I Alone Am an EX-Class Summoner

Player headquarters.

Park Chang-seok's office.

"Representative! Representative!"

His secretary rushed in.

"This is huge! You should watch the news!"

"I've already seen it."

On Park Chang-seok's phone screen were the following headlines:

[Korea breaks Tuesday Dungeon records in quick succession! Who's behind it? Headquarters' Yaksha, Representative Park Chang-seok].

[Representative Park Chang-seok: Valuable information obtained at a bargain price from overseas]

[The proud rankers led by Representative Park Chang-seok! Aiming for world records? The public was excited by the potential for progress].

It may seem like a small thing.

But the people were excited because they were hungry for good news.

The fact that Korea could go for a world record!

- Always last in the league!

- The disparity in national wealth caused by inferior achievements!

- A backward summoner nation!

How long had it been since they had heard such hopeful news, after hearing nothing but depressing, self-deprecating news?

The name of Baek Jin-woo, the record-holder who had briefly circulated in the community, had already been forgotten.

All attention was now focused on Park Chang-seok after it was revealed that he was the main figure behind the record-breaking achievement.

"It was all Baek Jin-woo, wasn't it? That first year player..."

The secretary inquired carefully.

It was impossible not to know, unless you were a fool.

After all.

Recently, Park Chang-seok had established the <Talent Management Team> and taken three of his most capable employees under his wing.

Secretary Kim Byung-jin, clerk Yoo Ji-ah and clerk Hwang Tae-seop.

All three were elite talents, the pride of the headquarters.

For the record, the <Talent Management Team> basically served one person: Baek Jin-woo.

Their job was to drop everything and help him whenever he contacted them.

At the moment, they were concentrating on pulling out all the stops to legally extract the lower level summoning books from the treasury.

"This is true. This event has strengthened my conviction. At least for the rest of my term, I will use all my resources to help Baek Jin-woo.

Park Chang-seok was sure.

He'd been in the business for a long time.

Just by observing Baek Jin-woo's expressions and gestures, he could tell.

Only those who had something substantial and a lot of it could behave with such ease.

From now on, Park Chang-seok's task was simple.

He would help Baek Jin-woo and slowly extract valuable information from him.

It was a mutually beneficial, win-win strategy.

"Byung-jin."

"Yes?"

"What is Baek Jin-woo doing right now?"

"He's still ripping through summoning books, it seems."

"Still?"

"Yes, he took more today too."

Ha.

Did he really go through all of them in a single day?

Could a person even do that?

"Why on earth?

D-rank summons were mostly worthless, hardly worth selling.

Only C-rank or higher summons could fetch a decent price.

"He's not selling any of the summons, is he?"

"No, he seems to be synthesising them all. We've confirmed that he visits the synthesis station every night."

"Huh."

The Synthesis Station.

It was a place where you could sacrifice summons to gain experience.

But it wasn't efficient.

Running a dungeon even once would give you more experience than synthesising summons.

"Oh, and he mentioned something."

"What did he say?"

Park Chang-seok's eyes gleamed.

"He asked if he could use the 1.5 billion won to buy more low-grade summoning books."

"What?"

Park Chang-seok was stunned.

Was 10,000 books a day not enough and now he wanted more?

"He also asked if we could sell them at a discounted price, so I said I'd consider it for now."

"Hah."

What could that be?

Was there a must-have summons among the F to D ranks?

If there was, he would have drawn it by now.

"For now.

The fact that Baek Jin-woo was reinvesting the 1.5 billion won he had earned showed how desperate he was.

"What should we do? It is a bit embarrassing to ask the administration. They keep looking at us sideways and asking us why we keep withdrawing from our stock".

"The low-grade summoning books are piling up in the warehouse anyway. We have to get rid of them eventually."

"So... should we sell them at a discount?"

"Sell them at half price."

"Excuse me?"

The secretary's eyes widened.

He knew exactly how reckless this was.

As a civil servant, Park Chang-seok had to be careful in everything he did.

If he was caught using state funds to give someone an unreasonable privilege, it could become a point of political attack.

"Don't worry, Byung-jin."

Park Chang-seok smiled as if he knew exactly what the secretary was thinking.

"This is all part of a political move.

Baek Jin-woo might one day become a hero of South Korea.

