Chapter 78

Yubaek City, training grounds.

“Hey, who’s that over there?”

“Did someone come to visit?”

“…This really isn’t a place where people can just wander in.”

The rankers called out sequentially, their bodies drenched in perspiration, and Hwang Jiwoo felt entirely overwhelmed.

She was standing right in front of those legendary figures, at such close proximity!

Ah.

She shrunk back by instinct.

The gaze they directed at her was incredibly intense.

Rankers were always highly protective of their training secrets.

Particularly these individuals, who were bound by strict non-disclosure agreements in addition to undergoing special instruction.

If their training details leaked out, they might face the heavy penalties of the system’s curse!

And yet.

“Ah, you arrived!”

Baek Jinwoo welcomed her warmly.

“Step right over here.”

Excellent work, Ajin!

He had instructed her to persuade the girl to come along, and she had managed to bring her over this quickly?

“The rest of you, carry on with your training.”

Leaving the bewildered rankers behind, Baek Jinwoo guided Hwang Jiwoo toward the inner sections of the training facility.

“Please, have a seat.”

“…All right.”

He guided the anxious Hwang Jiwoo to a comfortable couch and then sat down directly across from her.

“Jiwoo, correct? A friend of Ajin.”

“Yes, that’s me.”

Hwang Jiwoo replied with a tense grin.

“Give me just a second, I need to verify something.”

Baek Jinwoo pulled out his mobile device.

He wanted to check if Baek Ajin had forwarded any separate updates.

Caught between clearing dungeons and managing training, Baek Jinwoo was completely overwhelmed with work, so he had turned over all the negotiations to his dongsaeng.

Because of that, he had no clue what kind of arrangement the girl had consented to in return for providing her assistance.

No matter what those conditions are.

He would gladly fulfill them.

He absolutely required the presence of Hwang Jiwoo.

She represented the sole path to unlocking the true hidden capabilities of Stormy.

“Wait a moment?”

Something seemed amiss, however.

There were no messages from Baek Ajin at all.

“…Actually, regarding that.”

Hwang Jiwoo, who seemed to have picked up on the situation, spoke up.

“I had a discussion with Ajin yesterday, and I showed up today intending to execute the agreement… but before officially signing it, I wanted to meet with you here first.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I am well aware that you provided an incredibly magnificent proposal.”

Flip.

Hwang Jiwoo gently set down the written agreement she had been holding tightly and placed it on the table.

Baek Jinwoo lifted the document to skim through it.

Ajin put this text together, did she.

What in the world?

Why is this so incredibly cheap?

A mere one billion won?

Well.

He could comprehend her thought process.

A billion won was an immense fortune by ordinary benchmarks.

However, Baek Jinwoo recognized the true worth of this setup far better than anyone else.

If one were to calculate the monetary value of Stormy’s hidden potential, a single billion wouldn’t even come close. Not even a staggering ten trillion won would suffice.

“But in reality, rather than the one billion won, my true desire is to study under you, Jinwoo-nim… For the past three years, my ultimate aspiration has been to become a titan-tier ranker, and that remains unchanged. Even if it is only ten minutes each day, if you could just evaluate whether I am progressing in the right direction, I will dedicate myself to helping you for the entire hundred days. I do not even require the billion won.”

“…”

Well now.

Is this girl… attempting a negotiation?

Baek Jinwoo caught on immediately.

The reason she had bypassed Baek Ajin entirely to approach him face-to-face.

This wasn’t a bad move at all.

One billion won?

Perhaps that amount would have carried immense weight in the past, but to the current Baek Jinwoo, it was nothing more than pocket change.

Somehow, his circumstances had evolved to that point.

On the flip side.

My personal instruction is worth a massive fortune.

He wasn’t entirely certain if it truly equaled the value Hwang Jiwoo brought, but Baek Jinwoo felt far more at ease offering that instead of paying out a billion won.

Most importantly.

There was absolutely no reason to reject someone who possessed the courage to recognize her own worth and pitch him directly.

Furthermore, she was a companion of his own dongsaeng!

“To summarize, if I provide you with a ten-minute instructional session every day, you will cooperate for the entire hundred-day duration? With no conditions attached?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“That is simple enough.”

Baek Jinwoo smiled broadly.

“However.”

RIP!

He tore the paper agreement that Ajin had drafted into pieces.

“Let’s disregard paper agreements. We will finalize this properly through a system contract.”

Within a brief moment, Baek Jinwoo had identified precisely what Hwang Jiwoo desired.

“There is no backing out midway. If the counter resets for any reason, you must fulfill the entire hundred days all over again. Those are the terms.”

“As long as the instruction is reliable, I am willing to agree to anything.”

