176. Return (3)
The world was turned upside down.
First of all, the entire world learned that Baek Jinwoo and Rachel had conquered the 60th floor.
No one knew why it had suddenly become public like that.
People could only speculate that some kind of change was coming to the Tower of Trials.
And.
Rachel’s fury was even greater than expected.
Alexander Veskov and seven members of the Russian national team.
Baekcheon(Zhuo Longtai), and one member of the Taiwanese national team.
She killed all ten of them on the spot.
And also.
Kuuuooooooooh!
She blew away the Kremlin with her Yellow Dragon Breath.
From all 44 buildings to Red Square, she wiped everything out completely.
Naturally, there was backlash from Russia.
It was only natural, since she had destroyed a building that was both the presidential palace and symbolic enough to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“What crime did we commit?!”
“The president only lent it out because the nation’s number one ranker asked to borrow it!”
“Veskov’s thoughts were only Veskov’s own thoughts!”
To some extent, they did have a point.
Even Russia’s political leadership had known nothing about this incident.
But.
- Gareth Bale and Sandy McKiver were also precious assets of Britain. You should be grateful there were no civilian casualties. If you have complaints, declare war this instant.
At Rachel’s thunderous rebuke, everyone had no choice but to shut their mouths.
If there was anyone who could go against her in that enraged state.
Wouldn’t it probably be only Baek Jinwoo of South Korea?
Sugoi.
Yoshida Hikaru slammed his head to the floor and apologized.
He insisted he truly hadn’t known.
He bitterly pleaded that Shusuke’s actions had been entirely his own unilateral decision.
Rachel did not let it slide.
She brought in the Mind-Reading Eagle to verify the truth, and only after confirming it was true did she let him go. Even then, to make absolutely sure, she only sent him away after getting Baek Jinwoo’s permission.
Naturally, the Japanese cabinet also kept completely quiet and stayed low.
There was no memorial for Shusuke or anything like that.
That was how things were settled.
* * *
“Hoo.”
Baek Jinwoo was having a private meeting with Yoo Jia in the CEO’s office after seeing her again for the first time in a long while.
He deliberately ignored both the shimmering reward list in the corner of his vision and the filming equipment set up in one corner of the office.
His lover came first!
“You waited a long time, didn’t you?”
“Mmm, a little?”
Yoo Jia smiled bitterly.
She was trying to look strong, but how much had she suffered in her heart?
She tried to hide those difficult days behind a smile, but her trembling fingertips gave her away.
There was just one thing.
One thing she knew for sure.
“I knew you’d come back.”
That was why she hadn’t fallen into despair and had kept working hard the whole time.
And then.
“Since I believed that, you really did come back?”
Yoo Jia slowly stepped closer.
Baek Jinwoo pulled her tightly into his arms.
“I missed you too. Very much.”
A long separation of four months.
All the emotions they had gone through while yearning for each other came rushing between them like a flood.
‘Yeah.’
Let’s forget the rewards for now.
Just for today, let’s spend our time focusing on each other.
* * *
The next morning.
After gulping down some cold water, he went up to the rooftop.
Yoo Jia was still sleeping peacefully in bed.
He had made a promise with her.
From now on, he would spend more time not just on training, but for each other, and for their family.
Of course, that was the plan, but.
‘Somehow.’
He had a feeling the world would not leave them alone.
‘The change in the Tower of Trials.’
He could not grasp even the slightest hint of how things would unfold from here on.
For now.
‘Should I take a look at the rewards?’
He dragged the message floating in the corner over in front of him.
[Your rewards are arriving.]
[You have acquired the King's Emblem (Bound).]
[You have acquired 83 Top-grade Rune Selection Tickets (Bound).]
[You have acquired 2,490 Omnipotent Polishers.]
[You have acquired 1,245 Top-grade Summoning Scrolls.]
[You have acquired 8 Ultimate Summoning Scrolls.]
[You have acquired 2,490 Essences of Light.]
[You have acquired 2,490 Essences of Darkness.]
“Huh.”
Why is there so much?
He had expected a lot, but this was beyond imagination.
