God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 261: Episode _The Great Gear Arms Race (4)

5.

The back-and-forth between the Demon King and Han Simin, with its mix of casual and polite speech, was jarring even for the viewers watching the shared screen. But for the Specialists, Grokile, and Aria, it was utterly bizarre.

“What is this vibe?”

“He looked like he was about to beat her to death, and now they’ve made up and he’s taking her weapon?”

“It kind of feels like things are ending up exactly the way Simin wanted, doesn’t it?”

They weren’t watching the stream. They weren’t casual players who would turn on a broadcast in a situation like this, so of course they were confused.

Even so, the Specialists trusted Han Simin.

“See? They say Simin could find water in a desert. I don’t know what he did, but it looks like he handled it.”

As for what they had talked about, he would take care of it. Specialist wasn’t normally so dependent, but for some reason, she always ended up this way around him.

Strictly speaking, Kang Yeseul—the de facto leader of the black mages—should have been the one to step up. Realistically, though, no one should have. They should never have come to meet the Demon King in the first place. They were on a completely different level.

And yet, just as a complete newbie had somehow ended up meeting the Emperor, this meeting had also happened, and the conversation had gone well. If it had happened once or twice, you could call it a coincidence, but when he kept inspiring this kind of trust, how could they not believe in him?

“I’m going to slaughter demons. Just like how celestials kill demons on sight, or how demons kill humans on the continent. I’m going to go wild.”

“Do that.”

“And to do that, I need you.”

She stared at him silently.

He was openly propositioning the Demon King. What a guy. And a succubus, at that—one who might end up shackling him for eternity.

Everyone swallowed hard as they watched Han Simin, a man ready to sacrifice himself without hesitation if it meant making money.

Everyone except for one demon. Grokile alone kept his head bowed, his face twisted into a deep grimace, as if he already knew exactly what Epia was going to say.

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine.”

“...Seriously?”

“It has been quite some time since I left the Demon King’s Castle. I suppose I could go take a look around the Demon World again.”

And she said exactly what Grokile had expected, licking her lips with a sensuousness that seemed at odds with her youthful face. Two incompatible charms—a sultry allure and a girlish innocence—mixed together, shaking the hearts of men. She was a succubus who had lived for hundreds of years, so of course she was seductive, but it felt like she shouldn’t be.

In any case, the way she began getting ready, as if she had been waiting for this, made Simin tilt his head slightly, but he didn’t think much of it. That wasn’t the issue right now. The future of the weapon in his hands was more important. Whether or not he could push it to +15 would determine if this fork in his Class Story Quest—this stroke of heaven-sent luck—would end with him seizing his fortune or letting it slip away.

As always, when it came to his own profit, Han Simin gave it everything he had.

“Let’s go! To the Demon World!” he declared, heading out of the Demon King’s Castle with a spring in his step.

*

Contrary to his expectation that she would bring a whole entourage of succubi, Epia followed him alone, without any preparations. She simply wore the plain dress she had on in the castle. Having handed her weapon to Simin, she had no means of defending herself.

No matter that she was the Demon King; she looked like a pretty young girl, and the sight made one feel uneasy.

“Hey. Aren’t you going to be cold like that?”

“Do not concern yourself with me.”

“I am concerned, that’s the problem. I brought you along because you seemed like you’d be the most help, and now I’m worried you’ll be the first one to get smacked and go flying.”

“Hmph. You would do better to worry about yourself. If you are not truly his incarnation...”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. In any case, this was your proposal. If the deal falls through, I will personally tear you all to pieces.”

Simin closed his mouth.

’Savage.’

He had the feeling he’d just heard something he wasn’t supposed to.

In that strange, off-kilter atmosphere, they left the succubus territory and walked, and walked some more.

“Where are we going?”

“Just trust me and follow along.”

She followed without further complaint.

He kept walking, following his senses—or rather, the twin swords guiding him to an auspicious spot. They walked for several days, and as they did, he grew much closer to Epia.

“Aw, you’re so cute. Can I pet you just once?”

“Where do you think you’re putting those filthy hands? Go ahead. Touch me. I will trap you in a dream for all eternity and make you suffer endless humiliations at the hands of men.”

“Yikes.”

Whether that counted as “growing closer” by human standards was debatable, but at least there had been no bloodshed. You could call it harmonious.

“Do you like this?”

“Are you insane? Where did you get this demon meat? Are you trying to turn me into a cannibal?”

“...You definitely liked it before.”

The one saving grace was that, in her own way, Epia was being kind to him.

Whether this counted as kindness was debatable, but one thing was certain: the way she treated Han Simin was different from how she treated everyone else.

And as time passed, Simin felt he was beginning to understand why.

’She’s really trying to superimpose me onto that former Enhancer.’

You would have to be completely oblivious not to notice.

Even her abruptly shoving demon meat at him was probably part of it. In the video, there had been a brief, passing shot of some large, swarthy man eating. The clip had only flashed by, as he probably skimmed it because he didn’t want to see the unflattering scene of him shoveling food into his mouth.

