Tower of Ordeal, Floor 26 (1)
One day, in the thick of training, an urgent invitation arrived from headquarters.
What's this about?
Riding the Sky Wyvern, Baek Jinwoo shot off toward Jamsil Station in an instant, and with the staff guiding the way, he was able to step straight into the Director's office.
Clunk!
The door swung open as he stepped inside.
"Heh heh heh! Welcome, welcome!"
The Director greeted him with an absolutely delighted expression.
"Do you have any idea how much I've missed you? Hahaha!"
Tsk.
Anyone watching would think we were the best of friends.
Baek Jinwoo bowed his head with a smile, then murmured,
"I couldn't say about that. But I do remember you turning down my request for a summon back in the day."
"Wh-what?"
The Director jolted upright in alarm at Jinwoo's words.
He'd heard the rumors plenty.
They say the man holds quite the grudge, don't they?
He needed to keep his wits about him. The moment he got on the national hero's bad side, the next election was as good as over.
"Why would you say something so hurtful...! Hahaha!"
As the Director forced out a laugh, Baek Jinwoo's head tilted slightly.
"Well, I believe I was the one who was hurt, actually..."
"Hahahaha! The past is the past! And haven't I helped you enormously since then? Let's move past it, let's move on!"
Watching the Director carry on with his clowning and that perpetual grin, Baek Jinwoo clicked his tongue inwardly.
Tsk. A born politician.
Being able to grovel so shamelessly to someone far younger than himself was a talent in its own right.
Not that Jinwoo had any complaints. As long as the man wasn't hostile to him on the spot, it was win-win for both of them.
But the relationship needed to be made crystal clear. These days, he was unmistakably the one holding all the leverage.
"So, what did you call me here for?"
"This is your first World League, isn't it?"
"...That's right."
Battle of Summoners had never had a concept like a World League. It was something born only after the game crossed over into reality!
The Director flashed a sly grin.
"Did you happen to know?"
"Know what?"
"That the World League operates far less fairly than people think."
"...?"
What was he getting at?
"Have a seat first. What'll you have to drink? Hmm? Or perhaps a nice warm coffee?"
"...I'll pass on the drink, thank you."
When Jinwoo declined and took a seat, the Director began his explanation.
"You know the countries we call the summoning superpowers. Britain, Japan, the US, Russia, Taiwan—places like that."
The nations that were home to the Five Emperors.
"Well, the truth is, those countries all form an alliance before the league even begins."
"An alliance?"
"Once the groups are drawn and the group-stage multiplayer battles begin, the allied nations agree not to touch one another."
"Hoh."
Well, well. Look at these guys.
Since running into each other within a group would cost them blood, they'd rigged it in advance to guarantee themselves a spot in the round of 16, huh?
He couldn't really fault them, though. This wasn't some fair-play sport like the World Cup or the Olympics. At the end of the day, it was a game run by the System, wasn't it? Every nation had no choice but to move for its own national interest, and that was only natural. Even if other countries grumbled, there was nothing they could do about it.
What were they going to do—start a war? Against the Five Emperors?
"We get the short end of the stick, sure, but there's nothing to be done. But here's the thing. Heh heh heh."
For some reason, the Director looked absolutely delighted.
"Take a look at the official document that came flying our way."
He held out a single sheet of paper. A diplomatic proposal that had arrived at the Bureau.
"What is this?"
"A kind of pact. Britain, Japan, the US, Russia, Taiwan... and South Korea agree not to touch each other if they meet in a group before the round of 16. Isn't it tremendous? Those absurdly unfair allies are inviting us into their fold right now! Kahaha!"
"..."
Baek Jinwoo crossed his arms.
The Five Emperors... those guys.
They know I'm Jinugod.
He was certain. One hundred percent. Otherwise, there was no way those five nations, of all countries, would have made an offer like this.
Had Japan's "Sugoi" bro let something slip? No, contractually he couldn't have...
