[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-problematic-child-of-the-magic-tower":3,"chapter-the-problematic-child-of-the-magic-tower-the-problematic-child-of-the-magic-tower-chapter-357":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1334628,1778,"Chapter 357","the-problematic-child-of-the-magic-tower-chapter-357",357,"\u003Cp>[Translator - Night]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Proofreader - Gun]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chapter 357: Observers (7)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had lived his entire life hating the demon race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the same in his previous life, and it would likely be the same in this one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, to think that a demon race presence was being observed not anywhere else, but within his own soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Urk!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar gagged again as the thought resurfaced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question, ‘Since when, exactly?’ refused to leave his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘The most likely point would be after death, during the process of entering little Oscar’s body.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since entering this body, there had been moments he had never experienced in his previous life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Things like the second wave, or the red moon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Saintess had said that the vessel of that residue was not the body, but the soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Then… did something mix in during the process of my soul settling into little Oscar’s body?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that something was this unidentified demon race presence?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His stomach churned again, and he felt another wave of nausea rising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching him, Edna asked,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you truly all right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Yeah, I’m fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He quickly nodded at her concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If nothing else, his physical condition was flawless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If it isn’t an imposition, may I check?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sure, go ahead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At his easy permission, she grasped his wrist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, as she pushed mana into him, her expression changed dramatically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes, which were always steady, widened in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Th-this is an enormous amount of mana. It’s increased by more than ten times compared to before…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, the Dragon Heart really is ridiculous.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, that’s not the issue.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shaking her head, Edna continued,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At this level… it means you’ve absorbed about 70% of the mana contained within the Dragon Heart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that a lot?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re asking if that’s a lot? The absorption rate I originally assumed was less than 25%.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant he had absorbed an overwhelming amount of mana, far beyond Edna’s expectations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder—it had felt like his mana had increased far too much, even considering it was a Dragon Heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Frankly, I can’t even begin to understand how a human body is containing this much mana. And not even a demi-god level 9 mage, but a level 7 mage at that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Edna wore an uneasy expression, Oscar fell into thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Maybe…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The darkness he had seen in his inner world—the residue of that demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it had been devouring mana like mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it would have been for its own sake, but for now, they shared the same body and soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Tch… honestly, I can’t even tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mana had increased to an extent that made comparison with before almost embarrassing, but it also felt like the demon’s influence had grown just as much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was that why?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t shake the creeping unease rising within him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“More importantly, with this level of mana, it’s comparable even to your previous life.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s true.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar nodded readily at Edna’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Absurdly enough, in terms of raw mana alone, it was more than double compared to his previous life as a level 9 mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, having an absurd amount of mana meant nothing if he didn’t have a way to use it…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘But I do.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a magic known as ‘Space,’ infamous for its extreme inefficiency in terms of mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shaking off his unease, Oscar stood up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For now, rather than figuring out how to eliminate the demon residing in his soul, he needed to focus on the task at hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s go. Time to collect the data.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you sure you don’t need more rest?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s already been four days, right? We don’t have the luxury to take it slow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar gestured around him as he spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The once brightly lit power chamber was now dim, illuminated only by red emergency lighting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had heard that this would last at most a week—time was tight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Thank you for your consideration. Then let’s move immediately.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if she had been waiting for those words, Edna guided him forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Following behind her, Oscar asked,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just to confirm—you’re planning to move the data back here later, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That would likely be the case.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But by then, the facility will already be incapacitated. Wouldn’t that make it pointless?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t as if they could offer the Dragon Lord another heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that question, Edna nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“While you were consuming the Dragon Heart, I ran hundreds of simulations related to this. As a result, I concluded that it can be sufficiently replaced with the magic engineering battery that powers the airship, along with Ouroboros.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That actually works?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. After all, we only need to convert solar thermal energy to sustain the entire moon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I suppose.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From that perspective, Ouroboros was indeed more suitable than the Dragon Heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two returned to the information chamber they had first visited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This place was less suffused with red light, thanks to the densely embedded luminous orbs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s something you need to know before we begin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar spoke as he checked the number of threads needed to open the space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll need to maintain the subspace for two days. I’ve never kept it open for that long before, and I’ve never stored something of this magnitude either.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The largest thing he had stored before was perhaps an airship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what they were about to store now was the history of this star from the moment it was born—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A staggering 4.1 billion years of records.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was uncertain whether the subspace could even contain it all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In the middle, we might run out of space and fail to store everything.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In other words, you mean we should prioritize storing the important data first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve already categorized that to some extent over the past four days.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected of Edna. Sharp enough to handle things even without being told.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then shall we open it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, and one more thing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s more?