How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game

I sheathed my sword and stared blankly ahead.

She was on her knees, collapsed on the ground, covered in blood.

With the agility she just showed, she could’ve easily dodged that. But she didn’t. She just stood there and took the hit.

"Ah... ahh..."

I stepped closer, standing in front of her.

She was muttering to herself, eyes glazed over, just staring at the floor like she'd lost her mind.

The mental shock looked way worse than the physical damage.

Honestly, I was a bit thrown off by how bad she looked.

Was losing the Holy Sword really that much of a blow?

Yeah, I guess it would be.

A divine relic infused with the power of a god is basically that god’s avatar.

She even said it herself—Behas’ holy relic, Dreudante, can only be wielded by someone chosen by his grace.

And now, her god had abandoned her.

After devoting her entire life to blindly worshiping and serving him, Behas tossed her aside and picked someone else.

And not just anyone—a damn black magic user.

The ultimate evil she'd been taught to destroy, the only thing she ever considered to be true justice under her god's will.

This wasn’t just betrayal. This was a complete rejection of her entire life and existence.

Especially for a hardcore zealot like her? Yeah, no wonder she’s wrecked.

Still, this quest... what the hell...

I glanced down at the Holy Sword in my hand.

It’s not like I got this thing because I earned Behas’ approval. This was just a damn quest reward.

What kind of quest rips a divine relic straight out of a god’s hands and gives it to someone else like it’s no big deal?

For a second, I wondered—but nah, no need to overthink it.

Gods are just part of the game’s lore anyway.

And quests? Those come from whoever—or whatever—created this world in the first place. So, gods? Yeah, screw them.

I shook off the thought and focused on her again.

"Hey, snap out of it."

After calling out a few times, she finally raised her head, lifeless eyes locked on Dreudante.

Her lips barely moved, and a faint voice slipped out.

"...give it back."

"What?"

"Give it back, give it to me! Give it back!"

Suddenly, she lunged for the sword, trying to snatch it away.

But with her body all messed up, she was moving like a ragdoll.

Boom!

She got blasted away by a shockwave, rolling across the ground before stopping.

"Give it back... give me my sword... please..."

She kept muttering, completely out of her mind.

I clicked my tongue.

"Yeah, she’s totally gone."

What a pitiful end for a fanatic.

Now what?

I stood there, thinking about what the hell to do with her, how to wrap this mess up.

No matter how I looked at it, there was only one answer.

She’s gotta die. What else can I do?

I raised my hand toward her.

Not like I didn’t have any hard feelings after nearly getting killed by her, but this wasn’t about revenge.

This was survival.

She’s way too dangerous to keep alive. She knows too much.

Even after all the careful hiding, she still figured me out.

If I didn’t kill her now, who knows what kind of trouble she’d cause next time.

So yeah, easy call.

Kill her here, right now, and erase the only link to me.

Forget the black magic witch-hunt, forget the reasons—she’s the one who came at me first. I’m just answering in kind.

I convinced myself of that as I began casting a spell. A huge surge of condensed mana stirred, ready to blast her into oblivion.

And then—

[Sudden Quest Triggered.]

< Sudden Quest: Mercy >

Behas’ Judicator, Layerd.

She may play a crucial role in the resolution of the Main Quest in the future. Spare her life.

Quest Reward: 30,000 SP

"..."

I just stared at the quest message in my head.

Then I looked up and laughed. A dry, hollow laugh.

A crucial role? Yeah, right...

First, they tell me to steal the sword, now they want me to let her live?

What the hell does this damn questline even want from me?

If you think about it, this is all because of that damn quest.

If I hadn’t been told to look for the black magic book in the Altius library, I never would’ve gotten tangled up with this lunatic.

Sure, I’m the one who learned the spell and used it—but the quest is the one that set it all in motion. That’s just a fact.

And now?

If she’s so damn important, why the hell make me deal with her like this, huh?

Up until now, quests never asked for something that would screw me over. I knew that well enough from experience.

But this time?

Even before thinking about gains or losses, I just hated this bullshit attitude from the quest.

They stir up the whole mess, and now they’re acting like I should be grateful for this absurd demand. At least give me a decent explanation or something.

I’ve held back a lot so far, but this? This was over the line.

Vmmmmm.

I started casting again.

Then the quest popped up again.

[Sudden Quest Triggered.]

< Sudden Quest: Mercy >

Behas’ Judicator, Layerd.

She may play a crucial role in the resolution of the Main Quest in the future. Spare her life.

Quest Reward: 100,000 SP

30,000 SP just jumped to 100,000.

The reward went up.

What is this, a negotiation?

"You’ve gotta be shitting me."

Like hell 70,000 SP would change my mind.

But the quest wasn’t done.

[Sudden Quest Triggered.]

< Sudden Quest: Mercy >

Behas’ Judicator, Layerd.

