AECS 26

Chapter 26

Family Care Service (1)

Among the dealers owned by Baek Jin-woo, which one had the most potential?

No need to say—it was obviously the Explosion Dragon Mage.

“Our Bok-ryong.”

Ramba was just a supporter who maximized the dealer’s power, and Hoon-gyo wasn’t bad in battle either, but he was only an assistant to help with training.

But Bok-ryong?

• Explosion Dragon Wave!

Flarrrr!

A dragon-shaped flame shot from her staff, swallowing the goblins in front of her.

• Kyaaa!
• Kyaaaah!

The monsters melted away as they were burned.

Baek Jin-woo had now started to properly train Bok-ryong.

To keep being active as a famous player, he needed strength, and the easiest way was to train a dealer.

He left his other summons in the open field and went into a normal dungeon alone with Bok-ryong.

For reference, summons could remain in the world without a player for five hours and could return to the summoner on their own.

Hoon-gyo had been told to keep training and return if anyone approached.

Of course, the weekday dungeon grind continued.

“Bok-ryong.”

• Yes, Jin-woo.

D-grade normal dungeons were now a piece of cake.

Bok-ryong walked leisurely, clearing the nearby monsters as she went.

“Do you want anything special? Like cream bread, the one Ramba likes?”

The secret to managing summons efficiently was satisfying their desires.

Hoon-gyo had a desire to train, and Ramba liked cream bread.

Giving them rewards for effort made the summons work harder on their own.

But Bok-ryong? She didn’t really have anything she wanted.

• I’m just happy to grow like this and help you, Jin-woo.

Bok-ryong had once failed out of a magic school in some world. He didn’t know which one exactly, but she understood that he had a desire to be useful.

Still…

“Ah, I mean not that. I mean food or something you want.”

• Huh?

“I’ve given you a lot of food from this world already.”

Summons didn’t need wages. They didn’t feel hunger or need to relieve themselves.

But Baek Jin-woo always prepared meals for humanoid summons during meals.

Hoon-gyo, Bok-ryong, the Sheriff, Gwang-hwi…

Why?

No particular reason. He just thought it was the right thing to do.

Seeing Ramba get excited over cream bread showed that summons could enjoy flavors.

The master couldn’t eat delicious food alone, right?

“Was there anything among it that you liked the most? Something you want to eat again?”

• Uh…

“Do you have something?”

• Hmm, yes. I think there is.

Flarrrr!

Even while talking, her Explosion Dragon Wave naturally shot out, devouring monsters.

She cleared the dungeon easily. Other players would definitely be surprised.

“Oh, really? What is it?”

Baek Jin-woo’s eyes lit up.

Being EX-class, she already remembered her past, so he didn’t need to build affection. Still, proper training required management, and nothing was better than gifts.

• Chicken.

“Chicken?”

• Yes, chicken and beer.

Oh. Chicken and beer was king.

“Okay! Then…”

Baek Jin-woo nodded after a short pause.

“What skill was she going to learn soon?”

• Explosion Dragon Technique, Lian (連).

The Explosion Dragon Technique (Bok-ryong Jutsu).

It was a secret technique of the ancient Explosion Dragon, developed by researching how to use Explosion Dragon Wave better.

Of course, Hoon-gyo had unlocked it.

The technique had four secret types: Lian (連), Change (變), Flame (炎), and Destruction (滅).

In the past, Bok-ryong had only unlocked the third stage, Flame (炎). Then she learned the potential skill Devour, which was removed in a patch a week later.

“Oh, Lian (連) is good.”

Lian allowed her to use Explosion Dragon Wave consecutively.

Instead of releasing a wave every time she gathered mana, she could now store multiple waves and release them all at once!

“Then on the day she learns it, we’ll take a special break from training on a weekday.”

• Really?

“That day will be a chicken-and-beer party. Deal?”

• Yes!

Bok-ryong’s eyes shone brightly for the first time.

It seemed… she valued skipping training even more than chicken.

‘Well.’

As long as she worked hard, Baek Jin-woo was fine with that.

Hanam City
Below Geomdan Mountain.

“Wow…”
“CEO, how did you find a place like this…?”

Employees of Yu-baek, arriving in a luxury car, were impressed.

The site was large, with old buildings scattered around.

“Follow me, everyone.”

Yoo Ji-ah got out of the car wearing sunglasses and led them through the main gate.

This would be the new home for Yu-baek’s members.

‘I wanted it in Seoul at first, but…’

The land prices were just too high.

Even with a small lot, there was barely space to build.

‘Let’s settle for the outskirts at first.’

Finding this place wasn’t easy.

Actually, this land belonged to Daesung. Specifically, to Yu Byung-cheon.

He had bought it for business but left it unused, so Yoo Ji-ah decided to buy it.

Her grandfather agreed. Not easily, of course. He carefully assessed Yu-baek and decided it would benefit his company.

