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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 143: The Inflection Point of Pure White (4)
The day of the Dungeon Escape Tournament had arrived.
The audience was packed with far more spectators than during practice.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every mage visiting the artificial island had gathered here.
Fran swallowed nervously.
"My heart’s pounding. I’m getting nervous with all these people here."
"Why are you nervous? You’re not even competing."
"Just thinking that we might be in that spot next year makes me nervous."
"Wow, look at you. Already acting like a Level 5 mage."
Oscar smirked but didn’t deny it.
At their current growth rate, he and the other three Special Forces members would likely reach at least Level 5 by next year’s Night of the Mages.
"Still, there are a lot of empty seats... How many people can this place hold?"
"I think around 30,000? Can’t remember exactly."
"Why did they build the spectator stands so big?"
"Apparently, they’re considering selling tickets to outsiders next year based on this year’s performance."
"Oh, that would definitely make things more exciting."
That meant the Night of the Mages could eventually become a cultural event.
That was probably what the royal family was aiming for.
"That’s also why they restructured the tournament into more detailed categories—to showcase aspects of mages that the general public wouldn’t normally see."
If the royal family was serious about expanding this event, they might even get involved in betting on match outcomes.
Of course, if they went that far, they’d inevitably face criticism for making it too much of a commercial enterprise.
"But so what? Even the Magic Tower is running businesses these days. Why wouldn’t the royal family?"
Oscar smirked as a voice echoed through the large speakers.
[Ahem... Greetings. I am Andre Bright, a court mage and today’s commentator for the 8th Night of the Mages.]
"They even prepared commentators? I didn’t attend the Level 6 knowledge battle, so I didn’t know about this."
This made it clear—the royal family was putting serious effort into turning the Night of the Mages into a sport.
The commentators were seated just below the VVIP section, which had a panoramic view of the stadium.
Alongside the elderly mage who introduced himself as a court mage, a young man and woman sat on either side of him.
[I am Bellowin Martini, a nobleman who appreciates romance and excitement.]
[Hello, everyone! I’m Tesila Windroar, a top-ranked veteran adventurer, here on special duty today~]
Oscar wasn’t sure about "romance" or "top-ranked," but his eyes had been fixed on the old man in the center from the start.
‘Andre... Have you finally reached the legendary Level 8?’
He had connections to this mage even in his past life.
Oscar was briefly curious about why the old man was acting as a commentator, but it was probably by his own choice.
Otherwise, placing an 8th-Level mage in that seat would have been impossible for anyone.
[Bellowin, did you watch yesterday’s practice match for the Dungeon Escape Tournament?]
[Of course! I never miss a good time when there’s booze and excitement.]
[Then you must have a rough prediction of today’s rankings?]
[Absolutely. I don’t expect any major upsets.]
Bellowin shuffled through the documents on the table before continuing.
[I believe the competition for the top spot will be fierce among the Yellow Tower, the Red Tower, and the Black Tower.]
[But the Yellow Tower didn’t perform well in the practice match, did they?]
[True, their record wasn’t great. But considering they were the first to compete, without any prior information, they’ve likely analyzed the other matches and adjusted their strategy accordingly.]
No one disagreed.
If a lower-ranked magic tower had gone first, the result might have been disastrous—a complete failure to clear the dungeon.
[In my opinion, the final rankings will look something like this.]
Bellowin placed stickers representing each magic tower onto a ranking board.
The final order was just as expected—
The Yellow, Red, and Blue Towers in the top three, followed by the Black and Blood Towers at fourth and fifth.
The lower rankings were split among the White, Purple, and Green Towers.
[Hmm... Some magic towers might not like these rankings.]
[It’s all based on practice match records, after all. Right, Miss Tesila?]
[Exactly. If they feel wronged, they should shake things up and prove everyone wrong in today’s match.]
With those words, the first team—the Yellow Tower—entered the stadium.
[Since this is a single-round tournament, a team’s condition and strategy on the day of the match are crucial.]
[And a little luck wouldn’t hurt. The location of treasure chests and keys is randomized each match.]
[Ah, and just as we speak, the Yellow Tower’s match has begun.]
They moved through the dungeon at a speed far beyond what they had shown the previous day.
Their strategy mirrored the methods other towers had used in the latter half of yesterday’s practice matches.
[Ah, they’ve opted for a textbook approach. They’re sending five combat specialists directly to the boss.]
[That makes sense. If the boss gets loose, the search party will have a hard time.]
The dungeon housed various types of monsters, but the boss was the most critical.
The boss normally waited near the exit, but after five minutes, it would start moving.
[Yesterday, the Yellow Tower team didn’t even know there was a boss. They sent all ten members to search for keys and almost got wiped out.]
[That must have felt really unfair. It happened simply because it was their first time and they had no information.]
[It was as if the dungeon was saying, ‘If you don’t know, you’ll just have to get hit,’ right?]
From that point on, the standard strategy for escaping the dungeon changed to immobilizing the boss.
The boss was an extremely powerful monster, and the general consensus was that taking it down required at least eight Level 5 mages.
