Isekai Online Game Developer

Magic battles, as the name suggests, are contests where wizards compete against each other with their spells.

The rules are simple.

First, each wizard equips an artifact that generates a barrier based on their mana level.

If the opponent’s magic hits the barrier and causes damage, they score 1 point.

Magic of a level lower than the opponent’s barrier does not earn points.

Scoring also occurs when the opponent’s magic is successfully countered.

Naturally, illusion magic cannot cause damage to the enemy.

In other words, the only way to score is through the second method.

It goes without saying that no wizard would use such a strategy.

“Rai, are you really okay with this?”

“I told you it’s fine. Just do as we discussed last night.”

Rain climbed up to the dueling arena, looking tense.

She and her opponent, Domur, set up their respective barriers.

The winner is the one with the highest score during the roughly five minutes the barriers are up.

The magic battle began.

“Win it, Domur!”

“Crush that illusion mage!”

Amidst the passionate cheers of the royal mages, Domur began casting his magic first.

“Pfft… I never thought the illusion mage Riot would come at me seriously.”

At that moment, Lenz approached Rai and spoke.

He wore a grin, as if he already sensed victory.

“I just wanted to say, don’t cowardly reveal my identity if you lose…”

“Don’t worry. Whether you win or lose, I plan to keep the user’s anonymity intact. Just remember, having that anonymity doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.”

“Damn you…!”

Lenz bristled with anger at Rai’s words but took a deep breath and held it back.

“Let’s just watch the magic battle. Let’s see how great our magic really is.”

“Ha, what kind of foolish illusion magic… What the…?”

Lenz’s eyes widened in shock as he glanced back at the dueling arena.

From an outside perspective, it didn’t seem like there was a fierce battle going on.

But the scoreboard was bizarre.

[Rain 1 : Domur 0]

The score of the illusion mage was rising.

In that instant, Domur began preparing his magic again.

And Rain cast her magic in tandem.

Kaga-kaga-kag!

Steel spikes shot up from the ground.

Rain dove to evade, but steel spikes erupted from the opposite side as well.

At that moment, a massive beam of light began to shine from the sky.

It was like a god. Or a giant angel. Or a giant demon.

An entity that seemed to transcend human capabilities descended, starting to attack Domur.

“Hiiik—!”

Due to this, Domur’s magic was interrupted, and Rain’s score increased.

Because illusion attribute mana intervened, the score was counted as a magic counter.

Even the spectators shrank back at the appearance of this entity. Lenz was no different.

Naturally, it was an illusion.

So vivid it was hard to believe it was an illusion, and it filled everyone with fear.

“What… what is this?! It’s just an illusion anyway!”

Snapping back to reality, Lenz shouted.

Domur regained his senses at his voice.

But when he looked up, more than ten giant beings were looming over him.

“T-this is an illusion… an illusion… an illusion…”

Domur brainwashed himself as he prepared his magic.

Then the giants began to stomp their feet.

The tremors felt as real as could be.

It was a fear that a pampered royal mage struggled to withstand.

“It’s an illusion… an illusion… an illusion…”

With his eyes squeezed shut, Domur cast his magic.

The giants’ feet were descending upon him, ready to crush him.

Surely it was an illusion, but the shadows looked entirely real.

The overwhelming sensation of the huge foot drawing closer and the diminishing light of his surroundings.

“Hraaaah—!”

Ultimately, Domur canceled his attack magic and generated a giant steel barrier around himself.

Kugung…

The giants’ steps passed through Domur and his steel shield without a hitch.

“Haha, haha, ha-hahaha!”

Seeing the illusion of the giant pass through him, Domur began to laugh maniacally.

It was a bizarre mix of fear and relief that birthed his laughter.

Other wizards watching him couldn’t bring themselves to laugh.

“Hraaah—!”

Now that he had confirmed it was an illusion, Domur was still able to execute his attack.

Steel spears flew toward Rain.

Whoosh—

But they passed through Rain, impaling the wall instead.

At that instant, a gigantic hole opened up beneath Domur’s feet.

Feeling himself being sucked into something, he began to plummet.

The surroundings gradually darkened, and beneath him lay a gigantic monster, tongue lolling, mouth wide open.

“Graah—!”

Domur’s scream echoed through the dueling arena.

*

After the duel concluded, Lenz sat down in shock.

The reactions of the other royal mages were similar.

