1.

Han Yeori was having fun.

“Wow. I’m strong.”

Every time she leveled up, she put all her stat points into Magic Power, just as Han Simin had ordered.

Naturally, with her physical stats so low, direct combat should have become increasingly difficult as she leveled up. Like any other mage or priest, she should have been forced to either strike first from a distance and kill in one shot or find a party to share experience with. This was the inherent penalty for any user who attacked and defended with magic—a medium that didn’t exist in reality.

However, such limitations didn’t apply to a Legendary Buffer.

The Buffer had been one of the Five Legends who represented the continent. Because the other four were so distinct and the name “Buffer” sounded so support-oriented, people tended to overlook the class. But in truth, the Legendary Buffer was a hidden, absurdly broken class. Its ridiculous buffing ability allowed not only allies but the Buffer themselves to wield unbelievable power.

Moreover, as the original Legendary Buffer developed his skills, he came to prefer strengthening himself over buffing others. This preference was the driving force that allowed him to turn curses into blessings. Of course, when you gain something, you lose something; the buffs applied to others naturally became weaker.

But the Buffer didn’t care.

—“Whatever, you lot. If you don’t want it, just say so. You’re not getting any from now on.”

The party members fell silent.

In games where healers were treated like royalty, finding one was like plucking a star from the sky. Having one simply meant you could kill things faster or more easily. A healer became a king the moment a game reached the point where you couldn’t kill bosses or even grind without one. And if that healer was as hard to find as a star, only to then threaten to withhold their power, the situation was even more dire.

In that sense, for the Five Legends—who had been a single party adventuring together long before they were hailed as heroes—even a slight increase in their abilities had an enormous impact. The Buffer’s existence made them not just the dominant party, but an unbeatable one. They weren’t just the boss; they were the absolute overlords.

Of course, they were all extremely close, and it was all just harmless teasing. But since these eccentrics could go months without seeing each other over a simple prank, they all respected one another’s quirks.

The result was a Buffer whose power had been pushed to the extreme, leading to the miracle of turning penalties into blessings.

The other Legendary classes each had a similar ace up their sleeve. After all, wouldn’t it be disappointing if the heroes who had slain the Demon King had nothing of the sort? This was a game, and for the best classes on the continent, having at least one ultimate move was practically mandatory. Yet the Buffer class simply handed that ultimate to any user from the very beginning.

In fact, it might not even be an ultimate. It only looked like one to outsiders—which, to be fair, wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Hi-yah!”

Thud!

“Haaap!”

Yelp!

A nineteen-year-old girl who knew nothing about combat—yet had somehow survived among people with killer instincts, people who drew their swords at the slightest provocation—was now treating rabbits with raised claws like misbehaving children. She would take a few hits before killing them in a single blow.

You couldn’t even tell if she was a Buffer or a Tank. If a third party had seen her, they would have assumed she was just another rich user stacked to the teeth with gear.

Whether that was true or not, Han Yeori simply dove headfirst into the game and kept grinding. She had initially planned to play for only two or three hours before logging out, but that notion vanished completely as she became addicted to the thrill of leveling up.

And it was understandable.

Leveling up was supposed to get harder the further you went, but for her, each level up became a stepping stone to even faster leveling. Of course, her level didn’t just shoot up endlessly. The required EXP naturally increased with each level, and that increase was greater than the passive bonus the Buffer received.

But that bonus wasn’t a simple percentage. Underlying it was the massive EXP penalty that should have been there in the first place.

Han Yeori had never experienced the penalty herself, but she had been practically brainwashed by Simin for hours. He’d told her that leveling up was so incredibly hard and tedious that going back to the army might seem preferable. She had entered the game believing him, which, ironically, made everything feel easy. That kind of mindset was ideal for leveling; happiness and interest made the grind fly by.

Above all, Han Yeori was still at a low level.

Light kept flashing around her as she leveled up. The flashes slowed as time passed, but the rate didn’t plummet off a cliff. With each level, she gained more stats, and her skill proficiency rose as well. When she put her stat points into Magic Power, her skill power increased; when her skill power increased, the Strength and Agility granted by her buffs also rose.

It was like a Möbius strip; as one stat rose, everything else circled around and grew stronger with it. With her increased power, she could kill stronger monsters more easily. And while the required EXP also rose, the amount she gained increased with each level thanks to her bonus.

How was this any less broken than Simin’s 100% enhancement success rate?

And what if you added Buff the Buff—the heirloom of the Legendary Buffer that Simin had extorted—on top of that?

Who knew what would happen in the late game. One thing was certain: if a user with Han Yeori’s current level of game understanding could wield the Buffer this effectively, then there was no better class in the early game.

Whether she knew it or not, Han Yeori happily kept on grinding. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

*

Time flew by.

