After the players had unleashed their volley, I checked the boss monster's condition from a distance. As it turned out, even that all-out assault hadn't been enough to completely strip away the irregular's mana coating. The players, having spent their firepower, had to turn their attention back to the swarming lava golems.

"Seojin! Buy me some time!" I yelled.

"Understood," he replied, rushing over to keep the boss from getting back on its feet.

Meanwhile, I ran to the hunter who was using the restraining-type ability. "That ability of yours," I gasped, "how much longer can you keep it up?"

The hunter, who had been watching our fight with a dazed expression, snapped back to his senses. "I-I'm at my limit. Maybe five more minutes…"

'This is insane.' Honestly, the only reason we'd done so well against this Irregular was thanks to his paralysis ability. If that binding broke and the boss recovered, we would be wiped out no matter what we did.

That left only one option. We had to take it down within the next five minutes, even if it meant pushing ourselves past our limits.

I turned my back on the hunter and called for Ea. 'Ea, how are you feeling now?'

-I have recovered. However, Tower Master, while I was resting, you continued to…

'Don't worry about me.' I cracked my knuckles. 'I've told you before. I'm a slow starter. I'm just now hitting my peak.'

-…Please do not overexert yourself.

'Sorry, but I plan to do just that.' I lowered my stance and closed my eyes.

"Haaah."

'Focus.' All the surrounding noise vanished, and the world fell silent. I could feel the flow of mana within me more clearly than ever. It was a trick I'd learned from experience; I achieved the deepest immersion when I communicated with the mana in my own body. I pushed my concentration to its absolute limit, until I could control even the tiniest wisp of energy flowing through my capillaries.

<Copy Magical Position>

I cast the spell above the boss monster, still lying stunned on the floor.

-Tower Master…! Ea's voice was laced with worry.

'It's fine. Just follow my lead.'

My eyes flew open as I selected the magic circles to attach to the Copy Magical Position. It was…

<Copy Magical Position>

<Copy Magical Position>

<Copy Magical Position>

<Copy Magical Position>

<Copy Magical Position>

I linked five more Copy Magical Positions to the first.

"…Ughhhh!" A groan escaped my lips, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of formulas pouring into my head. But I couldn't stop. I linked a new spell to the five completed positions.

<Mana Arrow> x25

I attached five Mana Arrows to each position, preparing a total of twenty-five magic circles.

"Yusin! This is too much…!" Bora cried out.

"What's about to happen?" one of the players wondered aloud.

Their panicked voices buzzed in my ears, but as I focused more intensely on the magic, they faded into nothing. I closed my left eye, setting my target using only the Sage's Eye. I had been trying to get used to the raw power of Ice Javelin, but this was what I truly preferred. The magic of numbers. A war of attrition where each individual shot might be weak, but I could keep firing until my hair turned white.

As the magic circles entered a ready state, a tremendous volume of formulas awaiting processing flooded my brain. This was the price for creating a miracle from nothing.

'But I can do this.'

Ea and I divided the labor, completing the formulas at a frantic pace. Don't be intimidated by the overwhelming numbers. Just grasp the essence. I traced the logic connecting each formula, refining them again and again against the fundamental rules of this magical ecosystem.

'Shhhng!'

An ecosystem of magic began to form. The faint circles lit up one by one with a cool blue light, like stars being born in the sky. There was a slight delay in their activation, so their completion times were staggered, but it was a success.

-Tower Master, please set the final launch trigger.

It was nothing complicated. I wrote in the final formula. 'Fire as they are completed.'

And then, from the magic circles that floated like a celestial flowerbed, countless Mana Arrows began to descend. A torrent of blue rain, reminiscent of a massive squall, filled the air and poured down upon the irregular boss monster on the ground.

A relentless, percussive drumming filled the air as the Mana Arrows furiously hammered the Irregular's Mana Coating. The monster, which had seemed invincible moments before, was now foaming at the mouth, writhing in agony. It was an unreal sight, even to me. But I couldn't be satisfied yet.