If it became known that Park Chang-seok had supported such a hero financially and materially, even at political risk?

He would be praised for his extraordinary vision, and that could help him win even more votes.

Creating such a narrative was child's play for Park Chang-seok.

"Just do as I say. And remember, this is strictly confidential. Only you, Ji-ah and Tae-seop can know about it."

"Yes, understood."

* * *

Tear, tear!

The sound of tearing paper had now become a hallucination.

Ten thousand summoning books a day meant seventy thousand a week.

For about two weeks, Baek Jin-woo had been tearing through them nonstop.

He didn't even go home anymore.

He rented a small apartment near the "Player Zone".

A 16-pyeong two-room apartment, neither too fancy nor too shabby - just the right size.

Time to live independently.

A man who earns over a billion won a week.

It felt wrong to still be living in his parents' house, coming home late and barely sleeping.

- Jin-woo... I feel like I'm dying.

Rip, rip!

Ignoring Lamba's whining, Baek Jin-woo stood up after finishing another 10,000 summoning books in the empty lot.

- Cream bun... I want a cream bun...!

He ignored Lamba's complaints and went straight to the synthesis station.

Three years ago.

Just as Jamsil Tower had been transformed into the Tower of Trials, a nearby building had been completely rebuilt into a Synthesis Station.

Inside the building were over 500 rooms, each dedicated to synthesis.

The station was managed from the headquarters.

"Your queue number is 125."

The waiting time was about five minutes.

After standing in line and waiting, Baek Jin-woo entered a room on the third floor and saw the summoning circle drawn on the floor.

[Welcome to the Synthesis Station!]

[Please continue your summoning synthesis!]

"Lamba, get in."

- Jin-woo! Don't mess this up!

"Of course not."

Summoning required caution.

If he lost focus and accidentally used Lamba as a sacrifice, it would be a disaster.

Baek Jin-woo set the Wind Fairy (EX rank) as the primary synthesizer and began to add more summons to the summoning circle one by one.

[Do you want to continue the synthesis?]

[Y/N]

"Yes."

A bright light erupted from the summoning circle, swallowing the summons.

[Synthesis complete!]

[The 'Fire Lizard' (F Rank) has been sacrificed.]

[The 'Blue Bat' (F Rank) has been sacrificed].

[The 'Poison Goblin' (E-rank) has been sacrificed].

.......

The messages scrolled quickly.

[The 'Wind Fairy' (EX rank) has leveled up to 21].

[The Wind Fairy (EX rank) has gained 2 intelligence points].

Lamba had reached level 21.

Only level 21?

She had barely advanced.

Even after sacrificing nearly 140,000 summons in the past two weeks, she had only reached level 21?

The maximum level was 100.

The higher the level, the more experience was required.

To reach level 22, he would probably need to sacrifice as many summons as he had so far.

Well.

It didn't matter.

As mentioned before, this was just a storage cleanup.

* * *

The next day.

Tear, tear!

Once again, Baek Jin-woo sat on the empty lot and tore through the summoning books.

After about an hour of ripping, someone approached him.

Hmm?

Usually, it was Secretary Kim Byung-jin who brought the 10,000 low-grade summoning books.

He had already received his supply from headquarters that morning, so this probably wasn't from them.

'Or is it...?'

He noticed the HQ badge.

"Hello, this is our first meeting, isn't it? I'm Yoo Ji-ah from headquarters."

"Oh, yes."

The chattering Lamba immediately fell silent at the appearance of a new face, a woman.

Baek Jin-woo stopped tearing up the books and stood up, showing respect.

"What brings you here?"

"It's about the Summoning Book transaction you mentioned last time."

"Ah."

Baek Jin-woo's eyes sparkled.

Right, he had planned to increase the number of summoning books since nothing good had come out of them lately.

Was he worried about wasting 1.5 billion won?

Not at all.

He had earned it easily and could still earn more.

Investing in himself was the right thing to do right now.

"The usual price of an incantation book is 5,000 won, right? You know that, right?"

"Yes, I know. As I mentioned last time, can we negotiate the price a bit..."

"Ha ha, yes. After some discussion, considering your recent contributions, we've decided to offer a half price deal on this 1.5 billion won transaction."

"Oh, really?"

As expected, Park Chang-seok came through.

This was a huge win.

