There were four types of dungeon in Battle of Summoners:

1. General Dungeon.
2. Day of the Week Dungeon.
3. Tower of Trials.
4. Chaos Demon Dragon (Raid).

Let's take a quick look at them.

Firstly, the Weekday Dungeon.

It's a place where players go to collect materials that change depending on the day of the week, just like the Tuesday Dungeon from before. A different dungeon opens each day.

There are four levels of difficulty:
Low, Medium, High and Top.

The higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards.

Next up is the Tower of Trials!

This place has 100 floors and tests a player's limits.

The difficulty is unlike any other dungeon and the rewards are incredible.

However, you must be careful.

In reality, a single failure could mean death.

The highest record is currently held by Rachel from the UK, who has reached the 29th floor.

The boss on the 30th floor is tricky, so she's currently upgrading her specs.

Next up is the Chaos Demon Dragon!

This is a raid that was updated in the fifth year of Battle of Summoners, where multiple players team up to defeat a boss.

This hasn't happened in the real world yet, so we'll come back to it later.

All dungeons other than these three are general dungeons.

In Battle of Summoners, these were called stage dungeons, but in reality they appear randomly in different regions.

Summoners mainly level up in these general dungeons.

General dungeons also have difficulty levels ranging from F-rank to S-rank.

Unlike daily dungeons, general dungeons can be played in a party.

And.

The place that Baek Jin-woo went to right after he woke up in the morning was one of these general dungeons.

* * *

Seonbawi Station, Gwacheon City, Gyeonggi Province.

A place where you could see the scenic view of Gwanaksan Mountain.

Screech.

Baek Jin-woo got out of the stopped taxi.

"Hah."

How do you find a dungeon?

It's easy.

There's an application called [Player Web], or "Plweb" for short, which logs dungeons that are reported to HQ.

All you have to do is create a party and request a dungeon!

Baek Jin-woo created a solo party.

The rank of the dungeon was D.

Although this was his first real general dungeon, it was a piece of cake for Baek Jin-woo.

There was no need to team up with other players.

Especially since he had some ridiculously overpowered summons.

- Jin-woo... I'm so hungry.

"Here, the cream bun I bought earlier."

- Hehehe, thanks. You're the best, Jin-woo!

Life returned to Lamba's eyes as she eagerly devoured the cream bun like a starving person.

It made sense.

She had spent the whole night swinging a frying pan in the air, so she had to be exhausted.

"Take it easy. You can have one each."

- ......Thank you, my lord.

- Thank you, Jin-woo.

Baek Jin-woo had woken up briefly in the early morning and realised that his summons had been training all night.

It was amazing.

It had been the same during 'Battle of the Summoners'.

Back then, though, he would only get a simple message like:

['Training Instructor' (E-rank) has been directing your summoning training.]

Whenever he logged in, that's all he saw, so he never knew exactly how intense the training was.

But to think that it had been so rigorous...

No wonder they grew so fast.

It was all thanks to Hun-gyo, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

Baek Jin-woo had no intention of stopping him.

On the contrary.

"Hun-gyo, you've been working hard as always."

He praised his achievements.

Hun-gyo's goals matched Baek Jin-woo's perfectly.

- Thank you, my lord. I will try even harder.

"Alright, let's go."

Step, step.

With the map of the app open, Baek Jin-woo walked towards the dungeon.

After following the directions to a deserted footpath entrance, he arrived.

Woooong!

A glowing blue oval appeared, shimmering in front of him.

This is the General Dungeon.

According to the energy detected by Headquarters, it was a D-rank dungeon.

He had heard that they had to be cleared quickly, because if too much time passed, a 'dungeon rupture' would occur, causing the monsters inside to spill out into reality.

Around the dungeon entrance were 'No Entry' signs and yellow warning tape, marking the restricted area.

Only authorised players could enter.

"Are you player Baek Jin-woo?"