[You have broken through the wall of perfect magic. Your proficiency with Mana Arrow has reached 110%.]

More.

Faster. Simpler.

[You have broken through the wall of perfect magic. Your proficiency with Mana Arrow has reached 120%.]

[You have broken through the wall of perfect magic. Your proficiency with Mana Arrow has reached 130%.]

The relentless assault continued. Even though it had already surpassed 100% proficiency, my mastery of Mana Arrow was rising at an insane rate. I knew, with absolute certainty, that this was the moment of greatest immersion in my entire life. For me, in this state, casting Mana Arrow was easier than breathing.

'Fwish!'

"Agh!"

For a moment, my vision wavered. I had enough mental strength to continue, but the mana inside my body was running low.

However…

'I can handle it.' The growth I was experiencing just to maintain this state was overwhelming. As I gained new enlightenment, my Mana stat rose, and my reserves expanded. As my proficiency increased, the mana cost of the spell decreased. I began drawing more on the ambient mana in the air, reducing the strain on my body. And above all, though I didn't even realize how, I was now replenishing my energy with every breath.

The mana in the atmosphere was steadily accumulating inside me, becoming fuel. The entirety of nature was becoming an extension of my will, a tool for my magic. It was a thrill greater than anything else in the world.

[You have broken through the wall of perfect magic. Your proficiency with Mana Arrow has reached 190%.]

[You have broken through the wall of perfect magic. Your proficiency with Mana Arrow has reached 200%.]

[Mana Arrow has evolved into a new spell: Rapid Arrow.]

The form of the Mana Arrow changed. It transformed from blue to a dazzling gold, becoming slightly smaller, sharper, and simpler. This was my new original.

[Rapid Arrow <Kim Yusin Original>]

Magic Circle Value: C++

Order: First-order

Classification: Offensive

Special Effects:

-Reduced mana consumption.

-Increased casting speed.

-Drastically improved casting efficiency with continuous use.

Understanding: 51

Sustainability: 10

Operability: 287

Output: 75

It was exactly what I needed. A version of Mana Arrow with simplified formulas and drastically reduced mana consumption. Perfect. With this, I could keep going.

The sound of the barrage intensified. Now, a downpour of gold, not blue, rained fiercely upon the irregular. The ground where it lay began to cave in, sinking lower and lower to form a massive, crater-like pit.

'CRACK!'

The mana coating that had been cracking all over its body finally shattered completely. At last, the Rapid Arrows were piercing its bare flesh. Eyeballs burst and skin was torn apart. Its body was riddled with holes, organs exposed, and drenched in blood.

-Tower Master! You have exceeded your computational limit! Any more…!

'No, not yet.' I was aiming for something further beyond. If I pushed myself just a little more, I might be able to reach it. Why was she stopping me when it was within my grasp?

-Tower Master!

More. More. More. More.

The formulas processed like flashes of light. At this moment, it felt as if there was no calculation on Earth that I couldn't handle. Summoning twenty Rapid Arrows at a time wasn't enough. I attached fifty more.

'More! A greater volume…!'

-Please stop now!

The desperate cry that suddenly pierced my mind snapped me back to my senses. 'What's wrong? I'm still…!'

-The battle is already over! The Irregular is dead, and if you continue, you will be in danger, Tower Master! Please!

My heart sank. I hurriedly halted the flow of mana, stopping the formulas and forcibly dispersing the energy that was preparing to run wild. It was hard to stay conscious as the protesting mana shook my body. I gritted my teeth, clinging to my focus. I breathed slowly, calming the raging remnants of the spell. Just settling the leftover magic took several minutes. An incredible afterglow, the likes of which I'd never felt before, enveloped me.

After letting out a deep sigh, I opened my eyes to an overwhelming number of player messages flooding my vision.

[You have reached a new state through complete immersion in mana.]

[You have acquired the trait: Mana Breathing.]

[Over-immersion has reached Lv.8.]

