Chapter 22
Chapter 022: Weekly Dungeon Conquest (3)
A new Monday Dungeon record?
It was certainly an astonishing feat.
Articles had been written about it at the time, and public opinion had stirred considerably.
A new Tuesday Dungeon record?
When Baek Jin-woo's name appeared there too, many players began to take notice.
"Baek Jin-woo? Who's that?"
"Huh? I think I've heard that name once before. You know, that time someone posted on the community that Kang Geon-ho's record had been broken after so long, but it got deleted not long after."
"Oh, that person! Wow, he broke it again?"
"Monday Dungeon, Tuesday Dungeon……. He doesn't seem to be a ranker. Some hidden master who crawled out of hiding?"
"And this time it even made it into the world records, which makes it even more significant."
"Honestly, I'm curious. Which group is he a player from?"
Even then, it was only a murmur—nothing had truly exploded yet.
But the next morning.
When the Wednesday Dungeon record was broken as well?
That was when everyone had no choice but to acknowledge it.
What had only been talked about in player forums spread to major mainstream media, and articles about Baek Jin-woo poured out across every platform like a downpour.
[Low-grade Wednesday Dungeon Sets Another Korean Record! ‘4 Minutes 22 Seconds’—Who Is Baek Jin-woo?]
[A Player Appearing Out of Nowhere! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday—Time Attacks in a Row! Tuesday and Wednesday Records Even Place Globally!]
[Player Baek Jin-woo—Will He Target Thursday as Well?]
The last Tuesday Dungeon record-break had stirred things up once—but now, with Monday and Wednesday also taken over……
Korea, which had briefly gone quiet, began to boil over once more.
Of course.
The man at the center of it all, Baek Jin-woo, couldn't have cared less.
"What's all the fuss over something like this?"
—Right, right. What do they take our Jin-woo for.
He did find it strange in a different sense.
No matter how much of a veteran player he was, could the level really still be this low after 3 years?
Honestly, he had a feeling he understood why.
The absence of a leader.
It was probably because not a single veteran player from Korea had survived.
While countries called summoner powerhouses had built strong foundations from the start under the guidance of their veterans—
Korea felt like it had lost its way and was wandering.
There was no need for Baek Jin-woo to step up and fix that.
Just like before—I only need to become stronger myself.
Just as originally planned—if he reclaimed his place as One Heaven and ‘YuBaek’, formed alongside Yu Ji-a, grew well enough?
Korea's overall level would naturally rise along with them.
"Alright, everyone—let's train."
Clap, clap!
Baek Jin-woo clapped his hands together at the training grounds, same as always.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Only 4 days remained.
***
Player Headquarters. Director's Office.
The Director scanned the reported articles with a furrowed brow.
"Who is this Baek Jin-woo? The name sounds familiar."
Watching the white-haired old man adjust his glasses, the secretary quietly let out a suppressed sigh.
The current Player Headquarters Director was far too old.
He had simply reached that position on the weight of his name—having served 5 consecutive terms as a member of the National Assembly, building a formidable political foothold.
"That would be the individual Congressman Park Chang-seok mentioned……. Do you remember, sir? The one who said he'd provide information in exchange for purchasing certain Summoner Beasts."
"Ah, the incident that Congressman Lim Hee-su was so adamantly opposed to?"
"Yes, that's correct, Director. He said he wouldn't spend money without receiving proper information first."
"But it turns out the information was real?"
"……It would appear so."
Hmph!
A rough snort escaped the Director's nose.
That rascal Lim Hee-su. His instincts have completely dried up.
Of course, he himself had been on the fence about it too.
Congressman Park Chang-seok's argument had been valid, but so had Congressman Lim Hee-su's.
But then, politics has always been about results over process.
If they had properly backed Baek Jin-woo from the start?
All that information could have belonged to the Headquarters.
They might have earned the public's praise and secured an even greater pool of votes.
"Haah."
The Director let out a regretful sigh.
Congressman Park Chang-seok had offered something golden, and Congressman Lim Hee-su had kicked that honeypot away with his own foot.
