Chapter 49 : Interrogation(2)

Literally, darkness so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead permeated the surroundings.

In the center of the room, where only blackness met the eye no matter where one looked, a single pyramid-shaped lamp emitted light.

Beneath the circular illumination, reminiscent of a stage spotlight, sat a man with his head bowed low.

And the thick scent of mana emanating from around him.

Focusing my mind slightly, I could see lines made of mana.

‘If I infuse mana into my eyes in this state…’

I felt a subtle energy gathering in my eyes.

After blinking a few times due to the unpleasant sensation, like putting in contact lenses, the information contained within the mana began to

be read.

In short, it meant I could instantly discern what kind of magic was deployed or enchanted in the vicinity.

Furthermore, this ability seemed to have no limits, allowing me to see through even magic skills or traps the opponent was currently casting.

Irregular Pulse, Restrict. And on top of that, Self-Destruct that automatically activates if one attempts to dispel the spells… Did they

recruit a rather skilled mage talent without me knowing?’

The first two spells, commonly adopted for subduing mages, require more than just skill points to meet their acquisition conditions.

They were a type of rare skill obtainable only by personally visiting the Magic Tower and searching through bookshelves, or by clearing

specific dungeons and acquiring the skill book that drops with a low probability.

A mage capable of using those two spells must be an elite well-versed in such information, and would naturally have tried to erase the traces

of their magic.

Especially the <Self-Destruct> magic, which was essentially a trap.

However, even such efforts were futile against my eyes—this ability I myself named Magic Vision.

It was something I had been contemplating for a few days, but I wanted to avoid raising my Synchronization Rate as much as possible.

The more magic I used, the higher the rate climbed, and each time the percentage increased slightly, I felt like I was becoming less myself.

That’s why I entrusted the task of subduing that man, something I could have easily handled by stepping in myself, to Yejin and Yerim.

Although I heard he was surprisingly below par, and Yejin alone easily overwhelmed him.

But for it to provide such an overpowered ability, perhaps if I continue to raise the Synchronization Rate and keep growing…

‘Couldn’t I surpass that number 1?’

His race is ordinary human.

I heard that ordinary human races don’t experience much difference even when their Synchronization Rate increases.

They said there were no special rewards either, as they lacked racial traits.

In this situation, what if I, as a Dragon race member and a mage, raise my Synchronization Rate and awaken new techniques like Magic

Vision?

The gap between me and the Rank 1 would surely close in an instant.

To pull down that superhuman user, who hasn’t relinquished the top spot even once since the game launched, with my own hands?

And become the World Rank 1, reigning over everyone?

As a descendant who received the blood of the great Dragons that transcend all races, this was an achievement I absolutely had to

accomplish.

Because I am a descendant of the great Dragons, destined to rule over all.

-…Mr. Gyeoul. Is something perhaps wrong?

What was I just thinking?

My head felt fuzzy.

Like my memory had been wiped after drinking just moments ago.

Clutching my head, I looked around.

Literally, darkness so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead permeated the surroundings.

In the center of the room, where only blackness met the eye no matter where one looked, a single pyramid-shaped lamp emitted light.

Beneath the circular illumination, reminiscent of a stage spotlight, sat a man with his head bowed low.

Ah, I need to start the interrogation.

Using the ability I named ‘Magic Vision’, I surveyed the interrogation room and thought nonchalantly.

‘Irregular Pulse, Restrict. And on top of that, Self-Destruct that automatically activates if one attempts to dispel the spells… Did they

recruit a rather skilled mage talent without me knowing?’

..Wait.

I feel like I just had a similar thought… Must be my imagination.

The interrogation was ‘scheduled’ to end swiftly.

Having received the amethyst mine as payment, I intended to resolve this matter definitively before leaving.

I knew, to some extent, the torture methods that agonized mages.

While searching for rare skill books, one of the intriguing books I read in the Magic Tower detailed how to torture mages.

Of course, the illustrations were too brutal, so I couldn’t look much, but I still remembered the contents of the ‘final chapter’, which I

curiously opened because it supposedly described the most horrific torture.

Naturally, I thought it was useless information since tormenting a character in the way described in the book wouldn’t cause the person

behind the monitor any pain.

But to think it would be helpful in a situation like this.

You really never know what life will throw at you.

“…So I turned to that last page. Do you know what that book contained?”

As always during the interrogation, the man maintained his silence despite my kind question.

In truth, there was no way the man would know the answer to the question.

Unless he was some crazy pervert who had memorized every book in the Magic Tower, it was natural not to know.

Therefore, I gave up on hearing an answer and drew upon my magic power.

It was a pure and overwhelming amount of mana, incomparable to the man suppressed by the low-grade mana restraints and debuff magic

created with the help of other users by the government.

“This should be about ten times your mana capacity.”

I gathered the mana drawn from my body, forming it into a sphere.

“The world of Fantasia Online had many books and murals with useless knowledge, though it wasn’t applied in-game. Among them were

those designated as ‘Forbidden Books’.”

The reason I was saying this at this timing was simple.

To give the man one last chance.

“This is your last chance. I know very well you’re up to something. Speak.”

Exhausted as he was, he couldn’t aim properly, and his filthy spit only landed on my sleeve.

But that alone was a sufficient answer.

As anyone could deduce by now, the book detailing torture methods for mages was, of course, a forbidden book.

How could a book on torturing mages exist in the Magic Tower, inhabited only by mages?

It was surprising it hadn’t been burned altogether, let alone designated as forbidden.

The torture method described in the final chapter of that horrific forbidden book was, precisely, ‘Making a Cripple’.

The requirement was mana nearly ten times the target’s total mana capacity.

Normally, it was a method barely feasible only by gathering a dozen mages, but I was a Dragon Lord overflowing with mana.

Of course, just because the torture method was named ‘Making a Cripple’ didn’t mean it was a simple method like actually cutting off limbs.

Such torture methods were plentiful in the preceding pages.

“Hold your breath. If you don’t want to die from shock. Of course, even if your heart stops from shock, the doctors and priests outside will

revive you. Ah, or maybe this way is more convenient.”

With a few gestures, buff-type spells that enhanced mental strength sharply awakened his consciousness.

This would prevent him from dying of shock or easily escaping the pain by fainting.

Only then, reassured, did I condense the extracted mana into a bead and let it flow into his mouth.

Since it was mana from my own body, I could feel in detail where the blue energy was located within his body.

As if a part of my own body, connected by nerves, had been devoured by him.

Sharing sensations with the mana touching various parts of the human interior was an extremely disgusting feeling, so I decided to finish the

work quickly.

With a few flicks of my hand, the mana sphere permeated the mage’s heart, the very core of their life.

And it seized control of the blood flowing within and the secondary nervous system known as the Mana Road.

What needed to be done next was simple.

I would violently shake and burn his body with the infused mana.

If he refused to talk until the end, I would make his body unable to feel mana for the rest of his life.

The pain, like having one’s heart and all the blood vessels flowing through it set ablaze, was just a bonus.

Of course, to those watching through the CCTV who couldn’t sense mana, the man would merely appear to be having a ‘seizure’.

Even users who could sense mana would need some time to figure out what I was doing beyond the CCTV feed.

Naturally, everything would be over by the time they stormed into this interrogation room.

Because whatever I was doing, it had to remain an ‘interrogation’.

Somewhere in downtown Seoul, it was just another ordinary commute for us.

Putting on a white gown, checking if the name tag was properly attached.

It was a day like any other.

Until the horrific scream of a fellow researcher was heard.