God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 32: Episode 7 _ Hitting the Jackpot on Top of a Jackpot (1)

Chapter 32: Episode 7 _ Hitting the Jackpot on Top of a Jackpot (1)

1.

Streaming in Fantastic World came in two forms: pre-recorded videos, like YouTube, whose revenue came from view counts, and live broadcasts funded by viewer donations. Naturally, most players who played Fantastic World for a living had their own personal channels. They would hire professional video editors to create highlight reels of their daily gameplay, earning a supplementary income.

The Specialists were no exception. They had been broadcasting their progress through the main scenario quest in real-time, so of course, their battle with Illusion, the final boss of Act 1, was live. Their viewership typically hovered around 1,000 to 2,000 people, which wasn’t a small number, considering the hundreds of new channels that popped up daily with no promotion whatsoever.

The reason for their popularity was simple: Jeong Seolah and Kang Yeseul. There were even people who didn’t play Fantastic World who would tune in for over eight hours a day just to watch them. And during this particular broadcast, things took an unexpected turn.

—What was that? Wasn’t that a reward item?

—Yeah, looks like it. Can you enhance something like that?

—Technically, it is a reward item, but...

—The real question is whether the item that comes out will be any good.

The viewers, who had been watching the cheerful transaction between Simin and the others, began reacting to his bizarre behavior. As third-party observers, they judged the situation more objectively.

—He’s an enhancement master, so let’s say the enhancement fee is zero. But it costs 1 gold coin per try. Isn’t that a loss?

—There’s no guarantee it won’t break before +10. Even if he spends 20 gold coins to get it to +10...

—It would have to drop at least a Unique-grade item to be worth it.

Among the viewers, the proportion of actual Fantastic World players wasn’t that high. Although it was a massive game with over ten million users worldwide, the high price of the capsule remained a significant barrier for the average person. Consequently, very few people knew about Simin’s unique ability.

—Fail, fail, fail!

—It would be hilarious if it breaks.

Regardless, from a viewer’s perspective, there was no content more exciting than enhancements. They could experience the thrill vicariously without spending their own money, and if it failed, they could enjoy the satisfaction of watching someone else’s misfortune.

Fueled by the conclusion of the main quest’s first act and the prelude to this insane enhancement attempt, the Specialists’ official channel began to gain viewers through word of mouth. It was an expected outcome, but the fuse had been lit far more quickly than anticipated.

—Ah, too bad. It succeeded.

—Nah, it almost always succeeds up to +4.

—The real test is +8, when things start breaking.

—This brings back memories. Those streams of people breaking down while rolling cubes were hilarious.

—IKR. This channel has a great concept. And the streamers are gorgeous.

With each enhancement attempt, a thousand more viewers tuned in. The stream showed nothing but Simin wandering the ruins, hammering away at the random box, yet the viewer count showed no signs of slowing; instead, it skyrocketed.

—What the? This channel usually maxes out at 2k viewers. It’s already at 20k.

—?? Huh?

—I don’t care about any of this, I just need to see Seolah. I’m gonna donate sea balloons tomorrow.

—If I become a top fan here, can I meet them?

When viewership starts to climb, a channel usually needs to be managed—encouraging follows, fan subscriptions, and interacting with the chat to ensure viewers return for the next stream. But the three chaebol heirs weren’t desperate enough for money to bother with such trivialities.

They filmed, but they kept the chat off.

—Hello? Are you guys even reading the chat?

—Please, just read the chat!

—I’ll donate 2,000 sea balloons if you read my comment.

—UGH! What enhancement level is it at?! Just tell us!

The chat descended into chaos. It was a madhouse with no moderators to manage it. Yet, despite the lack of interaction, the viewer count held steady. In fact, it climbed even higher. It was inevitable. The combination of enhancement—a surefire hit—and two beautiful women who could earn millions just by showing their faces had just become the first to clear the main quest of the world’s most famous game. They had been under the radar until now, but once their viewer count crossed a certain threshold and they were featured on the official Fantastic World channel’s main page, their popularity was guaranteed as long as they didn’t do something foolish.

