AECS 24

Chapter 24

Weekday Dungeon Conquest (5)

Friday dungeons gave special runes.
Saturday dungeons dropped monster materials or synthesis blueprints.
Sunday dungeons handed out skillbooks.

Baek Jin-woo stormed through the weekday dungeons with relentless momentum.

For the Saturday dungeon, all the monsters called “Plants” had to be defeated, so he had to go in with an all-fire setup.

The method was simple: set the entire map ablaze.

He brought the speed buffer Wind Falcon, the fire-element dealer Fire Tyrant, and three C-rank Lava Drakes.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drakes, boosted in speed, darted around while spewing breath flames, burning the forest in an instant.

[All monsters annihilated!]
[Dungeon cleared!]
[Clear time – 00:03:50]

With that, the Saturday dungeon also broke the Korean record.

As for the Sunday dungeon, he had to defeat an old man called “Absolute Master” within 30 minutes.

He was almost at the final-boss level of difficulty, so even during his JinuGod days, Baek Jin-woo rarely fought him.

Skillbooks could be farmed from Thursday dungeons anyway, so he had only aimed to set a record.

With the Breath of the Ruin Dragon, he had cleared all difficulties in record time.

After that, he didn’t even glance at it.

‘Well, I guess I’ll have to clear it this time too.’

He dove in with only his elite summons: Lamba, Hoon-gyo, Fire Tyrant, and the like.

After a tough fight, the results came in.

[Absolute Master defeated.]
[Dungeon cleared!]
[Clear time – 00:14:50]

It took a considerable amount of time, unlike the previous dungeons.

‘It’s just low-rank, so that’s manageable.’

He probably wouldn’t have been able to clear it at mid-rank or higher.

But.

[Congratulations!]
[New Korean record achieved!]

That alone had easily broken the domestic record, which averaged around 20 minutes.

“Phew.”

All the low-rank dungeons were now cleared.

By continuously running them every week, the record would improve further.

He would also continue leveling up through regular dungeons and training.

‘Until I challenge the mid-rank dungeons next, I’ll just keep growing.’

His goal was to eventually clear all high-rank dungeons.

Only then, after collecting enough runes, items, and skills, could he attempt the Tower of Trials.

Maybe two years?

‘Anyway.’

After a week of running dungeons, he had accumulated quite a lot of rewards:

From 18 advanced summoning scrolls as the first achievement rewards to various runes, enhancers, skillbooks, materials, and blueprints.

‘How am I going to deal with all this?’

Yoo Jia, CEO of YooBaek, rented a small office in Samseong-dong.

She could’ve purchased a large building from the start, but she didn’t.

She wanted to handle the initial capital within the startup funds, except for the gift she gave Baek Jin-woo.

If you start a business, you should run it strictly with business funds.

Otherwise, calculating profits and dealing with taxes becomes complicated.

Swish, swish!

Sitting in her chair, she flipped through articles on her phone and let out a sigh of admiration.

The world was completely Baek Jin-woo.

All platforms and communities were flooded with articles about him.

In just a week, he had set all-time Korean records for every dungeon.

“Kim Byung-jin.”

“Yes, CEO?”

“How’s the video editing coming along?”

Kim Byung-jin handled the editing himself.

Because the content was sensitive and could leak, they couldn’t outsource it.

“It’s almost done…”

Yoo Jia tilted her head.

‘Almost done?’ What was the issue?

“Is there a problem?”

This video was YooBaek’s first business item.

It was a golden goose that could earn tens or even hundreds of times the initial investment.

“It’s not exactly a problem… I just can’t believe I’m making it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just a moment. It’s nearly finished.”

Tap, tap, tap!

Kim Byung-jin pounded the keyboard as if possessed, then finally stood up.

‘Done.’

He picked the cleanest runs from his two playthroughs and created one comprehensive guide.

It was easy to understand just by watching one video.

“I finished it. As per Baek Jin-woo’s request, I excluded Thursday and Sunday dungeon footage.”

“Oh, let’s watch it together.”

The three people in the small office—Kim Byung-jin, Yoo Jia, and Hwang Tae-seop—gathered.

Click!

The video played through the installed projector.

And then…

Yoo Jia and Hwang Tae-seop slowly opened their mouths in shock.

It was on a completely different level from what they had briefly seen before.

With proper 3D editing, Baek Jin-woo’s gameplay could finally be seen from a first-person perspective.

Especially the Friday dungeon with the running sequences.

“My… what is this?”

“This is impossible… who could even follow this?”

Yoo Jia couldn’t collect herself.

The movements were almost like a circus act.

He even swapped a dolphin into a wyvern mid-air—a truly astonishing feat.

“If this were filmed as a movie, it’d get criticized, wouldn’t it?”

“…Will this sell? I mean, it might, but will people hate it if it does?”

Even normally serious Hwang Tae-seop shook his head.

Truly… ‘jackpot.’

Yoo Jia’s clenched fists trembled.

She had already known, but seeing it on video made it undeniable.

‘Baek Jin-woo is just… incredible.’

One thing was certain: he was not meant to stay in Korea.

He was a talent that could play on the world stage.

