149. The World's Strongest Challenge (1)
Click!
Behind Baek Jinwoo as he put on his equipment stood several people.
PBC staff, Yoo Jia, and Olivia.
"Please come back alive."
Breaking the tension in the air, Olivia clasped both hands together.
Baek Jinwoo nodded and replied.
"I'm only going to explore the 51st floor and come back."
"Of course..."
Yoo Jia quietly added from beside him, and Baek Jinwoo smiled.
"I'll come back as quickly as possible, but it might take a little while."
For now, that was what he told them.
There had to be some reason Rachel had been unable to return.
'I will never let my guard down.'
In truth, with his current power...
He could probably break straight through to the 80th floor of the Tower of Trials without much trouble.
But even so, there was always the variable of "what if".
Especially once you entered the middle floors of the Tower, unexpected situations could arise endlessly.
Baek Jinwoo had spent the entire previous night thinking through every possibility and organizing them one by one.
"Well then, that's enough for goodbyes. I'm off, okay?"
Click.
The moment he pressed the equipment recording button, it activated with a whoooong sound.
"Yes, please return safely, Sir!"
"You have to be careful!"
".....Don't be late."
Receiving their farewells, Baek Jinwoo departed.
For the 51st floor.
And then.
Now, a week later, he still had not returned.
* * *
"Haa."
Yoobaek CEO's office.
Yoo Jia pressed both hands to her forehead and let out a deep sigh.
Anxiety and impatience were consuming her heart.
'I had a bad feeling about this.'
For the first day or two, she tried not to worry.
It was also his first time in the middle floors of the Tower, and while it was rare, there had been cases where it took more than two days.
But when the third day came, and then the fourth, her anxiety gradually began to grow.
To the point where she couldn't focus on anything at all.
'Honestly.'
If Baek Jinwoo failed to return, then Yoobaek, SKY, and everything else would become meaningless.
Because the company and the guild had been built solely for Baek Jinwoo.
"You said you'd be back soon..."
Since he still hadn't returned, problems were beginning to crop up everywhere.
Should they announce this fact to the entire world?
Something even Rachel had never done?
"What do we do, what do we do?! Uaaaah!"
The person even more overwhelmed by anxiety than Yoo Jia was Olivia, pacing frantically right in front of her.
"What kind of place even is the 51st floor? Did Rachel unni and God Ji-nu really both die?"
"...Don't say such unlucky things."
Yoo Jia muttered coldly.
Words had power.
She didn't even want to hear or think about such cursed words.
"But it's true! How can someone not return for an entire week? And not just anyone, but the legendary 100-floor conqueror, God Ji-nu!"
"There are various possibilities. Maybe there's a monster with severe time distortion, or maybe... maybe from the 51st floor onward, you have no choice but to clear straight through to the 60th floor."
"Is that so?"
Olivia grabbed her chin.
It definitely sounded plausible.
"For now, the issue we need to think about is... whether we should reveal this to the world."
The British leadership and the South Korean leadership were, quite literally, in a state of emergency.
To be honest, even the nations didn't know.
Only Red Rose and SKY were sharing this situation.
Even the guild members' training hall had become a complete mess.
For one thing, HunGyo wasn't there.
"Haaah..."
"Only now do I realize how valuable HunGyo was."
"I know, right? I thought he was just some demon who always said annoying things."
Without HunGyo, summon training itself couldn't function.
Because the only being capable of drawing out a summon's latent potential was HunGyo.
And that wasn't all.
Their breathing technique training could no longer progress.
Even physical training...
It had become hard to do with any real spirit.
Only now did they realize how much comfort and motivation HunGyo's encouragement had been, clapping and giving a thumbs-up whenever they truly worked hard.
"First of all."
Thunk.
Setting down the fountain pen she had been signing with, Yoo Jia quietly rose to her feet.
"I believe."
"That God Ji-nu is alive?"
"Yes."
Baek Jinwoo had clearly made her a promise.
