God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 143: Episode 28_A Master of Self-Control (2)
2.
He knew at once he’d screwed up.
Han Simin was, in his own way, a gaming expert. Back in the days of PC online games, he’d tried just about everything. Especially after his accident, he had dabbled in every title he could find, desperate to make money.
There was no way an expert like him wouldn’t understand what was happening, especially when it was a direct threat to his own life.
’It ate the ore and got stronger. This crazy bastard.’
He came to a single conclusion: the otter before him was no ordinary monster.
Granted, there was no such thing as an “ordinary” monster in the Unknown Mountains, but this was the seasoned opinion of a man who had wandered the mountain range for over a month and fought countless monsters.
At the very least, it was a Named monster. Or something even stronger.
He had never in his life expected to see a monster that powered up by eating ore. He had no idea what its limits were, but monsters that grew stronger like this were never easy opponents.
He changed his mind.
’Run.’
He didn’t feel the slightest shred of ’scholarly curiosity’ to test the creature’s limits. It had powered up just once, and the gap in strength, which had been roughly even, was instantly reversed. Now, his HP was dropping in huge chunks.
What if it ate another one?
Just as he had gained stats through enhancement and taken revenge on monsters for past humiliations, he might now have to pay the price for trying to steal the otter’s ore.
Of course, being a professional hardcore gamer, one possibility did surface in the back of his mind.
’What if it’s just a temporary doping buff?’
If it were just a short-term steroid buff after gorging on all that expensive-looking ore, it would be so ridiculously inefficient that the creature deserved a smack on the head. But if that were the case, he might have a chance. The only problem was that it still had a ton of ore left.
Still, that was better than it getting permanently stronger.
Either way, fighting it now was impossible.
The rage that had boiled up inside him quietly settled.
“Hey, how about we talk this out?”
“Kku-ooong!”
“Now, now. Don’t get so worked up. Violence is bad.”
Han Simin was weak against the strong, and his definition of “the strong” was quite broad. It included people with money, people with power, and powerful creatures.
Watching the otter go berserk, clutching the sack, he wondered what the hell he’d been thinking.
He backed away cautiously, shooting Squeakers a look.
’Hey, we’re bailing.’
Squeakers seemed to grasp the severity of the situation and nodded. Even so, his eyes couldn’t help but drift to the sack. It was just human instinct.
No—it was Han Simin’s instinct.
’Is there any way I can snatch that on the way out?’
He had come all this way, after all. He had gone through so much trouble for that ore. Well, Squeakers had done all the work, but he still wanted it.
“Ppaeaek!”
Whether out of leniency or because it prioritized guarding the ore, the otter didn’t stop him from climbing onto Squeaker’s back.
Squeaker took off.
“Sorry, you otter-looking bastard! I’ll never steal again! I’ll live a good, honest life!”
The otter glared up at the fleeing thief in frustration. Long after the thief had vanished high into the unseen fog, it paced around the sack, remaining vigilant.
About an hour later, it finally relaxed and opened the sack.
“Kku-eong!”
A cry of lament.
Much of the ore was gone.
It had eaten it all itself, but the thought that the mountain’s energy had weakened left it feeling drained. Its duty was to protect the mountain range, not to grow stronger by eating ore. Besides, that power was only temporary.
Regrettable, but what could it do? If it hadn’t done that, it might not have been able to stop them.
Muttering to itself, it began to wander around, picking up the ore that had spilled from the sack during the fight.
At least it had stopped them. That was what mattered. It needed to hurry and return this ore to the mines, refill the empty veins, and expand the network to trap any intruders completely.
As the otter pictured this rosy future, its gaze fell back upon the sack.
“Kku-eong?”
The question escaped on its own.
Three sets of eyes met.
“Ppaeaek?”
“Ha... haha. Hey there.”
At some point, Squeakers and Han Simin had returned. Two sacks now hung from Squeaker’s mouth.
A brief moment of chaos.
In that instant, Squeakers bolted.
“Kku-eong!”
The otter frantically raised a paw, but Squeakers was already soaring high into the sky. It was the moment Han Simin’s grand plan of dumping all his points into Strength and Agility for no good reason finally paid off.
The otter ran without thinking, but there was no way it could catch a winged dragon.
“Kku-oooeoong!”
Its roar of rage echoed through the mountains.
At the same time, the otter began to move.
It went on a rampage.
The guardian of the Unknown Mountains was furious. Naturally, that fury was transmitted to the monsters that shared the mines’ energy.
3.
The changes were first felt by the players on the ground.
“Doesn’t it feel a little weird lately?”
“Yeah. The fog cycles are all over the place.”
“The fog shutdown is already ten minutes shorter.”
“The monsters seem a bit more aggressive, too.”
“I’d be lucky if they were just more aggressive. It feels like they’re moving in bigger packs.”
The enraged otter had begun to move personally. Two mines had already been looted, disturbing the delicate balance of the fog. Now, in retaliation, it had raided another mine itself, causing noticeable changes.
Fog Awakening Potions could no longer cover the entire duration of the fog. It was only a ten-minute gap, but for players, it was a nerve-wracking window that could decide their fate. If a monster happened to appear during that time, they would be forced to burn another potion for those mere ten minutes.
