There are only three conditions.

The six team leaders listened closely.

First. The representative will be affiliated with the Association so as not to be biased toward any particular Guild.

Second, the participating guilds will be dispatched to areas on the 2nd floor where they have a high amount of influence and are able to gather an adequate amount of information.

Third, the participating guilds will hand over the full extent of information that Specter requests without concealing anything.

Those were the conditions for the guilds. The last term was the reward for being compliant.

Once Specter receives the information that he requests, he will publicly acknowledge the affiliated guilds contribution.

The team leaders fell deep into thought as they listened.

The contract isnt complicated.

Specter is saying that he will give us legitimacy

In exchange for information.

Hes too good at this. Hes experienced.

They were silent. They had finally realized what Specter was doing. In last nights press conference, hed heavily criticized the players and guilds. It had only been a day, but most people already agreed with him.

People are mad at the guilds for keeping their bellies full instead of keeping the fiends in check.

Once a controversy like this begins, it goes on for a while.

And the Big 6 will be affected the most as a symbol of the guild.

He planted the poison and is now offering us the antidote In the end, hes the one that profits the most.

His perfect plan gave them goosebumps. If one guild refused his offer, they would be the only one with a negative image. But with their constant state of competition, they wouldnt let that happen.

Damn. I thought Specter was naive like Kim Woo-joong

Hes good at this. Considering his level of skill and influence Hes dangerous.

The team leaders all made the same decision.

Im sorry. I dont think that this is something that we can decide on our own.

Well need to discuss this with the Guildmaster.

I understand. Seo Jun-ho nodded. This wasnt something that a mere team leader could sign on. I look forward to your responses. I have an appointment, so Ill take my leave.

The team leaders could do nothing but watch as he casually strutted out of the conference room. When he left, Heo Junsu let out a long sigh.

Weve walked right into the dragons den.

As long as Specter keeps Seo Jun-ho has his representative, no one can recruit him.

Does that mean Seo Jun-ho has as much potential as one of the Five Heroes?

With the way things are unfolding, its possible.

We already know that Specter-nim has a good eye for people.

The gunslinger, you mean?

It was a famous story. Gilbert Green had only D-rank skills*. While others brushed him aside, Specter was the only one who had seen his potential. This is why Seo Jun-ho had piqued their interest even more.

(TN: It may be a single skill. Its not clarified.)

I want him even more now, knowing that Specter has acknowledged him Kiora muttered, her eyes sparkling. Gong Juha snorted.

Theres no use talking like that. Hes rejected all of us.

No one could deny that.

* * *

Mr. Snake head!

Mr. Snake heeaad!

Seo Jun-ho stopped and turned around. It was a voice hed heard often in Las Vegas.

Team Leader Gong?

Its been a while, ehe. She seemed a little embarrassed, but she congratulated him first. You acted really cool when we parted ways But this isnt how I expected us to meet again.

Youre right. Didnt we agree to meet on the 2nd floor?

Yes, but I didnt know youd accomplish something so amazing. I bet youve been getting a lot of love calls from guilds.

Well, yes. As soon as the news of him breaking the Cave of Trials records spread, hed started receiving tons of calls.

I didnt even know there were that many guilds. Thanks to that, Cha Si-eun had gotten a lot busier. Hed instructed her to reject all the offers from guilds that werent part of the Big 6.

Ive been quite busy lately because of it.

Wow, I see. Gong Juha stared at him expectantly.

If youre expecting special treatment because of our personal relationship

Ah, no! Its not like that! I wouldnt want it even if you offered! She quickly shook her head and cleared her throat loudly. I was just wondering if you were close to Specter-nim.

Close? Its just a business relationship.

Have you met him in person?

You saw him yesterday, didnt you?

Not like that. Im asking if youve met him privately.

Seo Jun-ho thought for a moment. He saw him every day in the mirror when he brushed his teeth and washed his face, so he supposed he did see him a lot.

Yes, I have.

Then She reached into her pocket and pulled out a book. By any chance, can you get his autograph for me the next time you see him? She looked like an excited puppy waving its tail. He couldnt refuse.

Ill ask him

Really?! Okay! Her face brightened. Please tell him to write To my precious fan Juha. With a heart, if possible.

Do you think hed do something so cringey?

Its not like youre the one thats writing it! But if Specter-nim doesnt want to, it cant be helped She wilted a bit.

Seo Jun-ho scratched his head. Ill ask. He Well, I suppose it will depend on how he feels that day.

Yes, yes, Im counting on you. With her mission accomplished, she started to study Seo Jun-ho. Youve grown a scary amount in the last two months, Mr. Snake head.

Really?

Yes. Im mortified that I tried to recruit you that early.

I think its a little too early to say that

Its a compliment. You havent forgotten our bet, have you?