Thanks to that, Yoo Ji-ah bought the 30,000-pyeong site at a low price.

Step by step, Yoo Ji-ah inspected the site carefully.

Old buildings? They’d all be torn down and rebuilt.

It wouldn’t take long. With money, construction was very fast these days.

All workers used summons. Special summons from the construction company handled foundations, steel, and concrete pouring at once.

The longest part was getting permits.

“We’ll build offices here. There will be staff housing and apartments over there.”

Yoo Ji-ah didn’t bother paying off bank loans. She had gotten low-interest money, and there was no need to repay immediately.

“Each building will have a bunker underground.”

Baek Jin-woo had said he wanted to protect his family. Yoo Ji-ah hired a top bunker designer, installing systems for apocalypse survival—automatic cultivation, water purification, solar energy.

‘Next, the most important thing.’

Her eyes moved to the area below Geomdan Mountain.

The training ground would fit perfectly here. He liked open spaces.

The mountain would block city noise. Add soundproofing, and the training ground would be almost perfect.

“How long will it take to build everything?”

Kim Byung-jin scratched his head.

The scale was enormous. They’d have to work in a tiny office until it was all done.

Yoo Ji-ah smiled and held up two fingers.

“…Two years?”
“No, two months.”
“Excuse me?”

“With modern tech, two months is enough. Oh, did you get the summons I asked for?”

“Ah, the Shadow Wolf?”

Kim Byung-jin nodded and summoned it.

• Awooooo!

A solid wolf-shaped shadow appeared. Yoo Ji-ah nodded.

‘Time to start proper player care.’

The first priority? Baek Jin-woo’s family.

Baek Ah-jin was enjoying happy days these days.

Selling runes never seemed to end. The stock kept coming in.

She didn’t know how much dungeon grinding he did daily, but new items never ran out.

Better yet, she got 20% of the sales. All hers.

‘Ahhh!’

Even after only a month of working with Baek Jin-woo, money was piling up fast.

‘Especially, the rate of luxury runes is high.’

Sometimes high-quality runes appeared with balanced stats: Strength %, Intelligence %, Crit Rate, Crit Damage. Baek Ah-jin called these luxury runes.

Naturally, luxury runes were popular, and shops with many luxury runes attracted more players.

“Boss, your stock is always the best here.”
“Here’s my card. Contact me first when good runes appear.”
“You remember me, right? That skillbook I was looking for—still hasn’t appeared?”

Good stock brought customers—ranker players and big guild members.

Baek Ah-jin saved them as VIPs and managed them well.

When her brother grew stronger and released better stock, they would buy efficiently.

Today, she took a break and went to a regular friend gathering.

Full of money and confidence, Baek Ah-jin treated everyone as promised.

“Ahjin! Isn’t this an expensive beef restaurant?”
“Wow… a top player really is different!”
“Baek Ah-jin’s been so busy lately, right?”

Spending money naturally brought compliments.

Her friends forgot past grievances and praised her nonstop.

Sizzling luxury beef and the noisy friends brought back the lively atmosphere.

This time, the topic was different.

“Did you know? Baek Jin-woo broke all records in one month again.”
“Amazing. How does someone grow daily? Records change every week.”
“Will he challenge world records next?”

The topic was Baek Jin-woo.

Naturally, Yoo Ji-ah was also a topic.

“Yoo Ji-ah is amazing too. How did she grab Baek Jin-woo so perfectly?”
“No wonder she’s from Daesung.”
“Seriously, but you know? At first, I envied Baek Jin-woo. Now, I envy Yoo Ji-ah more. Jin-woo’s super handsome, right?”

Handsome?

Baek Ah-jin squinted slightly, but none of her friends noticed.

‘Sigh.’

Watching them laugh, she sighed inwardly.

Are these really my friends? Don’t they even recognize my brother?

It was understandable. She rarely talked about family, and there were many people with the surname Baek.

Plus, her brother was known for having lost consciousness.

‘Ah well, let’s just eat.’

She chewed the tender beef, pretending not to notice.

“But Yoo Ji-ah, you know…”

One friend, still praising Yoo Ji-ah, pulled out their phone.

“I follow her all the time, but she rarely follows anyone. Only family or close friends—never more than 100…”

They checked Yoo Ji-ah’s SNS. Baek Ah-jin glanced over.

“Isn’t this someone we know?”

One of Yoo Ji-ah’s very few followings was the ID: dbwldk_kk.

Baek Ah-jin dropped her meat.

“Wait, really!”
“I’ve seen this ID before.”
“That…?”

One friend looked at her.

“Ahjin, isn’t that you?”
“What?”
“Baek Ah-jin?”

“Why is Baek Ah-jin there…?”

Her friends started to get surprised, but the most shocked person was Baek Ah-jin herself.

Indeed. Why was that woman following her…?

Frozen, chopsticks in hand, Baek Ah-jin could only stare.