Chapter 1252

<Episode 1252> 1252. Dark Moon

…

After popping the cap off the vial, I chugged the drug in one go.

BOOM!

My heart pounded violently. The mana within my body began leaking outwards as the astral spirit—what wizards call their consciousness—was forcibly opened. The mana that escaped my body felt like a second sense, creating an illusion of touch, smell, and sight despite lacking sensory organs.

But it didn’t stop there.

The sensitivity of the mana grew sharper and sharper until it transcended mere sensation altogether. It was like experiencing the world breaking apart, mixing together, being recreated, then shattering again.

Fifty mana conduits activated involuntarily, and the astral expanded and contracted repeatedly. The world felt like it was spiraling into a black hole, dissolving into chaos. And at some point, physical sensations vanished entirely.

Normally, this would completely overwhelm one’s sense of self. After all, when the astral melts away like a dead slime, maintaining your identity is downright bizarre. But that bizarre thing was happening to me.

Amidst the contraction, expansion, rotation, and counter-rotation of the astral, my mind remained perfectly steady—unshaken.

Taking Playload had been the gamble of my life, but it seems I won this bet.

Playload.

The most dangerous awakening drug in this world, it has three nicknames.

To commoners, it’s known as “The Final Pleasure.” That’s because ingesting undiluted Playload results in a 100% fatality rate for them.

Its second nickname is “The Source of Inspiration.” Artists are its biggest users; rumors claim drinking Playload brings inspiration.

And its third and final nickname? “Five Percent Hope.”

It’s the hope of magicians trapped by their limits. A rumor circulates among them: There’s a five percent chance Playload can help you transcend those barriers.

No one knows if it’s actually five percent, but the fact remains—it *is* possible to break through using this absurd drug. And right now, I was doing just that.

“…Ghhhh…”

Was that my voice?

Hard to tell with senses so scrambled. All I could see was a world shattered into dust, reassembling itself piece by piece.

I couldn’t even tell if I was sitting on the floor or hanging upside down from the ceiling. Physical sensations were gone. How do you move your fingers again? Breathe? What even is libido?

I wiped away all these questions and focused solely on the astral.

The chaotic astral continued contracting and expanding—a normal reaction. My job was to organize it, ensuring useless things didn’t take root. Too much unnecessary information might fry my brain like a microwave-cooked potato.

CRACK!

How much time passed? Just as the astral kept pulsing, cracks started forming. I quietly peered into the fissures, watching as they widened until *clang!*—a portion broke off.

Since my sense of self remained intact, the astral didn’t collapse. Instead, it slowly repaired the fractured section.

Through the broken fragment, I glimpsed something beyond.

A colossal sigil construct came into view—so massive it rivaled the sun. Though incomprehensible to my current understanding, instinctively I knew what it was: the source of magic, the Overmind.

I wanted to understand more, but the astral finished repairing itself and stabilized. I had crossed the wall.

I opened my eyes.

A cold gray floor greeted me. I’d been sitting with my head buried, and now I smelled vomit. Judging by the blood floating atop the bile, I’d also nosebleeded profusely. Fresh crimson still streamed down my face.

“…What a mess.”

Shakily, I stood up. My body trembled. While my astral had reached Level 5, my physical form remained unchanged…


Since I was only a Tier 4, the balance wasn’t right. The side effects of this imbalance manifest through the body.

“Congratulations! You’ve reached Tier 5! Who would’ve thought you were at Tier 4…? Your thoroughness is impressive, but your talent for breaking a 5% chance to reach Tier 5 is even more incredible! How does it feel?”

“I want to throw up.”

I closed my eyes and observed my body. Mana nodes: 50. Same as when I was Tier 4. Normally, reaching Tier 5 should mean having at least 80 mana nodes.

Which means I’m not normal.

‘Still, Astral has reached Tier 5. My output might be lower compared to other Tier 5 mages… But I can cover that with speed and effortlessly use difficult Tier 5 spells.’

