Chapter 45: Episode 9 _ Blow It Up (3)
4.
The Specialists were on a break. In addition to their scheduled sleep, they had one half-day off a week for personal maintenance. It was less for fun and more for restocking consumables and swapping out gear, but today was a little different.
"Yeseul, did you ask Simin for his address?" Seolah asked.
"He’s busy! I’ll ask him later," Yeseul replied.
"Just hurry up, film the video, and bring it back. I’m dying of curiosity," Hyeonsu chid in.
"Hey! You never said when I had to do it! Why are you two ganging up on ?"
"Because you deserve it," Hyeonsu smirked. "Serves you right for trying to ss with my sister."
"Hyeonsu, don’t tease her too much," Seolah said, a playful glint in her eye. "Our cute Yeseul must already have a headache trying to decide what kind of dance to do naked."
"Aaargh! No!" Yeseul shrieked.
The break had co right after the bet concluded, so the teasing continued without pause. They could have just laughed it off, but where was the fun in that? In their grueling, repetitive lives, grinding day in and day out for their goals, a mont of levity like this was a precious gem. Why let it pass with a simple laugh? They could immortalize it on video, savoring it for years to co. The taste of that victory would be sweet indeed.
"He’s too busy to even answer my calls anyway! I promise I’ll do it when he has ti," Yeseul pleaded.
"Oh no, you don’t. Don’t even think about backing out," Hyeonsu said. "I’ll contact him for you."
"Oppa! Please! I’m sorry, okay?"
"Sorry for what? It was just a fun bet. I don’t even need to see it, but a bet’s a bet."
"Agh, seriously!"
There was no escape. If it were just Seolah, maybe there could have been so leeway, but with Hyeonsu pressing her too, even the great Kang Yeseul couldn’t bluff her way out.
"Hah..."
‘Why did I make such a bet?’ A wave of regret washed over her, but what could she do? Anyone would have thought failure was the more likely outco. ‘From now on, I’m always betting on success.’ After this mont of belated self-reflection, Yeseul lifted her head, her cute features hardening with resolve.
"Unni!" she declared, opening negotiations. "Double or nothing!"
Seolah chuckled. It was a ridiculous proposal. "Do the forfeit, then we’ll talk."
She had no intention of letting Yeseul pull a fast one. Despite the firm rejection, Yeseul didn’t give up.
"No, listen to ." She launched into her argunt. Seolah could have refused again, but the sight of Yeseul clinging to her and acting cute was amusing, so she decided to hear her out.
"We don’t know where Simin is right now, but he’s got to be swamped, right? He’s as much of a shut-in as we are, so he probably doesn’t even log out much. Under the circumstances, isn’t it rude for us to just ask for his address because of so bet we made and show up demanding he watch
do sothing? Right?"
The words flowed like a river, a perfectly plausible story. Seolah nodded. Yeseul had a point. They had made the bet without his consent, and the forfeit didn’t consider his situation at all. A beauty like Yeseul performing such a forfeit would likely be welcod with open arms, but you never knew. Still, while she conceded the point...
"You, talking about manners? That’s hilarious," Hyeonsu said, poking at her weak spot.
Yeseul’s sparkling eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at him, but her intimidation tactics were useless against the man who freely wielded the charisma of a chaebol heir against everyone but his sister.
"Please? Let’s do it one more ti. Huh?" All she could do was beg. The forfeit itself wasn’t that difficult. For soone who had brazenly asked Simin to sleep with her upon first eting, this was nothing. But it was the principle of the thing. It was unfair.
"If I win this ti, you have to do the forfeit with . If I lose, I’ll do whatever extra thing you want."
Seolah fell silent, considering the offer.
She just had to see Seolah in a difficult position.
"Fine," Seolah agreed.
"What do you an, fine?!" Hyeonsu’s cheerful expression imdiately soured. But he couldn’t stop a true duel between won. He was, after all, a doting brother.
"What should we bet on?" Seolah asked.
"If he gets to
15!"
"I’m betting on success again, you know."
" too!"