They must have felt that way especially since they were wizards who had never encountered illusion magic.

Of course, very few people have seen illusion magic of this caliber.

“That mage, did you say he’s your nephew?”

“…Yes.”

“You had a daughter in the past, right?”

“…How do you know that?”

“That illusion mage standing there is your daughter.”

Lenz lifted his head sharply.

“The illusion magic school doesn’t really study magic earnestly. It’s just not helpful. But Rain is different. Unlike others who slack off, she diligently researches illusion magic.”

When I first arrived at the tower, Rain was the only one who wasn’t slacking off.

She was also the only one who worked hard in place of the Tower Master.

I realized that the reason she worked so hard was that she wanted to become a mage, but it took me a few years after coming to the tower to recognize that.

“The person you discarded due to her illusion attribute has become such a wonderful mage. And she worked extremely hard to become this way.”

She might not be able to be called a brilliant mage.

After all, everything was just an insignificant illusion.

But at least in this magic battle, Rain’s magic won.

“Of course, I wouldn’t recognize it as brilliant magic.”

Rain approached as she exited the dueling area.

I waited to see if she had anything to say to Lenz, but it seemed not.

“Sorry… I apologize for underestimating illusion magic.”

Still, Lenz kept his promise. He would surely fulfill the rest.

“There are quests scattered throughout Maple Leaf Story where you can gain popularity.”

“…?”

“Then please keep your promise.”

Rain and I began to walk away.

After all, the existence of quests that grant popularity would soon be revealed, so it didn’t hurt to let him know.

Although the Magic Minister was annoying, I didn’t want to lose any users.

Well, if we worked hard, maybe we could revert popularity to zero.

“That was amazing, Rain. But is it okay for us to go like this?”

“…Yes! And I’m struggling to think of what I really want to say.”

“I’m sorry. I told the Magic Minister your identity. But it seems he remembers.”

“It’s okay. Nothing has really changed.”

Rain smiled wryly.

“Now that I think about it, we didn’t have much of a bond when we were children. Our family.”

“I see.”

“I realized that I didn’t really miss this place or my family. Maybe I just wanted to be a recognized mage.”

“So that’s why you study magic so hard.”

“Perhaps that’s the case? That’s why I felt incredible when I won in the magic battle. It felt like a weight had been lifted off me. That’s enough for me.”

Fortunately, it seemed Rain had no remaining worries.

I was concerned she might be hurt given her father’s situation, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“Then let’s head home!”

Rain said cheerfully with a bright smile.

I couldn’t help but smile back.

*

Galleard usually plays with his past companion Elf Riana for a day’s party experience, and afterward, he completes quests during his adventures.

However, recently there was a quest he became so engrossed in that he even postponed party play,
that quest was called [Zatume Quest].

The quest, divided into several stages, began from the third job change guide located in the Elass Mountain Range.

To explain why he was so captivated by this quest, we have to rewind back to the past.

Galleard first discovered the Zatume Quest during his third job change.

Though it was a quest he could accept at the time, third job changing was a higher priority for him.

With the third job change quest requiring him to travel between Victory Island and the Osiris Continent, he felt he had no time for such a troublesome side quest.

Thus, after completing his third job change, Galleard forgot all about the Zatume Quest.

Then, some time later, he recalled the Zatume Quest once again.

The area called the Abandoned Mine deep within Elass had suddenly seen a drastic increase in monster levels compared to the previous regions of the Elass Mountain Range.

When Galleard had entered the Abandoned Mine while still at a low level, he had to flee immediately from the entrance.

But now having raised his level, Galleard began hunting within the mine once again.

Continuing on his hunt, he moved deeper into the mine.

Then, he stumbled across the map known as the Portal to Zatume.

Amidst the high-level monsters, there sat an NPC named Adovas out of nowhere.

Galleard learned about Zatume from Adovas and recalled the Zatume Quest he had previously passed by.

And now, in the present, Galleard was currently soloing the [Zatume Quest].

Though the quest could be done as a party, he was managing to do it alone nonetheless.

The first stage of the Zatume Quest required acquiring a Flame Gem from the dungeon within the mine.

In the intricately intertwined dungeon, he had to search through stones and boxes to find seven keys in order to obtain the Flame Gem.

The dungeon known as the Unknown Abandoned Mine was a highly complex map.