‘As for runes… I’ve already completed my setup.’
Let’s keep the rune selection tickets for now.
If Rund’s level rises, there was no telling what kinds of runes might appear next.
As for the Ultimate Summoning Scrolls.
It would be better to save them for the World League championship.
And the Top-grade Summoning Scrolls… I guess I can just open those now?
‘Yeah, let’s do that.’
If he get anything decent, he can hand them out to guild members or family, and if they’re useless, he can sell them all.
That alone would be worth an enormous amount of money.
For reference.
The value of a single Top-grade Summoning Scroll was not fixed.
Just like the Ultimate Summoning Scroll, it was worth whatever people were willing to pay, and there were practically none on the market.
And he had just gotten 1,245 of them.
The rates for a Top-grade Summoning Scroll were:
[C-rank: 94%]
[B-rank: 5%]
[A-rank: 1%]
Just maybe.
What if an A-rank Magic Cat came out?
Okay.
He decided to keep everything else for now.
There was another reward as well.
[Congratulations.]
[You are ranked 1st in contribution.]
[You have acquired the Golden Key Fragment (1/3).]
Golden Key Fragment.
[Golden Key Fragment (1/3)]
[Rank: S-rank]
[If you gather all 3 key fragments, something mysterious will happen.]
Ah.
Was this what Rachel meant when she contacted him saying she had gotten some kind of Silver Key?
It seemed like the secret behind this would only be revealed after clearing more of the Tower of Trials.
Keep this too!
Nodding to himself, Baek Jinwoo went back downstairs.
Shooooo!
He took a shower.
Then he had a light brunch with the now-awake Yoo Jia.
The great thing about Yoobaek City Apartments was that room service was now available.
And not just any room service, but dishes prepared by top hotel chefs.
“We hired a chef this time, you know? His specs are ridiculously impressive. Apparently he used to have three Michelin stars.”
Munch munch.
Yoo Jia dipped a perfectly golden Eggs Benedict and took a bite as she spoke.
“Wow, really? That’s incredible. At that level, he’d basically be a true master, so I doubt money alone could move him.”
“You know that Grotelling you gave me as a gift before? The spirit that keeps ingredients fresh.”
“Yeah.”
“It was his dream to work in a kitchen with that spirit. He says the freshness of vegetables is the most important thing.”
“Oh……”
That made sense.
Grotelling was one of only fifty limited summons in the entire world.
“Still, I made sure to treat him like a true master.”
“How much?”
“Two billion won a year.”
“…Isn’t that way too stingy?”
Honestly speaking.
His sense of money had gone numb now.
A house?
No need.
All of Yoobaek City belonged to Baek Jinwoo anyway.
A car?
Also no need.
A Celestial Wyvern was the ultimate car.
Food, clothing, and shelter were all perfectly provided here at the highest level, and money kept pouring in endlessly.
In that situation, two billion won…
It could only sound like twenty won.
“Come on, if you pay too much, it wouldn’t be fun.”
Yoo Jia laughed.
“Wondering how much it’ll go up at the next salary negotiation is part of the fun too, you know?”
“That’s true too.”
With everything, moderation was best.
Even that amount alone was the best in the industry.
If they paid even more than that?
It might kill his motivation.
And if they had him work for about a year and he turned out to be really good, they could always raise it more then.
“But you really did hire well. It’s seriously delicious.”
“Right?”
The two of them chatted back and forth, enjoying breakfast.
It’s nice talking like this.
‘Later this evening, I should make time to see Ajin and my parents too.’
* * *
Yoo Jia had gone to work, and Baek Jinwoo came out to the training grounds.
“Uwaaaah! Guild Master!”
“How long has it been since you last showed up at the training grounds, Guild Master?!”
The guild members, who had come early and were doing physical training, welcomed him.
‘Ahh.’
How long had it been since he had felt this kind of happiness?
Everyday life.
Baek Jinwoo loved this kind of ordinary training routine so much.
Eat, run, wash up, practice.
“It’s our first time meeting you!”
“Hello, sir!”
As soon as he stepped inside, four people bowed to him at a perfect right angle.
