[You have used a 'Low-grade Summoning Scroll'!]

[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the Summoning 'Sludge Pile' (F-rank)!]

[You have used a 'Low-Grade Summoning Scroll'!]

[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the summon 'Horned Butterfly' (F rank)!

Two F-ranks have come out first.

[You have used a 'Low-grade Summoning Scroll'!]

[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the summon 'Poison Lizard' (E-rank)!

Oh, an E-rank!

Jin-woo clenched his fist and mentally shouted, "Nice!

This was a good start.

Counting Lamba as an E-rank, he had beaten the 5% chance twice out of five times.

Not bad at all.

And a poison lizard?

For its rank, it was actually quite useful.

An inexpensive summon.

'I got lucky.

Heh heh.

Together with the Furry Gorilla, it would be helpful to get through the early stages.

"Come here."

As Jin-woo held out his hand:

Whirrr!

The Horned Butterfly flew over and sat on his left arm, while the Sludge Pile crawled up to his feet.

This one.

The smell is kind of awful.

I should use it for a while and then get rid of it.

And then.

- Slurp, slurp!

The poison lizard also approached, flicking its tongue as it slowly crawled towards him.

Now that the team is formed, let's start with the lowest level dungeons.

The next step was easy.

Level up the summons, keep ripping open summoning scrolls, and once he had a decent combination, he could start farming runes in earnest.

The more runes, which were like equipment for summons, the better.

You could swap them in and out depending on the situation!

Farm runes, hunt monsters, rip open summoning scrolls.

This was the system of growth: an endless cycle of these three steps.

If he continued, he would be able to raise better summons and get stronger runes.

Back to grinding, huh?

There's no RPG without grinding.

Even in reality, the same principles applied.

Come to think of it, isn't reality like that?

Whether you're studying or running a business, success comes from doing the same thing over and over again.

Jin-woo set himself a short-term goal.

To find all the remaining EX rank summons.

What would happen if he managed to collect all ten EX-ranks and build a dream team?

"Crazy."

Just thinking about it made him curse out loud.

It would be completely broken.

Imagining an Avengers-level team in his mind, Jin-woo became certain.

If he gathered them all, even a team of five S-rank summons wouldn't stand a chance.

He could probably smash through all 100 floors of the tower with ease.

Ahh.

That excited him.

So excited that he felt the urge to leave immediately.

Where's the dungeon?

Back when this was a phone game, dungeons were divided into stages and you just clicked to enter.

But now, in reality?

This wasn't a phone game.

He'd probably have to find the dungeons himself.

Swoosh.

Jin-woo took out the phone he had activated earlier and searched for information about dungeons.

Soon after:

"What?!"

He shouted in surprise without realising it.

"Is this for real?"

Dungeon gates appeared randomly in various areas.

Luckily, you could tell the level of difficulty by the energy the gate emitted...

"But civilians can't enter the dungeons even if they have summons?

Damn it!

I can't just jump into a dungeon?

Upon further investigation, Jin-woo learned that he had to register with the player headquarters first.

At first, the dungeons were open to everyone, but due to the high death rate, the government decided to step in and regulate access.

Each dungeon had a staff member stationed at the entrance, and you needed their permission to enter.

"Sigh."

And of course, the law was only passed this year.

Talk about bad luck.

The registration process looks like a hassle too.

There was a lot of required training, including dungeon practice and combat training.

And they even let you compete?

It was probably a way of controlling the number of players.

For society to run smoothly, it needed people in a variety of professions.

If everyone became a player just because it was lucrative, problems would inevitably arise.

"Well, I guess registration is no big deal."

Ring

Murmuring to himself, Jin-woo called his sister.

- Oh, Oppa.

She answered right away?

I guess she meant it when she said to call if I needed help.

"I have to register to enter the dungeons, but you never mentioned that."

- Ah! That's right, I forgot!

Ah-jin laughed awkwardly before continuing.

- A few days ago, I got a letter with a kind of player certificate, but I didn't think much of it. It turned out to be about the new law.

