These are the odds for a Mid-Grade Summoning Scroll. Then what about this?
Player Zone
[D-rank: 94%]
[C-rank: 5%]
[B-rank: 1%]
There are a total of five types of summoning scrolls in Battle of Summoners. Low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, top-grade. And ultimate.
[F-rank: 94%]
[E-rank: 5%]
[D-rank: 1%]
As I mentioned before, if these are the odds for a low-grade summoning scroll...
[E-rank: 94%]
[D-rank: 5%]
[C-rank: 1%]
Then these are the odds for a high-grade summoning scroll.
As you can see, there's a pattern. Every time the scroll goes up by one tier, the appearance rates of the summon ranks also go up by one tier! Then what about the Ultimate Summoning Scroll, which is one tier above the Top-Grade Summoning Scroll?
[B-rank: 94%]
[A-rank: 5%]
[S-rank: 1%]
Naturally, it looks like this. This tells you exactly how hard it is to pull an S-rank summon. You only get it with a 1% chance each time you tear open an Ultimate Summoning Scroll.
For reference, Baek Jinwoo had only managed to get ten of those scrolls over an entire ten years. That was because they also appeared in dungeons at a ridiculously low rate.
Let's take it slow.
There was no good in rushing. He had to prepare step by step so he could raise it properly without missing anything.
'I've got Lamba anyway.'
Baek Jinwoo was certain. If he raised Lamba properly?
Forget Floor 100 of the Tower. He could snatch back the title of world number one in no time.
Time frame? Didn't matter.
Lamba was just that broken. There was a reason the AI had rolled out a balance patch.
"Oppa, but."
Walking across Jamsil Lake Bridge above Seokchon Lake, Baek Ajin glanced up at her brother. So much time had passed that it was already getting dark.
"What summon did you get?"
"I did get one. It's called a Wind Fairy."
"A Wind Fairy? Can I see it once?"
"Why do you even need to?"
"I'm just curious. It's not like we're strangers. Are you saying I can't even see a family member's summon? Here."
Woooong!
Baek Ajin flicked her hand.
Then, along with a flash of light, a Shadow Elf appeared.
"This is my main summon. It's a C-rank, no less. D-ranks are common as dirt, but once you get to C-rank, that's practically nobility."
"Yeah, sure."
Baek Jinwoo nodded as if unimpressed.
A Shadow Elf?
It was a trash summon he had never once taken into a dungeon. He had used plenty of them as EXP material at the fusion lab, though.
Still, one question came to mind.
"Does that Shadow Elf speak Korean well? Hey, Mr. Elf?"
Lamba had spoken flawless native Korean from the moment she first appeared. What about the Shadow Elf?
He waved his hand in greeting, but the thing barely reacted.
Tch, rude little brat. If you've come to the Land of Courtesy in the East, you should start by greeting people.
"Oppa, what are you doing?"
Baek Ajin frowned and stared at Baek Jinwoo. The look on her face was exactly like someone staring at a crazy person.
"Hm?"
"What do you mean, what are you doing? Since when do summons talk?"
"Huh?"
Baek Jinwoo blinked.
"Weren't summons supposed to talk?"
"...Honestly, what kind of nonsense is that? What summon in the world talks?"
"...!"
What the heck. Was Lamba the weird one?
Now that he thought about it, the Fur Gorilla had only made noises like Grrroooar! and stuff like that.
Well.
There hadn't been any talking summons in Battle of Summoners, either.
Huh.
Then why was Lamba different?
Was it because her rank was so high?
"Anyway, stop messing around and show me yours already."
"I'll show you mine later."
"Ah, why?!"
"Just because. Hurry up and keep guiding me."
Swish.
Turning his back, Baek Jinwoo took the lead with quick strides.
"Seriously, you're so self-centered."
Grumbling in a dissatisfied voice, Baek Ajin recalled the Shadow Elf and hurried after him.
"Ah, wait up!"
At last, they arrived at Jamsil Station, and it looked nothing like the place Baek Jinwoo remembered.
"Wow. What the hell is all this?"
Among the bustling crowd stood dazzling buildings.
