Episode 21:
Alteon's Northwest
In Alteon's northwest, a colossal city loomed in the distance, its mass of buildings dominating the skyline.
Massive.
This enormous structure, occupying over half of the northwest, was a self-contained society—a planned micro-city operating by its own rules.
The Mage Tower.
A term encompassing the entire city that sprawled outward from the central Mage Tower, where wizards reigned as the ruling class. Players often encountered merchants trading forbidden goods here or back-alley scum harassing people under the wizards' noses.
"And apparently, they're mainly assigned missions to assassinate wizards who collaborate with such trash."
The ruler of this place was the Tower Lord. While praised for managing the tower rationally, behind the scenes, he conducted unethical experiments—human experimentation among them—all justified solely as "for magical advancement."
Seo-jun scaled a wall. He leapt across rooftops of buildings surrounding the shorter towers, heading toward the center where a massive tower stood, built layer upon layer with white bricks. Though its height paled compared to real-world skyscrapers, its footprint rivaled that of sizable buildings.
Noticing crowds streaming through an entrance at least 3 meters tall, Seo-jun descended and blended into the throng.
"Alright, let’s go assassinate someone."
-Assassination X Destruction O
-Infiltration (just strolling through the front gate) - lololol Now this is what I’m talking about!
-Seo-jun, you do know about the Mage Tower, right?
About the Mage Tower...
Seo-jun had deliberately kept to basic lore, avoiding deep dives. Players could prep via external sites or piece together details in-game—but his streams weren’t about playing it safe.
"Nope? First time seeing this place. What, we just gotta climb to the top? Easy peasy."
-Kyah Today’s another YOLO run smh
-This is why I watch your streams.
-The Tower might be tough though?
Seo-jun merged into the crowd and entered.
"Well. Let’s try it."
The interior lived up to its open, spacious appearance. Seo-jun glanced around. Occasionally, figures in long-sleeved robes caught his eye.
"Those NPCs—the wizards? Fewer than I expected."
So mostly civilians?
-Wizards are rare, duh.
-Floors 1–3 are basically a market district—huge and packed with normies. The real deal starts at Floor 4.
-Pickpocket time? 😏
"Not pickpocketing."
Seo-jun shut that down and scanned for a way up. The central area of Floors 2–3 was open, shops lining the walls like...
"A mall?"
Admittedly more labyrinthine than that—a rat’s nest layout—but stripped down, it evoked a typical mall.
-lololol
-Kinda accurate tho.
-There’s even a school and library!
Definitely a peculiar place.
Seo-jun found a spiral staircase stretching to Floor 3 and ascended. Then—he spotted an NPC in a hooded robe and tailed them. The NPC weaved through Floor 3’s maze-like corridors until Seo-jun noticed the ground sloping upward. Suddenly, no other people were around.
The NPC slipped past two guards stationed at a door. Seo-jun paused. Assuming this led to Floor 4 but unsure, he checked chat: if flooded with "lololol," he’d taken a wrong turn; otherwise, he was on track. Thankfully, the latter.
"Hmm. More guards?"
-These guys are toast lol
-Shall I break their weapons? Parry them for you?
-Just kill ’em already
"Yeah."
Seo-jun approached.
"This area is restricted—"
A swift parry neutralized both. He pushed open a hefty iron door and stepped inside—only for his body to lock up.
Fwoom.
"An intruder. Unfortunate."
A fireball erupted from someone’s palm in the distance. Instinct screamed at Seo-jun to move, but he couldn’t—a tingling static sensation suggesting paralysis debuff.
Gotta take this hit?
Then—it wore off.
The magic was already at his doorstep.
Thanks to his exceptional reflexes, the moment the paralysis lifted, he hurled himself sideways to evade the fireball.
“Holy hell… I really thought I was done for.”
● Who even buys this stuff?
● His reaction time’s cracked lololol
● Could’ve bagged Season 1’s first death tbh
● Knew he’d pull through!
● Zero Magic Tower prep—embarrassing tsk tsk
“Whew.”
Seo-jun exhaled in relief and scanned his surroundings.
A repeat of that scenario would’ve been a nightmare.
Whoosh.
“Lucky duck. How about this?”
Across the expansive lobby, the mage hurled twin fireballs from each hand.
This time, no bindings hindered Seo-jun.
‘Dodge while advancing?’
No. He had objectives.
Seo-jun activated [Weakness Detection].
To confront the Tower Lord, he needed to decipher magic’s weave.
The world flipped in an eyeblink.
Within that inverted vision blazed fireballs, now ferocious.
Fissure lines scored their surfaces.
Seo-jun smirked and cleaved both projectiles midair with a single stroke.
“No way—magic’s got weak points too?”
Unanticipated.
Magic’s foreign nature left him clueless about its structural patterns.
● Yo magic can get sliced??
