AECS 63

Chapter 63

Rune Business (1)

YuBaek City, Training Grounds.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of hammers striking anvils echoed in every direction.

“Going well?”

Baek Jin-woo asked, and Runder let out a hearty laugh.

• “Ha ha ha! You’re here! Hmm… well, it’s not exactly going well… the materials are a bit lacking. But still, I’m satisfied just to be able to swing the hammer like this! Ho ho ho!”

Around him were broken runes and scattered materials.

Skill Level?

• Crafting (Lv.1): Use various materials to craft the desired rune with a certain probability.

It was still Lv.1.

Huh.

Not what he expected.

Even though it had been over a week since he made an agreement with a major guild, Runder hadn’t reached Lv.2 yet.

‘Seems he still doesn’t realize…’

Players haven’t been impressed by him.

That’s understandable.

Runder’s crafting success rate being only 0.1% certainly contributed.

More accurately, players probably had no idea how to make proper use of him.

“First, here—take these materials and try.”

Thud-thud-thud!

Baek Jin-woo opened his inventory and dropped the monster drop materials he’d collected from the Saturday Dungeon over time.

He had been saving them instead of selling them even while grinding low-tier dungeons.

• “Wha—what is all this?!”

Runder shouted in delight.

“Try making some top-grade Strength Runes with these. Make them with Strength, Agility, Critical Rate, and Critical Damage stats.”

Strength Runes.

Runes that maximize a summon’s power—basically a graduation-grade rune for his current summons, a safe and solid choice.

However, Strength Runes had one drawback.

Strength Runes from the weekday dungeon never come with Critical Damage stats.

‘But our Runder can add that.’

It’s not just Strength Runes.

Runder could freely attach any desired stats to any rune.

• “Oh, with this amount of materials, I can make about 10 runes! That’ll raise my crafting skill a lot too!”

“Yeah, I’ll keep bringing more materials.”

From now on, Runder was the top priority.

If Baek Jin-woo’s summons were a car, Runder would be the engine.

The higher Runder’s crafting level rose, the faster the summons would grow—exponentially.

After chatting briefly with Runder, Baek Jin-woo went to see Yu-jia.

He wanted to check if the major guilds were properly entrusting Runder with their runes.

Yu-jia shook her head.

“Not much. The executives are sending some, but it’s mostly just because they trust your face, Jin-woo.”

“Hm, that won’t do.”

In the end, Baek Jin-woo made a decision.

If the rankers don’t realize Runder’s potential?

Then he would promote him himself.

“Tell them that anyone who entrusts runes will get personal consulting from me.”

“Wha—really? Aren’t you too busy?”

“Can’t be helped. I bet they have no idea which runes suit their summons best. Just say I’ll consult for a week.”

“Got it! I’ll contact the executives directly!”

“Oh, and—”

“Yes?”

“Right now, Ah-jin is selling runes. I’m thinking of starting a new business.”

“What kind of business?”

“Luxury runes. Not the so-called ‘luxury’ runes people call that—real luxury runes that truly deserve the name.”

Baek Jin-woo briefly explained his business idea.

The first product would be Strength Runes with Critical Damage added!

Runes that could only be purchased through YuBaek, sold at a high price.

“Can that really be done?”

“Yes. That’s why Runder is broken…”

Honestly, it was impressive.

‘If I were in the Big 3, I’d have gathered materials like crazy and handed them over…’

It meant that the Korean level hadn’t reached that point yet.

No matter.

If they don’t know, he would just teach them.

“First, work with Ah-jin to prepare. This will definitely be huge. Probably bigger overseas than here.”

“Ah, got it!”

The moment, YuBaek gained another potential income stream!

Yu-jia’s eyes lit up as she moved quickly.

Kim Cheol-su was a new player in the Arirang guild.

Recently, he received a private message in the guild community.

‘Use the dwarf? Baek Jin-woo personally gives consulting? And only for a week?’

He already knew about the rune dwarf.

There had been a guild-wide announcement before.

It was classified information, protected by contracts—never to be leaked externally.

‘If you bring materials, he’ll make the rune you want.’

At first, it sounded exciting, but reading carefully, he realized it wasn’t that great.

‘Success rate 0.1%? And you have to give a high-grade summoning scroll if it succeeds?’

Basically, throw away materials painstakingly gathered from the Saturday Dungeon!

Moreover, according to his seniors, it wasn’t just “a lot” of materials.

It was an insane amount.

In that case, it’d be easier to just buy decent runes available on the market.

But…

‘Baek Jin-woo’s consulting is different.’

He was famous among players.

Even the recent national-level rankers all said the same thing.

• “Baek Jin-woo is literally a god. Words can’t describe him.”
• “It changes your whole perspective. Honestly, until now, I wasn’t even a real player.”
• “If he recommends a rune? Just do it! The difference is night and day.”
• “His fundamentals are on another level. Even with the same summon, your playstyle changes.”

‘Just how amazing can he be?’

