Translator: Mirausean; Silavin
Editor: Icicle
Proofreader: Skoll
Finalized Editor: theunfetteredsalmon
Ye Chui was dragged onto the carriage. He did not have time to react or retaliate as the pain around his neck caused him to lose his consciousness.
It was obvious that Quinn was the culprit.
After some time, Ye Chui woke up, feeling dizzy and dazed. A splash of wet and cold poured over him as a bucket of ice water was emptied on his head. His body was alerted and he jumped up. In his previous life, he was one of the best hackers and always worked in darkness – thus he had always been vigilant.
(Icicle: yeah right….so vigilant a carriage followed you down a street only to be kidnapped)
(Silavin: Hahahaha do b.l.o.o.d.y true!)
The moment after he jumped to his feet he was greeted with a long sword to his neck.
Quinn was the one wielding the sword, while Locke held an empty bucket in his hands. Unsurprisingly, Busca stood behind the two of them.
“Where am I?” Ye Chui asked as he reached out his hand to his waist.
“You’re in a place where no one can find you.” Busca chuckled maniacally. He glanced at Ye Chui’s moving hand, “Don’t bother trying to find your magic wand, I’ve already burned it in the fire pit. I’ve also confiscated the 21 silver coins from you as the first instalment of the debt you owe.”
Ye Chui grasped the more important piece of information – the 21 coins being only the ‘first instalment’. He turned his head and fixed his sight on a table and chair, as well as a stack of parchment and a bottle of ink that sat atop the table, all in the corner of the dark room. Of course, there was also the goose feather pen.
“You want to confine me to help you carve magic scrolls?” Ye Chui immediately guessed Busca’s intention. At the same time, he heaved a sigh of relief. [Seems like Busca isn’t planning to kill me out of hatred. There is still hope as long as I’m alive.]
“You are actually intelligent, unlike what most people say. No wonder you are able to carve more than 100 magic scrolls in just three days.” Busca spoke in a cold voice. “If that’s the case, I won’t beat around the bush. I will guarantee you and your little sister’s life as long as you carve 30 magic scrolls every day for me. You know that Debbie is a mere level two Swordsman and it would be a piece of cake to harm her.”
(Silavin: WTF? Who ever said he was stupid??)
(Icicle: Well he is an utter dumba.s.s, he just p.i.s.sed off Busca and he waltzes around town like a boss, thinking he is safe and look at what that got him)
(Skoll: I love it when I don’t have to proofread people’s comments )
Ye Chui was inexplicably angry at Busca and warned, “If you hurt her, you can expect an unpayable consequence.”
“Hehe.” Since a Magician without a magic wand posed no threat to him, Busca continued to threaten Ye Chui indifferently. Even if Ye Chui had his magic wand with him, he was no match for the two level two Swordsmen in the cramped room. Busca gave an evil smile and resumed, “Here is the deal: as long as you follow our instructions, everything will be fine. Once you have paid off all your debt, I will let you go.”
Ye Chui knew for sure that there won’t come a day when the debt will be paid off, but he still questioned Busca, “When will I finish paying off the debt?”
“One year, two years, or maybe even three… when I’m satisfied.” Busca replied greedily while he smirked. He beckoned to Locke and Quinn before walking out of the room with both of them following closely behind, slamming the door on their way out.
Outside the room was a dim corridor. Expressing his satisfaction on his plump face, he a.s.signs the two level two Swordsmen with an important task, “Guard him carefully. Make sure he submits 30 magic scrolls every day and be on your guard, he is bound to try something funny.” Busca thought of how his son was attacked with magic scrolls while he ordered. His voice turned lower, “This little fella is extremely cunning.”
“Mr Busca, I don’t get it. This boy is a mere level two Magician. Why don’t we just kill him now? Why bother taking the trouble to confine him? A magic scroll can at most be sold for around 50 copper coins,” Quinn complained. His hatred for Ye Chui runs as deep as the scar he left on his face with the ‘lightning’ magic spell he cast some time ago.
