147. Rune Setting (1)
"Huaaam."
Having finally conquered half the Tower, Baek Jinwoo came out stretching his fingers together and letting out a long yawn.
It felt as if all the fatigue he had built up was crashing down on him at once.
'That was a brutal march.'
Especially that bastard, the final one, the King of Titans, Chronos.
Baek Jinwoo had fought that monster for a full five hours.
Since it could freely wield thunder and lightning and even distort time, it had by no means been an easy opponent.
In the end, he only beat it because he used a method where he had Explosive Dragon gather up as much of the Explosive Dragon Wave as possible and then detonate it. Otherwise, it would have taken even longer.
"You have returned, Player Baek Jinwoo!"
"D-did you really conquer the 50th floor?"
The resident staff approached with shining eyes and moved expressions on their faces.
"You must not leave right away."
"Yes, there are reporters packed all around outside the Tower of Trials. Everyone's in an uproar."
Their voices held both respect and concern that the hero might be inconvenienced.
"There's no need to worry."
Swoosh.
Baek Jinwoo immediately summoned the Celestial Wyvern.
- Krrr....
"I can just ride this out. I'll probably have to head to the 51st floor soon as well, so I'm sure I'll see you again before long."
"...The 51st floor?"
The staff were dumbfounded.
Because those words also meant he intended to overtake Rachel straight away.
'Unbelievable.'
'How in the world did someone like him even appear?'
'The other rankers say even the 10th and 20th floors are hell... how is he clearing it so easily...?'
They were curious about what it was like inside the Tower.
How difficult it really was.
And just how easily Baek Jinwoo was overcoming something that difficult.
It was probably something not only the staff, but people all over the world were dying to know.
Baek Jinwoo climbed onto the Wyvern.
"Travel safely!"
"You've worked hard!"
Along with the staff's farewells,
- Kkirururururu!
He flew up into the sky.
* * *
In any case, Yoobaek City is a restricted zone for civilians.
Only residents with entry permits are allowed inside.
'First.'
He was not going straight to the 51st floor.
Until Olivia Abernathy brought the promised runes... he intended to take a bit of a break.
'And.'
Baek Jinwoo was also a little uneasy about the 51st floor.
Judging by the fact that Olivia still hadn't contacted him, it meant Rachel still hadn't come out yet....
If that was the case, then there was a high probability...
'Did she die?'
He might have to consider the possibility of Rachel's death.
It was a little hard to understand.
No matter how much the difficulty supposedly doubled from the 51st floor onward, it still shouldn't have been so hard that she couldn't clear the very beginning of it.
'Either way, I need to prepare thoroughly.'
From here on, it was time to go all out.
Even if he had to spend every last bit of money he had earned so far, he was going to properly complete the endgame runes for his EX-grade guys before going in.
He also planned to further improve Aso's martial skill, and for the refinement work, he intended to use even the Rune Sealing Scroll he had obtained as this time's league reward. He was just going to pour everything into them.
'First.'
Should I sort through the rewards?
Baek Jinwoo opened his inventory and checked the rewards he had received from the 41st floor onward once again.
[41st Floor - Omnipotent Polishing Agent x30]
[42nd Floor - Top-grade Rune Selection Ticket (Bound) x3]
[43rd Floor - Essence of Darkness x30]
[44th Floor - Top-grade Summoning Scroll x13]
[45th Floor - Omnipotent Polishing Agent x30]
[46th Floor - Top-grade Rune Selection Ticket (Bound) x3]
[47th Floor - Essence of Light x30]
[48th Floor - Advanced Summoning Scroll x30]
[49th Floor - Advanced Summoning Scroll x30]
[50th Floor - King's Emblem(Bound) x1, Scroll of Life x1]
"Haa."
Pretty solid again this time.
But then again, solid was good too.
They were all things he could use somewhere.
There was only one truly special item.
The Scroll of Life he had obtained on the 50th floor.
'What's this?'
He examined the item's information.
[Scroll of Life]
[Grade: S-rank]
[This scroll can be used when all summoned creatures have been unsummoned.]
