God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 260: Episode _The Great Gear Arms Race (3)

3.

In the stock market, the person who buys the most is the one who loses the most. This Main Quest was no different.

You could accumulate Contribution Points and exchange them for rewards. Since you could also save them up for a bigger prize, Users had to choose carefully. Of course, that was all predicated on hunting black mages in the first place. While some Users hunted for a short burst and immediately cashed in their points, those who had been playing the long game and steadily hoarding their points were the biggest victims of the newly updated Act 4 of the Main Quest.

“...You’re saying I can’t?”

“I am sorry. You do not have enough Contribution Points.”

If things had continued as they were, they might have become the biggest beneficiaries. Kenji and his guild, with their Archmage at the core, had the ability to wipe out black mages on sight. They also had the financial power to locate black mage encampments and were investing the time to hunt them down.

If they had kept accumulating points until the end of the Main Quest, he was convinced they would have received a reward far greater than what they had earned from the war. It wasn’t just a prediction; it was a certainty. He simply never imagined he would get blindsided like this.

Kenji was speechless.

This wasn’t like a stock dropping by half; it was like it had turned into worthless paper.

Granted, the points they already had could still be used, there was plenty of time left in the Main Quest, and his guild’s power wasn’t going anywhere. The game wasn’t completely over. Even so, it was only natural to feel utterly deflated.

The rewards he had been aiming for were gone, and now he had to start accumulating a different type of Contribution Point from scratch. What made it especially absurd was that the cause of this whole mess was Han Simin.

It was a humiliation he had never experienced in his real life. This was a business partner—or, strictly speaking, Kenji didn’t even qualify as a subcontractor—and yet, through no fault of his own, the other party had unilaterally dumped these losses on him for the sake of a man she liked. He wanted to file a formal complaint, but even that wouldn’t feel like enough.

“...Understood.”

But he couldn’t. What choice did he have? It wasn’t as if Kenji was standing here, shoulder to shoulder with the most powerful NPCs, progressing the Main Quest on his own strength. Besides, with the Princess around—let alone the Emperor—a single word from her could send his life in Fantastic World crashing to rock bottom in an instant. That wouldn’t change even years from now, after he had grown tremendously.

In a sense, she was a god. No matter how unfair the quest, he had to do it.

And if he didn’t like it?

’...Then someday.’

He just had to become the Emperor. That was the biggest reason Kenji was swallowing his anger.

This system was just like reality: a world built for those at the top, where those at the bottom had no recourse. But if you somehow broke through and managed to take a seat among the powerful, there was no easier world to live in. The system was already perfectly constructed; there was no need to reinforce it.

He just had to endure for a few years. Fantastic World was worth that much.

“Other adventurers are waiting. Would you please step aside?”

He held his tongue.

Of course, that didn’t make his anger disappear.

*

Strictly speaking, Kenji’s loss was the greatest, but that was only in terms of objective statistics. On an individual level, it was hard to find a single User who hadn’t taken a huge hit from this update.

– Are they out of their minds? Since when does a Main Quest stab its players in the back?

– Wow. If I’d known this was coming, I would’ve just cashed out my points for some quick coin.

– And the quest got harder on top of that. How the hell are we supposed to capture black mages alive?

The Main Quest hadn’t even been running for that long. Users had estimated it would last about half a year, minimum. Naturally, most planned to gather as many Contribution Points as possible for the best rewards. But then the developers pulled a stunt like this after just one month. How could they not be furious?

– You can still use your original points, so what’s the problem?

– Tsk, tsk. I told you, you can’t get greedy in this game.

– Even with the change, black mages are still weak right now. I heard the points for capturing them alive are several times higher than for killing them, so don’t lose hope.

A few players actually enjoyed the fluid, ever-changing nature of Fantastic World, but since most had been negatively affected, the complaints were inevitable. It was the same for the NPCs. They couldn’t see a quest window, but they were accumulating Contribution Points all the same. Even so, not a single one of them challenged the Princess or the imperial officials. They only grumbled under their breath.

Anyone could complain, but directly pleading your case was another matter entirely.

– Anyone brave enough to go complain? Recruiting a party.

– Are you insane? Go die alone. Why drag innocent people into it?

– Seriously, have some conscience. Who are you trying to help by complaining? LOL.

– As if you could even get an audience. You’ll be lucky if they don’t stop you at the gate.

– I saw a video on some guy’s channel where he complained—not to the imperial family, just to the NPC handling the exchanges—and they didn’t even argue. They just dragged him off. He hasn’t posted since, so I’m pretty sure he’s rotting in a prison somewhere.

A life in the game was a long one. If you weren’t going to quit, what was the point of screaming into the void about something that wouldn’t change? So everyone grumbled while scrambling to adapt to the new Main Quest.