[Water]

[Attraction]

I used both spells simultaneously. I created water in midair and cleaned my messed-up face using Attraction. After rinsing my mouth too, the stench disappeared, leaving me refreshed.

“…But why did you take off your mask?”

“It’s a gesture of respect toward you. I witnessed your extraordinary talent. I’d like to maintain a good relationship with you moving forward.”

“What’s your name?”

“Louise Villstein. I was a special agent of the Haist Empire and now work for Villstein Corporation.”

It didn’t surprise me much. It was exactly what I expected.

“What about yours?”

“Are you joking? You already know my name.”

“That’s not your name; it’s a number. Do you not have a name? If it’s alright, may I have the honor of naming you?”

“Stop saying creepy things. My name is Eugene. It’s Eugene.”

Louise nodded, looking slightly disappointed.

“The name Adolf suited you well… Oh well. Of course, Eugene suits you too.”

“…”

I closed my eyes again. I needed to observe my body. As I checked my condition for a while, Louise casually spoke up.

“You don’t seem quite right. Are you okay?”

“It’s due to the imbalance between Astral and my physical body. It’ll stabilize over time.”

“Hmm. That’s good news. By the way, have you recruited allies?”

“Allies?”

“I mean your classmates, Eugene. The more we recruit, the easier our plans will go.”

Without realizing it, I sighed.

“…No. I’ll do it alone.”

“Hmm. Very well. With your current strength, you’ll manage.”

The faces of my classmates, including No. 212, came to mind.

If this succeeds, I won’t just be a wanted terrorist—I’ll be hunted by the FreeCell Kingdom for life. Even if I seek asylum in another country, they’ll still chase me.

I don’t want to ruin their dreams. I don’t want to force them into a lifetime of being pursued.

‘Trainor Venus must die, and the Battle Mage Project must end. If the plan succeeds, they’ll gain freedom… I’ll bear the cost.’

I stood up.

“Did you bring everything I asked for?”

“Yes, it’s all in this bag. But why do you need these things?”

“They’ll come in handy. I’ll be back soon. Stay here. You can leave if you want.”

“I’ll wait. This scenery isn’t bad, so I won’t get bored.”

Leaving Louise behind, I headed to Abandoned Mine #11.

I didn’t come to this northern village without reason. There’s something I need to obtain here.

‘In the game, you’d need to complete eight moon-related quests to get this, but reality isn’t a game. Skipping the quest shouldn’t matter.’

Walking deep into the abandoned mine, I punched the walls as I went.

‘There it is.’

[Air Boom]

BOOM!

The wall crumbled, revealing a hidden passage. Unlike the mine, it looked clean, though dust covered it from long neglect.

At the end of the passage, the first door appeared. A door without a handle. I reached into the bag and took out one of the items Louise prepared—an orangish copper coin. Placing the coin on the door,

Kurrrrrr.

The door momentarily glowed before opening.

Inside, the space felt lived-in. I opened a drawer in the corner, took out a red potion, and drank it. My upset stomach improved instantly. I tossed the empty bottle on the ground and moved further inside.

Another door without a handle appeared. This time, I used a Topaz shard on it.

Kurrrrrr.

The door opened.

Doors open when the correct ore or gemstone is placed on them. Easy if you know how, but a nuisance if you don’t.

I repeated the process of using ores and gems to open doors and proceeded deeper inside…


The world had begun to spin. I’d gathered as many potions and documents as I could carry. Finally, using platinum, I opened the last eighth door and stepped inside.

I strode confidently toward the table at the far end of the room.

“There it is!”

A thick book resting atop the table caused my lips to curl into a smirk.

This was the workshop of McDor, a 7th-grade alchemist. The hefty tome was crammed with his alchemical knowledge.

“Alchemy in this world is treated like magic. Even I, a magician, can learn it. They say alchemical formulas are damn complicated… but they’re not beyond comprehension.”

