Hwang Jiwoo (1)
"So then. For Explosive Dragon to learn Devour, I have to be put in danger?"
Even amid the authority already slumbering within her, when it came time to erupt, the trigger point this time had been pain, and to avoid seeing that, she himself had sealed the explosive agony away—
"More severe?"
— Yes. Unlike the past, when you had many lives··· now, my lord, you only have one life, do you not.
"Ah."
— That is why I hesitated. Because I did not want my lord to overexert himself. Explosive Dragon would probably object fiercely as well.
Hmm.
That was true.
The current Baek Jinwoo was not merely far from a life-or-death crisis—he was cruising down an open road.
No, more than cruising, he was flying.
In a situation like that, would he really bring about a dangerous moment on purpose just to gain one good skill?
Something that could send him straight down the road to the underworld?
It was not a very good idea.
"But if it has to be a life-or-death crisis, how severe does it have to be?"
— Surely, you are not actually thinking of doing it?
"No, no, I'm just asking. I'm curious."
— Please wait a moment.
HunGyo closed his eyes, pressed a finger to his forehead, and thought for a moment.
And then soon after.
— A situation with less than a 10% survival rate.
"...."
— You would have to create such a situation, my lord. Something like taking only Explosive Dragon alone into the Tower of Trials or a high-difficulty normal dungeon.
"Huh."
Less than 10% was harsher than he had expected······.
At that point, trying to gain one skill would practically amount to suicide. Wouldn't it be better to just not do it?
No, not "wouldn't it be better"—the truth was that he absolutely should not do it.
Even if it were under 90%, it would still be questionable whether to attempt it.
"There's no other way besides that?"
— There may be, but I do not know it well, my lord.
"·····"
Just as a deep furrow formed between Baek Jinwoo's brows—
— What do you mean by that, HunGyo?
Explosive Dragon's voice came from behind them.
Ah.
It seemed she had heard the conversation while training in another room.
To unlock her latent abilities, Explosive Dragon meditated even at night.
That was why one of the many rooms had been given over to her.
— Explosive Dragon.
HunGyo made an awkward expression.
— What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that supposed to be?!
Unlike usual, Explosive Dragon's voice was thick with anger.
— I only said it because my lord wanted an answer.
— Sir Jinwoo.
Whip!
Explosive Dragon turned her gaze toward Baek Jinwoo.
"Huh?"
— Don't even think about risking your life over something stupid. I'll refuse to deploy.
Uh······
Not that he had ever actually been thinking that.
Refuse to deploy?
There had been something like that in 「Battle of Summoners」 too.
If you did not manage affection properly, they would do something like go on strike, and when that happened, you could not even set the team at all.
Among players, they used to describe it as the summon collapsing and refusing to move.
'Hah······'
So this method had been impossible from the start because of Explosive Dragon anyway.
— I absolutely cannot allow Sir Jinwoo to fight in dangerous battles.
— I feel the same way, Explosive Dragon.
— HunGyo, and also.
Glare!
Explosive Dragon shot HunGyo a slight glare.
— There's something you're misunderstanding. The authority that awakened back then was only a fake authority.
— A fake authority·····?
Oh?
Baek Jinwoo's eyes widened as well.
Did Explosive Dragon know something?
— It's true that the stress had reached its limit. And it's also true that the authority was forcibly unlocked because of that. But if you want to unlock the true power of Explosive Dragon, you can't use that kind of method.
"Then what method should I use? Do you know?"
— I don't know that either.
'.....Huh?'
She didn't know?
Then what—
— Anyway!
With a resolute expression, Explosive Dragon placed both hands on her hips.
— I'm making this clear! If Sir Jinwoo overdoes it, I'm not going out to fight! Do whatever you want!
No, what did she mean, "do whatever you want"?
And where had she learned an expression like that?
Did she learn it from Lamba?
"Alright, alright. Hurry back in and finish your meditation··· don't worry."
He had not been planning to do it anyway.