At 2,500 won per book, 1.5 billion would buy him 60,000 books!@@novelbin@@

He'd be able to buy even more today.

"And on top of that..."

Yoo Ji-ah paused for a moment before continuing.

"We've also managed to secure an additional 1 billion won from the 'talent management budget.'"

Wow.

Really?

That's an extra 40,000 books, bringing the total to 100,000?

"However, we ask that you keep this confidential..."

"Oh, of course."

No need to explain.

"If I'm the only one to benefit, I certainly won't say a word."

"And we hope you understand that this is to foster a more cooperative relationship between you and us."

"Heh heh, yes, I understand very well."

A perfect explanation.

Park Chang-seok's determination was obvious.

His desire to help was clear.

How admirable.

Baek Jin-woo decided to accept their goodwill.

Along with the 100,000 incantation books.

* * *

Rip, rip!

- Jin-woo.

"Hmm?"

- How long do we have to do this?

"Until we summon the Training Instructor and the Explosive Dragon Sage."

'Training Instructor' was an abbreviation for 'Training Instructor Summoning', and 'Explosive Dragon Sage' was an abbreviation for 'Explosive Sage'.

- Aaaah! I'm going to get a complex just listening to that ripping sound!

There was no choice.

If he hadn't started in the first place, he might not feel this way, but now that he had come this far, he had to see it through to the end, no matter how frustrating it might be.

He had already torn through the 100,000 books.

Now he was working his way through the remaining 10,000.

The sun had already set and it was getting dark.

Growl.

His stomach rumbled, but he had no intention of stopping.

- You stubborn man! You cruel, stubborn man!

"Hmm, I've heard that before."

When it came to the Battle of Summoners, he was notoriously stubborn, even by other people's standards.

He had probably never slept more than five hours a night during his school years.

Rip, rip!

[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the Summoning 'White Serpent' (F Rank)!

[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the summon 'Giant Rhinoceros Beetle' (F Rank)!

.......

Please.

Please just show up.

I won't ask for another EX rank.

Just the Instructor and the Explosive Sage.

Come on, just those two.

Honestly, the others?

I don't need them.

If I can summon just those two, I'll easily reach the top of the world rankings.

Of course, it would take some time, but...

Rip, rip!

Baek Jin-woo was a machine.

A summoning book ripping machine.

How much time had passed?

Rumble!

The lightning effects that hit the torn paper were different this time.

Crackle, crackle!

There were far more sparks than usual, and they were golden in colour.

- W-what's happening?!

Lamba was confused and Baek Jin-woo's eyes widened.

'This is...'

It was the same effect as when the Wind Fairy had appeared!

Swoosh!

Finally?!

[You're using an 'inferior spell book'!]

[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the Summoning 'Explosive Dragon Sage' (EX Rank)!

"Whoaahhhhh!"

Baek Jin-woo let out a cry without realising it.

- Kyahhhhh!

Lamba flipped through the air, squealing with excitement.

Is this real?

It was real.

After all this time, EX ranks were coming out if you kept summoning.

My Dragon Sage!

The real Dragon Sage!

How scared he had been!

Was I wrong after all?

Had Lamba been the only EX rank all along?

The fear vanished in an instant.

"No."

This wasn't the time to stop.

Rip, rip!

- Jin-woo?

"We can't stop now."

He had to summon in quick succession.

"Time to trigger my streak."

'Streak', short for 'lucky streak', was a quirk of Baek Jin-woo's, where once something good was summoned, ripping more books in quick succession would often lead to more good results.

"Haaaa! Let's go! Keep ripping!"

- Keep ripping, ripping, ripping, ripping!

With renewed vigour, he tore through the remaining summoning books like a madman.

Then, after about 300 more...

Rumble, rumble!

[You are using an 'inferior Summoning Book'!]

[Player 'Baek Jin-woo' has obtained the Summoning of 'Instructor' (EX Rank)!]

It really happened.

The summon had appeared.

- I-is this for real?

Lamba was so shocked that she looked like she was going to faint.

"Whoa!"

Seeing the 'Training Instructor' on his screen, Baek Jin-woo fell backwards in disbelief.

Finally!

Finally!

'I did it...'

Dopamine flooded his brain, almost as if it was pouring out.

This, this was it!

Was he going to die of happiness?

Yes, this is exactly why Summoning is so addictive!