Mad Black Mage’s Tower Strategy
Chapter 1
The year 2050. Seoul.
SWOOOOSH—
The desolate land where everything disappeared after the collapse of the Tower. As drizzling rain fell upon the earth where only traces of ash and death remained, tens of thousands of crowds gathered and raised their voices.
“Kill him! Kill!”
“Execute him!”
Even in the heavy rain, the angry cries of the crowd could be heard, as they wished for someone’s death with one heart and one mind.
As if responding to those cries close to screams, a man was dragged out into the middle of this scene of madness.
CLANK—. CLANK—.
The man ascended to the high platform, dragging long iron chains behind him. Disheveled beard and messy hair that hadn’t been touched for a long time, and beyond them, dim and hazy eyes.
Bound by various magic control devices and sealing artifacts, he was humanity’s traitor and the worst, most vicious black mage—Lee Seo-jin.
Some called him the mad mage, the Mad Demon.
“…….”
Having ascended to the platform, he silently looked down at the shouting crowds with emotionless eyes. Those who screamed at him demanding his execution.
Taking his gaze away from them, Seo-jin looked up at the sky and suddenly recalled a historical saying.
‘After the cunning rabbit dies, the good hunting dog is cooked.’
When the cunning rabbit disappears, the hunting dog that has outlived its usefulness gets eaten.
With the collapse of the Tower, modern civilization was completely destroyed in humanity’s worst accident, the [Collapse Incident], and now that it had been resolved and entered the recovery phase, it was perhaps natural that he, having outlived his usefulness, would be disposed of first.
It was when Seo-jin, bound in restraints, was silently observing the crowds.
SHING—.
Ju Won-jae, the Sword Star who appointed himself as executioner, drew his sword. The chilling blade energy emanated from the sword.
The Sharpness magic that Seo-jin had bestowed upon his sword in the past was still exerting its power.
THUD—
Raising that sword, Ju Won-jae strongly pushed Lee Seo-jin to make him kneel, then turned to look at the angry crowd.
After confirming that the audience had quieted down, he loudly recited Seo-jin’s crimes.
“Black mage Lee Seo-jin! He repeatedly conducted illegal magic experiments, posing a tremendous threat to public safety, and abused his position as temporary tax collector to illegally monopolize magic stones!
Furthermore, he added harmful drugs to rationed tobacco, dealing a severe blow to humanity’s strength, so the only way to atone for this is through death!”
“UOOO!!”
Seo-jin’s crimes were illegal black magic experiments, illegal tax collection, and illegal drug distribution. If all of this were true, death would be deserved, but these were all false accusations.
Although Seo-jin was certainly mad, he was not an evil person.
‘My experiments laid the foundation for the chaotic modern black magic and advanced humanity’s magical realm by several stages, and I trained countless combat mages.’
Thanks to that, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that humanity survived from the waves of monster armies.
His magic stone experiments were the same. Various artifacts and weapons were born through his hands and distributed to many people, becoming the foundation for humanity’s counterattack.
Finally, the harmful tobacco with psychoactive effects—this was the last sanctuary given to patients in this broken world where there was no proper means of treatment.
Healers with divine power were extremely rare beings, so most of the wounded died in pain without proper treatment. The tobacco that Seo-jin distributed only slightly eased the pain of those dying.
Seo-jin bit his lips tightly and clenched his fists.
‘My judgment was correct. In the end, humanity won.’
But the achievements he had made were instead becoming blades to strike his neck.
Ju Won-jae said,
“Those who agree to his execution, raise your hands!”
“UOOO!”
At those words, the crowds rose up like a collective organism, letting out roars.
Seo-jin looked around at them with cold eyes. Madness is like wildfire, easily spreading.
Surely each of them individually would be rational humans, but clustered together as one, they were already madmen like Seo-jin.
Appealing to them for rational judgment or begging for mercy would be futile.
Seo-jin quietly asked Ju Won-jae amidst the mad cries of the crowd,
“How far up does this whole affair reach?”
Even Ju Won-jae, the Sword Star and main character of the hero party, couldn’t decide Seo-jin’s execution on his own.
At Seo-jin’s question, he vilely raised the corners of his mouth and showed the several rings on his hand.
“Of course, our entire party.”
Each ring was a token and a kind of voting right that the party members possessed.
Seeing them, Seo-jin quietly closed his eyes.
‘The entire hero party.’
