The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage

0.

The theme of the seventh city, Lumensia, was none other than light and darkness.

Cliché and overused, one might say.

But it was exactly that quality that made it extremely popular.

The core of the scenario was the invasion of a radiant city by a legion of undead.

A storyline built around a central figure that the players in Lumensia often referred to as the Demon King.

As players pushed back the undead legion and advanced toward the castle, it felt like a classic tale of hero versus demon king—no wonder the Lumensia scenario was beloved.

That was also true for Ir’s party.

A group composed of Japanese and Korean players.

All of them were so enamored with the fantasy world that they’d given themselves fantasy-style nicknames.

“We finally got the quest to head for the castle!!!”

At Ir’s shout, the party members reacted in their own ways.

“It’s just because we don’t have a guild.”

Stella, sounding a little dissatisfied, fidgeted with her massive shield for no reason.

“Sure, if we were in a guild, it probably would’ve gone faster.”

Claudine adjusted her glasses as she spoke.

“Heh heh, it’s been a long journey. But finally...!”

Bask didn’t pay much attention to the others and couldn’t hide his obvious excitement.

Stella and Claudine might have sounded calm and composed.

But judging by their flushed faces, even their blunt words couldn’t hide how thrilled they were.

Maybe it was because they’d been a team for so long?

They could sense each other’s emotions perfectly.

It was great that they got the quest—

—but there was a problem.

“But if it’s just us, we’re short on DPS.”

“Ugh!”

“Khk.”

The usually calculating Claudine pointed it out without hesitation.

Hearing that, Ir and Bask, who were both damage dealers, slumped their shoulders with guilty expressions.

Seeing that, Claudine looked flustered and quickly added:

“N-no, it’s not that you two aren’t enough, it’s just... our party’s a bit small...”

It was a timid attempt at correction.

But seeing that they looked hurt, Claudine immediately tried to fix it.

Watching her, Stella nodded and added,

“Well, it is true that we’re lacking in damage. Maybe we really should look for another member?”

At Stella’s words, Claudine quickly regained her composure and nodded as well.

Getting to the castle gates, what players called the enemy stronghold, wasn’t the issue.

But once you were inside, DPS became absolutely crucial—every guide said so.

One way or another, it had to be addressed.

After all, what their party truly wanted... was to become the protagonists of the scenario.

“We want to clear it ourselves, but...”

When Ir, the party leader, said that,

Everyone nodded.

They’d been together for a long time.

They did want to do it just the four of them.

But no matter how you looked at it, it was out of reach.

Even if they leveled up to the cap, it might still be too difficult.

“If we want a skilled player, should we keep an eye out in the hunting grounds?”

“That’s probably our best bet.”

“But at this level, there aren’t that many solo players without a guild...”

“Still, running solo usually means they’re skilled.”

“Yeah, let’s look around.”

At Ir’s words, everyone nodded in agreement.

So they circled around the outskirts of Lumensia’s hunting grounds, looking for solo players or anyone without a guild emblem.

But such players were rare.

At this point in the game, most people had already joined a guild.

Finding someone like that wasn’t easy.

They were just starting to wonder if they should post a recruitment ad instead when—

“Huh? What’s that???”

At Bask’s startled words, everyone turned their heads.

A swirl of violet flame was rising, enveloping the area.

The undead scattered in terror, but were consumed by the fire and turned to ash. The display was so overwhelming that every party member gawked, mouths agape.

Sure, Ir—being a ranged damage dealer—could probably output that much firepower.

If she had Claudine’s full buff set.

But that player... didn’t have anyone else around.

In other words—

“A-a solo player!”

“And putting out that kind of damage solo...”

“That’s insane...”

“...Don’t they seem like exactly what our party needs?”

At Bask’s final comment, everyone nodded. And the moment they snapped out of it—

Ir was already sprinting forward.

Flash—!

Drrrrrr!

She’d used a blink and was now running at full speed.

“Ah! Ir!”

“Sigh... when will she ever learn to stop rushing into things?”

“We better hurry and catch up.”

Worried she might mess things up, the entire party ran after her.

Sure enough, the player was already showing signs of wariness.

Anyone would, if they were hunting alone and another player suddenly rushed up to them.

That cautious player was met by Ir’s sudden, reckless shout:

“Would you like to go fight the Demon King with us?”

“...Excuse me?”

Clearly confused, the player blinked.

The party members winced—of course that’d happen.

They’d have to rush in and apologize before things went south.

Just as they caught up in a hurry—

“The Demon King? You mean the one from Rapid Guild?”

“Huh?”

Ir was the one thrown off now by the unexpected response.

The Demon King of the Rapid Guild?

Stunned, Ir fell silent—and Stella stepped in with a scolding.

“Ir! You didn’t explain it properly!”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Sorry! We’re recruiting for our party and I just got a bit too excited...”

“Hahaha, nice to meet you.”

The stranger seemed to ease up a little at the sight of the party’s friendly banter.

But he—Seong—was still on guard.

What if they found out he really was the Demon King?

However—

“A-ah! Not the Demon King from the Rapid Guild. The Demon King in the Lumensia scenario!”

“Ah.”

Only then did Seong realize it was a misunderstanding and scratched his chin awkwardly.

No wonder something had felt off.

‘That was embarrassing.’

He felt a bit self-conscious, like he was overthinking things.

Thank god he was wearing a mask.

And—

‘The cloak helps hide it too.’

