60. The difference a player makes.
Late at night.
“Haa, haa!”
“Hufff, hkeugh!”
The training grounds were still filled with the sound of labored breathing. The determination of the four disciples was remarkable.
When Baek Jinwoo refused to move on, saying their physical training was still lacking, they had started coming out even at dawn to train on their own.
All to reach the minimum standard Baek Jinwoo demanded.
“No, damn it! Why is stamina so important anyway?! Haa, haa!”
After running thirty laps around the training grounds, Hong Ari collapsed flat onto the floor and grumbled.
Now that the running was over, they had to rest a little before moving on to strength training.
Seriously.
She felt like she was going to die.
“But don’t you think things have changed a bit?”
Gulp, gulp!
Sitting beside her, Oh Sunyoung lifted her whole water bottle and chugged it down.
She drank so hastily that half of it ran down her throat and spilled.
What she said was true.
HunGyo’s exercise methods were actually quite effective.
“It’s strange. Even if I don’t sleep much, I recover from fatigue faster, and I feel like I can concentrate better than before.”
The postures they took during strength training were completely different from ordinary workout methods.
It felt as though they were drawing the energy of great nature into their bodies through breathing.
Even her eyesight had improved. It also felt like her recovery and immunity had skyrocketed.
“That’s why we’re out here in the middle of the night, noona.”
Gi Jaehyuk smiled faintly.
For the record, this was self-directed training. No one was forcing them to do it.
Even Hong Ari, who was grumbling over there, knew it too. As hard as the stamina training was, their bodies were improving.
“There’s no way big bro values stamina for no reason. All right, next is strength training. Let’s get ready right away, noonims! Aja-ja-ja!”
“Ugh, fine. I said I got it.”
Even while scrunching up her face, Hong Ari got to her feet.
* * *
Two weeks later.
“Okay, pass.”
At last, a declaration of approval came from Baek Jinwoo.
“You’re all pretty decent.”
Honestly, he was surprised.
Speed, endurance, reflexes, and even strength.
In not much time, they had risen beyond the level of ordinary people.
They still were not as fast as Baek Jinwoo, but at the very least, it proved that his disciples trusted his words to the end and followed him faithfully.
“I guess we can slowly move on to the next stage now.”
“Me!”
That was when Hong Ari raised her hand.
“I have a question!”
At some point, she had subtly started speaking casually to him.
One could ask how a disciple dared to speak informally to her master, but Baek Jinwoo did not care.
They were the same age, after all. As long as she listened well, that was enough.
“What is it?”
“Stamina training is good, and all this training is good, sure. But if we really follow your training well, I want to know how well we could do in this year’s World League.”
The World League...
Baek Jinwoo shook his head.
Honestly, he did not know.
He had been too busy to look up last year’s World League and things like that.
So he gave a clean, simple answer.
“I don’t know. It’s simple. If you’re strong, you win. If you’re weak, you lose.”
“......”
What the hell was that?
Hong Ari was dumbfounded. That was not the kind of obvious answer she had asked for.
“But one thing is certain. If you follow my training properly, you’ll become a lot stronger.”
“...How much stronger?”
“Well.”
Saying they would become strong enough to beat ancient veterans on the level of the Five Emperors would obviously be a lie.
But maybe they could at least hold their own against ordinary world rankers?
Of course, strength is relative, so he could not say for certain.
“If you’re curious, you can feel it for yourself starting today. Let’s see. Which of the four of you is the weakest?”
Just like during the national team consulting, the four disciples would sometimes spar against each other in the battle hall to sharpen their senses.
That was why they knew each other’s level better than anyone else.
Slowly, Kang Jihoe raised his hand.
“I’m the weakest, big bro.”
That was the funny part.
In Oh Sunyoung’s case, she was stronger than Kang Jihoe even though she was not even on the national team.
From her perspective, it was only natural to feel wronged.
If meeting Baek Jinwoo in a multiplayer match was a sin, then that was her sin.
“Really?”
The corner of Baek Jinwoo’s mouth curled upward.
