Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Scroll-Tearing Grind
Player Headquarters. Park Chang-seok's office.
"Councilman, Councilman!"
His secretary came rushing in.
"This is huge! Please take a look at these news articles!"
"I already have."
The phone screen of Park Chang-seok, who was seated at his desk, displayed the following articles.
[Korea Sets Consecutive Tuesday Dungeon Records! Who's Behind It? The Headquarters' Yaksha, Councilman Park Chang-seok!]
[Councilman Park Chang-seok, 'Precious Information Acquired Cheaply from Abroad']
[Proud Headquarters Rankers Led by Park Chang-seok! Will They Challenge the World Record Too? Citizens Excited by Growth Potential.]
In one sense, it was nothing special. But the public was in an uproar over even those small things. They had been starved for good news all this time.
Good heavens. The idea that Korea might actually challenge a world record!
— Perennial bottom-tier of the league!
— The wealth gap between nations caused by low-grade benefits!
— A nation of summoning backwardness!
After hearing nothing but things that crushed their national pride every single time, how long had it been since news this uplifting had come along!
The name Baek Jin-woo, who had briefly trended across communities as the holder of the new record, was already forgotten. All public opinion was now directed at Park Chang-seok. It had come to light that he was the key figure behind this latest record-breaking achievement.
"This…… All of it came from Baek Jin-woo's head, didn't it? That first-year Gamer……."
His secretary asked carefully. Anyone who wasn't a fool could see it plainly.
The reason being.
Park Chang-seok had recently formed the Talent Management Team and had pulled 3 of his best staff members under it. Secretary Kim Byeong-jin, employee Yu Ji-a, employee Hwang Tae-seop. All 3 were the finest elites that the Headquarters had to offer.
For reference, the Talent Management Team was effectively dedicated solely to Baek Jin-woo. A team that dropped everything the moment Baek Jin-woo reached out, to assist him in any way needed. Right now, they were pouring all their efforts into legally extracting the low-grade Summoning Scrolls stockpiled in the national treasury.
"That's right. This whole affair has given me certainty. I intend to spend every bit of my strength for Baek Jin-woo, at least for the duration of my term."
Park Chang-seok was certain. Having spent a long time in this industry—he could tell just from Baek Jin-woo's expressions and mannerisms. The behavior that only someone relaxed, someone who had a great deal in their possession, could display.
What Park Chang-seok needed to do from here on was simple. Offer him assistance while extracting that information from him, one piece at a time! It was a strategy where both sides won.
"Byeong-jin."
"Yes?"
"What's Baek Jin-woo doing right now?"
"It seems he's still tearing Scrolls, sir."
"……Still?"
"Yes, he picked up another batch this morning."
Good grief. He's really going through all of them in a single day? How is a person even capable of that? Why on earth?
The going price for D-rank Summoner Beasts was mostly dirt cheap, so they didn't sell well. Anything that could fetch a proper price started at C-rank.
"He's not selling the Summoner Beasts separately or anything like that, is he?"
"No, it looks like he's fusing all of them. We confirmed he's been showing up at the Fusion Hall every single night."
"My."
The Fusion Hall. There was a method of feeding Summoner Beasts into it to gain experience points. But it was inefficient. Running a single dungeon would yield far more experience than doing that.
"Ah, and he did let something slip."
"What did he say?"
Park Chang-seok's eyes lit up.
"He asked whether it would be possible to purchase more Low-Grade Summoning Scrolls for 150 million won."
"……What?"
Park Chang-seok was taken aback.
Seriously. 10,000 a day isn't enough, and he wants to tear even more on top of that?
"Only, not at full price…… He said he'd like to buy them cheaper if possible, so we told him we'd look into it for now."
"My."
What could it be? Is there some Summoner Beast among the F to D-ranks that he absolutely has to pull? If so, he should have pulled it long ago by now.
For the time being— The mere fact that he was reinvesting the 150 million he had earned showed just how desperate he was.
"What should we do? It's a bit awkward to bring it up to the management authority. They keep giving us looks for pulling from their stockpile so often, don't they."
"Those Low-Grade Summoning Scrolls. They keep piling up as surplus stock anyway. We do need to clear them out eventually."
"Then…… Shall we sell them cheaply?"
"Give them to him at half price."
"Pardon?"
The secretary's eyes went wide. Because he knew full well just how absurd that was. A councilman held public office. Every action required caution. If it came out that he was using state funds to grant someone an unreasonable special benefit, it could become the target of political attacks.
"Don't worry, Byeong-jin."