All of them.
Faces he was seeing for the first time.
Of course, he had already heard from Yoo Jia that this round of recruits had been selected.
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
One by one.
Han Yuna, Seo Yiyoon, Jeong Siu, Kang Daehyuk.
Baek Jinwoo, who had roughly memorized their names, greeted them warmly.
He shook each of their hands in turn.
“It’s an honor!”
“Thank you!”
Every one of them clasped his hand with moved expressions.
‘Not sure whether they’ve got talent or not.’
That could not be helped.
‘It’s my fault for being absent.’
Since the guild members had chosen them, he had no choice but to trust them and raise them well.
“I’ll do the consulting one by one, slowly. If you each have summons you use, write them down and submit them. Ah, and we’ll also need to test your control, so get ready.”
The rookies’ faces were already glowing with passion.
At last!
They were finally going to receive proper training.
And then.
“HunGyo.”
—Yes, my lord.
Swoosh!
At the sight of HunGyo appearing, the rookies’ mouths fell open.
‘Uwaaaah!’
‘It’s HunGyo!’
‘The famous HunGyo is actually here!’
That name they had already heard from their seniors until their ears practically wore out!
They stared wide-eyed at the infamous HunGyo.
“Just watch over the rookies’ physical training for a bit, then come to me in ten minutes.”
—I shall obey, my lord.
* * *
Inside the training grounds.
After entering a private room, Baek Jinwoo summoned another summon.
“Champion.”
Fwaaaash!
The moment light burst through the air, a silver-haired Paladin appeared.
—Ahh, so this is your world?
“Yeah.”
Aila Lunares.
She looked around with curious eyes.
“I can call you Aila, right?”
—Call me whatever is comfortable for you.
This was the first awakened summon he had obtained this time.
Baek Jinwoo was curious about her stats.
“Take a look around for a bit.”
After showing her a bit of consideration while she marveled at everything, he brought up her status window.
[Summon: Champion]
[Race: Human]
[Rank: S-rank (Awakened)]
[Level: 1]
[Owned Stats]
Strength: 1, Intelligence: 1, Stamina: 1, Agility: 1
HP: 1,000, MP: 0
-Critical Hit Chance: 20%
-Critical Hit Damage: 20%
[Owned Skills]
-Awakened summons take 50% less damage from non-awakened targets, and deal 100% more damage to non-awakened targets.
-Sky-Piercing Spear Strike: Wraps the spear in holy power. On hit, it explodes and deals holy damage to all enemies within range.
-Sacred Shield: Plants the spear into the ground and summons a sacred shield to protect allies.
-Judgment of Moonlight: Raises the spear high and calls down the judgment of holy moonlight. All enemies are stunned for 5 seconds.
-Paladin’s Charge: Charges forward with the spear leading the way. Enemies in the path are pierced by the spear, take damage, and suffer additional damage.
-Heavenly Ascension: Throws the spear. Causes a massive holy explosion at the point where it lands.
Oooh.
As expected of an S-rank.
The skills were packed and powerful.
It had AoE damage, and it had CC skills too.
Since the base class was a Paladin, it even had defensive skills.
And the awakening effect!
It seemed fair to say she was simply twice as strong as an ordinary summon.
At this point, awakening was absolutely mandatory, wasn’t it?
With the same rune and the same control…
It would be hard for a non-awakened summon to beat an awakened one.
Anyway.
‘At this level, it’s definitely broken enough.’
Especially.
‘When I use it, it becomes a different story.’
The man who had turned ordinary summons into EX-rank monsters through control alone.
That was God Ji-nu.
“Done looking around?”
—Yes, Jinwoo. This world is definitely different from mine. It seems to be a much more advanced world. It’s fascinating.
Yeah.
Of course it would be.
No matter how you looked at it, her world had never made it out of the medieval era.
Baek Jinwoo smiled faintly.
“Yeah, this is my world. I’m counting on you from here on out.”
Baek Jinwoo smiled and held out his hand.
And he made a promise.
Since Aila had decided to trust him and offer up her soul, he too would do his utmost to take care of her.
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