However, if the goal was merely to keep it restrained, there had been a case where Red Tower succeeded with just four members.
[Yesterday, Red Tower managed to restrain the boss with just four people, but Yellow Tower sent five this time.]
[Well, Red Tower’s mages are more specialized in combat. Playing it safe is a good approach.]
The five of them dodged the boss’s attacks while restraining its movements for 13 minutes.
Finally, good news came from Yellow Tower’s search team.
[Ah! Player Malone from Yellow Tower has obtained the golden key! This means they can now open the exit!]
[But before that, they need to defeat the boss. Everyone needs to gather at the boss’s location first!]
[Yellow Tower’s players are fast! The remaining five members have already joined them! The real battle is beginning!]
The tightly coordinated mages of Yellow Tower took down the Guardian and escaped the dungeon after an 18-minute battle.
[Yellow Tower has cleared the dungeon.]
[Final record: 37 minutes and 14 seconds.]
Compared to all the practice matches from the previous day, they were over ten minutes faster.
Perhaps that’s why the Yellow Tower mages smiled brightly and clapped hands in celebration.
[Wow, we’ve set an incredible record right from the first match.]
[Hmm. This is going to put quite a bit of pressure on the teams that follow.]
It wasn’t enough just to surpass their past performance; the next teams would need to cut at least 15 minutes to feel safe.
Because Yellow Tower’s record was more threatening than expected, mages from other towers were seen urgently holding strategy meetings, their expressions tense.
Watching this, Veronica asked,
“Aren’t we supposed to do something like that?”
“They’ll take care of it themselves. Besides…”
They had already done everything they could.
Now, all that remained was to pray that Verdi would prove himself.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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* * *
[This is fascinating! Absolutely fascinating!]
As the dungeon escape reached its midpoint, Baron Bellowin, caught up in the excitement, shouted.
[It feels like flames have just passed before my eyes! Today’s matches have been incredibly fun, haven’t they?]
[Well… there are still three matches left, though.]
[Ah, yes, that’s true.]
Realizing her mistake a moment too late, Bellowin looked embarrassed, but no one could really blame her.
With Blood Tower’s match concluded, the fight for the top ranks was practically settled.
In fact, the last five matches had been decided by margins as thin as a sheet of paper.
1st. Red Tower – 37 minutes, 11 seconds
2nd. Yellow Tower – 37 minutes, 14 seconds
3rd. Blue Tower – 37 minutes, 23 seconds
4th. Black Tower – 39 minutes, 52 seconds
5th. Blood Tower – 40 minutes, 07 seconds
Among them, the matches between Red Tower, Yellow Tower, and Blue Tower had been so intense that they kept the audience on the edge of their seats.
The rankings could have changed with just a few seconds’ difference.
After witnessing such thrilling matches, no one was particularly interested in the lower-rank battles.
Now that the storm had passed, it was only natural for expectations for the remaining matches to decline.
[White Tower’s mages are preparing to enter.]
[Hmm, but they all seem to be in a good mood today.]
[…That’s true. You’d expect them to feel pressured, but their expressions are strangely relaxed.]
As Andre tilted his head in confusion, Tesila responded.
[In major matches like this, those who enjoy themselves tend to get better results. This might be worth looking forward to.]
[Enjoying the match, huh? I hope they put on a good performance, then.]
With such moderate expectations, White Tower’s match began.
At the same time, murmurs of confusion spread throughout the audience.
“Hm?”
“Huh?”
“What’s going on?”
And it wasn’t just the spectators reacting this way.
Even the commentators watching the match tilted their heads and spoke up.
[Wait, what is White Tower doing?]
[Their movements are really unusual… Is this some kind of strategy?]
Normally, restraining the boss required at least four Level 5 mages, even for a combat-focused team like Red Tower.
However, the moment the match started, White Tower sent only one mage to restrain the boss.
[Ah, that’s Verdi Nakwind. He certainly has impressive raw power as a mage.]
[That’s right. He was incredibly impressive in yesterday’s battle. But…]
A mana reflux disorder.
That severe weakness had manifested, nearly wiping out his team.
It was the reason White Tower had placed last and was the only team to record a completion time over an hour.
[Hmm, is he thinking, ‘I don’t want to hurt my teammates, so I’ll just try this alone’…?]
[Haha, I wonder if this is confidence or recklessness… At the very least, their search team is making unprecedented progress.]
[Well, of course. Unlike the other towers, they have nine members searching for the key.]
On the holographic screen, the dark dungeon map was lighting up at an alarming speed.
But the audience remained skeptical.
“This is hilarious. Aren’t they just going to get wiped out?”
“That seems likely. What kind of confidence is this?”
“Cut them some slack. They must be desperate. When you have no options, you throw a hail mary.”
A desperate gamble born out of hopelessness.
That’s what most people thought.
But Oscar had a different opinion.
‘Hmm. He’s going to restrain the boss alone…?’
Though Oscar had helped heal Verdi’s body, he hadn’t expected such a bold strategy.
He quickly recalled the boss’s battle capabilities and smirked.
‘If this goes well, things might get really interesting today.’
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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