"H-Hahaha."

Baek Jin-woo, who had collapsed to the ground, let out a dazed laugh.

The Training Instructor and the Explosive Dragon Sage.

Let's talk about them today.

First, the Training Instructor.

- Where... is this place?

A handsome man dressed in a magnificent red armour, looking around indifferently, was none other than the Training Instructor, or "Hun-gyo" for short.

Originally, he was an E-rank summoner with minimal combat skills, which made him unpopular.

But it was Baek Jin-woo who discovered how to use him.

This guy is just a training maniac. Literally, a maniac obsessed with training.

[Summoning: Training Instructor]
[Species: Human]
[Rank: EX Rank (Isolated)]
- Isolated due to an imbalance factor discovered in certain situations.
[Level: 1] [Stats
[Stats]
Strength: 1, Intellect: 1, Stamina: 1, Agility: 1
HP: 1,000, MP: 0
Critical hit chance: 20%.
Critical hit damage: 20%
[Skills]
- Growth: Gain strength through training.
- Charisma: Dominates other summons.

He didn't look like much at first.

But with proper growth?

There would come a skill called "Instructor", which was insanely overpowered.

- Instructor: Unlocks the potential of other summons and greatly increases their growth rate.

This skill...

Back in the days of JinuGod, Baek Jin-woo used this skill to widen the gap between himself and the rest of the ranked players dozens of times over.

The instructor wasn't strong himself, but he could make other summons stronger.

B-rank or A-rank, it didn't matter - he forced them to train relentlessly.

Thanks to his charisma skill, all the summons followed Hun-gyo's orders.

Ha, those days.

They were good.

Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

He had enjoyed easy victories, but then the AI arbitrarily patched the game and deleted his summons.

Did they say his growth rate was too high?

- And you are...?

Step.

The training instructor who had appeared last spotted Baek Jin-woo and walked towards him.

- Who are you?

As expected.

As an EX, he could speak.

As mentioned before, Lamba and Hun-gyo hadn't been able to speak in "Battle of the Summoners".

"It's been a while, Hun-gyo."

- Hun-gyo...?

The instructor's eyes widened as he thought about Baek Jin-woo's words.

It was a similar reaction to Lamba's when they first met.

- You're... JinuGod?

"Yes."

- My lord!

Thud!

Immediately, the instructor knelt down with perfect military precision.

'Yes.'

Hun-gyo had always been like that.

Whenever he saw the player, he'd show his loyalty in this way.

- Incredible. After being isolated for so long... I never thought I'd see you again, my lord!

It was certain now.

Lamba and Hun-gyo.

They were indeed the summons that Baek Jin-woo had raised.

This meant that only Baek Jin-woo could summon EX-rank isolated summons.

- Huh? JinuGod? Are you really JinuGod?

The Explosive Dragon Sage, who had been summoned earlier, also reacted to the name "JinuGod".

"Wow, this is the first time I've heard your voice, Explosive Dragon."

The Explosive Dragon Sage.

In the past, she had been a D-rank summoner, a young female mage with red hair.

She was a failed student of magic, but it turned out that she was actually an extreme fire attribute damage dealer.

An ancient dragon slumbered in her heart.

[Summoning: Explosive Dragon Sage]
[Species: Human]
[Rank: EX Rank (Isolated)]
- Isolated due to an imbalance factor discovered in certain situations.
[Level: 1] [Stats
[Stats]
Strength: 1, Intellect: 1, Stamina: 1, Agility: 1
HP: 1,000, MP: 0
Critical hit chance: 20%.
Critical hit damage: 20%
[Skills]
- Dragon Flame: Shoot dragon-shaped flames forward.

At the moment, she wasn't impressive.

But later, when Hun-gyo unlocked her potential?

She'd gain a broken skill called "Devour".

- Devour: Every time the Dragon Flame defeated a boss level enemy, its damage increased permanently.

It was such an absurd skill that it made you wonder if the designers had thought about balance at all.

The Explosive Dragon Sage had been used as a staple damage dealer in the early stages of Battle of Summoners, but no one used it as efficiently as Baek Jin-woo.

"Obviously.

The Devour skill couldn't be activated without Hun-gyo.

As soon as Explosive Dragon unlocked this ability, she was deleted from the game in less than a week.

That was probably the moment when even the ever-patient Baek Jin-woo had almost given up, cursing it as a "garbage game".

It's because I raised them with so much affection.

In a summoner game, the visuals were important.

The Explosive Dragon Sage was one of the cuter summons, and she was quite popular.

- JinuGod! I've missed you so much!

Huff.

The sight of Explosive Dragon clasping her hands together as she spoke made Baek Jin-woo's heart tighten.

That's way too cute.

Damn.

Pull yourself together.

"I missed you too."

Whatever.

Now that he had summoned these three overpowered summons, the summoning grind was over.

What remained was to hunt like crazy and get stronger.

"Just like Lamba, don't talk when others are around, okay?"

- Understood, my lord.

- Yes, JinuGod...

"Oh, and Explosive Dragon."

- Yes, my lord!

"Don't call me JinuGod. Just call me Jin-woo."

It was too early for "JinuGod".

Once she had fulfilled her potential?

Then, sure.

Whether it was JinuGod or One Heaven, he wouldn't care.

No one would be able to defeat her anyway.

- Jin-woo? Got it!

"Then for today."

Swish.

Baek Jin-woo looked up to the sky.

The sun had already set and it was dark.

"Let's rest. Tomorrow we'll start working for real."

* * *

Jamsil.

In Baek Jin-woo's rented flat.

He collapsed onto the soft mattress and fell asleep immediately.

He hadn't really slept when he was ripping through all those summoning books.

No matter what you do, rest is important.

