Chapter 6 - The Ultimate, Legendary Enhancement Master (5)

　　“Here you go.”

　　“…Thank you.”

　　With confident shoulders, a gentle smile, and a hand brimming with self-assurance, Han Simin, the very model of a true man, held out the +10 longsword, the remaining fourteen enhancement stones, and the seven gold coins to Jeong Seolah, who was staring at him blankly.

　　Dammit. What a waste.

　　Inwardly, he lamented over the lost profit, but what could he do? It was irreversible, so he had to at least leave a plausible impression. If he had his way, he would have failed repeatedly to pocket all ten gold coins, but then he wouldn’t have been able to complete his quest with Khan. Sometimes, you just have to cut your losses.

　　“How…”

　　“You’re incredibly lucky,” he said, cutting her off before she could ask. “If I’d known it would turn out like this, I would have enhanced my own item first.”

　　“…I suppose so. Thank you.”

　　Simin had to play it off as a coincidence. Although she couldn’t shake off her doubts completely, his performance prevented Jeong Seolah from voicing any more of her suspicions. Unlike Khan, who believed in the existence of gods, Seolah, as a player, could easily assume it was an event that occurred by exploiting some feature of the game. However, Han Simin’s ability had nothing to do with the game, and nothing good would come from other players learning about it.

　　That was why he’d been reluctant to enhance her weapon in the first place, only agreeing because the reward was decent enough to risk a single attempt. It was, by all accounts, an impossible feat. A beginner who had just learned the enhancement skill and received some kind of probabilistic advantage? If word got out that Han Simin possessed a special talent for enhancement that defied all conventions…

　　There’d be an uproar demanding I get nerfed, Simin thought.

　　After all, hadn’t he himself been amused watching Jeong Seolah fail seven times just to reach +4? That’s just how people are; they can’t stand to see others succeed. In the worst-case scenario, his dream of becoming rich would vanish in an instant. His account would be suspended, and he would be back to drifting through online games, getting beaten down just to scrape by.

　　No!

　　Anything but that. This was the chance of a lifetime.

　　“Well, take care,” Han Simin said.

　　“…Yeah,” Jeong Seolah replied.

　　Letting her go felt like a missed opportunity, but he decided to focus on the money instead. Jeong Seolah, too, mulled over a nagging feeling, but ultimately, it wasn’t suspicious enough to act on, so she turned to leave. In any case, she had achieved her goal. Besides, the total number of enhancement stones used wasn’t different from what she had planned.

　　Still… she thought.

　　But Seolah was a thorough and methodical person. After a moment of hesitation, she turned back toward Han Simin.

　　He watched her, confused.

　　“I’m Jeong Seolah. May I send a friend request?”

　　“Huh?”

　　[‘Jeong Seolah’ has sent you a friend request.]

　　“I’m playing with a small, elite team, and I’d like to recruit you,” she said.

　　Han Simin was at a loss for words.

　　She was direct. It could have been off-putting, but her directness, combined with her beauty and impassive expression, felt surprisingly natural. It suited her, and he found himself nodding before he even realized it. In fact, the attention of such a beautiful woman was enough to make any man’s heart flutter.

　　“Ah. Yes.”

　　He accepted the friend request. He felt a little uneasy, but there was no reason to refuse. The thought that she might be suspicious was just him being paranoid. With enough luck, getting to +10 in a straight shot was possible. He might have revealed a slight opening, but he thought he had acted his part quite well. Under the circumstances, there was no reason not to ally himself with Jeong Seolah, a beautiful and incredibly wealthy woman.

　　“Joining a team right now is a bit…”

　　“If you change your mind, just send me a message. Well then.”

　　“Alright, take care.”

　　As beautiful as she was, he wasn’t keen on teaming up with a complete stranger. Han Simin’s reasons for playing the game were different from those of others, after all. So he declined, but Jeong Seolah left the enhancement shop, unfazed. The sight of her walking away, her leather armor faintly glowing with the +10 effect, was so beautiful it made his jaw drop.

　　But Han Simin didn’t let her beauty distract him from reality.

　　“Did you see that?” he asked Khan.

　　“How did you do it?” Khan replied.

　　The quest! The deal! There were more important things to deal with than admiring a beautiful woman. Khan asked the question with a dazed expression. It could have been a coincidence. That’s what Jeong Seolah thought, but not Khan. From the very beginning, Han Simin had boasted before starting the enhancement. Who on earth could shout, I will succeed at a 1% chance! and actually pull it off? Even if it was a life-risking bluff, if he actually succeeded, you had to acknowledge it.

　　“I’ve just felt it since I was born,” Simin said.

　　Khan was speechless.

　　“It’s an instinct, something tells me, Now is the time to enhance. Wouldn’t you consider that talent?”

　　“To think such a talent exists in this world.”

　　“And I’ve developed my own know-how on top of that.”

　　“You mean those strange poses?”

　　“Yes, for some reason, it feels like it works better when I do them.”

　　The truth was that the success rate wouldn’t increase unless he did them. If it weren’t for that, he never would have done something that made him look like a lunatic.

　　“…As promised, I will pass on the enhancement skill to you.”

　　Unaware of Simin’s inner thoughts, Khan felt a sense of futility as he placed a hand on Simin’s head.

　　[Quest Complete.]

　　[You have learned ‘Enhancement (F)’.]

　　[Enhancement (F): Active]

　　* Description: Focus all your mental energy to enhance a target. A secret technique of the Khan family. Consumes a certain amount of mana upon failure. No mana is consumed upon success.

