Chapter 57

“You said it yourself, Hyungnim! The one who is thirsty is the one who digs the well! Granted, I only get to learn from you once a week, but I can definitely feel it! You are purposely keeping a certain distance while instructing us.”

In all honesty, that made perfect sense.

No matter how much funding the government threw at him, why on earth would he invest his absolute best efforts into people he shared no genuine bond with?

Instructing others, indeed.

Baek Jinwoo was fully aware of his own worth, perhaps more than anyone else alive.

He possessed an immense depth of knowledge regarding Battle of Summoners, commanded an EX-rank summon, and was blessed with an absolute genius-level intuition.

These were things even the Five Emperors desperately craved.

In the past, they had constantly begged him.

They offered to provide limitless financial backing if he would only, please, take them on as his personal disciples.

Yet Baek Jinwoo simply did not take disciples. Period.

If someone pleaded desperately enough, he might throw them a passing hint, but he had never once sat down to properly guide and mentor anyone.

And the reason was simple.

He was far too occupied with his own progression.

Particularly during that period, he had been completely consumed by the Tower of Trials.

As Baek Jinwoo lost himself in these thoughts, Ki Jaehyeok suddenly dropped straight to his knees.

“Please grant us permission to train by your side, Hyungnim!”

“If that asks too much, even just a single hour of guidance a day would be plenty! I will follow every single order you give!”

Kang Jiho immediately dropped to his knees right alongside Ki Jaehyeok.

What in the world was wrong with these kids?

Hong Ari’s face twisted into a sour expression.

Were they truly willing to humiliate themselves to that extent?

Was it a byproduct of their youth that made them so aggressively reckless?

On second thought, though.

There was a reason Ki Jaehyeok and Kang Jiho had been chosen for the national squad despite their lower rankings.

That level of unyielding drive, that fierce determination to grasp any available opportunity—it was something that should never be discounted.

“If nothing else, at the very least let us observe your training sessions. We promise not to cause any disruption.”

Thud!

Oh Seonyeong dropped to her knees right next to Kang Jiho.

“U-Unni?”

Hong Ari stood frozen in utter shock.

This behavior was completely out of character for her.

She had always been unyielding, like bamboo.

An individual who refused to bend, regardless of who stood before her.

And yet that very same woman was kneeling on the ground just to ask for this?

“Hah.”

Baek Jinwoo let out a slow sigh.

Four high-ranking players, all pleading to be accepted as his disciples.

These were the exact individuals responsible for keeping Yu Jia and his parents alive.

There was no reason he couldn’t do this small favor for them.

In reality, it was precisely because Baek Jinwoo understood his immense value so clearly that he could make this choice so easily.

To the Baek Jinwoo of the present, nothing held greater significance than his family.

“Very well.”

Baek Jinwoo gave a firm nod and went on.

“However, I do have conditions.”

Teaching them was simple enough.

But he had no intention of doing it out of charity.

“Conditions?”

“Name them! We will agree to absolutely anything!”

Seeing Baek Jinwoo’s unexpectedly favorable reaction, the eyes of all four high-rankers instantly lit up with excitement.

The requirements totaled exactly three.

First, any knowledge gained through this training, as well as anything concerning Baek Jinwoo himself, had to be kept under absolute secrecy.

That was a given.

Information equated to power, and Baek Jinwoo particularly loathed the idea of the public finding out the specific details of his summons.

Second, Arirang, Carpe Diem, and Yubaek were never to turn against one another.

After dedicating his time to properly developing them, dealing with a betrayal would be unacceptable.

Nothing could be more ridiculous.

Third, the dynamic between teacher and student would be strictly maintained.

Up until now, he had conversed informally with the two high schoolers, while maintaining a mutually polite and respectful distance with Hong Ari and Oh Seonyeong.

But once they transitioned into being his disciples?

There would be no leniency.

Irrespective of age, they would be required to display the proper respect demanded between a master and a disciple.

On top of that.

Baek Jinwoo’s methods of training were far from standard.

Even if they considered his demands completely absurd, they were expected to obey without a single complaint.

“Those are my three requirements. Do you accept?”

Naturally, the agreement was officially locked in using the system.

“I accept, Master!”

“Those terms are completely fair!”

The high school students had instantaneously swapped out Hyungnim for Master.

Their capacity to adapt was truly mind-blowing.

“I am perfectly fine with those terms as well.”

Hong Ari, who shared the same age as Baek Jinwoo, nodded her head in agreement.

“I agree. From this moment on, I will serve you as my Master. Feel free to push us to our absolute limits.”

Oh Seonyeong stared directly at Baek Jinwoo, her eyes burning with intense determination.

A slow smile crept across Baek Jinwoo’s face.

This worked out perfectly.

The rankers standing in front of him represented some of the finest talent South Korea had to offer.

Simply by instructing them, he had secured a permanent, unbreakable partnership.

Arirang, in particular, stood as one of the Big Three—a massive guild whose scale could easily rival a major corporate empire.

Alliances.

No matter how exceptionally gifted Baek Jinwoo was on his own, he could not build true institutional power entirely by himself.