"How could you forget to mention something so important?"

- Haha, sorry. I didn't know all the details either. Players who did more than 10 dungeon activities last year were automatically registered. I vaguely remember reading something about it and just brushing it off. But I guess people like you who didn't play last year lost their certification, huh? Looks like you'll be competing with the players who've been on hiatus for the last three years.

"No chance you could pull some strings?"

- Oppa... I don't have that kind of influence.

"Come on, you were bragging about your C-rank Shadow Elf earlier."

- Hey! Player HQ is strict. You have to be at least in the rankings to have any influence there.

"Rankings?"

- Oh, you didn't know? Every year, players are ranked according to their influence. There's a national top 100 and a global top 100.

"Ah, I see."

- Of course, Korea's number one player isn't even good enough to make the global ranking. Ugh, if only the legendary JinuGod would appear, our country could climb up the rankings as well.

"Hmph, got it. Thank you."

Feeling slightly guilty at the mention of "JinuGod", Jin-woo quickly ended the call.

Anyway.

In order to be active as a player, he had to get certified.

There was even a ranking system, huh?

Okay.

Now that everything's set up, I'll just go home and rest for today.

***

The next morning.

6 am.

Jin-woo woke up early, ready to leave right away.

"Ah."

But his mom and dad were already up and making breakfast.

Our family is so hardworking.

"Huh? Where are you going so early?"

His father asked as he set the table.

"Jamsil."

"Huh?"

"Haven't you heard from Ah-jin? You said I should try to become a player or something. That's what this is for."

"Ah, so that's what Ah-jin meant when she said you'd make things happen."

"Yes. Since I've already lost three years, I have to work hard to make up for it."

"Hmm."

His father gave a small cough and looked at him with a proud expression.

"Son."

"Yes?"

"I was worried about you, but I'm glad you pulled yourself together as soon as you woke up."

"I had to. I've got a lot of catching up to do. Registration and all that - it's gotten pretty strict, hasn't it?"

"True. But it's a solid career. Look at me, aren't I impressive?"

Woooong!

As his father waved his hand, he proudly tried to summon his 'Pebble Golem' (E-rank).

"Dear!"

His mother frowned and scolded him.

"How many times have I told you not to summon that thing in the house? It's a nuisance!"

"Haha, sorry."

His father scratched his head awkwardly.

Technically, his father wasn't a real gamer.

Instead of dungeon crawling, he worked with his Pebble Golem in loading and unloading jobs.

"Anyway, it's a relief to see you back on your feet. Keep up the good work."

"Thanks, Dad."

Jin-woo smiled and nodded his head in gratitude.

"Mum, Dad. Thank you."

"Huh? What's with that all of a sudden?"

"For paying my hospital bills and always cheering me on."

"Come on, what's with all the gratitude? Just do your best. Will you eat before you go?"

"Don't worry, I won't skip meals. I've been starving for three years, so my stomach is telling me to eat properly."

"Do you get enough sleep?"

"I've had enough sleep for the last three years. I'm tired of it now."

It was true.

Just let me finish this registration.

From now on it's 6 a.m. starts and 2 a.m. finishes.

I'll have to push myself.

There's no time to waste.

"Anyway, enjoy your breakfast! I'm off!"

After saying goodbye, Jin-woo's mother, Hwang Myeong-hee, tapped her husband Baek Jin-cheol on the shoulder.

"Honey."

"Yes?"

"Do you think it'll be all right?"

"It's better than him lying around aimlessly. The government provides a lot of security training these days, so it should be fine."

"I suppose."

"Who knows? Maybe our Jin-woo will become the best player in the world."

"I'm not hoping for anything like that. I just want him to stay healthy."

The whole time he had been in hospital, she had been worried.

She had been grateful that he was still alive and had prayed for his recovery every day.

In truth, she had been against the idea of her son becoming a player.

It was a more dangerous profession than she had expected.

After surviving such a close call, what if he died again?

Anyway.

Baek Jin-cheol had insisted.