No wonder Park Chang-seok had been so obsessed with Baek Jin-woo.

‘That congressman knew exactly what he was talking about.’

“First,”

Yoo Jia took a deep breath to calm her excitement and lit up with a gleam in her eyes.

“Before selling the videos, buy up all the summons.”

Kim Byung-jin immediately understood what she meant and nodded.

“You’re planning to hoard them?”

“Exactly. We need to acquire as much as possible based on this information.”

Once this information spreads, the value of core units will skyrocket.

It would all become YooBaek’s profit.

How would they sell the information?

And how could they ensure it wouldn’t leak?

The solution was surprisingly simple.

‘Use the player trading system.’

The system enforces promises.

If the trade includes a “confidentiality” clause, breaking it triggers a curse.

The system calculates the damage, and for sensitive info, it’s usually instant death.

‘Even overseas, this is how top players’ information is managed.’

Anyway, Yoo Jia began buying up summons in large quantities.

If they weren’t available domestically, she sourced them overseas.

[Summon Purchase List]

1. Combat Warden (C-rank)
2. Radiant Priest (C-rank)
3. Spotted Komodo (B-rank)
4. Wind Falcon (B-rank)
5. Titanium Golem (B-rank)
6. Horn Fairy (C-rank)
7. Frost Cat (C-rank)
8. Sky Dolphin (C-rank)
9. Celestial Wyvern (B-rank)
10. Lava Drake (C-rank)

Same as the list Baek Jin-woo had provided.

Some were expensive due to overseas information being released, while others were relatively cheap.

‘This is going to be a massive hit.’

She even took out full loans in YooBaek’s name.

Banks, upon discovering Yoo Jia’s identity, gladly funded her.

‘Granddaughter of Daeseong? And elite Yoo Jia? There’s no way they’d default.’

Plus, the banks were aware of YooBaek’s business.

“Player management? The granddaughter of Daeseong runs this business?”

“What? The player is Baek Jin-woo? The record-breaking one?”

“Yes, approve the maximum loan immediately. Go ahead!”

Using the funds, Yoo Jia bought summons worldwide and posted on the player web:

*“Weekday dungeon guides for sale. Contains the know-how of Korea’s record-holder, Baek Jin-woo.

1. Confidentiality required.
2. Video info (Mon–Wed, Fri–Sat) 100 million won, text info (Thu, Sun) 10 million won.
3. Only for players registered in the Korean headquarters.”*

The info was listed relatively cheap—selling in volume.

‘Anyway, it’s for the development of Korean players.’

If the info spreads widely, more people would want to buy the summons.

Yoo Jia also posted multiple listings for the summons using several IDs in the Marketplace, pricing them as follows:

1. Combat Warden (C) – 200 million won
2. Radiant Priest (C) – 200 million won
3. Spotted Komodo (B) – 1 billion won
4. Wind Falcon (B) – 1 billion won
5. Titanium Golem (B) – 1 billion won
6. Horn Fairy (C) – 200 million won
7. Frost Cat (C) – 200 million won
8. Sky Dolphin (C) – 200 million won
9. Celestial Wyvern (B) – 1 billion won
10. Lava Drake (C) – 200 million won

C-rank units 200M, B-rank 1B, standardized.

“Isn’t this ridiculously expensive?”

Kim Byung-jin asked in disbelief.

They were 5–10 times the previous purchase prices.

Yoo Jia smiled.

“Prices are determined by supply and demand. Since we control most of the stock, they’ll have no choice but to buy.”

Especially those who would pay for weekday dungeon info were likely in large guilds or top-ranking players—they had the purchasing power and would invest for time attacks.

“And over time, the value of these units will naturally rise.”

Core units’ value always increases.

‘The reward for trusting Baek Jin-woo.’

The time to reap the sweet reward had come.

Meanwhile, Baek Jin-woo was considering his own rewards.

First, 18 advanced summoning scrolls.

He decided not to open them.

‘The chance of an EX-class summon is practically zero.’

Even Fire Tyrant and Hoon-gyo required hundreds of thousands of scrolls to obtain; 18 scrolls wouldn’t be enough.

The cost-benefit ratio was too low.

‘I have enough summons to raise right now. Better to focus on those.’

So he sold them all on the marketplace at 3 million won each.

“Wow, 54 million won in just a week.”

His bank account quickly swelled, and he smiled.

Then.

‘I should sell all the miscellaneous items I got too.’

Baek Jin-woo, back in his JinuGod days, had only used graduation-level runes and items from high-rank weekday dungeons.

Low-rank items weren’t worth his time.

He had already equipped the useful runes.

‘Should I ask Yoo Jia to sell them?’

That would fall under management duties.

But.

Another thought came to him.

His younger brother, Baek Ah-jin, barely making a living as a rune dealer.

‘I’ll keep getting tons of materials to sell.’

If Ah-jin handled the sales and took a commission?

‘That could work.’

For the past three years, Ah-jin had been covering part of his hospital bills.

Now, he could finally repay that.

‘Gotta take care of family too.’

With his thoughts settled, Baek Jin-woo picked up his phone to schedule a meeting with Ah-jin.