Chapter 8
Chapter 8:Examiner Park Chang-seok
"How do you do? I am Park Chang-seok, a representative of the Player Headquarters."
The bearded man extended his large hand.
Baek Jin-woo shook it in a daze.
"Ah, yes."
"I apologize for the trouble earlier. Thanks to you, we were able to deal with those vicious terrorists."
"No, it was nothing."
I only did it to save myself, though.
Baek Jin-woo scratched the back of his head, and the bearded man showed his teeth in a grin.
"May I ask which organization you belong to?"
"Pardon?"
"Ah, you're not affiliated with a guild? I've never seen you at Headquarters either, so…… You must be a free agent then."
Free agent?
Does he mean free contract status?
"Well……"
What should I say to this?
Asking someone who hasn't even registered yet about affiliations and free agents……
This is quite the predicament.
"You may feel that asking about personal information is rude, but this is for the purpose of offering compensation from Headquarters."
"Compensation?"
Baek Jin-woo's eyes lit up.
He was lacking in everything as it stood.
No money, no runes, no summoning scrolls.
This was no situation to be turning down anything offered to him.
"Ha ha, yes. In a sense, you are also a lifesaver of mine, and you helped neutralize the gang, so of course, we must compensate you. However, your identity must be verified. I ask for your understanding on this point."
Park Chang-seok had no other choice.
He needed appropriate documents and procedures to receive Headquarters' approval.
"Well…… I haven't registered with Headquarters yet? Is that still okay?"
"Pardon?"
Park Chang-seok blinked.
Someone who had helped him—a C-rank summoner—with a single word, was an unregistered player?
He immediately looked at Baek Jin-woo with a skeptical gaze.
But Baek Jin-woo didn't care.
Because I have nothing to hide.
Well, actually.
He could simply be a player who hadn't been active the previous year.
Since this was a law newly established this year, cases like this did occasionally arise.
"Hmm, do you at least have an ID card?"
His identity information alone would bring up everything anyway.
"Yes, here."
Swish.
Baek Jin-woo opened his wallet and handed over his national ID card.
He had considered just leaving, but since they were offering compensation, what could he do?
He had to go along with it.
Refusing here would only invite misunderstanding.
After capturing the ID card, the bearded man politely bowed his head.
"Thank you once again. Once the identity verification is complete, compensation in line with our internal regulations will be issued."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes."
The bearded man smiled once more.
* * *
The spot where Baek Jin-woo and the citizens had departed.
Crash, bang!
"Senior!"
"Are you alright, Senior?"
Headquarters' players had only just arrived.
It had been a long while since the emergency bell had gone off.
"You little punks."
Park Chang-seok said irritably.
"This whole mess broke out right next to Headquarters—you should have come running immediately. Why are you so damn slow? Useless bunch."
"W-we're sorry."
"Everything here has already been handled. You lot clean up the aftermath."
"What about the terrorists?"
"Dealt with."
Park Chang-seok glanced to the side.
The C-rank Wood Man was pruning its roots with a satisfied expression.
"Fed him as nutrients."
"Huh, are you certain?"
"If you don't believe me, check the CCTV. How many eyes do you think I have?"
"Ha ha, I suppose you're right?"
"Yeah."
Park Chang-seok answered absently.
That young man still lingered in his mind, refusing to leave.
—That's not it, the Flame Tortoise's skill timing is a bit off, isn't it.
—The buffers behind those Crimson Orcs are applying 'Flame Resistance', so using a skill at that moment would be……
In that moment of crisis.
With frightening calm, and composure to spare, he had offered a solution.
On top of that, he had accurately known the names of Summoner Beasts and skills such as 'Flame Tortoise', 'Crimson Orc', and 'Flame Resistance'.
And that from an unregistered player at that.
No matter how I think about it, something is off.
Beep beep beep!
Park Chang-seok called someone.
It was a junior colleague in the Headquarters Information Division.
—Yeah.
"I just sent you a captured image."
"Mm-hmm, Baek Jin-woo. Can you look into that person for me?"
* * *
After leaving the café, Baek Jin-woo purchased a few cream buns at a nearby bakery.
