Early morning.

-Is that all you've got? Move more, more, more. Push yourself to your limits. Only then can you grow.

The vacant lot was filled with the sweat of the summoned creatures.

-Phew, phew.

-Phew, phew...!

The sounds of Lamba's panting and the groaning of the Explosive Dragon.

Baek Jin-woo had no idea what Hun-gyo was training them for, but he trusted that they could do it on their own, so he started his training as well.

-Master, training like that won't let your muscles grow efficiently. Like this. Yes, you must hold this posture.

The funny thing was...

Even Baek Jin-woo couldn't stop Hun-gyo, the training maniac.

Upper body, lower body, core muscles and even cardiovascular strength.

Hun-gyo taught him ways to develop all these areas equally, and Baek Jin-woo listened attentively, absorbing the knowledge.

Hun-gyo was undoubtedly a summoned being, born to be the ultimate teacher.

At this rate, won't I unlock some hidden potential later on?

Well...

As long as he could improve, that was all that mattered.

While Baek Jin-woo was immersed in his training -

-Everyone, quiet.

Hun-gyo silenced them all.

Then he approached Baek Jin-woo and bowed his head.

-Master, someone is approaching.

"Okay."

Baek Jin-woo stood up and wiped his sweat with the towel he had brought with him.

It was obvious who was coming.

Yoo Ji-ah.

He was out here today just because of her.

By the way.

Hun-gyo, that guy...

He had a keen sense, didn't he?

As much as he forced others to train, Hun-gyo led by example.

His level rose quickly, and his stat growth was significant as well.

He truly lived up to his EX-class status.

At Hun-gyo's words, Lamba and the Explosive Dragon covered their mouths with their hands and sealed them.

No talking in front of outsiders.

That was Baek Jin-woo's absolute command as their player.

Soon

"Huff, huff."

Yoo Ji-ah climbed up the path, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"I felt it last time too, but this place is quite high up."

"You've arrived?"

"Yes. You've been training since this morning, I see? Oh, and your summoned creatures are here too."

Yoo Ji-ah's eyes sparkled at the sight of the summoned creatures scattered across the empty field.

"So they're part of your team? I've seen Mini Kong and the Golden Fairy a few times, but the others are new to me."

Lamba, Hun-gyo and the Explosive Dragon.

There was no way Yoo Ji-ah could have known them.

They were unique summoned creatures, unique in the world.

And one of them was even a rare humanoid summoning creature!

"Haha, yes. I'll explain more later, but these are my main ones."

"I see. Well, first I'll give you your gift. That's why I came all the way here."

Whirrr!

As Yoo Ji-ah held out her hand, a light shone from her palm.

[Player 'Yoo Ji-ah' is offering a trade]

[Please consider the offer carefully.]

In the real version of "Battle of Summoners", trading between players was supported.

To prevent fraud or betrayal, the status window governed the trade, and if either party failed to deliver the agreed compensation, a curse would be invoked.

The curse was powerful enough to cause death, so extreme caution was required.

[Yoo Ji-ah: Combat Sheriff (C-rank), Priest of Radiance (C-rank), Striped Komodo (B-rank), Wind Falcon (B-rank), Titan Golem (B-rank), Horned Fairy (C-rank), Frost Cat (C-rank), Sky Dolphin (C-rank), Sky Wyvern (B-rank), Lava Drake (C-rank), Lava Drake (C-rank), Lava Drake (C-rank)]

[Baek Jin-woo: No compensation]

The trade lists from both sides appeared.

[Do you accept player 'Yoo Ji-ah's trade proposal?]

[Y/N]

There was no reason not to accept.

She really managed to collect all this.

As Baek Jin-woo nodded, the summoned creatures were added to his inventory.

Now they were all officially his!

From today on, he would have more members to train together with Hun-gyo.

"Thank you. This is a really valuable gift. I mean it."

"Heh, it's nothing. After all, we've agreed to become a family now."

Yoo Ji-ah smiled softly and licked her lips.

"Shall we get to the real conversation now?"