It was a sudden spike in difficulty.
Of course, the same applied to the monsters outside the fog. The otter kept expanding the mines because the lives of those monsters were also its responsibility. With the fog, which had been held in check by the mines’ power, regaining some of its freedom, this was a natural consequence.
“At least the EXP is great.”
“Let’s just grind a little harder.”
“At this rate, we might hit level 60 this month instead of next.”
For the players, it wasn’t exactly bad news. They had adapted well enough to the Unknown Mountains, and there was the Mist Merchant who, while expensive, sold Fog Awakening Potions. For hardcore gamers, more and faster monster respawns were an express train to rapid leveling.
The risks they had to accept? They could overcome them. Especially the Korean players.
“I heard the Specialists already gained another level. Guess they adapted.”
“Come on, it’s only been two days.” 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
“They’re Korean players, remember.”
“Those maniacs.”
Tell them not to do something, and they would find a way to do it. They were the type to break into locked, unfinished regions just for screenshots, or kill bosses in a single day that were designed to take months.
In any case, the Specialists’ strong performance spurred on the other players, who steeled themselves to adapt to the new situation.
For the top-tier players, this wasn’t a bad development at all. They were already annoyed that the entry barrier to the Unknown Mountains was lowering as more players arrived and analyzed the area.
“At this rate, new players won’t be able to come here easily.”
“Good. Let us enjoy the feast by ourselves.”
A glass ceiling. A league of their own, accessible only to those with money, gear, connections, and a party. In a hyper-realistic game like Fantastic World, what better return could there be on such an investment?
The ominous atmosphere wasn’t enough to make the players uneasy.
Except for one person.
* * *
“Kku-oooeoong!”
“Grrr!”
“Kwaaang!”
“Argh! Fuck! Somebody help!”
Monsters chased him endlessly. Leading them was the otter.
“What did I do that was so wrong, huh? You bastard! Isn’t this enough already?”
“Kku-eong!”
Stealing the sack had gone off without a hitch. It had required the patience to stare holes into the ground from above the fog for a full hour, but that was a small price to pay for a bonanza like Rainbow Ore. He’d been spotted when he reached the sack but had escaped safely. He was so happy that day, he even power-leveled the Specialists for free for an hour.
But that joy lasted only a day.
The next day, while he was strolling around whistling, the monsters came crashing down on him. He didn’t even have time to wonder how they had found him before they were on him, intent on tearing him apart.
Fortunately, he had been with the Specialists, and they had managed to fight them off. But even after that, monsters kept charging at him at all hours, as if determined to kill him even if it meant their own deaths. Eventually, he had parted ways with the Specialists.
No, “parting ways” was too gentle. He had shaken them off, hoping that if they split up, the monsters might go after the other group.
He realized that it had been a misunderstanding the moment he saw the otter.
A belated realization.
And then came the days-long race.
He hadn’t died. He just hadn’t slept.
“Huff... huff... fuck. Where’s the exit?”
He didn’t even have time to open his map and look for an escape route. With the otter gobbling ore and charging just like before, he had to run flat out just to stay ahead. If he couldn’t occasionally escape into the sky on Squeaker’s back to rest, he’d have been dead long ago.
Even that was about to become impossible.
“Ppaeaek...”
Sleep. An activity absolutely essential to any living being. Not even a Gold Dragon could escape it.
His stamina was completely drained. At this rate, he would die.
“Haa... haa... fuck.”
How had things ended up like this?
Naturally, during the days he had been chased, he had thought it over and even run a few tests. He had reached one conclusion.
The ore.
Even though it was inside his Magic Pouch, that damn otter somehow sniffed it out and chased him like a bloodhound. Thankfully, because it was in the pouch, it didn’t seem able to pull the ore out at will.
’Do I have to give it up?’
On the other hand, if he got rid of the ore, this tedious chase would be over. After suffering like a dog for days, unwilling to give up the ore, Han Simin finally started to waver.
He didn’t surrender easily, though.
“I can’t live like this! I’m not throwing away my ore!”
Fine. Then he would fight.
Did it have any idea how hard he had worked to get that ore? If he gave up here, he would have to give up on the ore in all the other mines marked on the map as well. He would face the same hardships, trials, and pressure over and over again. If he couldn’t overcome this, how could he dare covet the rest?
Hammer in hand, Han Simin turned and charged.
“You otter bastard! Today, either you die or I do!”
His rage-filled hammer smashed down toward the otter’s head. Of course, before it could land, the paw holding the ore blocked it, and the otter’s other paw slammed into Han Simin’s side.
Thud.
[You have taken a Critical Hit!]
[You have been afflicted with Status Ailment: Stiffness.]
The system messages he’d only ever seen pop up for other players now appeared before his own eyes.
His body flew through the air.
His anger was instantly cured.
“Squeakers, transform! Change of plans.”
The will to fight vanished. His lingering attachment to the ore was wiped clean in a single blow.
Squeakers squeezed out her last bit of strength and shot into the air, flying in the direction Han Simin pointed.
It was the direction of the prime hunting spots where other players had set up camp.
* * *
