Chapter 28: Episode 6 _ What Would Happen If I Enhanced This_ (3)
3.
Han Simin did not grow up poor. His parents earned enough to live comfortably, were lucky enough to own their own ho in the middle of Seoul, and never hesitated to spend on their children. They weren’t the type to spoil him for unnecessary purchases just because he whined, but he had never lacked for anything he truly needed or wanted. That was, until he turned nineteen.
Once he shed his minor status, the bitter taste of society began, and his allowance disappeared! Sure, his parents still covered food, rent, and the basics, so it felt more like a tutorial phase—but for soone who’d spent his whole life relying on others, it was a heavy beginning to adulthood. He couldn’t just give up on his twenties because it was hard, so he started working. He earned money, went to college, served in the military, and ran toward graduation, even though he had no talent or interest in studying, and his grades were a ss.
But after getting a taste of the real world—one that wasn’t cushioned by a comfortable upbringing—he stopped taking money lightly. It was hard to change the habits he had ford since childhood, but he avoided wasting what he earned and worked hard to seize any chance to make more. He had learned firsthand that opportunities don’t easily co by. If he hesitated, he would miss it. If he missed it, he’d go hungry. And there’s nothing more miserable than being hungry.
So, shalessly, Simin smiled to mine the gold coin mine in front of him.
“You have three gold coins and twenty-two enhancent stones left. Haha.”
“What?! Why does only my stuff keep failing!” Yeseul shouted.
“I guess your luck is bad.”
“You’re the one doing the enhancent, so what does it have to do with my luck?”
“It’s your weapon. My stat points for Luck are over two hundred, so do you think I’m the unlucky one here?”
Yeseul clicked her tongue.
She no longer faked politeness, and her scoff expressed frustration. Who would have known that her enhancent would fail twice on the way to
7? It boasted a 70% success rate with a 20% boost.
‘So this is why Master failed at
1.’
As expected, probability was not sothing that could be understood. As long as even a 1% chance of failure existed, you could never afford to drop your guard.
“Ugh. Unni, Oppa. Lend
so gold coins.”
Kang Yeseul held out her hand with a frown. Her face was so pretty that even her sulky expressions looked cute—cute enough that for a mont, he was tempted to do a half-assed job and give her the enhancent she wanted, but he shook his head.
This woman was different from how she looked! She wasn’t even born with a silver spoon but a diamond one, overflowing with money. Instilling a good perception of probability would actually have a negative effect on people like her. It would also be a big loss for Han Simin’s business.
‘I have to separate business and pleasure!’
Besides, no matter how much he siphoned from her, her “tank” never seed to run dry. He might as well drink until it gave him a stomachache!
“Here, fifty gold coins. I’ll wire you the rest,” Yeseul offered.
“Yes, Madam!”
The wild, bratty Kang Yeseul, just a young girl in her early twenties, had suddenly beco a ‘madam’. He carefully accepted the gold coins and began to search for a pri location with all his heart. Up to
7, you could just toss it anywhere and hit it with a hamr. But once you went higher, the number of pri spots plumted so steeply that finding optimal ground naturally took longer.
‘Phew. Still, it’s a relief that the field level is sowhat high.’
If it wasn’t, he’d have had to cross that scorching desert just to strengthen a level-20 rare staff.
For a ga to not only simulate heat but actually make you collapse from heat exhaustion—the urgency was real.
“Here it is.”
Once he found a suitable spot, he imdiately swung the hamr. The ritual was also perford as concisely and quickly as possible.
‘Fail. Please fail.’
But even while sweating, he recited the chant with perfect clarity. Money ca first—even before heatstroke.
The headache from long-term enhancent and panting from the heat were two different things.
Then, there was a flash.
[Enhancent successful.]
“Oh yeah!”
“Dammit.”
Soone shouted in joy, and soone in frustration. His inner thoughts slipped out unconsciously.
“What?” Yeseul questioned.
“Dammit. It’s hot.”
Simin had wished for it to fail, but it succeeded.
‘Son of a bitch. What is this, so kind of divine intervention?’
It failed so well in the low-level enhancent section where he didn’t even want it to, and now that he wished for it to fail, it succeeded. It was all luck, and he didn’t believe in superstitions, but he couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
‘Succeed.’
