174. Return (1)
Swish.
Jeong Siu adjusted his glasses and stared intently into the air.
“They’re deploying summons on that side too!”
“Who is it?”
There were three figures sitting atop the wyvern.
They also deployed several summons, and one of them caught his eye.
“....Guardian.”
An A-grade Guardian.
Among the rankers, it was a summon only Takahashi Shusuke used.
“That.....!”
“It’s a Guardian, isn’t it?”
“If it’s a Guardian, then it’s Shusuke, but why is Shusuke here?!”
Fwoooosh!
From far away, a human-type character gripping a dagger in a reverse hold charged through the air.
“That’s Korak!”
Jeong Siu shouted.
A typical reaper-type summon, Korak.
“And the summon beside Korak supporting it is Death Walker and Shadow Rex! Statistically, among the rankers, the one who uses that combination the most is.......”
Gulp.
After swallowing once, he shouted:
“It’s Dmitri Tarasov of Russia!”
A powerhouse ranked 25th in the world!
“So it’s certain now.”
Hong Ari muttered as she set up a defensive formation around Yoo Jia.
“The Russian bastards. They came prepared. And Japan is in bed with them too.”
“Those sons of bitches!”
“Are they trying to start a war or something?”
The SKY guild members exploded in anger.
Sneaking into the country without any notice wasn’t enough, and now they had come all the way to Yoobaek City?
There was only one meaning behind that.
War.
“Shusuke and Tarasov.”
Both were highly ranked players.
But?
‘We are players with solid fundamentals, taught by Baek Jinwoo and HunGyo.’
Hong Ari snorted.
“As long as we’re prepared, there’s nothing to be scared of! Everyone, attack. The enemy is......”
Then her eyes flashed.
“You may kill them.”
Their hearts were not weak enough to spare the circumstances of those trying to take their lives.
Kwaaaaaaang!
The real clash began.
There were no greetings exchanged.
They immediately attacked without warning, so was there any need to waste words?
‘Whatever you’re trying to do.’
Fwoosh!
Hong Ari’s Phoenix fired hundreds of flames.
‘It won’t go the way you want.’
* * *
“Damn it.”
Shusuke panicked.
Their response was fiercer than he had expected.
And besides.
‘They’ve grown stronger than last time?’
Something about their movements had changed a lot.
They were clearly the same A-grade summons with similar runes equipped, yet when those people controlled them, they were hard to block.
Ghk!
Biting his lip, Shusuke whipped his head to the side.
“...Zasulich!”
According to the original plan.
He was supposed to kidnap Yoo Jia, but of all people, Hong Ari was waiting there.
‘Can’t be helped.’
There was only one method.
Use a trick like in the last friendly match.
Back then it didn’t work because the opponent was the famous God Ji-nu.
But this time.
[Top-grade Movement Speed Increase Scroll]
[Grade: A-grade]
[Temporarily amplifies a summon’s movement speed tenfold.]
“It’ll work!”
Riiiip!
The moment he tore it open, he rushed forward with the Guardian that had over 100,000 HP in front.
“What!”
Even Hong Ari, startled by the summons charging in at incredible speed, hurriedly recalled her Phoenix (A-grade).
So did Kang Jihoe’s Mad Demon (A-grade).
And Oh Sunyoung’s Fenrir (A-grade).
They all quickly started closing in on Shusuke.
“Stop him!”
“Focus your attacks!”
Countless attacks poured down, and with a thunderous roar, the training ground was filled with dust.
* * *
“Ah.”
Yoo Jia was flustered.
She had thought maybe, just maybe.
But she never imagined they would really come, nor that they would approach her this openly.
For now, there were two Mind-Reading Eagles and one Snow Owl perched on her shoulders.
She had placed her other tiny summons nearby too.
It couldn’t be helped.
To maintain the barrier, summons had to remain within a 10-meter radius of the player.
But then.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
Her entire field of vision turned to dust.