Park Chang-seok smiled, as if he already knew exactly what his secretary was thinking.
What I'm doing right now is a political act.
Baek Jin-woo was someone who could become a national hero of Korea in the future. If it became known that he had gone out on a limb and supported Baek Jin-woo wholeheartedly, in every way possible—? He might actually gain even more votes, praised for his extraordinary foresight. Crafting that kind of narrative was nothing for Park Chang-seok.
"Just do as I say for now. And keep it absolutely secret, as you know. Only you, Ji-a, and Tae-seop are to know."
"……Yes, understood."
***
Riiip, riiip!
The sound of tearing paper now rang in his ears like phantom noise. 10,000 sheets a day meant 70,000 a week. Baek Jin-woo had been tearing nonstop for about 2 weeks. He hadn't even gone home once.
He had rented a monthly room near the Player Zone. It was a 2-room unit of about 53 square meters—neither too flashy nor too shabby, just right.
Time to live on my own.
He was a man who earned over 100 million in a single week, after all. Coming home late every night, barely sleeping, and still freeloading at his parents' house seemed wrong.
— Jin-woo-yaaa……. I'm going to die.
Riiip, riiip!
Baek Jin-woo, having torn through all 10,000 sheets for the day in an open lot, rose to his feet.
— Cream bun, cream buuuun……!
Ignoring Lamba's whining, he headed straight for the Fusion Hall.
3 years ago. Just as Jamsil Tower had transformed into the Tower of Trials, a nearby building had turned entirely into a Fusion Hall. Inside the building were roughly over 500 rooms, each one a Fusion Hall in its own right. And the Headquarters managed the Fusion Hall.
"Ticket number 125."
The wait was about 5 minutes. He stood in line, waited his turn, then entered a room on the 3rd floor, where he spotted a summoning circle drawn on the floor.
[Welcome to the Fusion Hall!]
[Try fusing your Summoner Beasts!]
"Lamba, get up there."
— Jin-woo! Don't make a mistake!
"Obviously."
Summoner Beast fusion required careful attention. If he spaced out and accidentally used Lamba as the sacrifice, it would truly be a catastrophe. Baek Jin-woo set the fusion subject as 'Wind Fairy' (EX-Rank) and placed Summoner Beasts on the summoning circle one by one.
[Would you like to fuse?]
[Y/N]
"Yes."
Flash! Light burst from the summoning circle and swallowed the Summoner Beasts whole.
[Fusion complete!]
['Fire Lizard' (F-Rank) is sacrificed and disappears.]
['Blue Bat' (F-Rank) is sacrificed and disappears.]
['Poison Goblin' (E-Rank) is sacrificed and disappears.] …….
Whoosh! The messages streamed upward, and—
['Wind Fairy' (EX-Rank) rises to Level 21.]
['Wind Fairy' (EX-Rank)'s Intelligence increases by 2.]
Lamba's level had reached 21.
Finally at 21? Painfully little progress.
He had fed in almost 140,000 Summoner Beasts over 2 weeks, and only Level 21? The max level was 100. The higher the level climbed, the bigger the experience pool grew. Reaching Level 22 would probably require pouring in just as many Summoner Beasts as he had up to now.
Well. It didn't matter. As he had said before, this was nothing more than a stockpile raid.
***
The next day.
Riiip, riiip!
Baek Jin-woo settled into the open lot again and began tearing Scrolls as usual. He had been at it for about an hour. That was when someone approached him.
Hm?
Normally it was a secretary named Kim Byeong-jin or someone like that who showed up with 10,000 Low-Grade Summoning Scrolls. He had already received his batch from them that morning, so it wouldn't be anyone from the Headquarters—
Or so he thought……
They were wearing a Headquarters badge.
"Hello. First time meeting, right? I'm Yu Ji-a from the Headquarters."
"Oh, yes."
At the arrival of this unfamiliar woman, Lamba, who had been chattering away, clamped her mouth shut. Baek Jin-woo also stopped tearing and stood up to greet her properly.
"What brings you here?"
"It's actually about the Scroll purchase matter you mentioned before."
"Ah."
Baek Jin-woo's eyes lit up. Right. He had decided to increase his Scroll supply since things weren't coming out fast enough. Was 150 million too much to spend? It was easily earned money—it could always be earned again. His judgment was that investing in himself right now was the right call.
"The base price for Summoning Scrolls is 5,000 won. You're aware, right?"
"Yes, I know. About that…… I mentioned it before, but could we negotiate the price a bit……"
"Haha, yes. We had a meeting among ourselves, and given Baek Jin-woo's recent contributions and all, we'd like to offer you half price—but only for this 150-million-won purchase."
