God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 12: Episode 2 _ Enhancement is All About the Location (5)
He was built like a mountain, and the giant axe slung over his back was menacing.
“I asked if you’re that punk!”
Simin didn’t respond.
But such secondary details were nothing compared to the main feature.
‘One hit from him and I’m dead.’ With that grim face and those solid muscles, the man looked less like a pig and more like a well-toned giant.
“Oppa, stop it,” Jeong Seolah said.
“Stop what! You almost died, Seolah!”
Simin was confused.
Even knowing that player-killing inside the castle came with a massive penalty, Han Simin remained silent, feeling like the man before him would ignore it and throw a punch anyway. In the midst of his silence, a shocking development occurred.
‘What the?’
The giant was approaching Jeong Seolah with a teary-eyed expression, stroking her hair.
His jaw dropped. This wasn’t just a hell party. That giant was Jeong Seolah’s boyfriend? Han Simin’s gaze swept over the man’s body.
And then he realized.
“H-Holy shit!”
The giant, too, was clad head to toe in leather armor. So that’s how it was. His legs went weak with despair. It wasn’t that he had any intention of making a move on her, but still!
“So the money was his!”
Jeong Seolah’s lack of resistance to his touch, despite her annoyed expression, quickly fueled Han Simin’s misunderstanding. It was a whirlwind of shock and horror. Just then, someone placed a hand on his shoulder and clicked their tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. Oppa. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t underestimate Seolah Unni. Her standards are pretty high, you know.”
“...Who are you?” Simin asked.
An arm casually draped around his shoulders, and on top of that, this girl was speaking casually from the start. Han Simin turned his head and scowled at the woman’s face right in front of him. ‘Another member of the hell party?’ A slender jawline, a small face, and delicate features. Unlike Jeong Seolah, this woman had a smiling face; she was cute and pretty. The kind of girl who would be constantly bothered by men asking for her number on the street. But Han Simin had no time to think about how pretty she was.
“So, you’re the enhancement master? The one who succeeded at +13? Wow! This must be it, huh? Totally awesome!”
“...So?”
The overwhelming atmosphere left no room for appreciating her face.
“Can I try using it just once?”
He didn’t know how to respond.
“That’s enough.”
As he stepped away from the woman, who was trying to seduce him by sliding her hand from his shoulder down to his waist, Jeong Seolah intervened, stepping in front of him.
‘Phew.’
Regaining his composure, Han Simin quickly looked around. Was there anyone else? Thankfully, he saw no one. She said it was a small, elite team, so was it just the three of them? He desperately hoped so.
“Sorry about that. They’re a bit hard to control,” Jeong Seolah said.
“...It’s fine.”
She’s been gaming with people like this for years? He suddenly felt a new respect for her. Meanwhile, she began the introductions.
“This is Jeong Hyeonsu, my older brother. And this is Kang Yeseul. My brother is a tank, and Yeseul is a healer. Though they haven’t changed their jobs yet.”
“Ah. Yes, hello.” Simin offered a calm greeting. The words “older brother” had helped him regain his composure, relieved that the world hadn’t completely rotted away just yet.
“I’m Han Simin, and my job is an enhancement master.”
“Let me borrow the +13 just once! Oppa!” Yeseul shouted.
Kang Yeseul gave him an enthusiastic welcome, while Jeong Hyeonsu continued to glare with a sullen expression. A sigh escaped Simin.
‘Good thing I don’t have to hunt with them.’ If he had to stick with them all day, he’d probably go insane.
“Right now, right now! What do you say?”
Kang Yeseul clung to him, pestering him. It was a situation that should have made any man proud, but whether it was because he had been so intimidated at the start or because his standards had already been raised by Jeong Seolah, a sigh was all that came out.
“Move,” he said, gently pushing Kang Yeseul’s forehead and hiding behind Jeong Seolah. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. When you’re around crazy people, even a sane person is bound to go mad.
“You, you bastard! If you touch Seolah, you’re dead!” Hyeonsu warned.
“...I really don’t have to hunt with you guys, right?”
“No, and don’t worry too much. They’re not bad people, they’re just shy at first,” Seora reassured.
Yeah, right.
“Oppa, you’re pretty handsome. What do you think of a girl like me? I’m cute during the day, but skilled in the bedroom,” Yeseul proclaimed.
They’re shy, alright...
“Kang Yeseul.”
“Alright, Unni. Geez. I was just trying to be friendly, so don’t mind me, Oppa!”
Jeong Seolah also seemed embarrassed, as her expressionless face broke into a smile. Well, this wasn’t reality, so what reason was there to avoid a few people with screws loose? Especially when money and a beautiful woman were both opening their arms to him.
“Then I’ll start with the enhancement.”
“Okay.”
Jeong Seolah’s gaze swept over the dagger hanging at Han Simin’s waist before she held out her longsword.
“I’d like to get it to +13, or at least +12 if that’s not possible.” Her eyes, having already tasted the power of enhancement, were resolute. As if she had told him beforehand, Jeong Hyeonsu approached with a sour look and handed over ten enhancement stones.
“If you try to scam my little sister, you’ll have me to answer to.”
“As if you’d have any way of knowing if I did...”
“What?”
“Nothing, sir.”
Though momentarily intimidated, Han Simin was an open-minded man who knew how to adapt to any situation. Having roughly figured out Jeong Hyeonsu’s personality, he grumbled under his breath. The man’s grim face contorted, but it was clear he was holding back because Jeong Seolah was there. Seeing that, Han Simin’s intuition nudged him.
