AECS 03

Chapter 03

Tutorial (1)

Baek Jin-woo stopped after walking for a while.

It was a quiet, empty space between hiking trails.

A cold chill ran through his body, giving him goosebumps.

“…Ha.”

He still couldn’t believe it.

‘The world has turned into the game I knew.’

The game he used to play had completely disappeared.

The app itself no longer existed, as if it had never been there.

“…Hoo.”

What on earth is going on?

It felt like clearing the 100th floor of the Tower of Trials had acted as some kind of trigger.

‘Damn it.’

The world felt like a hidden camera prank, and he even wondered if he was hallucinating because of the accident.

But the wind brushing against his skin told him otherwise.

This world was real.

Gulp.

Baek Jin-woo swallowed and took out two summon scrolls from his pocket.

The same items he had used thousands—no, tens of thousands—of times over the past 10 years.

‘Alright.’

Maybe this is actually good.

Honestly, his dad was right about everything.

His future had been hopeless anyway.

Wouldn’t it be okay if a world meant for him finally came just once?

‘Of course.’

A useful summon has to come out here too.

The probability rates for a low-level summon scroll were:

• F Rank: 94%
• E Rank: 5%
• D Rank: 1%

This was one of the main reasons why Battle of Summoners was known as a brutal luck-based game.

The summon rates were completely messed up.

‘Please… at least E-rank or higher.’

Let’s go!

Riiip!

He boldly tore the scroll.

Wooooong!

Lightning struck down onto the torn paper.

“Ugh!”

He stepped back in shock.

[Using ‘Low-Level Summon Scroll’!]
[Player ‘Baek Jin-woo’ has acquired the summon ‘Wind Fairy’ (EX-Class)!]

“…Huh?”

Wind Fairy?

The one he knew?

No, wait—

…What did it say the rank was?

Baek Jin-woo frowned.

A shining platinum-colored rank appeared before his eyes.

EX-Class?

“Am I… crazy?”

What is that?

* * *

In Battle of Summoners, summon ranks ranged from F to S.

F, E, D, C, B, A, S.

A total of seven ranks.

Naturally, the closer to S, the stronger the summon—and the rarer it was.

S-rank?

It was almost like winning the lottery.

Even Baek Jin-woo had only gotten one in 10 years.

Among the Five Emperors, Rachel was the one who had pulled an S-rank.

A-rank?

Veterans with around 10 years of experience usually had a few.

In the early years of the game, they didn’t even appear.

B-rank was probably the best you could realistically get at this stage.

You’d bow and say “Thank you!” if you got one.

But EX-Class?

He had never even seen such a rank before.

And from a low-level scroll, only F to D ranks should appear…

—Yaaawn… what is this?

At that moment—

A tiny girl, about the size of his forearm, appeared out of nowhere, stretching and rubbing her eyes.

Then her eyes widened.

—Huh? What! Was I just summoned? Really?!

She wore a light green dress and held a small staff.

With tiny wings on her back.

Her name—

Wind Fairy.

Baek Jin-woo knew that appearance very well.

Of course he did.

Back in middle school, when the game first launched—

It was an E-rank summon he had raised with great care.

Though now, it somehow had an EX title.

“…Are you Lamba?”

—Yeah, Lamba…! No, I’m a Wind Fairy—wait! You…!

Lamba looked shocked.

—Only our Jinu-god uses that nickname! You—who are you?!

…

That’s what I want to ask.

What the hell is going on?

And since when could Lamba talk?

Summoned creatures weren’t supposed to speak.

Still—

“You just said it.”

—Said what?!

“That only one person uses that nickname.”

—Then…

Lamba stared at him in disbelief.

—Don’t tell me… you’re Jinu-god?

Yeah.

I’m Jinu-god.

Baek Jin-woo.

* * *

Wind Fairy, Lamba.

An E-rank wind-element fairy specialized in buffs.

She handled Jin-woo’s early farming.

But—

She was also a tragic summon that disappeared after a bug patch in the first year.

Baek Jin-woo remembered that time.

How unfair it felt.

His summon, raised for a whole year, vanished overnight.

No compensation.

Customer service just said it was removed by AI judgment.

But his anger didn’t last long.

