“Agnus!”

He was a person always mentioned when discussing the top 10 strongest people, not the top 100. It was Agnus. He was one of the strongest people in Satisfy who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the supreme Grid and Sword Saint Kraugel.

“Why are you stupidly staring? Don’t bother me. Take out the medicine and get lost.”

No, it was more appropriate to say he was the worst rather than the best. The doctor Hera couldn’t fight and she had little interest in it, but Agnus was infamous. He was a villain who casually did unethical events such as killing all players he encountered at a hunting ground, monopolizing hunting grounds, or annihilating NPCs to turn them into skeleton soldiers. Recently, she had heard rumors that he was involved with the great demons who were humanity’s greatest evil. To be honest, he was a big character in the world and she only heard nasty rumors about him.

Gulp.

Hera swallowed her saliva and felt creeped out by Agnus’ empty gold eyes. Her limbs trembled. This was real fear. It wasn’t just caused by Agnus. Agnus was the contractor of the 1st Great Demon Baal and a noble of the demon world. He developed a skill that paralyzed those with a lower level than him with fear.

It happened as Agnus and Hera were facing each other.

“Hahat! Hahahat! Goodbye! Goodbye to this damn life!” The client who had been sobbing about his liberation suddenly laughed and rose from his seat. He didn’t even look at Agnus who kicked him as he shouted at the boy in the bed. “Pauld [1]! Come and release the shackles on me! Reward me for serving only you for 31 years with my freedom!”

‘31 years?’

He was talking about 31 years to a boy who seemed to be less than 15 years old? It was bizarre in many ways. Hera felt something ominous and stepped back. The boy lying like the dead on his bed opened his eyes. Dark eyes stared at the ceiling out of pale skin that didn’t seem to see the sun once in his life.

“...Good.”

The boy spoke with a satisfied expression and slowly raised his body at a right angle. As he floated up and approached the chandelier, he looked around.

“Light. I can move just like I did in my human days. The energy of the Kunlun Ginseng replaces blood and injects vitality into the exhausted organs.”

‘Human days?’

Was this boy really a lich? Hera’s trembling gaze turned to Agnus. It was a sign to resolve this question. However, Agnus thought of Hera as a rabbit who could be caught at any time. His dead eyes shone as he stared at the boy floating in the air. Then he asked, “Is that true? You seem to have become a human?”

“Most of my senses have returned. It is just that I need to continue to consume the Kunlun Ginseng to maintain this state. By the way...” The boy explained kindly and slowly turned his head. His name, that was hidden in the shadows, was clearly revealed as ‘Pauld.’ “Who are you?”

“I-I’m a doctor who made the medicine...” Hera was scared by the golden name and answered reflexively.

“Then come and vomit up the medicine you just took.” Agnus’ expression never changed as he ordered with strange eyes.

Pauld doubted his ears. “Vomit up the medicine? Is my hearing function impaired? I don’t think I made a mistake with the preservation magic.”

“P-Pauld! Release my shackles first...!”

“Maintain your dignity, Haltez. You might be a villain who slaughtered thousands of people but your root is a magician. Reason and calmness are virtues and pride that magicians shouldn’t forget.”

“Y-Yes... I-I’m sorry.”

Pauld asked, “So what is the identity of this man?”

“U-Um? I-I don’t know either. What are you?”

‘Brainwashing magic?’

Pauld found that his body wasn’t in perfect condition and gazed at Agnus with profound eyes. At the same time, notification windows emerged in front of Agnus.

[The magic of Great Magician Pauld is contemplating you.]

[Your intelligence and mana values will be revealed to Pauld.]

[Pauld’s artifact ‘Eyes of Absurdity’ is contemplating you.]

[Some of your stats and skills are forcibly revealed to Pauld.]

Pauld’s eyes widened. “Baal’s Contractor?”

Pauld was a great magician who was active in Braham’s era. He was the eternal second person, the unfortunate genius who had never crossed the high wall that was the legendary genius Braham. He had been the object of sympathy for the people of his era. Now hundreds of years later, he was considered one of the greatest magicians of all time. It was because the artifacts he created assisted in developing a brilliant civilization that benefited humanity. Many of the so-called peerless inventions were born from Pauld’s hands.

“How surprising... I have been acting so carefully yet my trail was caught...”

There was an essential step when magicians turned themselves into a lich. It decayed the body, leaving only the mana core and white bones behind. It was a type of ritual for abandoning the body. In order to be reborn as a mental form, there was no need to obsess over the body that would decay after some time. Preservation magic could prevent the body from decaying but why bother?

In order to maintain the preservation magic, blood must be drained from the body and mana injected to maintain the form of the body. In addition to having to endure extreme pain, a huge amount of mana was consumed. This meant there were great limitations to the study of magic.

They were giving up being human to pursue the ultimate magic so it was a penalty for no reason. For them, the body was a cumbersome obstacle and could be discarded without any regret.

However, Pauld’s case was a bit unusual.

The reason he became a lich was because he wanted to see the future.

How would his tools be used in the future? Would his descendants understand his intentions? Perhaps it would show a new interpretation that went beyond his intentions?

Pauld prided himself on his inventions and just wanted to know this.

Thus, he became a lich and used mana and mental strength to preserve his body. In the past hundreds of years, he didn’t develop and just periodically opened his eyes to change his bed. In addition, whenever he changed his bed, he obtained a servant to manage himself. He put shackles on the servant and gave them the manufacturing method for the Kunlun Ginseng medicine.

