God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 162: Episode 32_Is This Lair Really Your Lair_ (3)
6.
Normally, it was common sense to reward a player who discovered a new hunting ground, especially someone who had broken through to a place like this—somewhere no one had even thought of setting foot, a region that was hard enough just to reach on their own. Even the NPCs were too afraid to come here.
And he had pioneered it. It wasn’t exactly out of some spirit of exploration or thirst for challenge, but still.
Of course, there had been a reward. Ten stat points were very generous. Compared to other players, it was the full effect of a level-up, and he got to choose exactly where to invest them. Considering how much players spent on items with stat bonuses just to raise their stats, the chance to get ten free stat points was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
So he had every right to be happy. This was one of the Four Forbidden Lands, after all. 『Fantastic World』 was far too realistic for him to complain that the reward was stingy. There was no such thing as a free lunch.
Han Simin fell silent.
So Han Simin tried to be happy. Especially since he was saddled with conditions that made it even harder for him than for others to gain stat points. He could gain them through enhancement, but the conditions grew more difficult each time, and leveling up was an even worse grind, accompanied by immense mental stress. He had front-loaded his effort in the early game and was now playing in relative comfort, but he wasn’t so well-off that he could turn his nose up at free stats.
His joy was twofold.
However, before he could fully savor it, the next system message shattered his mood.
“Seriously, what kind of game does this to the first discoverer?”
It was possible this wasn’t a special condition for the first person here, but something that applied to every player who came down. It was hard to believe the system would single out the very first person to set foot here for the monsters’ undivided attention. And if it was a special condition, there was no need to agonize over it. He could just die once or climb back up to shake off the aggro. BetaGo wasn’t so thoughtless.
So this was almost certainly a rule that applied to everyone who descended. Even so, he wasn’t happy.
“Damn it. If I’m the first discoverer, I should be getting benefits, shouldn’t I?”
Those ten measly stat points. At this point, his stats were so bloated that ten points barely made a dent. It didn’t satisfy him in the slightest. If, like in the Mist Mountains, he had been given something that let him get a step ahead of other players... or at least a hint toward obtaining something like that...
“Phew.”
On top of that, even if this applied equally to everyone, it wasn’t something he could be happy about, because it wasn’t like players would be flocking here anytime soon. The feeling of experiencing an extreme, remote region all by himself was filthy and unpleasant.
And yet he still had to keep walking, his capitalism-soaked feet feeling unbearably heavy.
“Haah.”
At the same time, he couldn’t deny a flicker of curiosity. He might make his living off games, but he was also a pro gamer who knew how to enjoy them.
’How is this going to work, exactly?’
Rather than trying to infer it from the text, it would be faster and more accurate to experience it directly. Would some kind of alarm go off whenever a monster entered a certain radius? Or would it be scent? Sight? Aside from the fact that he had climbed down a cliff, the terrain here was no different from above. How exactly were the monsters supposed to find him?
Curiosity sparked interest. Interest made him think, and thinking made him move.
Han Simin, who had paid it little mind a moment ago, now checked the title he had just acquired.
[The First Visitor]
- Grade: Epic Special
- Description: To the adventurer who first discovered one of the Four Great Unexplored Regions of the Continent, luck and strength!
- Benefit 1: +30% bonus EXP when hunting in the Cliffs of Fall
- Benefit 2: +3% to all stats, attack, and defense in the Cliffs of Fall
It was a title good enough to make him swallow the complaint he had just muttered. The grade alone was impressive, and although it was limited to this hunting ground, it had two options that most players would never obtain, with enormous values at that. Any other player would have drooled.
The only tiny problem was that the one who had received it was Han Simin.
“Even when you give me something, it’s crap like this.”
He was at the point of developing trauma over experience points. Sure, it was better than nothing, but even with a 30% bonus, his required EXP wasn’t going to drop below a 550% penalty. With that in mind, the idea of using this opportunity to grind levels held no appeal.
The only consolation was that the second option would help, even if only a little, in pushing the otter’s ore to +15.
With that last question in mind, Simin started moving again with the otter. He wanted to solve the remaining mystery, but he had no desire to run into monsters that could shatter trees and pulverize boulders with a single punch.
“Life’s meant to be lived long and thin, not short and thick.”
A true man, ready to throw away his pride at any time.
He held his breath. He didn’t want to die and put the Necklace of Resurrection on cooldown, nor did he want to get booted back to his territory and have to fly all the way here again. Time was money. Finish quickly, get out quickly.
Simin lowered his body as much as he could, closed his eyes, and focused. He could feel the prime spot. Now that he was below the cliff, he could feel it even more vividly, more intensely.
He headed toward it.
And then he met it.
“...Hi there?”
An ogre.
His curiosity about how the monsters would find him had been answered.
* * *
7.
The Master of the Magic Tower came to visit the Emperor.
“Tower Master, is it not said that the Cliffs of Fall are the most troublesome of all the Forbidden Lands?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. That is correct.”
“Then what do you think the odds are that an adventurer who has entered that place will come out alive?”
“Are you referring to Your Majesty’s son-in-law?”
“Yes.”
“The Cliffs of Fall consist of two spaces: the area above the cliff and the area below.”
“I am aware.”
“Did he go down?”
