Yoo Jia (1)
"Oh."
Baek Jinwoo's eyes widened.
Holy shit! Unbelievable!
"Why is it so expensive?"
While scrolling through summon prices in the "Marketplace", reality hit him a little.
He'd expected it—but it was even more expensive than he'd imagined.
"D-rank was dirt cheap."
What the hell is this?
From C-rank onward, each one costs as much as a compact car?
Swipe, swipe!
Baek Jinwoo scrolled down his phone screen, quickly scanning the information.
The prices roughly looked like this:
Average C-rank: around 20 million won. The good ones? Asking prices of 100 million won.
Average B-rank?
Even crazier.
Around 200 million won on average, and the better ones exceeded 500 million.
A-rank and above?
There weren't even any listings.
Probably "name your price".
S-rank, of course, didn't exist.
Thinking about it, the pricing made sense.
You can obtain a B-rank summon by tearing an advanced summon scroll with a 1% probability.
That means an expected value of 100 scrolls.
An advanced summon scroll costs 3 million won, so 100 of them comes out to exactly 300 million.
"So with 300 million, you could get one B-rank and five C-ranks…"
That's probably how those ridiculous prices came about.
"Ha."
This is insane.
Back in Battle of Summoners, it wasn't this bad.
There was definitely a gap between reality and the game.
Now he understood why someone like Park Changseok only had three C-rank summons.
And he could also understand why Baek Ajin had called her own Shadow Elf "a noble".
"I wonder how much my sister's summon costs?"
He tapped the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the "Marketplace" tab and typed in "Shadow Elf".
[Shadow Elf (C-rank)]
[42,000,000 won]
[Quantity: 8]
"Crazy."
Forty-two million?
Baek Ajin…
"She was way richer than me."
Baek Jinwoo's pathetic account balance currently stood at 6 million won.
"Though…"
He didn't plan on using that money anyway.
He had somewhere else to spend it.
"Ahem."
After closing the player web portal, he searched through his contacts.
Park Changseok had said that if he contacted this number directly, they would help immediately.
[Headquarters – Assistant Manager Hwang Taeseop]
"I'll present it here."
Nodding to himself, Baek Jinwoo began writing something down.
It was a list of the core units for the weekday dungeon that he would need to gather moving forward.
* * *
"Assemblyman."
Hurry!
As soon as he received Baek Jinwoo's message, Hwang Taeseop immediately went to find Park Changseok.
"What is it?"
"Player Baek Jinwoo has presented something."
"What?"
Park Changseok shot to his feet from behind his paperwork.
If he was presenting something, that meant—solve it, and he'd give information!
"What did he present?"
His voice trembled.
He'd been waiting for this moment for so long.
"Just a moment, here it is."
Hwang Taeseop checked his phone and shared the message he'd received.
It was a list of summons.
Next to each one were the quantity and price.
[Summon Purchase List]
Combat Marshal (C-rank), 1, 18 million won
Radiant Priest (C-rank), 1, 35 million won
Spotted Komodo (B-rank), 1, 150 million won
Wind Hawk (B-rank), 1, 300 million won
Titanium Golem (B-rank), 1, 300 million won
Fire Fairy (C-rank), 1, 50 million won
Frost Cat (C-rank), 1, 100 million won
Sky Dolphin (C-rank), 1, 10 million won
Celestial Wyvern (B-rank), 1, 200 million won
Lava Drake (C-rank), 3, 50 million won each
"What is all this?"
"…He's asking that we purchase all of them. Every single one. At the lowest listed Marketplace price."
"What?"
Park Changseok was dumbfounded.
He wants headquarters to buy all of this?
Do you even know how much this is?
He scanned the screen and did the mental math quickly.
"…1.313 billion won?"
Unbelievable.
He let out a hollow laugh.
If something like that were possible, would Park Changseok still be using C-rank summons?
The headquarters' budget approval process was extremely strict.
Every expenditure was monitored and checked by the assembly members.
If even the slightest flaw appeared?
An article would be published immediately, and the public would tear them apart.
Naturally, his political career would be over—and in the worst case, he could even go to prison for embezzlement.
"This is outside my authority… What information is he offering in exchange?"
"Similar to last time. He says he'll reveal the time attack strategy for the weekday dungeon."
"The weekday dungeon?"
Park Changseok's eyes lit up.
"He specifically said 'weekday dungeon'? Not something like the Tuesday dungeon or Wednesday dungeon?"
"Yes. He clearly said weekday dungeon."
"Ho."
If that were true, it would be huge.
How wild had the public gone when the national record for the Tuesday dungeon was broken?
And now he's saying they could break records from Monday through Sunday?
The entire country would celebrate.
"The problem is the money."
There was no way headquarters would just hand over that budget.
They'd say: give the information first, then we'll allocate funds.
But that wouldn't work.
What mattered most right now was trust between headquarters and Baek Jinwoo.
He didn't want to disappoint him.
"For now, I understand. I'll report to the director."
Park Changseok tossed aside his paperwork.
It seemed he'd need to speak to him directly.
* * *
The result?
Nothing.
"Damn it, that old fossil in the back room! Stupid old man!"
Bang, bang!
