Chapter 10
Chapter 10: The Exam Moves Fast (2)
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[A Boss Monster has appeared!]
Thud, thud!
A slime the size of three grown men combined jumped about menacingly.
"First time seeing one in person. A Giant Slime."
It was the same one he'd grown sick of hunting through Top-grade Tuesday Dungeons. Since this was a Low-grade Dungeon, it was small enough to draw a scoff.
"Shake it up."
— Uwoooooooooh!
After 5 minutes, the Shaggy Gorilla's attack speed stack had built up quite nicely. It might not be Lamba's buff at its peak, but it would have no trouble handling a mob like that.
"Charge."
At Baek Jin-woo's command, Shaggy Gorilla beat its chest and launched forward. The slime, having registered the threat, leapt up intending to slam down with full force—but.
Kwakwakwakwakwa!
Blocking the already tremendously accelerated fists of Shaggy Gorilla was no easy feat. Assaulted by blows at near-blinding speed, the slime burst apart mercilessly.
Pubububuk!
Chunks of fleshy goo splattered in every direction, and Shaggy Gorilla, unable to contain its excitement, ravaged the slime's innards. The boss was finished in the blink of an eye.
And by a mere F-rank Shaggy Gorilla, no less.
That's the broken power of Lamba.
If just Shaggy Gorilla could do this, what about later when he used other high-performance close-range Summoner Beasts?
He'd be absolutely flying.
[Eliminating the Boss Monster!]
[Dungeon Clear!]
[Clear Time—00:05:32]
5 minutes and 32 seconds.
Too slow.
Considering the former God of Jinu's clear time had been 5 seconds, this was definitely slow.
Of course, back then he used the Ruination Dragon's breath specifically for record runs.
Even without that, the average had been within 1 minute. The other rankers probably clocked around the same time too……
[Congratulations!]
[You have broken South Korea's all-time record!]
[A special achievement has been unlocked!]
What?
Baek Jin-woo's eyes went wide.
South Korea's all-time record?
Insane!
That can't be right.
How low was this country's level if 5 minutes was the all-time record?
He hadn't expected this at all.
"……"
He genuinely had nothing to say.
[First Achievement Reward has arrived.]
[High-grade Summoning Scroll x 3.]
[Reward has arrived.]
[Low-grade Polish x 2.]
Woooong!
The rewards flowed into the status window, and—
[The Dungeon disappears.]
Flash!
His vision flipped upside down.
***
Weekly Dungeons and Raid Dungeons have a system known as Time Attack.
Players are ranked against one another, and rewards are distributed according to those rankings!
Records are tallied twice—once per nation, and once in a combined global ranking.
And naturally, those records had all been updated by each country's rankers.
To claim the first achievement rewards.
In South Korea's case? Low-grade, Mid-grade, High-grade, Top-grade……
Every single one held by ranking #1, Kang Geon-ho.
"Huh?"
In front of the Weekly Dungeon building, a staff member managing the record board leapt to their feet.
"What's this?"
"What is it?"
"Th-the record has changed."
"What? Where!"
"Tuesday Dungeon, Low-grade! 5 minutes and 32 seconds!"
"Low-grade? There's no record of any ranker entering Low-grade today. Let me see."
A seasoned staff member checked the board.
"……Baek Jin-woo?"
The name written there, clear as day.
"Not Kang Geon-ho?"
"That's what I'm saying. But who is Baek Jin-woo?"
"No idea. Never heard of him. Doesn't seem like a ranker."
"Right, doesn't look like it……. But how does a non-ranker break a record? And the ranking #1's record at that?"
Of course, the global record board's average stood around the 3-minute range.
And—
[Tuesday Dungeon Low-grade]
[World Record #1—Rachel]
[Clear Time—00:02:25]
Only Britain's Rachel held a record in the 2-minute range.
It wasn't only the staff members who were shocked.
"Wh-what the hell!"
The examiners logging scores were wide-eyed too. Park Chang-seok, who had been monitoring the field in real time, in particular—
Tremble, tremble.
His hands were shaking.
"Huh, huhuhuh……"
Truly.
An unregistered player, on their very first entry into a Weekly Dungeon, had snatched South Korea's #1 record?
This is huge.
There was no room for doubt.
Baek Jin-woo had already proven himself 3 times.
Once in the fight against the gang.
Once in the written exam.
And now once more through Time Attack.
He's a true veteran gamer. The kind every nation in the world would treat as a national treasure……!
This was……
He had to secure him by any means necessary.
He didn't even need to join the Headquarters.
It would be enough to simply help him stay active in South Korea.
At minimum, just stop him from naturalizing elsewhere.
If he ever naturalized to another country?
Truly horrifying.
They'd be trapped in the pit of perennial last place forever.
"Okay."
Senior Examiner Park Chang-seok nodded.
"Let's allow Baek Jin-woo to register immediately."
"Without the Player Battle either?"
"He just broke Kang Geon-ho's record—would a Player Battle even mean anything? I believe that those with talent deserve special treatment."
South Korea was not yet in a position to follow laws and regulations by the book.
A nation lagging behind in summoning.
Unable to even handle the crimes overflowing in the streets, desperately in need of national-treasure-class talent.
"Agreed."
"Agreed as well."
Park Chang-seok's standing within the Headquarters was unshakeable. With him pushing strongly, not a single examiner objected.
Bang!
The approval stamp came down.
Baek Jin-woo.
Player Registration.
Complete!
***
Meanwhile,
"Ahh."
Baek Jin-woo let out a dazed sound, brow furrowed.
This was a mistake.
A clear mistake.
I should've checked the records before going in.
He'd never imagined in his wildest dreams that 5 minutes would be South Korea's all-time record.
Of course this would draw attention.
