God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 65: Episode 13 _ Tokemon (2)

2.

Although there was a slight commotion, Han Simin, with the help of his rabbit friends, resolved it neatly and was able to gather his 99 rabbits with much more ease.

“As expected, when you drag things out, all sorts of trash crawl out of the woodwork, begging to be taken care of,” he muttered.

And he even got a little extra income out of it. He offered a moment of silent thanks to the player who had been unlucky enough to drop his weapon upon death, then moved on. He had spent a full two hours roaming around and taming. He could have had a total of 100, but he was saving one spot for the egg he still needed to enhance.

‘I still need to get that egg to +15.’

He also had to figure out how to hatch it. He had a mountain of things to do. In fact, if it weren’t for the money, he would probably be traveling all over the continent, diligently enhancing items. But since money was the top priority, he decided to table it for now. Once the Specialists hit level 50, they would proceed with the main quest, and he would have some breathing room then.

With his rabbits in tow, Han Simin’s pace quickened as he returned. He needed to get back quickly and focus on raising his rabbits. Arriving in under four hours, he settled down at the entrance of the hunting ground. There was a chance that players from the Shield Guild, or whatever they were called, were still inside. He had a choice to make: go in and clear them out if they were there or wait for the Specialists to arrive.

“Let’s wait.”

After a moment of thought, he made his decision. It was just too much of a hassle. While he could earn some decent side income, he was currently more interested in his new toys.

“Let’s see.”

He looked at the 99 rabbits sitting in neat rows and columns behind him and took out his hammer. ‘Can pets be enhanced, too?’ If so, what kind of effects would it have? As he wondered, he kept his expectations low. Even in a game with more freedom than reality, and even though he had undergone his third awakening, he still couldn’t enhance his own body. It was highly probable that enhancing other living creatures was also impossible.

Still, he was trying it because the rabbits were his tamed monsters. If they were recognized as his property, perhaps they could be considered items with stats and levels.

“Come here.”

At his gesture, one of the rabbits approached. He carefully held it and brought the hammer down. A strange sense of guilt washed over him, but it wasn’t the kind of malicious act he was imagining.

“Whew.”

‘It won’t die, right?’ he thought, infusing his intent to enhance into the attempt on the rabbit.

Thwack!

"Kyu!"

But as expected, nothing happened.

“Tsk.”

Of course, such a convenient method wouldn’t work right from the start. He hadn’t expected much, but a sense of disappointment was unavoidable. Still, if it had worked, he was confident he could have diligently raised even the weakest monster in Fantastic World, the rabbit, to its full potential.

“It’ll probably work later on.”

He didn’t give up. He had only undergone his third awakening. As time passed and he unlocked the true potential of the Legendary-grade enhancement master class, the method he was thinking of might just work. Besides, he had already prepared a backup plan to use until then.

“Let’s see. Ninety-nine rabbits. If each one costs thirty gold coins...”

That would be 3,000 gold coins, which translates to $330,000.

His brow furrowed. He had expected it, but being a tamer was bound to be an expensive job. He let the rabbit go and lay down to close his eyes for a moment. It was money he had to spend anyway. No point in stressing about it beforehand. As he was resting, a message arrived from Jeong Seolah.

—Jeong Seolah: We’re logging in.

‘Time to collect my fee again.’ With 99 rabbits following behind him, Han Simin headed into the hunting ground.

* * *

“Whoa, what is all this?”

“Why are there so many rabbits...?”

“Welcome back.”

The Specialists logged in to the sight of a field of rabbits. Their eyes naturally turned to Han Simin, whose dark circles had grown noticeably deeper.

“Oppa, you didn’t sleep?” Yeseul asked.

“As a shut-in, where’s the time to sleep?”

“Wow. You’re hardcore. Seriously.”

They clicked their tongues, but a question arose.

“But what’s with all the rabbits? Weren’t you an enhancement master?”

“It’s a sub-job.”

“...You really picked a crappy one.”