That if it wasn't a situation where he could return alive with 100% certainty, he shouldn't leave.
In Yoo Jia's eyes, Baek Jinwoo was a genius.
Not so much because he was smart, but because he possessed some kind of instinctive genius that couldn't be explained with words.
A person like that had left with conviction.
Then he would definitely return alive.
"For now, let's not say anything."
"...."
"Until he returns, we do our jobs."
Recruit guild members.
Prepare for the 5th World League.
"Hmmmmm."
Olivia pressed hard against her throbbing temples.
"Whew, okay. If that's what unni says."
She also knew that Yoo Jia was Baek Jinwoo's proxy.
If she had chosen that way?
Then at the very least, SKY would follow her words.
And if that happened, then their blood-allied guild, Red Rose, would have to do the same.
'Actually, that's the right call.'
She knew that even the Five Emperors alliance was an alliance only in name, and that there were those quietly harboring resentment.
Because Rachel had kept snatching away the World League championship from them.
And if rumors spread that she was gone?
It could lead to consequences they wouldn't be able to handle.
Some might ask this: Would they really go that far?
But history made the answer clear.
Before the passage of long years, there were no eternal allies and no eternal enemies.
In other words, circumstances could turn upside down at any time.
"But when Baek Jinwoo comes out, tell us right away, okay? We'll let you know immediately too if Rachel unni comes out."
"That's only natural."
And so, Olivia left for Britain once again.
* * *
Baek Jinwoo's documentary came out sooner than expected.
The name of the three-part program was 〈The World's Strongest Challenge〉.
They described Baek Jinwoo, world rank number one and the hero of league victory, as "the world's strongest", and portrayed his journey to the 50th floor of the Tower as a "challenge".
"It's good, isn't it?"
Watching the whole thing, Yoo Jia nodded.
She thought it had been made very well.
And that made sense.
This documentary was a masterpiece that would be sold all over the world, as well as content that would become PBC's main source of income going forward.
How could they possibly have made it carelessly?
The greatest elites must have gathered and stayed up day and night for a whole week to complete it.
In fact, Yoo Jia herself had clenched her fists tightly the entire time she watched.
There was tension, yes, but most of it was exhilarating.
This went beyond national pride. It was pure "Baek Jinwoo pride."
"I think it would be fine to release it as it is."
"We're relieved to hear you're satisfied."
The PBC executives let out sighs of relief.
If it didn't meet Yoobaek's standards, then the next video production could run into trouble as well.
"Then would it be alright to proceed as is?"
One of the PBC executives asked cautiously.
Yoo Jia scanned the screen one more time, then smiled leisurely before nodding.
"Yes, I don't think it needs any more adjustments."
Thwack!
She closed the pad and answered firmly, and the atmosphere in the meeting room heated up.
The tension eased, and the executives' faces relaxed as well.
"First of all, this documentary is scheduled to air simultaneously in more than 30 countries around the world. In particular, we've already completed prior discussions with broadcasters in Europe and North America, and large-scale local promotions will also be carried out. Response is already very enthusiastic in Britain and the United States."
"Yes, it's important to make sure as many people as possible see this work."
"And as for future plans, we intend to additionally produce footage after the 50th floor. Once filming of Mr. Baek Jinwoo's challenge to the 60th floor is completed, we plan to immediately prepare a sequel. If possible, we'd like to coordinate the schedule more closely with Yoobaek's cooperation."
That final statement clearly carried impatience.
It felt as though they wanted a definite answer on whether they would be allowed to handle the next production as well.
Pfft.
Yoo Jia smiled.
'Not bad at all.'
"We've also been promised 50% of the royalties, and the video quality was good."
Still.
"We received separate compensation for the footage from the 41st to 50th floors, so there'll be additional compensation for the 51st to 60th floors too, right?"
For Baek Jinwoo's sake.
She intended to squeeze out everything she could get.
"Especially since the 60th floor is... a stage even Rachel never managed to reach."
