God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 15: Episode 3 _ The Enhancement Master Born of Capitalism (3)
5.
“Ah...”
In his cramped studio apartment, with no space to even walk, Han Simin let out a sigh as he took a bite of cup noodles on his bed.
“Haaah.”
And again.
“Haaaaah.”
And again. The sighs continued until the cup noodles were empty.
“Aaaaargh!”
They continued even after it was completely empty.
“Seriously! Why?! For what reason?!”
And then the self-blame began. It was a cycle of hardship and reflection—a sign of personal growth, but one that always came at a cost.
“Son of a bitch!”
The price Han Simin paid was money. There was no problem with that. He had forgotten the past when he wore nothing but cloth scraps with no defense and was now clad in leather armor that glowed with a blue aura, even gaining stats that made other players’ envious gazes follow him wherever he went. The lack of levels could be compensated for with his beefy specs, and all he had to do was leave to enhance his dagger. He had planned this, and he had made the purchases willingly, so he had no right to complain.
“What is the meaning of life!?”
And yet, looking at the gold coins that had vanished, he felt empty and futile. He wondered what the point of working his fingers to the bone for money was, and even questioned if he had ever really earned any money at all. A spring night’s dream. Was it all just a fleeting dream?
“I was going to go out and get some pork belly.”
He’d be lucky to afford ramen for the foreseeable future.
“My remaining gold coins are...”
His 158 gold coins had become eighteen gold coins after buying the leather armor set and enhancing it all to +11. How could he even dream of pork belly? If he converted the remaining gold coins, he could pay his bills and live without going hungry for about a month, but then his character would starve to death.
“Ah. My stomach hurts.”
The ramen in his stomach wasn’t digesting. He lay on his bed and closed his eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come. He kept thinking about it, and his hands trembled.
“Ugh!”
Finally, he shot up from his seat.
“How can I sleep when my wallet is empty!”
Power flowed into the capsule, which had been resting for the first time in a while. Lying in the capsule instead of his bed, he logged into the official Fantastic World item trading site.
“Haran Castle.”
Then he began to write a post. The item for sale was a Rare-grade ring. He listed the ring he had received from Jeong Seolah, which had a +3 strength stat, for $2,000.
‘Someone will buy it.’
Han Simin himself wouldn’t have the crazy thought of spending two grand on an item that only raised a stat by three. But he had already met three such crazy rich people, so he posted it with a sliver of hope.
‘Two grand is only twenty gold coins in Fantastic World money, after all.’
He himself had become a bit desensitized to it as well.
“Connect to Fantastic World.”
After posting the item, he closed his eyes without hesitation. Han Simin, who had been logged into reality for thirty minutes, logged out.
* * *
For the past few days, Han Simin had been roaming the forests. It was a preparation period for enhancing his dagger. A strong weapon is only as good as its sturdy armor. He wanted to raise everything to +13, but his level was a problem, the process would take too long, and he’d decided that a string of public +13 success announcements would only draw unwanted attention.
“I need to level up a bit.”
And so, he began to move in earnest.
“Wow. Look at that guy.”
“That’s crazy. What kind of effect is that?”
“Is it a bug? An admin?”
“There are no admins in this game. It’s run by an AI.”
The players’ admiration followed him. A golden weapon and blue-glowing armor. It made his shoulders straighten with pride. That feeling helped to lift his gloomy mood, if only a little.
“Hehehe.”
He headed toward the forest to shake off the last of his lingering frustration.
Disaster struck a peaceful plain where rabbits freely frolicked.
A rabbit purred nearby.
“Heh,” Han Simin chuckled.
It was a scene of pure chaos. Not only was the level five player fighting rabbits all by himself, but he was also standing perfectly still, letting them attack him at will. The rabbits that died from the occasional thrust of his golden dagger were such a pitiful sight that one couldn’t help but feel sorry for them, even though they were just monsters.
‘Just kill them already,’ a player thought.
‘...He’s definitely a psycho,’ another concluded.
The other players witnessing this bizarre spectacle shook their heads. To them, Han Simin had to be a high-level ranker; otherwise, his defense and attack power would be impossible. Naturally, the sight of him slaughtering rabbits intended for beginners was bound to look strange.
[You have leveled up.]
“Phew.”
Of course, Han Simin paid no mind to the disapproving stares. He had to swing his dagger as much as possible just to fill the damn double experience requirement, leaving him no time to worry about what others thought. After hunting for a good while longer, Han Simin stopped when the expected hologram failed to appear.
“Goddammit...”
’I’m level six, so why is it so damn hard to level up?’
Even considering that Fantastic World was notorious for its brutal leveling curve and nd his 200% EXP penalty, this was ridiculous, especially with his top-tier gear.
Did he have no choice but to resort to drastic measures? He sighed and opened his character information window.
[Character Information]
* Name: Simin
* Job: Ultimate Legendary Enhancement Master
* Sub-job: None
* Titles: 4
* Level: 6 (EXP required +200%)
* Stats (25): Strength (10+25), Agility (10+25), Stamina (10+25), Luck (153+25), Mana (10+25)
* Skills: Enhancement (F), Absolute Enhancement (SS)
“The time has come to spend my stat points,” Simin muttered. He had saved them for no particular reason, mostly because he hadn’t needed to use them yet. Thanks to the stats on his dagger, he was strong enough to avoid getting pummeled in the beginner zones. Besides, while a Luck stat of over 100 was ultimately useless, it still gave him a reassuring sense of security.
