197. Grand Opening (1)
He returned to South Korea after a month.
In grand style!
— Everyooone! Our Aso has mastered Mugeuk Seonin’s Wind Dance!
“......Lamba, people don’t know what that is.”
— Anyway, our Aso did it! That’s what matters! Kihyahyahyaht!
Only a month had passed.
Yoobaek City had completely changed.
— Wow.
Explosive Dragon Sorcerer stared wide-eyed in shock.
Apartment buildings stretched out in neat rows. Behind them stood a tall open mall at the center.
The stores there had already moved in and were busy preparing to open, wiping down signs and arranging merchandise.
Bustle bustle.
Because of that, there were quite a lot of people around too.
Cars were lined up in the large parking lot, and attendants were waving traffic batons.
‘They said there are only two weeks left until opening now?’
Even more than that, outside Yoobaek City, it was already a full-blown construction site.
A subway line was being drilled through, and in the distance, work on the airport site was supposedly starting at breakneck speed too.
It’s mentioned before, but after summons appeared, the speed of construction increased dramatically.
People do not work.
The golems work, and all the digging and ground compaction are done by summons too.
So because of that, rows of apartment complexes had gone up beside the complex where they used to live.
They were already completed.
And that was not all.
Behind the place across from the main gate of Yoobaek City, where Baek Jinwoo’s father had opened his chicken restaurant. . . .
[Le Grand Yoobaek]
An incredibly luxurious five-star hotel had been built.
— They say mountains and rivers change in ten years, but Yoobaek City changed completely in just one month? Amazing……
Lamba gaped in admiration.
“Seriously.”
Baek Jinwoo was surprised too.
He had never even dreamed something like this would be possible.
Can money really do anything?
‘Now I get why Yoo Jia said she was busy.’
— Jinwoo, Jinwoo!
“Yeah?”
— When the stores open, are we going there too?
“Hmm.”
Originally, we should be training, but……
He was curious.
What kind of place had they built?
‘Anyway, if it belongs to Yoobaek, then 70% of that is all mine, right?’
“Let’s do that. Then we’ll make that day our rest day, and until then, let’s go all out.”
— Ooooooh, nice!
“HunGyo?”
— Yes, my lord.
“We’ve returned after a while, so look after the guild members for a bit, and let’s talk again in about three hours.”
He decided to talk more with HunGyo about Aso later.
For now, Aso had mastered two martial arts of Mugeuk Seonin.
HunGyo could only awaken once Aso learned one more.
— Yes, understood, my lord.
* * *
Three hours later.
Training grounds.
— Since she has learned one of the Azure Sky Footwork techniques this time, I believe next she should learn one of the techniques from the Mugeuk Heavenly Sword Art.
“Which one would be the fastest?”
— I have thought about it as well….. Hmm.
HunGyo closed his eyes.
It seemed he was recalling various skills.
— They all possess heaven-shaking, earth-rattling power, so it is difficult to recommend one lightly, but……if I had to choose one, Heaven-and-Earth Cleaving Slash would likely be the best.
Heaven-and-Earth Cleaving Slash?
It sounded like splitting heaven and earth with a single sword strike. . . .
Just as Wind Dance had literally become wind, Heaven-and-Earth Cleaving Slash might have to literally split heaven and earth too.
No, it definitely would.
“That’s the best one?”
— Yes, because this one is at least a little less broken. . . .
“And this is the less broken one.”
Then what kind of techniques are the broken ones?
Ha.
What exactly is that Mugeuk Seonin guy?
How incredible of a being was he?
“That person called Mugeuk Seonin, I mean.”
— He is not a person. A sage immortal. No, at this point, it would not be wrong to call him a god.
“Right, that god. . . . That person must have mastered those skills all the way to mastery, right?”
— Most likely, would that not be the case?
“Hah.”
Baek Jinwoo let out a sigh.
Was Aso really the future?
Still, according to HunGyo, Aso had the potential to master those things all the way to mastery.
‘The HunGyo-Aso combination really is broken.’
HunGyo could easily grasp a being’s latent abilities and teach them……
And Aso’s latent ability itself was simply broken.
Because HunGyo exists, Aso can become overpowered!
“For now, there’s absolutely no way she can learn this technique on Earth, right?”
— Yes, my lord.
HunGyo nodded with a look of certainty.
— If she really does split heaven and earth…… then your home ground will be ruined, my lord.
Huh, hahahaha.
Somehow, it felt like he was raising something even more dangerous than a nuclear weapon.
— Daddy?
And something very cute, at that.
— Heaven-and-Earth Cleaving Slash? Then I just have to learn that next? I’m confident! Now that I’ve tried once, I think I get the feeling!
“....Yeah.”
Aso.
Just not here.
Let’s go to a dungeon, a dungeon!
* * *
During the two weeks that passed, Baek Jinwoo went through dungeons and focused on training Aso, while the rest of the guild members also devoted themselves even more intensely to training.
They leveled up the A-grade summons they had received and fitted them with runes.
For reference, SKY guild members are given priority access to Rund first.
As long as the materials are prepared well?
Clink, clink!
Rund provides the runes.
And rare runes at that.
As a result, the new recruits were developing at an incredible pace as well.
Physical conditioning, control training through sparring, and repeated level-ups!
“Run!”
Hong Ari shouted.
“If you fail to get into the suicide squad this time, you’re out of the current intake. No, not just out. You’ll be dropped to the third class.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Understood!”
“Of course!”
Shakshakshakshakshak!
Everyone ran forward briskly in orderly ranks.
All of them had metal weights fastened to their wrists and ankles.
They were even dragging tires around their waists.
Because they had entered with such difficulty, they had pride. The pride that SKY was the best in the world.