Besides, it wasn’t such an outrageous blow that it was worth risking their lives over. The difficulty had gone up a bit, and the time needed to get the rewards they wanted had been extended by about a week. That was all.

Even so, the Users didn’t forget to carry one particular phrase on their lips.

“Fucking Simin.”

4.

The “fucking bastard” in question frowned.

’...What do I do?’

It wasn’t as if he had a choice. He was the one who had declared he would enhance the weapon, and as an avid reader of the community boards, he already knew about Class Story Quests. Clearing one would grant a reward—a weapon, armor, money, a skill—that would help your class Awaken.

With only one Unique-grade quest as a data point, there was still a lot they didn’t know, but it was easy enough to guess that the video he had just watched was exactly that. Given that his class did little more than let him use his peculiar ability in-game, he had to hope that clearing this quest would lead to something good.

The problem was Epia’s attitude toward the former Enhancer. She had fallen in love and talked about staying by his side forever; it made him uneasy. It might just be a misunderstanding, but it was better for his mental health to prepare for the worst. On top of that, the last thing the former Enhancer had said was basically a direct shot at him.

—“I will definitely come find you later.”

It was the perfect line to be misinterpreted. He could have said, “I will send my disciple to you,” but instead he chose a line dripping with romantic potential, practically begging a succubus to get the wrong idea.

Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but if he enhanced that weapon to +15, there was a real possibility the Demon King would see him as the former Enhancer.

And if that happened...

“Sounds good.”

“What?”

“No, nothing.”

’There’s nothing bad about that.’

The Demon King’s love. It was the perfect combination for wrecking the world and pulling off one huge score, as long as it didn’t turn into some obsessive, clingy nightmare.

In any case, this was a situation where the word “refuse” simply couldn’t be spoken, so he nodded.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

Epia, whose speech had unconsciously slipped back into a casual tone, handed him the weapon without a word. Her eyes no longer raked over him as if to dissect him, which made it seem as though she had finally forgotten the former Enhancer. He couldn’t be sure, but for now, that was how it looked.

Not that worrying about it would change anything.

He pushed all that aside and checked the weapon’s stats. What kind of weapon did the Demon King use? And how had the former Enhancer managed to get it stuck at +12?

[+12 Twin Swords of the Succubus Queen]

Grade: Epic Legendary

Required Level: 200

Equip Requirement: Succubus Queen

Attack Power: 2,800 (+1,400)

Option 1: Attack Power +5% (+2.5%)

Option 2: Critical Strike Damage +10% (+5%) against Charmed targets

Special Option 1: On hit, Charm Chance +5% (+2.5%)

Special Option 2: A weapon imbued with the soul of a master. It cannot be destroyed or annihilated.

In an instant, the former Enhancer became someone worthy of respect.

“That crazy bastard.”

The options were insane, and the attack power was insane. The grade alone told him it was a unique weapon passed down only to succubi, but that attack power for a level 200 item... It had the same base attack power as his own +15 Legendary Hammer. That might not sound impressive at first, but that was just the number on the weapon. Factoring in how damage scaled with the user’s level, it drove home just how casually Epia must have drawn the blade across his neck earlier. All you had to do was remember how he had been one-shotting Users left and right with his hammer.

And if he pushed this to +15?

The +12 enhancement effect was only a 50% increase, but at +15 it would be a whopping 1,000%. By simple math, that was ten times more attack power. And if the former Enhancer’s ability and his own ridiculous luck combined to push the enhancement value even higher... then his joke about going toe-to-toe with the Heavenly King and winning might not be impossible after all.

However, the reason Simin had cursed and the reason he now respected the former Enhancer wasn’t because the weapon itself was amazing. If the weapon was amazing, the succubi were the ones who deserved praise.

’So you managed to get your hands on a monster like this and use it, huh? No wonder you became the Demon King.’

That was one thing. What he was really praising was the fact that the guy had actually pushed a level 200 item all the way to +12.

’Can I really raise it three more levels?’

That was the first question that came to mind.

Doing it wasn’t the hard part. Unlike the former Enhancer, Simin didn’t have to rely on probability. He still had to gather sacrifices, but whereas those sacrifices only nudged the former Enhancer’s success rate by a hair, his own method pushed the probability to converge on 100%. Even with that advantage, the task felt daunting.

“...I think I’m going to have to hunt some demons around here.”

“As many as you like.”

Even with Epia’s sudden kindness, he couldn’t help but be cautious. His head throbbed as he pressed his fingers to his brow.

“I’ll give it a shot.”

For some reason, it felt like the day had finally come when he would be forced to do the one thing he had avoided for over a year: level up.

He suddenly found himself hoping it was all just a misunderstanding.

*