Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Weekly Dungeon Conquest (2)
Weekly Dungeon Management Bureau. In the room that managed the record board, a woman and two men stood anxiously. They were none other than the members of YuBaek.
"Ha ha, so it's really come to this."
Secretary Kim Byeong-jin scratched the back of his head. Once Park Chang-seok's secretary and Yu Ji-a's superior, he had now become YuBaek's secretary. Such was the power of capital.
"To think you'd actually start a Low-grade Weekly Dungeon Time Attack……"
"If anything, it feels a little soon."
Yu Ji-a smiled quietly.
"It's only been a week since we gifted him the Summoner Beast. Even if he fails to set a record, we should obviously cheer him on."
"Yes, that goes without saying. But."
Kim Byeong-jin wore a faintly uneasy expression.
"Do you really expect him to break the records of every Weekly Dungeon?"
"Hm?"
Yu Ji-a raised one eyebrow—a gesture that said, if you have more to say, say it.
"Well…… I acknowledge the achievement of breaking the Tuesday Dungeon record, but we haven't heard a single word about how he plans to clear the other dungeons. It's not like there were no veteran players in Korea with over a year of experience."
"That's true."
"What if all of that was just bluster……"
Even amid Kim Byeong-jin's anxious tone, Yu Ji-a didn't lose her smile.
"Are you worried?"
"No, it's not quite that, but……"
"This is a business I started with my own money anyway. Even if what you're worried about comes to pass, your salary won't change. And since you trusted me and followed along, I'll make sure neither Tae-seop's nor Byeong-jin's careers take any damage."
Yu Ji-a of Daeseong Group. She clearly had both the power and the money to make good on that.
And.
Yu Ji-a thought.
It seems like he's still hiding something more.
Just look at the confidence and composure Baek Jin-woo had shown when he entered the dungeon a moment ago. Didn't he behave as though breaking Low-grade Weekly Dungeon records was nothing at all?
If that's real……
It was right then.
Bang, crash, clatter!
A commotion broke out in the record board management room.
"A-another record!"
"What record?!"
"Monday Dungeon, Low-grade! 4 minutes 12 seconds!"
"No way, that's 3 full minutes faster than the previous record, isn't it? Who is it, who?!"
At the sound of the scrambling staff, Yu Ji-a's heart began to pound.
Oh my.
Really?
Really?
He broke the record on the very first try?
And faster than she'd even imagined?
"Wh-what the……"
Even Kim Byeong-jin, who had been anxious all along, muttered to himself without realizing it.
"……Baek Jin-woo?"
"That name sounds familiar."
"Isn't he the player who set the Tuesday Dungeon record?"
"Oh, right. Baek Jin-woo!"
At the sound of the staff's voices, Yu Ji-a squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fist tight.
"……We've done it."
We've done it—this business!
At the very least, a moderate hit. At best, an absolute mega-hit.
***
In Battle of Summoners, the Weekly Dungeons had an ‘Auto Combat’ system. A system where you lock a team into a dungeon, the Summoner Beasts repeatedly clear the Weekly Dungeon, and then later come back with a flood of rewards! And that had been carried over into reality exactly as it was.
The time was GMT +9. Until midnight by Seoul, Korea's standard. As long as you set it up, the Summoner Beasts kept clearing the dungeon. When midnight came? The rewards and Summoner Beasts automatically entered the player's storage. The setup method was simple—starting from the 2nd clear of a Weekly Dungeon.
[Would you like to conduct 'Auto Combat' with this team?]
[Y/N]
A prompt like this appeared, and clicking 'Y' was all it took!
Baek Jin-woo pulled Drill Instructor out of Team 3 and put Lamba in.
—Eh? Why me?
"Drill Instructor needs to train the kids. If you rotate through today, you can skip training—you don't want that?"
—Aw, Jin-woo! How could you say something so hurtful? I'll do it! I'll absolutely do it!
At the news that she could skip that hellish training, Lamba brightened up immediately. Forget cream bread. Right now, skipping training seemed like the greatest gift of all.