‘Materials? Fine, I’ll invest a little and see this consulting for myself!’

With that mindset, he entered YuBaek City.

Buzz.

‘Huh?’

The line was quite long.

In the corner of the main gate park, a dwarf was swinging a hammer, and next to him were a long table where Baek Jin-woo and Baek Ah-jin were seated.

‘Oh, it’s Baek Jin-woo.’

Kim Cheol-su’s eyes shone.

The modern hero he had long admired was sitting right in front of him!

Before him were several senior rankers waiting for consulting.

After about thirty minutes, it was his turn.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hello!”

Kim Cheol-su greeted politely.

“What kind of summon consulting would you like?”

“Summon…?”

“You didn’t come to get rune consultation?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

Flustered, he briefly froze before showing his main summon.

A B-rank Crimson Bear!

Not a common summon, and often mistaken for a C-rank Crimson Fire Bear because of its similar appearance.

But…

“Crimson Bear, huh?”

Baek Jin-woo identified it at a glance.

Moreover…

“Judging by the three scars on its body, it’s still level 30. You haven’t had it long, right?”

“Uh… correct! How did you know?”

Even the detailed background was known.

‘Even our guild master didn’t know this.’

National-level captain, indeed.

His trust in Baek Jin-woo rose further.

“Of course I know. How could I consult without knowing the summon?”

“Truly impressive.”

“First, tell me some info about the summon.”

“Yes!”

Kim Cheol-su shared his summon’s status window.

From learned skills to equipped runes, Baek Jin-woo could now inspect everything.

“Hm, Crimson Bear with Berserker Runes… You were thinking to make it a tank, lowering defense to boost damage, right?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I heard.”

“Not good. Didn’t you think it would be too slow in mobility and attack speed if it only focuses on damage?”

“…Honestly, I did. So I got a supporter…”

“No, instead of using a supporter with just one Crimson Bear, just change the runes.”

“What runes…?”

“Double Attack Runes.”

“…Double Attack?”

Runes that give a chance to attack once more per turn.

That setup boosts damage while compensating for low attack speed.

However…

“Those runes don’t come with Critical Rate, so the setup is tricky…”

“No.”

Baek Jin-woo smiled.

“Our Runder has no such limits. Even Double Attack can have Critical Rate.”

“…Really?”

“I told you—any rune, any desired stats.”

“Oh, understood! I’ll try it!”

You don’t ignore advice like that!

Time to gather all your money and invest!

“Ask about the materials over there.”

Next to him, Baek Ah-jin was busy organizing reference sheets.

They listed runes and needed materials.

When Kim Cheol-su asked…

“Double Attack Rune? One moment.”

Flap!

He searched the sheets and found the materials.

“To make one rune, bring 1,000 Fairy Wings, 1,000 Dice of Fate, 2,000 Firefly Stones, 1,000 Golden Dragonfly Wings. Oh, and one high-grade summoning scroll as a fee.”

“….”

An enormous amount.

Why so much? Policy had changed.

Success rate 0.1%, so take the expected value and guarantee at least one rune.

All those materials drop in the Saturday Dungeon at very low rates.

“I’ll… gather as much as I can.”

Kim Cheol-su bowed and left.

He now had a goal: gather enough materials to make six Double Attack Runes!

Then strengthen them correctly to reach graduation specs!

Whether the strengthening succeeds was uncertain, but to get there, he’d need to grind materials hard.

And all those materials would contribute to Runder’s precious crafting experience.

Night after the consulting ended.

“Wow…”

Baek Ah-jin genuinely admired.

“Look at all these materials.”

Clang! Clang!

Runder was still hammering non-stop.

His face radiated happiness.

• “Ha ha ha! This is amazing! So many materials that I couldn’t even use them all overnight! I really hit the jackpot meeting you! Thank you, truly!”

“Oppa.”

“Yes?”

“Did you expect this many people?”

“Of course.”

Baek Jin-woo smiled.

He knew whose consulting it was.

And he expected this much material.

Because…

• Crafting (Lv.2): Use various materials to craft the desired rune with a certain probability.

In just one day, Runder’s crafting level rose to 2.

Now the success rate was 0.5%.

If before 1,000 materials were needed for 1 rune, now only 200 were needed for 1.

Still, Baek Jin-woo didn’t announce the increased success rate.

He kept receiving full 1,000-material lots.

‘First, get the expected value, then make more with leftovers.’

Players might be annoyed, but that’s the consulting fee.

The priority was building Runder’s experience to max Lv.10.

The runes crafted?

They would be tagged as luxury runes and sold everywhere.

A major income source for YuBaek.

‘If they’re unhappy, they don’t have to entrust craftings.’

All transactions follow supply and demand logic.

In this world, the only one who can make these runes is Baek Jin-woo, and sufficient cost must be paid.

Not exploitation, just Win-Win.

Clang! Clang!

Thus, Runder’s serious skill-building began in earnest.