Chapter 37

A gathering of about ten people.

As I enter the room wearing a mask, everyone’s eyes turn to me.

“The Tower of Kryaksha?”

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“Is that the author?”

I can clearly hear the whispers of the people.

“Welcome, Tower of Kryaksha.”

Park Dong-hyuk greets me with a bright smile.

“Hello.”

The voice that flows from my mouth is quite different from my usual voice.

I had suppressed my vocal cords with mana to alter my voice.

One of the gathered people steps forward and extends a hand.

“It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Choi Soo-kwang.”

He was a man with half of his hair turned white.

He stared blankly at the man who introduced himself as Choi Sugwang, then turned his gaze to Park Donghyuk.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes. Among the applicants, we have selected three people who meet the conditions mentioned by the Tower Master of Kraksha.”

“Hey, I’m talking here.”

Choi Sugwang spoke without hiding his displeasure.

Without looking at him, he asked Park Donghyuk.

“Who is it?”

“It’s the ruling party leader.”

“A politician?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Why is this person here? Wasn’t it supposed to be only those related to the medical field?”

Park Donghyuk laughed awkwardly.

“It just happened that way.”

He could roughly guess the situation.

Aren’t they politicians who like to stick their spoons in everything?

They must be trying to raise their profile by attending the scene where the incurable disease mana poisoning, which terrifies the world, is being treated.

“Please remove all unrelated people.”

“Are you done talking? We represent the people.”

“That’s right. Shouldn’t we ensure with our own eyes that the treatment is being carried out safely?”

It seemed that the politician was not alone.

He turned to Choi Sugwang and asked.

“You…”

Choi Sugwang flinched as he tried to say something.

“Are you awakened?”

“….”

“Do you have any professional knowledge about medicine?”

“….”

“Why is someone who is neither here? What can you understand by looking? Can you feel mana?”

“I am the ruling party’s…”

“I don’t care who you are or what you do. But I think your presence here will interfere with what we are about to do.”

He points to the exit with his hand.

“So please leave.”

Choi Sugwang and the politicians flare up again and argue.

“Branch Manager.”

“Yes, Master of the Tower of Kraksha.”

“Cancel today’s schedule. No, reconsider the operation of the Kraksha Tower Treatment Center. Please take care of it, Branch Manager. Call the reporters and broadcasting officials and explain in detail why I made this decision.”

“I will do so.”

As I turn to leave, Choi Sugwang runs up and blocks my way.

“I, I can leave, can’t I? Hey. What are you all doing? Hurry up and get out.”

A few people hesitate and take a step. One of them deliberately walks towards me, bumping my shoulder and lightly touching my mask with his hand.

It seemed like he intended to remove the mask, but the mask, which had been artifacted using the rune of ‘adhesion,’ would never come off unless I wanted it to.

Master has not yet made a mask that allows for talking and eating freely, but adding such a small function is not difficult.

“Ahem-. I apologize.”

The man, who received my gaze, says awkwardly.

Choi Sugwang and the people glare at me as if they want to kill me before leaving.

“Anyway, it’s a problem. There’s no place they don’t interfere.”

“Those people just now-. Do they meet the conditions?”

Park Donghyuk, understanding my meaning, smiles and nods.

“Of course. Their families and cousins will never receive mana addiction treatment.”

It means they fall under the condition of treatment refusal.

There is a condition that they must admit their sins and pay for them, but it is doubtful whether such a thing will happen.

Aren’t they the ones who don’t even share power with their children?

“After the announcement, the political world was in an uproar. We received many protest calls. Some politicians made a fuss, saying they couldn’t accept an unverified treatment method.”

“But you managed to get approval?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan… The great powers called the Blue House one after another. Then the president called each of the politicians who were making a fuss and said one thing.”

Park Donghyuk chuckles.

“Please shut up.”

“Hahaha!”

Not only I, but everyone inside laughs loudly.

“Are the remaining people all medical professionals?”

“Yes. They are verified authorities in their respective fields.”

The phrase “verified” means that they have no disqualifying reasons.

“We will begin the treatment. Please bring in the patient.”

As Park Dong-hyuk makes a phone call somewhere, a woman is brought into the treatment room beyond the glass window, supported by a nurse. She is emaciated, with lifeless, sallow skin.

“This patient has been suffering from mana addiction for two years. She was forcibly dismissed from her job and has not received proper treatment.”

The nurses lay the woman on the bed.

“You can press here to speak.”

Park Dong-hyuk points to a green button.

“Patient, just lie down. The treatment won’t take long, so think of it as a short rest.”

The woman nods weakly beyond the glass window as she presses the button.

She places her hand on the mana stone connected to the mana drain artifact installed under the bed. As mana flows into the mana stone, light emanates and envelops the bed.

The medical staff gasp at the mysterious phenomenon.

After about five minutes, the artifact stops working.

“Is the treatment over?”

Someone asks.

“No. She needs to undergo several more treatments.”

After three to four treatments like this, all the mana in her body will be absorbed.

The light fades, revealing the woman.

Even without anyone telling her, she slowly rises on her own. She raises her hand, twists her waist. Then, at some moment, she smiles brightly.

Her face still looks sickly, but her expression is incomparably more relaxed than just five minutes ago.

“Incredible.”

“We need to conduct a precise examination, but the effect is clear just by looking.”

The medical staff exclaim in admiration, spitting with excitement.

As Park Dong-hyuk gestures, the Dark Merchant members lead the medical staff outside. They will use various equipment to examine the condition of the treated woman.

“Chief.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Do you know why I want to install the treatment device in only one place?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s for confidentiality.”

