God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 116: Episode 23 _ Turning Dead Weight into a Feast(2)

Chapter 116: Episode 23 _ Turning Dead Weight into a Feast(2)

3.

Baron Karan fell into deep contemplation.

’Ah. Should I do this or not?’

He had dragged his heavy body up to the capital, but now that he was about to enter the territory of his uncle, whose authority pierced the sky, fear suddenly gripped him.

’Can I steal it?’

He was the typical type who was only strong against the weak.

Naturally, as a mere baron who barely scraped by selling his name, how could he square his shoulders and sit as an equal with his uncle?

Even that title wouldn’t have been possible if his uncle hadn’t permitted it; he wouldn’t have been able to live so proudly in the provinces.

It was, in a sense, permitted power.

A position that could be taken away at any moment if he became an eyesore.

He couldn’t help but be scared.

He was about to secretly steal a treasure from such a formidable person.

’Should I just not do it?’

Naturally, this thought crossed his mind.

They say out of sight, out of mind. His body still throbbed, but it was already forgetting the deathly pain from that time.

Moreover, where he stood now was the main base of a noble who could take his life at any time.

Maybe if he confessed the truth and asked for protection, his uncle would listen.

Although he would have to give up his territory, wouldn’t that be better than living a life forever chased by one side or the other?

However, Baron Karan shook his head after agonizing over it.

He would rather die than live such a life.

Wasn’t the desire to live loudly and proudly, away from his uncle’s gaze, the reason he had begged and pleaded to receive a decent baron title and a territory far from the capital?

Although he couldn’t climb any higher, for someone like him with no desire for power, the life of a lord—where he didn’t have to walk on eggshells, could reign like a king, earn money, and spend it lavishly—was much more comfortable.

So, he moved his heavy steps.

"U-Uncle. I’m here."

"Tsk tsk. Look at the state of your face. I heard the story."

Karan’s maternal uncle, who sat in the lofty position of a Marquis, clicked his tongue as he looked at Karan, whose entire body was covered in bruises.

Far from welcoming him, his eyes said Karan was a disgrace to the family!

It was humiliating since servants were present, but Karan endured it.

"I apologize."

"To lose to a mere adventurer who became a noble with the Emperor’s blessing! I don’t need such a pathetic apology. Stay quiet and reflect on your actions for the time being."

’Damn it. Did I lose because I wanted to?’

’You go and fight him. You’ll realize just how absurd it was.’

"...Yes."

Grumbling inwardly, he bowed his head.

He let out a sigh of relief at his uncle’s attitude—displeased but not casting him out—and laid his body on the bed.

"Ah."

How long had it been since he felt this comfort?

In less than a month, too many changes had occurred to him.

It was all caused by his arrogance, but naturally, he didn’t think it was his fault.

If he were honest enough to admit that, he wouldn’t have lived like this in the first place.

He simply blamed the heavens for his bad luck and surrendered his eyelids to fatigue.

He remained silent.

But he couldn’t fall asleep easily.

It wasn’t because he had slept in the carriage on the way here.

Baron Karan possessed the ability to sleep for four days and nights straight if told to do so right now.

It was because the problem he had to solve kept surfacing in his mind, even though he had reached a safe place, albeit with an uncomfortable heart.

"What do I do..."

Whenever he closed his eyes, the face of that demon-like adventurer appeared, and he remembered the contract he had been handed.

The Soul Contract.

The one that said his soul would be instantly snatched away if he failed to fulfill it.

Even this time spent lying down and resting comfortably was included in the time remaining for his soul!

"Haah."

In truth, there was no choice.

He had come here to live, and in a situation where his desire to survive pierced the sky, what was there to hesitate about?

’I’m sorry.’

It was a sorry thing to do to an uncle he wasn’t very close with, but what could he do?

It was better to fulfill the contract and flee from his uncle’s army, where there was at least a slim chance of escape, than to run away now and have his soul snatched by the power of the contract.

Quick judgment spurred the pig into motion.

Of course, he had no plan right now on how to steal the treasure passed down through the family for generations, but making a definitive choice at least forced him to think about it.

’Let’s figure it out. I have to figure it out.’

Otherwise, he would die.

That desperation suggested unexpected methods to him.

4.

That night, after finishing the transaction, Simmani made up his mind as he watched his daughter Dahye’s happy expression.

’Let’s make hay while the sun shines.’

Even if it was just a game, the lingering uneasiness from digging up a grave and taking a ring from a corpse was an emotion unavoidable for a human being.

Fortunately, since there was a buffer of it being a game, he could stop at that level and not feel guilty. But 『Fantastic World』 was a place where a tiny minority of people truly believed it was reality and even developed mental illnesses.

It was definitely something he didn’t want to do again.

But he overturned that decision for money!

’Dahye has to start school soon, and I need to give her pocket money so she won’t be discouraged in front of her friends. And I need to buy my wife a nice outfit so she won’t be looked down upon by others when she goes to parent observation classes...’

Right, what need was there for a Simmani’s pride?

What did it matter if he felt a bit uneasy?

What was important?

’It’s just a game anyway.’

As long as he made good money, that was enough!

With a resolute heart, Simmani logged into the game and immediately left the Rich Territory, entering the surrounding forest.

He had heard that high-level monsters appeared there, but was this the time to worry about that? 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Of course, he didn’t go near areas where the monsters hadn’t been cleared out, sticking to places with some human traffic. But regardless, for him, who rarely hunted and wasn’t high level, it was practically an adventure.

