God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 106: Episode 21 _ Do You Know Who I Am, Punk_(2)

3.

The hawk, which had barely been large enough to comfortably carry one person, had grown enough that its shadow blocked the sun from the view of several people by the time it neared the ground.

Its bulk had increased as much as its body had grown.

If yesterday’s Squeaker was a hawk, today’s Squeaker was, how should I put it...

"It looks like a fat hawk."

"...Don’t talk about my Squeaker like that."

"Why? What else am I supposed to call it? That’s exactly what it looks like."

Simin was at a loss for words.

Simin frowned at Kang Yeseul’s honest remark. Even so, calling it a fat hawk was a bit much.

He couldn’t deny it, but if even he, the owner, admitted it, he wouldn’t have the face to look at Squeaker, who had come down expecting a heap of praise.

How could he scold it for growing up looking like that to that innocent face?

It wasn’t like Squeaker wanted to evolve into this form either.

Sigh.

It was all because the owner was broke.

It was hard to even imagine how much it would cost, but if he had fed it enough gold to evolve into an adult dragon in one go, it could have skipped the process of going through such an ambiguous appearance.

"Still, our Squeaker. You’ve grown enough to carry about four people."

Scree!

The cry resonating from its thick belly fat had become deeper.

It wasn’t as cute as the small bird on his shoulder, but its dependability brought a natural smile to Simin’s lips.

’Right, it’s just a passing phase.’

What did appearance matter?

The important thing was that evidence of Squeaker’s form gradually heading towards a dragon was being detected one by one!

’Thick belly fat, wings, and small horns.’

This was the 2nd evolution, but emotionally, it felt like it had only just gone through the 1st evolution.

To think that a dragon-like appearance was finally starting to show, little by little!

Just a little further. If he just evolved it about two more times!

He would go bankrupt.

Smacking his lips in bitterness, he climbed onto Squeaker’s back.

He felt like he finally understood why tamers risked their lives and even emptied their house deeds for a tamed monster that would be gone forever if it died once.

It was his alter ego, a character whose growth he believed was directly proportional to the capital he poured into it.

Furthermore, unlike a house dog raised at home, he thought it had the added benefit of joining him on adventures and seeing the world. He noticed its affection for him seemed to grow in direct proportion to the care he invested.

Not to mention the immense sense of accomplishment now that it was fully grown.

If there were a single drawback, it would be the cost.

’That amount is negligible.’

He had transcended such petty concerns by now.

What was the point of feeling regret after he had already fed it over 5 million dollars? He simply had to believe it was worth the price tag.

"Let’s bulk up quickly, Squeaker."

SCREE!

He patted its 4 million dollar belly fat encouragingly.

[+15 Golden Hatchling (2nd Evolution)]

- Grade: Epic Legendary

- Level: 50

- Stats (610): Strength (201), Agility (186), Magic Power (1)

- Skills: Gold Growth (SS), Gold Buff (SS), Gold Support (SS)

It had cost 7,000 gold to advance from level 33 to 40. From level 41 onwards, it required 2,000 gold per level, consuming a total of 27,000 gold to reach level 50.

Just as he was worrying about whether they could actually afford to reach the cap, the Second Evolution occurred the moment they hit level 50. And with it came a massive amount of stat points.

At that point, Han Simin had to make a choice.

He wondered whether he should invest the remaining 13,000 gold into levels or use it on himself for the first time in a long while, since reaching level 60 seemed out of reach anyway.

’Neatness is key.’

In the end, he decided to stop exactly at level 50 and take a detour into the Gold Buff.

There was also an option called Gold Support, but since he hadn’t given it a single glance—let alone shown any interest—from the moment he met Squeaker until now, it was ruled out from his choices right away.

After some deliberation, he settled on the Gold Buff rather than raising the level by a measly 2 or 3. Just like that, 40,000 gold vanished.

[Gold Buff Effects]

1. Attack Power Buff Lv30: Attack Power +30%

2. Defense Buff Lv20: Defense +20%

3. All Stats Buff Lv10: All Stats +10%

It was a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.

Han Simin’s stats, which were already high, increased by 10%, and the Legendary Hammer’s attack power also increased by an additional 10%!

If you ignored the fact that it had cost 4 million dollars up to this point—no, 5.2 million dollars if calculated with the inflated market price—it could be considered a very happy ending.

Scree!

Squeaker cried out, eager to prove its worth with its much faster flight speed. It didn’t take long to arrive at the location where Seolah and Hyeonsu had moved ahead of time.

* * *

Han Simin had mixed feelings about tigers.

First of all, they were the monsters that gave him his first taste of struggle back when he was full of arrogance. They were also the culprits that forced him to move his home in tears after he set fire to their territory in a fit of rage.

Back then, he vowed to earn a lot of money again. Thanks to that incident, he successfully barged into the Empire and extorted a good armor set. So, while he was grateful, he also felt a twinge of guilt, wondering if setting fire to their home was a bit too harsh. They were truly a love-hate existence.

That was partly why he accepted this situation so coolly.

It seemed the time had come to sever the ties—both good and bad—with them.

"Certainly, if it’s the tigers, it’s understandable that you’d have a hard time," Seolah said.

"Have you hunted them before?"

"Yes. Remember when I set fire to the forest? That was them."

"Ah."

Seolah asked cautiously as she watched Han Simin reminiscing.

"Then, right now..."

’Is it possible?’

The name Han Simin had climbed to such dizzying heights that nothing seemed impossible for him anymore. She trusted him enough that even when he decided to spend ten thousand dollars this time, he did so without a shred of hesitation. But apart from that, one had to be cold and calculating when grasping reality.

