Chapter 47

With the completion of a fresh facility in Yubaek, Baek Ajin had relocated her office space as well.

The entire thirty-fourth floor of the main building was now exclusively reserved for the department managing Baek Jinwoo’s procurement and distribution of items.

Holding the position of director and backed by a freshly recruited staff, Baek Ajin rarely found herself visiting the old Samseong-dong Market anymore.

“Director Baek.”

“Yes, Representative Yu.”

Though Yu Jia and Baek Ajin had grown close enough outside of work to address each other affectionately as older and younger sisters, they maintained strict professionalism during office hours, calling each other precisely by their titles.

At this moment, the pair were channeling all their efforts into securing Omni Runes.

“I’ve thoroughly checked the inventory across global Markets, and as far as available stock goes, we’re looking at roughly twenty-five.”

Twenty-five was actually promising.

At the very least, it meant a supply existed to be bought.

“What about the pricing?”

“It fluctuates wildly. When you look at the average, it hovers somewhere around 150 billion won per piece.”

The price was absolutely astronomical.

Considering that a top-tier Lightspeed rune usually commanded a price of 15 billion, this scale was nearly unfathomable.

Yet, looking at it logically, it made complete sense.

While a Lightspeed rune only benefited staff-wielding summons that relied on attack speed, the Omni Rune was precisely as its name implied—omni.

It possessed the versatility to adapt to any type of summon imaginable.

“Hmm, Jinwoo requested eighteen of them, and our set budget is two trillion… that’s going to leave us quite short.”

“Precisely.”

A simple calculation meant that acquiring all of them would demand 2.7 trillion won.

Yu Jia let her fingernails tap softly against the paperwork Baek Ajin had delivered—tok, tok—before continuing.

“Furthermore, we can’t take those listed prices at face value. Even if you locate a seller, handle the negotiations, and reach the final stage of the transaction, plenty of them back out at the absolute last moment.”

“The type who hesitate, hoping they can squeeze out a higher price down the line?”

When dealing with such rare assets, the mental warfare between the purchasing and selling parties was always intense.

“Yes. Because of that, when we make our move, we have to do it stealthily and all at once before any rumors circulate. If we pick them up one by one, the sellers will talk to each other and drive the prices through the roof.”

“…What’s the plan then?”

“We stage an operation.”

Yu Jia’s response was definitive.

An operation?

“We will fabricate different personas for each transaction. Masked as buyers who possess legitimate wealth, we will approach every single seller at the exact same moment. We strike before they have any opportunity to exchange information.”

“…Oh.”

“Additionally, Director Baek, I need you to put up a public buy order for Omni Runes. Set the price significantly below the current market standard… let’s say, six runes at 100 billion won each.”

“Across every global Market?”

“Yes. And as each week passes, we will systematically lower the requested amount—down to five, then four, then three.”

“Ah!”

Baek Ajin struck her palms together in realization.

“You’re making them feel a sense of scarcity!”

“Correct. It won’t solve everything, but it will create pressure. The very fact that these runes are sitting on the market proves that no buyer has stepped up to pay those exorbitant prices yet. Under those conditions, we will consistently show them that transactions are occurring below market value.”

“Wow…!”

Observing Yu Jia, Baek Ajin felt an epiphany take hold.

Managing sales was one thing, but purchasing required this exact brand of tactical foresight!

“How do we handle the remaining balance for the budget?”

“We’ll attempt to cover it using the government-allocated funds first. If that proves insufficient… we will draw from Yubaek’s own capital. Whatever it takes to get them.”

When dealing with items of limited availability, speed was everything.

The greater the quantity they obtained, the more unparalleled Baek Jinwoo’s collection of runes would become.

“Let’s get straight to work then!”

“Understood!”

The designated Saturday.

The date of the inaugural gathering for the national team.

After completing his early morning run through a high-tier Day Dungeon, Baek Jinwoo made his way toward the Arena.

The scheduled meeting time was 10 a.m.

He showed up twenty minutes early at 9:40, yet—

“Huh…?”

Every single one of the nine rankers had already arrived.

They had been gathered in small clusters, conversing with the colleagues they knew best, but the instant Baek Jinwoo stepped across the threshold, all chatter instantly died.

Those lounging casually stood up straight. Each face masked itself with an expression of deep respect and caution.

The two high school rankers in particular—Ki Jaehyeok and Kang Jiho—

“Good morning, captain!”

They had been tracking him with wide, enthusiastic eyes before dipping into a synchronized, rigid bow.

Why are they acting so intensely?

It’s a bit overwhelming.

Though, he had to admit, seeing the kids act so earnest was somewhat endearing.

“Haha, a pleasure to meet everyone.”

Baek Jinwoo offered a polite bow in return as he walked further into the room, musing silently.

They’re high-ranking professionals, so I suppose this level of punctuality makes sense.

They had all arrived perfectly on time without any issues.

The initial impression was a success.

No one threw a tantrum when the leader arrived, no one looked away, and not a single veteran player tried to flex their seniority.

In reality, that was the only logical reaction.

