God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 20: Episode 4 _ A 0.00003_ Probability (3)

3.

Han Simin instinctively felt that if he didn’t act now, he would lose his chance. So, he stepped forward with confidence.

“Greetings!”

Knights moved to intercept him as he approached the king, but Simin remained undaunted, squaring his shoulders proudly. ‘I’ll just revive even if I die!’ That bravado was all a mere commoner like him needed to feel confident.

A look of intrigue appeared in the king’s eyes.

“And who are you?” he asked.

“I am a passing adventurer!” Simin answered.

The gazes of the assembled nobles, who appeared to have been about to start a meeting, fell upon him, but he did not waver.

“I see. And what business does an adventurer have here?”

“There is something I wish to show you.”

At the same time, he fumbled around in his magic pouch and pulled out the dagger.

“What?!” a noble cried out.

“That man!”

“How dare he draw a weapon before His Majesty the King!”

“What are the knights doing?! Escort His Majesty to safety!”

Naturally, the nobles created a fuss at the sight of the brilliantly shining dagger, but the king remained composed. He asked, his intrigued gaze unwavering, “A +14 dagger, I see?”

"Yes."

"It’s quite surprising that one of the seven legendary weapons of the continent is in the hands of an adventurer. No, that’s not right. Daggers aren’t included among the legendary weapons..."

"Your Majesty, he claims to have enhanced this weapon himself. This man has inherited the will of the enhancement master who was a legend on the continent a century ago," Ian stated.

"Oh?"

To top it off, Ian jumped in with perfectly timed support, and even the restless nobles began to show interest. To players, a highly enhanced item was a product of incredible luck, but to the people of this world, it was a legendary weapon blessed by the gods. No matter how low its level requirement, its sacred effects could not be ignored.

"The reason I came all this way was to show you something," Han Simin said, seizing the opportunity and pressing forward without hesitation. If the king had been the condescending ruler he’d imagined, his words wouldn’t have stood a chance. Thankfully, this king showed curiosity, willing to listen to a passing adventurer.

‘Of course, that’s probably thanks to Ian,’ Simin thought.

Whatever the reason, the important thing was that they were communicating, which meant he could be scammed.

‘It’s about time.’

It was time to get to the main point. Even the Royal Knights had entered the Great Conference Hall, increasing the number of eyes on him, but the emotion in their gazes was entirely different. What was once vigilance was now curiosity—though a desire to own the legendary weapon was likely lurking just beneath the surface.

"A +15," Han Simin declared. "I have come to show you the continent’s first +15 weapon."

It didn’t matter what they thought.

The nobles were stunned into silence.

They were too shocked to speak.

"A +15! Mythic-grade!"

Simin was going to bolt the moment the enhancement was done anyway.

He smirked wickedly as he observed the chaotic atmosphere inside the hall.

* * *

The meeting was postponed. Soon, only the king, Prince Ian, and Han Simin remained. Ian offered various explanations and even declared his ambitions.

"Your Majesty, I have met a talent capable of surpassing the symbol of the Empire. This may be a golden opportunity for the Ain Kingdom to leap forward. Was it not thanks to the legendary enhancement master of old that the Empire achieved its current strength?"

Since Ian was explaining everything without Simin even having to beg, he just watched from the side.

"Hmm."

The king was lost in thought. What was he to do? In truth, it was a request he had no need to grant. Enhancing the symbols that each royal family possessed was, in the end, nothing more than a vanity contest between kingdoms. The funny thing was, with the exception of the Empire, no one had managed to produce even a faint aura. Even if they succeeded in getting past +9, it wouldn’t grant them the power to surpass the Empire overnight.

"Very well," the king replied.

Ian’s eyes widened.

But to the NPCs, such childish squabbles over pride held great significance. To those who believed in the gods and wielded divine power, enhancing a kingdom’s symbol until it radiated a brilliant light was proof of divine trust. This was even more true because it involved probability—a variable that humans could not control.

"However, adventurer, you must keep your word," the king warned. "I am giving you this chance based on my trust in the prince, but help always comes with a price. Just because you are an immortal being does not mean we have no way to punish you."

"Of course!" Han Simin replied.

[You have accepted ‘A Deal with King Ain’.]

[A Deal with King Ain]

* Grade: S

* Content: King Ain has believed the words of a humble adventurer and permitted a deal. He who does not keep his promise shall not escape death!

* Condition: Successfully enhance the ‘+9 Sword of the Sun’

Han Simin, who was always clear about business, nodded. It was all for some indefinite point in the future anyway, and it was a promise he had already made to Ian. If the day ever came when he could enhance the Sword of the Sun, he would make it emit an aura so brilliant it would put the Empire’s to shame.

‘After I milk them for all they’re worth!’

He was disappointed he couldn’t do it right away, so why would he run?

"Then..."

"This is a prime location, you say," the King mused. "Very well. Show me."

"Yes."

Swallowing his disappointment, Simin stood and slowly began to walk. One step, two steps. He climbed the stairs toward the throne where the king stood.

The king looked at him, puzzled.

The king’s questioning gaze was right in front of him. Standing before the ruler, who showed no fear despite the light green dagger in his hand, Simin scratched his head.

