Chapter 53

Chapter 53: I Alone Am an EX-Class Summoner

Hanam City, private café.

Krrrrumble……!

The abrupt vibration caused Baek Ajin and her companions to leap up in surprise.

“W-what was that?”

“Could it be an earthquake?”

SPLASH!

The beverages resting on the tabletop sloshed and spilled everywhere.

The trembling was severe enough that a few of her companions shrieked in panic.

“Everyone, take cover beneath the tables!”

“KYAAAH!”

Fleeing blindly during a tremor is unwise.

The priority is to find safety under a solid object, then make your way outside once the environment steadies.

Directed by the individuals who recalled their disaster training, they were on the verge of moving when—

“L-look out there!”

A companion gestured toward the exterior glass.

“……A golem?”

A colossal construct of stone completely blocked the view through the window.

“Holy shit.”

“What is a golem doing here?”

“So that wasn’t a natural disaster?”

Within South Korea, evoking a summon of that magnitude in residential zones demanded legal authorization.

Particularly construct-types—manifesting one in an urban area risked massive structural ruin, making oversight incredibly strict.

Therefore, a golem materializing outside a Hanam City coffee shop pointed to only a single reality.

……An attack?

Just as Baek Ajin’s expression darkened—

CRASH!

Three individuals smashed through the entrance of the establishment.

Each was flanked by their active summons.

Those figures are……

Baek Ajin identified them instantly.

Her companions did as well.

“Oh Jimyeong!”

“Park Hoseop is with them too!”

Naturally, they recognized the faces. Rated 9th and 10th domestically—renowned competitors who had been utterly routed by her sibling merely days prior.

“What reason do they have to come here……”

“They look incredibly sinister, don’t they?”

Her companions gulped in apprehension.

Thud.

Oh Jimyeong advanced a step.

“Which one among you is Baek Ajin?”

The inquiry wasn’t born of genuine ignorance.

He had already received a detailed breakdown of her features from the syndicate.

“Found you.”

Oh Jimyeong casually scanned the group before locking his gaze and directing his finger right at Baek Ajin.

Grrrrrr.

A Shadow Wolf snarled from the darkness nearby.

“What do you want with me?”

“I’ll make this brief.”

Oh Jimyeong motioned with his chin.

CRASH!

The glass facade of the establishment imploded, and through the breach entered the massive fist of his primary entity—the Rampage Stone Golem (B-rank).

“All of you. Relinquish your weapons and climb aboard. Comply, and we ensure you will be handled with care.”

Any rational person could deduce the objective here.

An abduction.

Baek Ajin stood frozen in disbelief.

“W-why are you targeting us?”

It couldn’t be.

He suffered a humiliating defeat by her brother in the team tournament, and this was his method of exacted retribution?

“Ajin……”

“What is happening?”

“I’m terrified.”

Her panicked friends clustered tightly behind Baek Ajin.

Not a single soul stepped toward the construct’s open palm.

As the quiet standoff stretched on—

“Rankers. Since you are newcomers to our organization, allow me to enlighten you—softness gets you nowhere with children like these.”

At that moment, the most supercilious competitor of the trio strode to the forefront.

His gaze shone with an intense, predatory malice.

“You have ten seconds.”

He unfurled his digits.

“Any girl who isn’t aboard that construct in ten seconds perishes. Furthermore—”

Shhk!

A hidden entity materialized beside the Shadow Elf that had been preparing its weapon behind Baek Ajin.

And immediately—

SQUELCH!

A blade plunged directly into the Shadow Elf’s neck.

A solitary, precise strike.

With one action, Baek Ajin’s summon dissolved into nothingness.

“Who authorized you to ready your forces, hmm? Seeking a swift demise?”

“Th-this is madness.”

Baek Ajin and her companions shrunk back in terror.

The syndicate!

Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop had aligned with the syndicate?

Those absolute degenerates!

Everyday citizens existed in perpetual dread of the organized syndicates.

Everyone occasionally pondered—what if I become the target? It was always a distant, abstract anxiety, but……

To find themselves confronting the syndicate directly today, right before their eyes.

“Everyone.”

Baek Ajin’s tone wavered.

“Do not react. Under no circumstances. Place your faith in me.”

Had she prepared for an eventuality such as this?

Her sibling had bestowed a particular ability upon her.