—This concept is sick.

—Watch if you want! Entertainment guaranteed!

—Heh, I don’t even need them to read the chat. As long as I can see Seolah’s face.

—I like Yeseul more. Kawaii.

—You have to get used to it if you wanna watch this stream. I’ve been watching since FW launched, and I’ve never seen them read the chat once.

As the random box’s enhancement level increased, so did the number of viewers. Of course, the streamers themselves remained completely oblivious.

2.

[Enhancement successful.]

As Simin wandered through the cleared ruins, finishing off the remaining monsters while simultaneously working on his enhancement, the random box soon reached +11.

[+11 Random Box (Scenario Quest: Act 1)]

* Grade: Normal

* Option 1: Drops a random item when opened.

The description was identical. Nothing had changed except for the “+11” prefix.

“Hmm.”

“Maybe you should stop,” Kang Yeseul said, her expression crestfallen. “It doesn’t seem like anything special is happening.”

Though it wasn’t her item, she looked even more dejected than Simin. For someone who played purely for fun, his bizarre methods were a source of endless fascination. She had gotten her hopes up, so her disappointment was just as keen.

But Simin simply shook his head.

“If you draw your sword, you have to see blood.” He spoke with grim determination, his jaw clenched, incensed.

’Are you kidding me? It’s already devoured over $1,000 and there’s still no change?’

Was the game really going to screw him over like this? It could have at least upgraded the grade to Rare. A stubborn streak he never knew he possessed began to surface. Normally, he would have given up instantly, but this time was different.

’I’ve got money coming my way once I log out, anyway.’

He could afford to be bold. Besides, without that financial cushion, he never would have attempted such a gamble in the first place.

’Let’s just see what happens at +15.’

Truth be told, a knot of anxiety tightened in his gut. What if nothing changed even at +15? People craved confirmation. Even if the quality of the items inside the box improved with each enhancement level, it was useless if the tooltip didn’t reflect that change.

“Haah...”

He took a deep breath and tried again. Since the box came from the ruins, finding a prime spot wasn’t difficult.

“Four left...”

With the remaining enhancement stones, he would go all the way to +15. Still, the thought that the second +15 item in all of Fantastic World would be a Normal-grade random box was more than a little depressing.

“You’d better give me something good. If you don’t, I swear I’ll spend my entire fortune mass-producing +15 Beginner’s Daggers and crash the whole damn game.”

Calming his trembling hands, he began again.

* * *

The change occurred at +12. A one percent chance of success. It was the moment a miracle was born.

[+12 Random Box (Scenario Quest: Act 1)]

* Grade: Rare

* Option 1: Drops a random item when opened.

The grade had gone up! It was a tiny flicker of hope, but it was enough to extinguish the anxiety of a man who had just sunk a whopping twelve gold coins into it.

“Whoa!”

Tears of joy welled in his eyes. Nothing else had changed—it still just dropped a random item—but it was something. It was a definite improvement. At the very least, it would probably drop a Rare-grade item now.

“Wait, maybe...”

Could it become Unique at +13?

“No way! Oppa, if you get it to +13, do you think it’ll turn Unique? The enhancement level is matching the grade!” Kang Yeseul exclaimed.

“It seems likely, doesn’t it?”

“If the minimum drop quality is determined by the grade, that would be incredible,” Jeong Seolah added, moving closer with Yeseul, their eyes full of anticipation.

Where would this enhancement lead? That was the only reason they were still following him around the ruins after the quest was already complete.

Having found a prime location for a +13 enhancement, Simin frowned. He stood, picked up the corpse of a monster he had just killed, and began dismembering it with his dagger.

“Ugh, what a pain.”

He sliced away.

The corpse broke down, yielding the innards Simin needed for his offering. He placed the sacrifice on the box.

Clang! Clang!

“I’m so nervous, Unni. What if it breaks?” Yeseul whispered.

