Chapter 150

PBC Main Office Auditorium

The documentary production team and executives had gathered together, champagne glasses in hand. On the massive screen at the center, global viewership ratings and ad revenue were updating in real time, the numbers pouring in like a flood.

“Wooo!”

“This is INSANE!”

“This is huge. These numbers are beyond anything we imagined!”

Everyone erupted in cheers, buzzing with excitement. The other executives nodded in unison, voicing their agreement as one.

F-Five billion dollars in total revenue already…?

One executive stared at the figures in disbelief. Converted to Korean currency, that was 6.6 trillion won! They had already recouped more than their entire investment, and the truly staggering part was that this was the result of a single day. How much more they’d rake in from here was beyond anyone’s imagination.

Global simultaneous broadcast viewership: 32.3%! That figure absolutely demolished the previous industry record of 15.7%.

“Look at South Korea. The viewership is… 70%. How is that even possible?” One of the executives muttered, his expression stunned.

That surpassed the all-time historical record of 65.8%, a number the industry had unanimously agreed could never be broken under current measurement methods, not in a million years. And yet? They’d smashed right through it.

“Honestly, I thought breaking 20% would’ve been a jackpot… but this is a mega-jackpot. No, beyond that — a mega-mega-jackpot?”

“The Baek Jinwoo effect is something else.”

“The phones won’t stop ringing! They’re saying they’ll pay a hundred times the ad rate for Part 2 — they’ll eat the penalty, just swap their ads in!”

“American and English viewership is climbing too!”

As the explosive response continued worldwide, contract amounts with broadcasters in every country began snowballing.

“Countries that haven’t even aired it yet are going crazy!”

“They’re saying they’ll cover all translation costs themselves — just let them broadcast it as soon as possible!”

“Ha ha ha.”

Smiles spread across every executive’s face. They were the ones behind these historic numbers. How could they not be thrilled? PBC’s stock price hit the daily limit. As the entire world became aware of PBC’s existence, the company’s valuation was skyrocketing beyond measure.

“Alright, alright, everyone quiet down!”

As the cheering subsided, the bureau chief rose from his seat and quietly raised his glass. The auditorium fell silent in an instant, every eye turning to him.

“Hahaha, everyone! Today we’ve achieved something absolutely unbelievable. Thanks to the hard work of every single person here, PBC has made history! You’ve all earned this!” The bureau chief lifted his glass high. “Come on, come on! Let’s drink!”

“A toast!”

Clink!

The staff clinked glasses, congratulating each other on their efforts. Smiles bloomed on every face, but the chief wasn’t finished.

“However!” His tone turned solemn. “We can’t stop here. What we have now is only the beginning. Strengthening our relationship with player Baek Jinwoo and CEO Yu Jia — that’s our broadcasting station’s mission going forward!”

They were the key to bringing PBC even greater success. The chief added that they should use every means necessary to give those two whatever they wanted.

“Now then, everyone enjoy tonight! Starting tomorrow, we run even harder!”

Clap clap clap clap!

Everyone in the auditorium burst into vigorous applause and raised their glasses. And so the documentary, The World’s Strongest: The Challenge, continued spreading across the globe.

Another week later.

“We.” Inside the training grounds where the guild members had gathered, Hong Ari spoke up with a serious expression. “We should go up too.”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean, Noona?”

To Ki Jaehyeok’s question, she answered. “Floor 51. There’s no reason we can’t go, right? Let’s finish climbing the Tower of Trials.”

“…What?”

“Floor 51? Us?”

Two weeks had already passed since Baek Jinwoo entered. The fact that he still hadn’t come out? It was time to start considering the worst-case scenario.

“We don’t have a choice. Jia Unni’s not showing it, but she’s in a total meltdown… And that bastard Baek Jinwoo has no intention of coming back! Besides — we’re still on Floor 20, aren’t we? We’re world rankers now, and we’re still sitting around on Floor 20? Are we really going to just space out and do nothing every single day?!”

Hong Ari had a point. With Baek Jinwoo’s help before the 4th World League, they’d made it up to Floor 20. And not a single one of them had attempted Floor 21 since.

“…Let’s at least try to reach Floor 30 on our own. We can figure out the rest after that.”

One by one, they began rallying behind her. Come to think of it, she’s right. We’ve gotten a lot stronger too. Maybe we actually can do this? Not having a strategy guide is a little scary, though… But we can’t just hide in Hyungnim’s shadow forever.

For a while now, the guild members had been like dead fish. Zero energy, zero spark. They’d been training, sure, but it hadn’t felt like real training. None of them said it out loud, but they’d all been leaning on Baek Jinwoo far more than they realized.

“We can’t just sit around waiting forever.” But that single line from Hong Ari reignited the passion that had sunk to the bottom. “Let’s help each other and get ready. With our strength, we can absolutely do this. Juwon Ahjussi.”

“Hm?”

“You take on the Drill Sarge role.”

“Me? The Drill Sarge…?” Hwang Juwon stared back at her, bewildered. How could they assign that demon’s role to someone as kindhearted as him…!

“You’ve been wanting to play coach since before, haven’t you? Isn’t this actually the perfect chance?”

