The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 263

A ghost who once served the Lord of the Dead.

He wanted to sit and listen to her story in full, but unfortunately, there was no time for that.

He wasn’t alone here.

Judging that, Seong attempted to absorb Basile’s memories and experiences.

Basile’s face lit up with joy as she spoke.

—Ah! Please... take my memories... and find the resting place of the Lord of the Dead.

“Resting place?”

He asked, but—

There was no need for an answer.

Basile’s memories and experiences flowed into him immediately afterward.

Like a panoramic reel, her life poured into his mind.

Among the stream of memories were scenes of Basile as a surprisingly powerful mage, serving the Lord of the Dead—the ruler of necromancers.

And the Lord of the Dead... had been human.

That was unexpected.

“The Lord of the Dead was human?”

Well, Helena was technically human too.

So it wasn’t impossible.

Still, the title “Lord of the Dead” usually evoked the image of a lich.

In any case, as Seong absorbed the memories—

A message appeared before his eyes.

[You have displayed a power that exceeds your current abilities through “Unknown Power.”]

[Wisdom +10, Intelligence +10 permanently increased.]

As expected of Basile, who had been a powerful mage.

He received a significant boost in both wisdom and intelligence.

Quite a satisfying reward—but unfortunately, he now knew that the Lord of the Dead was no longer here.

By the time Basile had grown old and neared death, the Lord of the Dead had already left the castle.

However, he had left behind his loyal servant.

And much later, not far from here, the City of Seven Lights, Lumensia, was founded.

So, while the Lord of the Dead no longer resided here and had moved elsewhere, Seong had a rough idea of where he might’ve gone.

More importantly, though—

“There really was a hidden piece.”

Seong smiled to himself, pleased by the thought.

If a hidden piece truly existed, then naturally, he had to claim it.

And since they were the ones who had helped him get here—

It was only right to continue with them.

With that decided, Seong pondered what to do next.

“Yu-hyeon?”

“Ah, yes?”

“Is something wrong?”

Ir asked, her voice tinged with concern.

It was natural—Seong had suddenly stopped at the castle entrance.

Realizing he had zoned out a bit, Seong opened his mouth to explain, but—

Plodin spoke up first.

“We’ve been playing for quite a while now.”

“Ah, that’s true. It’s already evening in Korean time.”

“Same here in Japan.”

“There’s not much time difference between Korea and Japan.”

Since the party consisted of Stella and Plodin from Japan, and Ir and Bask from Korea, the timing wasn’t too far off from Seong’s.

It really was getting late.

It had taken quite a while to get here.

Not because the distance was far—

But because they’d had to fight through a lot of monsters along the way.

Had Seong come alone, he might’ve already entered the castle and taken the hidden piece by now.

Even so, their party was moving faster than most.

“Hmm... Then should we regroup tomorrow morning?”

“This is a save point anyway.”

“Castle entrances in story events usually are.”

“Hahaha! That sounds great! You look pretty tired too, Yu-hyeon.”

Seong was about to argue with Bask, but nodded instead.

A break didn’t sound so bad.

“Then... tomorrow’s Monday. Is that okay for everyone?”

Ir asked just in case, tilting her head.

Seong nodded.

It was a fair question, but maybe unnecessary.

Even the Prism Effect party, unaffiliated with any guild, was making more in a month than most regular office workers.

At this level, there weren’t many who didn’t live off gaming full-time.

Once Seong nodded his agreement—

Ir, watching him closely, asked again.

“How about 10 a.m. Korean time?”

She said it to everyone, but it was basically directed at Seong.

He nodded again and gave a clear answer.

“Sounds good. See you then.”

“Great, great. Everyone did a great job today! You too, Yu-hyeon!”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Hahaha, good work everyone!”

With that, everyone exchanged farewells at the save point entrance and logged out one by one.

Seong, too, gave his goodbyes—

Glanced briefly at the Lord of the Dead’s castle—and logged out.

[The Eternal World awaits your return.]

Seong emerged from the capsule, stretching his stiff limbs.

Then he thought—

“The Lord of the Dead isn’t here, but the hidden piece is.”

That thought brought up a new issue.

Hidden pieces were a good thing.

The problem was how to discover one naturally.

That was the tricky part.

“If I were alone, I could just go grab it... but with others around, it’s not that easy.”

He’d have to act it out, somewhat.

Well, he’d figure it out tomorrow.

Seong let it slide for now.

Tomorrow’s problems could wait until tomorrow.

“Seong, are you out? Dinner’s ready~”

“Yes, I’m coming.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Right on cue, his mother, Lee Na-gyeong, called out.

Seong stepped outside.

2.

Was it the creeping chill?

A hall blanketed in pale bluish-grey frost.

And in it, someone stood with a dreadful gleam in their eyes.

A being long asleep slowly raised empty, hollow eyes and gazed into the distance, as if looking far beyond the space before them.

In the massive hall where the throne sat—

Behind the throne stood a figure, reduced to nothing but bone, steeped in frostbitten air, mouth agape in speechless awe.