● Do I need [Weakness Detection]? Skill’s OP af lol
● Dude’s face ain’t carrying that swagger smh
Seo-jun lunged at the mage, laughing.
Four more fireballs soared his way—but pre-analyzed, they harmlessly fizzled.
“Ghk!”
The mage’s health bar was pitiful.
Unlike melee NPCs needing repeated strikes (unless parried), even cannon fodder like this fell fast.
“Now this is fun. Fourth floor, right? No detours?”
● Yup
● Yeah
● E
“Huh. Then why’d things freeze earlier?”
● Shhh
● Zip it
● Halt!
● No spoilers!
“This isn’t spoiling anyth—”
● Shh,
● Three,
● Shhh.
Why was chat gatekeeping answers?
Seo-jun scoured every message—no clues.
“Ugh. Too cheap to ask properly, huh?”
Probably triggered a door or misstepped. His best guess.
‘Guess ascending’s the play.’
The tower’s apex: Floor 8.
Seo-jun surveyed Floor 4 for exits.
Junk loot.
A sprawling corridor branching into themed labs.
Mages too engrossed to acknowledge an intruder.
This was the Magic Tower—nothing like Floors 1-3.
“Tch. I’m breaking and entering here. Show some respect.”
Seo-jun stomped to a preoccupied mage and shattered their flask with his blade.
● Bruh??? lolol
● Peak toxicity lololol
● Alien thought process fr
● ???: We were giving him the silent treatment!
“Y-you! Intruder?!”
“There we go. Reaction get.”
Seo-jun provoked the researcher, hoping for more magical data.
The mage activated a hand-engraved circle, teleporting to the doorway before attacking.
“Oho. Blink.”
Ice arrows crystallized midair and streaked toward him.
Seo-jun reused [Weakness Detection] on the spell’s structure.
[1-minute cooldown remaining.]
He sliced along the arrow’s fissure—still no intuitive grasp.
He lingered, hoping for follow-up spells.
None came.
“Huh? Lab safety protocols?”
● Nope lol
● A+ for creativity lolol
● FYI: Blink drains mana pools. He’s tapped.
Seo-jun read the chat and cringed.
No wonder it looked particularly difficult.
Seojun dealt with the wizard and inspected the other rooms.
Beyond ice arrows and fireballs, he identified various magical weaknesses—plant-based binding spells, imprisoning rock eruptions, and more.
These NPCs could technically be defeated without targeting their weaknesses.
‘In this game, weaknesses are just optional mechanics.’
But.
Remembering how Lord Richard had been immune to damage until his armor shattered made him reconsider their necessity.
Without knowing the weaknesses, he might’ve wasted 10 hours grinding durability or seeking alternatives. But exploiting them had ended things instantly.
Seojun was preparing for precisely that approach.
Something told him the quest-giver might actually be the developer.
‘They wouldn’t include those conditions without purpose.’
With that thought, Seojun climbed the stairs to the 5th floor.
“Finally found them. Seriously, why make us hunt for separate staircases?”
-That’s how we force 4th floor exploration LOL
-LOL wizards can teleport (FR) -Stairs are emergency-only
“If they’re emergency exits, they should be mandatory. What if people die evacuating because they can’t find them?”
-Facts
-Devs listening?
-Stairs are decorative
-Don’t question wizard aesthetics
“Well. At least no key needed.”
Upon reaching the 5th floor, Seojun found an identical iron door and opened it.
Guards and wizards stood waiting inside, having spotted him yet remaining rooted.
A guard drew his sword and raised his shield; a wizard hovered magic above his palm—but took no further action.
“You seeing this?”
-LMAOOOO
-He noticed?
-This floor’s gimmick is sensory inversion OMG
-For real?
Seojun caught a chat message from someone who couldn’t resist spoiling:
“Ah. So this floor’s inversion? If I enter, I get debuffed? They’re waiting for that?”
-Oops!
-He knows
-Snitch
-Clueless LMAOOOO
“Thanks. Since I’m busted anyway—spill more details.”
Seojun gathered intel from chat:
The spire’s peak had two paths—exterior climb or interior corridors.
“Ah, each floor applies debuffs. Avoiding them via exterior triggers alarm spells—hence 5th floor’s ‘inversion.’”
Using interiors meant accepting:
4F: Temporary paralysis (experienced earlier)
5F: Left-right sensory inversion
6F: Movement impairment
7F: Vision-blinding darkness
-Facts. Exterior climbers still dip into 4F/6F interiors
-Darkness debuff = insta-fail. Avoid.
-Inversion’s hopeless too
-Just climb outside
-You’re not seriously considering that?
“Please. When have I ever cowered into stealth? I don’t do assassinations.”
-That wasn’t stealth to begin with LOLOL
-There’s the spirit!
-Perfection!
Seojun mentally mapped the reversed left-right sensations as he stepped into the 5th floor’s interior.