Those who had shared hardships with him for a long time and had gone through countless battlefields together had agreed to his execution.
But this wasn’t such a strange thing. Some of them had always been displeased with Seo-jin.
Seo-jin burst into laughter as if feeling absurd.
“Hah, stupid fools. Don’t you think your turn won’t come?”
Seo-jin’s execution was only the beginning of a massive purge. Starting with Seo-jin’s elimination, the remaining party members would also be dealt with by Ju Won-jae’s hand in turn.
That was the fate of hunting dogs that had become useless.
Having organized his thoughts, Seo-jin sighed and asked Ju Won-jae,
“Are you planning to become the king of this broken world?”
“That’s right.”
Ju Won-jae answered refreshingly. He grabbed Seo-jin’s collar and pulled him up, then pointed toward the crowd and whispered quietly.
“The crowd is ignorant anyway. Look at that spectacle of them crying out for your execution. They don’t even recognize the greatest contributor who actually ended the Collapse Incident, do they? They’re people who don’t know how to think or judge for themselves.”
“…….”
“To lead those weak and ignorant people and rebuild human civilization again requires a strong leader. Also, a powerful authority system centered around that leader is necessary. So…… purges are essential.”
He threw Seo-jin back to the ground as if pushing him away, then pointed his sword at his neck.
“Mad Demon Lee Seo-jin. This is your final role. Die for humanity, bearing all the malice and resentment.”
“…….”
He didn’t care about Ju Won-jae’s twisted desire for dominance and his view of the masses.
Seo-jin asked him,
“Ha-yeon. What do you plan to do with her?”
Saintess Kwon Ha-yeon. She had been recovering inside the Eternal Snow Ice since the final battle until now.
If Ha-yeon had been well, such a farce would never have happened.
She was the most friendly being toward Seo-jin and the actual unifying force that brought the hero party together.
Ju Won-jae answered,
“She’s quite a useful being. She can heal wounds and diseases, and can extend lifespans with divine power. Above all, the position of saintess is like a ray of light to the masses. She…… I plan to brainwash her well and use her, so don’t worry.”
Having finished speaking, Ju Won-jae pressed his sword against Seo-jin’s neck again.
As the sharp blade touched, a trickle of blood flowed down and fell to the ground.
“Now, do you have any final words?”
‘……Final words.’
He had obtained all the necessary information through Ju Won-jae. All that remained was to accept death as it was and aim for the next opportunity.
Seo-jin slowly closed his eyes and murmured softly,
“When does…… a person die?”
“Is that a Zen riddle?”
“No, it’s nothing that grand. How long does consciousness last after the neck is severed? It’s a pure question about that. I’ve always been curious about it.”
Again raising his eyelids, Seo-jin’s pupils gleamed with madness as always.
Seeing this, Ju Won-jae asked with a sneer,
“Suddenly talking nonsense. Has your madness flared up again?”
To this, Seo-jin brought his neck to the blade himself and said provocatively,
“That’s right, it’s my life’s final experiment. After my head flies off, I’ll blink my eyes while consciousness remains, so please count them well. You can do at least that much, can’t you?”
“Crazy bastard. I’ve always disliked you. Now die.”
At Seo-jin’s mad proposal, Ju Won-jae shuddered and swung his sword.
WHOOSH—
“Ah, but you know what?”
Along with Seo-jin’s final words, Ju Won-jae’s sword struck his neck.
“UOOO!!”
The crowd’s cheers exploded like thunder at the moment of execution. Tremendous cheers that seemed to shake heaven and earth poured down onto the platform.
“…….”
But instead of the crowd’s cheers, Ju Won-jae, who had carried out the execution, heard Seo-jin’s final words echoing in his ears.
[The Stone of Regression has already been completed.]
Ju Won-jae stood frozen in place, mulling over Seo-jin’s last words.
‘The Stone of Regression is completed?’
[The Stone of Regression.]
This was a transcendent-grade artifact said to be able to return everything to its origin. As he remembered, this was the project that Lee Seo-jin had said he would research for his entire life while scraping together magic stones.
It was research that contained his will to reverse the world destroyed by long battles, and find a better way to resolve the Collapse Incident itself.
Of course, Ju Won-jae didn’t want that Stone of Regression to be completed.
Just when his reign was about to begin after ending the Collapse Incident, there was no need to take the dangerous risk of returning everything to its origin.
Moreover—
Ju Won-jae gripped his sword tightly and gritted his teeth.