“What do you know?” Busca stared at Quinn, “This little boy has exceptional talent in carving magic scrolls and his speed is comparable to that of Intermediate and Advanced Magicians. When a Magician reaches the intermediate or advanced stage, why would they bother themselves with carving them? So, this little boy is considered a treasure. By confining him and forcing him to carve magic scrolls for us, we would be rich. If we confine him for a year, he would be able to carve 10000 magic scrolls and that would be 50 gold coins – more than both your lives added together!”
Busca’s explanation lit Quinn and Locke’s eyes up. An ordinary Magician in the elementary stage could at most carve 10 magic scrolls daily, while Ye Chui was indeed extremely unusual, his output triple of that.
Busca then snorted, “As for the 100 gold coins Debbie conned off of me, I will make sure Debbie returns it all. But for now, let us focus on Ye Chui.”
“Mr Busca, you can trust us. We will ensure that the little boy will have no chance to escape.” Locke and Quinn a.s.sured Busca hurriedly.
A stale atmosphere lingered in the small black room, which was probably less than 20 square metres in size. In the room was a bed with linen that stank, a bedside table with the necessary magic equipment to carve magic scrolls and a magic lamp which lit up the room with a pale yellow light. On the other side of the room, there was other worthless junk: a worn-out wooden crate infested with healthy, fat termites, a vase filled home to spiders and webs and finally an old black iron suit rusted to uselessness.
He was clearly in a storeroom. The worthless copper and iron junk pieces littered in the corners were not cleared when Busca decided to confine Ye Chui to this room.
In reality, those pieces of junk were not useful to Ye Chui who is only a weak Magician with trashy skills.
Ye Chui quickly looked around the room and came up with a conclusion. [There’s no way I can escape this room with my current skills.]
Two level two Swordsmen guarded the door of the room; a tiny window located on one of the walls in a high position was only used for ventilation. The four surrounding walls and the ceiling of the room were made with strong granite – there was no other way out.
He came to settle with reality and turned and looked at the bedside table.
He is a Magician but is unable to cast any spells without a wand. The strongest weapon he could use right now was the magic scrolls.
(Icicle: It’s weird that magic is useless without a wand)
(Silavin: Well… he could always use symbols… Full Metal Alchemist style? Anyone?)
From his understanding, the might of the five basic magic scrolls would not deal much damage to the small room and would definitely not guarantee him a successful escape. Unlike previously when he threw dozens of magic scrolls at Carrey to ensure a victory, they can only do so much in such a small s.p.a.ce. The only way was to research and carve stronger magic scrolls than the basic ones.
The logic behind this was simple.
However, in order to research stronger magic scrolls, he first has to accurately grasp Intermediate and Advanced Magic Language.
Learning Magic Language was indeed difficult and no one would think that Ye Chui could learn the remaining 27 magic symbols without a master. As such, Busca could confine him to the room without worries, all the while providing him with the magic equipment needed for carving scrolls.
If it was some other level two Magician, they would be in despair and with no hope in sight.
However, Ye Chui wasn’t desperate. His eyes even held a hint of excitement.
Although he was one of the best hackers in his previous life, it cannot be said that he had exceptional computer skills. In actuality, he was mostly forced to slowly improve his skills one step at a time due to certain circ.u.mstances.
In order to survive after being expelled from college due to his addiction to computer games, Ye Chui was forced to hone his hacking skills. He managed to join a hacking group after accomplishing something.
To make sure that he could put food on his own plate, he had to start a small hacking career. After gaining some recognition, he was noticed and thereby recruited by a hacking organisation. Unfortunately, after only two months of, the organisation was raided and only Ye Chui managed to escape. With the organisation data in the hands of law enforcement, he became widely known throughout the internet as the world’s most wanted terrorist. Being in such a precarious situation pushed him to focus on improving his skills even further. Although he evaded the authorities time after time, his fame warranted him more unnecessary attention from hostile hacking organisations. These organisations issued endless challenges, making him improve his hacking skills even more.
Just like that, one step at a time, he eventually became one of the best hackers.
If he was said to possess some kind of ‘gift’, it definitely wouldn’t be his hacking talent, but it would be his tenacity since he was forced to compete with others to survive.
Now he was turning desperate again.
“d.a.m.n all of you. I will show you what it means to be the Father of Studies.”