Even though Baek Jinwoo still hadn't returned yet...
A contract was a contract.
She had to make sure they'd pay properly.
"Hahaha, of course!"
The advertising commissions alone from the ads inserted before and after this documentary were enormous.
Compensation?
They could provide as much as needed.
And if they didn't have it, they'd just have to come up with it somehow.
"You don't need to worry! Even if we have to search the entire world, we'll prepare something even more amazing than what we gave you last time!"
Every single executive bowed their heads deeply to Yoo Jia.
* * *
The documentary's broadcast began in earnest.
Starting with South Korea.
It aired simultaneously in many countries including Britain, the United States, Japan, and Taiwan...
And the response was explosive.
ㄴ Wow.
ㄴ Did you watch Baek Jinwoo's documentary?
ㄴ Is this even for real? I can't believe that guy is the same kind of player as me.
ㄴ Seriously, he's not human lol.
ㄴ Did you see him controlling Gale Slayer on the 44th floor? What we saw in the league was nothing compared to that.
ㄴ And what about Explosive Dragon Sorcerer lol the firepower feels totally different from before, doesn't it? It felt less like the Tower of Trials and more like he was clearing some normal dungeon.
In South Korea, social media and online communities heated up in an instant.
Highlight clips of each summon's performance were edited into shorts and spread everywhere, and every time a battle scene appeared, people poured out admiration.
ㄴ Is that Aso, the one he got recently?
ㄴ Looks like it. It's tiny and cute, but it fights really well too.
ㄴ HunGyo really is the best! Truly worthy of his reputation!
ㄴ Dampir is so cuuuute!
Now the entire nation knew Baek Jinwoo's summons.
They had become so famous that the guild master's summons were prominently introduced on SKY's official homepage.
ㄴI love Explosive Dragon Sorcerer!
ㄴ Milk-white beauty! Baek Explosive Dragon Sorcerer!
ㄴWhat the heck is "Baek Explosive Dragon Sorcerer"?
Since it's Baek Jinwoo's summon, apparently its family name is Baek.
Each summon gained its own fan club, and Explosive Dragon Sorcerer's popularity in particular soared as if it would pierce the heavens.
Naturally, the most popular one of all was?
Without question, Baek Jinwoo himself.
ㄴThis is insane. You can really see the class of a league champion here.
ㄴBaek Jinwoo is seriously a national treasure.
ㄴDid anyone else see the mid-boss on the 45th floor get burned away in one shot?
ㄴSo the 40th-floor range has a Titan theme. I really enjoyed the story from the 41st floor to the 50th-floor boss.
Meanwhile, the reaction in the United States was just as intense.
Right after the broadcast, the hashtag "Baek Jinwoo" trended in real time on Twitter, and even famous influencers mentioned his battle scenes.
ㄴDid you guys see Jinwoo Baek? That fight on floor 45 was like a movie! Absolutely insane!
ㄴHe just soloed the whole floor with ease. This is peak human performance!
ㄴI knew he was strong, but this is something else....
The American public didn't hold back their praise for Baek Jinwoo's flawless combat execution.
It was the same in Britain.
As soon as the broadcast ended, articles came pouring out, and Baek Jinwoo's battle scenes dominated the headlines.
[Baek Jinwoo, the journey to conquering the 50th floor! No one could stop him! A three-part series! When is Part 2?]
[His battles were like watching a classical epic! Every moment was astonishing!]
[Must we admit it now? The birth of a new strongest who has surpassed Rachel!]
They had been so deeply impressed that even proud Britain was saying things like that.
Every nation was moved by Baek Jinwoo.
Combat power, will, strategic thinking, control, and more.
Everything about him was perfect, yet beautiful.
"Ah, his challenge has gone beyond being a mere record."
"That's right! I think it would be fair to call this a work of art in itself!"
"The next episode! We need the next episode!"
It was the moment when everyone became captivated by a single documentary.