[Multi-casting has reached Lv.4.]

[Accelerated Casting has reached Lv.4.]

[Remote Casting has reached Lv.2.]

[Magic Power has increased by 20.]

[Stamina has increased by 5.]

[Focus has increased by 10.]

[Willpower has increased by 3.]

My vision blurred. The backlash hit me like a physical blow, and all the strength drained from my body. As I lost my balance and staggered, Bora quickly rushed over to support me.

"Yusin! You really overdid it this time!" Her voice was thick with unshed tears.

I could see Seojin and the fumbling hunter running toward me as well. Just before I lost consciousness, I grabbed Bora's shoulder.

"…Bora."

"Y-Yusin!"

"Make sure… we get our reward…"

With those words, my consciousness finally faded to black.

* * *

My consciousness returned as my blurry vision slowly came into focus. 'Where am I?' The distinct smell of antiseptic suggested a hospital room. Memories of what happened began to surface. I had entered the Lava Cave dungeon, fought an irregular boss monster, and collapsed… Thinking about my condition back then still gave me chills. It was a miracle I was even alive after wringing out so much mana and overworking my brain like that.

I slowly opened my eyes.

'…!'

I jumped. The first thing I saw was Bora's face, inches from mine. She was fast asleep.

'…She's actually quite pretty,' I thought, surprised.

Trying not to wake her, I shifted my eyes to check my surroundings. An IV was stuck in my arm; this was definitely a hospital. And Bora… she had probably been watching over me and fallen asleep from exhaustion. I was a little moved. I briefly recalled the image of her teary-eyed face as she'd held me up. Maybe I was the one who had been prejudiced against her.

'…Huh?'

I belatedly realized something was extending up from over her head. It was her arm. My gaze slowly traveled up her arm and landed on the smartphone clutched in her hand. 'A smartphone?'

'Click!'

'Huh?' A picture was taken of her sleeping face next to mine. Bora immediately whipped around, turning her back to me to check the result. And then…

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!"

She shot up and scrambled backward with frightening speed. After a moment of calming her pounding heart, her eyes widened. "Y-Y-Yusin! When did you wake up?"

'Ah, there it is. That's the Bora I know.' Her face turned red as a tomato under my cold stare.

"Th-This isn't… It's not what it looks like! I wasn't going to post it on social media or anything! I just thought you looked cute while you were sleeping and I wanted to take a picture…!"

Is that why you added a cat-whisker filter to your own face?

"Come here," I said, slowly raising a clenched fist.

She hesitated, then shuffled toward me. Seeing that my arm wasn't moving, she squeezed her eyes shut and, with a little shout of "Hiyah!", headbutted my fist herself.

"Ow, ow!" she yelped, immediately clutching her head in pain. Well, at least she felt guilty enough to follow through.

"A patient is lying in a hospital bed, and you're taking selfies?" I said flatly. "Forget about me being angry. If you posted that online, you'd be the one getting flamed for being so thoughtless."

"…I'm sorry," she mumbled, hanging her head low.

I scratched my head, then spoke after a moment of silence. "What happened after I collapsed?"

"Yes, sir! Jin Bora, Head of Potion Brewing, reporting!" she declared, sitting up straight in her chair. "You were asleep for three days after collapsing in the dungeon."

"…That long? What about the academy?"

"Don't worry. I filed for sick leave, so you avoided expulsion."

"Good work. What's the situation?" Looking back, I had drawn way too much attention. It would be a problem if this incident became a huge hassle.

"Unfortunately, our story got a little buried. You can't expect to be plastered all over the news and become famous."

'Not unfortunate, a huge relief, you attention-seeker. Our Magic Tower is top secret.'

"But how could something like this be buried? The appearance of an irregular boss monster? People died."

"Because at the exact same time, irregular boss monsters appeared in seven different dungeons across the country," she explained.

I shot up in bed. "What are you talking about?"

"Keep going."