After all, they had all invested a similar amount of time into the game. Even Han Simin, who seemed to fear nothing in the world, likely had many things he hadn’t achieved yet.

He just hadn’t found them yet.

As a simple example, wasn’t his level still stuck at 43?

Compared to before, his leveling speed was noticeable. However, considering the atrocious amount of required experience from that point on, and the fact that the Specialists were on the verge of level 60, taking down a mid-tier named boss monster—which was practically an over-balanced creature—seemed difficult in many ways.

"Of course. Don’t worry."

However, Han Simin nodded confidently, enough to erase even that worry.

It was certainly concerning.

His defense had increased significantly compared to back then, but ultimately, the weapon to deal the decisive blow had only increased by one step, from +13 to +14. The rabbits had leveled up a lot, too, but if the tigers, who were known to be heavy hitters in the Gloomy Forest, swarmed in a group, the advantage of his gear would fade significantly.

He might even have to abandon his usual methods and strategize by running around and picking off the tigers that were separated.

Yet, he was confident.

"Because we have Squeaker."

Everything was an investment, and it led directly to growth.

Just as Yeseul invested 6.1 million dollars into a skill book containing only two skills, Han Simin also invested a corresponding amount of money to bring out the unique characteristics of his class.

Although the results weren’t clearly visible yet—it felt more like he had just bought a mid-sized car worth millions—looking at Squeaker’s stat window planted a sense of reassurance in his cold, calculating mind.

That confidence led to his dignified stride.

The arsonist had come to visit his victims in person.

* * *

Since that hellish day, the tigers had suffered from nightmares every single night.

What good was being the species that ruled the Gloomy Forest?

Against the massive inferno that started from a small spark, they were nothing more than weak creatures created by God.

There were monsters that used magic occasionally, but even mobilizing them, the fire had already grown too large to suppress. They were on the verge of being trapped and melted in the hellfire if they didn’t flee immediately; where was the time to think of anything else?

Fleeing without even being able to judge whose doing it was, the tigers developed a trauma regarding fire. They established their new base in a terrain full of flatlands and rocks, without a single tree to burn.

A basin amidst high rocky cliffs.

There were monsters originally living there, and they were also a fairly powerful species within the forest. However, they couldn’t withstand the tigers who had gone mad with rage over losing their home and their kin.

They weren’t called the rulers of the forest for nothing.

Furthermore, just as the fire had engulfed the tigers before they could react, the tigers also ambushed the monsters living there without warning.

’What are the tigers doing all the way out here?’

It was a bolt from the blue for those who wondered if the tigers were just out for a group picnic.

Eventually, the original inhabitants were chased out, and the tigers, while recovering from the aftermath, thought deeply.

’Why on earth did such a big fire start?’

Having lived their whole lives in the Gloomy Forest without seeing such a fire, it was naturally difficult to view it as a natural phenomenon.

The tigers, being monsters with intelligence approaching that of humans, derived one conclusion from this.

’Someone set the fire!’

Otherwise, there was no way the always-damp and moist trees would catch fire.

Once they thought that far, the suspects were filtered out one by one.

There were so many enemies that they couldn’t pick just one, but it didn’t matter.

They were the rulers of the forest!

They just had to catch all the suspicious bastards and beat them to a pulp.

Thus, the hunt began. Even as they died, none of the monsters acted like the true culprit, which was frustrating. Just then, humans began to enter the forest.

Thinking, ’Surely they wouldn’t come all the way here,’ they were going about their business when the humans barged in. One forgotten human came to mind.

Of course, the named tiger had never seen him.

But a few tigers remembered that day.

A human who stood against them, despite being a mere human!

He was different from the weak existences that would expose their hearts with a single strike of a forepaw, so how could they not remember?

The named tiger’s eyes shone.

Certainly, if it was a human, they were more than capable of such a despicable act.

However, the three humans who came to fight him didn’t seem to be the ones.

It was regrettable, but just as he was dealing with them as they annoyingly attacked...

"GRRR..."

"GRRR?"

One of the tigers that had faced the arsonist human let out a deep growl.

’It smells like him. That human from back then.’

The tigers, who never forgot a scent once smelled, bared their fangs.

Whether it was him or not didn’t matter.

What mattered was that the human had attacked the tigers that day, and there was a slight possibility he was connected to the arson.

That was enough.

’Kill him!’

"ROAR!"

The tigers charged out in a group.

* * *

Han Simin spoke.

"Just in case, let’s go slowly and pick them off one by one. We shouldn’t go straight to the Named monster and get surrounded for no reason."

"Yes, let’s do that."

"My bunnies can’t die."

As someone who thrived on ganging up on others, he knew the dangers of being ganged up on better than anyone.

There were a whopping 100 rabbits, but if the tigers gathered in similar numbers, wasn’t the result of the fight already determined just by their size difference?

The rabbits, in whom he had invested hundreds of thousands to earn 30,000 dollars, must not die.

So, they advanced cautiously.

But even after walking for a long time, no tigers were visible.

"What the... Is this the right place?"

"Yes, usually by this point, we’d see one or two..."

Suddenly, an ominous feeling washed over him.

And as always, Han Simin’s ominous premonitions were never wrong.

"GROWL."

"GRRR."

"GRRAH."

"...Excuse me, I’m not the only one hearing this, right?"

"If you mean the growling sound, I hear it too, Simin."

"Me too."

"You think hearing it is the problem? I can even see them."

The rabbits instantly huddled closely around Han Simin.

Tigers were quietly revealing themselves from between the rocks, appearing as if they had been there all along.

Their numbers were dangerously high.

"Wow. They’re giving us a really grand welcome."

Silence filled the air.

His very first words had become a jinx.

* * *