There were physical limitations to what one person could do.

If I train them correctly and utilize them properly…

He might eventually possess a level of military might that could rival an actual nation’s government.

Which meant that keeping the people he cared about safe would become significantly simpler.

And yet.

“Push you to your absolute limits, you say.”

That journey was going to be remarkably brutal.

Baek Jinwoo placed just as much importance on a player’s physical endurance and mental fortitude as he did on their ability to command summons.

“I truly hope none of you end up regretting those words.”

The edges of Baek Jinwoo’s mouth twisted upward into a smirk.

The sudden, chilling shift in the room’s energy caused all four rankers to shudder involuntarily.

Moving forward, the four of them were required to show up at Yubaek’s training facilities every single morning.

Complete the Day Dungeon grind by seven, and gather together by eight!

When Baek Jinwoo made his appearance, all four individuals were already standing waiting for him.

As for Yu Jia, her schedule involved arriving around nine o’clock, spending an hour receiving instruction from Drill Sarge, and then heading off to take care of her professional duties.

“Is everyone present?”

he inquired.

“Yes, Hyung—… I mean, Master.”

“We showed up thirty minutes ahead of time to finish our warm-ups!”

The high-rankers replied, their eyes gleaming with bright anticipation.

After parting ways the previous evening, they had all been dreaming.

They envisioned receiving personal instruction from Baek Jinwoo, ascending to the rank of world-class competitors, and dominating dungeons and competitive leagues alike!

Naturally, they had arrived with racing hearts, their bodies and minds completely focused and prepared.

“To begin, there are a few companions I want to introduce to you.”

Baek Jinwoo grinned, offering a slight nod of his head.

Right then—

• My lord.

Drill Sarge stepped out into view.

• So these are the latest recruits.

“…!”

Everyone’s eyes began to widen in sheer disbelief.

Hong Ari’s mouth slowly fell open, while Oh Seonyeong’s entire frame went completely stiff.

There was no way.

That summon.

It was capable of human speech?

And to top it all off—

• Wow! Are these new friends that I can talk to? Hello there~ I am Ramba!

Ramba drifted through the air, spinning in casual circles as she offered her greetings.

• It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Stormy.

Stormy, who had been quietly occupying a corner of the room working on Storm Dragon Arts, offered a deeply respectful bow.

“Wh-what in the world is—”

“Gah, the summons can actually SPEAK…!”

“What kind of magic is this, Master?!”

Rumors had already circulated widely that Baek Jinwoo commanded Unique summons, so that part wasn’t a total surprise.

But the fact that they possessed the ability to speak? That was something they had never even conceptualized in their wildest fantasies.

“Introduce yourselves. Drill Sarge here will be the one primarily in charge of overseeing your physical conditioning.”

Drill Sarge walked in a circle around them, carefully evaluating each of the four players.

• Your current muscle mass is severely lacking.

Excuse me, WHAT?

Hong Ari felt an immediate wave of irritation.

Unlike the average player, she had consistently made an effort to work out independently.

Her highly toned physique and striking appearance had actually earned her multiple commercial filming contracts recently!

• Hmm, while you aren’t exactly buried in body fat, looking strictly at your physical frame, there is an immense amount of development required. My lord, should I commence the training immediately?

“Commence.”

Baek Jinwoo nodded in agreement, and then slowly slid his shirt off.

As the fabric fell away, it bared layer upon layer of sharply defined, sculpted muscle beneath.

Oh, wow.

Hong Ari’s face instantly flushed a deep crimson.

…Huh!

Oh Seonyeong’s jaw practically dropped to the floor.

“M-Master!”

“You have my absolute respect…!”

Ki Jaehyeok and Kang Jiho could only stand there staring in awe.

If you consistently adhered to Drill Sarge’s training regimen day after day, it became physically impossible for fat to settle anywhere on your frame.

Regardless of how many calories you consumed.

“The core foundation of any player is not lightning-fast reflexes or an overwhelming amount of theoretical knowledge. It is mental strength.”

Baek Jinwoo smirked.

“And the vessel that supports that mental strength is physical endurance. Your body will never lie to you.”

In that very instant—

Whoosh!

He lunged forward, sprinting directly across the training grounds.

• What are you all standing around for? Keep pace.

“Uh…… uh.”

“Yes sir, we are right behind you!”

“…?”

A collective wave of confusion hit the rankers’ minds.

They had arrived fully expecting to learn high-level summon management methods, strategic growth pathways, and advanced combat maneuvers—and instead, they were being commanded to run basic laps?

Was this a joke?

Yet they had zero leverage to protest.

They had legally bound themselves to a contract promising to obey any directive given to them.

Violate that agreement, and the contract would be terminated on the spot.

Their golden opportunity to learn under Baek Jinwoo would be permanently lost.

Left with no alternative, they simply gritted their teeth and forced themselves to run.

Time steadily marched forward.

With the criminal syndicate completely dismantled, a sense of tranquility had once again settled over South Korea.

Baek Jinwoo’s daily routine found a comfortable, steady groove.

