Chapter 9
Chapter 9: The Exam Moves Fast (1)
Guided by a staff member into the waiting room, Jin-woo spotted a familiar bearded face.
The Headquarters' current Examiner, Park Chang-seok.
He spoke carefully.
"A bit surprised, were you?"
"Yeah, somewhat."
Baek Jin-woo nodded.
"I knew you were someone from Headquarters, but I never would have guessed you were an Examiner."
The bearded man gestured, and the staff member bowed and left.
Now there were only 2 people in the waiting room.
Park Chang-seok.
And Baek Jin-woo.
"The reason I called you here is none other than the matter of calculating your reward."
"Ah."
A reward!
Baek Jin-woo's eyes widened.
"After verifying your identity, it turned out you really were an unregistered Player. On top of that, you'd even submitted a registration application, and your name wasn't on any gang roster, so…… Naturally, a reward is in order."
"Yes, that works for me."
Baek Jin-woo swallowed.
He seemed fairly high up in Headquarters—just what kind of reward was he planning to offer?
"Before I get to the reward, there's 1 thing I'd like to ask."
"Yes?"
Baek Jin-woo blinked.
"By any chance, Jin-woo-ssi…… Were you a Gamer?"
He had thought about it countless times.
How could someone who had been bedridden in a hospital for 3 years know so much about Summoner Beasts?
There was no answer unless they were a Gamer.
"A Gamer?"
"That's what we call people who used to play a game called Battle of Summoners in the past."
"Ah."
Baek Jin-woo's mind clicked into gear quickly.
He'd actually anticipated this from the moment he stepped forward.
He knew they'd find it strange.
"Yeah, well…… I did play it, at some point."
"I thought as much. And the period you played for……"
"Hmm."
What should he say?
If he said 10 years, it would narrow things down too much.
Back when he was One Heaven, the total number of people playing that game worldwide had been fewer than 200.
As he'd mentioned before, Baek Jin-woo had no desire to make himself known.
Even if he did reveal himself, it would have to be after some level of safety was secured.
"I just played it casually. About 1 year or so……?"
"Huh?! R-really?!"
Whoosh!
It was then that Park Chang-seok seized both of Baek Jin-woo's hands with an overwhelmed expression.
"You're telling me you actually played that trash game for a whole year?!"
"Uh……"
Excuse me?
"Yes, that's right."
That one stings a little, honestly.
He knew Battle of Summoners was considered a trash game, but it was the game he had staked his life on.
To dismiss what was essentially his entire world with the lowly label of ‘trash game’—!
Of course, regardless of Baek Jin-woo's feelings, Park Chang-seok was beside himself with excitement.
1 year?!
The vast majority of South Korea's rankers hadn't lasted even half a year as players.
There were certainly some who had played for over a year, but they'd all died off in the early days.
That's definitely talent. The fact that he played that supposedly boring game for a full year means he was genuinely hooked on it…… That explains how he recognized the Flame Resistance skill too.
Rankers always said the same thing.
Anyone who played that cursed game for over a year was never quite sane to begin with.
And if you ever found someone that crazy, the state should do whatever it takes to bring them in and develop them.
Park Chang-seok's heart beat rapidly.
What's the likelihood he's lying?
Slim.
Someone who had only been awake for 2 days since coming out of unconsciousness, voluntarily claiming 1 year just to win his favor?
That alone deserved some recognition in its own right.
It meant the person's mind worked with sharp precision.
"First, I'll be proposing 2 rewards. Jin-woo-ssi, you simply need to choose 1 of them."
"Yes."
"The first."
The bearded man raised 1 finger.
"Within my authority, I can have you registered as a Player immediately. On top of that, I'll also open up a position for you to work at Headquarters."
This was an extraordinarily generous proposal.
Not only was he offering one of the 50 monthly Player slots—
He was also offering entry into Headquarters, an organization with more stringent requirements than most top corporations!
Of course, that was only Park Chang-seok's perspective.
"And the second?"
Baek Jin-woo replied with a blank expression.
As if I'd let myself get tied down to Headquarters.
One Heaven—God of Jinu.
Baek Jin-woo knew his own worth better than anyone.
The 5 beneath him had already been recognized as national-level Players—what more needed to be said?
"……The second is money."
"How much?"
"A reward of 5,000,000 won. It may seem a little low, but due to internal regulations, there's no way around it……"
"That works. I'll take the money."
With that amount, he could buy quite a few Summoning Scrolls.
"Pardon?"
Park Chang-seok wore an expression of pure incomprehension.
There was no shortage of wealthy people who spent thousands lobbying just for a single Player registration……
And he was tossing that chance aside this easily?
For a mere 5,000,000?
"I can manage Player registration on my own. And I have no particular interest in joining Headquarters."
"Please reconsider. No matter how much Gamer knowledge you have, Player registration can still take quite a long time."
"I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine."
Baek Jin-woo was firm.
What he needed right now was growth.
Especially to make up for his 3-year absence, he needed to move faster than ever.
Wasting time by joining some organization was out of the question.
This isn't going as planned.
Park Chang-seok scratched his head awkwardly.
But what could he do?
The man himself didn't want it.
The truth was, the first option had been his own call, while the second was the condition handed down from above.
Right.
Might as well just watch.
See how good a 1-year Gamer really was.
"Understood. The payment will arrive sometime today."
"Clean and simple. Thank you."
***
The training moved at a rapid pace.
There were lectures from university professors and professional Players, followed shortly by a written exam.
The exam content drew from the lectures, but also featured fairly tricky questions from the textbooks.
It couldn't be helped.
It was graded on a curve.
"How is he doing?"
