Wow.

That was real?

- Heh.

Baek Jin-woo stared at Poryong who was smiling and gripping her staff with both hands, unable to hide his astonishment.

Hun-gyo had been absolutely right.

As soon as he had suggested to replace the usual dungeon team with Lamba, the Sheriff and three Lava Drakes, Poryong had visibly panicked.

He had also told her.

"We'll do a dungeon with just the two of us after you learn 'Linked Strike'."

So he'd spent the day doing dungeons before returning in the evening to an unexpected sight.

[Summoning: Explosive Dragon Sage]
[Race: Human]
[Level: EX (Isolated Classification)]
- Isolated due to balance-breaking factors found in certain circumstances.

[Level: 42]

[Stats]
Strength: 20
Intelligence: 85
Stamina: 20
Agility: 20
HP: 22,000
MP: 500
Critical hit chance: 55%
Critical damage: 185%

[Skills]
- Explosive Dragon Wave: Sends dragon-shaped flames forward.
- Explosive Dragon Linked Strike Technique: Enables you to store Explosive Dragon Wave.

She had truly mastered it.

"Hun-gyo definitely has extraordinary insight."

The first emotion that came to mind was joy.

No matter what caused it, the moment Poryong mastered Linked Strike, her value skyrocketed.

For reference, even during Battle of the Summoners, no player had taught Explosive Dragon Techniques to an Explosive Dragon Sage.

Only JinuGod had done it.

Poryong's wishes?

Baek Jin-woo didn't think much of them.

Some might ask, "Shouldn't you scold her for being so cunning?"

Or, "Is it okay to let it go?"

"Why bother?"

This is where good players and bad players differ.

Whether or not you directly confront a summon's wishes.

A summon's wishes are like quests.

Completing these quests also benefits the player!

Thinking of it as an extension of the game, most players would have played the same way as Baek Jin-woo.

It's just that experiencing it in reality makes it more immersive.

"I can just use it to my advantage."

The desire to stay close to him was endearing at first, wasn't it?

"Poryong! Well done. You really worked hard."

Baek Jin-woo smiled as he ruffled her hair.

- Thank you, Jin-woo Nim.

"Good."

Rustle, rustle.

Baek Jin-woo pulled something out of his jacket.

It was a shiny VIP company card.

"Since you succeeded as promised, today is a chicken and beer party for everyone! Hun-gyo."

- Yes, my lord!

"Give the summoning a rest until tomorrow evening."

- Rest... from training, you mean?

Yes.

Exactly.

Hun-gyo's wish was all about training, wasn't it?

But well.

He could handle it tactfully.

After all, he was an experienced player.

"You said it yourself, didn't you? Rest is also a form of training. From now on, let's make it a rule. Whenever someone learns a new skill, we'll combine rest with a bonding party. Didn't you say teamwork was important?

- Oh, if that's the intention, then I'm all for it. Teamwork between summons is indeed an essential part of the training.

"Exactly, exactly."

As expected, his head was completely filled with thoughts of training.

Baek Jin-woo chuckled as he made a phone call somewhere.

- Yes, please deliver 50 chickens and 10,000 cc of draught beer. Yes, sir! 50 chickens is right!

The local chicken shop.

That was for the humanoid summons.

- Is this Brother's Butcher Shop? Bring all the meat you've got today, plus whatever's in stock. Yes, everything. No, I'm not joking.

Even the local butcher.

Today was a feast day for both humanoid and non-humanoid summons.

"With a 1 billion won company card, this much is only fair."

Even if they held a feast every time a skill was learned, it was hard to imagine spending 1 billion won on food.

Frankly, he wasn't sure if it was even possible.

"And Poryong."

- Yes, Jin-woo Nim.

"Since you learned a skill this time, it'll be just the two of us in the dungeon next week."

- Really?

Poryong's face lit up with joy.

"Now that you've learned Linked Strike, the next thing you need to master is Transformation."

Explosive Dragon Technique Transformation.

A skill that allows the user to shape the dragon flames as desired.

From Transformation, a variety of uses become possible.

It could form a shield, build walls or create gusts of wind.

Of course, mastering this skill won't be quick.

"It requires mana control at its absolute peak."

Still.

Baek Jin-woo nodded with a smile.

"At least the minimum preparation is done."

What preparation?

The preparation to attempt the 1st floor of the Tower of Trials!

***

The next day.

Baek Jin-woo began to prepare for the Tower of Trials in earnest.

"The Tower of Trials."

As the final content of "Battle of Summoners", Baek Jin-woo had already reached the 100th floor in the past.

A place of overwhelming difficulty, it was the only source of AI-generated random rewards.

The Tower of Trials required the use of all three parties a player could form.

In other words, he could bring up to 15 summons with him on the climb.

"Normally, you'd have to get other EX-level summons to join you, but..."

That was realistically impossible.

The chances of obtaining them were too small.

"Even if I liquidated all of YooBaek's profits and used the money to buy expensive summoning scrolls?"

If he could obtain an EX-level summon, that would be great, but if he couldn't?

That would mean losing a huge amount of money outright!

Even if he sold the summons he obtained to make up for the losses, the deficit would still be staggering.

"At least not right now."

He knew that Yoo Ji-ah was working hard these days.

She had recently bought land and built a building, taking out loans to raise funds.

Asking her for billions to gamble on summoning scrolls would be out of the question.

So.

For now, he decided to climb the Tower of Trials with summons specialised for weekly dungeons.

"Just to the 10th floor."

The 10th floor of the Tower of Trials was relatively accessible, even for local rankers.

Of course, this was Baek Jin-woo's definition of "relatively accessible".