"First of all—secretary."
"Yes, Director."
"Try reaching out to that player named Baek Jin-woo one more time."
"Directly from our side, sir?"
"That's right. I thought he was a fraud, but it turns out he was real. We have to try to get him back somehow."
Can you even reel him back in after letting him slip away?
The secretary tilted his head slightly, but this was the Director, after all.
The highest-ranking figure in all of Player Headquarters.
He could not be ignored.
"Yes, I'll have our secretariat attempt to make contact."
***
Thursday morning.
The area in front of the Weekly Dungeon building was considerably different from before.
What had once been a place only players came and went through was now blanketed with reporters.
Naturally, all to capture even a single shot of Baek Jin-woo.
"Damn it, why are they all raising hell out there."
"This building's cramped enough as it is—this is unbearable."
Naturally, the existing players had every reason to be displeased.
Weekly Dungeons could only be accessed within the Player Zone, which meant having to awkwardly push through the rows of reporters to get inside.
"What is Headquarters doing? Shouldn't they be controlling non-players around here?"
"They're probably just avoiding another fight over media censorship or whatever."
"Ha, but player rights should be protected regardless. This is serious business. Headquarters never does anything right."
Grumbling as they went, the players filed into the Weekly Dungeon building nonetheless.
Behind them were Baek Jin-woo and the members of YuBaek as well.
Clink, clack!
Watching Baek Jin-woo fully geared up, Yu Ji-a made an uncomfortable face.
"Are you really going to be alright? I tried every possible way to hold them back, but reporters are about the most difficult opponents there are……"
"Well, nothing we can do about it."
Baek Jin-woo smiled with easy composure.
"They came because they want to see me, right? Isn't waving my hand at them enough?"
Baek Jin-woo decided to look at it positively.
He had to clear the dungeon regardless of the situation.
Just because reporters were blocking the way didn't mean he'd crumble and stop going.
Not caring about the eyes of others.
It had been that way in the past too.
Even in school, no matter what anyone said, he'd been completely absorbed in Battle of Summoners.
Now it's dungeons.
That was all he was thinking about.
"By the way—is the video footage coming along well?"
When Baek Jin-woo asked, Yu Ji-a answered immediately.
"……It was incredible, honestly? We were just watching it ourselves and marveling. Especially the scene where the Titanium Golem strides up the mountain……. Goodness, how in the world did you discover a route like that?"
"The veteran players overseas probably all know about it already."
More precisely, only 8-year veterans and beyond.
This too was a route Rachel had discovered—it had spread through the community right around that time.
"Well, anyway. I trust you'll handle it well on your end, so I'll be off."
After exchanging farewells with Yu Ji-a and the members, Baek Jin-woo strode boldly and unhesitantly into the crowd of reporters.
Whether his identity had already leaked, most of the reporters recognized Baek Jin-woo immediately.
"Over there!"
"It's Baek Jin-woo!"
"Get the shot!"
Click, click!
Amid the storm of flashing cameras, Baek Jin-woo kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.
More precisely—on the Weekly Dungeon entrance inside the building, glowing a vivid blue.
"What's the secret behind clearing the time attack without even being a ranker!"
"Where and how did you get your information?"
"There's a rumor you were a gamer—is that true?"
He ignored the questions pouring in alongside the microphones and pushed steadily forward.
Headquarters did seem to have some sense, at least—they had stationed security personnel to keep anyone from approaching the player.
"Can we expect another record in the Low-grade Thursday Dungeon this time?"
To that one question only, he gave a single nod.
"Yes. Of course."
Click-click-click-click!
Amid the frantic explosion of camera flashes, Baek Jin-woo dove straight into the Thursday Dungeon.
***
If Monday Dungeon and Wednesday Dungeon give Runes—
And Tuesday Dungeon gives Polish—
What does the Thursday Dungeon give?
Skill Books.
Books that allow a Summoner Beast's skills to be registered.
Of course, Skill Books don't contain Summoner Beasts' unique skills.
Nor do they hold latent ability skills that can only be unlocked through Drill Instructor.