Because honestly—

It had been too overpowered.

Lamba.

If you discovered her hidden potential and equipped the right runes—

She became completely broken.

—Jinu-god! Do you know how much I missed you?! Waaah!

Lamba cried, rubbing her small head against his chest.

His clothes slowly became wet.

—Sob… I got dragged to some weird place and was trapped there the whole time!

Seeing her cry like this felt strange.

But it made sense.

This was the first time seeing her in real life.

And—

It had been 9 years.

“Status window.”

He decided to check her information.

[Summon: Wind Fairy]
[Race: Fairy]
[Rank: EX-Class (Isolation Judgment)]

• Isolated due to balance-breaking elements in certain conditions

Level: 1

Stats:
Strength: 1
Intelligence: 1
Stamina: 1
Agility: 1

HP: 1,000
MP: 0

Critical Chance: 20%
Critical Damage: 20%

Skill:

• Wind Pressure: Increases a single ally’s attack speed by 3% every time the staff is swung.

‘As expected.’

Exactly the same as before.

A single weak-looking skill.

But that “weak” skill—

Would later destroy game balance.

As Lamba leveled up and gained attack speed—

And with speed runes—

She could boost attack speed endlessly.

3% stacking every hit.

If used on an A-rank summon?

It would surpass S-rank power.

‘I farmed so easily with this.’

—Anyway! Now that we’re reunited, let’s never separate again! Okay?!

“Wait.”

Jin-woo gently pulled her off.

“I have questions.”

—Ask anything! You’re Jinu-god!

“What is isolation? Who isolated you? How does summoning work here?”

—Uh…

Lamba looked confused.

Then suddenly—

—Ah! It hurts!

“What’s wrong?!”

—My head! It feels like someone put a curse on me!

“…A restriction?”

—Sorry… I can’t explain much. We were isolated. Normally, we couldn’t come out even if summoned.

“‘We’? There are others?”

—Yeah… not in the same place, but… around ten of us.

Ten.

‘Crazy.’

Those were definitely—

The bugged summons he lost.

—Anyway, you’re different from other players. When you tear a scroll, we get a chance too.

‘I see.’

So only he could summon EX-class.

Because Lamba used to be E-rank, she responded to a low-level scroll.

“That’s insane…”

—Why does it happen?

“No idea.”

Maybe a reward for clearing the 100th floor.

Anyway—

Riiip!

He tore the second scroll.

[Using ‘Low-Level Summon Scroll’!]
[Player ‘Baek Jin-woo’ has acquired ‘Furry Gorilla’ (F-Rank)!]

“…Yeah.”

A useless summon.

Only good as upgrade material.

So—

EX-Class wasn’t guaranteed.

To find the lost summons again—

He’d need countless scrolls.

If he gathered them all?

He could become stronger than Ilcheon.

Boom. Boom.

—Ugh…

The gorilla knelt.

“Lamba.”

—Yes, Jinu-god!

“Stop calling me that. Just call me Jin-woo.”

—Why?

Because that name was already famous worldwide.

And right now—

It was too dangerous to stand out.

“Just do it.”

—Okay… you’re still cool.

She smiled.

—Let’s climb the Tower again! We reached floor 10 before, right?

“I already cleared floor 100.”

—WHAT?!

“In the game.”

Reality might be different.

“…With your current stats, you can’t even clear floor 1.”

—Yeah… everything reset…

“So we need to grow first. Show me the synthesis facility.”

—Huh? I don’t know that!

“…What?”

—It’s my first time here too!

“…Seriously?”

At that moment—

[Player has acquired a summon.]
[Proceed to the next step.]

Boom!

A blue light rose from the ground.

[A beginner dungeon has been created.]
[Please enter.]

“…Dungeon.”

Jin-woo swallowed.

He had done it countless times in the game—

But this was real life.

“Really…?”

Enter?

[Please enter.]

“Damn…”

Of course he was scared.

The tutorial monster—

A Gray Wolf.

Weak in the game.

But in real life?

Facing a growling wolf?

Still—

Summons fight, not him.

‘I have to adapt.’

He took a deep breath.

Then—

Closed his eyes.

And jumped forward.

It was his first time entering a dungeon.