The tasks to enhance his Mystery Ring were sending him all over the continent. Even on Kardian, a streak of bad luck could mean a trip to the opposite end of the world for a single enhancement. It was one such journey after another, so time passed quickly even though he felt like he was getting nothing done. And this was just for low-tier upgrades, not even high-level enhancements.

Anyone else would have been furious, but Han Simin calmly went wherever the enhancement lucky spots directed him, prepared what he needed, and carried out the enhancements. That was all because of the ring’s air of mystery.

’If it’s making me work this hard, and there’s still not a single line of explanation, then there has to be something to this item. At least Epic, Legendary, maybe even God-grade?’

Once you start daydreaming about the possibilities, there’s no end to it. And Han Simin wasn’t just anyone. He was the kind of guy who didn’t know the meaning of "enough." If he invested one, he expected a return of ten. And now, that same guy was enduring weeks of boredom and effort, all for this one item.

It was almost like the early days of the game, when he squeezed money out of the Specialists in exchange for EXP buffs. Except now, his price had gone up. If nothing came of this, he had no intention of just letting it go.

Of course, BetaGo did not answer Simin’s fervent prayers. He was just hyping himself up.

While he was busy fantasizing, a message came in from Han Yeori for the first time in a while.

[Yeori: Simin!]

“Yeah? What’s up?”

It had been a while since his little sister had contacted him. In fact, after a few more weeks of radio silence, he had practically forgotten she existed. Only when he heard her voice did the image resurface: Han Yeori, proudly bragging that she’d become the owner of one of the last Legendary classes on the continent.

You could call it heartless, but it was the sad reality of a shut-in who played games all day. Still, Simin was a good actor. He greeted her warmly, pretending he hadn’t forgotten about her for a single moment.

“Did you find something good? Or is leveling too hard? Yeah, it’s rough, isn’t it? Everyone thinks it’ll be easy at your level, but the beginning is always the hardest, especially for first-timers. The monsters are ridiculously strong, and with their AI, you can’t kill them easily. Buffers, in particular, can’t really grind solo, and the EXP requirement is insane. Don’t try to rush it. Just take your time and find a party. I could help, but that would make the game boring, and you wouldn’t get a chance to learn your class.”

What followed sounded like big-brotherly advice, but it was really just rage toward BetaGo, born from experience.

“Damn BetaGo. Shoves a Legendary class on you that nobody asked for, then slaps you with a massive EXP penalty. Ugh.”

Han Yeori calmly listened to his rant, then replied.

—Yeori: No, I was calling to ask about hunting grounds.

“Hunting grounds? I already told you. For low levels, just kill the animals around the city until you hit level ten, then start taking on beasts around fifteen. Did you already forget? Or is it too hard? If it is, just stick to rabbits, even if it takes longer. There’s no rush.”

—Yeori: I already cleared all that.

“Huh?”

—Yeori: I did what you said and kept killing beasts, and now I’m level 20. So, where do I go next?

Simin was too stunned to speak.

“Twenty?”

—Yeori: Yeah. I just kept killing beasts like you said, but the EXP is starting to slow down. I think I can take on stronger monsters now. So, where should I go?

Simin was speechless. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was saying. His gaze drifted over to Specialist, who was grinding diligently nearby.

“Seolah.”

“Yes?”

“How long did it take you to reach level 20, back in the early days?”

“Me? It took a while. About a month? Maybe a little less. It’s been so long I don’t really remember.”

’Right. Exactly.’

He remembered that when he first met Jeong Seolah, she had been around level 10. That was back when he was still scrambling around the castle, trying to learn Enhancement.

The memory was too old to be crystal clear, but he distinctly remembered what Seolah had said.

And it wasn’t just Seolah; it was the same for other users. In the early game, it took about that long for everyone, no matter who you were. That was true even now, after efficient hunting routes had been established over time.

But Han Yeori’s leveling speed was anything but normal.

And there was no way she was lying.

Above all, she had a Legendary-grade class. He understood penalties better than anyone.

“Yeori, are you exploiting a bug or something?”

—“What’s a bug?”

“...Right. As if a bug like that would even exist. Then how the hell are you gaining EXP so fast? No, more importantly, how are you even killing the monsters?”

—“I just use buffs, and as my level goes up, the EXP I get goes up too?”

“What?”

That was as far as the conversation went.

At that point, Han Simin gave up on talking. He also gave up on thinking.

Buffers had never factored into his calculations, and they were a class he couldn’t even begin to theorize about—just as Enhancers and Tamers had once been.

Han Simin, who had been on his way to the lucky spot with the ring in hand, shoved it back into his pocket.

“I’m going to go check on my sister for a moment.”

When you don’t understand something, the best solution is to see it with your own eyes.

Han Simin set out to verify the unresolved questions and the absurd truth that had been presented to him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

*