[When used, all available summons are resummoned with 50% HP.]
"Huh."
An S-rank scroll?
The effect was incredible.
Didn't this basically mean it would revive them after they died?
'This...'
It was a ridiculously overpowered consumable item whether inside the Tower of Trials or in a PvP situation.
Of course, he would only use it in the Tower of Trials.
That place was one where lives were truly on the line.
Swoosh.
Baek Jinwoo put the scroll back into his inventory window.
The Celestial Wyvern was extremely fast.
The time it took to travel from Jamsil to Geomdansan was only 6 minutes!
Since the distance was about 20 kilometers, that meant it was flying at nearly 200 km/h.
- Kkirururururu!
The familiar sight of Yoobaek City below!
Looking down at the place still undergoing major construction due to expansion, the corners of Baek Jinwoo's lips curled up softly.
* * *
Olivia still had not arrived.
It seemed she had gone back to England and was searching all over the world together with her guild members.
Baek Ajin had shown him, but...
Posts had apparently flooded marketplaces all around the world offering top prices for the Will and Exploitation runes.
"Hmm."
After returning home, Baek Jinwoo went up to the rooftop.
Then he lined up all eight of his summons.
Lamba, HunGyo, Explosive Dragon, Jaggeo, Dampir.
Gale Slayer, Rund, Aso.
"First, Lamba and HunGyo have completed their endgame rune setups, right?"
—Yeah! There's no point for me in using anything except the Light-Speed Rune!
—My lord, are you truly sure about this...?
HunGyo seemed oddly apologetic toward Aso.
Because it was now certain that the Top-grade Unique rune Trinity would become completely his.
"Of course I'm sure. A promise is a promise."
In the past, he had promised HunGyo.
That rune would remain his from now on as well.
"You two should both get the Rune Sealing Scroll used on you."
[Rune Sealing Scroll]
[Grade: A-rank]
[Turns the rune set currently equipped by a summon into a 'Bound' state.]
[Once in a 'Bound' state, it cannot be unequipped.]
[However, the rune's stats increase by 20%.]
The three sealing scrolls he had obtained as league rewards this time!
He used two of them on HunGyo and Lamba.
—Uwaaah, I definitely feel faster?
—Thank you, my lord.
The moment the mysterious light wrapped around the two of them, crunch!
The rune slots open on one side of the status window hardened like stone.
They would never be able to remove those runes again from now on, but that was fine.
This was, quite literally, the endgame setup!
It would be hard to find runes stronger than those or better suited to them.
'Those two are done.'
Now that left six...
Jaggeo and Dampir's endgame runes were Will and Exploitation.
There were no Unique runes that suited them.
He would leave those two to Olivia.
'Then that leaves four.'
For 'Aso', he needed to make a 'Trinity' rune like HunGyo's.
For 'Gale Slayer', he needed to replace the Ruin rune it was currently wearing with an 'Annihilation' rune.
For 'Explosive Dragon', he had to swap out its current Fire Dragon rune for a 'Flame Emperor' rune.
And for 'Rund', he needed to obtain the 'Master Craftsman' rune, called the pinnacle of crafting runes.
Everything was now clearly organized.
"Okay..."
Then.
Shall we start gathering them in earnest?
* * *
Baek Jinwoo first made a full list of the Rare runes he needed to obtain or craft.
[Omnipotent Rune x12]
[Fire Dragon Rune x12]
[Ruin Rune x12]
[Master Craftsman Rune x6]
Assuming Olivia brought all the runes, if he gathered just these, every summon would have its endgame setup complete.
"Rund."
Baek Jinwoo held out the list to Rund.
"With the materials we've stockpiled so far, how many can you make?"
—Umm.
Rund scratched his head.
—As you know, Master, to make a Rare rune, you need 100 Essences, 10 World Tree Roots, and 200 Top-grade runes from the tier below.
With shining eyes, he explained it step by step.