‘The current victory is the result of crossing countless lines of death and the product of countless strokes of luck.’
Even if he returned to the beginning, it was uncertain whether he could achieve such a feat again, and unless he was a madman like Seo-jin, no one would want to do such a thing again.
Ju Won-jae gnawed his lips as he looked at Seo-jin’s corpse.
‘That guy was always strange.’
Mad Demon Lee Seo-jin. His near-mad obsession with research and his understanding of magical theory were certainly remarkable. His fame as a black mage was also thanks to that obsession and understanding.
However, Seo-jin’s such abilities weren’t particularly threatening to him. For some reason, he couldn’t properly use general magic. The reason he became a black mage was probably due to that.
But Ju Won-jae’s expectation that he wouldn’t be a threat turned out to be wrong.
‘Separate from his meager magical talent, that guy had a demonic power to attract people.’
Seo-jin didn’t hesitate to share his research results and educate others. Moreover, he didn’t turn away from those in difficult situations and willingly stepped forward to help them.
Even the magic bestowed upon the holy sword that Ju Won-jae was now holding, and the tobacco he favored, were all Seo-jin’s creations.
When the number of people following Seo-jin grew one by one, even Ju Won-jae felt anxious.
Moving people’s hearts and making them his own—that was Lee Seo-jin’s true power.
Although their numbers weren’t large, having another center of gravity within the faction was certainly a threat to Ju Won-jae.
The reason Seo-jin became the first target of purge was also for that reason. Now that the Collapse Incident had ended, he was the most threatening enemy to Ju Won-jae.
‘Perhaps I wasn’t feeling threatened by that guy, but rather inferior.’
But now, threats and inferiority complexes didn’t matter at all.
“Keke.”
Now his head had fallen and was rolling on the ground, but he had survived like this and become the one who leads everyone.
“Kehehe.”
If this wasn’t true victory, what could be called victory?
“I won! I won!”
The Stone of Regression? Such a thing couldn’t possibly exist. No matter how much of a genius black mage Lee Seo-jin was said to be.
“Kehehe, hahaha.”
It was when Ju Won-jae was bursting into mad laughter with joy.
FLASH—.
A pure white pillar of light suddenly descended from the sky.
“……!”
That pillar of light brightly illuminated Seo-jin, who had already died.
“N-no way!”
Ju Won-jae’s eyes widened as he tried to escape from the pillar of light, but—
FLASH—!
That pillar of light gradually grew larger and swallowed up everything on the platform.
“…….”
Seo-jin slowly opened his eyes.
What entered his sight was the ceiling of a studio apartment that was once familiar but now felt awkward.
The awakened Seo-jin first felt around his neck.
“…….”
Fortunately, his head was attached properly in its place. There was no mishap of viewing his own headless torso.
Next, Seo-jin fumbled around his chest looking for the Stone of Regression he had implanted beforehand.
But there was not even a trace of the Stone of Regression.
‘I’ve returned.’
Seo-jin had truly returned to the past.
It was somewhat disappointing that he couldn’t obtain information about how long a decapitated human’s consciousness is maintained. But that would be for next time.
Thanks to provoking Ju Won-jae, his head flew off without pain and the Stone of Regression activated safely, so that was enough.
“Heave.”
Seo-jin, who had gotten up, snapped his fingers to activate his magic circuit.
Faint black patterns appeared on the skin of his forearms and magic power seemed to gather, then—
POP—.
With a feeble sound, the magic circuit went out.
Only burn marks remained briefly on his fingertips, but no magic was activated.
Seo-jin caressed his tingling hand and his eyes gleamed.
‘Indeed.’
This was still before the ‘Tower’ collapsed, when the boundary between reality and the other world remained.
Implementing magic in reality where magic power concentration is extremely low is difficult.
Moreover, Seo-jin now had the body of an ordinary person who hadn’t even awakened.
“Phew.”
Seo-jin blew on his fingertips to shake off the ash and got up from his seat.
Standing tall in the room, he pulled back the curtains of the shabby studio apartment and took in the view of the hillside neighborhood.
SWOOSH—.
As the curtains were drawn, bright light along with the peaceful blue sky and cityscape entered his view.
Seoul, 2040. The gigantic ‘Tower’ standing majestically in the center of it all.
Seo-jin stared blankly out the window, lost in sentiment, then soon parted his lips with a faint smile.
“According to plan.”