"The prime location is... right there."

For the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared on the king’s face.

4.

"Damn it, Unni. He’s ignoring my messages. Can’t you do something?" Kang Yeseul whined.

"He’s probably busy," Jeong Seolah replied calmly.

"Busy with what? He ignored me a few days ago and still succeeded with a +14 enhancement. Isn’t that just mean?"

"He has to travel all over to enhance things, you know."

"So what!" Kang Yeseul grumbled, then suddenly remembered Han Simin’s level. "...Well, he is still low-level. I guess it’s possible."

"He’ll contact you when he has time."

"Tch. Just you wait until he gets here. I’m going to seduce him for sure!"

Jeong Seolah let out a small laugh. Coming from someone like Kang Yeseul, it wasn’t an empty threat, but she somehow doubted Simin could be seduced. He seemed different from other men.

‘He seems to like women, yet at the same time, he doesn’t.’

Though she was young, Jeong Seolah had met many people, and from her perspective, he was a truly peculiar type. He would admire her beauty but never lose his composure over it. He liked money, but he also set certain standards and wasn’t consumed by greed. This was the Han Simin she had experienced so far. It was all a misunderstanding born from her looks, but in any case, he was a man she trusted enough to immediately recruit for her team.

"Seolah, Seolah Unni, let’s hurry up and make the guild so we can get him to join. I can’t take it anymore! Ugh. How dare he ignore my messages? If he knew who I was, he would never do this..."

"Alright. Just wait."

They passed through the castle gates as they talked. Their party, the Specialists, who had been focused solely on hunting, had returned to Haran Castle for the first time in a while to restock on consumables and create a guild now that they had all reached level 20.

"The way Fantastic World milks you for money is something else," Jeong Hyeonsu complained. "A hundred gold coins just to create one guild? This is ridiculous."

"It seems like anything with a game-like element added to it is expensive," Jeong Seolah noted.

"Exactly. It would be less annoying if they just made it a cash shop item."

Jeong Hyeonsu grumbled even as he took out the money for the guild creation. He knew it couldn’t be helped, but it still felt like a waste.

"We could probably make it for cheaper if we just waited."

"If we were going to do that, we wouldn’t have been the first ones here," Jeong Seolah countered.

Waiting for the price of gold coins to drop meant forgoing the advantages of having a guild, but spending the money now was painful considering the current exchange rate. This headache was surely not unique to their party among the top-tier players.

[The guild ‘The Specialists’ has been established.] 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

In any case, they had created the guild they wanted. Jeong Hyeonsu, who had been grumbling just a moment ago, now examined the guild system as if nothing had happened.

"Let’s invite Simin quickly," Kang Yeseul urged.

"We have to meet him to invite him."

"Can’t you contact him and tell him to come?"

"You do it."

Jeong Seolah brushed off Kang Yeseul’s nagging and thought about their next move.

‘We should move on to the next area.’

The hunting grounds near Haran Castle were vast. The secret to pushing ahead of competitors at similar levels was choosing the right kind of monsters—those at the required level that could also be killed easily.

‘Level 25. No, it would be great if we could get to level 30.’

Jeong Seolah had a +13 longsword, and Jeong Hyeonsu had a +10 shield. It was natural for her to be a bit ambitious.

‘No.’

But she shook her head. Mindlessly hunting high-level monsters was inefficient. The key was to find monsters that were easy, fast, and numerous. For that, level 30 monsters were too much.

‘Unless we get some better gear.’

As their levels increased, weapons from shops became meaningless. They were expensive, and there was no reason to buy Normal-grade items when players could get drops from monsters. They could find Rare or even Unique weapons through auctions or nobles, but the prices would be unimaginably high, and there were level restrictions. They had to obtain them through hunting for ones at least Rare-grade or higher. Once they enhanced those, the true ranking competition would begin.

‘I hope Simin succeeds at +15.’

She didn’t know the exact nature of his ability, but she guessed that as his level and skill proficiency rose, his enhancement success rate would also increase. That’s why, even as she worried about managing every second to hunt without falling behind and overturning the fixed level rankings, she was still cheering for Han Simin. Next to her, Kang Yeseul once again mustered her courage and requested a 1-on-1 chat with him.

"Just you dare ignore me again," she muttered.

Fortunately, her desperate prayer was answered.

"Simin? Hey, Simin? Don’t hang up!"

"Who is this?"

"It’s me, Yeseul!"

"Who’s Yeseul?"

"Hey, we’re in the same guild. Are you really going to be like this?"

"Ah! The short one."

Though her pride was wounded, Kang Yeseul was ever the cheerful woman. "Simin Oppa, when are you coming? We made a guild..."

"Hey. Sorry, but I’m a bit busy right now. It’ll bring me bad luck, so I’ll call you back later."

’Beep.’

"...and we wanted to invite you."

Her cheerfulness was shot down once again. Watching from the side, Jeong Seolah shook her head.

‘He’s definitely not an ordinary man.’

She even began to wonder if he might be impotent.

"...I got rejected again. Me, Kang Yeseul. The only daughter of the Hanshin Group! Waaah."

Only Kang Yeseul’s sorrowful whine echoed along the path to the hunting grounds.

* * *