‘I didn’t pick it.’ He couldn’t refute the sigh-inducing fact, so he just ignored the comment. In any case, these rabbits were now part of the family, so to speak. He had to love and cherish them so they would be treated well wherever they went.

“But if you were going to tame something, why rabbits of all things? You’ll be lucky if they don’t die while you’re dragging them around,” Hyeonsu stated.

Simin replied, “If I had my way, I’d be leading around two hundred dragons, but my level isn’t high enough. And if I raise them well, the day will come when they sweep through everything.”

“Pfft.”

‘Go ahead, laugh all you want.’ For now, they might be a useless swarm of rabbits, but one day, he would turn them into a perfect army that would dominate high-level hunting grounds.

“Are you going to hunt with the rabbits?” Seolah asked.

“Yes, I’ll protect them myself, so don’t worry about it and just focus on hunting.”

Was this what it felt like to be a parent raising a child? To have to worry about whether they would interfere with the hunt! The Specialists nodded and, after staring at the rabbits still standing in neat rows with curious eyes, resumed their hunt. Sleeping for only four hours accumulated fatigue and harmed one’s health, but the expensive capsule he had bought at least put the player in a semi-conscious state while logged in, mitigating the problem.

“Let’s begin another tedious day of hunting!” Kang Yeseul shouted with fighting spirit.

At the same time, they encountered the mankeys. Since they planned to move to a new hunting ground as soon as they hit level 40 today, this would be their last encounter. Feeling refreshed, they hunted their first mankey.

[Option 2 of ‘+15 Ring of Devoted Blessing’ has been applied. Effect +20%]

“Huh?”

Then, the ring’s buff appeared. Han Simin, who had been swinging his hammer, paused. ‘What’s this?’ It wasn’t a hologram he was seeing for the first time. He just hadn’t paid it any mind because it had always appeared as a matter of course. But the number that appeared now was a little different from what he saw every day.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Simin, is something wrong?”

Without answering their questions, he opened the item information window. What was Option 2 that it was suddenly giving a 20% additional experience bonus?

Option 2: ‘Deep Red Aura’ Effect Applied

* Item Drop Rate (Rare-grade or higher) +20%

* Bonus EXP when killing monsters 10+ levels higher +5%

* Bonus EXP per target affected by Special Aura +1% (Max 20)

“Ah!”

‘So the Special Aura bonus experience is 20%. But why?’

Wasn’t it originally 3%?

He looked around, and the reason was easy to spot. The 99 rabbits were behind him, looking only at him. That was the only thing that had changed between four hours ago and now.

“What the heck, Oppa? Why did this suddenly increase to 20%?” Yeseul asked.

“I know, right? I think that’s what he’s wondering about.” Seolah added.

The Specialists were just as surprised. An increase in the experience bonus was great, but an unexplained favor was always unsettling.

“Wow. I don’t know why it suddenly went up to 20%, but how much of an increase is that in total?”

“It went up by 17%, so doesn’t that mean we’re getting at least 35% more?”

“...Awesome!”

It was an unexpected stroke of luck. After a moment of thought, Han Simin suddenly shouted.

“Behold! A new service updated while you were sleeping! How about it? For just an additional $100 an hour, you get about 40% more experience!”

The sheer audacity of the man was something to behold. The others were silent for a long time.

* * *

The first time is always the hardest; after that, everything becomes easier. The Specialists, who had already started spending money, didn’t hesitate long before making a decision at the mention of additional experience.

“Oppa, can’t you just give it to us for free?”

“Alright, bunnies, time to go home.”

“Ah, fine! We’ll pay.”

His hourly rate increased by $100. It was a choice made possible by their plan to sprint to level 50 faster than anyone else. It would cost them, but it was by no means a loss. The fact that Han Simin’s pets were also included as targets for the Special Aura was a stroke of genius. The corners of his mouth curled up on their own. He was proving the old saying that everything has its use.