Still, for some reason, he felt like he had just been scolded for nothing.
Was there really a player in the world who got scolded by his summon?
* * *
-Come out here, I want to see you!
Tch.
Japan, Tokyo.
"Oh, you're back? Welcome."
A Japanese giant and the man ranked second in the world.
Yoshida Hikaru welcomed the four rankers.
"Yes, big brother."
Shusuke broke into a cold sweat but still tried to maintain a poker face.
'Haah.'
Where was he even supposed to begin explaining?
The other rankers, including Ryo, only avoided his gaze from behind him. No one had an answer.
"Hoo, judging by the atmosphere."
Hikaru grinned.
"Looks like you got thoroughly crushed, huh?"
"...Well."
"So, what was he like······ this man named Baek Jinwoo. Is he very strong?"
"Yes, he was very strong."
"And you lost?"
".....That's right."
Gnash.
Shusuke answered through gritted teeth, as though the humiliation of that moment had come back to him.
But.
"Kuhahahat! You lost? Uahahahahahat!"
Why was that?
Hikaru looked more delighted than ever.
"The video! Don't tell me there's no video?"
Actually, the video had arrived yesterday.
The problem was·····
'Should I really show him this?'
Shusuke hesitated.
For now, that woman named Yoo Jia had shown good judgment.
Because she had perfectly deleted that problematic scene where Ryo went completely berserk.
'But.'
The scene where the scroll was torn was still included as it was.
Hoo!
If she was going to be sensible, she should have been sensible all the way!
"Hey, Shusuke! I asked if you have the video!"
Yeah.
Let's just show it.
If he refused to show it now and it was discovered later, there was no telling what kind of backlash would follow.
"I have it here."
Swish.
Shusuke took a USB out from inside his clothes and handed it over.
Hikaru accepted it and looked satisfied.
"Good. Just by watching this video, I should be able to get a rough estimate. You all did well. I'll gift each of you a good rune later, so you can go now."
"Thank you, big brother!"
Shusuke bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
The other rankers also followed with bows, and just when it seemed they had gotten through it safely—
"Ah."
Hikaru stopped them.
"By any chance."
Drip!
Cold sweat rolled down Shusuke's forehead.
The faces of the other rankers, which had just begun to relax, stiffened once again.
Yoshida Hikaru.
Sometimes he seemed like a good older brother, but in truth, he was an extremely fiery person.
And if you fell out of his favor?
He was the kind of man who would cut you off without mercy.
"You didn't make any mistakes with Baek Jinwoo, did you?"
"...."
Gulp!
Shusuke swallowed.
For about two seconds, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but······ he had to answer quickly.
If he delayed any longer here?
It would be as good as admitting he had made a mistake.
"Haha, big brother."
Shusuke turned his back and smiled brightly.
"Nothing like that. We did make a small bet, though······"
"A bet? What kind of bet?"
Hikaru's eyes gleamed.
"Well······ we had agreed to fight for free, but the other side proposed a wager. It would have been awkward to refuse, so I accepted."
"By the other side······ you mean Baek Jinwoo?"
"That's right."
"And then?"
"As you know, we lost. And we got fleeced for 100 billion won."
"Really?"
Hikaru did not seem to think the amount mattered all that much.
The only thing that mattered to him was whether they had made a mistake or not!
"If you were the ones who got fleeced, then Baek Jinwoo wouldn't have had any reason to be offended, right?"
"....Right."
Shusuke smiled with only his eyes.
Cold sweat once again streamed down the back of his neck.
'At this rate.'
Ryo.
That bastard probably needed to be kicked out as soon as possible.
The moment Baek Jinwoo laid eyes on him, it would all be over.
Kicked off the national team?
There was no need to bother telling Hikaru about something like that.
He could handle it himself.
'Sorry, Ryo.'
If the rest of us want to live, there's no other choice.
"Really? Then that's fine. Off you go."
"Understood, big brother!"
