NABC Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Which of Baek Jin-woo's dealers has the most potential?
No need to tell you.
It's the Explosive Dragon Sage, of course.
Our Poryong.
Lamba is just a support that maximises the dealer's power, and Hun-gyo, though not bad in battle, is ultimately just an assistant trainer.
On the other hand, Poryong?
- Dragon Explosion Wave!
Fwoosh!
The dragon-shaped flame that erupted from her staff swallowed the goblin in front of her.
- Keeeek!
- Keeeek!
The monsters melted into sludge, sizzling as they burned.
Baek Jin-woo began to train Poryong in earnest.
If he wanted to continue playing as a public figure, he needed to be strong, and the easiest way to do that was to train his dealer.
Baek Jin-woo left the summoned creatures in the open field and went into a normal dungeon alone with Poryong.
By the way, the summoned creatures could stay in the world without the player for up to five hours and could release themselves if necessary.
He had instructed Hun-gyo to train diligently and to dismiss himself if anyone came by.
Of course, the weekly dungeon grinding continued without interruption.
"Poryong."
- Yes, Jin-woo Nim.
At this point, even a regular D-rank dungeon was a piece of cake.
Poryong strolled leisurely, sweeping away the monsters around her.@@@@
"Is there anything in particular that you want? Like cream buns that Lamba loves?"
How to deal effectively with summoned creatures.
The trick is to satisfy their desires.
Hun-gyo had a passion for training, and Lamba loved cream buns.
If he offered them in exchange for growth, the summoned creatures would work harder on their own.
But?
Poryong didn't seem to have anything like that.
- I am just happy to be able to progress like this and help Jin-woo Nim.
Poryong was a former dropout.
He didn't know which magical academy in another world she had been expelled from, but he did know that she had a strong desire to be useful.
Still.
"Oh, come on, not like that."
Baek Jin-woo didn't give up.
- Huh?
"Is there anything to eat or anything you want?"
- Hmm...?
"You've eaten enough food from this world, haven't you?"
Normally, there was no need to pay summoned creatures.
They didn't feel hungry and didn't even need to relieve themselves.
But Baek Jin-woo always served his humanoid summoning creatures a meal when he ate.
Hun-gyo, Poryong, the sheriff, Radiance...
Why?
No particular reason.
He just thought it was the right thing to do.
Seeing Lamba go crazy for cream buns showed that they had taste buds.
Would it be right for the Master to eat good food alone?
"Was there anything you liked best or wanted to eat again?"
- Um...
"Is there?"
- Um, yes. I think there is.
Fwoosh!
Even as they were talking, Poryong's Dragon Explosion Wave naturally burst out, consuming a monster.
She really could clear dungeons with ease.
Other players would be shocked to see this.
"Oh, really? What is it?"
Baek Jin-woo's eyes sparkled.
As an EX class, he remembered everything from his past, so there was no need to work on building favour, but... Still, if he wanted to raise them properly, management was necessary.
And gifts were the best way to do that.
- Chicken.
"Chicken?"
- Yes, with beer.
Oh.
Chicken and beer? Now that was respectable.
"Okay, then..."
After a moment's thought, Baek Jin-woo nodded.
"What was the skill you wanted to get?"
- Explosive Dragon Technique, Linked Strike.
Explosive Dragon Technique.
It was an ancient technique of the ancient Dragon of Explosions, developed in a study on how to better use the Dragon Explosion Wave.
Of course, it was something that Hun-gyo had unlocked!
The Explosive Dragon Technique was divided into four stages.
Linked Strike, Transformation, Flame, and Annihilation.
In the past, Poryong had only reached the third stage, Flame.
Then she'd learned the latent skill of Devour, but it had been patched within a week.
"Oh, Linked Strike is good."
Linked Strike was a technique that allowed the Dragon Explosion Wave to be used in succession.
* * *
Baek Ah-jin has been enjoying blissful days lately.
