AECS 35

Chapter 35

Light-Speed Rune (3)

Baek Jin-cheol and Hwang Myung-hee always made it a point to have meals together.
It was the only time in their busy lives that they could really talk.

Even this morning, after finishing their breakfast preparations in a rush, the couple sat down facing each other amicably.

Not long after,

“Um… I’ve been thinking about something lately.”

Baek Jin-cheol spoke up with difficulty.

“What is it?”

“You know the gift I got the other day?”

“The gift? You mean that diamond golem thing?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“Why? What about it?”

“They say it’s worth a billion won?”

“Whhaaaaat? A b-billion? It’s really that expensive?”

Hwang Myung-hee’s eyes widened.

“…Should I sell it?”

He had boldly told his friend Park Jeong-hoon that he would sell it, but the thought still left him uneasy.
After all, this was a summon obtained thanks to their son, and a gift given out of goodwill. Was it really okay to just sell it like that?

Baek Jin-cheol recounted everything he had discussed with Park Jeong-hoon that previous night.

“So… you want to quit your delivery job and start a business?”

“Well, ‘business’ might be too grand a word. I just want to do something small on my own.”

“Hmmm.”

It was certainly a dilemma.

Honestly, it was a happy dilemma.
These days, even winning first prize in the lottery wouldn’t give you a billion won, yet here it was, just given as a gift.

“But still… selling it feels a bit…”

Mrs. Hwang was clearly against it.

Birds of a feather, she and her husband thought alike.
She herself used the Rainbow Snail summon often, but never once thought about selling it.
Naturally, she had never even looked it up online.
So no wonder she reacted in shock at the mention of a billion won.

“Right? Should I just tell him I won’t sell it?”

Just as the couple was pondering this,

Beep! Bzip! Ding!

Someone entered the house by punching in the code.

It was their son, Baek Jin-woo.

“Huh? What are you doing here this early?”

Baek Jin-cheol was surprised.

“You’re here, son! Been busy lately?”

His mother also welcomed him with a smile.

Jin-woo felt a twinge of guilt as he greeted them.
‘I should have come by more often.’

But he also knew now wasn’t the time to slow down.

“I came to give you something.”

There was only one reason for Jin-woo’s visit: to give them the choice of a mid-tier skillbook.

The meal was almost over, so Hwang Myung-hee quickly started clearing the table.

“Let’s sit here and talk. But… what’s this?”

“This lets you learn the skill ‘Desperate Call.’”

The moment she heard the explanation, Hwang Myung-hee inserted the skill into the Rainbow Snail.

Jin-woo had also heard about this summon from Yu Ji-ah.

‘I can’t believe how helpful this is.’

Jin-woo, extremely clever when it came to summons, could calculate its future value in an instant.

The problem was his father, Baek Jin-cheol.

He was hesitating about whether to embed the skill into the golem.

“What are you waiting for, honey? Go ahead and learn it.”

“Ha… maybe I should?”

Jin-woo immediately noticed the subtle tension.

“Wait a moment, Dad.”

Now that he thought about it, it made sense.

Yu Ji-ah had given the “Diamond Golem” (B-tier) for one reason only:
Because his father loved the “Pebble Golem” (E-tier) so much.

The Diamond Golem was the ultimate evolution of his current summon.

‘But…’

If he kept it, it would be like telling him he should continue working as a laborer.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Do you really need to use the golem now?”

“Huh?”

“I’m just saying, you don’t need to put too much meaning into it. You can sell it. A-jin’s doing well with business anyway, so you could just ask him to sell it.”

His father blinked.

After a long moment, chewing his words, he said,

“…Really? That’s okay?”

As expected.

Jin-woo’s hunch was correct.

Sensing this, he pressed further and got the full confession:

“Yeah. Your dad always said he wanted to live off frying chicken or something. So I was just thinking about it for a bit. Just a bit. I was against it.”

“…A chicken shop?”

Jin-woo tilted his head.
Wait, why would a golem be sold for a chicken shop?

“Hold on a sec.”

Jin-woo pulled out his phone and contacted Yu Ji-ah directly.

Yes, Jin-woo!

Yu Ji-ah answered almost instantly, within a second.

“I want a dividend. How much can I get?”

Hm, just a moment!

“….”

If you push it, you could manage up to 100 billion, but that’d be tough. There’s construction and staff issues right now. 50 billion is doable without problem… but then you’d pay a huge amount in comprehensive tax, you know?

Wow. Incredible.

The Yu Baek class.

She could already issue a dividend like that?

“I don’t need that much. About 1 billion should be enough for me.”

Really? Why?

“I just… personal reasons.”

He didn’t want Yu Ji-ah to start using company funds for some personal favor.

If she earned more, she would work harder.
That would be mutually beneficial in the long run.

1 billion? That’s easy! I’ll calculate the taxes and pay it perfectly! We can do it right now!

“Yes, thank you.”