In a situation where she couldn’t see anything.
Slice!
A chilling sound ran down her spine.
[Player Yoo Jia’s Paladin (A-grade) has been reverse-summoned.]
Ah.
The Paladin she had brought out just as an escort had been taken down in an instant.
It was equipped with quite a few runes too, but without player control, there was nothing it could do.
‘Who on earth.’
As she grew frustrated at being unable to see anything.
Once again.
Slice.
She heard the sound of something being cut.
[Player Yoo Jia’s Mind-Reading Eagle (A-grade) has been reverse-summoned.]
That was when she realized it.
Something was going terribly wrong.
If all fifteen summons she could summon were killed?
Then the barrier would disappear. In the worst case, that meant she could die!
“Damn it! Jia unni is gone!”
Looking around for Yoo Jia, Hong Ari shouted loudly.
‘These cowardly bastards!’
Did they plan to create chaos, then kidnap her with assassin-type summons?
This couldn’t happen.
They had to respond quickly.
“For now, me, Sunyoung unni, and Kang Jihoe stay here! Everyone else, scatter and lock down Yoobaek City!!”
“Yes!”
The guild members moved in perfect order under the vice guild master’s command.
“There are only three enemies anyway! We just have to make sure they can’t escape! No matter what! Protect her with your lives!”
And then.
What did she have to do here?
Find Yoo Jia.
And burn those three players to ashes!
Clench.
Strength entered her fist.
* * *
“Ah.”
Slash, slash!
Now only two remained.
One Snow Owl right on her shoulder.
And one Black Knight (A-grade) out there.
Yoo Jia furrowed her brow and thought to herself.
‘Maybe I should have learned how to control them too.’
If she had, she wouldn’t have been defeated this helplessly.
She had screamed at the top of her lungs that she was here, and she had run around desperately trying to find Hong Ari.
But.
Hallucinations, and soundproofing.
They were clearly interfering with her using related skills.
‘Zasulich, huh.’
She had heard one of the Russian rankers specialized in that sort of thing.
Of course, she had never imagined she herself would be the target.
And then.
Slash!
The Black Knight’s neck was cut.
[Player Yoo Jia’s Black Knight (A-grade) has been reverse-summoned.]
Now it was really over.
If the Snow Owl on her shoulder got taken out too, this barrier would disappear as well.
‘Ah, Jinwoo.’
Yoo Jia squeezed her eyes shut.
Everything had been good.
Working in a place like this, she had somewhat expected that she might be subjected to a show of force.
But.
She was sad that she would never get to see Baek Jinwoo return.
‘If I had known this would happen........’
Instead of focusing only on work.
I should’ve gone on some dates too.
What was life, really.
You lived to eat delicious things and enjoy yourself.
She had earned a lot of money too, but had never gone on a proper trip.
At times, she had never even done something simple like drinking a shot of soju with chicken feet at a street stall.
It had always just been.
Work work work.
And Baek Jinwoo?
Training training training.
At that fleeting moment, as countless regrets passed through her mind.
[Ding!]
[‘Humanity’ conquers the 60th floor of the Tower of Trials.]
“Huh?”
A sense of incongruity made her open her eyes again.
And then her eyes widened.
‘What?’
The 60th floor of the Tower of Trials?
Not the 51st floor?
No, before that.
‘Why is this status window message appearing to me?’
“What is this!”
“You saw it too, noona?”
“What is this?!”
“60th floor?”
From within the dust.
She could hear the bewildered voices of the other players too.
Which meant.
‘The status message was delivered to everyone?’
And even.
[There are rewards according to contribution.]
[1. Baek Jinwoo (Republic of Korea): 83%]
[2. Rachel (United Kingdom): 17%]
[The 60th floor of the Tower of Trials will be permanently sealed.]
Even the contribution percentages.
This made it certain.
‘He!’
Baek Jinwoo had returned alive.
