NABC Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Player headquarters.
Park Chang-seok's office.
"Representative! Representative!"
His secretary rushed in.
"This is huge! You should watch the news!"
"I've already seen it."
On Park Chang-seok's phone screen were the following headlines:
[Korea breaks Tuesday Dungeon records in quick succession! Who's behind it? Headquarters' Yaksha, Representative Park Chang-seok].
[Representative Park Chang-seok: Valuable information obtained at a bargain price from overseas]
[The proud rankers led by Representative Park Chang-seok! Aiming for world records? The public was excited by the potential for progress].
It may seem like a small thing.
But the people were excited because they were hungry for good news.
The fact that Korea could go for a world record!
- Always last in the league!
- The disparity in national wealth caused by inferior achievements!
- A backward summoner nation!
How long had it been since they had heard such hopeful news, after hearing nothing but depressing, self-deprecating news?
The name of Baek Jin-woo, the record-holder who had briefly circulated in the community, had already been forgotten.
All attention was now focused on Park Chang-seok after it was revealed that he was the main figure behind the record-breaking achievement.
"It was all Baek Jin-woo, wasn't it? That first year player..."
The secretary inquired carefully.
It was impossible not to know, unless you were a fool.
After all.
Recently, Park Chang-seok had established the
Secretary Kim Byung-jin, clerk Yoo Ji-ah and clerk Hwang Tae-seop.
All three were elite talents, the pride of the headquarters.
For the record, the
Their job was to drop everything and help him whenever he contacted them.
At the moment, they were concentrating on pulling out all the stops to legally extract the lower level summoning books from the treasury.
"This is true. This event has strengthened my conviction. At least for the rest of my term, I will use all my resources to help Baek Jin-woo.
Park Chang-seok was sure.
He'd been in the business for a long time.
Just by observing Baek Jin-woo's expressions and gestures, he could tell.
Only those who had something substantial and a lot of it could behave with such ease.
From now on, Park Chang-seok's task was simple.
He would help Baek Jin-woo and slowly extract valuable information from him.
It was a mutually beneficial, win-win strategy.
"Byung-jin."
"Yes?"
"What is Baek Jin-woo doing right now?"
"He's still ripping through summoning books, it seems."
"Still?"
"Yes, he took more today too."
Ha.
Did he really go through all of them in a single day?
Could a person even do that?
"Why on earth?
D-rank summons were mostly worthless, hardly worth selling.
Only C-rank or higher summons could fetch a decent price.
"He's not selling any of the summons, is he?"
"No, he seems to be synthesising them all. We've confirmed that he visits the synthesis station every night."
"Huh."
The Synthesis Station.
It was a place where you could sacrifice summons to gain experience.
But it wasn't efficient.
Running a dungeon even once would give you more experience than synthesising summons.
"Oh, and he mentioned something."
"What did he say?"
Park Chang-seok's eyes gleamed.
"He asked if he could use the 1.5 billion won to buy more low-grade summoning books."
"What?"
Park Chang-seok was stunned.
Was 10,000 books a day not enough and now he wanted more?
"He also asked if we could sell them at a discounted price, so I said I'd consider it for now."
"Hah."
What could that be?
Was there a must-have summons among the F to D ranks?
If there was, he would have drawn it by now.
"For now.
The fact that Baek Jin-woo was reinvesting the 1.5 billion won he had earned showed how desperate he was.
"What should we do? It is a bit embarrassing to ask the administration. They keep looking at us sideways and asking us why we keep withdrawing from our stock".
"The low-grade summoning books are piling up in the warehouse anyway. We have to get rid of them eventually."
"So... should we sell them at a discount?"
"Sell them at half price."
"Excuse me?"
The secretary's eyes widened.
He knew exactly how reckless this was.
As a civil servant, Park Chang-seok had to be careful in everything he did.
If he was caught using state funds to give someone an unreasonable privilege, it could become a point of political attack.
"Don't worry, Byung-jin."
Park Chang-seok smiled as if he knew exactly what the secretary was thinking.
"This is all part of a political move.
Baek Jin-woo might one day become a hero of South Korea.