His motivation soared. It felt like he had leveled up himself. The feeling of his hourly wage jumping from $1,200 to $1,500 was exhilarating. He had been playing for over 24 hours without sleep, but strangely, his fatigue had vanished. He threw himself into the hunt with even more passion.

“Die! Die!”

The experience he gained with each swing of his hammer was barely noticeable, but the dozens of holograms announcing the rabbits’ level-ups that filled his vision after killing just one or two monsters gave him a sense of satisfaction. ‘Just keep growing like this.’ Although their master was stuck with a damn curse and couldn’t seem to level up no matter how much he hunted, his pets, thankfully, didn’t share the curse and were even getting the effects of the expensive Ring of Blessing for free.

He glared at the rabbits with a resentful look and made a mental note. The great Han Simin, providing a free ride to a bunch of monsters—it was something that should never happen. One day, he would make them pay for this. He continued to hunt.

3.

Repetitive daily life, unless you’re in the military, tends to fly by so fast you can’t keep track of the days. For the players of Fantastic World, who didn’t count the days but rather saw leveling up as a brief moment to catch their breath, time passed even more quickly.

A week went by, and the Specialists finally reclaimed the number-one spot in the level rankings. Not only that, but they also showed their prowess by changing hunting grounds without their speed dropping, confidently hitting level 41 and creating a gap of more than one level with Kenji, who was now in fourth place. Such was the power of money. Han Simin, who had achieved such a feat in just two weeks, was practically a hero to the Specialists.

“Wow. So this is what it feels like to be number one. Simin Oppa, honestly, until now I thought spending money was a waste, but being number one like this feels different. It’s totally awesome.”

And surprisingly, the one who took first place among the three same-level players was Kang Yeseul. Considering her Special-grade job, it was an unexpected result. The mystery was easily solved by her own words.

“It says here that it absorbs souls from the corpses of slain monsters for extra experience?”

A truth revealed nearly two months after her job change! It meant that the penalty for a Special-grade job and the amount of additional experience gained were nearly equal, but over time, that small difference had given Kang Yeseul the honor of being the highest level among the three.

“The rabbits have grown a lot in that time, too.”

“Yes, they’re already level 28.”

To have grown this much despite starting at level 5 and sharing experience was another testament to how incredible the Ring of Blessing was. The more surprising fact was that during that time, Han Simin’s level had only increased by 3, making him a lower level than his rabbits. But he no longer cared about such things. He was just proud. To execute the plan in his head, the growth of his rabbits was the top priority.

Besides, today was the day a change would come to the rabbits who had been standing by idly.

“Why is he putting armor on a rabbit? That guy is scary,” Yeseul said to the others.

“Don’t say that. I even gave them fang weapons to go with the armor.” Simin replied, overhearing.

“Ugh. So gross. It gives me the creeps just thinking about things like that running around and hunting.”

Simin smirked while thinking, ‘It’ll be more than just creepy.’ He wasn’t even halfway done with his preparations. The real horror would begin on the day all 99 of his armed rabbits had their equipment enhanced to +15.

“Haaa.”

Just thinking about the money he had spent made him sigh.

It had cost more than he expected, and that was before he even started enhancing. To get custom-made rabbit armor, something unheard of, he had to place a special order at the blacksmith and tailor, which incurred additional costs. Since he was spending money anyway, he decided to get them something nice and chose expensive fabrics and materials, which sent the price skyrocketing even further. Who would believe that the un-enhanced armor and fangs for a single rabbit cost $1,000? If someone who knew that fact came running over to slaughter his rabbits, Simin might genuinely be tempted to jump off a bridge.

He announced, “I’m going to sit out of the hunt tomorrow for a bit.”

“Okay.”

His heart grew anxious. He had planned to receive his payment after they hit level 50, but he took an advance on the money he had accumulated so far. He would start enhancing immediately.

Having finished the hunt, Han Simin headed straight for the enhancement shop, spouting nonsense as he went.

“I hereby declare today the Great Day of Enhancement!”

Episode 66