Afterwards, he headed to a secluded corner of a nearby neighborhood park.
"You can talk now."
— Phew, phewww!
The adorable Lamba, having held back for so long, exhaled roughly in a series of deep breaths.
— I thought I'd die wanting to speak! So this is what it feels like when your mouth itches to talk?
"Good work holding it in. Here's some bread."
— Kyaaaah! Cream buuuuun!
For reference, the Wind Fairy's absolute favorite is bread.
Cream-filled bread, at that.
"I'm giving it to you because you held back well. If you keep working hard, I'll buy you more."
— I'm so happyyy! Nom nom!
Crunch crunch crunch crunch!
The fairy, with her small frame, devoured the bread as if ravenous.
It was a wonder it all fit in there.
Anyway,
Lamba was truly easy to get along with.
The conflict with Summoner Beasts that almost every player goes through—there was none of that.
One cream bun solved everything.
Of course, figuring out that cream buns were her favorite food had taken a great deal of trial and error.
I wonder if anything will come of this.
He hadn't originally intended to step forward, but had done so to survive.
If troublesome things arose from that, there was nothing to do now but accept it.
"Haah."
Baek Jin-woo let out a short sigh.
He needed to get to hunting quickly.
This game-turned-reality was more complicated than he'd expected.
At the very least, the game hadn't had deranged terrorists or a government controlling this and that.
For now, let me register and then gather as many summoning scrolls as possible.
Among the Summoner Beasts Baek Jin-woo had owned, those that had vanished due to the balance patch totaled 10.
Wind Fairy, Drill Instructor, Explosive Dragon Sorcerer, Little Giant, Dampir, Storm Slaughterer, Rune Dwarf, Aso, Demonic Cat, Ruination Dragon……
Just how broken each of them is will be explained in due course.
For now, I need to get the Drill Instructor and the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer first.
The Drill Instructor is E-rank, and the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer is D-rank.
In other words, if he kept opening Low-grade Summoning Scrolls endlessly, he'd eventually get them.
Starting from the Little Giant, they are C-rank and above, so they cannot be obtained from Low-grade summoning scrolls.
— Phew! I'm all done eating! Thank you, Jin-woo! I can't remember the last time I had bread!
"Yeah, yeah."
— But what do we do now?
"What do you mean what—now that you've eaten, you need to move."
Summoner Beasts can be trained, for the record.
No matter how high a rank the Summoner Beast you pull is, it cannot grow stronger without training.
In Lamba's case, she needs to build up some arm strength.
That way she'd be able to swing her staff faster.
"You know, right. With attack speed like that, forget the 10th floor of the Tower of Trials—you can't even clear the 1st floor."
— Hmph! So you fed me bread just to make me do this?
"Let's do it together."
Baek Jin-woo pumped his fist and began stretching.
Squats, jogging in place, and push-ups, and lightly working on his footwork.
He rotated his waist and carefully checked his joints and muscles.
Whatever I do, I need a strong body.
He also had to rebuild the muscle that had wasted away during 3 years of lying down.
He'd need to build up his cardiorespiratory endurance too.
Without physical fitness?
He couldn't pull an all-nighter, and his concentration would drop.
Physical fitness is the basic quality of a ranker.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Alongside Baek Jin-woo as he exercised, Lamba too cutely swung her staff.
* * *
— About the Baek Jin-woo you asked me to look into.
"Yeah."
— He's an unregistered player for starters. And he even has a 3-year hospitalization record from a traffic accident.
"What?"
The brow of Park Chang-seok, who had been receiving the report over the phone, creased.
"Are you sure? 3 years would be right around when the world changed."
The day all of humanity awakened.
— Certain. He was only discharged from the hospital recently. What's strange is that he applied for player registration the moment he was discharged.
What?
Park Chang-seok's eyes widened as he pulled a document from his bag.
The player registration waiting list.
He fixed his phone against his shoulder and flipped through the pages, wetting his finger as he went, and there it was.
Baek Jin-woo's application form.
"It's really here."
— Yes. Has something happened?
"No, no. Nothing like that. Who's the examiner in charge this month?"
— It is Examiner Oh A-reum.
"Oh A-reum? The education schedule is tomorrow, isn't it?"