That’s not entirely wrong.

It’s an artifact of immeasurable value.

Naturally, there would be countless people coveting it. They would try to disassemble and replicate the artifact.

But those were not the ones I was worried about.

“This healing device could be used for crimes.”

“Crimes? Ah-!”

Park Dong-hyuk exclaimed as if he had realized something.

“That’s right. It could be used for crimes targeting the Awakened.”

Exactly.

If the Mana Drain Artifact were used on the Awakened, it would absorb their mana and aura. Although such an event has never occurred in reality, based on the experiences from the continent of Azelium, there is a high probability that they would become crippled.

I trust Dark Merchant.

To be precise, I trust Park Dong-hyuk.

Although Dark Merchant’s work is clear, you never know what might happen with human affairs, right?

It is right to keep the Mana Drain Artifact within my control.

“Master of the Tower of Kraksha.”

“Yes.”

“I just thought of something. This artifact could be used elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere?”

Where else could the Mana Drain Artifact be used other than for treating mana addiction?

“Villains.”

“Ah-!”

Among the Awakened, there are those who place more significance on committing crimes in the real world than on conquering the Tower of Infinity.

They are the terrorist groups and anti-national organizations commonly referred to as villains.

“As far as I know, there are many problems even if villains are captured. There are no facilities to detain them. Where could they be confined? I thought it might be okay to use the artifact on them.”

It certainly seems like a good idea upon hearing it.

The crimes committed by the Awakened villains are a global issue, reported daily in the media.

“It’s something to think deeply about.”

*

When the treatment results for mana addiction were announced at the Kraksha Tower Healing Center, the world went wild.

As expected, mana addiction patients from all over the world applied for treatment through Dark Merchant, who operates and manages the healing center.

While the Korean branch of Dark Merchant was paralyzed by the flood of applications, I logged into Doomsday for the first time in a while and was having a conversation with my master over tea.

“What has kept you so busy that you’ve been so scarce?”

“You remember the illness I mentioned before.”

“The one called mana addiction?”

“Yes. It took a lot of time to create an artifact to cure that illness.”

“Could it be that you succeeded?”

My master opens his eyes wide in surprise.

“Although I faced many obstacles, I finally succeeded.”

“You created a mana drain artifact?”

My master’s reaction is more intense than I expected.

“Did I do something wrong?”

It seems that creating a mana drain artifact is forbidden.

“Wrong? What wrong could you have done? Rather, you have done a great deed.”

“Me? A great deed?”

My master grabs my hand and stands up abruptly.

“Come with me somewhere.”

*

We arrived at our destination through the underground warp magic circle.

“Do you know where this is?”

It is the entrance to a huge tunnel located halfway up a very high mountain.

A calming energy continuously flows from inside the tunnel.

“The mana concentration is very high. Is it a mana stone mine?”

“Hahaha. As expected of my disciple. This is a mana stone mine located on the 68th floor of the Tower of Infinity.”

“Wow!”

This means that this is the mana stone mine where the highest quality mana stones used in the magic tower are obtained.

“Did you come to show me the mana stone mine?”

“Do you think I am such an idle person?”

My master points to one side with his hand.

It is where the warp magic circle we used is installed.

“As you know, a magic circle stops working when it uses up all the mana from the mana stones.”

My master pauses for a moment and opens a box placed next to the magic circle. Inside, it is filled with mana stones emitting a soft blue light.

“If you replace it with new mana stones, the magic circle will work again, but it is troublesome to replace them each time. If left unused for a long time, the mana from the mana stones in the magic circle will disperse into the air. Other artifacts or magic circles don’t matter, but the warp magic circle needs to be managed a bit specially. If the mana from the mana stones disperses completely, you would have to walk to the place where the warp magic circle is installed.”

“In short, it means you have to replace the mana stone before it runs out of mana.”

“Exactly. That’s why the wizards of the Magic Tower, including myself, are researching the perpetual motion magic circle.”

“Perpetual motion magic circle? Is that even possible?”

The master shakes his head.

“Even a dragon heart doesn’t have infinite mana. It’s literally a dream theory. Nevertheless, the reason we continue our research is the hope that we might find something similar to the perpetual motion magic circle. And we haven’t been without results.”

“Results, you say?”

“It’s related to the mana drain artifact you completed.”

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It seems the reason for the excessive reaction upon hearing about the successful creation of the artifact was because of this.

“In ancient times, that is, during the era of the original wizards, we found clues by studying their records.”

The master points to a box containing mana stones.

“You put several mana stones in a container made with the mana drain artifact. Then you connect that artifact to the mana stones installed in the warp magic circle. Wouldn’t the mana stones in the container supply mana to the mana stones in the magic circle? Instead of replacing the mana stones every fortnight or month, you could replace them every year or two. Isn’t that revolutionary?”

“It is revolutionary, but is it easy to draw a mana path that connects externally to the warp magic circle, which is an 8th circle magic?”

Healers invested a tremendous amount of time to add a single mana path for external mana delivery to the 7th circle mana drain artifact.

It would be more difficult to carve that one mana path than to carve the entire runes of the 7th circle.

Moreover, it’s an 8th circle magic circle.

It’s not just about adding a mana path; it has to be linked with other magic circles.

“Haha, if you research, you can find the answer, can’t you?”

If this research succeeds, it seems it would be quite useful in reality as well.

“I wish there was a warp magic circle in the world I live in so I could come here in an instant like now.”

The master looks at me as if asking what I’m talking about.

“Then why not? What’s so difficult about that?”

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