Then today, Pauld was finally freed from the preservation magic. In the future, there would be no constant consumption of mana and the need for sleep to slow down the mana consumption. The lich was now a human and could walk the world with confidence. It was time to relax and appreciate the future of his works. Yes, he finally achieved his goal. Then he saw Baal’s Contractor right away?

Pauld observed that Agnus had the Rune of Death that influenced the dead and spoke cautiously to Agnus, “Tell me exactly what you want. Do you just want the Kunlun Ginseng or is your ultimate goal to collect me?”

“Give me the Kunlun Ginseng. That’s it.”

[Baal’s devoted retainer, ‘Chepardea,’ is furious.]

-I’m furious! Didn’t I ask you to collect Pauld?

“I don’t care about that.”

Agnus flicked away the small frog sitting on his shoulder. Agnus had an ongoing quest called ‘Collect Lich Pauld’ but it was a quest he didn’t even think about. Agnus didn’t have enough time to spend with his lover Luna. Then he heard the story of the Kunlun Ginseng and couldn’t stand by. Therefore, he visited this place and faced this situation.

“I don’t care about you. Just give me the medicine!” Agnus felt impatient when Pauld didn’t answer and raised his voice. Perhaps it was a habit when excited but he didn’t like the way this person shook while his lips were curved up.

Pauld explained, “The medicine I’ve taken has already been completely absorbed by me. I can only give you the medicine I haven’t taken yet.”

“Klkik! If I split open your stomach and search through it, I can find the residual medicine! Just search!”

“Kyaaak!” Hera screamed as Agnus summoned a death knight.

On the other hand, Pauld was calm. “I don’t know what you’re trying to resurrect but even if you cut open my stomach and steal my medicine, it will be an inadequate amount. Both you and I need more medicine.”

“...”

“How about it? I will hand over the medicine recipe. Then won’t you go to the East Continent?”

Incomplete beings were easy to handle. His servant Haltez proved it. Pauld had confidence that he could control Agnus. It was a mistake that occurred because he believed Agnus had a sense of reason.

“Won’t you drop the recipe if I kill you?”

“...?”

“I’ll kill you and scour your corpse. Kukuk.”

“....!”

Pauld’s body was thrown out of the exploding castle wall. He hurriedly deployed a shield to block the death knight’s attack only to be shocked. It was due to the rainbow magic power that was exploding from the castle.

“M-Mumud?”

***

“Um...”

It was a dedicated hunting ground for the first ranked player. This was how he explained it to Jishuka. Grid finally visited the Tower of Wisdom and checked his condition before entering the tower. Greed—to be precise, he took off all the items made from the insane dragon iron. Today, Grid was wearing all the items in the pre Blue Dragon’s Boots period. One side of his inventory contained several pieces of insane dragon iron.

‘Good.’

[Tower’s Mission]

[★ Hidden Quest ★

The Tower of Wisdom is a hidden organization that fights for the peace of the world.

Their main role is to curb the scourge of dragons.

Please cooperate with the tower to find the owner of the insane dragon iron!

Quest Acceptance Reward: 1,000 gold. 20 top-grade buff potions.

Quest Clear Condition: Take away the insane dragon iron from its master or kill the master of the insane dragon iron.

Quest Clear Reward: Dragon Scale (random attribute)]

The tower that protected the world from dragons. The insane dragon iron was something that made even these great transcendents express displeasure. From Grid’s standpoint, this quest was as easy to clear as eating porridge. Grid himself was the owner of the insane dragon iron.

‘Given the performance of a dragon scale, would it be better to add it as a material when creating a new mineral with Braham?’

Of course, there was the thrill he got from clearing a quest. The smiling Grid finally entered the tower.

[You have visited the Tower of Wisdom in the capacity of the Pioneer.]

[This is the first floor.]

‘Why is it so dark?’

The size of the tower was enormous from the outside. In order to preserve the bodies of the hunted dragons, the land area was larger than the imperial castle and the height was enough to penetrate the sky. Therefore, Grid expected the interior of the tower to be magnificent and spectacular. He also had the expectation that his Discerning Eye skill might receive enlightenment. Yet when he actually entered the tower, only darkness awaited him. He couldn’t see anything in front of him despite his transcendent senses.

“Welcome.”

After a while, Grid slowly adjusted to the darkness. A friendly woman’s voice echoed and the interior unfolded in Grid’s vision. He saw an immeasurably huge plain.

“Prove your credentials as the Pioneer. First, let’s test your body.”

[All items, skills, and magic are prohibited.]

“Reach the second floor. The time limit is five hours.”

“...?”

No, dammit. They didn’t even show their faces when a guest came. They were going to test their benefactor (?) who entered after clearing their quest (?). Grid found it unpleasant but started running. He didn’t have the guts to refuse the Tower of Wisdom’s test.

‘Damn, when did I become such an obedient person?’

By the way, why was the time limit five hours? Less than an hour later, Grid found the stairs leading to the second floor. He stood in front of the stairs and asked, “Isn’t this the way to the second floor?”

“...”

“Excuse me? Is anybody there?”

“...”

[1] For those wondering if this name sounds familiar, it was mentioned once as the creator of the Ring of Absurdity, the ring that halves Grid’s resource consumption