AECS 08

Chapter 08

Examiner Park Chang-seok

“Hello, I’m Park Chang-seok from the Player Headquarters.”

The bearded man extended his large hand.

Baek Jin-woo instinctively shook it.

“Ah, y-yes.”

“I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Still, thanks to you, we were able to take down a dangerous terrorist.”

“Oh, no… it was nothing.”

I was just trying to save myself.

Baek Jin-woo scratched his head, and the bearded man showed his teeth in a smile.

“Are you affiliated with any player organization?”

“Eh?”

“Oh, aren’t you part of a guild? The headquarters hasn’t seen you before… Then you must be FA.”

FA?

Freedom of contract, maybe?

“Uh…”

How should I put this?

I’m a rookie who hasn’t even registered yet—so affiliation or FA… hmm, tricky.

“You may think it rude for me to ask personal details, but this is for the headquarters to give you a reward.”

“A reward?”

Baek Jin-woo’s eyes lit up.

He was already lacking everything—money, runes, summoning scrolls.

He certainly wouldn’t refuse if they offered something.

“Haha, yes. In a way, you’re my lifesaver, and you helped take down a gang, so of course I have to reward you. But your identity must be verified. I hope you understand.”

Park Chang-seok had no choice.

To get approval from headquarters, proper documents and procedures were required.

“Well… I haven’t even registered with the headquarters yet. Is that okay?”

“Eh?”

Park Chang-seok blinked.

A person who could assist a C-rank summoner with just a few words—and they weren’t even registered?

He looked at Baek Jin-woo suspiciously.

But Baek Jin-woo didn’t care.

He was confident.

‘Well, sure.’

It could be a player who hadn’t been active last year.

The law was newly established this year, so such cases occasionally happened.

“Hmm, then do you have an ID card?”

As long as identity information was available, everything else could be processed.

“Yes, here it is.”

Swish.

Baek Jin-woo opened his wallet and handed over his resident registration card.

He had wanted to just leave, but since they were giving a reward, he had no choice.

It would only cause misunderstanding if he refused here.

The bearded man captured a photo of the ID and politely nodded.

“Thank you again. Once your identity is verified, the appropriate reward will be issued according to internal regulations.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

The bearded man smiled once more.

After Baek Jin-woo and the citizens had left,

Clatter, bang!

“Senior!”

“Are you okay, senior?”

The Player Headquarters staff had finally arrived.

“It’s about time, you brats.”

Park Chang-seok snapped irritably.

“There was an incident right next to headquarters, and you should have rushed here. Why are you so late? Did the guys run off?”

“Sorry, s-sir!”

“The cleanup here is done. You handle the aftermath.”

“What about the terrorist?”

“Taken care of.”

Park Chang-seok glanced sideways.

The C-rank Woodman looked satisfied, tidying its roots.

“I fed him as nutrients.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Check the CCTV if you don’t believe me. I saw it myself.”

“Haha, right.”

“Yeah.”

Park Chang-seok answered nonchalantly.

That young man still lingered in his mind.

• “But, the timing of the Flame Turtle’s skill is off…”
• “Over there, the Blood Orc’s buffers have flame resistance. What happens if the skill is used then…?”

In a critical moment,

he calmly suggested solutions with terrifying composure.

Moreover, he knew the summon names and skill names like “Flame Turtle,” “Blood Orc,” and “Flame Resistance” perfectly.

And he wasn’t even a registered player.

‘This is just… strange.’

Beep, beep, beep!

Park Chang-seok called someone—a junior in the information department.

“Hey.”

“I just sent you the capture.”

“Yeah, yeah. Baek Jin-woo. Can you look into him?”

Baek Jin-woo left the cafe and bought a few cream buns from a nearby bakery.

He then headed to a quiet corner of a neighborhood park.

“You can talk now.”

• Hoo-ah, hoo-ahhh!

Little Lamba was breathing heavily, having held it in for so long.

• I thought I’d die if I couldn’t speak! So this is what it feels like to have an itchy mouth.

“Good job. Here’s the buns.”

• Kyaaah! Cream buuunn!

For reference, the Wind Fairy’s favorite food is buns—especially fresh cream buns.

“I’m giving them because you held back. If you keep working hard, I’ll buy you more.”

• I loooove it! Nom nom!

The tiny fairy devoured the buns like a glutton.

It was amazing how much she could fit in.

Anyway, Lamba was very convenient.

There was no conflict between summoner and summon, which most players inevitably face.

One bun solved everything.

Of course, it took many trials and errors to figure out that cream buns were her favorite.

‘Hopefully nothing goes wrong.’

He hadn’t planned on stepping in, but he did to survive.

If that caused some trouble, he’d just have to deal with it.

“Phew.”

Baek Jin-woo let out a short sigh.

He needed to start hunting quickly.

Reality in this game was far more complex than expected.

At least there weren’t insane terrorists or a controlling government like in the game.

‘First, register and gather as many summoning scrolls as possible.’

Among his summons, ten had disappeared due to balance patches:

Wind Fairy, Training Instructor, Dragon Magician, Little Giant, Dampir, Gale Slayer, Rune Dwarf, Aso, Ma-Myo, and Catastrophe Dragon.

Their absurd power levels would be explained later.

‘First, I need the Training Instructor and Dragon Magician.’

The Training Instructor was E-rank, Dragon Magician was D-rank.