For now, they were still behind Red Rose, but they believed it would not be long before they took that place back.
Back during the last 4th World League!
They had trained for only a few months and still risen to the level of world rankers.
But now?
This time, they had been given a full year.
During that time, HunGyo had awakened their latent abilities, and they had even received Baek Jinwoo’s consulting and control training.
There is no way they can lose unless they are trying to lose.
But then?
What if they cannot get into the suicide squad, where only fifty people in the entire world are selected?
Then they should take off the SKY label.
No, taking it off would be a little regrettable, so they should voluntarily step down to the third class instead.
“There are no exceptions. That includes Mr. Juwon too.”
“Haha, that’s right.”
“It is acceptable to lose to us! It is unacceptable to lose to another guild.”
If you are going to lose?
Lose to a fellow guild member.
“The final goal is for every guild member to stand above Rachel.”
That goal might be a little too intense.
But?
Goals are supposed to be intense. That way, you at least get halfway there.
“Um, excuse me……”
Kang Jihoe, who had been running, cutely raised his hand.
“Speak.”
“The Yoobaek Premier Mall is opening soon…… Aren’t we going?”
“Huh?”
Hong Ari let out a hollow laugh.
“Hey, Jihoe.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Do you want to get hit?”
“Gah! I’m sorry.”
“If anyone wants to go, beat me in a spar first and then go. Is this really the time for us to be playing around?”
There were only three months and two weeks left until the league.
Before that, they had to clear the 50th floor of the Tower of Trials.
Naturally, they also had to learn the strategy, and even if they climbed it, they still needed Baek Jinwoo’s permission.
“Yeees.”
“Stop talking and keep running, all of you.”
Running alongside them while giving orders, Hong Ari narrowed her eyes fiercely.
As long as she held the position of vice guild master, she would never tolerate SKY’s honor falling to the ground.
* * *
However, Baek Jinwoo could not spend all his time training.
He had made a promise to Lamba, and honestly, he felt he had already gotten strong enough.
He could not completely neglect training, but
‘One day should be fine, right?’
So he came out to have fun.
The grand opening of Yoobaek City!
Countless brands were running promotions unlike anything anyone had seen before.
And on top of that, 「Yoobaek Premier Mall」 itself was handing out gifts left and right.
And do you know what the funniest part was?
— Hehehehet! There’s a prize event tonight at 10 PM!
That prize was Lamba’s autograph.
Was it a week ago?
Kim Byungjin came to see Baek Jinwoo while he was training hard.
He used to be Yoo Jia’s secretary, but now he was apparently the representative of that Premier Mall.
He bowed and scraped while asking for the summons’ autographs…… There was no way Baek Jinwoo could refuse.
If they were holding an event, he ought to help with at least that much.
Besides, Kim Byungjin was practically one of their people.
He was a Yoobaek employee, after all.
So he gave them twenty autographs.
From Lamba, Aso, Explosive Dragon, and Dampir.
Five sheets each.
In HunGyo’s case, he did not particularly like giving autographs, and as for the others……well.
There was no real need.
He did not even ask them.
— Gwo.
Right, you.
You can’t sign anyway!
Anyway.
“Wow.”
There were so many people from the morning onward.
Famous celebrities were already lined up on the temporarily installed stage, and people were taking photos at the photo zone.
But almost all of them were foreigners.
Yoobaek City was seriously packed to the brim with people.
‘At least for today.’
He would just walk around proudly!
There were exactly five summons who had come together with him.
Lamba, Aso, Explosive Dragon Sorcerer, Dampir, and Aila.
The others did not understand why anyone would enjoy a festival.
HunGyo had gone off to train them, and Jaggeo followed for a moment, glanced around at the people, then stomped back toward the training grounds.
Clang, clang!
Rund was hammering away, and as for Gale Slayer……
No one knew what he was doing.
“Gasp!”
“Jinwoo Baek!”
“Oh my God!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
Every time Baek Jinwoo’s group passed by, people stared in shock.
“......That tall summon is the Champion he got this time, right? I heard it’s an S-grade summon, wow……. She looks incredibly imposing.”
“Kyaaaah! Explosive Dragon Sorcerer! So cute!”
“Lamba! Lamba! Lamba!”
“What do you mean, Lamba! Aso is the future!”
— What?!
At Lamba’s glare, the person who had shouted flinched.
H-hey, Lamba.
Calm down.
That is how it is for celebrities. They do not react to every single thing.
“Whew.”
It definitely felt new.
Who would have thought the day would come when Geomdansan, the empty land Daeseong had owned, would transform like this?
And then.
‘Who would have thought almost all of this would become mine.’
— Jinwoo, Jinwooo!
“Yeah?”
— Let’s play a game!
“A game?”
— Look over there. The scale is huge! It looks like one of those games players do!
“......?”
At a glance, it really was huge.
It looked like they had used the entire site of the long line of apartment complexes.
It was practically the size of a giant stadium.
— Kirurururururu!
— Kkiaaaaaah!
He could hear wyverns over there too.
“Woooooah!”
“That’s amazing!”
The crowd’s cheers were loud as well.
What is that?
He had heard nothing about it.
“Should we go take a look?”
— Mm, mm!
They pushed through the crowd and walked toward the event grounds.
At that moment.
“Huh?”
Far away, he saw a blonde woman riding a wyvern.
That body shape looked very familiar, and that face was one he had definitely seen a lot before…..
— Huh?
— Hmm?
The summons’ eyes widened too.
“That girl is……”
— Rachel? Why is Rachel over thereeeee?!
Rachel of Red Rose from England!
The woman ranked second in the world was flying on a wyvern.
And on top of that,
“Rachel! Rachel! Rachel!”
She was receiving the crowd’s cheers.
“......”
What the hell.
How did things end up like this?
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