　　A wave of pride washed over him. To think he had endured ten days of sleeping on the floor just to get this one skill! Considering the rarity of the profession, even spending months would have been worth it, but to him, it had felt like a sufficiently arduous trial.

　　“My money, please. And the enhancement stones.”

　　“Here you are.”

　　Khan obediently handed over the twenty enhancement stones and the eight gold coins he had received from Jeong Seolah.

　　“Thank you, Master.”

　　Simin bowed his head instinctively. It was a reward he was entitled to, but the weight in his hands was humbling. In cash, it was a whopping $2,800!

　　Should I sell it?

　　He was tempted for a moment but shook his head. This was just the beginning. He already had the experience of selling a $24,000 item. He had invested that money to build a foundation for earning even more. His motivation soared.

　　“Master, is it alright if I use the anvil?”

　　“Do as you please.”

　　“Awesome, thank you.”

　　“And, in any case, since you have received our family’s technique, from this day forward, you are a member of our family.”

　　“Yeah, yeah.”

　　[You have obtained the title ‘Enhancement Master of the Khan Family’.]

　　[Enhancement Master of the Khan Family]

　　* Grade: Unique

　　* Description: A recognized enhancement master from one of the world’s few such families.

　　* Benefit: All Stats +5

　　“Ooh!”

　　Simin didn’t care about the title as long as they didn’t take away his enhancement skill, so he had just nodded along. But the stats were better than he’d expected. Considering that even after ten days, the number-one player on the level rankings was only level 13, the importance of stats couldn’t be overstated.

　　You get five stat points per level, so…

　　Since he only had five stat points to his name, the title alone was like gaining five levels!

　　“I love you, Master.”

　　Khan shook his head. His rock-solid beliefs had been shattered. It was still unbelievable, but he had seen it with his own eyes, and since Han Simin seemed to be preparing for another enhancement, he would continue to see it. If that happened, whatever faith he had left would crumble completely. It felt like his decades of work were turning to dust. At the same time, he was dying to figure out how it was possible. But he sensed from Han Simin’s words that it was impossible. What could he do if the kid just said he could feel it?

　　Is he a genius, or is he some kind of god-sent enhancement master?

　　That was the only way he could understand it.

　　Whatever the outcome, a smile crept onto Khan’s face.

　　This is fine, too.

　　For a long time, he had felt he had hit a wall in his craft. He’d felt it again today. And now, he had met a brat who had shattered that wall. A talent capable of achieving a +15 enhancement, a feat legendary among the continent’s enhancement masters, had inherited his technique. The thought made his chest swell with pride. Maybe he could even watch from the side? If so, it felt like even his broken convictions could be comforted.

　　“Mister! I’m going to go get a weapon to enhance!”

　　Khan remained silent.

　　Still, he didn’t have much faith in his bad-mannered disciple.

* * *

　　Han Simin headed straight for the main castle. After ten days of deliberation, he had decided on his first enhancement item: the beginner’s dagger. It was an item known as the only systemic reward that Betago provided for its players. Its attack power wasn’t very high, but considering the high barrier to entry, it came with infinite durability and an unbreakable option to prevent players from quitting. It even raised all stats by five, making it better for enhancement than most other weapons in the low-level range.

　　“I’d like to receive the beginner support,” Simin said to an NPC.

　　“Bring me two rabbits from outside the castle walls.”

　　“Yes, sir.”

　　[You have accepted ‘Beginner Support’.]

　　Even though ten days had passed, the number of beginners in Haran Castle hadn’t decreased; in fact, it had grown considerably, and he had to wait a long time to receive the quest. Just as the player he met on the fourth day had said, the castle NPC told him to hunt rabbits, so he immediately headed for the castle gate. Simin didn’t have a weapon to hunt them with, but the joy of finally escaping his prison was greater. He wasn’t such a gaming novice that the word “rabbit” would make him nervous.

　　They’re just rabbits, after all.

　　He had logged out from time to time to join the community and browse the freely available information, so he was aware of how high the AI of Fantastic World’s monsters was, but they were ultimately monsters meant to help beginners grow. With so many players playing, it was only natural that there would be many posts about the difficulty of facing monsters with established behavioral patterns! It could also be a phenomenon arising from the fact that this was the first time many were playing a virtual reality game where they had to use their own bodies.

　　He had confidence!

　　“I can definitely hunt a couple of rabbits by myself.”

　　The recommendation was that it would be easier to hunt them in a party of about four. Han Simin figured that was because the rabbits tended to run away.

　　“My stats are about level 6, so I’ll be fine.”

　　With confident strides, he left the castle and crossed the wide-open plains. The castle was so large and its security so good that it was hard to find any rabbits nearby. Even when he reached a likely spot, there were so many players that finding prey was difficult. Seeing most of them hunting with relative ease reassured him even more. Then, just as a dense forest came into view, he spotted a single rabbit leisurely strolling through the meadow.

　　“Oh!”

　　One of the downsides of a game crowded with players was that there were more players than monsters to hunt. Exhausted after walking for thirty minutes without catching a single rabbit, Han Simin immediately ran toward it. He felt no revulsion at the thought of killing something. It was a game, after all. He had heard that the blood wasn’t realistically rendered so that players wouldn’t forget it was a game, which meant he had even less to hesitate about.

　　“Come here, you little cutie!”

　　He grinned and called out as soon as they made eye contact. The rabbit, as if reading his mind, came hopping toward him. It was chubby and utterly adorable.

　　“Become my experience points and my dagger!”

　　Han Simin, who had once been an athlete, threw a sharp punch through the air.

　　But with a dull thud…

　　“Oof!”

　　Han Simin was sent flying backward by a blow to the stomach from the rabbit.

* * *