Chapter 46: Chapter 46

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Chapter 46

‘No news again today.’

Sander, the master of the Idenharc Magic Tower, had a crystal ball set up in front of him.

The crystal ball was showing the library of the magic tower.

The reason why he was specifically showing the library out of all the many places.

It was because of a legend passed down through generations.

‘The book written by Richel himself, the one who unravels the secret of that book will appear.’

Richel was a genius 600 years ago, with the innate talent to use both mana and divine power simultaneously.

Unfortunately, he was an outcast among mages and priests of his time, unable to fully blossom his talent.

‘Reflections on Growth’, left behind by such a genius.

The previous tower masters had lived with that book, wondering what secrets it held.

Of course, the condition was quickly met.

But the secret had not yet been revealed.

‘You must be able to use both mana and divine power simultaneously to solve it.’

It meant that one had to be born with the same talent as Richel.

That’s why the book had to be stuck in a corner of the library for 600 years.

Probably even in this generation, no one with the qualifications for that book would appear.

All humans, when they awaken divine power, lose their mana, and divine power takes its place.

They were properties that could not coexist from the beginning.

At that moment, a stranger entered the ancient book corner.

And then he took out the book written by Richel.

‘Oh?’

Sander stared at the crystal ball with curious eyes.

It seemed like he wanted to borrow the book, but it was impossible because he wasn’t a registered mage in the magic tower.

‘Was it just a coincidence?’

His curiosity quickly faded.

But the stranger didn’t give up and went into the corner to open the book.

‘Wait a minute…’

Sander’s eyes gradually widened.

The pages the stranger turned to and stopped at were the same ones where the previous tower master had met the conditions.

Soon after, the book glowed faintly, and a magic circle appeared.

“No way!”

Sander couldn’t help but jump up from his seat.

“Tower Master! What’s wrong?”

Hearing the commotion in the tower master’s room, the vice-tower master, Rown, burst into the room without knocking.

There, a chair was lying on the floor, and next to it stood Sander with a shocked expression.

Rown’s eyes widened at the sight.

Sander usually showed little change in expression.

Even when something surprising happened, he would only be slightly surprised.

It was the first time in his entire tenure as vice-tower master that he had seen the tower master so shocked.

“Tower Master? Are you alright…?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

At Rown’s words, Sander’s gaze slowly turned to him.

Then, he slowly opened his mouth and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Tell the librarian to lock the library door now.”

“What?”

“Lock the library door! Especially tell them not to let the stranger inside out! Tell them if they let him out, they’ll be fired!”

Sander shouted and hurriedly ran out of the tower master’s room.

“No… What the hell is going on?”

The vice-tower master, Rown, tried to understand the situation, but he couldn’t make sense of it.

For now, he had no choice but to follow the tower master’s instructions and send a telepathic message to the librarian, ordering him to lock the library door.

* * *

Jeong-Hoon, having finished his business, put the book back in its original place.

‘If you’re going to drink the potions, it’s better to go to the tower’s training room.’

The training room inside the magic tower.

The training room was a space that only the tower master could use, and it was the place with the most abundant mana in the tower, where mana accumulated 1.2 times faster during training.

And these potions reacted to the surrounding mana and increased their effectiveness by 10%.

This meant that if you drank 10 potions, you would get the effect of an additional potion.

However, getting into the training room was not easy.

First, you needed the permission of the tower master, but the Idenharc Tower Master rarely showed his face.

Even for the second class advancement, you couldn’t meet the tower master unless you met the epic grade or higher requirements.

Of course, this didn’t apply to Jeong-Hoon.

“Why are you locking the door?”

Jeong-Hoon casually asked the librarian, who was struggling to organize the library.

“Ahaha, I’m sorry, but I’m going to lock the door for a moment. Could you please wait over there?”

The librarian smiled awkwardly and pointed to a table.

His behavior indicated that the tower master had given an order.

‘It seems like he was watching everything.’

From the beginning, Jeong-Hoon had planned to find the tower master after solving Richel’s book.

Lewis Verdant had done that and obtained the training room.

“Oh, it’s okay. I’ll leave now if you’re going to lock it.”

“No! We’ll reopen soon, so you can finish your business.”

“I’m done. I’m leaving, so please step aside.”

“No… Just a moment!”

The librarian, sweating profusely, blocked the door as if his life depended on it.

“Why?”

Jeong-Hoon barely suppressed his laughter and tilted his head.

“Ahem… Why don’t you stay and chat with me for a while? I have some delicious tea hidden away that I was going to drink.”

Should he stop here?

Seeing the librarian’s face, which looked like he was about to burst into tears, Jeong-Hoon felt his revenge was sufficient.

But he couldn’t drink tea.

“Open the door!”

The tower master had arrived at the library.

Only then did the librarian unlock the door.

‘The author is the Idenharc Tower Master.’

===

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Sander

-Level: 300

-Occupation: Idenharc Tower Master

===

A whopping level 300.

It was the highest level you could see in the beginner zone.

The tower master grabbed Jeong-Hoon’s shoulders and shook him urgently.

“You solved the secret of the book?! How did you do it! You’re not even a priest, how do you have divine power?!”

He spoke so fast that it was hard to understand him properly.

“Please speak slowly. And let go of my shoulders.”

Jeong-Hoon said as he removed Sander’s hands from his shoulders.

Sander seemed to realize his actions and coughed awkwardly with a slightly flushed face.

“Ah, um. I apologize. I was so surprised that I acted rudely.”

“It’s fine. But what do you mean by the secret of the book?”

“…Would you like to come to the tower master’s room first? I’d like to talk to you for a bit.”

“Alright.”

Jeong-Hoon smiled inwardly.

Things were going easier than expected.

* * *

Tower Master’s Room.

