56. War Against Crime (5)
In truth, Jo Jihak and the executives did not have many options.
Surrender?
That was a 100% death sentence.
The crimes they had committed so far were on the level of an anti-state organization.
Run away?
That did not seem easy either.
Judging by Baek Jinwoo’s movements so far, he seemed to possess information-gathering capabilities beyond even the state.
Then there was only one answer!
“Attack together!”
Jo Jihak immediately deployed his summons.
‘Baek Jinwoo, I know you’re strong.’
But.
Charging in alone against our gang executives won’t have been such a good choice either.
“Get him!”
“Kill him!”
In an instant, countless summons surrounded Baek Jinwoo.
Just like a gang, every single one of them was specialized for player-versus-player combat.
Baek Jinwoo did not stay still either.
Shing!
HunGyo’s sword was drawn.
Whoosh!
Gale Slayer’s scythe was raised.
But.
The speed at which they wielded their weapons was absurd. Not just absurd, but alien?
-What is this?
-Why are they so fast?
-I can’t even see them?
It was as if they existed in a different time and space.
That was only natural. After all, Lamba had built up stacks for more than two hours on each of them.
Thud!
The Reaper of Death brought its scythe down onto one summon’s head.
“..!”
Just as several executives’ eyes widened—
Whirl!
The scythe spun once.
Splaaash!
The entire area was filled with blood and torn flesh.
T-this is insane?
How can anything move that fast...
With that single blow, the HP of about thirty summons that had been gathered together to rush him dropped sharply.
Yes.
Enduring that one strike itself was not difficult.
It was not like Gale Slayer was wearing an endgame rune, only ordinary Advanced runes.
That was not the problem.
Crunch! Whirrrrrrrrrrrl!
The speed at which he struck and spun was monstrous.
Most summons were too slow to even react, and it was so fast that it looked as though there were more than eight Gale Slayers, seeing afterimages everywhere.
It all happened in an instant.
The time it took for over 90% of the charging summons to be forcibly unsummoned was barely twenty seconds.
“That makes no sense.”
Watching the scene, Jo Jihak muttered without realizing it.
He was the sort of man who would not say something made no sense even after seeing world leagues and world rankers.
But looking at Baek Jinwoo’s summons...
It truly made no sense.
“...This is just ridiculous.”
The world was unfair. Where in the entire world could you find summons like those?
Even the famous Rachel would probably shake her head in disbelief.
“If I’d known a bastard like this would appear, I wouldn’t have done any of this.”
He would have just enjoyed himself moderately and lived quietly.
Thud!
While Gale Slayer was spinning the scythe, HunGyo was not standing idle either.
HunGyo actively sought out enemy summons and cut them down one by one.
Whish, slash! Slice!
The way he darted through the battlefield, evading attacks, finding vital points, and cutting them down looked almost like a dance.
The gang executives. The gang’s finest elites.
Were being cleaned up by the movements of just two summons.
And in a very short time at that.
Most of their shields had already been shattered, and because of the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer’s firepower, they could not even flee.
And that was not all.
Thoom!
Whenever HunGyo saw a player whose shield had been broken, he lightly snapped his fingers and struck their pressure points.
A five-minute Tendon-Breaking Bone-Crushing. He made them pay for daring to disobey his lord’s words and charge in.
“G-gaaaaaaaah!”
“Kghaaaaargh!”
One by one. They collapsed to the floor, rolling around and kicking up dust.
“Ha.”
Jo Jihak let out a short breath.
There was nothing one could do against a natural disaster that was steadily approaching.
All he could do was wait for his turn.
“Fuck.”
Fwoooosh!
The incendiary flames burning around the abandoned building felt especially hot.
* * *
Ten minutes after Baek Jinwoo arrived, the headquarters members, the police, and Assemblyman Park Changseok also arrived at the abandoned building.
The situation had already been cleaned up.
They were tightly bound with tape that Lamba had brought, drooling and trembling all over.
