God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 79: Episode 15 _ I’m Bored, So Let_s Unlock a Chest (6)

Chapter 79: Episode 15 _ I’m Bored, So Let_s Unlock a Chest (6)

11.

Simin started the fire not far from the cave, just close enough for the tigers inside to feel threatened.

“Whoa, it’s burning well.”

Starting the fire had been difficult, but once it caught, it blazed more fiercely than any forest fire he could have imagined, erasing his worries that it might not take. The fire began to spread hungrily toward the cave, as if wanting to announce its presence to the entire Gloomy Forest.

Slowly, bit by bit, there would be a smell.

It always starts small. A real forest fire only shows its true power after cautiously consuming its surroundings and gathering strength. He quickly circled around to the side and headed for the cave. He didn’t spare a thought for the possibility that other monsters might spot the flames and try to extinguish them. For monsters that had lived in this forest for decades, that was an impossible notion. The very concept of fire would be foreign to them. They would see it and think of putting it out.

They might foolishly throw themselves at the flames, but a forest fire would not be so easily extinguished. He was sure of it.

‘The cave will be empty.’

Whether the tigers made the foolish decision to fight the approaching flames and die or the wise choice to flee, the outcome would be the same. He felt a surge of pride. How clever of him to have thought of this. Of course, he didn’t have much time. He had started the fire, but he, too, was just a creature that couldn’t last long against the roaring flames. High Strength, Stamina, and Agility? What good were they against a conflagration of several hundred degrees? His leather armor might block damage, but it was useless against something that could melt it.

He took a breath and focused. He had one chance. He was only here to enhance the egg, so whether he succeeded or failed, he would never come back. As an apology to the burning trees, he would definitely succeed and get rid of this gloomy, monster-infested forest.

“Roaar!”

“Krawrr!”

Returning to his previous spot, he watched the cave as the tigers began to emerge one by one, roaring. ’Yeah, you’re confused, aren’t you? That’s how I felt when I saw your faces.’ Because of this damned experience penalty, he couldn’t stand before them and swing his hammer, but he could still screw them over with this little act of arson.

He couldn’t help but grin smugly. In real-world terms, he was an arsonist who had set an entire forest on fire with the sole belief that there might be a wild ginseng root good for his grandmother’s health inside a tiger’s den.

‘Well, no one will know.’

That was the basis of his confidence. The Empire had given up on this place, so what was the problem? The only potential issue was the fire spreading all the way to the Rich Territory, but he had already considered that possibility the moment he decided to start it, so there was no need to worry.

“Burn, baby, burn.”

“Krawrr!”

“Grrrrr.”

Ten, twenty. A chilling number of tigers poured out of the cave. And that wasn’t all.

“GRAAWR!”

He was stunned.

A tiger at least three times larger than the others emerged last.

‘I really could have been screwed.’

Forget a dagger; even if he hit that thing with his hammer, it would probably just ask him to hit it again because it tickled.

“Krawrr! Krawrr!”

“Roaaar!”

After an unintelligible exchange, the tigers took off—not toward the fire, but deeper into the woods.

‘Smart bastards.’

Look at them, abandoning their home without a second thought. He had a feeling they might be a rather powerful species in this forest. He wasn’t idle enough to make a comparison, but with that kind of intelligence, combined with their strength, they could easily dominate this place teeming with monsters.

At the same time, he vowed never to hunt such cunning creatures and headed for the cave. The flames were growing and approaching faster than he’d expected, but what could he do? He had started the fire for this very moment.

Han Simin entered the dark cave.

* * *

A few hours later, a post about the auction appeared on Han Simin’s channel.

[Auction Notice: Treasure of the Ultimate Legendary Grand Mage]

[The learnable skill books Chantless Casting (SS) and Penta Casting (SS) will be put up for auction with a starting bid of $1 million. The auction will be brokered through the official Fantastic World item trading site and held at the location below in three days at 10:00 AM. The winning bidder is responsible for all brokerage fees and other associated costs. The item will be delivered in-game.]