Still unable to calm down, Park Changseok stomped around his office, slamming his fists against the desk.
"This was a chance for South Korea to properly advance! Why won't he approve it? Ugh!"
"Honestly, it was a bit much."
Yoo Jia muttered from the side as she watched him.
It couldn't be helped.
It was a national institution.
From headquarters' perspective, they could only invest money if the information was certain.
What if Baek Jinwoo took the summons and emigrated overseas—or joined a gang?
They couldn't completely rule out that possibility.
"…But the information is certain, right?"
"It must be. I told you before—I'm good at reading people. I'm sure of it. Damn it! This is why our country is stuck in last place forever!"
"…"
He wasn't entirely wrong.
Wasn't part of the reason South Korea lagged behind in summons due to corrupt assembly members?
They weren't much different from politicians.
'If every assembly member were like Park Changseok, our country would become advanced in no time.'
Yoo Jia smiled bitterly.
Thud, thud!
Park Changseok was still stomping furiously.
"The director—that bastard. I knew something was off when he kept meeting Im Heesoo. That guy took money. I'm sure of it."
"Assemblyman. There are a lot of ears around."
"Here? It's just you, me, and Byungjin."
"Six ears are still a lot."
"…What kind of scary thing is that to say?"
"Anyway, the director said to bring evidence, right? Or like last time, show proof first before making the request?"
"That's right. Hoo."
The problem was that Baek Jinwoo had said time attack was impossible without those summons.
And that made sense.
Just like you couldn't do a Tuesday dungeon time attack without a Spotted Komodo.
"We do need to purchase those summons with public funds…"
"And?"
That was when Yoo Jia slowly ran her tongue across her lips.
It was instinct.
The instinct of someone born with the blood of the number-one conglomerate.
"If that information is real, isn't it an absolute jackpot?"
"Of course it's a jackpot! A massive one! Headquarters is too stupid to see it!"
"Even I can tell it's huge. Honestly, selling it to headquarters for just 1.313 billion won… doesn't that feel a bit wasteful?"
"What?"
"Hmm. Very wasteful."
Yoo Jia closed her eyes slightly.
Her mind began working rapidly.
For the past three years, she had grown increasingly interested in summons—especially players.
"What do you mean?"
Despite Park Changseok's urging, she remained deep in thought.
After a while—
"That money."
"Yeah?"
"What if I pay it instead?"
"…What?"
Park Changseok's eyes widened.
What was she talking about?
* * *
Daeseong Group, Yoo Jia.
The granddaughter most loved by Chairman Yoo Byeongcheon.
She also held shares in the group and was in a position to participate in the management succession battle.
If she supported her father with her shares, it would eventually become hers.
However—
She wasn't interested.
She also disliked watching blood relatives tear each other apart.
So she simply maintained her shares for her father and poured all her passion into players.
'And…'
Recently, there was one player who fascinated her most.
Baek Jinwoo.
A mysterious one-year gamer.
A man who disliked revealing himself and seemed to possess information that didn't exist in South Korea.
He wasn't a pushover, either. He knew how to negotiate even against the state.
'I definitely smell money.'
Like her grandfather, she had an exceptional instinct for profit.
And in her mind, one business idea surfaced: Management.
A one-person management company.
A support company dedicated solely to controlling and assisting Baek Jinwoo.
Isn't that just like headquarters'
'No. Completely different.'
From Yoo Jia's perspective, headquarters was incompetent.
They didn't understand the value of information. They didn't understand investment.
'The value of Baek Jinwoo's information is at least tens of billions.'
If time attack was possible, that meant dungeons could be cleared faster—and at the current stage, that value would be astronomical.
Companies usually invest boldly where expected returns are high.
1.313 billion won?
Even if it were lost, it would still be worth throwing in.
Unlike headquarters, which moved conservatively unless the risk was extreme.
And another difference from the
A win-win relationship.
If Baek Jinwoo tasted real money, he'd be even more proactive with information.
Instead of this cautious back-and-forth, they'd become a true team.
'If I start this business…'
She even intended to give Park Changseok a share.
On one condition—he must remain at headquarters.
His connection to headquarters would strengthen the management company.
'He'd love it.'
Yoo Jia smiled inwardly.
She could already picture the bearded man laughing loudly, shouting that he was earning money and serving the nation at the same time.
* * *
Back in the office—
"You're really going to pay that money? 1.313 billion won? That much?"
A stunned Park Changseok stared at Yoo Jia.
It wasn't the look of a superior toward a subordinate.
It was the look of someone gazing up at an untouchable chaebol heir.
"Yes, but."
Having finished her thoughts, Yoo Jia tapped her nails lightly, slightly tense.
"Before paying, I need to meet him one more time."
"Who? Baek Jinwoo?"
"Yes."
Just because she decided something didn't mean it would happen.
The most important thing was Baek Jinwoo's will.
She intended to meet him again.
Business, romance, education, recruitment— all human relationships are formed when both sides align perfectly.
Baek Jinwoo would judge her, and she would judge him.
"We'll discuss the details after that. For now, I'll step out for a moment."
She stood up.
After tidying her clothes, Yoo Jia left the office.
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