Baek Jinwoo handed them over to Park Changseok.
“Seriously... all I can say is that this is insane.”
Assemblyman Park Changseok said in admiration.
That Jo Jihak, whom they had not been able to catch even after trying for three years, had been captured in less than a week.
And that was not all.
Even the gang members hiding within the country had been dragged out by force as if ripping the roots out of an old tree.
By nothing more than a single player.
“Please take care of the cleanup, sir.”
“Of course!”
Park Changseok clasped Baek Jinwoo’s hand tightly with both of his hands.
Now he was, without question, the nation’s greatest talent.
The greatest hero who should be designated National Intangible Heritage No. 1 and supported without reservation in every possible way!
“Thank you.”
Park Changseok was an assemblyman. An assemblyman elected by the people’s vote.
And so, representing the people, he offered his thanks.
“Thanks to you, South Korea has become even healthier.”
Today.
The gang, the very symbol of crime in South Korea, had been eradicated.
* * *
The citizens were relieved.
[Player Baek Jinwoo crushes the gang overnight!]
[Citizens cheer as all gang members with murder records are sentenced to death!]
[Gang member testimony shocks the public! “It did not even take one minute for the gang elite to get wiped out.”]
[Player Headquarters declares it will respond even more strictly to summon-related crimes from now on!]
The gang had been captured.
And when headquarters declared the complete eradication of crime, everyone gave a thumbs-up.
Even people who had been so fearful that they stayed home all day began dining out and enjoying shopping again.
Domestic consumption started coming back to life!
“Hmm-hmm-hmm.”
Player Headquarters conference room.
The smile would not leave the director’s face.
Because as Baek Jinwoo began soaring even higher, the public had started praising headquarters once in a while too.
ㄴWhen they said headquarters was going to support him with another 1 trillion, honestly, I thought it was a bit too much. But they did well.
ㄴI work at headquarters, and the overall stance has kind of shifted. It seems like they’ve changed to just unconditionally backing Baek Jinwoo.
ㄴAs they should! Of course they should!
ㄴAssemblyman Park Changseok is completely in the pro-Baek Jinwoo camp, and it feels like the director can’t really refuse in this atmosphere.
ㄴNo.
ㄴGuess we’ll have to elect him again next time. If he does well, we should make him do even more!
“Hehehehe.”
The director, forgetting his age and dignity, broke into a wide, foolish grin.
Because of that, the atmosphere in the conference room was good.
“Director, what did I tell you?”
Park Changseok said.
“Didn’t I say that if we just backed Player Baek Jinwoo, we’d already be halfway there?”
“Bwahaha! It’s not just halfway there! At this rate, we’ll blast all the way into outer space!”
“Which is why.”
“Hm?”
“Shouldn’t we give him a reward?”
Baek Jinwoo had completely healed South Korea, which had been battered by gangs.
And if you received treatment? Shouldn’t you naturally pay the medical bill?
“A reward! Of course, we should! Naturally, we should!”
The headquarters had been spending quite a lot to deal with the gangs.
Since Baek Jinwoo had reduced that burden, there was every justification to reward him.
Park Changseok had struck exactly at that point.
Besides, judging by the current public reaction, it felt like they would face a backlash if they didn’t reward him.
“How much should we give him?”
“What’s there to discuss? Pull in everything left in this year’s headquarters budget and use it.”
“...The entire budget?”
The director looked like that was going a little too far.
Naturally, money was needed to keep headquarters running. He could not help but react sensitively.
“How about leaving only the bare minimum needed to keep headquarters operating and giving all the rest to Player Baek Jinwoo?”
“Hm... Really? Then let’s do that.”
“A splendid decision. I’ll discuss it with Representative Yoobaek and submit it again for approval.”
Park Changseok held a 5% stake in Yoobaek.
Naturally, he did not possess it right now, but it was a stake he would be able to receive later once he left headquarters.