Meaning, by repeatedly using low-grade summoning scrolls, he could eventually get them.

Summons from Little Giant onward were C-rank or higher, which low-grade scrolls couldn’t summon.

• Hoo-ah! Ate it all! Thanks, Jin-woo! I haven’t had buns in ages!

“Yeah, yeah.”

• So, what do we do now?

“Now that you’ve eaten, we need to move.”

Summons could be trained.

No matter how high-grade a summon was, it wouldn’t grow stronger unless trained.

For Lamba, she needed stronger arm muscles.

That way, she could swing her staff faster.

“You know, at that attack speed, she wouldn’t even clear the first floor of the Tower of Trials, let alone the tenth.”

• Tch! That’s why you fed me buns?

“Let’s do it together.”

Baek Jin-woo clenched his fists and started exercising.

Sit-ups, jumping in place, push-ups, light steps.

He checked joints and muscles carefully, twisting his waist.

‘Whatever you do, your body needs to be strong.’

Muscles lost from three years of lying down had to be rebuilt.

Cardiovascular endurance too.

Without stamina, you can’t stay up all night or focus.

Endurance was a basic requirement for a ranker.

Hoo-ung, hoo-ung!

Next to him, Lamba swung her staff adorably.

• The person you asked us to check, Baek Jin-woo…

“Yes?”

• He’s an unregistered player. Even has a hospital record for a traffic accident that lasted three years.

“What?”

Park Chang-seok frowned while listening on the phone.

“Are you sure? Three years is right when the world changed.”

The day all humans awakened.

• Yes, he was discharged not long ago. Interestingly, he applied for player registration immediately upon discharge.

“What?”

Park Chang-seok’s eyes widened as he pulled a file from his bag.

The player registration waiting list.

He propped his phone on his shoulder, flipped the pages with a fingertip, and there it was:

Baek Jin-woo’s application.

“It’s real?”

• Yes. What’s going on?

“No, nothing. Who’s the examiner this month?”

• Examiner Oh Ah-reum.

“Oh Ah-reum? Her training schedule is tomorrow, right?”

• Yes. Today is the deadline.

“Tell her I’ll take it this time.”

• Yes?

“Don’t ask why.”

• Ah, understood.

Something smelled fishy.

Three years in the hospital, immediately registering upon discharge, and he seemed knowledgeable about summons.

One of two possibilities: a genius… or a gamer.

‘Gamer.’

Those who had played Battle of Summoners before awakening were called gamers.

Whether they played for a month or a year, they were all gamers.

About 70% of current rankers were former gamers—a truly overwhelming proportion.

“Phew.”

Park Chang-seok’s long-time dream was to find a talent to shine for South Korea.

A hero who could lift Korea out of the eternal bottom ranks in player battles.

And his intuition sensed a strong talent in Baek Jin-woo.

‘No, don’t get excited.’

Nothing was certain yet.

‘I’ll meet him again tomorrow.’

Park Chang-seok clenched the file in his fist.

The next day.

[Hello, Baek Jin-woo. This is Player Headquarters.]
[Please gather at Auditorium 3 of Player Headquarters by 9 AM.]
[Map attached.]
[Schedule attached.]

Baek Jin-woo arrived ten minutes early.

There were quite a lot of people.

Around 1,000?

They would receive training, take written and practical tests.

Afterwards?

They would compete in three matches in the monthly player battles, and if they ranked in the top 50, they could officially get the player badge and enter dungeons.

Swish.

He took a suitable seat.

“Hahaha, back in my day, I was called the Dungeon Killer. Just didn’t register automatically because I was taking a break. Watch this, I’ll register first place this month.”

“Ha, this new law is something else. My summon is C-rank, but this training… If I wanted, I could rank high already.”

“If I knew, I would have done dungeons last year.”

“I played Battle of Summoners briefly when I was young.”

“Battle of Summoners?! Whoa, you were a gamer?”

“Yes, haha. Only for about a month though.”

“Wow… but still… gamers fight so well, they say.”

The applicants greeted each other, showing off a bit.

Not really showing off though; most seemed experienced.

There was a sense of composure even in their posture.

‘Hmm.’

This could be tougher than expected.

First, let’s see how the test is conducted.

‘Eh, whatever.’

Who is Baek Jin-woo!

Ichien!

The one called the Sky of Battle of Summoners, JinuGod himself!

No one could compete with his knowledge in this field.

Some time passed.

Thump, thump, thump!

The microphone echoed.

• “Alright, everyone here?”

Someone began guiding from the front.

• “Nice to meet you. I’m Park Chang-seok, serving as the examiner for headquarters.”

Huh?

That guy!

Baek Jin-woo’s eyes widened.

‘He’s the examiner?’

The training was easy.

Basic stuff!

For Baek Jin-woo, once world rank #1, it was boring.

Most combinations and theories current rankers were learning had been established by Baek Jin-woo in the past.

He had only revealed the solvable parts; the really crucial info remained in his head.

‘Of course.’

Battle of Summoners was a competitive game.

No reason to teach other rankers critical strategies or know-how.

He only occasionally helped the Five Emperors when they got stuck.

That was it.

The real secrets that made him Ichien were never shared.

‘Boring.’

Around lunch, after an hour break,

“Excuse me.”

A staff member approached Baek Jin-woo.

“Yes?”

“The examiner wants to see you briefly.”