So, for
9, he wished for the opposite. It had a fifty percent success rate. A section where, in other gas, you would have to sacrifice a few items.
[Enhancent successful.]
He was speechless.
“Wow! I guess the bad luck at the beginning was just to get it out of the way.” Yeseul exclaid.
It was bullshit. Simin’s face crumpled into a deep frown. From here on, he would make twenty gold coins for each failure! It would probably fail at
10; that was the point where it usually failed. Even with a 20% boost, the probability of success was only 40%. This ti, he struck without thinking, just like when it had failed twice at
7.
‘Luck cos when you least expect it.’
Failure might be misfortune for Kang Yeseul, but for Han Simin, it was endless luck and joy. But...
[Enhancent successful.]
“Yaaay! Unni, I think I’m really lucky today. That’s three successes in a row. Am I going to get to
15?”
Probability was always a double-edged sword. Simin had wanted joy, but misfortune had struck. Kang Yeseul’s expression brightened noticeably at the deepened pure white aura of her staff.
“Wow! It suits
perfectly.”
“It only looks cool when it’s
13,” Han Simin prodded.
“Hmm.”
At his encouragent, her gaze shifted between her staff and Jeong Seolah’s sword. There was a big difference between gold and pure white. Aesthetically, both were beautiful. The
13 effect was rarer and looked richer, sure—but considering the “pure white” the of the staff, you could argue the
10 effect actually suited it better. And to an enhancent master, thoughts like that ant only one thing: a warning that inco was about to disappear.
“Won’t it break if I go for
13?” Yeseul asked.
“Break? Of course not!” Simin exclaid.
Seeing her hesitate made him anxious.
‘I still have twenty gold coins left.’
He didn’t care if he had to roast or boil the remaining enhancent stones, but he wanted to use up all fifty gold coins that had co into his hands. It wouldn’t matter if he never had it, but there was nothing more disheartening than losing sothing he did have.
“Ughh. Then should I just go for
11?”
“I’ll get you to
13 straight, so don’t worry. You trust , right?”
Yeseul expressed, “I think it’s going to break.”
“Never!”
‘It can’t break. Not right now.’
He had found a 100% pri location, not a 20% one.
“Ah!” he let out a gasp.
‘Dammit, pri locations are all well and good, but the ritual is the problem!’
Simin knelt down and bowed his head respectfully. His clasped hands dug into the desert sand, and when they re-erged, his palms were full of fine desert sand.
He sighed. ‘I don’t want to eat this. Why do I have to do this?’
Nevertheless, he ate it.
“Ugh.”
The gritty taste of the sand made him frown. But he couldn’t spit it out. That was his life.
‘Think of the money. Money.’
Of course, he would never do it just for the sake of it. There was no reason to do it other than to enhance his own weapon or to make money. Thinking of it as a thousand-dollar enhancent per attempt, the remaining sand in his mouth went down smoothly. And he struck with the hamr.
[Enhancent successful.]
This ti, he reached
11 through skill. He was still bitter about it, but he endured. He had thrown out the bait to make up for the loss.
“Wow! Is it really my lucky day?”
“How about
12, you in?” Simin asked Yeseul.
“I’m in!”
A wicked smile spread across his lips. Woo hoo! Sorry, but the pri location chance is over now. Try your luck with 26%. If it breaks, it might cause problems for the raid, but...
‘Not my problem!’
Since when did restaurant owners think about their custors’ breakfast nu when serving lunch? It was enough to be faithful to one’s duties.
“It’s an extra forty gold coins if this succeeds.”
“I’ll wire it to you. Just make it succeed quickly.”
‘Succeed? My ass! You were born a chaebol’s daughter and have lived a comfortable life without any hardship. I’ll will teach you the bitter taste of life!’
Strictly speaking, he was just relying on low probability.
The cheerful hamring began. Han Simin believed in the 74%. It was a three out of four chance it would fail. It had already succeeded several tis in a row, so what were the chances of it happening again?
[’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing the ‘ 12 Holy Staff’!]
[You have acquired 2 stat points.]
“Kyaaaa!”
He was stunned.
‘What is this. Is this rigged?’
Just in case, he looked at his character information.
‘Nothing’s changed...’
Of course not.
“Oppa! Thirteen! Go for thirteen now!”