The stage was set. The two gamblers stared each other down, neither willing to yield an inch. To an outsider, their squabbling over who got to make a long-shot bet against odds of less than 0.01% would seem absurd. But to them, Simin was a sure thing that defied probability. Of course, if they both chose the sa side in a two-option bet, it wouldn’t work. As they argued on their way back to the castle, each demanding the other to concede...
[Player ’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing ’ 14 Highest-Grade Holy Water’!]
"Huh?"
A new, impartial topic for their bet had just been delivered.
[Player ’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing ’ 14 Highest-Grade Holy Water’!]
[Player ’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing ’ 14 Highest-Grade Holy Water’!]
[Player ’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing ’ 14 Highest-Grade Holy Water’!]
The holograms kept appearing.
"Let’s bet on that," Seolah said.
"On what?"
"Which he’ll make
15 first: the Highest-Grade Holy Water or the Ring of Blessing." Seolah proposed it with a triumphant smile. It was an irresistible temptation. Yeseul, who hadn’t been thinking much, was hooked.
"Ooh! Good one! Seeing as he’s enhancing so many, he must be preparing to get one to
15."
"Don’t you think he’s probably just making them as sacrificial items?" Seolah countered.
"That’s right! Wow. Does that an we can really buy a
15 ring?"
"I hope so."
If their guess was correct, it was cause for celebration, regardless of the bet. That made it easy to place their wagers with excitent.
"You pick first, Unni!" Yeseul offered generously.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really! No, wait. I’ll pick first."
"Go ahead."
Of course, the excitent didn’t last long. Yeseul quickly rembered what was at stake—she had already bet her heart, and now she was putting a kidney on the line, too. Not being a complete birdbrain, she started to hedge again, cautiously asking, "You want to pick first?"
Her intentions were painfully obvious. Seolah smiled and nodded. "Alright, then I’ll bet on the Holy Water."
"Really? Then I’ll take the Holy Water!" Yeseul imdiately pounced, a bright smile on her face as if she’d just pulled a fast one. Her eyes burned with the determination to drag Seolah into the pit of punishnt with her.
"What? You can’t do that."
"Hehe. You take the ring, Unni."
"Fine. I’ll let it slide this once."
But as Seolah watched Yeseul, her eyes curved into crescents. It was a look of pure amusent. Seolah had dangled the bait, and Yeseul had swallowed it whole. Though nothing was certain, Seolah was confident. ‘If it’s Simin... if he has to choose between the two, he’ll enhance the ring first.’ She didn’t have divine insight or the ability to see the future. It was simply that, based on what she’d seen of Han Simin, she could predict his actions.
The flas of their wager flared up once more.
5.
The hologram that the two won were desperately waiting for never appeared. But Han Simin was smiling.
[Enhancent has succeeded.]
"Wow! It worked!"
He had struck the hamr with a desperate heart, and the hologram had appeared.
"This is insane. Absolutely insane. Simin, you magnificent bastard, you actually did it."
The self-praise flowed freely. Who else would even think of trying to enhance an invisible, intangible curse? Of course, it was only possible because he had hypothesized it was a type of magic circle, but now that he had a lead, all that was left was to solve the puzzle.
"Is it done?" the Princess asked.
"Yes. All that’s left is for you to be freed from the curse."
His answer ca with a bright smile, despite the grating, tallic sound of her voice. There might be aftereffects even if the curse was broken, but what did that matter? What mattered was that she was the Princess, and that while he was making a
15 Ring of Blessing, he could also pick up the title of her husband—the Emperor’s son-in-law—as a side bonus. When he had no solution, he hadn’t cared, but now he needed to be on her good side.
"As I said before, the mont the Sanctuary of the Curse breaks, drink the holy water I’ve prepared. Keep drinking. Don’t stop."
"Yes, I understand."
He gave her a final reminder and double-checked the holy water. Fourteen bottles of
14 Highest-Grade Holy Water, the result of over four hours of frantic work. He would have liked to make more, but he had used up every last pri location in the process.