—My lord... has the Lord returned?

But the presence vanished.

The aura that had seemed to be the Lord’s was gone.

In its place, an unpleasant presence seeped into the air.

Not his master’s presence, but that of another lord.

Because of that—

The skeletal figure, awakened by what it believed to be its master’s aura, now flared its bluish-grey pupils from the depths of its hollow gaze, radiating a menacing chill.

How dare they.

Do they not know where they stand?

To trespass with the aura of another lord...

He had sensed many a presence intrude upon this castle over the ages.

But those had been insignificant.

Even if they managed to defeat his reanimated minions, they weren’t worth noticing.

But a lord was different.

To dare trespass on the sacred territory of the great Lord of the Dead—this could never be forgiven.

—My loyalty... Protect the Lord’s castle.

With a flash of those glowing eyes, the ancient skeletal figure behind the throne stirred at last.

Barseon, once the lich of the Lord of the Dead, awakened from his slumber.

A different hidden piece than the one in Seong’s memories—

Another hidden piece had awakened and begun to move.

3.

The next day.

[Welcome to another world—The Eternal World.]

[May great fortune be with you, Player 『Seong』.]

It was Monday morning, but—

The other four were already online.

When Seong logged in and saw they were all there, he was a little surprised.

They’d agreed to meet at 10, and he’d gone for a morning jog, eaten a hearty breakfast, and logged in ten minutes early—

But somehow, they were earlier.

Seeing them already gathered, Seong asked sheepishly,

“Ah... Have you been waiting long?”

“Huh? Oh, no, not at all! We got here around the same time.”

“That’s right.”

“Didn’t wait too long.”

“Hahaha! You’re not even late!”

Everyone answered casually and cheerfully.

Seong gave a small nod of thanks, feeling grateful for how laid-back they were.

Scratching his cheek, he muttered to himself that he probably should’ve come even earlier.

But anyway, the important part was that they were all here.

Ir beamed and spoke brightly.

“Let’s go all out again today!”

“Ir’s full of energy again.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Hahaha, she’s gonna trip over herself again.”

Though they teased Ir for being overly excited, everyone was smiling.

They were just as thrilled, really.

Seong watched them fondly and nodded.

Alright then, time to grab that hidden piece naturally once we get inside.

Resolving that silently, Seong entered the castle of the Lord of the Dead.

Inside the castle, stronger undead awaited than those outside.

The structure was like one giant /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ dungeon.

Combat posed no issue.

Most of the enemies were undead, and many—like Razak—used chilling cold-based attacks.

Thanks to that, Seong’s Inferno Lord had a clear elemental advantage.

Violet flames surged and tore through the skeleton knights.

The Prism Effect party had already wounded many of them earlier, so Seong’s flames finished them off completely.

Bones melted in the fire, and as the flames spread, they slammed hard into a brick embedded in the wall.

Click—

“Uh... what was that?”

“That sound just now...”

“...I heard it too.”

“It’s not a trap.”

Bask, who was in a rogue-class role, reassured them.

Everyone relaxed slightly—

But since they didn’t know what might appear, they remained on guard.

Then, the wall near the sound began to shift—

And a hidden room was revealed.

“Wh-what?!”

“There was a room like this...?”

“This isn’t in any guide...”

“Then this must be!?”

Their eyes widened. Swallowing hard, they all entered the newly revealed space.

It looked like a wizard’s study, filled with books and experimental instruments.

There were journals too, though they couldn’t be read.

“Wow, this... this looks like a mage used to live here!?”

“...Seriously.”

“Those are skill books over there.”

“Who could’ve used this place?”

They eagerly explored the room, eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Seong, of course, already knew everything about this place.

But pretending not to care would be weird.

So he walked around too, checking the skill books.

Each one was of Unique-grade.

The higher-than-expected tier made Seong nod in satisfaction as he continued to glance around.

But aside from the skill books, there was nothing else worth taking.

And all of the books were black magic skills.

“Ahh, they’re all black magic spells.”

“A little disappointing.”

“Hm, but we can still sell them for a profit.”

“Oh? Looks like we can each take one, huh?”

“You’re right.”

When Seong agreed, everyone nodded.

Then Ir, after exchanging looks with the others, spoke up.

“Um... Yu-hyeon?”

“Yes?”

“We’re allowed one each, but honestly, we wouldn’t have made it this far without you. So we’ll just take one between the four of us and leave the rest for you.”

“...Huh?”

Seong tilted his head, not understanding why.

Wouldn’t it make sense for everyone to just take one and sell it?

“Come on, we basically got a free ride. Even taking one feels bad.”

“But still...”

“No, it’s fine. None of us use black magic anyway.”

“Hm.”

They were being so sincere that refusing would feel rude.

So when Seong gave a small nod of acceptance—

They all smiled warmly.

It was honestly touching to see them wanting to give him something, even if just as thanks.

Seong thought to himself that he’d have to find them more hidden pieces.

Just as he was about to move—

Rumble...

The entire castle began to tremble slightly.