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What Oscar recalled was the monster lurking within the subspace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, he still didn’t know the exact conditions for its appearance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since it had stared at him that one time, it hadn’t appeared again even once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘But assuming it’s gone would be far too optimistic.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Oscar mentioned the monster in the subspace, Edna responded,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The entity you mentioned is likely the Devourer of the Void.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Devourer of the Void?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. It drifts along the boundaries of space, consuming everything exposed there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The boundaries of space…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he thought about it, the situation had been similar when he saw it before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been when he maintained the subspace for a long time for the first time, and its structure had become unstable overall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That probably caused the boundaries of space to be exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘After that, I used it carefully to avoid overexertion, so I never encountered it again?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he would try to maintain the subspace stably this time as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But given the vast amount of information they were transferring, structural stability would inevitably decrease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Translator - Night]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Proofreader - Gun]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘We can’t rule out the possibility of encountering it again.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar asked,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about its weakness? If I fight it, can I win?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, I’ve read records related to it. It’s a massive and sturdy entity, but its movements are slow, so it wasn’t considered a major threat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It might be less impressive than he expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Come to think of it, when he had encountered it before, he had only been level 6.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, even level 7 masters were no easy opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘More importantly… now…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter who he faced, he was confident he wouldn’t lose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling at ease, Oscar grasped the threads of space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then let’s begin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As space tore open and a pure white subspace unfolded, Edna placed her hand on the machinery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll begin as well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just this once, please let everything pass without incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar tightly shut his eyes and prayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps gods really did exist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For 52 hours after starting the work, there had not been a single crisis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rustle, rustle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar gazed at the books stacking neatly within the subspace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, they couldn’t simply transfer the records stored in compressed form on the moon as they were.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could one move something without physical form?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Edna first converted all the records into books, then transferred them into the subspace—making the process take longer than expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘But my mana consumption is negligible.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that the mana required to maintain the subspace had decreased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was just that his total mana had increased to such a ridiculous extent that it barely showed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oscar, are you tired or sleepy? Are your eyes dry?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Didn’t you just ask me that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No exaggeration—she asked that about once every ten minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt excessive, but considering what was at stake, perhaps it was natural.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For dragons, these records were something worth protecting even at the cost of their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…My apologies. Please hold on just a bit longer—the work is entering its final stage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, so don’t worry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The records stored in the subspace were about 94% complete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The finish line was now truly within reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘More importantly, we stored the most critical data first…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What remained was probably just trivial gossip-level material.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe it was safe to relax a little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling somewhat at ease, Oscar examined his inner state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most encouraging aspect was, of course, his mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had maintained the subspace nonstop for two days without even a second of rest, yet he hadn’t used even half of his total mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘With this much mana… I could probably go head-on against Pentarion.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That old man’s released world turned everything into gold once all mana was depleted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honestly, it felt like Pentarion would run out of gold before Oscar ran out of mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as stray thoughts began to drift through his mind—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stable subspace suddenly trembled, as if an earthquake had struck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noticing this, Edna spoke,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oscar, don’t fall asleep. Should I slap your cheeks? I can do it back and forth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, I really didn’t fall asleep.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had briefly let his thoughts wander, but not enough to lose focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll go take a look.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oscar stepped forward and entered the subspace directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside, countless—perhaps tens or hundreds of millions—of books were piled up like mountains, leaving no space to step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The subspace trembled again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Why? I’m maintaining the magic exactly the same.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frowning, Oscar observed his surroundings and noticed something strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each time a new book was added, an existing book disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vanished books turned into clusters of informational light, drifting aimlessly within the subspace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Don’t tell me…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hypothesis flashed through his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps this was the limit of the total material capacity the subspace could contain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, there was no reason for one book to disappear every time another was added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Edna!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as he was about to tell her to stop the process—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>KUUUUNG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a deafening roar far greater than before, the mountains of books collapsed like dominoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire subspace was exposed to a massive shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a thin handkerchief tearing, one side of the subspace ripped open helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And through that tear, he began to feel a gaze he had once encountered before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Devourer of the Void.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed to seal the torn space first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Oscar hurriedly cast threads of space to stitch the gaping hole—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>RIIIIP!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A massive entity, the size of a house, tore through those threads and invaded the subspace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Translator - Night]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Proofreader - Gun]\u003C\u002Fp>",1941,"2026-06-05T20:00:10.790Z",1,"novelbin.me","e9ba66f46c81b3692e8b90ad5b20f757369550f51cbb13e062bd8d160460ba18","the-problematic-child-of-the-magic-tower-chapter-358","the-problematic-child-of-the-magic-tower-chapter-356",375,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-problematic-child-of-the-magic-tower-cover.jpg"]