“…Fair point.” Hwang Juwon mulled it over briefly, then nodded. Inwardly, he felt a pang of guilt. Honestly, I should’ve been the one to step up and lead from the start. They say the position makes the person. Guess he wasn’t vice guild master for nothing. More importantly, he was the advisor. It was time to show the guild members that he hadn’t earned that title just because of his age.

“Alright.”

Clap!

Hwang Juwon smacked his palms together. “Starting today, we go all out. I might not be as tough as the Drill Sarge, but I’ll push you as hard as I can.”

Before long, a fire had rekindled in the guild members’ eyes.

“HYAAAH!”

“LET’S GOOOOO!”

As the guild members’ battle cries filled the training grounds with life once more—

“……”

Yu Jia was slowly losing all expression. Every day, she came out in the same outfit, processing paperwork with an empty face. That bastard. Inside, she swallowed her fury and cursed. He could come out sooner if he wanted to. She was sure of it. He was doing this on purpose, making her worry. She seethed silently.

Once the paperwork was done? She perched three Mindreader Eagles on her shoulders — she’d recently purchased an additional one — and conducted interviews with applicants. As a result, the applicants were the ones trembling with anxiety. Yu Jia’s bone-dry expression and rigid questioning were overwhelmingly cold and terrifying.

So this is the CEO of Yubaek…

Her Charisma is unreal.

They say even SKY rankers can’t move a muscle in front of her. I believe it now.

God, I just feel completely overpowered. I was shaking too much to even speak properly.

Quite the misunderstanding had formed. But Yu Jia didn’t care. She simply did what needed to be done, silently, mechanically, like a robot. The Mindreader Eagles would sort out the applicants’ true intentions anyway.

Second-generation guild member recruitment. Yu Jia thought. Recruiting guild members? Baek Jinwoo had asked her to do it, so that was the only thing driving her forward. Because if she stopped, if she let her emotions take the wheel, she felt like she’d truly crumble.

She wasn’t waiting for Baek Jinwoo. She simply assumed he’d come back, and prepared accordingly. I’ve staked my life not just on Baek Jinwoo, but on Yubaek as a company. If he didn’t return? That was the same as her life falling apart.

“Hah.” Yu Jia let out a thin sigh. Still, the pool of 100 applicants was nearly narrowed down. Just two more weeks and the final intern selections would be made. I can do this without the Drill Sarge. She steeled her resolve once more, pulling herself together.

Swish!

Even late into the night, she flipped through documents, calmly organizing her thoughts, keeping her mind under control.

Rewind to two weeks earlier.

Having said his goodbyes and confirmed all the filming equipment was working, Baek Jinwoo stepped through the Tower’s main entrance.

“Challenging it already!”

“We wish you the best of luck, player!”

The staff members snapped into sharp bows, wishing Baek Jinwoo success.

Blink.

He closed his eyes and opened them, then stepped through the opening doors.

Step.

He descended into the abyssal depths of what had once been Jamsil Tower.

[Entering the Tower of Trials.]
[The Tower of Trials' difficulty is considerably high.]
[Proceed with caution.]

Pitch-black surroundings. A familiar backdrop by now.

[The Tower of Trials allows up to 3 parties.]
[Please complete your setup.]

The setup was the same as always. Eight EX-rank summons. This time, just in case, he added seven more from the roster he used in Day Dungeons, selected at random. Especially the Skypierce Wyvern. That one was incredibly useful. Mobility covered, air superiority secured. And if it could carry him high enough, he’d gain a wide field of vision too.

[You may currently challenge Floor 51.]
[Will you proceed?]

“Obviously.”

At Baek Jinwoo’s answer, Hmmmm! A mysterious energy began enveloping his entire body. His vision gradually darkened, and when he opened his eyes again—

Baek Jinwoo couldn’t hide his shock. Floor 51’s setting was a ruined library. The objective was to find a hidden, destroyed research lab inside it and eliminate the mid-boss, the Archivist of Darkness (A-rank), but…

“What the hell?” Baek Jinwoo looked around, unable to contain his bewilderment.

The library was already in shambles. Bookshelves had collapsed, and countless books lay scattered across the floor. Torn pages littered the ground, dust and debris piled up everywhere. As if someone had already torn through this place.

On top of that, the path to the now-ruined research lab was already open. Normally, you had to follow clues to find the route in… And it was just sitting there, wide open?

Sensing something off, Baek Jinwoo called out to his summon. “Drill Sarge.”

“……!”

“You can talk freely.” Was this really the time to worry about the cameras? Thinking about it, there was no point in hiding the fact that his summons could speak. The higher he climbed, the harder things would get. He couldn’t keep the secret forever.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Go check inside.”

“As you command.”

Inside the research lab was the Archivist of Darkness. The creature had once been a mage who guarded the secrets of Ruination. It wielded powerful dark-attribute magic and… It attacked by ripping apart skill books found throughout the library. Sometimes it tore up something like a 7th-circle spell… And when that happened, there was no answer. Taking it out as fast as possible was the only solution.

That much was certain, and yet—

“My lord……” From deep inside came the Drill Sarge’s voice, laced with disbelief. “The Archivist of Darkness. It’s dead.”

What?

“…?”

What the hell did he just say? Killing it was the clear condition for Floor 51. And it was already dead?