Kang Yeseul’s excited voice, jumping up and down, only added to his bewildernt. Han Simin’s hand unconsciously rose to the sky.
Clang.
And he brought it down. Right there. The pri spot’s effect had already been used once, dropping the chance to 8%.
“Ah!”
Even the one who struck was surprised. He had been spacing out, and whether it was because of Kang Yeseul’s pestering or because he was so dumbfounded that he wanted to see how far his luck would go, it was impossible to stop the enhancent, so he had no choice but to keep swinging.
‘Sorry.’
He apologized to Kang Yeseul in his head. This ti, it would really fail. The difference between 26% and 8% was like heaven and earth. No matter how lucky she was, this wouldn’t work. Still, having a conscience, he hoped it would just downgrade instead of breaking.
Clang.
He was speechless.
[’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing the ‘ 13 Holy Staff’!]
[You have acquired 4 stat points.]
The apology had been premature. Han Simin threw down the hamr. Then he handed the staff to Kang Yeseul.
“C-congratulations!”
The trembling corners of his lips betrayed his current state of mind. He should be happy about receiving 240 gold coins—24,000 dollars—but for so reason, he felt a nagging feeling like all his luck had been sucked away. That was why he couldn’t bring himself to enhance it any further.
‘Who would’ve thought this spoiled rich kid is a blessed character! Isn’t the world too unfair? I should quit this dirty enhancent business right now!’
But unfortunately, it seed Kang Yeseul felt differently.
“Oppa! I want to go for fourteen.”
“No.”
“Why?!”
“You’d better not.”
“Why not, why not?!”
“It’s so hard to find a pri location that from
14 onwards, it’s 500 gold coins per 10%.”
“What?!”
“Even if you go for 20%, it’s almost guaranteed to break if it fails. You’d better not.”
Of course, if he received a thousand gold coins, he was willing to endure the jealousy and find a pri location with all his might. With that money, he could escape his cramped studio apartnt in the real world and get a decent semi-furnished studio. But no one in their right mind would agree to it. Not even soone filthy rich. And at the end of the day, it was just a level twenty weapon.
Just like the ti he used a beginner’s dagger and wondered how he’d ever get his hands on a level-10 weapon, there would eventually co a day when she’d outgrow this one—hit level 30 or 40, swap her gear, and move on. Her weapon might not be better than if it were a
14, but enhancing beyond a certain amount was a waste, not an investnt.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I’m a healer anyway. I don’t need weapon attack power. Looking cool is my survival strategy!”
As expected, words didn’t get through to her.
He sighed.
What could he do? A broke nobody had no right to argue. He shook his head and took the staff back.
“I’ll do it as a special favor, so deposit the money as soon as we get out.”
“Okay!”
Pretending to do her a favor, he glanced at Jeong Seolah, but she didn’t seem to object. Whether it was because they could just buy another one or because there was no need to stop Kang Yeseul’s choice. Either way, the result was the sa: he was about to get rich overnight. Deciding to think positively, he took the weapon and focused.
‘Phew. Luckily, there’s a pri spot nearby.’
He walked with a sense of relief. The Specialists followed behind him. There was still so distance. After walking for about thirty minutes...
“It’s around here...”
Arriving at the place where he could sense the location, Han Simin scanned his surroundings with a troubled expression. It was still a desert with a wide expanse of sand, but...
‘What’s this? Do I have to go down here? It’s a weird place that looks like it might lead to a dungeon.’
Before him was a strange depression in the sand, a perfectly spiraling hole that looked as if a giant top had spun itself into the earth. A spiral hole that looked like it would suck him in sowhere! It was ominous, but he went down without hesitation.
“What could possibly happen?”
It was a ga. If he died, he’d just resurrect.
“Oh? Simin, wait a mont!” Jeong Seolah, who had been following from a distance, called out urgently.
“What?”
By the ti Han Simin turned his head, it was already too late.
“Those are ruins.”
“What?”
His foot sank in an instant. At the sa ti, he felt the intense aura of a pri location.
“Aaaaargh!”
And then, his world went black.
[You have entered the ruins.]
[You lack the proper qualifications.]
[A special condition has been t. The ruins acknowledge the intruder.]
Simin had not wished for this, but the ruins welcod him with violent enthusiasm.
* * *
Reviews
All reviews (0)