“Then I’ll show you from now on. Jihoe, bring out all the summons you use.”
...Bring out his summons?
All four disciples’ eyes widened in shock.
Without a word of complaint, Kang Jihoe handed over one team of summons.
It was the main team he used in player-versus-player battles.
That was truly an incredible show of trust.
The levels he had raised, the runes he had equipped, the skills they had learned, and everything else.
The ownership of it all was passing directly into Baek Jinwoo’s hands.
Even though they had agreed not to betray each other when they signed the disciple contract, handing over ownership still required a great deal of courage!
“So, how do the rest of you fare against Kang Jihoe?”
“I’ve fought him 125 times. I’ve won 123 and lost 2.”
Gi Jaehyuk answered first.
Maybe because they were in the same guild, they had fought a lot.
“I’m 5 wins and 0 losses.”
Hong Ari answered.
“And I’m 7 wins and 1 loss.”
Oh Sunyoung answered as well.
‘Definitely.’
Kang Jihoe’s pool of summons really was weaker than theirs. Their levels were lower, and the state of their runes was not impressive either.
“Kang Jihoe.”
“Yes, big brother!”
“You think you lose because your summons are weak, right?”
“I suppose so.”
Baek Jinwoo had counseled him during the national team consulting too, and he had gotten the same impression back then.
That Kang Jihoe believed he was losing because his summons were much weaker.
Half right, half wrong.
The player’s role is more important than ordinary people think.
“If I take your team here and beat all three of them, what would that mean?”
“.....That...”
Kang Jihoe was at a loss for words.
That made no sense.
No matter how important a player’s sense and control were, weak summons could not ultimately defeat strong summons.
“From now on, I’m going to show you—not just you, but all the domestic rankers as well—just how lacking your fundamentals have been.”
With a grin, Baek Jinwoo looked at Hong Ari.
“Hong Ari.”
“Hm?”
“You go first.”
“...Huh? Not in the battle hall? Right here?”
“Yeah, for real.”
As long as their HP was not reduced to 0, it was fine.
Then a healer could restore their health, and they could keep practicing.
“Are you sure that’ll be okay?”
Hong Ari had already fought that summon team five times.
So she knew for certain. There was absolutely no way she could lose.
“Yeah, come at me.”
Soon after,
The ten summons began their battle.
* * *
Player-versus-player battle.
It is both very simple and very complex.
Basic movement, skill timing, coordination between summons, rhythm, and so on—all of these determine strength and weakness.
To put it simply, it all depends on the player’s hands.
“Th-this is insane.”
Hong Ari could not accept what she was seeing.
The summons that had seemed laughably weak when Kang Jihoe controlled them now each felt weighty and powerful.
Damage, tanking, healing, buffs.
And even the timing!
Baek Jinwoo’s control, manipulating everything so it moved organically together, was downright godlike.
“Why are the attacks so strong? These are the same runes, aren’t they?”
Attacks she normally would have brushed aside easily were now a burden.
Every time she saw her health being carved away in chunks, her heart ached.
More than anyone else, the one most shocked was none other than Kang Jihoe.
‘No way.’
Look at the expressions on those summons!
Were they not moving about excitedly, as if they had finally found their true master?
Just five minutes.
Within five minutes, Hong Ari’s tank balance had collapsed, and after that, it was easy.
Maintaining his own balance, Baek Jinwoo steadily chipped away at Hong Ari’s side’s HP.
And then, before long—
“...I lost.”
Hong Ari raised the white flag.
Gi Jaehyuk, Kang Jihoe, and Oh Sunyoung all stared with their mouths hanging open.
Yes.
This was a whole new world.
Just like in AOS-type games, where even if two people use the same champion, the power they bring out can differ wildly depending on who is playing, Battle of Summoners was the same.
‘So it wasn’t that the summons were weak—it was that I was weak?’
‘Was this the reason he told us to build our senses through physical training?’
‘This is what we—not just us, but all rankers—have been overlooking!’
Honestly, they had thought that too.
That Baek Jinwoo was only strong because he had ridiculously overpowered summons.
