Trinity (2)

The Grand Hall battle arena setup was complete.

While the countdown ticked away, his four disciples scrambled into position. Their opponent was Hungyo. Practically a raid-boss-tier monster.

"Get ready!"

"Spread out, left and right!"

Ki Jaehyeok and Oh Seon-young sent their goblins and wolves fanning out to either side, while— Fwoooosh! Hong Ari hurled a Phoenix (B-rank) up the middle. Kang Jiho didn't bring out his main summon at all. All five of his creatures were healers and defense buffers — a clear declaration that he intended to devote himself entirely to supporting the other three players' offense. - ……… Meanwhile. Hungyo simply stood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there, motionless. He hadn't even drawn his sword.

And the moment the match began— "Charge!"

"Hit them all at once!"

"Buffs! Dump your full heals at full HP!"

The four disciples' summons surged toward Hungyo all at once. Yes. Hong Ari clenched her fist as she guided her Phoenix forward. No matter what a monster Hungyo is, how is anyone supposed to stop that? Twenty summons in total. And not just any twenty — these were summons wielded by the very top rankers in the country. This is a matter of pride. For Hong Ari. This might be my one chance to put a dent in his ego. Ki Jaehyeok and Kang Jiho shared the same thought, nursing a sliver of hope as theyPrecisely—no, as they precisely micro-managed their summons. But then. Sssswoosh... When Hungyo slowly drew his sword, every one of them felt something go terribly wrong. Kukukukukung...! A monstrous pressure bloomed up from the ground, and the entire wave of charging summons froze in place.

"What the—?"

"Whuh—?"

Even the players themselves gasped. The aura pouring off Hungyo's body choked the breath out of them and locked their muscles rigid. If the players, who had never even touched qi, could feel pressure like this, what chance did the summons have? - Krirururu... - Kyaaak! The summons lost their will to fight from sheer intimidation alone. Breaking free of their masters' control, they began backing away. But Hungyo showed them no mercy. His Lord had told him to stretch his strength as freely as he pleased, and Hungyo himself had been itching to test his newfound power. Ta-at! He leapt lightly into the air, and began channeling every thread of energy in his body into the blade. That alone took exactly one second. Kuguagagagaga...! So violent was the energy condensing within the sword that the sound of space itself tearing echoed again and again. Then— Hungyo brought the blade slamming down into the center of the arena. Two seconds. KWAAAAAAAANG! The ground overturned with a deafening roar. The marble floor split apart, and a cloud of dust swallowed the players' vision. And then—

And that was it. The game was over, so the players were automatically ejected from the arena. They lay sprawled across the Grand Hall lobby, staring at one another.

"...What even was that?"

Hong Ari spoke first, her face hollow.

"That one downward slash ended everything?"

Good grief! How was anyone supposed to beat a summon like that? No matter how you sliced it, this was too much! She narrowed her eyes and looked around. Every face wore the same expression. They were all thinking the exact same thing.

"Heh heh heh. Wow. Hilarious," Ki Jaehyeok said with a hollow laugh, shaking his head.

"That we actually, for even a moment, let ourselves hope against a monster like that..."

"Right? Our Master isn't Jinugod for nothing," Oh Seon-young said with a bitter smile.

"No wonder the legendary Five Wolves tremble at his feet."

"Still, I can't wrap my head around it. Even granting he's THE Jinugod, he hasn't been playing as an actual player for all that long... and yet the four of us together get swept aside one-sidedly. And that Hungyo just now, seriously. Ugh."

Ki Jaehyeok snickered. It defied belief. But then, that was exactly the kind of impossible thing Baek Jinwoo always pulled off. Thud. Thud. Baek Jinwoo, victorious in the match, was the last to walk out. He glanced at his watch with an easy expression.

"Exactly two seconds, right? Any objections?"

"..."

His disciples' mouths all puckered. That evil man! If this was how it would end, why string us along with a ten-second head start? If he'd said three seconds, at least we'd have something to mourn... "Don't sulk too hard, all of you."

Baek Jinwoo smirked. He was in an excellent mood. Seeing the power of the Trinity with his own two eyes had been even better than he'd imagined.

"And each of you is about to get some good news. First — Oh Seon-young."

"Yes, Master."

"Come here for a moment."

Baek Jinwoo called her over. * * * The Rune Dwarf. He had spent a long time deliberating over how best to use that once-in-a-lifetime, game-breaking summon. Currently, the dwarf's Crafting skill was producing runes for the players of Arirang, Baekho, Ilwol, and Carpe Diem. But the dwarf's true cheat lay in Masterwork Crafting. The skill was still level 1. Leveling it required churning out enormous quantities of runes — and the materials were anything but trivial. They consisted mostly of rare ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠resources obtainable only inside the Tower of Ordeal, and the quantities were staggering. At first, he'd considered an idea: buy up everything with a mountain of money, craft without limit, then resell the runes for profit. But thinking it over now, that was the wrong move. Rare runes were limited-edition items. Would he really sell something that precious to strangers? Good things should go to my own people first. That way their power would grow, and they'd be strong enough to keep his people safe.