Seolah replied, “Don’t say things like that. You’ll jinx it. Let’s just cheer him on.”

“...Excuse me. Why are you two more invested in this than I am?”

His concentration wavered, distracted by the two women who were somehow more tense than he was. Flash!

[Enhancement successful.]

He had safely reached +13. A soft golden light now emanated from the shabby old box—the magic of turning trash into treasure. Setting down his hammer, Simin immediately checked the grade.

[+13 Random Box (Scenario Quest: Act 1)]

* Grade: Unique

* Option 1: Drops a random item when opened.

“Yes!”

“Whoa! Unique!”

“Amazing!”

The atmosphere grew feverish, with the exception of Jeong Hyeonsu, who watched with a bored expression. If their theory was correct, opening the box now would yield a Unique-grade item at minimum. What an absurd outcome. Of course, it was only possible because of Simin’s ridiculous ability to manipulate enhancement probabilities.

“Go for it, Oppa! Go, go, go!” Yeseul cheered.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stop here?” Seolah countered. “The destruction chance at +14 is quite high. If it were a Special grade, it might be worth the risk, but...”

Conflicting opinions swirled before Simin could even make up his own mind. Neither of them knew the truth about his ability, but they knew he started with at least a 26% success rate, which made their arguments valid.

“Alright. Let’s do this!”

Simin, a man who had never once listened to anyone else’s advice in his life, picked up the box and sensed for the next prime location. His criteria was simple: proximity. Fortunately, the +14 site was also within the ruins.

“Here I go!”

“Wait.”

Just as he was about to set off with a much lighter step, buoyed by excitement, Jeong Hyeonsu stopped him. The trio, who had been walking arm-in-arm, turned to look at him. After shooting a disgruntled look at the contact between Simin and Seolah, Hyeonsu finally mentioned the important detail they had all forgotten. Having been bored, he had been fiddling around and had only just discovered it himself.

“The stream is still on.”

“...Huh?”

What stream? The news was a complete surprise to Simin. He turned his head, and a flustered Jeong Seolah turned to face him. Their eyes met, so close he could feel her breath on his cheek.

3.

[The broadcast has ended.]

A single sentence that drew a collective sigh from the twenty thousand viewers watching.

—What the. Why’d it end so suddenly?

—Is the streamer girl and that guy next to her dating?

—NO, WHAT ENHANCEMENT LEVEL IS IT AT NOW?!

—Ugh, what a scummy way to run a stream.

Stunned by the audacity of ending the broadcast without a single word, the viewers couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

—Did she disconnect?

—Doesn’t seem like it, judging by the timing.

—Never heard of anyone disconnecting from a FW stream. Unless Betago dozed off for a second, I’d say she just turned it off.

—BUT WHYYYYY????

Thirty minutes later, ten thousand people were still lingering in the offline stream’s chat. Newcomers, wondering what was going on, joined the protest.

—Turn the stream back on!

—So did it become a +13 Unique or not?

—Are you gonna go for it or not?

—Dammit. This is so dirty and cheap, but I’m dying to know.

—Please just show us what you get!

Suddenly, sea balloons, which could be exchanged for real money, started pouring in.

[TurnTheStreamOn] has gifted 100 sea balloons!

[PleaseReveal] has gifted 333 sea balloons!

[GoddessSeolah] has gifted 1,004 sea balloons!

It was an unprecedented event in live-streaming history. Donations flooding an offline broadcast! The viewers’ fervent interest, however, did not bring the stream back online. Instead, a single line of chat appeared under the streamer’s ID.

It was a link.

—No idea what this is, but I’m clicking.

—Screw it. I’d sell a kidney to see what happens.

—Guys, breaking news! The Random Box is +15!

—Holy crap.

—They say it’s a link to the stream where they’ll open the box. The streamer is probably the guy who was doing the enhancements.

The link led to Simin’s personal channel. The viewers who had flooded the Specialists’ channel began to migrate over.

* * *