AECS 40

Chapter 40

National Team Selection (2)

The long-awaited June 30th had finally arrived!

The matches were being held at the Samsung-dong Player Zone’s “Battle Arena.” A building equipped by the system for fair matches!

“- Ladies and gentlemen! The National Team Selection, which we’ve all been waiting for, has finally begun!”

Like any popular sports event, there were commentators and casters. Multiple cameras—from the three major broadcasting companies to independent streams—were capturing everything.

“- Who will be selected as the national team players this time? A total of ten players will be chosen today! They’ll receive national support to train for the World League for the next six months!”

“- Yes, while the support is amazing, even just being selected brings tremendous benefits.”

“- Lifetime pensions for national contributors are a given, and tax benefits too. Recently, the government even added a special incentive: if players make it past the round of 16 in the World League, they’ll receive an enormous prize according to their achievement!”

“- That shows just how desperate Korea is to succeed!”

While the commentators explained the selection process, people slowly gathered in front of their TV screens. Among them was Baek Jin-woo’s family.

“Mom! Mom! Come quickly!”

June 30th wasn’t a national holiday, but most companies allowed employees to take the day off. Everyone knew that if employees had to work, they’d just sneak off to watch the selection anyway. So it was better to give them a day off and appear generous.

Thanks to that, Mrs. Hwang Myeong-hee was resting at home.

“Jin-woo will be on soon!”

“Really?”

Mrs. Hwang placed a tray of cold beer on the sofa.

“Dad, hurry!”

“Hehe, just a moment. It’s almost done frying.”

The aroma of perfectly fried chicken filled the air—another of Baek Jin-cheol’s demonstrations of culinary skill. He joined them on the sofa.

“- Now, it’s time to introduce the players who have applied for the selection!”

“- Correct! A total of 40 players were chosen in various ways, and only ten will make the national team!”

“- Just being on that stage means you’re an elite player!”

The commentators introduced each player, displaying familiar names from the media. Then it was his turn.

“- Next up, player Baek Jin-woo!”

“- Yes, he’s one of the hottest players right now! He holds the record for the weekday dungeon. I hear he even made a good profit selling that info to other ranked players.”

“- Everyone’s curious to see how he will perform in the upcoming player battles!”

“Look, there he is! It’s him!”

“Wow, it’s really him!”

Baek Ah-jin clapped with excitement, while the couple watched their son with disbelief and pride. Truly, a family honor.

“Ah-jin.”

“Yes, mom?”

“Do you think your brother can actually win there?”

“Hey, now!”

It was Baek Jin-cheol who replied.

“No matter how proud we are, there’s no way he can win. Look at the other competitors—they’re all incredible. It’s just for experience.”

“Exactly, mom. He hasn’t even been awake for half a year yet. Just standing there is already impressive. Still, let’s cheer for him anyway, for our brother’s future! Cheers!”

“Hoho, cheers!”

Their cans of beer clinked in the air.

At the same time, outside the Battle Arena in a temporary waiting room, players and staff were warming up for the match.

Four people were supporting Baek Jin-woo: Yu Jia, Park Chang-seok, Kim Byung-jin, and Hwang Tae-seop.

“The first round is a multi-player battle,” Yu Jia whispered beside him.

“That means half of the players will be eliminated right here… We have to watch out for the existing cartel.”

“The existing cartel?”

“Yes, the players selected last year. They won’t bother each other unnecessarily.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

Humans naturally avoid risk. Strong players avoid challenging one another for fear of elimination. That means they’ll target newbies or weak players first. Like Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop, openly eyeing him with licking expressions.

“Just wait. I’ll make sure you two go first.”

When Baek Jin-woo glanced at them, the two high-rankers just smiled.

Oh?

Baek Jin-woo smirked subtly too. If it were the Five Emperors, he might be irritated—but these two were just cute. Two little chicks peeping, nothing more.

Yu Jia continued explaining:

“Don’t intervene at first. Stay under the radar and hold on as long as possible. It’ll be hard, but it’s the best choice.”

She, of course, was getting tempted. She knew there was no way Baek Jin-woo could get good results here—he was a player with less than a year of growth, while these players had spent three years pouring in money and runes.

“Still…”

Watching Baek Jin-woo’s calm gaze, her heart pounded with excitement, almost daring him to pull off another stunt.

“Baek Jin-woo.”

“Yes?”

“If, by chance… you make it to the final selection…”

“Why? You’ll give me some stake?”