Unbelievable.
No matter how many runes she sold, she never ran out.
More always came in.
How much dungeon raiding was going on every day that the supply never ran out?
And the best part?
She got to keep 20% of the proceeds for herself!
Ohhhh.
She shivered with excitement.
It had only been a month since she had signed the contract with Baek Jin-woo, but the rate at which her money was piling up was incredible.
And especially the rate of premium runes is high.
Occasionally, rare premium runes would appear.
Runes with popular options like Strength%, Intelligence%, Crit Chance and Crit Damage attached to them; Baek Ah-jin called them premium runes.
Naturally, premium runes were in high demand, and players often sought out vendors with many of them.
"Oh, boss. I always feel like this, but the stock here is just the best."
"Here's my card. Please contact me first if any good runes come in."
"You remember me, right? The one who asked for the skill book last time? Is it still not there?"
With a good stock, customers came naturally.
Some of them were ranked players, others from big guilds.
Baek Ah-jin kept them as VIPs and managed them carefully.
If her brother were to level up and offer even better stock?
These customers would gladly take it from her.
And today.
After finishing her business, she attended a regular meeting with friends.
Feeling both rich and satisfied, Baek Ah-jin kept her promise from last time and treated everyone.
"Oh my goodness, Ah-jin. Isn't that an expensive Korean beef restaurant?"
"Wow... the life of a player is really different!"
"Baek Ah-jin, you're really busy these days, huh?"
When you spend money?
Compliments come automatically.
Her friends quickly forgot their previous grumbles and praised her.
Sizzle, sizzle!
As the prime beef cooked, the meeting became lively again.
The topic of conversation was different this time.
"Did you know? Baek Jin-woo broke all records again last month.
"It's crazy. How can someone grow every day? The records change every week."
"At this rate, won't he be challenging world records?"
Her topic was Baek Jin-woo.
It was inevitable.
These days, players were more popular than celebrities, and Baek Jin-woo was the hottest of them all.
Of course, they also mentioned Yoo Ji-ah.
"Yoo Ji-ah is amazing too. How did she know how to get Baek Jin-woo?"
"That's why she's from Daeseong."
"She really is from another world. But you know, at first I was jealous of Baek Jin-woo. Now I'm more jealous of Yoo Ji-ah. Isn't Baek Jin-woo incredibly handsome?
Handsome, my foot!
Baek Ah-jin's eyes narrowed slightly, but none of her friends noticed.
Sigh.
Looking at her laughing friends, Baek Ah-jin sighed inwardly.
Were they really her friends?
How could they not recognise her own brother?
Of course, it couldn't be helped.
She didn't usually talk about her family, and the world was full of people with the surname Baek.
Besides, her brother had been unconscious for years.
Ugh, never mind, let's just eat.
Munch munch.
Just as Baek Ah-jin was about to savour the tender texture of the beef, she pretended not to hear.
"But Yoo Ji-ah, you know."
One of her friends, who had been raving about Yoo Ji-ah, picked up her phone.
"I follow her all the time, and she doesn't usually follow me back, does she? She only follows family or really close friends, and her follower list has never exceeded 100 people..."
The friend scrolled through Yoo Ji-ah's SNS profile.
Baek Ah-jin naturally looked over.
"Doesn't that person look familiar?"
It was one of the few people Yoo Ji-ah followed.
It was an account with the username `dbwldk_kk`.
Baek Ah-jin dropped her meat.
"Huh? Seriously!"
"I've seen that username somewhere."
"That's..."
One of her friends looked at Baek Ah-jin.
"Ah-jin, is that you?"
"What?"
"Isn't it Baek Ah-jin?
"Why would Baek Ah-jin be there...?"
Her friends started to show their surprise, but the person who was most shocked was Baek Ah-jin herself.
Why on earth was that woman following her...
With her chopsticks still raised.
Baek Ah-jin froze.