* * *

Yoo Ji-ah relayed the information quickly and clearly.

The name of the management company was "YooBaek".

It was a combination of the surnames of Yoo Ji-ah and Baek Jin-woo.

The company was 70% owned by Baek Jin-woo and 25% by Yoo Ji-ah.

And the remaining 5%?

That was for Park Chang-seok.

As a reward for helping to establish the company within the Players' Headquarters and ensuring its growth.

He played a big role in discovering Baek Jin-woo.

Of course, as a congressman, Park Chang-seok had to declare his assets to the public, but Yoo Ji-ah had a way around that.

We'll tie it up in a contract.

A player-to-player contract, which was known to be the most reliable method.

The condition was that if Park Chang-seok ever resigned from his position as a congressman, he would receive 5% of the company's shares, which he readily agreed to.

"In any case, the company's largest shareholder is you, Mr Baek Jin-woo. I will serve as the company's CEO, and Congressman Park Chang-seok will serve as an advisor. We're also planning to hire Kim Byung-jin and Hwang Tae-seop on very favourable terms.

"Kim Byung-jin and Hwang Tae-seop... aren't they from the headquarters?"

"They both resigned this morning. The offer of three times their current salary was too much to resist."

Three times their current salary.

Her grandfather used to say:

"You don't save money when you hire good talent."

Park Chang-seok had also disbanded the much-criticised <Talent Management Team> and decided to concentrate fully on his usual work with the Yaksha.

Letting an incompetent headquarters manage someone like Baek Jin-woo was tantamount to betraying the nation.

"But..."

Baek Jin-woo asked carefully.

"Are you sure you can give me 70%?"

He liked it, of course.

But it felt like too much.

Wasn't it a little overwhelming?

"I may provide the funds, but the core of YooBaek is you, Mr Baek Jin-woo. Once you become famous, other companies, corporations or even nations will try to reach out to you. But I'm sure none of them would ever offer you more than 50% ownership.

It was only natural.

The moment the ownership exceeded 50%, the voting rights became negligible and it essentially became Baek Jin-woo's company.

Who in their right mind would set up a company and then immediately hand it over?

"So why are you...?"

"It's my way of betting."

"Betting..."

"Yes. I'm securing 25% of the company's profits. What's more, as long as I work diligently and sensibly, you, the majority shareholder, won't veto any decisions, will you? I'm confident that I can maximise the value of that 25%".

Besides, since it was essentially a one-man company, voting rights didn't matter much.

If Baek Jin-woo, the sole decision-maker, didn't agree with something, any decision would fall apart anyway!

In the end, it is the relationships that matter most.

By slightly lowering her personal stake and strengthening their relationship, Yoo Ji-ah wanted to strengthen their bond.

With a strong relationship, neither of them would be swayed by conditions or other temptations.

This was Yoo Ji-ah's strategy.

"I'm just grateful."

Baek Jin-woo read the contract carefully.

Although he was an ordinary person, he had climbed to the top of a game before.

He could easily spot any problematic clauses.

This couldn't be more perfect.

In fact, it seemed almost too favourable for Baek Jin-woo.

"Do I just have to stamp my seal here?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm in your custody, CEO Yoo."

"Of course."

Just as the establishment of YooBaek Management was about to be finalised -

Woosh!

Hun-gyo, who had been silently following his master's conversation, suddenly took off.

Towards the nearby bushes.

"What... what's happening?"

"Hm, I'm not sure either."

Both Baek Jin-woo and Yoo Ji-ah were startled.

Then...

"Kyaaah!"

A woman's scream echoed.

Rustle, rustle!

Hun-gyo emerged from the bushes, holding two figures by the ankles, one in each hand.

In his left hand was a Shadow Elf (C-rank).

In his right hand was Baek Ah-jin.

Hun-gyo's silent expression seemed to say that he had caught those eavesdropping on his master's conversation.

Of course, Baek Ah-jin's body was wrapped in a protective barrier, so there would be no physical damage.

"Wait."

Baek Jin-woo's face contorted in disbelief.

"What are you doing here?"