She may play a crucial role in the resolution of the Main Quest in the future. Please, spare her life.

Quest Reward: 100,000 SP, System Function Upgrade

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

A new reward had been added.

At this point, Karl couldn’t help but stop what he was doing again.

‘System function upgrade? What the hell is this now?’

It was a completely new kind of reward he’d never seen before.

The system functions he currently had were just levels, skills, and inventory. That was it.

Did this mean those functions would get enhanced? Or was it saying some new function would be unlocked?

He was curious, sure, but Karl dropped the thought just as quickly.

Shaking his head, he muttered, “Stop being a pain in the ass. You think whatever reward you throw at me will make me change my mind?”

Why the hell was it being this persistent?

Was that fanatic really such an important character?

Or was it just that refusing the quest was seen as arrogant, so it was trying to bribe him into compliance?

Either way, he didn’t give a damn.

Even if it offered to awaken him to 6-circle magic right now, this time, he wasn’t going to give in.

A god-like being that dragged him into this unwanted game world, trying to control him like some puppet according to its precious little scenario.

He wasn’t going to keep playing along like some obedient fool forever.

Karl steeled himself completely.

No matter what reward the quest offered, he was going to ignore it and kill her. But then...

[A Sudden Quest has occurred.]

<Sudden Quest: Mercy>

Layard, Judge of Behas.

She may play an important role in resolving the main quest in the future. Please, show mercy and do not kill her.

Quest Completion Rewards: 100000 SP, System Function Upgrade, Clue for Returning to Earth

[If you refuse this quest again, there will be no further reward increases.]

“......”

Karl froze, standing still like he’d turned to stone.

He stared at the reward from the quest with disbelief in his eyes.

Returning to Earth.

This was the first time that word had ever come directly from the quest.

Like he was possessed, Karl lowered his hand and let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha... ha...”

Why?

Karl couldn’t understand it.

Why the hell was it going this far, even throwing out a clue to getting back home, something it had never even mentioned before?

‘Is that fanatic really so goddamn important to you? Shit, then send me the fuck back to Earth right now and go cling to her yourself.’

He cursed it out in his head for a while, but the answer was already obvious.

Karl couldn’t refuse this reward.

The final destination of this shitty journey.

It was offering him a shortcut straight there—how could he turn that down? No matter how much he hated the quest.

“Click.”

Karl clicked his tongue and looked at her.

She was still lying there, mumbling like she’d lost her mind.

“If you come after me again, I’ll kill you next time.”

Who knew if she could even hear him in that state, but whatever, Karl left those words behind and turned away.

As he put Drewdante into his inventory, he thought,

‘...Come to think of it, I won’t have to deal with black magic bullshit anymore. I’m the owner of the relic now.’

What she’d do now that she survived, he couldn’t know.

She might give up and abandon everything, or she might report what happened to the Church and come after him again to get the holy sword back.

But it didn’t matter.

He was the owner of the relic now.

A relic granted by a god—specifically, a god of judgment known for being rabid about eradicating black magic.

Even if she went back alive and told the Church that a black mage had taken the holy sword from her, who would believe it? She’d be denying their god entirely.

More likely, those priests would flip out # Nоvеlight # and call her a heretic on the spot.

Karl had basically just gotten the most ironclad insurance possible—Behas’s relic.

‘Sure, if people find out I’ve got it, I might get some new headaches...’

But at least he wasn’t going to be hunted down and executed for black magic anymore.

Unless, of course, he was dumb enough to get caught using it right in front of some priests.

Karl suddenly let out a laugh of disbelief.

Just like always, the quest had been a pile of shit, but in the end, he’d come out way ahead.

[You have received 100000 SP as a quest completion reward.]

[System function is being upgraded as a quest completion reward.]

[‘System: Observe Character Info’ has been unlocked.]

<System: Observe Character Info>

You can observe a character’s level and titles.

‘Observe Character Info?’

Okay, level made sense. But what the hell did titles mean?

Karl tilted his head, then turned back to her to test the new ability.

[Lv.57]

[Fanatic, Judge of Behas, ...]

Karl immediately got it.

Titles probably showed the character’s main traits.

Yeah, NPCs in games usually had these kinds of labels floating over them too.

It was like regaining a feature that had vanished when the game became reality.

‘...But what’s that supposed to mean?’

Karl glanced at the weird title next to Judge of Behas, not understanding it, then decided he didn’t care.

Right now, his whole mind was focused on the ‘real reward.’

[You have received a ‘Clue for Returning to Earth’ as a quest completion reward.]

Why the hell was it giving him something like this when the main quest wasn’t even done? He still didn’t get it, but whatever, didn’t matter for now.

With a trembling heart, Karl pulled the reward out of his inventory.

A small scrap of paper.

The clue for returning to Earth was a single sentence written on that slip.