"Alright, keep the kids in line for me."
This was how training would go from here on out. The rotating Summoner Beasts would farm diligently, and those who weren't rotating would train endlessly! And Sunday would be a day of rest!
There is a Sunday Dungeon too.
But as he would explain later, it held no real meaning. It only needed to be cleared for record purposes.
Whether it's a player or a Summoner Beast, rest is important.
Drill Instructor had been the one to say it, so it had to be certain. It would undoubtedly have a meaningful impact on the kids' growth as well.
"Alright, let's go again. Back to the open field."
After setting Team 3 on rotation, Baek Jin-woo returned the equipment to Yu Ji-a.
"Here. I just leave it like this, right?"
"Yes, Jin-woo."
Somehow, the look in Yu Ji-a's eyes was even more respectful than before. As for Kim Byeong-jin and Hwang Tae-seop? Their eyes were filled with reverence as they even brought both hands together neatly—as if greeting an honored guest. At the sight of them treating him like royalty, Baek Jin-woo felt a strangely gratifying sense of pride.
"I was genuinely surprised. To think you'd actually break the record in a single attempt."
"I said I would, didn't I? That I'd break it."
"Yes, you did say that. But……"
Who in the world would've known there was an insane person out there who'd actually go and do it.
"The footage will all be on that equipment. If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to text me. Nothing else you need, right?"
"Ah, yes. But what should we do about media coverage for this record break?"
He was asking whether Jin-woo wanted this to pass by quietly, like last time. That would require borrowing Director Park Chang-seok's influence, but this time it might be difficult. Unlike before, it wasn't as though other players had come along and broken a new record themselves.
"Just leave it alone."
Baek Jin-woo answered coolly.
"Pardon? Are you sure?"
"Well, it's not like I broke a world record. And it's too early to be surprised over something like this—I still have way too much left to show you."
Tuesday through Sunday. He was going to keep charging forward without looking back, so getting surprised now wouldn't do.
He also knew very well that these were the kinds of rumors that couldn't be stopped once they started.
"All I ask is……Just protect my family well."
The only thing he was worried about was his family. Especially in a Korea where Summoner Gangs ran rampant.
"Yes, understood."
Yu Ji-a's eyes gleamed as if to say, don't worry.
Whose request is this. Even if it meant borrowing the power of Daeseong—she would protect them.
"High-level security will be going in for the time being. Jin-woo, please just keep doing what you're doing."
***
Tuesday. Baek Jin-woo cleared the Tuesday Dungeon with ease as well. There was a method of memorizing the existing map and running it that way, but he just broke through it with the Spotted Komodo.
For now, since I'm filming footage.
If he ran it properly right now, a 1-minute clear wouldn't be far off—and if that happened? He'd probably break the world record too.
That won't do.
Receiving a certain degree of attention was acceptable, but he didn't want that attention reaching the 5 overseas Emperors. Why?
Because no one knows if they're genuinely good people.
There had been a connection in the past and it would be nice to meet them face to face, but they were people he'd never once laid eyes on. If anything, they might be on guard.
They might think my emergence threatens their positions.
He hoped that wouldn't be the case, but for now, laying low was the right call. At least until their Explosive Dragon Sorcerer opened their latent potential.
Anyway. The Tuesday Dungeon's core units were 2. The B-rank Spotted Komodo. And the B-rank Wind Falcon. The Spotted Komodo, whose staple food was Giant Slimes, crawled all the way to the boss room. Baek Jin-woo applied the Wind Falcon's ‘Movement Speed Increase’ buff—a representative Movement Speed buffer—onto the Spotted Komodo.
The result.
[Handling the Boss Monster!]
[Dungeon Clear!]
[Clear Time—00:03:10]
Easily, a 3-minute early clear—breaking Korea's record. It was even a time that placed on the world record board. An impressive 79th place.
Rachel said 2 minutes 25 seconds, didn't she?