That was the current lineup of runes he could create. Among them, Baek Jinwoo's eyes lingered on the Howling (Rare) rune.

Judged on ability alone, it was a rune made for Oh Seon-young and no one else. She commanded wolves exclusively — so if just one of them equipped Howling, every single wolf would receive the amplification effect.

"Th-this is..."

Why had he called her here? As she'd weighed her hopes against her worries, Oh Seon-young's eyes went wide as saucers. Baek Jinwoo had handed her a sheet of paper covered in rune information.

"Read it. It's the Howling rune Lund can make. It's tailor-made for you."

"...Whoa!"

Her hands trembled violently. She felt suddenly, fully awake. In over three years of playing, she'd never even imagined a rune like this could exist. And it made sense. It was limited to a hundred copies worldwide — and players who used wolves as their main damage dealers were rare as it was.

"You can really make this?"

"Yeah. Though the materials are a bit brutal."

"Just name them! I'll get my hands on them no matter what!"

The normally stone-hard muscles of Oh Seon-young's face had completely melted. Oh. So she was capable of making a face like that? Baek Jinwoo stared at her expression with genuine curiosity. Perhaps she felt his gaze.

"S-sorry."

She bowed her head deeply. For the record, she was twenty-eight — a year older than Baek Jinwoo.

"No, no. You have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing to apologize for. But are you really sure about this?" Swoosh. Baek Jinwoo produced another sheet of paper and held it out — a list of materials.

"..."

Oh Seon-young's eyes spun in circles as she read it. Essence of the Moon ×100, World Tree Roots ×10, Top-Grade Wolf Runes ×100, Top-Grade Roar Runes ×100. Insane. Both the Essence of the Moon and the World Tree Roots dropped only as Tower of Ordeal rewards — which meant they sold for astronomical prices, and listings almost never appeared, since so many players hoarded them against some future need. On top of that, Wolf runes and Roar runes were notorious even in the top-grade day dungeons for their abysmal drop rates. The Wolf rune, in particular, was the one Oh Seon-young had secretly picked out as her own graduation rune. And he wanted a hundred of each?

"For the record, that's for one rune. If you want the set effect, bring six times that."

"...That's just... staggering."

Oh Seon-young swallowed hard. Staggering, yes. But not impossible. It was a rune she absolutely had to make if she wanted to keep growing. If anything, she was simply grateful he'd handed her a chance like this.

"Thank you, Master. I will get them. No matter what."

Life kindled in Oh Seon-young's eyes. * * * Hoo. Baek Jinwoo let out a slow breath. Three hours again today. He closed each day with the Geoncheong Heart Sutra that Hungyo had taught him. So far, no real results. He couldn't tell what "breathing" was supposed to mean, and what it meant to send qi through the three meridians still eluded him. According to Hungyo, if he just kept repeating the practice, he would eventually feel something warm and tingling in his belly — and when that happened, Hungyo would personally guide him through opening the Grand Circulation.

"Ahh, great weather."

Finished with his breathing, Baek Jinwoo stood and stretched. It was already mid-September. Summer had slipped away, and a cool breeze was blowing. Autumn's arrival meant the World League was truly just around the corner. Which brought him back to the question he'd been chewing on. If I enter the World League myself — how far could I climb? Personally, he figured he'd win. Was there anything in existence right now that could stop a Hungyo–Ramba–Doldori combo? He could barely imagine it. And hadn't Hungyo and Ramba held back even their graduation runes? Which means— The odds that South Korea would come under scrutiny, under targeting, would shoot up. Baek Jinwoo had never been much of a student, but he'd always loved history. And what happened to small, weak nations in history? They got pushed around, exploited as colonies, made to swallow humiliation upon humiliation until it brought tears to their eyes. Not enough. Not yet. Hungyo alone wasn't enough. For Baek Jinwoo to completely surpass the power of the old Jinugod— Pokryongi. He had to unlock the Fire Dragon Mage's hidden potential: Predation.

The moment he taught her that skill and she ground out an endlessly farmed, infinite-scaling max-damage Dragon Blast, no one on this earth would ever dare look down on him again.

"Hungyo." - Yes, My Lord.Swoosh! From far away, where he'd been training alone, Hungyo appeared at his summons. It hit him every single time. What a remarkably loyal right hand he had.

"How did we unlock Pokryongi's hidden potential back in the day?"

Baek Jinwoo genuinely didn't remember. Back then, none of it had been real — his summons had been images on a phone screen. One day, Hungyo had simply unlocked a skill called Predation, and not long afterward, it had been deleted in a balance patch. That was all he recalled. - Pokryongi, you say...? Hungyo hesitated. Somehow, he seemed reluctant to speak.

"Why? What is it?"

And yet when his Lord asked, telling the truth was Hungyo's inexorable fate. - Well... she must first pass through a brush with death. "A brush with death? That's nothing."

Pokryongi, after all — getting forcibly banished was a daily occurrence for her. - Not Pokryongi. The player. That is... you, My Lord, must pass through a brush with death. ... What?