"Baek Jin-woo."
Sure enough.
Park Chang-seok was sprinting toward him from a distance.
"Truly incredible. How did you break South Korea's record on your very first entry……! Especially since the Tuesday Dungeon's maze is famous for being complex……"
"Haha, I know, right."
Baek Jin-woo scratched the back of his head.
To put it simply, this is how it felt.
Like being praised by a university engineering student for basic arithmetic?
That's how trivial and simple it had been for Baek Jin-woo.
"You really are an incredible gamer! Here, take this."
"What's this?"
"It's your Player License. As of this moment, Baek Jin-woo is officially registered as a player."
"Oh."
Just like that?
Well, that was nice.
"Thank you."
"Separately—may I ask how you broke the record?"
Park Chang-seok asked cautiously.
He was well aware that the old gamers had strategies for Battle of Summoners.
But this was classified.
Gamers from each country never leaked their strategies to the outside. They shared them only among themselves.
As will be explained later, this existed because of a system called the national ‘League’.
Tiered benefits based on ranking!
A competitive system between nations.
Hmm.
Baek Jin-woo worked his lips, thinking it over.
What should I do?
Even back in his days as One Heaven, he never carelessly released his own information.
Especially critical information like record updates.
Honestly, if I were to—
If he laid out all the know-how he possessed, he could massively boost the average rankings of South Korea's rankers.
Maybe even target the global rankings.
And if he showed that?
One of 2 things.
Either get dragged off by the state and have every drop of information wrung out of him.
Or receive the state's backing and gain both honor and wealth at once.
Trust the nation?
Or trust himself.
"That question just now."
Baek Jin-woo, after mulling it over at length, opened his mouth.
"Yes."
"You know it's quite a rude question to ask, don't you?"
"I apologize. But please understand. South Korea is that desperate."
"Yes, yes. I know."
He understood Park Chang-seok's position too.
If anything, what the man was doing was close to patriotism.
His personality isn't bad either.
The clean way he'd handed over the reward money earlier. The way he'd approved him immediately once he was certain.
He was a quick-witted person in many ways.
In that case?
Rather than worrying about being taken advantage of by the state, what about turning it around and using the state?
If the state itself cooperated, couldn't he grow far faster than doing it alone?
Baek Jin-woo's mind spun quickly.
And before long—
"Examiner."
"Yes."
"I'd like to have a more in-depth conversation. Shall we move somewhere?"
"B-by all means!"
Park Chang-seok answered, eyes glimmering.
***
They moved to a quiet café nearby.
"I'll get straight to the point."
Having apparently finished sorting his thoughts on the way over as well, Park Chang-seok spoke first.
"The Headquarters needs Baek Jin-woo's knowledge. Please help us."
He bowed his head while seated.
Park Chang-seok knew.
Perhaps.
The knowledge inside Baek Jin-woo's head could far surpass all of South Korea's rankers combined.
It was instinct.
The man before him moved differently from ordinary players!
"You said you'd been bedridden in a hospital room for 3 years?"
"……You even did background research on me?"
A flash of displeasure crossed Baek Jin-woo's face.
"I apologize. As I mentioned before, unregistered players with strong skills tend to be connected to gangs."
Right.
That could happen.
"Now that I'm registered, there won't be any more background checks, correct?"
"Th-that is correct."
"Please be careful."
"Yes."
Park Chang-seok broke into a mild sweat.
At the same time, his assessment of Baek Jin-woo revised itself.
He's not easy to handle.
An ordinary person, faced with the overwhelming force of the state, would try to be as cooperative as possible.
But?
Baek Jin-woo stood firm.
It was the posture only someone who knew their own worth better than anyone else could maintain.
"Alright. I've been doing some thinking on the way here too."
This time it was Baek Jin-woo who spoke.
"What benefit do I gain from helping the nation?"
Yes!
Park Chang-seok's eyes filled with delight.
The easiest person in the world to deal with is someone who is clear about what they stand to gain or lose.
Give that kind of person the right incentives, and you can reel them in without fail.
"My cooperation."
"Your cooperation?"
"You may find it hard to believe, but I hold quite a high position within the Headquarters. I'm in the top 10."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes. Why do you think Headquarters members are called members? Because they're elected by public vote. Produce meaningful results, and you can climb higher by earning more votes."
"I see."
Something like a politician?
Baek Jin-woo worked his mouth.
"Within the scope of my authority, I can provide every form of support available to Baek Jin-woo."
Hmm.
What to do?
Baek Jin-woo sank into thought.
For one thing—
The compensation wasn't very specific.
Being someone who worked on the state's behalf, he probably couldn't spend funds freely either.
He figured it wasn't too late to make a deal after finding out exactly how this Park Chang-seok could be of use.
"Then let's do it this way."
"Yes, speak freely."
Park Chang-seok's expression brightened.
"Exactly 1 month."
"Pardon?"
"I've just registered, haven't I? For exactly 1 month, I'll grow and try requesting support."
"And then?"
"If I find it satisfactory, we keep going together. If not, I'll either return what support I received, or release an equivalent amount of knowledge in exchange."
"……?!"
Park Chang-seok's brightened expression turned ambiguous.
So what he was saying now was—
Try using him as a personal aide for 1 month?
Brazen, but.
Honestly, Park Chang-seok had no choice.
Baek Jin-woo was clearly the one holding all the cards.
And hadn't he already intended to support him in every way possible, precisely to prevent naturalization?
Besides, honestly speaking, just watching his movements from the side seemed like it would yield enormous gains.
"Ha, alright."
Park Chang-seok smiled the smile of a good-natured man.
A heavyset middle-aged man grinning brightly—somehow both unsettling and oddly endearing.
"Let's do that."