.

There was no mistake. It was definitely the man she had seen on TV and YouTube.

“Y-You’re... Tower Master Na Daeyong?”

The man in the ornate robe scratched his head, a loose, easy grin on his face.

“Looks like you can see me now, huh? Haha.”

* * *