“Yes, yes. I can guarantee that much, so please do your best.”

Baek Jin-woo currently held 70% of Yu Bai’s total shares. At first, it didn’t feel that significant, but lately, he could feel it vividly. Even 1% would be a huge amount.

‘That’s how desperate they are,’ he thought. It was strange to see such pure support, willing to stake their own shares for him. But Baek Jin-woo wasn’t stingy enough to take that.

“Don’t worry, it was a joke about the shares.” he said with a smile.

“Even if heaven and earth change, I won’t fail at this level,” he added.

“……Yes?”

“Oh, and one more thing I’m curious about.”

“……?”

“What happens if all 40 players here get eliminated at the same time, making it impossible for the system to judge?”

“……?!”

Yu Jia’s expression froze.

‘This guy…’

“What? No need for that. First, let’s make sure those two unlucky ones get eliminated… hmm, but maybe I shouldn’t.”

A joke? Or serious? He had the ability but chose not to.

“Yu Jia, and Park Chang-seok.”

“Yes?”

“Are there any players we must eliminate, or players with bad personalities, or players we personally dislike?”

“…Why?”

Baek Jin-woo’s smile grew wider.

“I just want to avoid awkward situations during the national team training if we end up together.”

“….”

Park Chang-seok and Yu Jia exchanged glances, unsure how to react to such audacity.

The Battle Arena resembled a dungeon.

The system provided the field, and players could perform freely. But unlike normal dungeons, the opponents were other players—and if all your summons were defeated, you were automatically ejected from the dungeon.

“- The first match will start with a multi-player battle, just like the World League preliminaries! The field is set as a forest, and players will be eliminated until 20 remain! Please enter in order!”

‘A multi-player battle…’

Baek Jin-woo hadn’t done this often during Battle of Summoners. There weren’t enough players back then, and when ZinuGod joined, everyone else would quit, saying it was no fun.

“Good luck, Jin-woo!”

“Let’s go! Fighting!”

Encouraged by Yu Bai staff, Baek Jin-woo entered the dungeon.

[Entering the ‘Abandoned Forest’.]

The view shifted, and strange floating birds appeared—actually, surveillance birds with camera lenses for eyes.

‘Oh.’

They were likely being used to broadcast the match live.

“Ramba, Hunkyo, Pok-ryong, Doldol, Falcon.”

As soon as he entered, Baek Jin-woo released his summons. He immediately activated Doldol’s “Assassinate” skill—a short invisibility skill that could be maintained indefinitely without attacking.

This was Baek Jin-woo’s signature style: never reveal the core summons to the opponent. Even during his ZinuGod days, none of the other Emperors noticed Doldol’s true strength.

“- ZinuGod, what kind of summon is that? It just appears and instantly deals massive damage… is it a new S-class summon?”

They never realized that the destroyer of their summons had been the B-class Storm Slasher. And they probably never would, since he never let them discover it.

“Ramba.”

• ……!

Ramba swung his staff immediately, targeting Hunkyo.

• Kkirurururu!

The Falcon buffed Hunkyo’s movement speed.

Swoosh!

Hunkyo, sword in hand, closed his eyes and gathered stacks solemnly.

‘Normally I’d use Doldol to build stacks too…’

But there was no need. Not revealing his full power was also part of the strategy.

‘This multi-player battle starts and ends with Hunkyo.’

Baek Jin-woo leaned against a nearby chopped log, crossing his legs comfortably.

‘Do I even need to move?’

The eliminated players would come to him on their own.

Just as Baek Jin-woo predicted, Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop immediately joined forces.

Their smug grins met each other.

Some might say it’s unfair to team up in a survival match. But in the international world, even that is skill.

“Where’s that rookie?”

“Wait a moment… over here. 200m north, 700m apart. Pretty close.”

The World League was directly run by the system. Human notions of fairness didn’t matter.

“Let’s ambush him immediately.”

“Do we need to?”

“Maybe just humiliate him a bit and end it?”

They were confident. Ranked 9th and 10th domestically, and former national team members, no one dared touch them. Even if someone approached, they’d run away immediately.

“Ugh.”

Oh Ji-myung smirked at the fleeing players but didn’t attack. First, he had to deal with Baek Jin-woo, the “parasitic bastard.”

Crunch, crunch.

Pushing through the bushes, they arrived—and there he was.

Baek Jin-woo, arms behind his head, smiling casually.

‘Look at this cheeky brat…’

Oh Ji-myung’s expression instantly shifted to disbelief.