Park Chang-seok asked the professors.
He was asking about Baek Jin-woo.
"……He's insane. Insane is the only word for it. To think a prospect like this existed!"
Looking over the submitted answer sheet, the professors wore expressions of pure awe.
Park Chang-seok was puzzled.
Had he ever seen those proud, rigid professors make an expression like that before?
"Ahem, looking at this answer sheet makes me realize just how narrow my own understanding of Runes has been all this time."
"Hmm…… I feel rather ashamed of myself for insisting on only Attack Speed-related Runes for Summoner Beasts with good Attack Speed efficiency. To think there was a method like this."
"Runes must be flexible, and the strength of a Summoner Beast is the strength of its Runes……! The very essence of what Taiwan's hero White Sky emphasized time and again is right here in this answer sheet!"
My goodness.
Baek Jin-woo was that impressive?
"Of course, there are signs throughout the answer sheet that he lacks hands-on experience, but even so, theoretically it's flawless."
"Signs of lacking experience?"
"Yes, in some places he's written down examples that make no practical sense, along with their solutions…… But they're the kind of scenarios that only exist in theory. This applicant—you said he was a Gamer?"
"Yes, for about a year."
"I have high expectations. His understanding of Summoner Beasts and Runes is on a completely different level from the other applicants. If he's nurtured properly, he could even become a Ranker, couldn't he?"
The professors' praise flowed without end.
Ho.
The more he heard, the more anxious Park Chang-seok became.
He kept thinking of Jin-woo's firm refusal to join Headquarters.
Should I have offered better terms to recruit him?
***
After the written exam came the Dungeon Practical.
The dungeon was the ‘Weekly Dungeon’ located in the Player Zone.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Each day it opened with its own theme, and the materials obtainable differed by day.
The practical for this session used the Tuesday Dungeon, which yielded polish that could be applied to Runes.
Polish was a material that could enhance the options attached to a Rune.
"Applicant, Baek Jin-woo-ssi?"
"Yes."
Having finished forming his team, Baek Jin-woo walked up to the entrance of the dungeon.
The Headquarters staff member waiting in front opened their mouth.
"This practical exam is a time attack."
"Clear it as fast as possible, right?"
"Yes. Since it's a low-grade Tuesday Dungeon, only Slimes appear. It shouldn't be too difficult. The paths are a bit complex, though."
I know, I know.
Weekly Dungeons—he had run them endlessly for 10 years until he was sick of them.
The time attack records for Weekly Dungeons across every grade were also held by One Heaven, God of Jinu.
Of course, he hadn't run the low-grade ones after the first few months.
But whether it was low-grade or top-grade—
Only the strength of the monsters differed; the layout was exactly the same.
"Use your registered team however you see fit—no holds barred—and clear it as fast as you can!"
This part was mildly tricky.
Among the registration applicants, some had D-rank or C-rank Summoner Beasts.
Competing against them, wouldn't he naturally fall behind?
Headquarters' answer to that was as follows:
—It's graded on a curve, so there's nothing we can do about it!
Having strong Summoner Beasts would itself be considered skill.
The financial power to purchase strong Summoner Beasts was also skill.
Fair enough.
But honestly, it didn't matter.
This was just a low-grade Tuesday Dungeon, after all.
Low-grade was so easy it didn't even come down to a Summoner Beast's performance.
All the Player had to do was move along the shortest route efficiently, and it would clear quickly.
Shall we go?
Baek Jin-woo felt a rush of excitement.
The God of Time Attacks!
God of Jinu's movements—he could finally show them to the whole world, couldn't he?
With a nod, he dove straight into the dungeon.
[Grk, grrrk!]
[The room is packed with highly toxic Slimes.]
[Defeat the Slimes and escape the dungeon.]
The Tuesday Dungeon was a maze.
Defeat nearby Slimes with your Summoner Beast, clear rooms one by one, and eventually you'd reach the boss room.
"Lamba."
—On it! Moving right now!
Whoosh, whoosh!
Lamba swung her staff against the Shaggy Gorilla.
The Wind Fairy's Attack Speed stacks accumulated the moment she entered the dungeon.
—Uwoooooooooo!
The Shaggy Gorilla roared with delight at the sensation of growing ever faster.
"Ignore the Slimes. Everyone, follow me."
True to the unforgiving nature of Battle of Summoners, the Tuesday Dungeon maze was fairly complex.
There were paths deliberately twisted to trip up Players, and paths designed to loop them right back to where they started.
The maze was randomized.
But Baek Jin-woo, who had run it an innumerable number of times every single day, knew.
The maze has 21 types in total.
Just by glancing at the entrance, the layout materialized in his mind.
It wasn't something he had deliberately memorized.
When you strive every day to clear it faster, your body just remembers on its own.
—Let's gooooo!
With Lamba's cry, Baek Jin-woo ran.
Slimes rushed at him, but it was fine.
Being low-grade, they posed no real threat—and more importantly, they were slow.
He could simply ignore them and push through.
The only targets were the Giant Slimes.
Of course, Giant Slimes had quite a lot of health, so taking one down in a single burst required building up a decent amount of stacks first.
—Hiyah! Hiyah!
That's exactly why Lamba was swinging her staff so furiously.
Tap tap tap!
There was no hesitation in Baek Jin-woo's stride.
As if viewing a full map through a hack, he kept charging forward along the shortest path.
About 5 minutes passed like that.
"There it is."
Between one room and the next, along the corridor, a small passage opened up—and passing through that narrow gap revealed an enormous open clearing.
And sitting squarely in the middle of it was something massive.
That was the boss mob of the Tuesday Dungeon.
The Giant Slime.