‘If I play this right...’
An overprotective brother and a wealthy pair of siblings.
“Here’s fifty gold coins. I’m counting on you,” Jeong Seolah said.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
A wicked smile spread across Han Simin’s face as he prepared to hammer the sword right then and there.
7.
Sacrifice the few for the sake of the many. ‘I’ll enhance Seolah’s weapon and then reel in the big fish.’ To be honest, he felt a little guilty about trying to squeeze money out of her. She was the one who had provided him with his starting capital when he was a penniless beggar, and she was an ideal customer who agreed to a five-gold coins enhancement without any complaints. Still, business was business, and he was steeling himself to see to it when a perfect target appeared on its own. Her money might be Jeong Hyeonsu’s money, but he decided not to worry about such trivial matters.
“Hyeonsu, it’s fine if just Seolah and I go alone.”
“It’s Mr. Jeong to you! And are you crazy? You think I’d let my Seolah go alone with a punk like you? Not a chance!”
Jeong Hyeonsu’s grim face spat out words that didn’t suit him, and Jeong Seolah shook her head. As top-ranking players whose rankings changed every hour, time spent not hunting like this was a loss.
“Oppa, why don’t you just go hunt?” Seolah suggested.
“No. Absolutely not!”
“Haaah.”
Truthfully, if she could have sent him away, she would have done so long ago. But from her twenty-seven years of experience, she knew her brother would never back down on matters like this. So she gave up and changed to her other teammate.
“Why are you following us?” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
“We’re a team! It’s not like I can go hunt by myself,” Yeseul cried.
Kang Yeseul had also tagged along, using the excuse that she wanted to watch the enhancement process. Unintentionally, the entire Specialist team was now moving together.
“I don’t get why you’re wasting time on some stupid enhancement, Seolah.”
“Ugh. Hyeonsu Oppa! If it’s important to Unni, then it’s important. Why is a guy built like a mountain whining so much?” Yeseul shot back.
“What? When did I whine!”
“You just did.”
Han Simin shook his head. As far as he could see, the only sane people here were Jeong Seolah and himself. When talking to someone with a few screws loose, you had to play along.
“Hyeonsu, please protect me well. I’m only level five, so a couple of hits will kill me.”
“I don’t care if you die.”
“That’s harsh.”
Simin approached Hyeonsu without hesitation, striking up a conversation. He wouldn’t actually beat him to death, right? It didn’t matter if he died, anyway. That’s why he could be so bold.
“Then I’ll have no choice but to rely on Seolah for help...” Simin stated.
“N-No!” Hyeonsu refused.
As Simin casually moved to her side, Jeong Hyeonsu freaked out and squeezed between them.
“You useless bastard! Because of some stupid enhancement, we’re...”
Ignoring whatever he was saying, Han Simin kept walking. Now that he knew the man’s weakness, handling him wasn’t difficult. Jeong Seolah didn’t seem particularly bothered either. Besides, once Jeong Hyeonsu saw the power of the enhanced item, he was bound to have the same reaction as his sister. Simin was sure of it.
‘I got addicted to it, so how could anyone else be different?’
It was just a level one item. When that item became +13, it unleashed enough power to solo a named monster five levels higher. What would happen if it were a level ten, twenty, or one hundred item? What if the item’s grade was higher? The drug known as enhancement would provide a pleasure incomparable to being intoxicated. The first time is always the hardest. You keep doing it even though you know it’s expensive and you shouldn’t. Han Simin decided to donate his talents one more time to create more addicts. It was a tedious and troublesome task, but the story changed when the target was incredibly rich.
“Here we are.”
He placed the +10 longsword on the anvil and raised his hammer. It was deep in the mountains, a place seemingly as remote as the one he used for the +12 enhancement.
‘Does it change as the item level increases?’ It was probably to be expected.
“Here I go.”
With a serious expression, Han Simin knelt.
‘Just try not to be too shocked.’
The curtain rose on the second act of his grand scam.
* * *
“Wooow.”
“I’ll take what’s left over.”
“...Alright, thank you.”
A brilliantly shining golden weapon was born. Life is all about timing, so he quickly asked Jeong Seolah as she took the longsword, and she readily nodded.
‘It’s worth it.’
Since it was a spiritual ability, he had to maintain his focus, which eventually led to fatigue. But seeing Jeong Seolah, who rarely showed any change in expression, thank him with a look of awe, he felt the exhaustion from wandering around in search of a prime location wash away.
‘Fifty gold coins and seven enhancement stones...’
Of course, there was another, more decisive reason his fatigue had vanished.
“Hyeonsu, what do you think? Aren’t you tempted?”
“Tempted my ass! I can tank just fine without some stupid enhancement!”
Leaving Jeong Seolah to swing the longsword around, he approached Jeong Hyeonsu to tempt him. The man had grumbled, but he had also been amazed by the +13 effect, so the possibility was high. The way he kept glancing over while trying to act proud gave Han Simin the confidence that a little more persuasion was all it would take.
“Really? Well, I can’t help that. Since we’re teammates now, I was thinking of giving you a little discount, so think about it.”
“Not interested!”
But Simin didn’t press the matter further. He knew that even without explaining it in words, the man would come looking for him soon enough.
‘He’ll contact me within a few days.’
His prediction came true much sooner than he thought.
* * *