"Pretty shocking, right?"
Smile.
Baek Ajin smiled.
"The company that had to hand over Jamsil Tower for the Tower of Trials demolished Jamsil World almost immediately."
"...Jamsil World?"
Jamsil World was one of the country's top amusement parks, built at Jamsil Station. It had practically been Jamsil's trademark, and now it was gone?
"Yeah. Who'd want to ride amusement park rides with that gloomy-looking Tower of Trials looming right in front of them?"
"Wouldn't that make it more thrilling?"
"Oppa. There's a difference between thrills and risking your life."
Anyway.
He understood.
From the group's perspective, it must have been far better to attract all the players swarming in than to keep running an amusement park. That would make money.
"And in the first place, they couldn't keep Jamsil World running. Fusion labs and dungeons were built on that site."
"Ah."
Nodding, Baek Jinwoo entered the entrance to the Player Zone, directly across from the Tower of Trials.
"Selling low-grade runes!"
"Selling low-grade summoning scrolls!"
"Buying C-rank or higher summons for top price!"
Noisy.
The place had become a marketplace.
So that's the exchange.
It had existed in Battle of Summoners, too. A place where users could freely trade with one another.
Since there was no in-game currency, real-money transactions had happened there too...
This takes me back.
In the early days, Baekcheon, with all his money, used to buy up massive amounts of summon scrolls and runes here all the time. Later on, the game died, and there were no users left selling anything anyway.
"You can think of this place as having everything. See that pamphlet over there?"
Baek Ajin pointed to the papers set out by the information desk.
"It explains all the building locations and everything else, so if you're curious, you can just read that. More importantly, Oppa."
"Yeah?"
Still glancing around like a country bumpkin who had just come up to Seoul, Baek Jinwoo replied absentmindedly.
"You're a beginner, right? There's an academy run by Player Headquarters over there. How about starting there from tomorrow?"
"No, I'm good, little sis."
All his questions had been answered.
He had found the place where he needed to camp. So this was where he'd basically be living from now on while growing stronger.
"Thanks for the tour. Head home first."
"Huh? You're staying here?"
"I want to look around by myself."
"Uh..."
Something had felt strange about him for a while now. It was like he was possessed by something.
Baek Ajin was worried about her brother. Especially since it hadn't even been that long since he woke up.
Still.
If her brother had found something he wanted to throw himself into passionately, she had no intention of raining on his parade or stopping him.
"Well, alright. Just don't overdo it. If you need help, tell me anytime."
"Got it~"
Wave, wave!
Waving a hand behind him, Baek Jinwoo disappeared into the crowd.
* * *
A deserted place.
—Jinwooo!
"Shh!"
As soon as he summoned Lamba, Baek Jinwoo immediately covered her mouth.
Wrapping both hands around her whole body and pressing his thumb firmly over her lips, he saw Lamba's eyes go wide.
"From now on, if there are people around, don't talk even if I summon you."
—Mmph?
"If you understand, nod."
Nod, nod.
She had no idea why, but Lamba was a summon. She had no choice but to obey her player's command.
'So there still aren't any talking summons, huh.'
If that was the case, then Lamba speaking alone could draw unwanted attention.
Baek Jinwoo disliked public attention. For the time being, he planned to talk with Lamba only inside dungeons.
'First.'
From now on, he'd be grinding dungeons nonstop...
Since it was his first time, he felt a little lost. His runes weren't set up properly yet, and he only had two summons.
He needed starting capital...
[Detailed Account Inquiry]
[Account Holder: Baek Jinwoo]
[Preferred Savings Account]
[Available Withdrawal Amount: 12,500 won]
"Life really is..."
There really was no gutter deeper than this. No matter that he'd been in an accident, was this seriously his entire fortune?
If he wanted a loan, he had neither a proper job nor income, nor any assets to use as collateral. Loan sharks? The interest would be a waste. Part-time work like before? That would be a waste of time.
'Should I use the parents card?'
No.
A person had to have some shame.
His parents were already working triple jobs trying to hold up the household, and if he borrowed money from them for free, he'd be worse than an animal.