If it became known that Park Chang-seok had supported such a hero financially and materially, even at political risk?
He would be praised for his extraordinary vision, and that could help him win even more votes.
Creating such a narrative was child's play for Park Chang-seok.
"Just do as I say. And remember, this is strictly confidential. Only you, Ji-ah and Tae-seop can know about it."
"Yes, understood."
* * *
Tear, tear!
The sound of tearing paper had now become a hallucination.
Ten thousand summoning books a day meant seventy thousand a week.
For about two weeks, Baek Jin-woo had been tearing through them nonstop.
His desire to help was clear.
How admirable.
Baek Jin-woo decided to accept their goodwill.
Along with the 100,000 incantation books.
* * *
Rip, rip!
- Jin-woo.
"Hmm?"
- How long do we have to do this?
"Until we summon the Training Instructor and the Explosive Dragon Sage."
'Training Instructor' was an abbreviation for 'Training Instructor Summoning', and 'Explosive Dragon Sage' was an abbreviation for 'Explosive Sage'.
- Aaaah! I'm going to get a complex just listening to that ripping sound!
There was no choice.
If he hadn't started in the first place, he might not feel this way, but now that he had come this far, he had to see it through to the end, no matter how frustrating it might be.
He had already torn through the 100,000 books.
Now he was working his way through the remaining 10,000.
The sun had already set and it was getting dark.
Growl.
His stomach rumbled, but he had no intention of stopping.
- You stubborn man! You cruel, stubborn man!
"Hmm, I've heard that before."
When it came to the Battle of Summoners, he was notoriously stubborn, even by other people's standards.
He had probably never slept more than five hours a night during his school years.
Rip, rip!
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the Summoning 'White Serpent' (F Rank)!
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the summon 'Giant Rhinoceros Beetle' (F Rank)!
.......
Please.
Please just show up.
I won't ask for another EX rank.
Just the Instructor and the Explosive Sage.
Come on, just those two.
Honestly, the others?
I don't need them.
If I can summon just those two, I'll easily reach the top of the world rankings.
Of course, it would take some time, but...
Rip, rip!
Baek Jin-woo was a machine.
A summoning book ripping machine.
How much time had passed?
Rumble!
The lightning effects that hit the torn paper were different this time.
Crackle, crackle!
There were far more sparks than usual, and they were golden in colour.
- W-what's happening?!
Lamba was confused and Baek Jin-woo's eyes widened.
'This is...'
It was the same effect as when the Wind Fairy had appeared!
Swoosh!
Finally?!
[You're using an 'inferior spell book'!]
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the Summoning 'Explosive Dragon Sage' (EX Rank)!
"Whoaahhhhh!"
Baek Jin-woo let out a cry without realising it.
- Kyahhhhh!
Lamba flipped through the air, squealing with excitement.
Is this real?
It was real.
After all this time, EX ranks were coming out if you kept summoning.
My Dragon Sage!
The real Dragon Sage!
How scared he had been!
Was I wrong after all?
Had Lamba been the only EX rank all along?
The fear vanished in an instant.
"No."
This wasn't the time to stop.
Rip, rip!
- Jin-woo?
"We can't stop now."
He had to summon in quick succession.
"Time to trigger my streak."
'Streak', short for 'lucky streak', was a quirk of Baek Jin-woo's, where once something good was summoned, ripping more books in quick succession would often lead to more good results.
"Haaaa! Let's go! Keep ripping!"
- Keep ripping, ripping, ripping, ripping!
With renewed vigour, he tore through the remaining summoning books like a madman.
Then, after about 300 more...
Rumble, rumble!
[You are using an 'inferior Summoning Book'!]
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the Summoning of 'Instructor' (EX Rank)!]
It really happened.
The summon had appeared.
- I-is this for real?
Lamba was so shocked that she looked like she was going to faint.
"Whoa!"
Seeing the 'Training Instructor' on his screen, Baek Jin-woo fell backwards in disbelief.
Finally!
Finally!
'I did it...'
Dopamine flooded his brain, almost as if it was pouring out.
This, this was it!
Was he going to die of happiness?
Yes, this is exactly why Summoning is so addictive!