The Twilight Crown of Obsidian was too flashy, so he had it hidden via invisibility.

Same with the rest of his eye-catching gear.

Ever since Silvanor had blown his cover, Seong had been trying to stay under the radar.

He was quietly glad he’d been careful this time and looked back at the party.

Then—

“Oh! We forgot to introduce ourselves. We’re a party called Prism Effect, and I’m Ir, the party leader and a light-element mage!”

“I’m Stella, the tank.”

“I’m Claudine, the healer.”

“Ha! And I’m Bask, the rogue.”

A surprisingly well-balanced party.

And they even seemed friendly.

Seong nodded, thinking, So that’s how it is.

He should probably introduce himself too...

But if he gave the name Seong after they’d already mentioned the Demon King from Rapid Guild—

‘They might figure it out...’

Seong didn’t really care if they figured it out eventually.

But in a situation where he was the one who brought up the Demon King first, it wasn’t like he could now casually go, “Haha, actually, I’m that Demon King from Rapid.” He didn’t have that kind of shamelessness.

This was tricky.

Then, out of nowhere, he thought of his sister and blurted out something vague.

“...A mage named Yu-hyeon.”

Like Yu Mina, he just dropped the middle syllable from his name.

Even if they ended up in a party together, as long as he didn’t reveal his nickname, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Just in case, he quickly went into the settings and adjusted things.

The others nodded.

Looked like they bought it.

I mean, who would think he was the Demon King?

His gear was hidden, his name was hidden, and he used violet flame.

Nothing about him really gave it away.

Everyone accepted it without much suspicion.

“So will you come with us to take down the Demon King?!”

“Hm.”

At Ir’s enthusiastic question, Seong paused for a moment.

Everyone thought he was taking time to consider.

But in reality—

‘Wait... who’s the Demon King in Lumensia?’

Seong had no idea what they were talking about. He was quickly searching the internet on the side.

Nobody could see his screen anyway.

He opened a browser and searched on the fly.

He got the answer almost instantly.

About the Lumensia scenario—

“The Lord of the Dead is attempting to overthrow Lumensia by sending an undead army from his fortress.”

Lord of the Dead, huh...

Wasn’t there an item Seong owned with that name?

Right—『Cuirass of the Lord of ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the Dead』.

Crafted by Helena, and supposedly worn by the Lord of the Dead even before he became a lord.

If you were wearing that and not an idiot, you’d start connecting dots.

‘This might actually be related to the Overlord.’

He already knew Helena and the Lord of the Dead had some history.

Though Helena did say she wasn’t his disciple or anything like that.

Just that they crossed paths once, and she made him something.

Maybe there really was something else connecting all of them through the Overlord.

Was this why his sister had suggested coming here?

Thinking that far, Seong looked at the party members asking him to join their quest to reach the fortress of the Lord of the Dead... and figured it wasn’t a bad deal.

I could probably get there on my own...

But as he read through forums, it turned out that just getting the quest to reach the fortress took a really long time.

The fastest person to ever get it had taken two whole months.

If he could just party up and receive the quest share...

For Seong, that was an absolute jackpot.

No reason to turn it down.

“They say it takes a really long time to get this quest, so the fact that you’re offering to share it—well, I have no reason to refuse. On the contrary, I should be thanking you.”

At Seong’s acceptance, everyone lit up with joy.

But then Claudine, cool and collected behind her glasses, poured a bit of cold water on things.

“There’s a slight issue when it comes to sharing it.”

“An issue?”

“Ah...”

“Right... that’s true...”

“Yeah, we didn’t think about that part.”

At their reactions, Seong tilted his head slightly in confusion.

What’s up with them?

Just moments ago they were excited to invite him.

Then Stella stepped forward to explain.

“To share this scenario quest, the NPC who gave it to us has to approve of it. So you’d probably need to earn that NPC’s recognition first.”

“And that NPC is... not exactly the friendly type.”

“It might take a little time.”

“...Still, it’s gotta be faster than doing the whole thing from scratch, right? Maybe two days?”

Hearing that, Seong nodded.

If a two-month grind was being cut down to two days, that was a good deal.

With an easygoing look, he said,

“Then shall we head there right away?”

“Great! The sooner the better!”

“Thanks again for agreeing, even if it might take a bit.”

“Exactly.”

“Hahaha! You won’t regret this, Yu-hyeon!”

As they spoke, Seong followed the Prism Effect party back into Lumensia—the place he’d just left.

They led him to a certain old woman who looked every bit as stubborn as they’d said.

Was this going to take more than two days after all?

That was the thought running through Seong’s head as he waited behind them.

“Grandma, we realized we probably couldn’t handle this alone, so we found a new party member. Would it be alright if he joined us too?”

Ir asked politely.

At that, the old woman scrunched up her face and narrowed her eyes as she stared toward Seong.

For some reason, the tension spiked. Everyone instinctively swallowed hard.

Seong, on the other hand, simply looked at her like it was no big deal.

Then—

Her eyes widened, and she shouted,

“Ohohoho!!! If it’s him, I can trust you! Permission granted!”

“...???”

“Huh???”

“What???”

“Whaaa?!??”

Everyone in Prism Effect turned to stare at Seong in utter shock.

Seong, seeing their reactions, remembered the title he’d received the day before—『World Star』—and scratched his chin.

He’d thought it was pointless.

‘Guess it’s more useful than I expected.’