Jin-woo hung up.

His parents stared in blank amazement.

A 1-billion dividend?

Only a few months ago, their son had been lying in a hospital bed, and now he was a recognized top-tier player!

“Dad.”

“Uh, yes?”

“10 billion will be transferred to the account. Use that for the chicken shop.”

“What? How can you use your own money like that…”

“Eh!”

Jin-woo cut him off immediately.

“Just register the skill on the golem. Don’t sell it. You like your golem, after all. And you’ll need it for the chicken shop. Carrying raw chicken boxes and oil drums is tough.”

“…Haha, that boy.”

Baek Jin-cheol looked genuinely moved.
Could this really be their son?

Lately, the couple kept finding themselves surprised more and more.

Morning was already busy.

He visited his parents, completed the weekday dungeon grind, and returned to the open field.

“Huh?”

Yu Ji-ah was there, stretching, dressed in casual clothes.

Meanwhile, all the summons, including Hoon-gyo, trained silently without conversation.
Jin-woo had instructed them not to speak in front of others.

“Yu Ji-ah?”

What was she doing here?
Lately, he felt like she appeared in his line of sight everywhere he went.

“I wanted to get some exercise before work. Sitting all the time kills productivity. Need some muscle too.”

“There must be good gyms nearby. Why come all the way here?”

“Eh, isn’t exercising in fresh air more romantic than a gym?”

“…True, I guess.”

“Ah, and actually, I came for business today.”

“Business?”

“Don’t be surprised.”

She boldly extended her hand.

Buzz!

Light streamed from her hand.

[Player ‘Yu Ji-ah’ proposes a trade.]
[Carefully review the opponent’s proposal.]

A trade?

[Yu Ji-ah: Top-tier Rune (Light-Speed) x3, Universal Polisher x4]
[Baek Jin-woo: No compensation required.]

“Woah.”

Jin-woo was genuinely stunned.
“How did you get these already?”

It hadn’t even been a week since he asked her to acquire them.

“Hehe, amazing, right? Honestly… it would take more than a night to explain how hard I worked to get them.”

[Do you accept Player ‘Yu Ji-ah’s proposal?]
[Y/N]

Of course, Y.

“How did you manage this so fast?”

“I combed the whole world. Negotiating the price was tough. Only because the staff insisted on using a wand could I even get them.”

True. There were barely any wand-focused ranged characters besides Lamba.

Yu Ji-ah had purchased the runes at 10 billion, 20 billion, and 15 billion each.
A total of 45 billion!
For a single summon, this was extremely expensive.

“Really.”

Jin-woo muttered sincerely.
“Thank you for your hard work.”

He honestly hadn’t expected to get all of Lamba’s graduation runes so quickly.

“Yu Ji-ah.”

“Yes?”

“Stay here a bit while I exercise, Hoon-gyo.”

……?

Hoon-gyo, who was adjusting the summons’ stances with his sword, turned his head.

He didn’t respond verbally, showing tact.

“Check this person’s exercise posture here.”

……!

Hoon-gyo extended his right arm forward and bowed sharply.

“Uh, where are you going?”

“I’m going to enhance! Wait a moment. I’ll be back.”

Jin-woo couldn’t contain himself.

The moment a single summon receives all six graduation runes and the set effect!

Any “Battle of Summoners” player would be unable to resist.

Even back in his JinuGod days, this was a rare moment.

‘Incredible.’

In pure value terms, these runes alone are worth over 100 billion cash when embedded in Lamba.

“Wyvern!”

Kirurururu!

Jin-woo rode the Sky Wyvern (B-tier) and soared into the sky.

Yu Ji-ah watched in awe.

For some reason, his flying skill seemed unrealistically natural now.

Arriving at the enhancement facility, Jin-woo enhanced the remaining three runes fully.

All twelve universal polishers were used.
Every option was maxed out.

“Kya!”

Now, Lamba would be faster than anyone.

‘Honestly…’

Even if these runes were embedded in any wand-using F-tier summon, it would probably outperform a B-tier without runes.

Swoosh!

The wyvern’s speed was incredible.
Thanks to this, he reached the open field quickly.

“Wow, you’re already here?”

Yu Ji-ah felt a bit envious.
It took her 20 minutes to walk up here from her parked car.
Jin-woo had made the round trip to Samseong-dong in under 20 minutes.

‘No worries at all.’

Even if he settled near Hanam’s Geomdan Mountain, he could quickly travel to the Player Zone in Samseong-dong.

“Wait a moment. Lamba, come here.”

Upon arrival, Jin-woo summoned Lamba and inserted the three Light-Speed runes into the remaining slots.

[‘Wind Fairy’ (EX-tier) receives set effect ‘Light-Speed’.]
[‘Wind Fairy’ (EX-tier) uses a wand.]
[Attack speed increases by 500%.]

Whuuuuush!

A crimson light vortex swirled around Lamba.
This was the Light-Speed set effect.