Right there, I flipped through the book, devouring its contents, until I snapped back to reality and rummaged through the desk drawers for anything worth taking.

Three ampoules.

Overlord doping potions. In the game, these were frequently used, but due to severe side effects in this setting, I couldn’t use them as recklessly as in the game.

Holding McDor’s alchemical texts, I walked out of the mine.

“Remarkable. Who would’ve thought he’d have everything so neatly organized…”

From basic alchemy to numerous advanced techniques, everything was meticulously recorded.

“The mission lasts three days. That should be plenty of time to memorize all this.”

Auuuuuuuuh.

As I exited the abandoned mine, a chilling wind blew, and the howl of wolves echoed nearby.

“Oh yeah, there’s a werewolf lair near Mine No. 5. Might as well take care of it while I’m here.”

Walking through the snow-covered wasteland, someone might call this scenery picturesque, but to me, a soldier, it was nothing but trash.

I froze mid-step. Nearly twenty wolves charged at me, encircling me in an instant.

“Grrrrr.”

At the center of the pack stood a smugly grinning werewolf. Standing two meters tall on two legs, it was a lupine humanoid.

“If this follows the original story, werewolves aren’t just monsters—they’re the result of wolf genes spiraling out of control.”

Werewolves were originally human.

But that wasn’t really relevant.

[Electric Field]

With a stomp of my foot, hundreds of blue electric beams shot up from the ground around me. The snow melted, and the 23 wolves were electrocuted.

Even after the Electric Field swept through, the wolves didn’t die. Shaking off the shock, they rose again.

“Electric Field is a 4th-grade magic spell. It shouldn’t have lacked power… must be the influence of the werewolf.”

Raising my right hand, telekinesis activated, pulling water and snow into the air, where they coalesced into 23 sword-like shapes.

[Steel Alchemy]

Using a 2nd-grade alchemical magic, the water and snow temporarily transformed into steel. Twenty-three magnificent steel swords formed in midair.

Lowering my right hand, the 23 steel swords simultaneously descended upon the wolves. Instant death. Each blade cleanly pierced their necks. No wolves remained alive.

The 23 steel swords reverted to their original forms of snow and water, shattering into pieces.

Now only one werewolf remained.

[Barrier]

Given the werewolf’s incredible speed, I enveloped myself in a barrier.

Expecting it to charge, the werewolf hesitated upon meeting my gaze, then turned and bolted across the snowy field on all fours.

“Guess it’s running away. Didn’t see that coming.”

I didn’t panic. This was the snowy plain between the abandoned mines; even fleeing, it couldn’t escape my sight.

Using telekinesis, I shaped falling snow into bullet-sized projectiles.

[Material Conversion]

Transforming the snow bullets into aluminum ones.

[Instant (刹那) in use. Remaining stacks: 6]

In the slowed-down world, I calculated the runes and drew a magical circle around the bullet.

Crackle, crackle!

The drawn blue magical circle erupted with fierce electricity.

Adjusting the angle of the circle and bullet, I raised my fist and struck the magical circle as if cocking a revolver’s hammer.

[Railgun]

The fired Railgun split the accumulated snow on either side as it hit the werewolf. Snow scattered everywhere, and a crater formed in the ground.

Kwaang!

By the time the sound reached me, the aftermath of the blast had already engulfed me. The mere backlash tore apart my 5th-grade Barrier into shreds. Fortunately, the Barrier sacrificed itself, sparing me from direct impact.

From afar, I confirmed the mangled corpse of the werewolf before turning away.

“The output was weaker than expected.”

My self-devised Railgun magic wasn’t satisfactory. While you can’t expect perfection on the first try, according to my calculations, the bullet’s speed should’ve been over 1.5 times faster. I had a pretty good idea why.

“It’s because I have fewer mana cores than average 5th-grade mages, resulting in insufficient output. Increasing my mana cores is top priority.”