—Top-grade runes and World Tree Roots are fine. We've piled those up by the truckload from running the Top-grade weekday dungeons. The problem is the Essences.
Essences.
Essences were generally divided into two categories.
The Essences of Light and Darkness, which only came from the Tower of Trials.
And the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Essences, which came from the Top-grade Saturday Dungeon.
—Thankfully, we don't need Light or Darkness Essences yet... but Master is still seriously short on what you've stockpiled. For Omnipotent, you need 20 of each of the five Essences. For Fire Dragon, you need 100 Fire Essences. For Ruin, you need 100 Monday Essences. And that's just for making one of each.
Essences really dropped at an appallingly low rate.
Even if you left auto-battle running all night, one would only appear about once every two days.
Because of that, they fetched a pretty decent price.
Baek Jinwoo immediately called Ajin over.
"Ajin."
"Yeah, Oppa."
"I need a favor for the first time in a while. Buy up all the Essences currently on the market, and if there's anyone selling the runes on this list, contact them privately and buy them at double market price on the condition that they keep it secret."
There was no need to save money now.
Rather, it was better to secure the goods for sure.
'Money's the kind of thing that comes in even if I do nothing now.'
"Okay, I'll get right on it!"
Having been entrusted with an important job for the first time in a while, Baek Ajin's eyes lit up with energy.
"Oh, right! I heard you cleared the 50th floor this time? The news is going crazy again. Congrats."
"Congrats, huh."
Heh.
Baek Jinwoo smiled.
It seemed that now, no matter what kind of achievement he accomplished, it no longer felt all that surprising.
That kind of tolerance was bound to develop.
He had spent the past year charging ahead like a madman, after all.
'The people who'll be shocked are probably someone else.'
Before coming home, he had met Yoo Jia separately and handed over the recording equipment.
The equipment that would be handed over to the broadcasting station!
Most likely, every scene Baek Jinwoo had played through would be properly edited and released to the entire world.
'For now.'
Let's focus only on completing the endgame runes!
"Ajin."
"Hm?"
"Keep reporting the progress."
Baek Jinwoo had a hidden trump card.
Top-grade Rune Selection Tickets.
He had collected a whopping 13 of them so far.
He planned to gather as many runes as possible first, and then use those tickets to fill in whatever he was still missing.
They didn't give Unique runes, but they did go up to Rare.
"Okay! Leave it to me!"
Baek Ajin ran off at a quick pace.
* * *
A week passed.
Rund began crafting runes as soon as Essences came in.
And with the entire Yoobaek sales team throwing themselves into purchasing runes, they managed to secure quite a large number of them.
As for Baek Jinwoo?
He carefully went back and forth through the Player Zone, strengthening runes and steadily carrying out the work needed to make Unique runes.
And then, another week later.
"Baek Jinwoooooo!"
Someone came running from far away.
"I got all of them!"
It was Olivia.
She really had managed to obtain one full set each of the Will runes and Exploitation runes.
As expected of England?
She had easily finished what was probably the most troublesome task.
It was practically effortless.
"Shall I take a look at the goods first?"
"You're sure, right? Once you get these, you're going straight to the 51st floor, right?"
"As long as the goods are legit, I'll go exactly two days from now. I need a certain amount of preparation too."
In two days, all of his summons would have their endgame rune setups complete.
Even if he had to use the selection tickets, he would make sure to get every missing rune.
"Well, it is the 51st floor.... It's still a floor humanity hasn't conquered yet. You really do need to prepare properly."
Even Olivia was starting to get worried.
What if even that God Ji-nu went there and didn't come back?
If that happened, all of humanity would probably go into collective mental breakdown.
Baek Jinwoo held out his hand.
"First, let me see the goods."
"Alright."
Olivia requested a trade and handed over the runes.
The goods were authentic.
"Nice and clean."
Baek Jinwoo nodded with a satisfied expression.
Then he muttered,
"I promise this. Two days from now, after I challenge the 51st floor, I'll determine exactly whether it's truly difficult enough that even Rachel couldn't clear it, and I'll bring back footage of it too."