This was Baek Jinwoo—the person who had utterly overwhelmed Kang Geonho, the country’s top-ranked player, in less than sixty seconds. Trying to pull rank? With what backing?

It was far wiser to keep their heads down and learn whatever they could glean.

Six months remained until the World League.

A period that could feel long in some contexts, yet incredibly brief in others.

Baek Jinwoo believed that if a nation was destined to claim victory, it might as well be South Korea.

“Greetings, everyone. I recognize I still have areas to improve, but I will be leading us as the national team captain—Baek Jinwoo.”

Faced with the collective attention of the room, he delivered his self-introduction with calm poise.

Right after—

As if following an unwritten rule, the players began introducing themselves in succession.

“I am Kang Geonho. Age thirty-three. Vice guild master of Baekho. Alongside me, Ho, Jeonghui, and Sangwon here are all part of Baekho as well. I held the captaincy for the last three years, but I am genuinely relieved that a far more capable individual has taken the reins.”

The composition of the Baekho players stood as follows:

Rank 1—Kang Geonho (age 33)

Rank 2—Park Ho (age 35)

Rank 6—Bok Jeonghui (age 31)

Rank 7—Seo Sangwon (age 30)

An organization primarily made up of players in their thirties?

Regardless, their track record was undeniable.

Four out of the country’s ten highest-ranked players hailed from Baekho.

There was a definitive reason the public viewed them as the absolute strongest among the Big Three.

The representatives from Baekho took turns stepping forward to greet him politely.

Following them.

“You likely recognize me already, but I am Ahn Gijeong from Ilwol.”

Ilwol, another pillar of the Big Three, had two representatives in attendance.

Rank 4—Ahn Gijeong (age 41)

Rank 8—Hwang Juwon (age 53)

Ahn Gijeong held the position of guild master, while Hwang Juwon served as his second-in-command.

Both being in their forties and fifties made them the most senior individuals in the room by a wide margin.

“Juwon and I have practically lived on this national roster.”

“Haha, I’m certainly putting on years, yet… I kept pushing forward, and somehow I ended up selected once more. Player Baek Jinwoo… truly, your display was breathtaking. My wife back home simply won’t shut up about you. She tells me to ignore the gameplay entirely—she just thinks you are remarkably good-looking. She wouldn’t stop pestering me to secure a signature from you, things of that nature.”

With their comfortable, neighborly demeanors, they appeared to be incredibly relaxed individuals.

The exact type of people who naturally eased a tense environment.

“Fantastic to meet you, older brother! I am Ki Jaehyeok!”

“I am Kang Jiho! I’ve admired your work since the qualifiers, brother!”

“Please assign us any chore! We are entirely prepared to handle whatever is needed as the juniors here!”

The two energetic high school students spoke up.

They were the leaders of the rapidly rising Carpe Diem.

Rank 15—Ki Jaehyeok (age 19)

Rank 25—Kang Jiho (age 18)

From a personal standpoint, Baek Jinwoo took a liking to them.

Battle of Summoners demanded a significant degree of physical athleticism by default.

Navigating through the air on wyverns, diving through waters alongside dolphins… there were undoubtedly phases that required actual physical execution.

That reality was precisely why Baek Jinwoo maintained a rigorous training schedule himself.

It feels like looking back at my own youth.

For them to secure slots on the national roster despite their lower rankings meant they had endured incredibly harsh training.

“Glad to have you both.”

Amused by their enthusiasm, he immediately shifted to informal speech.

Appearing deeply touched by that minor sign of acceptance, both young rankers beamed with massive smiles.

And to conclude.

“I am Hong Ari.”

Rank 3—Hong Ari (age 27)

“I command the Arirang guild. I used to share this national team experience alongside Seonyeong, but for this iteration, I am representing our group alone.”

She cast a brief look toward Baek Jinwoo.

“We ran straight into a literal force of nature during the team matches, as you know.”

The Seonyeong she referenced…

She was talking about Oh Seonyeong from Orang—the Five Wolves.

The second-in-command of Arirang and an exceptionally talented combatant in her own right, yet Drill Sarge had utterly dismantled her within ten seconds flat during the group stage.

“Even so, Seonyeong feels at peace with it. She mentioned it felt like an privilege to test herself against someone of that caliber. You and I share the same age, so if you lead the path, I will follow your direction fully.”

“Understood. I appreciate that.”

Every player had finished presenting themselves.

The reality of the situation felt almost fantastical.

The elite leaders of the country’s Big Three, assembled within a single room.

And every last one of them was yielding authority entirely to Baek Jinwoo.

Then again.

An individual didn’t rise to become a top-tier ranker out of a population of fifty million without possessing the ability to gauge a room and exercise basic logic.

What kind of regimen should I design for them?

The old version of Baek Jinwoo would have merely taken a cursory glance at their roster of summons and left it at that.

Even the Five Emperors, who had been acquainted with him for five whole years, received nothing more than occasional pieces of advice.

However.

The administration had poured an extra one trillion won into this project. He couldn’t afford to deliver a half-hearted effort.

At the bare minimum, he intended to provide them with guidance that matched that massive investment.

“In any event, it looks like we will be working side by side for the coming six months,” Baek Jinwoo remarked, having locked their profiles into his memory.