It had just been a peaceful scene of them grilling meat together, but that meat had probably been from a demon.

Perhaps this was her way of finding similarities between them, one by one.

And then, once he completed the quest...

Whether that would be a good thing or not was something he would only find out when the time came.

Right now, he wasn’t even sure he could complete the quest at all.

There was only one thing he knew for sure.

No matter how troublesome this opportunity was, Han Simin was confident he could somehow make it work.

“Groooaaaar!”

To do that, however, he first had to fight the gigantic monsters before him—beasts so huge he had to crane his neck back just to see their heads.

6.

Simin’s entire foundation was on the Continent; even his buildings in the real world were merely side benefits of his in-game success. Because of this, being forcibly trapped in the Demon World made him extremely anxious, and he desperately wanted to return to the Continent as soon as possible.

His viewers, however, did not feel the same way.

For people who could enjoy his videos anytime—lounging at home, playing the game themselves, at the office, or even in the bathroom—streamer Simin’s trip to the Demon World was content they welcomed with open arms.

No matter how vast Fantastic World was or how many streamers there were, every broadcast was ultimately confined to the framework of the Continent.

Of course, the amount of content that could be squeezed out of that framework was so enormous that you could watch streams for the rest of your life and still not see it all.

In fact, there were thousands of streamers with distinctive concepts.

However, among them, very few could both satisfy viewer tastes and prepare special content like this.

Han Simin was one of those select few.

He offered enhancement content that gave viewers the perfect vicarious thrill.

He had combat content where he used those enhanced items to defeat hundreds of users.

He had territory content; he was the first to acquire a territory, which he developed more extravagantly than anyone else, long before other users started getting their own.

He launched invasions from that territory.

A casino was opening soon.

Above all, his viewers were endlessly fascinated by the way he clung to his own “principles” while shamelessly switching sides wherever the money flowed.

And now, this perfect streamer was exploring the Demon World, a place no one from the Continent had ever set foot in.

How could that not be interesting?

What would the Demon World look like through his unique lens?

It was impossible not to be excited.

So while Simin wanted to squeeze this place dry and get out as soon as possible, his viewers wanted him to stay longer.

And so, a lively debate began in his chat.

—Oh, Demon World Exploration Part 2, huh.

—The start feels a little ominous this time.

—Ugh. Look at those monsters drooling.

The moment Han Simin’s stream went live—the same Simin who rarely read chat unless he was in the mood—viewers flocked in as if they had been waiting.

The numbers were far higher than his usual regulars.

It was a perfect example of how many people had discovered his channel through Demon World Exploration Part 1.

People from all over the world were tuning in out of curiosity.

Besides those who came just for fun, many were there to gather material for articles, and many more joined to clip highlights for TV shows.

—Another day, another ad grind.

Demon World Exploration Part 2 began with a long string of ads. Unlike Part 1, there were no heartwarming scenes. Instead, the stream jumped straight into a series of shocking moments that startled the incoming viewers and pushed the pace into high gear—but everyone quickly adapted and settled in to watch.

If you had to pick the single most exciting type of content in Fantastic World, it would have to be combat.

Battles against unknown enemies that could never exist in reality.

The exhilaration of dodging attacks with slick moves and driving your weapon into the enemy’s heart!

“Argh! Fuck! Why are they so strong?!”

“Simin! Do something!”

“Hey! Grokile, you wanna die? Why aren’t you taking care of this already?”

He fell silent.

None of that cool stuff was happening. All you could see was Han Simin charging in, then scrambling away in every direction. Yet even that was entertaining.

—Die.

—I really wanna see Simin actually die just once.

—If he dies, will something drop?

—Hang in there, monsters!

Everything was content. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Where else in Fantastic World could you find such a blessed streamer?

Unfortunately for everyone wishing for his death, Han Simin stubbornly survived.

While Grokile slowly took down the monsters one by one, Simin’s only job was to stay alive.

Then, just as Grokile was starting to tire—

“Here we go! Ultimate!”

With a shout, he unleashed Sanctuary.

Right in the heart of the Demon World.

Holy energy spread out in all directions.

Any guilt over using such a power here was meaningless in the face of the roars from the gigantic monsters. They were so massive that if they stepped on him, he’d be nothing but a smear on the ground.

“GROOOOAR!”

The monsters howled.

“That crazy bastard...”

Even Grokile, a high-ranking demon, couldn’t help cursing under his breath at the sudden burst of divine power.

Only Aria, who had been focused on cutting down the monsters charging Specialist, smiled at the refreshing sensation.

And in the maelstrom of confusion created by Sanctuary, the one person he had briefly forgotten stepped forward.

Her small figure had been completely hidden by the massive monsters, no matter how he tried to spot her. It was the Demon King, Epia.

“What a nuisance...”

It was the entrance of the very person viewers had been most curious about since the end of Part 1.