A member of the HQ staff, who had been sent to supervise, stood outside the entrance.

"Yes, that's me."

"May I see your driving licence?"

"Of course."

After a quick identity check.

"You're coming alone for a D-rank. Are you sure that's OK?"

"Yes, it's fine."

"Please take care then."

Leaving the staff member bowing behind him, Baek Jin-woo immediately entered the dungeon.

* * *

Rumble!

"Waaah!"

"Uwooooh!"

As soon as he entered the dungeon, the deafening roar of a battlefield assaulted his ears.

'This place.'

Baek Jin-woo opened his eyes and looked around.

The backdrop was a low stone wall.

Below him, a swarm of orcs with axes were rushing towards the walls.

Ah, it's a subjugation dungeon.

Baek Jin-woo was an experienced veteran.

So experienced that he had become stagnant water.

He knew everything at a glance - what kind of dungeon it was, how difficult it was, and how to clear it.

[Squeak! Squeak!]

[An orc horde has invaded the village]

[Help the NPCs defeat the orcs.]

"Throw the stones!"
"Gyaaaah!"
"They're climbing up the legs! Pour the boiling water!"

The village soldiers on the walls struggled to defend themselves.

This is fascinating.

In Battle of Summoners, they were just generic NPCs, but now everything felt vivid and alive.

The level of detail was amazing.

Even the faces of the soldiers were all different, just like in reality.

"Guh, gyaaaah!"
"Healer! We need a healer here!"

The sight of a soldier screaming, his belly pierced by an orc's axe, was...

This is too real.

It felt like reality itself.

'Let's concentrate.

Baek Jin-woo took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

No matter how experienced you were, you couldn't ignore the shock of the difference between reality and a game.

How often does an ordinary person step onto a battlefield?

And this wasn't even a normal war - it was a war against monsters.

"Ugh."

Though his head was spinning, he acted on instinct.

"Guys."

Baek Jin-woo summoned the five summons he had pre-assigned as Team 1.

For the record, players can bring up to five summons into a dungeon.

[Summoning 'Wind Fairy' (EX Rank)]

[Summoning 'Training Master' (EX Rank)]

[Summoning 'Explosive Dragon Sage' (EX Rank)]

[Summoning 'Mini Kong' (D-rank)]

[Summon Golden Fairy (D, rank)].

Lamba, Hun-gyo, Explosive Dragon.

Along with these three, he summoned Mini Kong and Golden Fairy.

Mini Kong was the most cost-effective D-rank tank, and Golden Fairy was the best cost-effective D-rank healer.

As for Furry Gorilla...

Sorry, but Mini Kong was summoned as his replacement.

He'd grown fond of him, but it would have been a waste to keep him any longer.

Well, he'd go back and find a better master.

Surely that would happen...

Wooong!

[A protective shield has been created for the player.]

With his summoning, a protective shield naturally formed around Baek Jin-woo.

He felt much more comfortable.

It's really no big deal.

He had done this countless times in the game.

"Lamba."

- Yes!

"Buff Hun-gyo."

- OK!

"Explosive Dragon."

- Yes, Jin-woo.

"Prepare your spells and support Hun-gyo from behind.

- Got it.

"And Mini Kong."

- Uwoooo!

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The little gorilla thumped his chest with gusto.

This guy was a stronger version of Furry Gorilla.

He'd leveled him up quite a bit at the Synthesis Station to be able to handle the Orc's axes.

Especially with the Golden Fairy's healing.

"Jump off the wall. We'll go straight to the orc leader."

The submission pattern was simple.

The mission was to take out the giant orc at the back of the horde.

- Squeak, squeak!

- Squeak, squeak!

The orcs swung their axes at Mini Kong, who had leapt from the wall.

But Mini Kong's tough, leathery skin deflected the blows.

Indeed.

Bang!

Mini Kong's fist smashed through an orc's skull.

I had set him up with a Destruction Rune.