“I do not know.”
“If he did, then the highest probability is that he will emerge by dying.”
The Emperor remained silent.
Though he had tried to brush it off, the Emperor had heard nothing for over a week, and he had asked the question on a whim. The Tower Master knew exactly what answer the Emperor wanted, but he still spoke the harsh reality. He was one of the very few people on the continent who could speak so frankly to the Iron-Blooded Emperor. Moreover, the Emperor hated being told comforting lies. Even if the truth left a bitter taste now, facing reality was more helpful in planning for the future.
“As I thought.”
“However, he is an adventurer. He will return.”
He would come back, certainly. The problem was whether he could make it back in time for the Guild Selection Tournament, now less than a week away, and lift the Princess’s gloom.
“Haah. What about a spell like Mass Teleport...?”
“That is impossible.”
The Emperor did not respond.
“Even if it were possible, using such a high-tier spell in a Forbidden Land would be far too risky. The slightest mistake would mean losing the mages casting it that very day.”
Of course. Those were spells that had only been used when the demons invaded.
“In fact, dying quickly and returning may be the fastest path to the result Your Majesty desires.”
At the words of the Tower Master, a 9th-Circle Archmage, the Emperor nodded. These were the words of someone who had grasped the truth. Even without a detailed explanation of Han Simin’s potential, his strength, or his infuriatingly clever mind, the fact that the Tower Master could speak so definitively meant the place was just that dangerous.
“Above all, there is a dragon lair beneath the cliff. It has only been passed down as legend, but the probability that it truly exists is said to be over eighty percent. Just passing near it would likely...”
There was no need for him to finish. The outcome was obvious enough. The Emperor felt a bit of his worry lift.
Perhaps, even now, the man had already died and was on his way back.
Such a hope?
No, it was more like a dream.
Humans are wired to rationalize, to set their own hearts at ease, and the Emperor was only human.
Trusting that Han Simin would arrive before the Selection Tournament began, he rose from his throne.
’He’ll pass near the dragon’s lair, incur the dragon’s wrath, and die a clean death. That would be the best-case scenario.’
It was a bizarre reality, to find himself wishing for his son-in-law’s demise, yet the corners of his mouth curled upward on their own.
And so, he prayed.
’Please, let him pass by the dragon’s lair.’
The Emperor’s wish was granted.
* * *
The cavern was vast.
He stood in silence.
“Kku-eong?”
“Scree!”
The entrance gaped so wide it was hard to be certain it was a cave at all. It was pitch-black within, and the exterior was camouflaged by towering trees, yet its sheer scale made him hesitate.
“What is this place?”
“Scree?”
Separate from that flicker of fear, Han Simin’s instincts were blaring like an alarm.
There was something here.
Something huge.
’I have to go in.’
It felt like the kind of jackpot where gold gushes out from anywhere you dig.
He fell silent.
But an opposing feeling arrived right alongside it.
“So this is the place.”
A prime spot for enhancement.
That unique energy was nestled somewhere deep in the pitch-black void. Based on his experience, he didn’t even need to ask if tremendous hardship and trials would be waiting for him; it was a given.
A jackpot and hardship.
In a place where both coexisted, which should he choose?
“This is my damn fate.”
As if there were ever a choice.
He pulled out his hammer and moved forward. Since when had he ever hesitated in the face of money? He would survive somehow, and he would walk out with at least something in his hands.
He swallowed hard, his focus sharpening. Even as he grumbled inwardly, he honed every nerve in his body and scanned his surroundings.
It had been a while, but he’d felt something similar back in the early days of the game.
’When I found the Ring of Blessing.’
It was that same strange sensation that had washed over him before he’d even opened the box. Not the feeling of your life flashing before your eyes right before death, but the exact opposite—an imagined rosy future unspooling before you, your body feeling so light it was almost floating.
And then he had gotten the ring.
That same level of jackpot-scenting premonition had come over him again. He couldn’t let a little hardship and adversity hold him back now.
“Huh?”
Despite his resolve, he advanced into a profound silence. He was inside a cave, unable to see a thing ahead of him. Shouldn’t at least a bat have flapped out of nowhere to startle him?
It was utterly quiet.
Not even a single rat stirred.
’Is whatever’s in here planning to make some grand entrance with a flashy effect at the very end?’
Yeah, right.
Nothing at all happened to Han Simin until he reached a point where light began to filter in.
No—that wasn’t true. Something did happen.
“Whoa!”
The sight that greeted him made his jaw drop, an overwhelming spectacle that felt like a direct assault on his mind.
He was too stunned to speak.
Piles of glittering gold coins. Equipment of every kind strewn about. All of it was stacked in veritable mountains, so high he had to crane his neck back just to see the top.
This was his first time here, but it took him less than a second to realize where he was. The clue was already in his head; skimming the 『Fantastic World』 community forums was something he could easily do while wandering the mountain range and enhancing items.
’A dragon’s lair!’
He forcibly shoved away the question of how he had managed to waltz in here as if on an express pass.
Instead, his gaze shifted.
“Scree?”
“Is this lair... yours, by any chance?”
That greedy gleam in his eyes was not his alone.
“Screeee?”
Squeaker, who had been staring, entranced, at the gold, let out a cry in response to Han Simin’s question.