Then again... with everything kicking off like this, it would be stranger if they hadn't noticed.
Still, good for them.
The corner of Baek Jinwoo's mouth curled up slightly.
It has to be Rachel.
If anyone could pull this off, she could. Of the Five Emperors, Jinwoo understood Rachel's mind best. She was the one who'd coaxed him into the group chat and brought him along in the first place, and thanks to her, he who had always played alone had at least managed to talk with the others now and then.
She would have been extremely wary of anyone approaching him directly—terrified of making a misstep. Sending over this pact, then, was best read as a kind of gesture: for now, they had no intention of picking a fight.
"So the reason you called me here is to show me this pact? To get my approval?"
"Approval goes without saying, but the thing is... these fellows asked that you stamp the pact with your own seal and send it back."
"My seal?"
It meant the Director's or the President's approval was irrelevant. The Five Emperors wanted exactly one thing: Baek Jinwoo's sign-off.
Hmm.
They had to be feeling the pressure, too. If they drew South Korea in the group stage and ended up in an all-out war with him, they might fail to make even the round of 16.
"There's no downside for us, I suppose."
"My dear boy! 'No downside' doesn't begin to cover it! This is enormous!"
"Not enormous. They're just doing it to save their own skins."
"..."
The Director was dumbfounded.
Those global powerhouses had sent a pact because they were fighting for their survival? Did that even make sense?
"Still, I'll give them credit—they know how to extend a hand first. All right, I'll stamp it."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about, but... go on, stamp it quickly."
The Director found himself growing inexplicably impatient. Judging by Jinwoo's tone, it felt like the man might just go "Eh, forget it! I'm not stamping this!" and walk right out if anything went sideways.
With that one stamp, South Korea's odds of reaching the round of 16 would shoot up dramatically. Even if the draw put them in a group with just one of those five nations, the allies would sweep every other country in the multiplayer battles. That single seal would let South Korea sit back and reap the spoils while the big fish devoured each other.
"H-haha! Here's the ink pad."
Baek Jinwoo pressed his thumb firmly into the ink and raised it. Then, just as he brought it down over the pact—
His hand stopped dead in midair.
"Hm? What's the matter?"
"You know, though..."
Baek Jinwoo looked at the Director as if something had just occurred to him.
"Try as I might, I can't stop thinking about how you refused to give me that summon back then. Now that I think about it, it was only about 1.5 billion won, if I recall. Whew. If I hadn't met Yoo Jia after that... I wouldn't even be on the national team right now, would I? And I certainly wouldn't be receiving a pact like this one. Hmmm."
"..."
The Director's eyes trembled violently.
You little...!
Just how deep did this guy's grudges run?
"Is there... is there something you want?"
"Not particularly at the moment?"
"Then why! Why would you stop mid-stamp and say all that!"
"Just... for later."
The corner of Baek Jinwoo's mouth lifted slightly.
"Grant me one favor. Unconditionally. No strings attached. Then I'll stamp it."
"A favor...?"
The Director couldn't begin to guess. Left vague like that, the man could demand something truly outrageous down the line.
What do I do?
Just as the lifelong politician's mind burned through options at full speed—
"Well, then it can't be helped. I suppose I just won't stamp—"
"Done! I'll grant it!"
The moment Jinwoo moved to pull his hand away, the Director cried out in desperation.
I have no choice!
As Director, he absolutely had to deliver a round-of-16-or-better World League finish during his term in office. As head of the Player Bureau, what surer achievement could there be! To him, who didn't know the true depth of Baek Jinwoo's power, that stamp was the only concrete token of a round-of-16 berth.
"Heh heh, really? You do understand this has to go through a system trade contract, of course? Everything needs to be airtight, after all."
You damned brat!
Gritting his teeth, the Director reluctantly handed a "Wish Ticket" over to Baek Jinwoo.
Thump!
And with that, the seal was stamped.
"Whew."
Back home, Baek Jinwoo's mind was a tangled mess.
I was planning to keep it hidden at least until the World League.