He had noticed that when Jin-woo looked at the golems in his hospital room, his gaze was the same as when he used to play that mobile game.

For the first time in years, his son was fully invested in something productive.

Even if it was dangerous.

Supporting him from behind was the right thing to do, according to Baek Jin-cheol.

Be careful, son.

Hwang Myeong-hee looked lovingly at the door her son had just left.

***

Were there many players?

Not really.

Even though all of humanity was eligible to become a player, not many actually pursued it.

It couldn't be helped.

Statistically, more people preferred safety to risk.

The biggest factor was that your life was at stake.

The 'shield' that protected the player disappeared when all their summons were unsummoned.

"Do you get enough sleep?"

"I've had enough sleep for three years. I'm tired of it now."

It was true.

Just let me finish this registration.

From now on it's 6 a.m. starts and 2 a.m. finishes.

I'll have to push myself.

There's no time to lose.

"Anyway, enjoy your breakfast! I'm off!"

After saying goodbye, Jin-woo's mother, Hwang Myeong-hee, tapped her husband, Baek Jin-cheol, on the shoulder.

"Honey."

"Yes?"

"Do you think it will be all right?"

"It's better than him lying around aimlessly. The government provides a lot of security training these days, so it should be fine."

"I suppose."

"Who knows? Maybe our Jin-woo will become the best player in the world."

"I'm not hoping for anything like that. I just want him to stay healthy."

She had been worried the whole time he had been in hospital.

She had been grateful that he was still alive and had prayed for his recovery every day.

In truth, she had been against her son becoming a gambler.

It was a more dangerous profession than she had expected.

After surviving such a close call, what if he died again?

No matter.

Baek Jin-cheol had insisted.

He had noticed that when Jin-woo looked at the golems in his hospital room, his gaze was the same as when he used to play that mobile game.

For the first time in years, his son was fully invested in something productive.

Even if it was dangerous.

Supporting him from behind was the right thing to do, according to Baek Jin-cheol.

Be careful, son.

Hwang Myeong-hee looked fondly at the door her son had just left.

***

Were there many players?

Not really.

Even though all of humanity was eligible to become a player, not many actually pursued it.

It couldn't be helped.

Statistically, more people preferred safety to risk.

The biggest factor was that your life was at stake.

The 'shield' that protected the player disappeared when all their summons were unsummoned.

What if you entered a dungeon and all your summons were cancelled by mistake?

You'd die.

Either by being torn apart or mutilated in some horrible way.

No matter how great the rewards or how much fame it could bring, it wasn't an easy decision.

Especially in Korea, the early days were marked by an alarmingly high dungeon death rate.

It was tragic, but also somewhat ridiculous.

People had become greedy.

You could call it "main character syndrome".

Influenced by fantasy and martial arts stories, people had deluded themselves into thinking they were the protagonists, pushing themselves too far in dungeons and ending up dead.

There was even a theory that Korea's poor ranking in global battle competitions was due to the fact that they had lost so many promising 20- and 30-year-old gamers early on.

"Hello. Are you here to register?"

When Jin-woo arrived at the registration office of Player Headquarters, a well-dressed employee greeted him politely.

"You came at the right time. Today is the deadline for this month's registration. Just hand in your form here."

The required documents were simple:

- Resident registration card.
- A summoning team.
- A player application form with personal details.

Once registered?

You'd be trained as a team for a set period of time, take a written test, and then go through a dungeon practice.

After that, you'd take part in a player combat competition.

From this competition, only 50 players per month would be awarded the official title of 'Player'.

50 people...

That's tough.

Really hard.

Why was that?

Even now, hundreds of people were just registering at the office.

The funny thing was that most of them weren't even beginners.

They were probably players whose registrations had been cancelled and who were trying to re-qualify.

But no matter.

Jin-woo was confident.

If the competition was fair, he could easily beat them.

If he couldn't pass...

Then the name One Heaven JinuGod would be tarnished.

"Here you go."

After handing in his papers, Jin-woo went to a nearby café to wait comfortably while he looked for more information.