His body instinctively needed a good night's sleep.

Meanwhile, in his room.

- ......

Lamba, Hun-gyo and Explosive Dragon were there.

- It's been a while.

Hun-gyo greeted them first.

- Aha, yes, it has been a while.

Explosive Dragon scratched his head and answered awkwardly.

Hun-gyo and Explosive Dragon had spent quite some time together.

In the meantime.

- And you. Should I call you Lamba?

- Yup! Hello there! You're Hun-gyo, right? We have met before.

- Yes, we did.

Hun-gyo and Lamba had only known each other for about a month.

This was because Baek Jin-woo used Hun-gyo rather late in the game.

By the time Hun-gyo was summoned, Lamba had already become a game-breaking character and was isolated by a patch within a month.

From Hun-gyo's point of view, Lamba was like an older senior.

Anyway.

That didn't matter to Hun-gyo.

With his charisma he had the ability.

He could dominate all summons and in the past he had even mercilessly drilled Baek Jin-woo's A-rank summons.

- There's only one thing I want to say.

Hun-gyo's eyes gleamed.

- Eek?

Lamba flinched, fluttered her wings in surprise and flew back.

Explosive Dragon, meanwhile, wore a knowing smile.

- We are much too weak.

Hun-gyo continued in a serious tone.

- Even while our lord sleeps, we must continue to train. It's the only way we can serve him.

Swoosh.

Hun-gyo looked at Explosive Dragon.

- You will start by sitting down and feeling the mana. Start with the basics. I can't help you now, but as soon as I wake up, I'll unlock 'Devour' for you.

- Devour... Got it.

Determination flashed in Explosive Dragon's eyes.

Devour.

With this broken skill, she'd be able to earn Jin-woo's favour, so of course she was excited!

All summons thrived on the affection of their players.

- And Lamba, you.

Swish.

This time Hun-gyo turned to Lamba.

- Yes? What about me?

- You need to work on your speed. We'll start with strength training.

- S-Strength training?

Lamba's face twisted in horror.

- You don't want to lose Jin-woo's attention to me and Explosive Dragon, do you?

- No, I don't.

- Then listen to what I have to say.

- F-Fine...

For the first time, Lamba felt grateful to Baek Jin-woo.

At least Jin-woo buys me cream buns when he pushes me hard.

But Hun-gyo was relentless.

And it was obvious that his training would be brutal.

Even if she wanted to refuse, she couldn't.

The mysterious aura surrounding Hun-gyo had already made Lamba feel small.

And...

This was good news for Baek Jin-woo.

Normally, a Level 1 Training Instructor only enjoyed training himself.

They never ordered others around or acted like an instructor.

He only started acting like an instructor when he unlocked the Instructor skill!

But the EX rank Hun-gyo was different.

He had already started to act based on the memories he had shared with his previous master.

- Here.

Swoosh.

Hun-gyo rummaged through the kitchen and handed Lamba a heavy frying pan.

- Swing this. Since it's your first time, just do 5,000 repetitions today.

- F-Five thousand?!

Lamba's jaw dropped.

- Do you really think that's possible?

- Shall I make it ten thousand?

- Hng!

She looked desperately at the sleeping Baek Jin-woo.

With all her heart.

Jin-woo, save me!

* * *

Player Headquarters.

Talent Management Team.

"Representative."

Employee Yoo Ji-ah, sitting in front of the monitor, furrowed her brow.

"This is a problem."

"What is it?"

Park Chang-seok, who had been strolling leisurely with his hands in his pockets since the morning, tilted his head.

"What's going on?"

"To be precise, what we expected has happened. The administration has said that they will no longer supply us with lower level summoning books."

"Huh? Why?"

Startled, Park Chang-seok pulled his hands out of his pockets.

"A formal document came down. It's under the director's name."

"The director...?"

The director.

The head of the players' headquarters.

Only the representative with the most votes from the public could sit in that position.

That's why they were called delegates.

"And they've asked for a detailed explanation of where all the lower-level summoning books we took have gone."

"What the hell."

An explanation.

They wanted to check if the books had been used properly.

If it wasn't deemed appropriate?

They would either be punished or have to return them.

"I think Representative Im Hee-su pulled some strings."

"Im Hee-su."

Grit.

Park Chang-seok clenched his teeth.

The two had clashed on numerous occasions and their relationship was far from cordial.

Rivalry between representatives?

Fine.

But there's a time and a place for everything.

Baek Jin-woo was the hope of South Korea.

What if someone hindered his growth or upset him?

And if he decided to become a citizen somewhere else?

That would be no different from treason!

Treason!

"What should we do? To be honest, we've already prepared the documents, but the problem is that the administration won't supply any more summons books. We have nothing to give Baek Jin-woo.

"Where is Byung-jin?"

"He's arguing with the administration staff."

"Sigh."

It was 7 in the morning.

At 9, he had to go to the empty lot to deliver the summons books to Baek Jin-woo.

What should I do?

It was a promise he had made to Baek Jin-woo.

If he couldn't provide the promised support?

It would just prove his incompetence.

Should I pay out of my own pocket and submit the bill later?

As Park Chang-seok pondered, his phone rang with a message.

It was from Baek Jin-woo.

"Hup!"

Park Chang-seok quickly opened the message.

[Baek Jin-woo: I don't need any more inferior summoning books. I got what I wanted. Thank you]

"Wow."

A sigh of relief escaped him.

What timing.

"What is it?"

Yoo Ji-ah asked and Park Chang-seok nodded.

"We don't need to bring in any more inferior incantation books. But other than that..."

He clenched.

His fist tightened.

"Im Hee-su.

It looked like he had to make sure this troublemaker couldn't interfere any more.