Even so, it contains quite a few useful skills, making it one of the dungeons worth clearing consistently.
Remember what was said earlier?
That Sunday Dungeon doesn't need to be cleared.
That's precisely because of the Thursday Dungeon.
Sunday Dungeon does give Skill Books too, but it's considerably more demanding, while this one is easy.
Thursday Dungeon is more than enough for a steady Skill Book supply.
Nothing special here.
It's a 1-on-1 fight against a dungeon boss that has dumped everything into defense.
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[A Boss Monster is appearing!]
In the Thursday Dungeon, the boss appears the moment you enter.
The boss is a massive dirt Golem.
Enormous in size—comparable to the Titanium Golem.
—Groooooaaaaar!
The Golem let out a powerful roar and began spinning its dirt-made arms around in wide arcs.
Looks aside, its defense was extraordinary—most attacks wouldn't even leave a scratch.
The core unit for this dungeon is normally the B-rank White Wolf.
The unit with the most cost-effective single-target defense reduction skill.
However.
Baek Jin-woo hadn't bothered buying the White Wolf.
You can just beat it down with a full burst-damage lineup.
So this time, the team was assembled with the best of the best.
Lamba, Drill Instructor, and Explosive Dragon Sorcerer!
And the Titanium Golem along with the Wind Falcon!
"Heh, this footage shouldn't be sold off."
It was just a video of beating the boss down with a top-tier lineup—was there really any reason to make it public?
Just tell people to cut the defense with White Wolf, then burst it down.
That was the best method.
In fact, this method was simple enough that it had already spread throughout Korea, and it was also the closest approach to the world record.
But regardless of that, the record still needs to be broken.
Going a little more into the details, that dirt Golem had a weak point.
Hitting it in the head.
For most players, that would be extremely tricky.
It's simply too tall to land a hit on the head.
But there's a way to handle everything.
"Titanium."
—Groaaaar!
The Titanium Golem read its player's will and bent its knees, presenting its shoulder forward.
Drill Instructor, Lamba, and Explosive Dragon Sorcerer climbed up onto it.
Rumble, rumble, rumble……!
The Titanium Golem rose back up to its full weight, and the 2 collided head-on with the dirt Golem.
And above them—
Fwoosh!
Drill Instructor flew up with elegant grace and flung out an arm with brutal force.
Crash-crack-crack-crack!
Swordsmanship pushed to its absolute limit sliced through the dirt Golem's head in an instant.
Grrrrrumble……!
A thunderous shockwave echoed through the dungeon like a crack of lightning.
With Lamba's attack speed buff and the Wind Falcon's movement speed buff layered on top, Drill Instructor's movements grew even sharper.
The faster the attack speed stacks built up, the faster and faster still!
And through the gaps—
Whoooom!
Explosive Dragon Sorcerer's Dragon Burst!
Honestly.
Later on, the Thursday Dungeon would be cleared with Explosive Dragon Sorcerer alone.
A properly raised Explosive Dragon Sorcerer?
Even the highest-grade dungeon would probably get cut in 1 second.
Factor in the entrance and exit cutscenes and it'd be roughly 10 seconds?
In theory, up to 8,640 Skill Books could be pulled in a single day.
Anyway.
For EX-rank Summoner Beasts with memories of their former lives alongside One Heaven God of Jinu, the Low-grade Thursday Dungeon was nothing short of child's play.
[Boss Monster is being eliminated!]
[Dungeon Clear!]
[Clear Time—00:05:10]
"Nice."
Another Korean record!
He had cut a full minute off of what had averaged around 6 minutes.
Drill Instructor really is broken, no question about it.
He'd seen it from the moment it one-handedly subdued his younger sibling's C-rank Shadow Elf.
The one thing that's truly exceptional—its growth speed.
"Let's go one more time!"
Baek Jin-woo cleared the Golem one more time, finished the auto combat cleanly, and only then stepped back out of the Weekly Dungeon.
And on his way out.
"Excuse me—are you Player Baek Jin-woo?"
2 employees in neat Headquarters uniforms were waiting to receive Baek Jin-woo.