Clearing the Day Dungeon, acting as a consultant for the national team, pushing his disciples through rigorous conditioning, managing his own personal training, and handling various other responsibilities.

The weeks slipped away rapidly under the weight of a highly packed schedule.

And finally.

“I am heading out now.”

The moment had arrived.

“You are going to challenge the Tower of Trials?”

Yu Jia instantly sprang up from her seat.

While the Tower of Trials might seem like an easy playground to someone of Baek Jinwoo’s caliber, to normal citizens, it represented absolute terror.

It was a perilous structure where the vast majority of challengers who stepped inside never emerged alive.

“And you are going straight to the twentieth floor, no less?”

“Yes.”

He was fully prepared.

He had completely mastered Storm Dragon Arts: Blaze, and Drill Sarge had furthermore secured a highly beneficial fortuitous encounter.

To speak completely honestly.

Even if he entered the challenge with a blindfold on and simply ordered his summons to handle the fighting on their own, clearing the twentieth floor was an absolute certainty.

He possessed enough raw, overwhelming power to simply crush everything in his path without needing to rely on any tactical strategy.

“Am I permitted to film the attempt?”

“Of course.”

They had already filmed his run of the tenth floor. There was no reason not to do the same for the twentieth.

Though, naturally, it would remain strictly for personal viewing.

“Um, and… I am fully aware that this won’t happen, but just to be absolutely sure—what are the chances that you don’t return?”

“……”

Baek Jinwoo locked eyes with Yu Jia, giving her a glance that silently asked why she would even make him voice an answer to such a question.

Regardless, he answered her anyway.

“Zero percent.”

The core concept governing floors eleven through twenty within the Tower of Trials centered around blood-drinking entities.

After fighting your way through a highly intricate web of challenges on the ascent, you would ultimately come face-to-face with an S-rank boss entity at the very peak.

The absolute ruler of all vampires.

The Progenitor Vampire, Dracul. S-rank.

In complete alignment with its S-rank status, it was an incredibly tedious and difficult adversary to manage.

It possessed a near-total immunity to every single element with the sole exception of fire, rendering standard damage virtually useless—and if it managed to successfully pull off even a single health-draining bite, its entire health pool would instantly refill. A flawless nightmare of a creature.

Furthermore, its legion of underlings was massive.

These were vampires that Dracul had personally turned, with every single one of them possessing a power level that rivaled a highly optimized A-rank summon.

FWASH!

Yet those very same formidable vampires were currently being sliced to pieces in single, fluid strikes by Drill Sarge.

• WOW, Drill Sarge! You are INCREDIBLY powerful!

• Quiet down, Ramba.

The display was truly astonishing.

Under normal circumstances, a challenger would be required to deploy at least fifteen distinct fire-element summons just to effectively handle the vampire subordinates.

Drill Sarge required no such assistance.

Floor eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.

He simply sliced his way through their ranks and continued his relentless march upward.

On floor sixteen, where a group of ten mini-boss-tier vampires ambushed the challenger all at once?

• Blaze!

FWOOOOSH!

Every single one of the Dragon Bursts that Stormy had been methodically hoarding went off at the exact same moment.

[Successfully wiping out the ambush unit deployed by Dracul.]

[Congratulations!]

[You have successfully overcome Floor 16 of the Tower of Trials!]

Wow, this is incredibly effortless.

What role did Baek Jinwoo actually play in all of this?

He simply stood around with his hands casually resting behind his back, taking in the atmosphere of the Tower of Trials, and quietly observing the show. That was the entirety of his effort.

This was easy. Incredibly, wonderfully easy.

So easy that it almost felt unfair.

Zones that he had previously attempted hundreds of separate times just to scrape by in Battle of Summoners were now being completely torn apart by Stormy and Drill Sarge.

• Jinwoo! I want to eat those specific cream pastries I tried that one time! The ones sourced from that place called Dubai!

The extraordinarily expensive luxury cream pastries that Jasim had specifically flown in just for her?

• You will definitely get them for me, right?

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Yeah.

To be perfectly fair, Ramba was putting in the most frantic effort out of everyone present.

Because her individual attributes completely reset each time they transitioned to a new floor, she was swinging her weapon as though her very existence hung in the balance.

“I will just instruct Jia to bring a professional chef onto our payroll. A top-tier master pastry chef, if we can find one.”

• KYAAAAAAAH!

Ramba’s joyful shout instantly escalated into a piercing scream of pure ecstasy.

• ABSOLUTE DEVOTION! I actually feel terrible that I am not swinging my staff even quicker!

Where on earth did she keep learning phrases like that?

[You have successfully overcome Floor 17 of the Tower of Trials!]

• LET’S KEEP GOING!

[You have successfully overcome Floor 18 of the Tower of Trials!]

• My lord, I have successfully eliminated Dracul’s personal assistant, Renpil. A-rank.

[You have successfully overcome Floor 19 of the Tower of Trials!]

A mere two hours had ticked by since they had first stepped onto the eleventh floor.

And they were already standing directly before the ultimate boss of the zone, Dracul. S-rank.

In all seriousness.

To call this pace fast was a massive understatement.