Probably, if you equipped the Komodo with Movement Speed Runes and maxed out the Falcon, you'd get exactly that speed.
Of course, if you draw out the latent potential through Drill Instructor, 1 minute would be plenty—but.
That was for later. It was a problem that would be solved with time.
"Rotation again today. Gotta mine that Polish."
Wednesday Dungeon was done smoothly too, with another record broken.
***
Unlike the Monday Dungeon, the Wednesday Dungeon gave out Defense-related Runes. The main backdrop was a snowy mountain, and it was extremely cold—cold enough to inflict a Movement Speed debuff on anyone who entered carelessly.
['Frost Cat' (C-rank) is summoned.]
['Wind Falcon' (B-rank) is summoned.]
['Titanium Golem' (B-rank) is summoned.]
['Explosive Dragon Sorcerer' (EX-rank) is summoned.]
['Horned Fairy' (C-rank) is summoned.]
For that reason, a cold-resistant monster was absolutely necessary, and the best among them was the C-rank Frost Cat.
—Myaaaoong!
A blue cat that granted balanced cold resistance to all 5—the player and the 4 Summoner Beasts. The Wednesday Dungeon's mechanic was similar to the Tuesday Dungeon's. Close in on the boss as fast as possible, then attack! But unlike the Slimes, who had been slow and somewhat lacking in aggression, the Snowy Mountain Yetis were incredibly ferocious—creatures that hurled snowballs and came charging madly the moment you entered the dungeon.
The unit used to compensate for that was the B-rank Titanium Golem.
—Gwoooooh!
A golem made of solid metal that amplified its protective barrier for 3 minutes, serving as the tank. On top of that, he applied the Movement Speed buff and had them run through the snowy mountain.
Their position: the summit of the snowy mountain. And riding on the shoulders of the massive golem? The player and his Summoner Beasts.
Whoa, I'm getting dizzy.
The sheer thrill of riding on top of a golem that thundered along at a run was immense—but. I'll have to get used to it.
Especially to clear the Friday Dungeon, he'd need to handle this level easily.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The Titanium Golem charged straight ahead, ignoring the attacks of countless Yetis! The creature took a peculiar route. Going up the front the conventional way took quite a while, but using a climbing route on the steep back slope—a route only the Titanium Golem could take—it scaled all the way to the summit in under 3 minutes.
Boom, boom, boom!
The downside was that the sensation of shooting upward at tremendous speed made your head swim. Baek Jin-woo barely managed to collect himself and muttered.
"Explosive Dragon Sorcerer, get ready."
—……
Still giving no reply since filming was ongoing, their Explosive Dragon Sorcerer quietly prepared their magic. The sight of them maintaining composure while drawing up their magical energy was almost reverent.
Shwoooooosh!
Pushing through the pouring blizzard, they kept leaping upward toward the summit—
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[A Boss Monster has appeared!]
—Grwoooooooh!
A massive Snowy Mountain Yeti, quite imposing and menacing, was letting out a roar.
Hah.
Thank goodness it was a Low-grade dungeon—if it had been the highest grade? Something 3 times bigger and more intimidating than this would've appeared. A blue membrane surrounded the Yeti; removing that barrier buff was precisely the role of the Horned Fairy. Baek Jin-woo immediately controlled the Horned Fairy and stripped away the barrier.
And.
That thing was a cold element type, so it needed to be beaten with a Fire element Summoner Beast. His Explosive Dragon Sorcerer was the perfect fit. Other players who couldn't obtain an Explosive Dragon Sorcerer would have to bring an appropriate Fire element dealer.
"Explosive Dragon Sorcerer, now!"
—……!
Fwooooooosh!
Her eyes gave the answer—the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer swung her staff, and the scorching flames that erupted from it enveloped the Yeti for several minutes.
[Handling the Boss Monster!]
[Dungeon Clear!]
[Clear Time—00:04:22]
As expected. Once again, it was Korea's all-time record. And from that moment, Korea began to stir.