"Here it is."

Wandering around like that, he found what he wanted.

A grave!

Since users weren’t interested and deliberately avoided them, untampered graves were scattered here and there, perhaps made to honor those who had died fighting monsters in the forest long ago.

In a way, they were symbols like guardian deities to the Rich Territory.

THUD.

To Simmani, who lived for his family, that was a story that wouldn’t even moisten his tear ducts!

He began to dig the grave without mercy.

After digging for a while, a corpse appeared.

Unknowingly, he became tense and expectant.

Even though he had made up his mind, looking at a corpse that had died and rotted away made him nervous, and he also wondered if any valuable items were buried with it.

His gaze went first to the fingers.

"...Nothing."

Unfortunately, the item he wanted wasn’t there.

Searching the surroundings yielded the same result.

If someone had buried them, they probably took everything.

He clicked his tongue involuntarily, but he didn’t give up.

’This is just the start.’

Simmani hadn’t played many games, but he was smart in his own way.

He hadn’t missed the question regarding the ring on the finger of the corpse he had dug up.

’The item’s name was definitely Ring in the Grave.’

Who in the world would find a ring inside a grave, put it on, and then die?

That meant the game’s system was involved!

It was too early to be certain, but turning doubt into certainty wasn’t that difficult.

’The grind.’

The time had come to display his specialty, honed by roaming mountains across the country to find rare herbs whose locations were unknown.

By digging up strange graves.

* * *

"Aren’t you buying these?"

"Yes?"

Han Simin, who had gone out to enhance the drop rate ring and returned, stepped back upon seeing Simmani waiting in front of the Lord’s Castle looking like a beggar.

He wasn’t surprised by the pile of junk Simmani poured out of his leather pouch, but by the passion and drive visible in his eyes!

’That is...’

It was a familiar look.

It felt like when Han Simin’s eyes rolled back at the sight of money!

At the same time, he could feel it.

’This person is very desperate right now.’

’He can do anything for money.’

Although Simin now lived a life where his livelihood had improved enough to afford leisure and even luxury, he cherished the memories of when he crawled at the bottom, so he knew.

He knew what kind of things people like that could accomplish.

So, he gave him a warm smile.

"Let me take a look."

"Yes."

He didn’t really expect much.

He wanted to help, but his personality wasn’t one to help others for free, and he didn’t think the man had anything worth a give-and-take.

However, if there was an item worth a penny or two to him, he was willing to buy it.

Because the ability Han Simin possessed was a mysterious magic that could create decent value even from such junk.

"Oho?"

But contrary to his lack of expectation, he let out a surprising exclamation as he picked up the junk.

"Huh?"

One by one.

His expression as he picked them up was full of surprise.

"Where did you get all of these?"

"...I cannot tell you that."

Considering the dirt all over his body and the names of the items, it was easy to deduce, but Simmani shook his head until the end.

Deducing and being certain were different.

Anyway, by his standards, this was a way to make a lump sum of money. If he told the customer where he got them, what would he eat and live on?!

Even Simin couldn’t easily obtain these items, but Simmani didn’t want to say.

’If he buys them, I need to dig harder.’

Watching Han Simin say he understood and examine the remaining items, Simmani swallowed hard.

About a dozen items.

Judging by the expression, not all of them, but some would surely sell.

Even at $50 each, that was hundreds of dollars!

’If I estimate about $200...’

That was a whopping $6,000 a month.

It wasn’t that hard to dig about 7 to 10 graves to find one of those items.

The problem was the limited number of graves, but since he didn’t plan to make this his main profession anyway, it wasn’t an issue.

So, a happy smile couldn’t help but form.

Except for the dirty feeling he got when a hologram appeared midway asking if he wanted to change his job from Herb Gatherer to Tomb Raider, the past few days had been days of unparalleled luck for him.

"I’ll buy these three."

"Thank you!"

After looking through everything, Han Simin chose to bow first.

It meant the remaining seven were useless, so he would likely throw them away, but still, earning $150 after wandering around for half a day was something.

"You must have a fascinating job."

"Yes, I got lucky."

"If you find decent items next time, please bring them to me. Since my job is in production, seeing things like this makes my desire to spend money surge."

"Of course. Thank you!"

"Yes, and from now on, if there’s something I like, I’ll raise the price for you."

"H-How much..."

"Well, if it’s something decent, I can give you anywhere from $100 to $1,000. That depends on the options, of course. Let’s discuss it case by case."

Simmani gasped.

Watching Han Simin pack up the items and leave, Simmani stood there in a daze for a while.

He wondered if he had heard wrong, but his ears told him absolutely not, and his brain shouted to calm his excitement and grab this opportunity immediately.

’At least $50, at most $1,000...’

And that depended on the lottery tickets he collected.

How thrilling was that?

It was a definite way to make money, better than digging up nameless herbs and receiving mere bronze coins at best.

"...Damn it."

Thinking about it, the Tomb Raider job he had discarded last night suddenly came to mind.

If he became a Tomb Raider, wouldn’t something better come out of the graves?

His pride in being an herb gatherer, which he had maintained all his life, collapsed before money.

Simmani, tainted by capitalism!

He broke into a run.

"Tomb Raider. I have to get the Tomb Raider job."

* * *