She didn’t know why, but seeing Rachel’s name there too, it seemed there had been more to the story!
Then there was only one thing to do.
‘Desperate Call!’
Fortunately.
Very fortunately.
The remaining summon just happened to be the Snow Owl with Desperate Call registered on it.
[Desperate Call: Once per day, forcibly summons the designated target player.]
An Intermediate-grade skill that could call Baek Jinwoo!
Swoosh!
The moment she used it, a man appeared in front of Yoo Jia.
“What is this?”
As soon as he came out of the Tower of Trials, Baek Jinwoo had urgently accepted the summon call that popped up.
There wasn’t even time to greet Rachel.
Coming straight from the player zone to the training ground, Baek Jinwoo arrived.
“Jinwoo!”
Feeling his presence appear right beside her, Yoo Jia forgot all about how she had decided to call him “Mr. Jinwoo” in front of others and threw herself at him.
Thump.
As he caught her in his arms.
‘What is this?’
He thought coolly.
It seemed like some kind of battle had broken out. Frowning, Baek Jinwoo decided to clear away the dust first.
“HunGyo.”
—Yes, my lord.
Sssshaaaaa….!
HunGyo appeared, then swept his sword along with a surge of force. And that chaotic mess was cleaned up in an instant.
The dust cleared.
“B-Baek Jinwoo!”
“Guild Master!”
“Waaaah!”
“HunGyo!”
While everyone rejoiced at his return, there were three whose expressions looked like they had bitten into shit.
They were Shusuke, Tarasov, and Zasulich.
“How did this happen?”
Whatever it was, Baek Jinwoo’s voice clearly carried a chilling coldness.
The battle calmed down in an instant, and Hong Ari explained the situation.
After roughly understanding what had happened, Baek Jinwoo became enraged.
He was purely furious.
‘These bastards.’
‘They attacked Yoobaek City while Rachel and I were away?’
The thing he hated most.
That was people laying a hand on his family.
His lover, Yoo Jia.
The SKY members who belonged to his guild.
To him, they were all like family.
“HunGyo.”
A strange voice burrowed into everyone’s ears.
A low voice devoid of emotional fluctuation.
—Yes, my lord.
Perhaps he sensed the atmosphere too. HunGyo’s gaze turned cold as well.
“W-wait.”
Shusuke was panicking.
Baek Jinwoo, whom they had been certain was 100% dead, had suddenly appeared here?
The 60th floor of the Tower of Trials?
What the hell was that?
“Let’s talk this ove—”
Sliccccck!
It was a single strike.
HunGyo unleashed Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, World-Annihilation.
Within that sword strike spreading like a spiderweb, all of the enemy’s summons were torn apart and shredded.
Even the tank Guardian was butchered by just one strand of it and reverse-summoned.
Wooooong!
The barrier disappeared immediately.
For reference, Baek Jinwoo did not even summon any of his other summons.
It was as if he did not feel they were worth it.
“Talk?”
Baek Jinwoo looked at Shusuke with a cold expression.
That’s right.
This was no longer the modern world we once knew.
“I regret sparing you when you pulled that stunt last time.”
“W-wait, spare m….”
Shusuke’s words never continued any further.
Slice!
Because HunGyo’s sword cleanly cut off his head.
“Hhk!”
“Gah!”
Tarasov and Zasulich trembled violently.
He was strong.
The opponent was overwhelmingly strong.
Did this mean Moscowman’s ambition to swallow the world was ending here?
—My lord, what shall be done with them?
“I don’t even want to dirty my ears with Tendon-Breaking Bone-Crushing.”
—As you command.
That meant?
Kill them immediately.
“H-huaaaah! W-wait a second!”
“S-spare......!”
Their cries also failed to continue.
Slice, slice!
One after another.
HunGyo lightly cut them down, and they collapsed.
It did not matter what anyone said. Rather, he wanted to make it known.
‘Anyone who lays a hand on my family?’
This is what happens to them.
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