The rankers stepped outside.
"Whew."
Shusuke let out a breath. He was still so stunned it almost did not feel real.
'Big brother Hikaru actually taking that kind of stance.'
Then again.
If it was Baek Jinwoo that he had experienced for himself, it made perfect sense.
'A monster.'
That was the one word that suited Baek Jinwoo perfectly.
'Looks like the balance of the world is going to be overturned before long.'
Maybe that was a good thing.
Didn't they say it was better to take the beating in advance?
'Let's just think of it as getting a powerful vaccination.'
* * *
"Ugh."
Baek Ajin had been getting headaches lately.
Ever since the gang suppression incident, her friends had been dropping hints, one way or another.
— Ahh, the weather's nice!
— Seriously~ Perfect weather to go see Ajin.
— I'm so curious, so curious. I heard Yoobaek City is seriously amazing?
— I heard Ajin's older brother is always at the training ground there. Apparently he walks around shirtless all the time?
— Kyaaaah!
"For heaven's sake. Are they insane?"
Thunk!
Unable to take it anymore, she flipped her phone face-down.
After the gang infiltration incident, security in Yoobaek City had become extremely strict.
Ordinary civilians could not just enter freely, and even executives from major guilds could only enter with permission from Yoo Jia, the representative.
The only people who could come and go were residents.
So that was why her friends were asking. They wanted her to arrange just one group tour.
"These girls······ how old are they, and they're asking for a tour?"
At first, she ignored them.
Because it was not something she could decide on carelessly.
Business and personal matters had to be kept separate.
Just because she was a director, did that mean she could bring personal acquaintances into the company?
Absolutely not!
It would also be wrong toward Yoo Jia, who trusted her.
And yet—
"Sigh."
It kept bothering her.
They were all girls she had known since middle school, not dangerous people··· and she had even heard that some of them were aspiring players.
Maybe that was why.
Baek Ajin found an opportunity during a private company dinner, not an official setting, and asked Yoo Jia.
As a result—
"Huh?"
Yoo Jia's eyes widened.
"What's the problem with that?"
"Unni?"
"We went to all that trouble designing it to be safe, and we made the park complex pretty too, all so people could come look around······ If they're your friends, they're absolutely welcome. Why not bring them all?"
"But no matter what, it's still a company, isn't it?"
"Ajin."
"Yes?"
"By our company's standards, you're basically part of the royal family. You know that, right?"
"I know······"
Because her older brother was Baek Jinwoo.
And this company revolved solely around Baek Jinwoo.
"Your authority here is much higher than you imagine."
The fact that Baek Ajin was Baek Jinwoo's younger sister alone was more than enough reason for Yoobaek to look after her.
"And it's not even a difficult favor······ You're worrying over a tour for your friends. Just bring them confidently. I'll give you invitations."
"Unni··· thank you. I'm seriously touched."
It was unexpected.
When it came to work, Yoo Jia was incredibly picky, but with something like this, she was so straightforward and generous.
After happily finishing the meal and returning home, Baek Ajin lay down on the sofa and picked up her phone.
Then—
— Guys, when do you want to come visit Yoobaek City?
She sent a message to the group chat.
And as a result—
— Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaak!
— Seriously? 20? 20????
— When? Just tell me the time. I'll make everything fit. I can use annual leave. If annual leave doesn't work, I'll just quit.
— Me too!
— As expected, our Ajin is the best!
— Wow, we're really benefiting from having a friend. We even get to visit Yoobaek City. Can we maybe see your brother too?
— Guys······ let's at least keep some basic decency. Of course Baek Jinwoo oppa is busy! The World League is just around the corner!
The group chat, which had only been trickling along before, suddenly burst into flames.
'Are they really that happy?'
Baek Ajin found herself smiling for no reason.
She thought she had already gotten used to it, but moments like this always made it hit home again.
Just how incredible her brother really was.
— Alright then, let's set a date.
The corners of her lips curled upward on their own.
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