But it seemed all five of the Five Emperors had already learned his true identity. The one consolation was that they seemed to want to extend a hand rather than keep him in check.
Still, he couldn't afford to relax. Even if that was how Rachel thought, the other Emperors were anyone's guess. Someone might decide the sprout had to be crushed while it was young—and come straight for him. Gaming ties were only gaming ties; reality could be a different beast altogether.
Let them try.
He was ready, of course. Whoever came at him, whatever means they used, he was prepared to blow them apart.
The only catch was that with just a little more time, he would be absolutely invulnerable—and right now, things were still a touch ambiguous.
For now...
Baek Jinwoo scrapped every plan he'd made up to that point.
Let's just start climbing the Tower of Ordeal.
He'd put it on hold originally because he didn't want the attention! But there was no longer any need to worry. The people at home already openly took him for Jinugod, and with the Five Emperors fully in the know, whose eyes was he supposed to mind!
Rachel said she'd climbed to floor 50, right?
With Hungyo, Pokryongi, and Ramba at his side, Jinwoo could manage that easily enough. On top of that, he could simply deploy Song Yeonhee's puppets, which he'd just tried out. Ask to borrow them for a while and she'd surely oblige. That would make it even more certain.
The problem was Pokryongi...
Her hundred days were still a long way from over. If she was separated from Hwang Jiwoo for more than an hour, the sudden quest would reset.
First...
He would bring Pokryongi along to the floors he could clear within an hour, and leave her behind for the ones he couldn't. Until the Tower was cleared, Hwang Jiwoo would simply have to stand by beside it.
Right.
Try it first. If it didn't work out, he'd change the plan then.
"I'm sorry—what?"
Yoo Jia was startled.
The date was November.
"You're going to climb the Tower of Ordeal with the league only a month away? All the way to floor 50?"
"Yes."
"...Is this because of Rachel? To beat her?"
"It's less that than..."
The truer answer was that he no longer needed to hide his strength.
And above all...
Recently, Lund's Masterpiece Crafting level had risen to 2, and with it, new runes had been unlocked.
◈ Berserk (Rare) · Versatile (Rare) · Howling (Rare) · Emperor (Rare) · Trinity (Unique)
◈ Deadly Poison (Rare) · Destruction (Rare) · Fire Dragon (Rare) · Extreme Cold (Rare) · Annihilation (Unique)
Now I can finally put together Doldori's graduation runes.
Doldori's graduation set was the Unique-grade Annihilation. Annihilation worked much like Trinity: just as three Versatile rune sets had been required to craft Trinity, three Destruction rune sets were needed to craft Annihilation.
And to make those Destruction runes? The Tower of Ordeal was the best place to farm the materials. Beyond the materials themselves, he needed to gather polishing agents and the like as well.
Plus the Fire Dragon runes while I'm at it. Fire Dragon was the perfect stopgap rune for Pokryongi.
If I go in with all of that kitted out, even Rachel won't be a match for me.
"Aren't you pushing yourself too hard?"
Yoo Jia looked up at him with worried eyes.
"People will be over the moon if you just make the round of 16 at the World League... And you've already stamped the pact, after all."
He had already explained the pact to the guild members, Yoo Jia included.
"The World League?"
Baek Jinwoo shrugged.
"That sort of thing isn't what matters to me."
Win or lose—he didn't even entertain the thought of losing. What mattered to Baek Jinwoo was simply growing stronger, endlessly. Overwhelmingly so. It had been the same back in his Jinugod days: he'd paid no mind to how far Rachel, ranked second, had climbed, and simply pressed forward.
"Get things ready for me. Floor 50... I can clear it in exactly one week."
Two days to floor 30. Two more to floor 40. Three more to floor 50. A tight schedule, deliberately so.
"...Floor 50 in one week?"
"Yes."
Even as he delivered an answer that would leave anyone else gaping in disbelief before fainting outright, Baek Jinwoo's expression was resolute.