How could they not think that?
HunGyo, Lamba, the Explosive Dragon.
Even just the summons known to the public were all unique and showed absurd power.
But— that had been a misunderstanding.
Baek Jinwoo.
No, God Ji-nu was a veteran among veterans, a true rotten-water player.
No matter what summons a newbie brought, they could never handle a veteran like that.
That was the difference in basic skill.
The absence of fundamentals.
“Next is Oh Sunyoung.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Come at me.”
The result was the same.
Gi Jaehyuk, and Oh Sunyoung too.
All of them had to taste bitter defeat.
“Do you understand now?”
Baek Jinwoo muttered quietly.
“You’re still nothing more than chicks. There’s no need to get excited just because other people hype you up as rankers. In my eyes, not just you, but all the world rankers are at chick level.”
If there were exceptions, then maybe the Five Emperors?
And perhaps veteran players with more than seven years under their belt.
Those were the ones who had internalized the basic combat mechanics into their very bodies.
“What matters for you right now isn’t your summons. First, become chickens.”
The four disciples realized a great deal through that spar.
It felt as if something had suddenly clicked!
‘I’ll follow him no matter what.’
‘I’ll stick close to him and improve somehow.’
‘...This is incredible.’
All the doubts that had been piling up in their minds vanished completely.
Baek Jinwoo was the best. Not just good—the best in the world.
One Heaven!
One Heaven, One Trillion!
The eyes of the four disciples were filled with trust in him.
* * *
Junghye, Hwang Myeonghui’s old classmate, was curious.
So curious she felt like she was going insane.
‘How did broke Myeonghui end up with a Rainbow Snail?’
Her son gave it to her?
Just who was her son?
Or had some clueless kid gifted it to her without even realizing its value?
That was possible too.
That was what Myeonghui had said back then.
— Oh, it was just a simple gift. I don’t really know the price either. It probably isn’t that expensive.
She said she did not know how much it cost.
She had definitely said that.
‘Hmm.’
Even after the class reunion ended, all Junghye could think about was that snail.
Then a thought occurred to her.
“If she really doesn’t know what it is, couldn’t I lowball her and buy it cheap?”
In high society, the Rainbow Snail was a first-class item.
With just that one thing, she might be able to draw all the envy of the Gangnam ladies at once.
Junghye thought it over.
After much deliberation, she called her son.
“My proud son~ Are you busy?”
— Uh, yeah, Mom, what is it? I can talk for a minute.
Her son’s half-hearted reply came through.
He sounded very busy.
Well, that made sense. What kind of guild was Baekho, after all?
If he had just entered Korea’s number one major guild as a rookie, the fact that he even picked up her call was impressive.
“You know that gathering of Mom’s friends, right? It looks like one of their sons is doing pretty well.”
— Uh-huh, so?
“There’s a friend named Hwang Myeonghui, and apparently she received a Rainbow Snail as a gift?”
— ...What’s that? Just tell me what you need, Mom.
You little brat?
The veins on Junghye’s forehead bulged, but her voice remained soft.
“Yes, yes. It’s nothing much. Later, when you have time, could you come out to where Mom and her friends are meeting?”
— Mom, I’m busy.
“You little punk! Help your mother save some face! Do you know how much I—”
— Ah! Okay, okay!
Her son cut her off.
— But only for exactly one hour. Let me know once the date’s set. I’ll take a half day off.
“As expected~ my son!”
Click!
Beep, beep!
“That little bastard.”
Creak.
Junghye ground her teeth.
If not for Baekho, she would have torn him in half...
Still, it was a relief.
He said he would make time.
Junghye picked up her phone.
“Hoo.”
Letting out a breath, she immediately sent a text.
[Park Junghye: Myeonghui, how have you been?]
[Park Junghye: You looked like you were doing well the last time I saw you, so it was nice to see.]
[Park Junghye: Let’s meet up sometime. I heard your son is a player too? My son might be able to help, and maybe there are things we player moms can relate to with each other, right? Get in touch~]
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