AECS 25

Chapter 25

A Sweet Proposal

Gangnam café.

A group of pretty women dressed in fancy clothes were chatting over coffee.

It was Baek Ah-jin and her friends.

Friends she had known since high school.

Sigh.

Ah-jin let out a quiet sigh in her mind.

I need to farm runes…

She was usually all-in on farming and selling runes, yet she had come to this gathering for one simple reason:

They were her only friends.

And if she didn’t show up for the semiannual meeting? She would’ve considered the friendship over.

For someone barely in her twenties, that was a serious matter.

The friends chattered excitedly, but Ah-jin could barely catch a word of their stories.

Her mind was entirely focused on Baek Jin-woo.

Did her friends know?

That her brother, hospitalized until recently, was actually a hot player right now.

And that he had created a company with the famous Yu Ji-ah, selling information.

“Hey, hey, didn’t you say your new boyfriend is a player? Have you seen his summons? Only C-rank, right? He doesn’t have any B-rank, does he?”

“Wow, if your boyfriend’s a player, does he give you summons? Or maybe good runes?”

“Seriously… I’m so jealous.”

Topics like this used to excite her, but now, she felt nothing.

With a blank expression, she just nodded along as her friends spoke.

Then—

Ding!

Her phone buzzed. A message.

‘Oppa?’

From none other than Baek Jin-woo.

[Baek Jin-woo: Can you come out for a sec? To the empty lot. Can you make it now?]

At that moment, Ah-jin’s face lit up brighter than ever.

“Guys,” she said, springing to her feet.

“Sorry, I have to head out first.”

“Huh?”

“Suddenly?”

“We were supposed to have dinner later today.”

Her friends looked disappointed.

Ah-jin was quite popular even in this circle. After all, she was an active player with a C-rank summon.

“Really, sorry,” Ah-jin said, narrowing her eyes and bowing slightly.

“My brother called me.”

“Your brother?”

“The one who had that accident? Oh, he regained consciousness recently, right?”

“Is he okay now?”

Ah-jin bit her lip.

Yes!

Her brother was Baek Jin-woo—the hotshot who had broken all records in Korea’s weekday dungeons!

She wanted to say it out loud, but she held back, keeping her promise.

“Hehe, I’ll explain everything next time. I’ll treat everyone big at the next meet-up. Sorry again!”

After apologizing, Ah-jin grabbed her bag and coat and quickly left the café.

Somewhere in Seoul.

Yu-baek’s tiny office.

“R-Really, CEO… we really hit the jackpot, right? I’m not dreaming, am I?”

Secretary Kim Byung-jin and Hwang Tae-seop were staring in disbelief at the sales report.

After posting the information for sale, Yu-baek’s venture had literally taken off.

“Hey, we haven’t even really started yet, why are you panicking?”

Even Yu Ji-ah’s calm voice betrayed a twitch in her eyebrow.

It was a massive hit!

The information sold far better than expected. In just one week, 100 players had purchased it.

Due to confidentiality clauses, even a large guild had bought ten copies of the videos at once.

Five videos and two pieces of text. One video was worth 100 million won, text 10 million…

So, for 100 buyers, the total came to 5.2 billion won.

Unbelievable.

A gift worth around 1.3 billion won given to Baek Jin-woo, and a weekly revenue of 52 billion won?

With almost no cost, the revenue was pure profit.

This is incredible… even my grandfather would be amazed.

The founder of Daeseong.

Even Yoo Byung-cheon would applaud if he saw this.

And this is just the beginning.

First: Thanks to the confidentiality clause, many players will continue buying information. Even just low-grade info had enormous future potential.

Second: This was the real profit.

The summons they had pre-stocked suddenly began selling like crazy.

C-rank for 200 million, B-rank for 1 billion.

If they sold the same sets they had gifted Baek Jin-woo?

A total of 5.4 billion.

After fees, roughly 4 billion profit per buyer.

Yu Ji-ah swallowed hard as she examined the sales sheet again.

Though complex, the final summary was clear:

[Sales Summary]

1. Info sales – 52 billion won
2. Summon sales – 325 billion won

Total: 377 billion won

Taxes and loans aside, it was still an incredible amount.

Even a third-generation chaebol would be stunned.

And this time, it wasn’t Daeseong’s power—it was entirely her own achievement.

“Phew, phew.”

Yu Ji-ah took a deep breath to calm her excitement.

Then she addressed her employees.

“The business potential is solid. It’s time to start real investments.”

“By real, you mean?”

Kim Byung-jin tilted his head.

“Here.”

Yu Ji-ah pointed at the office.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit small?”

“It’s small compared to the headquarters.”

“To properly manage Baek Jin-woo, we need space. Legal, accounting teams—more office space will be necessary.”

Yu-baek was no longer a small company.

It had become a massive management firm, handling the hot player Baek Jin-woo.

“First, let’s buy land and a building. I’ve already scoped out some places.”

Yu-baek had many opportunities for revenue: information sales, personal contracts, tutoring, etc.

Yu Ji-ah asked Baek Jin-woo for his opinion, and he left all possibilities open.

And,

Yu Ji-ah didn’t forget what Baek Jin-woo had requested:

A personal training ground and family protection.

All the earnings would be reinvested to secure this.

Every day, Baek Jin-woo was in one of two places:

The regular dungeon, or the empty lot.

After spinning through weekday dungeons, he would always train or hunt in one of these locations.