For many rankers, the Tower of Trials had claimed numerous lives, proving that it was anything but easy.

"Phew."

For now.

Since he decided to take a break from dungeons today.

After buying four iced Americanos at a café, Baek Jin-woo went to YooBaek's office.

Beep, beep!

With the employee card he had received earlier, the door unlocked with a click.

"Huh?"

"Baek Jin-woo?"

Kim Byung-jin and Hwang Tae-seop, who were in the middle of their work, stood up.

At the head of the room sat Yoo Ji-ah.

"Oh! Jin-woo! Why didn't you call when you were coming?"

Yoo Ji-ah stood up rigidly, almost like a subordinate saluting a superior.

What was that?

Was it just him, or had Yoo Ji-ah become even more formal lately?

"Haha, I came to take a break and talk about something. Here, have some coffee while you work."

"Thank you."

"Oh, I'll enjoy it, thank you!"

One by one, the employees got their coffee.

Yoo Ji-ah led Baek Jin-woo to a meeting room.

"Jin-woo, you said you needed to discuss something. Do you need anything?"

"No, not really. Well, I need some summoning scrolls, but..."

"Summoning scrolls? Mid-level? High-level? How many should I get you?"

"Haha, the summoning scroll part was a joke. Actually... I'm thinking of trying the Tower of Trials soon."

"The Tower of Trials?"

Yoo Ji-ah's gaze wavered.

Inside the Jamsil Tower of the Players' Zone was the infamous Tower.

Its infamy had even spread to the headquarters.

-

- The graveyard of players!
- Crazy Hell Difficulty!

-

The surviving players were unanimous in their description.

It was hell.

They were lucky to survive, otherwise they would have died.

As YooBaek's representative, she was

was worried about a player entering such a place.

But why?

"Look at those eyes."

Even though he was talking about entering the Tower of Trials, there wasn't the slightest tremor in his gaze.

It was the same as when he prepared to enter a weekly dungeon.

"That confidence and composure."

Yoo Ji-ah became even more convinced.

"Of course, JinuGod is exceptional."

Back when he was a gamer, hadn't he been the only one to challenge the 100th floor?

How easy must the 1st floor be for someone like him?

"Phew."

Yoo Ji-ah took a deep breath to calm herself and kept her poker face.

She had decided before.

Not to ask unless he spoke first.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yes, I wanted to challenge him at this time anyway."

"I see..."

"Oh, and I won't be using any equipment this time."

"You're not planning to sell the information?"

"No."

This time Lamba, Hun-gyo and Poryong were key participants.

He didn't want to reveal their existence too soon.

"And above all."

Communication was very important in the Tower of Trials.

If he wore equipment, the summons wouldn't be able to talk.

"Do what you feel comfortable with, Jin-woo."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Oh, it's not about understanding."

Yoo Ji-ah smiled.

"Once you start climbing the tower... Jin-woo's value will skyrocket."

Indeed.

Yoo Baek's business opportunities seemed endless.

"By the way, can I ask you a favour?"

"A favour?"

Baek Jin-woo tilted his head.

What kind of favour?

"It's just a real favour, so you don't have to say yes."

"Sure, let's hear it."

"Well, there's a national team selection competition in two months."

"Oh."

He knew about it.

He had looked it up and read about it.

Every year, around the end of June, ten players were chosen to represent the country.

Players affiliated with both the headquarters and the major guilds could participate.

And those selected?

They would compete in the World League at the end of the year.

Against ranked players like Rachel and MoscowMan.

Fighting against the best ranked players in the world to earn rewards from the system.

"Don't individuals need recommendations to join?"

Although YooBaek was a management group, it wasn't technically a formal guild.

Since it only managed one player, it was treated as a single entity.

"With a recommendation from a Congressman, it's possible! Actually... um, Congressman Park Chang-seok, who supports our company..."

Yoo Ji-ah started to explain.

What had happened at the headquarters and how Congressman Park had impulsively made a bet with another congressman.

"Hm."

Baek Jin-woo stroked his chin.

Participating in the national team selection didn't seem too difficult. The problem was...

He would have to compete against world class players.

It was a bit daunting, but also...

"Eight months from now?"

Until then, it seemed manageable.

If Poryong mastered 'Devour' by then, that was it.

"If you're selected as a national representative, you'll receive immense support. The current government spares no expense for proven players."

"Hmm, really?"

Money.

He needed money.

To summon another EX-level summon.

"PVP-wise, though, Dol-dol is broken."

Dol-dol.

The nickname for B-grade Cyclone Slayer that JinuGod had used in the past.

Baek Jin-woo had once held the top spot in the Player vs. Player rankings with Dol-dol.

Back then, he had defeated Rachel's five summons (including S-grades) in five seconds with Dol-dol before it was deleted...

"How much support do they give?"

"It varies from year to year, but you'd probably get several high-level summoning scrolls. Maybe even a top-tier scroll..."

"Oh."

A top-tier Summoning Scroll?

[Grade C: 94%]
[Grade B: 5%]
[Grade A: 1%]

A scroll with these probabilities, with a chance of a Class A summon.

Currently, there were no such scrolls on the market, and their value was astronomical.

Their price was basically whatever one was willing to pay.

Only a nation could procure such a thing, as even large guilds couldn't dream of it.

"This is irresistible."

After some thought, Baek Jin-woo nodded.

"Okay. Let's aim for two months."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you!"

Under the desk, Yoo Ji-ah's clenched fist shook with excitement.

"Congressman Park Chang-seok."

Don't forget this debt.

"We're not talking about just any player here - this is JinuGod, JinuGod!"