“I will arrange a living space for you on the level right below our floor. Once midnight arrives tonight, you cannot leave Stormy’s side for even a brief instant. Furthermore, every five hours when the summon cooldown finishes, I will be arriving to perform the re-summoning process, so I ask for your cooperation regarding that schedule. Naturally, I will guarantee that your dining, housekeeping, and all other necessities are provided at the absolute peak quality for the entire hundred days.”

“Yes, that sounds perfectly fine.”

“Excellent. Because you are fully committing yourself to this agreement, I will add an extraordinary bonus.”

“…An extraordinary bonus?”

“Go ahead and accept the proposal.”

Hummm!

A bright glow emanated from Baek Jinwoo’s extended palm.

[Player ‘Baek Jinwoo’ offers a deal.]

[Please examine the counterparty’s conditions with care.]

He had grown quite accustomed to this process by now.

Formulating these types of agreements.

[Hwang Jiwoo: Hwang Jiwoo will be provided a thorough breakdown regarding the Storm Dragon Sorcerer’s Sudden Quest, which extends across 100 days, and will provide her full cooperation until the aforementioned quest is triumphantly accomplished. Strict nondisclosure concerning the details of the quest and the personal instruction provided by Baek Jinwoo as compensation will be…]

Hwang Jiwoo’s obligations under the arrangement matched their conversation precisely, with a non-disclosure requirement attached to the end.

And the critical detail lay within Baek Jinwoo’s compensation!

[Baek Jinwoo: Will deliver 30 minutes of completely dedicated personal instruction each day throughout the term of the agreement. Upon the triumphant conclusion of the aforementioned quest, will distribute a financial compensation of one hundred billion won.]

[Do you consent to Player ‘Baek Jinwoo’s’ proposal?]

Hwang Jiwoo had been scanning the conditions, as taut as a drawn bowstring, when her mouth gradually fell open in disbelief.

And then.

“O-ONE HUNDRED BILLION?!”

She bellowed out in complete bewilderment.

It wasn’t merely the hundred billion won.

The duration of the daily instruction had been increased from ten minutes to thirty, and the descriptor “completely dedicated” had been formally included.

Because this was a binding system contract, Baek Jinwoo was now legally obligated to provide her with genuine, high-quality training.

“Is it truly acceptable for you to offer this much?”

“You are a companion of our Ajin, aren’t you? Ajin is incredibly precious to me as my dongsaeng.”

As if that were the real reason!

Just select Y already!

Click it!

The atmosphere indicated a probability of 90% or greater that she would agree, but he remained anxious.

Based on the explanation from the Drill Sarge, the Body of Flames was a physical trait so extraordinarily rare that it might manifest only once in a millennium.

If Hwang Jiwoo chose not to cooperate?

The Sudden Quest would be completely ruined.

As Baek Jinwoo’s underlying nervousness seeped into his expression, focusing entirely on her.

“I-I will click it.”

Hwang Jiwoo, her cheeks turning crimson, selected Y.

Perfect!

This completely secured the hidden potential of Stormy once and for all.

A mere hundred days from now, a pinnacle damage-dealing behemoth capable of overwhelming even S-rank summons would come into existence.

Lately, though.

Was it merely a trick of his mind?

It felt as though every single piece was sliding perfectly into place, one after another.

The setup proceeded rapidly.

A residence was allocated on a short-term basis, and professional staff were employed to manage her daily requirements.

A designated practice zone for Stormy was arranged in a section of the room, keeping the window wide open.

This allowed Baek Jinwoo and the Drill Sarge to enter and exit freely.

Baek Ajin, who only discovered after the fact that Hwang Jiwoo had approached her Oppa independently, accepted the outcome without showing any irritation.

Particularly the detail where the financial amount had been adjusted to one hundred billion instead of a single billion.

I actually feel quite apologetic.

She even paused to contemplate her actions.

Reviewing the situation, she could grasp the reality of it now.

Both her Oppa and Yu Jia.

Whenever they recruited someone possessing genuine worth, they provided compensation that matched that value.

Yu Jia had presented a magnificent contribution of 1.5 billion won to secure her Oppa, subsequently establishing Yubaek, an unprecedented single-person management agency, and turning over a whopping 70% of the total equity.

And her Oppa had operated in the exact same manner.

When he brought her into the fold, he had adamantly required setting aside 20% of all rune commerce profits as an absolute baseline.

The consequence?

Baek Ajin had turned into a completely dedicated follower of Yubaek.

An intensely devoted one at that.

So Oppa evaluates Hwang Jiwoo’s ultimate worth as significantly higher than my original estimation.

That appeared to be where her calculations had fallen short.

Perhaps.

Oppa wasn’t merely focusing on the hundred-day agreement with Hwang Jiwoo.

She possessed the unique Body of Flames, and there was no telling what sort of mind-boggling capability that might trigger in the future.