Arriving at the open area via the trail, Baek Ah-jin’s eyes went wide.

What is all this?

A dazzling array of summons were training in formation, all familiar.

Combat Guardian and Radiant Priest?

Not only that:

Spotted Komodo, Wind Falcon, Titanium Golem, Horned Fairy, Frost Myo, Sky Dolphin, and even Celestial Wyvern…

Even three threatening Lava Drakes were moving around.

And a man in armor seemed to be leading them.

The one who overpowered my Shadow Elf last time!

Glancing over, the trainer turned to look at Ah-jin.

She flinched, but quickly went back to directing the summons as if nothing happened.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Bang!

From the corner, Baek Jin-woo, standing on his hands, adjusted his posture and wiped the sweat.

What…!

Ah-jin’s gaze fell on her brother’s body.

Was he always this fit?

No.

He had been skeletal in the hospital, surviving on IVs…

How did he get like this?

His upper body, bare-chested, showed a finely sculpted musculature.

Sheer abs that could double as a washboard.

With a towel, he wiped the sweat—a sight unfamiliar to her.

Though she didn’t know, Baek Jin-woo had been pushing through an intense training regimen.

Even though he could afford to relax as a player, that went against his values. He hated leaving summons to work while he idled.

“Oppa, what is all this?”

Calming her racing heart, Ah-jin asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“These summons!”

She looked silently at the summons training diligently.

A player can only deploy fifteen summons outside. He could run three teams.

“These are hot summons nowadays! Their prices are skyrocketing, and top players are constantly looking for them! How much… how much are all of these worth?”

Recently, these summons had spiked in value.

Exactly these summons.

Even after most were sold, well-known players were desperately seeking them.

Rumor had it: they were buying these due to the info Yu-baek sold.

No way…

Ah-jin’s mouth slightly opened.

Right, that fits perfectly.

“Oppa, did you set the recent record with all these summons?”

“Yeah.”

“Where did you get them all?”

“Remember Yu Ji-ah? She gave them to me.”

“…Gave them?”

Those expensive summons?

“Yeah, she said it was a gift.”

“Not for the company, but for you?”

“Yeah, a present.”

“…Wow.”

She had no words.

She had been shocked enough for one day.

“Anyway, Ah-jin, thanks for coming as soon as I called.”

“Oh, right. Why did you call me?”

“You’re still selling runes, right?”

“Yeah, sold some yesterday.”

“Then come here for a moment.”

Baek Jin-woo led her to a corner of the lot.

There, he began unloading a huge pile of runes and materials gathered from spinning the weekday dungeon.

Though low-grade, the quantity was enormous.

“What… what is all this?”

“Stuff I got while hunting. Want to check it out?”

Ah-jin picked up each item to inspect and verify the information.

Items laid out like this can be taken without a formal transaction, so only someone truly trustworthy should see them.

“This is a Swiftness Rune? The option isn’t great… Wait, whoa! A Sever Rune with Critical Hit attached? This will sell for a good price!”

Ah-jin began giving her evaluations as she inspected the runes.

Impressive…

Baek Jin-woo, arms folded, watched her carefully.

The Sever Rune increases critical hit probability. If it also has Critical Hit as an option?

Its value rises considerably.

She’s always selling runes, so she can accurately gauge their worth.

Not just basic high-drop runes, she also understood the effects of rarer ones.

Not only that, she could instantly assess the value of skill books and materials.

It was natural—Ah-jin practically lived in the marketplace.

Sensitive to real-time information and market prices, she often profited from arbitrage.

That’s why she immediately recognized all of Baek Jin-woo’s summons upon arrival.

Baek Jin-woo, watching for a moment, nodded.

“Ah-jin.”

“Hm?”

She looked up, engrossed in sorting the runes and materials.

“I’ll give these to you—want to try selling them?”

“Me… sell all of this?”

Ah-jin’s eyes widened.

She was confident—professional rune sellers always complimented her skills.

Even in her childhood, she was more interested in trading than leveling characters.

The thrill of buying low and selling high often outweighed leveling a character.

If I handle all of this…

She would have no time left for farming runes.

But…

Selling runes was far more exciting than farming. Her heart raced with anticipation.

“So, what commission will you take?”

Ah-jin asked cautiously. She could do this for her brother once, but she also needed to prepare for her own future.

“You want a commission? How much?”

“Normally, if players leave it to a wholesale company, they take about 8–10% of the profit.”

“Oh, I see.”

That would be convenient.

“Yeah, but you’re family. And a fascinating player. Hmm… I’ll make it 5%. Fair, right?”

Ah-jin nodded, weighing the offer. Fair enough.

For a player like her brother, companies would fight over taking a cut, so this was generous.

The opportunity came because they were family.

Click.

Baek Jin-woo chuckled quietly at his sister.

‘Cute.’

She had organized a commission rate on her own, honestly.

‘Sorry, but…’

Baek Jin-woo never intended to exploit her.

It was all for her benefit.

“Forget 5%. I’ll make it 20%. Work hard on this. Later, there’ll be even rarer, better runes—you’ll have to be prepared to stay busy.”

“…What?”

Ah-jin’s jaw dropped. Twenty percent for all that?

This… is unreal.

Overjoyed, Ah-jin made up her mind.

From today, she would give up farming runes and become a professional marketplace dealer.

Exclusively for Baek Jin-woo.