Covered in coal, he scavenged the map and finally gathered all the keys.

Then, the second stage tasked him with crossing a lava flow by navigating over small stones that were barely big enough to stand on.

As he crossed the map, rocks fell from above, and the difficulty escalated with each passing moment.

“How on earth am I supposed to get past this!”

When Galleard first laid eyes on the map, he shouted in exasperation.

If he made a mistake and fell, he would have to return and start over.

Though it wasn’t as exhausting as battling, it proved difficult mentally.

However, once he got the hang of it, he could clear it with some measure of success.

What he obtained in the second stage was the Breath of the Volcano.

And at long last, on to the third stage.

In the third stage, he needed to gather shards of the Flame Gem and the Breath of the Volcano from the first and second stages, along with additional materials to smelt them.

Once he gathered all the materials, Adovas would smelt them, allowing him to obtain the Eye of Flame.

“Phew… finally finished. [Zatume Quest].”

Though he had spent nearly a month on the Zatume Quest while playing all day, it was the first quest Galleard discovered completely on his own, hence it took a long time.

“If I place this on the altar… ‘Zatume’ will appear.”

At the end of the [Zatume Quest] was the fight against the boss ‘Zatume’.

He had no idea how strong it was.

But considering there was such a tedious prerequisite quest, it certainly couldn’t be anything standard.

The NPC Adovas told him to form a party of up to 30 members to challenge Zatume.

The expedition system was something Galleard learned for the first time.

“An expedition… just how strong must it be to need as many as 30 people.”

Galleard’s heart began to race.

Memories of past adventures during his days as a hero returned to him.

The intense struggles to defeat a giant foe alongside numerous allies.

Even now just recalling the last battle against the Demon King made his hands tremble.

Galleard wanted to hurry and challenge Zatume.

“But… how am I supposed to wait for 30 people?”

But to challenge ‘Zatume’, he had to clear the [Zatume Quest].

And currently, he was the only one to have completed [Zatume Quest].

Moreover, Galleard was the highest-level user.

Which meant it would take a long time to gather the 30 people qualified to challenge ‘Zatume’.

Galleard fell into thought for a moment.

Then, a smile blossomed on his lips.

“Well, I could always just die trying.”

In ‘Maple Leaf Story,’ death obviously doesn’t mean actual death.

You lose experience and meso and simply respawn in town.

Of course, for a high-level user like Galleard, losing experience can be painfully detrimental.

But even so, Galleard couldn’t resist the urge to fight Zatume right away.

“Who knows, I might be able to solo it.”

Having experienced dealing with foes that were impossible to defeat alone in his past as a hero, he was determined to wake ‘Zatume’ up.

Kaaang—

The Eye of Flame dropped onto the altar, making a clear sound.

A moment later, an immense light burst forth in every direction from the Eye of Flame.

“Ugh…!”

The ground shook as Zatume began to reveal itself.

“Is this… Zatume…!”

A colossal being made of stone with eight arms appeared.

“GRAAAAH—!”

In front of ‘Zatume’, Galleard could do nothing but perish.

He couldn’t even handle one of Zatume’s arms.

Galleard realized it was impossible for him to take it on alone.

And shortly afterward, a message echoed through the Maple Leaf Story server.

(Amplifier)Corruption Power Warrior: Looking for Zatume Expedition (1/30)@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

The next day, the world flipped upside down at that message.

“Did you hear? The number one user in ‘Maple Leaf Story’, ‘Corruption Power Warrior’, is looking for an expedition!”

“Of course! But what kind of expedition could it be for? What is Zatume…?”

“Oh ho… these people don’t know anything. Zatume is a boss monster sleeping deep within the Elass Mountain Range, and that ‘Corruption Power Warrior’ even failed and died!”

“They say you’ll need at least a fourth job change to challenge it?”

“That’s just the bare minimum. There are rumors you need to be level 140 or higher to truly shine.”

“Really? There are hardly any users above level 140 right now, right?”

“Moreover, to awaken ‘Zatume,’ you have to clear a special quest beforehand…”

The announcement of the number one ranked user looking for an expedition created a frenzy,
“…Zatume expedition?”

“Galleard… I didn’t hear any whispers and now he’s doing something fun on his own.”

“Oh? Something interesting appears to have cropped up.”

“Hohoho—? I can’t miss out on such a big event!”

As news spread, high-level users from all over began to gather.