Seeing this, Kang Yeseul immediately opened the guild chat.

“Oppa! What’s up? Weren’t you in the forest?”

“How did you know?”

“We’re here for the main quest too.”

“Ah.”

“It’s hard to see, but there’s smoke rising in the distance. Looks like a forest fire. Do you know anything about it?”

“...No? I just died. I’m in the Rich Territory now.”

“Oh! I see. Okay. We’ll be back soon, so don’t go anywhere. We need some enhancements.”

“Sure.”

A simple exchange of greetings and business talk. Her heart pounding at the thought of the auction in three days, Yeseul immediately contacted her father.

“Hehehe. I have to buy it.”

“Yeseul, didn’t Simin say he died?” Seolah asked.

“Yeah, so he respawned in the Rich Territory.”

“But how can he be using the guild chat?” Hyeonsu chimed in.

“...Huh?”

“If you die, you’re logged out for forty-eight hours, right?” Seolah pointed out.

“...You’re right.”

Once their business was done, a question arose.

“What’s going on?” Seolah wondered.

“Maybe he didn’t die?” Hyeonsu suggested.

“But there’s no reason for him to say he died if he didn’t,” Yeseul countered.

It was a conversation that made no sense. Besides, Yeseul was too preoccupied with the upcoming auction and her potential power-up to press the issue, and she couldn’t just start another conversation.

“Let’s ask him when we get back,” Hyeonsu said.

“Okay.”

“We need enhancements anyway...”

So they got up to leave. The Gloomy Forest was no place to wander around carelessly. They couldn’t shamelessly ask Simin, who didn’t care about the main quest, for help. Instead, they would have him upgrade their armor and weapons to make the quest at least a little safer. They would also solve the mystery of how Simin was chatting in-game despite claiming he had died.

The three of them returned to the Rich Territory.

12.

Upon his return to the territory, Han Simin was greeted by the residents and his rabbits.

“Have you been well, my little ones?”

Of course, Simin gave a half-hearted greeting to the unprofitable residents and saved his affection for the well-fed rabbits, hugging them tightly.

“Kkyu! Kkyu!”

The rabbits began to spit out the things they had been holding. The specks of dust they had collected, taking advantage of their magically treated armor that allowed them to store items, had grown into a mountain.

“Heh. Look at these good little rabbits.”

They had been leveling up diligently, too. Seeing the rabbits, who had now reached level 40, filled him with a sense of pride. ’They’re better than their master.’ He lavished them with empty praise and put the various items scattered on the ground into his magic pouch. Then, he took out the now crimson egg from his pocket.

“Ta-da!”

[+15 Egg]

Grade: Random

Description: An egg from which something unknown will emerge.

The description was still vague, but a sense of pride washed over him. He had finally done it. He was glad the ordeal he had put himself through—even setting a forest on fire—hadn’t ended in a pointless death.

‘If it weren’t for the Necklace of Revival, I’d probably be...’

He would have been logged out by now, anxiously wondering what items he’d dropped, unable to sleep a wink. The necklace he had planned to sell had given him an out in an unexpected situation. For that reason, he decided to postpone selling it for the time being.

‘The magic scroll alone will bring in enough money anyway.’

He would use the items that helped his progression and sell them later when he no longer needed them. The thought of burning to death was still horrifying, but he had gotten what he wanted. He gently stroked the egg.

He fell silent.

All that was left was to hatch it. The problem was, he had no idea how.

“Damn...”

Should he just toss it to the rabbits? He couldn’t find any information on the community forums. He tried holding it against his stomach and placing it on the ground for the rabbits to warm, but nothing changed. Until now, he had been praying it wouldn’t hatch while he was trying to get it to +15, but now that it was time to crack it open, he was stumped.

As he frowned in thought, the Specialists arrived.

Yeseul called out to him, “Oppa!” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Han Simin didn’t hesitate to ask for help.