"Oh, really?"
As expected—Park Chang-seok, was it? This was an incredible deal.
At 2,500 won per Scroll with 150 million won, that's 60,000 sheets! He'd be able to tear quite a few more today.
"And on top of that……"
Yu Ji-a paused briefly before continuing.
"We pulled an additional 100 million from our team's 'Talent Management Expenses' budget."
Wow. Seriously? That's 40,000 more for a total of 100,000 sheets?
"That said, we do need you to keep this confidential……"
"Oh, of course."
Goes without saying.
"I'm the one receiving a special benefit here—obviously I'm not going around telling anyone."
"And please do keep in mind that this is being given to strengthen our cooperative relationship with you."
"Hehe, yes. I'll keep that very much in mind."
A very convenient justification.
He could feel Park Chang-seok's intentions clearly. That desire to be of help to him, no matter what. How thoughtful. Baek Jin-woo decided to accept that goodwill.
Along with 100,000 Summoning Scrolls.
***
Riiip, riiip!
— Jin-woo.
"Yeah."
— How long are we going to keep doing this?
"Until Drill Instructor and Explosive Dragon Sorcerer come out."
— Aaaaaargh! I feel like just hearing the tearing sound is going to give me a neurosis!
It couldn't be helped. If he had never started in the first place it would be one thing, but having come this far, he had to see it through to the end if only out of spite.
The 100,000 sheets he had already received were all torn through. He was in the middle of tearing the remaining 10,000 extra sheets. The sun had already set, and the surroundings were growing dim.
Grumble!
He was hungry, but he had no intention of taking a break.
— You ruthless monster! You dreadful ruthless monster!
"Yeah, I've heard that plenty."
In all things else he might be ordinary—but when it came to Battle of Summoners, he was, by his own admission and everyone else's, utterly ruthless. In his school days, there was probably never a night where he slept more than 5 hours.
Riiip, riiip!
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained Summoner Beast 'White Snake' (F-Rank)!]
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained Summoner Beast 'Giant Rhinoceros Beetle' (F-Rank)!] …….
Please. Please just come out. I won't even ask for any other EX-Rank. Drill Instructor, Explosive Dragon Sorcerer. I'm just asking for the 2 of you.
Honestly, the others? No need to pull them. Just pulling those 2 alone, he'd easily hit World Rank 1. Of course, it would take some time.
Riiip, riiip!
Baek Jin-woo was a machine. A Scroll-tearing machine.
And so some time passed.
Crackle!
The lightning effect crackling over the torn paper was somehow different.
Bzzzzzzzzt!
Far more of it than usual—and it struck in gold.
— Wh, what is that!
Lamba panicked, and Baek Jin-woo's eyes went wide.
That's—
The exact same effect that had appeared when Wind Fairy arrived!
Oh come on! Finally—?!
['Low-Grade Summoning Scroll' is being used!]
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained Summoner Beast 'Explosive Dragon Sorcerer' (EX-Rank)!]
"Woooooaaahhhh!"
Baek Jin-woo let out a shout without even realizing it.
— Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Lamba did a backflip in midair, overcome with excitement.
For real? It was real. It truly was true—keep pulling and eventually an EX-Rank would come out. Our Explosive Dragon! An actual Explosive Dragon! How anxious he had been all this time! What if he had gotten it wrong? What if Lamba was the only EX-Rank in existence?
That nagging dread vanished in a single instant.
"No."
He couldn't stop now.
Riiip, riiip!
— Jin-woo?
"I can't stop now."
He had to pull them back-to-back.
"Hot streak."
Hot streak. His personal superstition—a shorthand for 'the moment things get hot', meaning if he kept tearing right when things were going well, they'd keep coming out.
"Haaaaaaah! Let's gooooo! Keep tearing!"
— Tear it, tear it!
Riiip, riiip!
Shouting with all his might, he tore through the remaining Scrolls like a madman.
And so, roughly 300 more Scrolls later.
KABOOOOM!
['Low-Grade Summoning Scroll' is being used!]
[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained Summoner Beast 'Drill Instructor' (EX-Rank)!]
For real.
The guy had shown up.
— R, real?
Lamba's jaw dropped open in absolute shock, and—
"Uwaaah!"
The moment Baek Jin-woo confirmed 'Drill Instructor' he toppled straight over backward.
At last! Finally! I pulled them……
It felt like dopamine wasn't just being released in his brain—it was flooding out.
This, honestly—
He might die happy.
Right, this is exactly why you pull!