Desperate Call.

The ability she had bound to her own Shadow Wolf—Baek Ajin triggered it in a state of sheer panic.

And sent out a silent, desperate plea.

Oppa.

Please, come quickly!

The exquisite dinner Jasim had provided for him was abruptly interrupted.

[‘Shadow Wolf’ (B-rank) desperately calls for Player Baek Jinwoo.]

[Will you answer?]

“……!”

Baek Jinwoo’s gaze widened instantly.

The Shadow Wolf was under the ownership of his sibling, Ajin.

He had instructed her explicitly.

Only invoke this in a true emergency.

“Jasim.”

Baek Jinwoo spoke to his companion across the table.

“A crisis has arisen. I must depart immediately. I will contact you later.”

There was no luxury of waiting for an acknowledgement.

He selected Yes instantly and chose to manage the consequences afterward.

“What did you just say?!”

Yu Jia vaulted from her seat.

A transmission had just arrived from the private defense force she had commissioned.

— Individuals matching the syndicate’s profile have penetrated the facility! Our defensive combatants are responding, but we have already sustained losses! Th-there are far too many enemy combatants!

What motive does the syndicate have to raid us?

The circumstances were incredibly perilous.

She had retained a highly rated and costly security enterprise, and they were already taking casualties—signifying that the syndicate had deployed immense assets to this operation.

“AAARGH!”

“KYAAH!”

Outcries resonated from the perimeter of the structure.

The realization dawned on her simultaneously.

Why would they commit to such an aggressive assault against us?

The motivation was glaringly apparent.

Jinwoo.

To pressure him. To gain leverage over him. To seize control of everything and everyone of value to him.

Those absolute bastards.

Yu Jia compressed her lips and condemned her own lack of foresight.

She had been far too relaxed.

She ought to have cemented a pact with a premiere syndicate.

At the very least, she should have positioned elite combatants at the main branch for periods when Baek Jinwoo was elsewhere.

She pressed the crisis signal to alert central command and requested backup from the Daesung Group, but time was a luxury they lacked.

Should I contact Jinwoo?

She contemplated triggering Desperate Call.

In truth—she had been on the verge of doing exactly that.

But then—

— Syndicate operatives have located Director Baek Ajin as well! A nearby coffee shop—it appears Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop, who have been turned by the syndicate, are present! Oh Jimyeong’s construct is on site!

Those details caused her to pause.

If both locations summoned him at once, it would merely compound Baek Jinwoo’s bewilderment.

Even so, at this location they possessed a defensive force. Baek Ajin was entirely defenseless.

Damn it, what is the correct path?

While Yu Jia paced the floor in a frantic panic—

— Wait? Support has just materialized!

What?

Support?

At this exact moment?

That defied logic.

Scarcely half a minute had passed since she initiated the crisis signal.

— Oh my goodness! It is the leadership of Carpe Diem and the Arirang guild! They were traversing the area near Yubaek and detected the disturbance, so they intervened! With their assistance, we possess a legitimate chance!

Ki Jaehyeok, Kang Jiho, Hong Ari, Oh Seonyeong.

All four figures had arrived on the scene.

Domestic titans that even the syndicate could not dare to disregard.

What brought them to this sector?

This territory remained a construction sector—largely wilderness……

Unanswered mysteries aside, it was a profound stroke of fortune.

“5, 4, 3……”

The aggressor managing the countdown curled his mouth into a mocking grin.

“Look at these stubborn brats. Not a single person is complying? 2.”

He had granted them ten seconds, and none had taken a step.

Very well.

Force it is.

Baek Ajin possessed too much value as a bargaining chip to eliminate, but dispatching a few of her associates would render the survivors far more compliant.

“1.”

Is this truly where the journey concludes?

Fwip!

The cloaked entity that had dissipated the Shadow Elf raised its blade once more.

Correct.

It would have been simpler to end one girl from the very beginning.

“0.”

FWOOSH!

The weapon was on the descent—

SHING!

An object materialized out of the vacuum and severed the cloaked entity’s form.

With incredible velocity.

Kieek?

The assassin entity tilted its head in bewilderment as a lone fracture manifested across its midsection.

Then—

SPLATTER!

It cleaved cleanly into two portions and vanished back into the void instantly.

“W-WHAT?!”

