God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 223: Episode _Don’t Talk to Me About Suckers (3)
5.
The criteria for experience point distribution in 『Fantastic World』 were quite ambiguous. When sharing experience between players, it depended on whether they were in a party and on the distribution settings. If not in a party, the criteria changed based on one’s contribution to the battle. On top of that, the contributions of non-combat classes like healers had to be considered, making it difficult for the average player to easily grasp the standards for the amount of experience they received.
But who were the players? They were a bunch of contrarians who would dig into and analyze any system the game company tried to obscure. Some had dedicated themselves to gathering information on the distribution of experience since the game began. One might see it as a pathetic waste of time, spending money on an expensive capsule and a monthly fee for such a thing, but no one ever directly criticized such people.
Virtual reality was that kind of place. It was more than just logging in, hunting, leveling up, earning money, selling it, and buying chicken. It was truly another world. For some, simply understanding how that world was constructed and how it operated was reason enough to play. There were groups of like-minded people who found satisfaction in analyzing and deconstructing information to share with other users.
They had established some standards. Out of consideration for the general user base, they omitted the overall formulas and only published information about the general systems. Even if they had posted the complex equations for how much experience was gained under what conditions, it wouldn’t have registered with the average player anyway.
In any case, Simin read over these published standards as they flew.
"Hmm. So that’s why they couldn’t get any experience."
He had no interest in the details of player-to-player experience distribution. As a user who played more than twenty hours a day, it wouldn’t have hurt to know which actions yielded the greatest experience rewards, but he didn’t look at that either. That was for the Specialists to worry about. For him, who had long given up on leveling, the important thing was how to make money more easily and quickly.
So he looked only at the information about NPCs. He had already tried to experiment with the Royal Knights before and had figured out some of it, but here the facts were laid out in much more detail. He felt a strange sense of gratitude. He had been putting it off because it was a hassle to talk to the Emperor and seemed like a waste of time.
There were three main ways to gain experience with NPCs:
[1. You can share experience if you can get the NPCs into your party.]
[2. You can also share experience if they are affiliated with your territory.]
[3. You can gain experience by contributing to the monsters the NPCs are fighting.]
These researchers admitted their investigation wasn’t complete. Furthermore, since growing through hunting with NPCs was a method used by only a tiny fraction of players, it was practically uncharted territory. But even so, it was helpful enough.
The post also noted the caveats:
[To party with an NPC, the level gap must be within a certain range. To have an NPC affiliate with your territory, you must obtain their permission. Gaining experience from monsters an NPC fights is based on contribution, so it’s difficult to see great efficiency.]
The problem was that Simin had already vaguely known this. He licked his lips, but it was better than nothing. There was a world of difference between a vague prediction and a fact discovered through direct experimentation. For instance, it now gave him a clear picture of how to proceed when Kang Yeseul inherited the position of the Black Mage Order’s leader.
"We need to raise her level first."
Even now, as a provisional leader, it wouldn’t be difficult to put some unspoken pressure on the black magic mages to affiliate with her and rake in the experience. However, the question of whether the black magic mages, who were only pretending to listen to her before she passed the test because of her title as the Great Warlock’s disciple, would actually obey her was not easily answered. Black magic mages weren’t fools who would be swayed by a few words. And the thought of concocting some grand scheme to trick them already gave him a headache.
He decided to just stick to hunting.
*
The place where Kardian dropped off the Specialists was on the border between the Four Forbidden Zones and the surrounding mountain range. It was a place where the monsters were tough, but not impossible to hunt.
"Should we hunt here?" one of them asked.
"Let’s warm up first. We’ll have to look around a bit to find the real prey," Simin replied.
Without another word, the hunt began. It was the start of a long journey of unknown duration. They hadn’t been hunting much lately, and considering the urgent state of the continent, it was surely difficult to remain calm. But the Specialists charged at the monsters without a single complaint, as if none of that mattered.
"Heh. They look like ghosts who died because they couldn’t hunt enough."
It was almost instinctual. Their bodies just knew how to hunt. They could probably pick up their weapons after years of not playing and still be just as capable. He watched them hunt as they moved. Without the rabbits, he couldn’t provide the maximum experience benefit, but their hunting speed was still several times faster than when he wasn’t around. Even though the monsters appeared sporadically, the experience from each one was overwhelming, so they quickly picked up speed. A miracle of acceleration, even though they were already lightning-fast from the start!
Then they found it. A demonic energy-imbued Gate.
"Shall we go a little harder?"
With that, Simin raised his hammer. Hunting together might result in an experience penalty, but if he could contribute enough firepower to offset that penalty, the overall experience gain would be a net positive. A demonic energy-imbued Gate had appeared in a hunting ground that already gave a lot of experience. The monsters that came through were random, but they generally followed the level of the hunting ground. If so? 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"Hehe."
This was his secret weapon! The fastest way to hunt and gain the most experience! But it didn’t end there. Anyone could have this idea, though not everyone could bring it to life. He added his own unique ability to that thought.