Although it was a low-grade Rune, it was equipped as a tank with good damage-dealing abilities.

The other summons followed behind Mini Kong.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Lamba continuously increased Hun-gyo's attack speed.

Slash, slash!

Hun-gyo swung his sword with gleaming eyes and sliced through the orcs' necks.

After decapitating two orcs, he casually impaled another orc's head behind him without even looking.

Wow, why is that so cool?

It felt different somehow.

Is it because he's EX rank?

This wasn't the same early stage Hun-gyo.

He remembered the training from his previous life, and his swordsmanship was no joke.

This is easier than I thought.

Baek Jin-woo's summons tore through the orc horde like the parting of the Red Sea.

- Squeak! Squeaaaaak!

- Gyaaah! Gyaaaah!

The orcs who had tried to block them screamed as they died.

At the same time.

"Wooooooh!"

"Yaaah!"

The soldiers on the wall cheered.

"What, what is that?!"

"They're on our side! And they're incredibly strong!"

"Sniff, we might actually survive this!"

He looked at the soldiers sobbing beside him...

It was hard to tell if they were NPCs or real people.

Either way.

Even if they hadn't fully leveled up yet, EX ranks were still EX ranks!

- Hihihihihit! Die, you orcs!

- How dare you swine raise your axes against our lord! You deserve to die.

- Here I go! Dragon's Breath!

Whoosh!

The flames engulfed the orc horde in an instant!

Clearing the D-rank dungeon was child's play.

- Squeak, squeak!

Overwhelmed, the D-rank Giant Orc didn't even have a chance to put up a fight.

Slash.

Hun-gyo slashed its throat.

[Dungeon cleared!]

[Training Instructor (EX Rank) has leveled up to 5].

['Training Instructor' (EX rank) has increased critical hit chance by 1%].

.......

['Explosive Dragon Sage' (EX level) has leveled up to 5].

['Explosive Dragon Sage' (EX rank) has gained 2 Intelligence points].

.......

Since Hun-gyo and Explosive Dragon haven't leveled up at the Synthesis Station, their levels have shot up. 

And.

[You have received a reward.]

[1 Mid-level Summoning Book].

Jackpot.

A mid-level Summoning Book was worth 500,000 won.

It didn't even take 2 minutes and I made 500,000 won!

Ah.

Baek Jin-woo was ecstatic.

He couldn't even imagine how much money he would make from now on.

Time to find the next dungeon.

From now on it would be an endless grind.

Raise his summons, make money.

His life was about to take off!

* * *

At that moment.

"Haaaahm."

The HQ employee in charge of the Gwacheon dungeon stretched lazily.

"Baek Jin-woo, huh... Who is he? Never heard of him."

If he was soloing a D-rank dungeon, he must be something of a veteran.

But he was an unknown player.

"Well."

It wasn't too surprising.

Players who had done a few dungeons could solo D-rank dungeons.

Only ranked players could solo C-rank and above.

"It'll probably take an hour or two, right?"

It usually took that long for most non-rankers.

Especially if the dungeon type was complicated, it could take even longer.

That meant.

He had to sit here and wait.

"I might as well get some pork soup from that place down the street."

Checking players entering and exiting the dungeon.

That was part of the staff's job.

They had to keep track of the dungeon's progress to confirm whether the player had completed it or got into trouble.

If a player didn't show up after a day, it was assumed that they had died.

"Huuuuu."

Just as he was about to light a cigarette and head out for breakfast.

Wooong!

The blue oval started to crack.

"Wh-What?"

The servant was startled.

This only happened when a dungeon had just been cleared!

"Already?"

His eyes widened in shock.

Was that even possible?

It had been barely 3 minutes, just enough time to smoke a cigarette.

Had he cleared it all by himself?

His jaw dropped, the employee stared.

Flash!

A man with a calm expression stepped out of the light.

It was Baek Jin-woo.