Jeong-Hoon’s gaze lingered on the crystal ball placed on the table.

‘So that’s how he saw it.’

He understood how the tower master could figure it out so quickly.

“Ahem, first of all, I apologize again. I was a bit flustered earlier.”

“It’s okay.”

“…Then can you tell me how you solved the secret of the book?”

He was curious.

As the tower master, Sander had inherited everything from the previous tower master and knew the secret of the book, but he was puzzled that this stranger in front of him also knew the secret.

“I have the ability to decipher objects.”

A lie came out of Jeong-Hoon’s mouth.

“The ability to decipher…?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, I was able to decipher the book.”

“…Oh, then it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that you possess both mana and divine power.”

“Yes.”

“Then would you tell me what was inside?”

He was curious.

What was the result of the genius’s lifelong research 600 years ago?

The previous tower masters had desperately wanted to uncover Richel’s research achievements, but they ultimately failed as their lives came to an end.

But Sander was different.

There was a stranger in front of him who had unlocked the secret of the book.

Of course, Jeong-Hoon wasn’t going to easily reveal it.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”

“What…?”

Sander’s face crumpled in a frown.

Seeing that, Jeong-Hoon calmly continued.

“Weren’t you unable to solve the book even with your power as the tower master?”

“…”

The fact that such an important book was left in a corner of the magic tower’s library, gathering dust, meant that no one could solve it and it was abandoned.

The reason for actively inviting strangers into the magic tower was the slightest hope that someone with both mana and divine power might appear.

Honestly, it was ridiculous that it was left in a corner of the library, even if no one could solve it.

‘This is another one of New World’s tricks.’

An opportunity given to the users.

The fact that such an important book was stored in the library without any thought was also due to New World’s settings.

Then he had to take full advantage of it.

“I solved it, but it’s a bit much to ask me to tell you for free, don’t you think?”

“It sounds like you’re saying you’ll tell me if I pay the price… Is that right?”

Jeong-Hoon nodded.

Then Sander snapped his fingers.

At that moment, the left wall slid to the side, revealing treasures.

Not just gold and jewels.

Epic to rare items were displayed in a row.

“10,000 gold. And I’ll give you 10 items from here. How about it?”

An incredible reward, unbelievable for a beginner zone.

But Jeong-Hoon didn’t want that.

“The training room. Please allow me to use the training room that you use.”

“The training room…?”

A question mark appeared above Sander’s head.

[Normal Quest: Idenharc Tower Master’s Training Room]

-Restriction: User possessing Richel’s Research Journal

-Reward: Sander’s Recognition + Significant increase in Favorability

-Description: Prove the results of Richel’s research by using the training room.

Jeong-Hoon immediately accepted the quest.

“Yes.”

“…Why do you want to use the training room?”

“I’ll show you what Richel left behind.”

With that, he took out the research journal and showed it to him.

“This is…?”

“It’s a research journal.”

[Richel’s Research Journal]

It was a journal that came along with the potions.

Sander’s eyes widened as he checked the journal.

“W-Wait a moment.”

Sander hurriedly called the vice-tower master and ordered him to bring Richel’s books.

Soon after, the vice-tower master Rown brought several books written by Richel.

The handwriting in those books and the research journal were identical.

‘How in the world…’

Sander read through the research journal with confused eyes.

The growth potion that Richel had researched all his life.

‘It’s definitely Richel’s research.’

Through the research journal, he learned that Richel was obsessed with growth.

To accumulate more mana and divine power in his body.

There was only one reason why he had to do so.

Although Richel possessed both mana and divine power, he was born with a constitution that couldn’t form circles.

So, wasn’t that why he was even more obsessed with growth?

Sander closed the journal and guided Jeong-Hoon to the training room.

* * *

The training room was located on the top floor of the magic tower.

The entire top floor was the training room, and the ceiling was open.

The sky above was a mana zone, where mana was far more abundant than in other areas.

‘Shall we begin?’

Jeong-Hoon, sitting in the center, took out the potions.

First, the experience potion.

[Advanced Experience Potion]

-Type: Consumable

-Grade: Epic

-Grants experience points based on the user’s level.

-When used within a mana zone, grants an additional 10% of the gained experience points.

Right.

This was the reason why he had to drink it within the mana zone.

If he drank 10, he would get 1 as a bonus, so there was no reason to drink it outside the mana zone.

Jeong-Hoon gulped down one potion.

[Experience points acquired!]

[Experience points acquired!]

Every time the thin liquid passed down his throat, his experience points increased.

[Level up!]

[All stats increased by +1.]

[Bonus stat +1 granted.]

And when he emptied half of the bottle, he leveled up to 52.

[Experience points acquired!]

[Experience points acquired!]

[Level up!]

[All stats increased by +1.]

[Bonus stat +1 granted.]

When he finished the whole bottle, he had risen from 52 to 53.

“One bottle raises two levels?”

Jeong-Hoon quickly emptied the remaining 28 potions.

[Experience points acquired!]

[Experience points acquired!]

[Level up!]

[All stats increased by +1.]

[Bonus stat +1 granted.]

Countless experience gain messages popped up.

When he finished all 28 bottles, he had reached level 91.

He had gained a whopping 40 levels from 29 potions.

Additionally, an achievement.

[Achievement Unlocked! ‘Save the Best for Last (3)’ completed! 10,000 achievement points granted.]

[‘Mark of the Ultimate Endurer’ granted.]

Yes!

The 10,000 achievement points were important, but even more important was this mark.

‘Alright. Now I have two.’

There were 8 marks left.

It was still a long way to go, but he had experience obtaining them all, so time would solve it.

“Then shall I drink the rest?”

[Advanced Mana Potion x35]

[Advanced Divine Power Potion x35]

He was curious to see how much these two would increase his stats.

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