— Yes, today was the deadline.
"Tell them I'll be taking over."
— Pardon?
"Don't ask why."
— Ah, understood.
Something smells interesting here.
He had been hospitalized for 3 years, and the moment he got out, he registered.
On top of that, his knowledge of Summoner Beasts appeared to be deep?
One of 2 things.
Either a genius, or he had been a gamer.
A gamer.
That was the term for those who had experienced the game ‘Battle of Summoners’ before the awakening.
Whether they had played for a year or 3 months, they were all called gamers.
The proportion of gamers among current rankers approached nearly 70%.
A truly overwhelming ratio.
"Haah."
Park Chang-seok's long-held dream was to find talent who would bring glory to the Republic of Korea.
To find a hero who would pull the Republic of Korea out of the pit of being perpetual last place in the Player Battle.
And.
His gut told him that Baek Jin-woo had the very powerful scent of such a talent.
No, don't get ahead of yourself.
Nothing was certain yet.
For now, I'll go see him again tomorrow.
The hand gripping the document tightened as Park Chang-seok's fist tensed.
* * *
The following day.
[Hello, Baek Jin-woo. This is the Player Headquarters.]
[Please come to the Lecture Hall 3 of the Player Headquarters by 9 AM.]
[A map is attached.]
[A schedule is attached.]
Having received the text, Baek Jin-woo arrived at Headquarters 10 minutes early.
Quite a large number of people had already gathered.
Roughly 1,000 or so?
He would receive education together with them and take written and practical exams.
And when that was over?
He'd play 3 matches in the Player Battle held at the end of the month, and all he had to do was place within the top 50 by score.
Only from that point could one attach the player badge and enter dungeons.
Swish.
As he settled into a suitable seat—
"Ha ha ha, back in my prime I was called the Dungeon Killer, you know? I just missed the automatic registration because I took a little break. Just watch, I'll register as this month's number 1."
"Ha, this new law really is something, isn't it? My Summoner Beast is C-rank—what's the point of education? If I put my mind to it, I could even make ranker."
"If I'd known it'd come to this, I should have run some dungeons last year."
"I did play Battle of Summoners briefly when I was younger."
"Battle of Summoners?! Whoa, you were a gamer?!"
"Yes, ha ha. I quit after about a month though……"
"Wow, still…… I heard gamers are really strong in combat."
The sounds of the applicants greeting one another and boasting among themselves could be heard.
Ah, or was it not boasting?
Most of the applicants did seem to have some kind of experience.
There was something of a relaxed ease about the way they sat, one might say.
Hmm.
This.
Depending on how things go, it might not be easy.
He'd need to see how the test was conducted first.
Eh, even so.
Who was Baek Jin-woo, after all!
One Heaven!
Was he not the very one called God of Jinu, hailed as the sky of Battle of Summoners itself?
Someone who could match his knowledge in this domain?
You could safely say there was none.
Some time passed.
Thud, thud thud!
The sound of someone tapping the microphone was heard, and—
— Alright, is everyone gathered?
Someone began making announcements from the front.
— How do you do? My name is Park Chang-seok, and I hold the position of Examiner at Headquarters.
Huh?
That guy!
Baek Jin-woo's eyes went wide.
He was an examiner?
* * *
The education that followed was easy.
Very basic content!
For Baek Jin-woo, who had once been ranked 1st in the world, it could only be tedious.
The vast majority of the combination methods and theories that today's rankers were studying were things Baek Jin-woo himself had established in the past.
And even then, he had only shared the ones that seemed reasonable among countless theories, and the truly important information existed only inside Baek Jin-woo's head.
Of course.
Battle of Summoners had been a competitive game, after all.
There had been no reason to teach important information or know-how to other rankers.
Well, the Five Emperors kids—he'd gotten close with them and occasionally helped when they were stuck on something.
That was all.
The truly essential information that had made him One Heaven had never been released anywhere.
This is boring.
Just around the time education ended and a 1-hour lunch break was given.
"Excuse me."
Someone who appeared to be a staff member approached and called out to Baek Jin-woo.
"Yes?"
"Well…… The examiner has asked to see you briefly."