"A hunting method no one else can do, no one else can imitate, and only we, who have the ability to handle it, can perform."
The Specialists looked puzzled. It was certainly a surprising idea, but not one that no one else could have thought of. It was just too difficult to attempt. But what more could there be?
Their confusion didn’t last long. They saw Simin approach the gate and throw something at it.
They exclaimed in shock.
"Is that even possible?" The words escaped their lips automatically. At the same time, they had to admit it. This was something only Han Simin could do. And they were curious.
"He’s enhancing a gate?"
"Will stronger monsters come out then?"
What would be the end of this creatively insane act? A renewed sense of respect washed over them.
"That’s right. He was originally an enchanter," Yeseul remembered.
"I know. I keep forgetting lately."
"Wasn’t his main job Legendary Scammer?"
The Specialists, who had been preparing for a long hunt with calm resolve, were now excited. As expected! He never failed to meet their expectations! They offered a mental apology for their brief moment of disappointment.
Just then, the gate glowed, signaling a successful enhancement. Simin finally turned his gaze to them.
"Hehe. You can look forward to it. It’s a fixed gate, so I can’t enhance it too much, but..."
"What happens? What comes out?" Kang Yeseul asked, stamping her foot.
What would come out? A higher-level monster? Or a monster with the same stats but enhanced experience? If so, it would be the perfect condition. A buffer with an experience buff, and the ability to make same-level monsters that give more experience appear.
’I really wouldn’t care how much it cost,’ she thought. It would feel like playing with an admin account.
But Yeseul’s expectations, which had soared too high, were unfortunately shattered.
"How should I know?" Simin asked.
"...Huh?"
By Simin’s single, innocent-sounding phrase.
"I said I don’t know."
"Don’t know what?"
"I don’t know what will come out of here either."
She was speechless.
’Why?’
’Why don’t you know?’ The words came all the way up to her throat but couldn’t make it out. She didn’t know why, either. Even in this absurd situation, her brain was calmly assessing the reality of it.
"So you just enhanced it first to see what would happen?"
"Yep."
She was dumbstruck.
"Well, I’ve been curious for a while. The monsters that come out of a demonic energy-imbued Gate. The grade of the monsters that come out determines the maximum grade of items from a random box. So what if I could raise that? Or what if the box itself comes out enhanced by the same level as the gate?"
She remained silent.
"If stronger monsters come out, we get more experience. It’s a win-win."
So this was the experiment he had wanted to try someday when he had the time. In other words...
"We’re the guinea pigs?"
"Hey, don’t be like that. It’s a win-win for everyone. I’m volunteering my services for free, so we should both benefit."
She was too stunned to speak.
If they died, they’d lose two days. There was no set time limit for the quest, but considering the rapidly changing state of the continent, there was a chance the black magic mages would make a move if she failed to become the next leader. That would ultimately be a loss for Simin, too. For him to do this, he must have some plan. They decided to believe that.
Voom—.
That’s what they thought, at least, until they saw the demonic energy-imbued Gate begin to spew darkness as more enhancement stones were fed into it.
Vooom—!
The darkness grew thicker. The ground trembled. Simin tilted his head.
"What the hell? It’s only +9."
But regardless, the gate vibrated intensely before spitting something out.
Thud.
It was done with utter indifference. All eyes turned toward it.
6.
The high-rank demon Grokile was bored.
"Sigh. The lowest-rank demonic beasts are crossing over to the continent, and even the low-rank demons are getting ready to go. When will it be my turn?"
It had been hundreds of years. Hundreds of years spent fighting in the Demon Realm had exhausted even the high-rank demons, leading to a truce. With the invasion of the continent being prepared, life-or-death battles between demons were now forbidden. How boring. If he had his way, he would ignore it and shout, "Come at me if you’ve got a problem," but it was the Demon King’s decision, so he couldn’t.
"Hah. Is there really no way?"
He didn’t want to die, so what could he do? He could only pray for another way.
"There used to be plenty of black magic mages who could summon high-rank demons. Tsk. I guess all those bastards are dead now."
He suddenly missed those days. The time when he could dye the continent in darkness and slaughter to his heart’s content. He sank into nostalgia. And he held onto a sliver of hope.
"Still, there must be one left. I always keep my dark magic open, so if one reaches out, they’ll reach me first."
If only that would happen. He could mock the other high-rank demons to his heart’s content and build up his achievements on the continent.
"Please, summon me, humans. If you do, I promise you wealth and glory."
Of course, it was just a dream. If he were to be summoned, word would have come from the mid-rank demons first. It was because it was an impossible dream that he made such an outlandish promise.
However, his outlandish dream came true the moment he uttered the promise.
Voom—.
"Huh?"
A gate opened before his eyes. He didn’t question it. He hadn’t lived for just a year or two; after hundreds of years, there was no way he wouldn’t know what this gate led to. He threw himself in.
’I should give the black mage who summoned me a big hug and a kiss.’
The gate that accepted him vanished. And so, Grokile failed to notice. A gate had been created, but there was no sign of a contract-bearing magic circle anywhere.
*