“Whether this relationship extends past that or remains a temporary arrangement, I cannot predict. But throughout this duration, if you face difficulties, I will do my utmost to guide you. That being said, I am not going to feed you answers on a silver spoon. Just as a person dying of thirst must construct their own water source—make an attempt on your own first, and when you strike a wall or realize you are lacking something, come speak to me directly.”

If Baek Jinwoo had to offer an unfiltered critique?

Every single person gathered in front of him was entirely deficient.

They fell so far beneath an acceptable standard that he was at a loss for where to even initiate adjustments.

For starters.

Their practical exposure to diverse scenarios was severely lacking.

Baek Jinwoo had been completely consumed by the simulation since his early days—dissecting the capabilities of more than 40,000 summons across every tier individually, weighing every conceivable counter-strategy.

He had ground his way through Player vs Player engagements utilizing inferior summons to topple elite players, and he had challenged the Tower of Trials on absolute peak difficulty thousands of times just to sharpen that abstract quality known as tactical intuition.

But this group?

Their selection of summons was far too rigid and predictable.

Once you committed entirely to a single archetype and threw all your capital into it, you became utterly helpless when encountering an unfavorable matchup.

If you wanted to find success with a completely unyielding setup?

You required absolutely dominant assets.

Much like Baek Jinwoo’s personal EX-rank summons.

Standard players could never afford the luxury of backing themselves into such a narrow corner.

Then again.

Did he truly need to push them to that extreme degree of mastery?

“Let’s commence with a series of duels.”

One match for every individual.

Engage them in combat, then open the floor for inquiries regarding whatever areas felt deficient or baffling to them.

Following that?

He would offer tailored critiques regarding optimized maneuvers, tactical summon lineups, specific rune combinations, psychological positioning, and beyond.

That represented the highest tier of instruction Baek Jinwoo could possibly provide.

Isolated within the deep wilderness of South Korea.

A derelict structure stood hidden, completely removed from any recognizable pathways.

From within that shadowed, grim space, where it appeared no living soul had wandered for generations, a voice echoed outward.

“What is your assessment?”

“…”

The man who had maintained his silence throughout the inquiry gave a deliberate nod.

“One point is undeniable—we cannot afford to simply stand by and watch this unfold.”

His fingers gripped a dense stack of records, with every single sheet detailing the accomplishments of one specific competitor.

Baek Jinwoo.

The individual pondered deeply.

A player possessing an almost incomprehensible level of power.

“What is our course of action then? Do we initiate a direct strike against Baek Jinwoo, Jihak-nim?”

Jihak.

Anyone who recognized that particular name would have been completely frozen in sheer terror.

Rank 30—Jo Jihak.

The mastermind behind the syndicate alliance that had plunged the entirety of South Korea into chaos, and the specific individual occupying the absolute top spot on headquarters’ most-wanted list.

His official rank lagged behind only because he completely avoided participating in the World League, but his actual lethal capability was something no one could dismiss.

“You absolute simpleton. Strike Baek Jinwoo directly?”

Jo Jihak released a sharp, disbelieving chuckle.

Had this idiot not bothered to review the recorded footage from the qualifiers?

Baek Jinwoo had sliced through the elite rankers of the country as if they were mere toys. How exactly did an underground syndicate expect to touch someone like that?

In reality—

That precise issue was the syndicate’s most severe problem lately.

Baek Jinwoo’s strength was so overwhelmingly lopsided that the entire dynamic of leverage with headquarters had fundamentally broken.

If headquarters ever chose to go all out and mobilize Baek Jinwoo against their factions?

It could signal the absolute destruction of the syndicates overnight.

“For the time being, recall every asset we have positioned across foreign territories. This situation constitutes an absolute crisis.”

To be clear, the syndicates were entirely barred from utilizing South Korea’s designated Player Zones.

Seoul, Busan—headquarters maintained an unbreakable grasp over every single one of them.

Consequently, they operated beyond the borders.

Venturing into neighboring Southeast Asian territories—the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar.

They would secure cooperation from corrupt officials within those local governments to quietly employ their training spaces.

“If a direct confrontation with Baek Jinwoo is impossible, we will target him through roundabout means.”

“Roundabout means?”

“To begin with—what is the status of the assignment I handed down previously?”

“Ah, you are referring to Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop. We have successfully established a line of communication. A definitive reply hasn’t materialized just yet, but the signs point toward an entirely favorable outcome.”

In recent days, the syndicate had been actively attempting to recruit two specific elite rankers.

Rank 9—Oh Jimyeong. Rank 10—Park Hoseop.

Both individuals had failed to secure spots on the national team during the tournament, and both had been aggressively voicing their resentment toward headquarters—a fracture point that the syndicate had moved rapidly to take advantage of.

“We will await the finalization of that matter first. One week from this moment, we assemble in this location once more.”

“Understood, sir. It shall be done as you dictate, Jihak-nim.”

The underling lowered his posture in deep reverence.

Jo Jihak paid him no mind whatsoever.

He simply cast his eyes across the decaying interior of the room once, and then, without making a single sound, evaporated into thin air.