Since it had been firmly secured through Yoo Jia’s system contract, there was no reason for any dispute to arise over it.
And.
Baek Jinwoo was Yoobaek’s asset.
If Baek Jinwoo received 1 trillion won in support?
That meant 50 billion won would fall into Park Changseok’s hands.
From now on, Park Changseok intended to make the fullest possible use of headquarters to increase Baek Jinwoo’s value.
* * *
“Ms. Yoo Jia.”
After finishing everything and returning to headquarters, Baek Jinwoo met Yoo Jia.
“Oh, Jinwoo. You’re back?”
She greeted him warmly while sorting documents.
These days, Yoo Jia had been busy.
Because Baek Jinwoo kept appearing in the news and across online communities... she had been building management and response teams to handle it.
“Yes, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“You did well, but next time, if it’s an emergency, please use it without hesitation. Desperate Call.”
Baek Jinwoo had understood the whole situation.
And.
He also understood why Yoo Jia had not called him in that urgent moment.
For Ajin’s sake.
To prevent the confusion he would feel if Desperate Call was triggered from both sides at once.
The thought behind it was truly touching, but there was no need for that.
“HunGyo has gotten stronger. Even if both sides call now, he can handle it just fine... So if something feels off, please use it right away.”
In a situation like last time?
If he had gone to Ajin’s side first and let HunGyo loose there, then moved to Yoo Jia’s side and used Gale Slayer, it would have been resolved much faster and more safely.
Baek Jinwoo wanted to tell her that.
“I understand. Thank you for saying that.”
“No, I’m the one who should be grateful. Oh, and... what about those rankers from back then?”
He had been so furious at the gang in that moment that he had focused only on crushing them, casting everything else aside.
Because of that, there were a lot of things he had simply passed over.
Especially those four rankers.
Hong Ari, Oh Sunyoung, Gi Jaehyuk, Kang Jihoe.
If not for them, it could have turned into a real disaster.
Yoo Jia or his parents might have been kidnapped. He could not just let that go.
“Ah! Those people!”
Yoo Jia clapped her hands.
“Actually, that day, they had come to see you, Jinwoo.”
“To see me?”
“Yes. They still seem to want to meet you, but you’ve been pretty busy lately, haven’t you?”
“...Well, yeah.”
“So I gave them a few rooms in the apartment. Told them to rest while they waited.”
In truth, this was Yoo Jia’s quick thinking at work.
Since Baek Jinwoo kept wandering around outside headquarters again, she had rented apartments for them so there would be rankers staying on-site.
“They’re probably still waiting even now.”
“Really?”
What could it be?
He should go see for himself.
* * *
He had taken the contact information of everyone selected for the national team.
Baek Jinwoo went to the training ground and called them. And the four who received the message came running at once.
“Big brother!”
“We heard the news! As expected of you, big brother!”
Gi Jaehyuk and Kang Jihoe, despite not having known him for long, had practically become younger brothers who addressed him like family.
“...Ahem, well. It was kind of cool.”
“......”
Hong Ari and Oh Sunyoung stood slightly apart, their ears perked up.
“First of all, I want to thank all four of you.”
Baek Jinwoo bowed first.
“No, big brother!”
“There’s no need for that! How can you bow your head to your younger brothers?!”
The two high school boys bounced around in agitation.
Hong Ari, especially flustered, waved her hands. And Oh Sunyoung in particular—
“When you see a crime being committed, fighting it is simply the natural thing to do. I have no desire to be thanked for doing what is natural.”
She stepped forward and raised Baek Jinwoo’s bowed head.
Then she exchanged glances with Hong Ari, Gi Jaehyuk, and Kang Jihoe. Their gazes burned as they passed between them.
In the end.
Gi Jaehyuk stepped forward first.
“Big brother!”
He squeezed his eyes shut and blurted it out.
“If you really are grateful to us! Please accept us as your disciples! We’re asking you!”
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