On top of that, hadn't that damn truck already drained them dry for three straight years in hospital bills?
He couldn't burden them anymore.
It's okay.
Even starting from scratch, I can still do it.
Yeah.
This was the opening stage of Battle of Summoners. And what was one of Baek Jinwoo's nicknames?
He was the No-Spend Ranker, after all.
That's how he had always been.
Without anyone's help, and without spending real money, he had held onto the number one rank and come to be called One Heaven, Five Emperors.
'There's no reason I can't do it in reality, too.'
First.
'I'll start with the lowest-level dungeons. I'll keep summoning with the rewards, and I'll raise Lamba as my top priority. Let's do this!'
Just as Baek Jinwoo stood up, steeling himself—
Ding!
A notification popped up from his phone app.
In the moment when his chest grew warm—no, hot—Baek Jinwoo made a vow in his heart.
'My family. I'm definitely going to give you all a good life.'
* * *
[500,000 won has been deposited.]
"Huh?"
Bzzzt!
At the same time, a text message arrived.
[Son. I heard from Ajin. She said that as soon as you woke up, you were already trying hard to get moving and do something. Knowing your personality, you probably couldn't even bring yourself to ask for spending money... Use this, at least.]
"...Mom."
Tears welled slightly in his eyes. In the end, she really had sent this son of hers a sweet, sweet rain after a drought.
That dim evening, Baek Jinwoo did not go home. Back when he played Battle of Summoners, there hadn't been a single time he hadn't stayed up all night.
'I'll cut down on sleep as much as possible.'
The three years everyone else had gotten ahead. That was the only way he'd catch up.
'Don't act spoiled.'
He had to set his mindset first. If he wanted to become the best, then he had to act accordingly.
Baek Jinwoo spent every last bit of his money to buy three Low-Grade Summoning Scrolls and six Low-Grade Swiftness Runes.
'I need to build a team first.'
A team could have five summons. Originally, he had planned to go to the fusion lab and use the Fur Gorilla as material for Lamba.
But after using it this time, it had fought with more spirit than expected, so he intended to keep using it a little longer.
—Uwooor...?
Had it sensed its master's thoughts? The summoned gorilla in front of him wore a pitiful expression.
'Let's not get attached.'
Using summons as material? That was an extremely common thing in Battle of Summoners.
According to the setting, using them as material didn't kill them. They were simply moved somewhere else, waiting for a new player to summon them.
"Lamba."
—...
Outside the dungeon, she would be as silent as a clam!
She really did obey orders well.
"Equip all the Swiftness Runes here."
All six Swiftness Runes had different stat values.
[Rune]
[Rank: Low-Grade]
[Set Effect: Swiftness]
When 4 are equipped: Attack speed +30%, when 6 are equipped: Attack speed +50%.
[Level: 1]
[Stat Increase]
Strength +1, Intelligence +1, HP +100, Critical Hit Rate +4%
Some were like this.
[Rune]
[Rank: Low-Grade]
[Set Effect: Swiftness]
When 4 are equipped: Attack speed +30%, when 6 are equipped: Attack speed +50%.
[Level: 1]
[Stat Increase]
Vitality +1, Agility +1, MP +100, Critical Damage +6%
And others were like this.
A summon could equip a total of six of these things called runes. These were basically the equivalent of equipment items in any RPG.
The max level was 10.
And every time the level went up, the four preassigned stats improved!
'For now, I don't have the luxury of worrying about stats yet.'
To raise Lamba properly, there were really only two stats he needed to focus on.
Intelligence, and Agility.
Intelligence boosted the effects of skills, while Agility made attack speed even faster.
['Wind Fairy' (EX-rank) equips a 'Low-Grade Swiftness Rune'.]
—...
['Wind Fairy' (EX-rank) equips a 'Low-Grade Swiftness Rune'.]
Swish, swish!
Lamba equipped all six runes. This should at least improve her attack speed a little.
'Be satisfied with this for now. Later, I'll show you what the true limit of attack speed looks like.'
Next.
The summons.
Riiip!
Baek Jinwoo tore all three Low-Grade Summoning Scrolls at once.
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