‘This should be enough.’ It was a substantial number. Getting even one
13 item could take thousands of attempts, so having fourteen
14s was extraordinary. Still, he felt uneasy.
"You have to drink it. Understand?"
"Yes."
If even one screw ca loose, his entire perfect plan would fall apart. He had found and proven a way to destroy the Sanctuary of the Curse on the detached palace. All that remained was to destroy it via enhancent, have her chug the holy water to break the curse, and then stride confidently into the cleansed palace to enhance the ring and the one
14 Highest-Grade Holy Water he’d stashed away.
If it all went according to plan, he would gain the Emperor’s trust, beco his son-in-law, get a
15 ring, and win the bet. It was a four-for-one super jackpot.
‘Should I just cancel my studio apartnt lease right now?’ He was already counting his chickens. He hadn’t even moved in yet because of the hassle of moving his capsule, but he could already picture himself as the proud owner of a ho in a pri Seoul neighborhood. So what if it was just one apartnt? How many people in their mid-twenties achieved that kind of success through their own efforts?
"Let’s see who wins this fight."
The mistake most people make when counting their chickens is that they only count. To actually digest them, you have to work for it. He focused. From now on, it was a battle against ti. He had to seal his ability that prevented items from breaking and pray for failure and destruction. But that, too, was a matter of low probability.
‘Please, just break already.’ He prayed and believed. He was, after all, a pretty lucky guy. Even if he failed a little at the start, his luck would surely turn, and it would eventually break.
‘Let’s finish this within 200 stones and pocket about 100,’ he estimated. Now he just needed the odds to be in his favor.
But as always, the gods were indifferent to him.
* * *
"Are you still at it?" the Emperor asked.
"...Don’t talk to . If I get any more pissed off, I might just enhance this thing to
15 and turn the Princess into a witch of curses."
"Hah. Amusing. You’ve already used over 300 stones, and it still hasn’t broken. Is it because you’re a Legendary enhancent master?"
"Of course not."
‘Shit.’ He almost wished he had so kind of hidden passive like that. The suffering would be worth it now if it ant knowing he had such an ability for future use. But the fact that he didn’t was the biggest problem. It would get close to breaking, but never actually break.
"Agh! Dammit!"
He felt an overwhelming urge to just quit, emperor or no emperor. He had worked through the night and into the next, doing nothing but swinging a hamr. It was unbelievable and impossible not to curse. 300 enhancent stones was 300 gold coins and over $30,000 in cash. Even if it wasn’t his money, after spending that much, shouldn’t it have either broken or hit
15 by now?
"Haah... that damn Betago bastard..."
He had reached the stage of forming conspiracy theories. It was inevitable after staring at nothing but ’Success,’ ’Failure,’ and ’Downgrade’ ssages for an entire day.
* * *
[Enhancent has failed.]
[The enhancent level will be lowered.]
[Enhancent has succeeded.]
[Enhancent has succeeded.]
He was numb. He just wanted to see a different hologram. If he could go back to when he thought this would be easy, he would slap his past self. He wished he had an auto-clicker program. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind. When would this tornt end?
Just then.
[Player ’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing ’ 12 Sanctuary of the Curse’!]
[Player ’Simin’ has succeeded in enhancing ’ 13 Sanctuary of the Curse’!]
"Huh?"
An opportunity presented itself. After using 300 stones, he had finally broken past the
13 wall—not by destroying it, but by succeeding. The feeling was bittersweet, but a smirk slowly crept onto his face.
The probability of destruction was 70%!
‘Break, you bastard. You’ve had enough.’ The Emperor had conveniently returned to his chambers. The mont it broke, an all-you-can-steal enhancent stone buffet would begin.
‘Please. If this breaks, I think I could even kiss the Princess.’ That was how desperate he was. With that desperate prayer in his heart, he brought the hamr down. Surely, with a 70% chance of destruction, it wouldn’t defy the odds and succeed with a 5.01% chance, or fail but only downgrade with a 29.9% chance.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The hamring felt unusually long. And then...
Cling.
The mont he felt the slip, Simin’s face lit up.
* * *
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