All that remained was for her to perform exceptionally well from this point onward.

Baek Ajin gave a firm nod to herself and formed a silent pledge.

She would support Hwang Jiwoo with every resource at her disposal.

Gulp.

Hwang Jiwoo took a nervous breath as she crossed the threshold into the residence.

I can’t believe the moment has actually arrived where I would be residing in a place like this.

While taking the initial tour, her thoughts had been so preoccupied by the training facility that she hadn’t fully processed the environment, but now the reality washed over her.

Extravagant luxury.

The interior craftsmanship of the residence was so incredibly premium that it left her entirely speechless.

She shifted her gaze up toward the ceiling.

That is the exact location where Baek Jinwoo Oppa resides.

Thump-thump.

Her pulse quickened.

The non-disclosure restriction meant she was forbidden from sharing this with her companions, but when they eventually discovered the truth, imagine how envious they would be.

Hwang Jiwoo had consistently viewed herself as completely commonplace… No, if she factored in the mental overheating issues, she had been enduring a life that fell far below commonplace.

However, that wasn’t the truth at all.

She was remarkably unique.

If she weren’t, there was no earthly reason why someone like Baek Jinwoo would show her this level of hospitality.

“Right here.”

Baek Jinwoo opened the entryway.

“This is the specialized training area where you will be stationed moving forward.”

Stepping inside, Stormy was seated quietly, cradling her magical staff tightly against her chest.

Fwoosh!

She was actively channeling her power even while resting, and the streams of flame swirling around her form were far past intriguing — they appeared nearly divine.

[Current Countdown — Day 0, 00:00:01]

Ding!

The tracking mechanism commenced.

“Stormy. And Jiwoo.”

Baek Jinwoo offered a warm expression.

“Introduce yourselves. You two are going to be seeing each other until you grow weary of it, so you should establish a good rapport.”

“H-Hello there.”

Hwang Jiwoo bowed her head stiffly.

• Greetings, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Stormy replied with a pleasant look, and Hwang Jiwoo froze completely in the middle of her gesture.

Wh— what in the world?

Just a second ago.

Did that summon literally… speak?

Observing Hwang Jiwoo’s facial features gradually morph into utter astonishment, Baek Jinwoo emitted a soft chuckle.

It appeared that adapting to her new life in this environment was going to require some time for her.

• My sovereign.

“Go ahead.”

• It concerns Stormy.

“Yes.”

• I have monitored the situation for roughly three hours, and the outcomes are truly extraordinary.

Baek Jinwoo’s expression brightened considerably.

The effects were manifesting already?

• This phenomenon is entirely distinct from the ultimate rewards of the Sudden Quest. Merely practicing in close proximity to the Body of Flames appears to be significantly amplifying Stormy’s concentration and destructive output.

“Are you serious?”

This development was incredibly meaningful.

“So what you are saying is that Hwang Jiwoo is essentially functioning as a walking experience multiplier for Stormy?”

• Precisely.

“What is the underlying cause, though?”

• Intitially, I hypothesized that it developed due to the shared fire alignment. Because of that, I conducted tests to see if Hong Ari’s Firebird or your personal Lava Drake would experience a matching benefit, but it yielded absolutely no results whatsoever. It appears that the Burst Dragon residing within the Storm Dragon Sorcerer is uniquely responding to the Body of Flames.

“Hmm.”

If that is the reality.

Then the overall worth of Hwang Jiwoo just increased to an even higher degree.

Rather than utilizing her assistance for a mere hundred days, it might be incredibly advantageous to have her practice alongside Stormy on a permanent basis…

• Additionally, in accordance with your commands, my sovereign, I performed an evaluation of Hwang Jiwoo’s current capabilities.

“And? What is your assessment?”

Following the terms of the agreement, Baek Jinwoo had assigned the Drill Sarge to monitor Hwang Jiwoo for an entire thirty minutes, dedicating that time completely to her development.

Given that the Drill Sarge was the most capable instructor Baek Jinwoo was acquainted with, that provision alone would satisfy the contractual obligations.

• Well… her precision in commanding summons is truly remarkable, for one. The raw destructive capacity of her summons is also quite extraordinary. I believe it would be best for you to witness it with your own eyes.

Pardon?

Remarkable?

That specific descriptor was being uttered by the Drill Sarge?

That represented the absolute pinnacle of approval he could ever voice.

And the notion of her summons’ power being extraordinary… that was highly likely a direct consequence of the Body of Flames.

“Understood. I will adjust my itinerary to free up some time tomorrow.”

Just how exceptional was her performance to prompt that degree of recognition?

At this point, he was genuinely intrigued.

Those were expressions the Drill Sarge had never once utilized, not even when evaluating the top rankers.

He would absolutely need to observe it firsthand to fully comprehend.