"And who is that...?"

"Oh, she's my sister."

This girl...

Could it be that she had been eavesdropping on their conversation all along?

* * *

Baek Ah-jin was stunned.

So stunned that her heart continued to race uncontrollably.

It was already shocking that Yoo Ji-ah had appeared in a place like this.

Oh my God.

But what was even more unbelievable was that she was on her way to meet her brother.

How could that be possible?

What kind of connection could the number one conglomerate in Korea have with her family?

She couldn't help but watch from a distance, hiding nearby.

The shadow elf was a summoned creature that specialised in stealth.

She thought it would be easy to fool both players.

'But.'

She couldn't hear their conversation clearly.

But one thing was certain.

The atmosphere between them was very good.

What is this?

This wasn't the feeling you got when you secretly watched a sibling on a date.

This was horror.

A feeling of complete detachment, as if the Baek Jin-woo she knew belonged to a completely different world!

And this feeling of detachment became even stronger.

One of Baek Jin-woo's summoned creatures was charging towards her with unbelievable speed.

Can it detect my cloak?

This was a C-rank creature.

Even many B-rank creatures had trouble detecting a fully cloaked shadow elf.

But clearly -

The armoured summoning creature ran straight for her, eyes locked on her.

I have to escape.

Baek Ah-jin signalled to the shadow elf.

But...

Hun-gyo's speed was beyond imagination.

Like a toad catching a fly, he closed the distance in an instant, grabbed the elf by the ankle and lifted her.

Swoosh!

The shadow elf tried to react quickly as well, but -

Thunk, thunk!

With a light flick, the elf's body went stiff.

Hun-gyo had hit its pressure points, subduing it perfectly.

'No way.'

Baek Ah-jin had never seen a summoned creature like this before.

She enjoyed watching the Player League regularly, but this kind of fighting ability was...

And soon after -

"Kyaaah!"

Hun-gyo subdued Baek Ah-jin as well.

Oh, crap.

Baek Ah-jin despaired.

She had planned to watch from a safe distance and slip away.

But now everything had gone completely wrong.

* * *

"So."

Baek Jin-woo muttered in disbelief.

"You recognised Yoo Ji-ah and decided to follow her as a fan?"

"No! It wasn't like that! I was just curious and followed her."

"That's the same as following her."

"..."

"And when you followed her, you saw me and got even more curious, so you hid and spied?"

"Yes! That's exactly it!"

Baek Ah-jin finally admitted it.

"But what about you, Oppa? It seems like you have more to explain than I do."

Sigh.

Baek Jin-woo sighed inwardly.

This was getting annoying.

What kind of twist of fate was this?

He'd planned to tell her at some point, but now she'd found out much earlier than expected.

"How do you know Yoo Ji-ah... and what is this ridiculous summoned creature? It completely subdued my shadow elf in less than five seconds! How is that possible? Especially for someone who hasn't even been out of a coma for two months! It doesn't make any sense!"

"Slow down, slow down."

Baek Jin-woo, looking worried, looked at Yoo Ji-ah.

"I'm sorry. I forgot that my sister knew about this place."

"Hehe, that's okay. Since she's Mr Baek Jin-woo's sister, I would have introduced myself to her eventually. That works out well."

Huh?

Ah...

She must have read that part of the contract.

Apparently, as Baek Jin-woo's exclusive manager, Yoo Ji-ah was also supposed to take care of his family.

"R-really?"

It was Baek Ah-jin who was the most surprised.

"Y-Yoo Ji-ah... wants to introduce herself to me?"

Baek Jin-woo had never seen his sister look so enchanted.

It was only natural.

Yoo Ji-ah was on the highest level of people she admired.

"For now."

Baek Jin-woo decided to wrap things up.

"I'll stamp my seal right now."

Thud!

He stamped the seal where needed and the two of them each took a copy of the contract.

"We'll talk about the details later. Right now I think I need to spend some time with my sister."

"Yes, I understand. I'll call you."

"Sure."

Baek Ah-jin didn't understand what had just happened.

Not at all.