“Where should I put them?” He mulled over how to spend his 25 stat points. Considering his class was an enhancement master, investing in Luck seemed logical, but his unique ability made the stat itself unnecessary. That left his sub-job to consider, but he hadn’t decided on a suitable one yet.
“Hmm.” After a moment of thought, he made his decision. “Fifteen in Agility, ten in Stamina.”
Mana was tempting, but realistically, it was the second most useless stat after Luck. Failing an enhancement consumed mana, but he rarely failed. And items could easily cover any mana he might lose from enhancing for others. Of course, that would change if he got a related sub-job...
‘At the very least, I should get a sub-job that helps with enhancement.’
Now that he’d started down this path, he was going to see it through to the end, and a job that aided enhancement was unlikely to require the Mana stat. Thus, he raised his Agility and Stamina to run faster and better evade monsters. He had to enter the forest right away, after all.
“Let’s go.” He set off for the forest to attempt the +14 enhancement on his dagger, diligently collecting the meat dropped by the rabbits he had slain.
* * *
The roads around Haran Castle were well-maintained; a city as large as a special metropolis needed convenient routes to other castles. The areas off these main roads were what players called forests—hunting grounds for monsters. It was a vast ecosystem teeming with various monsters, so deep that anyone who ventured too far would struggle to find their way out. Naturally, it was also filled with many game-like features. One was the named monsters Han Simin had already encountered, and the other was the dungeons.
“...Pant, pant. Is this the right place? Damn it. Why call me now of all times?” He was already out of breath from dodging a volley of poison darts when a private chat request popped up, nearly getting him killed. He had somehow managed to shake off the goblins by sheer luck and find a prime location for the +14 enhancement, but his heart still pounded just thinking about how close it had been. It wasn’t just one or two goblins, but a pack of seven chasing him relentlessly. The memory alone made him shake his head as he silently cursed Kang Yeseul, the one who had initiated the chat.
Then, he looked around. He couldn’t afford to buy a map for a whopping 15 gold coins, so he had to guess his location based on information from the community forums. Encountering goblins meant he was in a zone where at least level 20 monsters appeared. A powerful feeling emanated from the dungeon entrance before him, and he hesitated.
‘Should I go in?’ It was just a hole in a large, old tree, natural enough that one might miss it entirely, yet just artificial enough for a player to recognize it as a dungeon entrance. If he went inside to perform the enhancement, he would be transported into the dungeon.
‘I’ll probably die...’ His only reason for hesitation was that it was a dungeon. He wasn’t afraid of dying since he was still only level 6. However, once inside, he wouldn’t be able to enhance while running from monsters as he was now. He might have to focus his mind and even strike a special pose for the +14 enhancement. Could he risk getting hit by monsters while doing that? In a dungeon located in a level 20 zone, filled with monsters far stronger than rabbits? It would surely waste all the time he had spent getting here.
“Ah, crap.” What should he do? Find another prime location? This required careful consideration. Which was more efficient: spending time searching for another site, or making a do-or-die attempt here and running back from the revival point?
“Huh?” As Han Simin pondered, he suddenly felt a sense of dissonance. ‘Whether I die and travel to another prime location or just go from here...’ Wasn’t it about the same? It probably was. Even if it was a level 1 beginner’s dagger, it was still +13. The number of available prime locations wouldn’t be very high.
“Ah, whatever.” At that moment, the thought that it was better to just run back to the castle and start over from the opposite side, rather than be chased by goblins again, spurred him into action.
[You have entered the dungeon.]
[This is a limited-entry dungeon. (5/10)]
“...Huh?” Before he could even register his surprise at the hologram, his vision went black.
6. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
The level rankings in Fantastic World were straightforward. Luck played a very small role; the only way to level up was through an immense amount of playtime. To break into the four-digit rankings among those dedicated players, you had to spend money. This was because, despite being a typical RPG, the game was overflowing with realism. Better armor and weapons meant faster hunting. When such players formed groups, their speed accelerated even further, and if they spent more money to change their job class to Healer at the temple as soon as they hit level 15, they gained hunting sustainability.
The top-tier players, those with double-digit rankings, had excellent control on top of all that. They overcame their stat deficiencies with items, teamwork, and job advantages to hunt even stronger monsters. These small advantages snowballed, separating the players in the rankings.
“Look out!” a member of Johnson’s team shouted.
“Heal me!”
Johnson’s party, currently inside the goblin’s underground dungeon, was no different. All four members were all level 17, yet they were fighting in a dungeon designed for level 20 monsters. Considering the added difficulty of the dungeon, it was safe to say the monsters were around level 22, yet the team advanced calmly, showing their experience. They had finally reached the end of the dungeon.
“Johnson! It’s the boss!”
“Be careful. It’s probably a named monster!” Johnson warned.
“Damn. It has three minions, too.”
“We can win! Focus!” Johnson commanded.
Retreating was an option, but they refused to be defeated. Their final battle to claim victory at the end of the dungeon was a desperate one. They dealt with the minion goblins first, then took turns drawing aggro to take down the named goblin. In the process, their mage failed to dodge a poison dart and was logged out.
A deep silence fell over them. Death meant regression. Victory had been within their grasp, but their expressions were now grim.
“Excuse me.”
A voice from behind broke the silence.
Their heads instinctively turned. There stood a man radiating a brilliant aura.
“Ah! Don’t mind me, just keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll just take care of my business and be on my way,” he said. In his hands were a dazzlingly brilliant golden dagger and a worn-out anvil.
* * *