The form that manifested amid the aggressor’s bewildered shout was the most renowned entity in all of South Korea.

Drill Instructor.

“Ajin.”

Positioned behind the entity stood Baek Jinwoo, eyes focused, already assessing the environment.

“O-Oppa!”

“Baek Jinwoo?”

“It is Player Baek Jinwoo!”

Warmth returned to the pale expressions of her companions.

Deciphering the scenario required less than two seconds.

Young women trembling in terror. Armed syndicates confronting them. Oh Jimyeong. Park Hoseop.

What other conclusion could be drawn?

“……You subhumans.”

Baek Jinwoo was consumed by wrath.

In his entire existence, he had never experienced resentment this unadulterated.

You dare threaten my kin?

“Oppa! They attempted to abduct us! They deployed that construct and declared they would execute us if we failed to submit within ten seconds!”

“It is the truth! We all witnessed it!”

“We were terrified!”

Perhaps the entities picked up on their commander’s fury.

A monumental tide of gravity radiated from Drill Sarge’s frame.

An animosity so suffocating it weighed down the posture of every living soul in the space, as if inquiring—

My lord.

How do you wish for me to handle them?

“Subdue them. Every last one.”

Baek Jinwoo’s command echoed through the establishment, chillingly soft.

WHOOSH!

Drill Sarge’s weapon flashed.

Oh Jimyeong froze entirely.

Baek Jinwoo’s sudden arrival was staggering on its own, but the aura emanating from Drill Sarge presently was on an entirely different echelon than before.

How can that possibly be—

Ten seconds.

Precisely ten seconds.

That was the duration required for every single entity under the control of Oh Jimyeong, Park Hoseop, and the syndicate member to be forcibly dismissed.

Forty-five entities. In total.

Shhring!

Drill Sarge returned its blade to its scabbard with absolute precision after cleaving through every single opponent. The spectacle was not merely striking—it was terrifying.

How on earth is that entity classified as an E-rank summon?!

Yet Drill Sarge did not cease its movement with the entities.

With an expression devoid of any emotion, it advanced directly toward them.

“W-wait—”

“We can negotiate this! NEGOTIATE!”

Oh Jimyeong extended both palms in utter desperation—

THWACK!

A direct strike slammed straight into his midsection, and a blow from a source clearly exceeding human capacity delivered a force of an entirely different magnitude.

“GH—HHKKK……!”

Oh Jimyeong collapsed forward, unable to draw even a fragment of air.

Park Hoseop, predictably, was rendered immobile by absolute terror at the display.

Regardless of their rank status.

Stripped of their entities, they were merely fragile human beings.

“P-please, grant me mercy!”

He prostrated himself, pressing his forehead against the ground, but Drill Sarge gathered momentum and unleashed a powerful kick.

WHAM!

He launched through the air and IMPACTED heavily against the building’s structural wall, followed by the audible snapping of joints tearing from their sockets.

The power was dialed back enough to preserve life, but that singular impact likely ensured a permanent impairment for the remainder of his days.

The remaining syndicate operative endured an identical fate.

Following a succession of strikes—

Tap, tap!

A swift manipulation of vital points, and he was rendered helpless.

The engagement concluded.

Drill Sarge directed its attention back to Baek Jinwoo.

Just as Baek Jinwoo prepared to signal approval—

Bzzzzt!

His mobile device pulsed.

A notification.

[Yu Jia: Jinwoo, you are within domestic borders currently, correct? Disaster has struck at Yubaek! Ajin is also in jeopardy—please tell me you are already appraised of this!]

Perceptive as always, Baek Jinwoo deduced the full scope instantly.

If the Yubaek sector is compromised as well……

Those degenerate bastards.

They were not merely focusing on Ajin. They were explicitly moving against his parents as well.

“Drill Sarge.”

Drill Sarge offered a silent gesture of understanding.

“Protect these three. Prevent any approach. And Ajin.”

“Yes?”

“Are these individuals your associates?”

“Yes!”

“The environment remains perilous, so instruct them to return to their residences. You remain strictly alongside Drill Sarge.”

Sensing the gravity reflected in her brother’s demeanor, Baek Ajin nodded without hesitation.

“U-understood.”

Simultaneously—

Baek Jinwoo vaulted through the fractured window frame and ascended into the atmosphere aboard his Skypierce Wyvern.