I still have four months left. Ill go up to the 2nd floor within that time.

Ill give you a present in exchange for the autograph then. She waved and started down the opposite direction of the hallway. Im counting on you for the autograph! Tell him Ill make it my family heirloom!

You like him that much? Seo Jun-ho looked down at the book that shed given him and chuckled.

[Great Figures of Korea Specter]

She really is obsessed.

The book had been published 26 years ago when hed been active as Specter.

* * *

Seo Jun-ho arrived at the training room and changed into light workout clothes. Before he began, he checked his status window as he stretched.

Including Helper of Ascension and Limit Breaker, he had a total of three titles. The status window had shortened it to make it easy to read.

And if I equip Black Armor on top of all this His stats would be insanely high. He even wondered if hed match the stats from when he was level 60.

But even if it gets that high He wouldnt be the unstoppable force he was in the past.

This was just the beginning.

Once he reached the 2nd floor, Seo Jun-ho would truly become a rookie. That was why he was using his fame to use the Big 6s resources to gather information.

Im an investment for the Association, but well need time to increase their influence and ability to gather information.

It was already publicly known that humanity had dominated up to the 2nd floor. But that didnt mean that every nook and cranny had been explored.

I heard that there are a lot of uncovered areas.

And the players whod been to the 3rd floor were a small minority. Just as the 2nd floor required you to reach level 30, the 3rd floor had its own requirements.

Until the Association creates a better information network, Ill use the Big 6 to help them grow. He didnt feel guilty for using them. Its not like he was using them for free, and he hadnt been the one to give them a bad image.

Now, then He pulled on a glove that was in the training room. It was the same item hed used while taking the player license test, and it let him touch holograms. Is this how you use it?

He connected to the training rooms system and pressed a few buttons. A human-shaped sandbag hologram appeared in the center of the room.

Lets see Seo Jun-ho landed a straight punch without magic. He heard the sound of the impact, and the sandbag turned red. Words appeared to its left.

[Congratulations! 9,523 points!]

[An outstanding destructive force!!]

This reminds me of the punch machines they used to have in old arcades.

He slowly unraveled his magic, his arms overflowing with power.

Hup!

His fist struck the head again with a violent force. Boom! The sound was much louder than before, and the numbers rose.

[Congratulations! 101,518 points!]

[A score thats unattainable without magic! Youre a player, arent you?]

Phew Seo Jun-ho let his magic disperse as he saw the score. The punch was over ten times more destructive than before. This was the technique hed been using this whole time. He would charge his strikes with magic at certain moments. It allocated magic to a very fine degree, so it was a magic-efficient technique. Hed used it when he hadnt had a lot of magic as Specter.

But theres a downside to it.

There was a slight delay when he summoned his magic, and it wasnt as powerful.

Its a given. I made the technique to optimize the use of my limited magic. So hed created another technique to make up for its weaknesses. Skaya helped me a lot with it.

Theyd put their heads together. If you lacked control, focus, or mental willpower, it was a useless skill.

Booster.

His circuits started to burn like wildfire, circulating his body at high speed.

One lap, two, three

His magic didnt know how to stop. It kept going.

KeukSeo Jun-ho groaned. His body temperature rose, and he started to drip cold sweat. His magic was circulating thirteen times faster than usual. This was why he needed fine control, focus, and mental willpower.

The only downside to this skill is that it consumes a lot of magic And it made you hot. If it werent for those two things, it wouldve been a flawless support skill. It served a single purpose: to strengthen the entire body.

When Seo Jun-ho used this technique, he became a superhuman. No enemy had ever defeated him in this state.

Well, its been 25 years since then, so there are probably a lot of people now who use a similar technique.

His body overflowed with power. Seo Jun-ho tapped on the settings and summoned a full-body mirror. Vigor spilled from his body, and his eyes sparkled like stars.

Ill have to be careful when using this. The person in the mirror was no longer the simpleminded Seo Jun-ho hed been masquerading as. He was a dangerous, powerful man.

Seo Jun-ho turned to the hologram sandbag. I wonder how high the score will be this time.

His body flew forward like a ray of light, and his fist made the head explode. The entire quality of the sound was different. It was like the roar of a bomb.

Seo Jun-hos lip curled as he read the words that appeared.

[Congratulations! 215,748 points!]

[Are you a ranker in the Frontier?]

In his Booster state, the output of magic shot up. So even if he used the same amount of magic, the destructive force would be twice as powerful.

Of course, the aftermath was also strong.

Ack, I wont be able to use this for long. Seo Jun-ho quickly released his magic before his body became even hotter. In a moments notice, his body had become as hot as a computer that had been on for a long time.

I think itll take about one week to tame this technique.

If I can pull in the reins on Booster, Ill go to the Winter Castle.

And if things went as expected, it would be the last Gate he would clear on the 1st floor.