The Specialists were speechless.

“...How do I hatch an egg?”

It was unlikely they’d have the answer.

After a moment of thought, Han Simin handed the egg back to the rabbits.

“Let’s do the enhancements first.”

Right. It wasn’t urgent. After a long time, Han Simin returned to his main profession and began enhancing for them.

* * *

The rabbits squealed and squeaked with interest and curiosity.

While Simin was busy with the enhancements, the rabbits gathered around the egg one by one. They wanted to know what it was. Every living creature on the continent of Fantastic World had a heart, a mind, and its own thoughts. While individuals differed, the egg that had come into their possession was, to the rabbits, an object of intense curiosity.

It was an egg their master cherished. An egg that emitted a brilliant crimson light. At the same time, it possessed a dignity that made it difficult to approach. If they hadn’t been tamed by the power of a Legendary class—if they were still the same creatures slaughtered by beginners in the fields outside the castle—they might not have dared to even get close.

But now, they served the same master. They bravely approached the egg and stroked it.

It was like older siblings waiting for the youngest to be born. The familial love they felt overrode their instinctual sense that a being far greater than themselves would emerge. Feeling a sense of kinship, the rabbits approached the egg with more confidence and proactivity.

They were squealing, asking as if when it would be hatching.

Despite their affectionate barrage, the egg remained motionless. It didn’t respond when they offered it the carrots they had stashed away. It didn’t respond when they offered it the items Simin had rejected. It didn’t respond when they offered it the meat they had hunted on the nearby grounds.

It was frustrating. They became stubborn. Whether they were taking after their master or not, the rabbits began to bring out everything they had: metal, grass, fruit, herbs, and so on.

A rare spectacle unfolded in an empty corner of the territory: on one side, enhancements were underway; on the other, a forced tasting session.

“Ah, too bad. Fifteen gold coins. Next enhancement, please.”

“Kkyu kkyu kkyu!”

If there was one thing they had in common, it was that both sides had similar personalities. The rabbits even split up.

It was as if they were ordering something else to be brought because they were determined to hatch it today.

It wasn’t because they had any certainty or possibility of success. It was just... because they were bored. To the rabbits, being mammals, anything that came into the world had to be born. ‘It’s born, but it’s hiding.’ This line of reasoning led to the rabbits’ rash actions.

Simin, who was in the middle of enhancing, glanced over at them.

“Hey, hey. If that thing breaks, you’re all going to be roasted rabbits today.”

There was a sudden silence. Curiosity does not rank higher than self-preservation. The rabbits, who had been carelessly rolling the egg on the ground and bringing various things to it, carefully picked it up and placed it on a pile of soft fur.

’Cute little things.’

Simin smiled and tossed them a gold coin he had just received.

“If you’re bored, try feeding it that. Who knows? Maybe the damned egg is so steeped in materialism that it’ll happily hatch if you give it money.”

The coin rolled over to the rabbits. Following their master’s command, the rabbits carefully brought the gold coin to the egg. It was an act done without any real expectation.

Flash!

Everyone was confused.

The moment the gold touched the egg, a faint light emanated from it and absorbed the coin.

“What the?” Simin’s gaze shot toward the rabbits.

“Kkyu kkyu kkyu!”

The rabbits expressed the strange phenomenon with their entire bodies.

“What are you saying?”

The message didn’t get through. But one thing was certain.

“Hey, where did my gold coin go?”

“...Kkyu!”

The rabbits presented the egg. Simin had been around them long enough to understand that much body language. He scoffed.

“You cheeky little things. You’re lying that it ate it just to snatch my money?”

’So, rabbits know the taste of money now, do they?’ To teach them a lesson, he took out ten gold coins this time.

’If this thing eats this, then pigs can fly.’

This time, Simin brought the coins to the egg himself.

The gold disappeared just like before with a bright flash.

An absolute silence fell.

* * *

Episode 80