"Our dungeon was one of only three with minor casualties. In the others, only one or two people survived, and some parties were completely wiped out. The current player death toll is over a hundred. I heard several star-rank hunters died, too."

"…..."

I put my hand to my forehead, lost in thought. "That's strange. Irregulars aren't supposed to appear that easily. So many of them in different dungeons at the same time?"

"You know what's even stranger? It's not just happening in Korea."

Bora turned on the TV. No matter the channel, they were all covering the same story. A dungeon in Shanghai had apparently spawned one of the worst irregulars on record, with over two thousand casualties. With the hunter boom in full swing, China's field dungeons were always packed. An incident like this would be a complete catastrophe. I'd definitely have to look for information about similar events on the Erendel continent in the Great Library.

"Oh, right, what happened with the reward for killing the irregular?"

"Hehe! We were recognized for our contribution and won ownership of all the byproducts and the reward money. It's all stored safely in the Magic Tower right now." Her eyes sparkled as she continued. "Oh, and something else interesting happened! After you collapsed, Seojin and I ran over to you, but some jerks tried to sneak off with the irregular's mana stone."

"That's common. What happened?"

"That hunter guy suddenly stood up and shouted, 'An Association employee has died, so in accordance with procedure, I, a certified rank-5 hunter, will handle the looting. All assets from the boss monster belong to Mr. Kim Yusin here! If anyone has a problem with that, speak now!'"

'Whoa, that fumbling guy actually did that?' He could have easily claimed ownership for himself in that situation. I had to admit, I saw him in a new light. Feeling more relaxed, I leaned back against the headboard. "Anyway, how long do I have to stay here?"

"They said you can be discharged soon now that you're awake."

"Oh, really?"

"At first, it was no joke. Mana exhaustion, mana reflux, you were even coughing up blood. But by the next day, the mana in your body had completely stabilized. The doctor said you just have symptoms similar to exhaustion and overwork. You have a really strange body."

"That's a relief," I said, sitting up. Come to think of it, I hadn't heard a word from her.

'Ea.'

I called her name in my mind, but there was no answer.

'Ea. Answer me.'

Still no reply. Was she angry?

-…I am glad you have awoken, Tower Master.

Her voice finally echoed in my head. I felt a pang of emotion. That single sentence conveyed just how much she had truly worried about me.

'I'm sorry for making you worry.'

-The Tower Master has no need to apologize to a homunculus.

'Were you that surprised? Hah, I didn't think it would go that far either. Next time, let's figure out a way to win without pushing myself into that extreme state of over-immersion.'

She paused for a moment before speaking. -Query. During the final attack, why did you take on the share of the formulas that I was meant to process?

'Ugh, so she knew.'

-It matters not what happens to me. A homunculus can be replaced if the current one is damaged and discarded. But the Tower Master, and the 'Child of Mana,' cannot be replaced. Please promise me that if the same situation arises again, you will shift the entire burden to me.

'No,' I said firmly. 'To me, you are also irreplaceable. I survived this time thanks to you. Thank you, truly.'

Hmm. She went silent again.

"Hehe."

Bora, who was peeling an apple, gave me a knowing smile. "Ea was really worried back at the tower."

"…Whatever. Go get the doctor. If there's nothing wrong with me, I need to get the discharge process started."

"Okay! I'll be right back."

Name: Kim Yusin

Unique Ability: Sage's Eye

Personal Traits: [Child of Mana Lv.2], [Master of the Magic Tower Lv.10], [Magic Engineering Lv.10] Spell Lord Lv.10], [Over-immersion Lv.8], [Potion Brewing Lv.5], [Information Processing Lv.5] Accelerated Casting Lv.4], [Multi-Casting Lv.4], [Remote Casting Lv.2], [Analysis Lv.2]

Basic Stats: [Magic Power 132], [Agility 12], [Stamina 12], [Strength 7]

Special Stats: [Focus 22], [Intelligence 9], [Willpower 6], [Endurance 2]

Total Stats: 202

New Trait: New! [Mana Breathing Lv.1]

* * *

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