God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 88: Episode 17 _ My Father-In-Law’s Money Is Basically Mine(3)

Chapter 88: Episode 17 _ My Father-In-Law’s Money Is Basically Mine(3)

4.

The residents of Rich Territory who woke up in the morning were surprised.

"What is this?!"

"Where did the rabbits go?"

The rabbits, who went out with Han Simin a while ago and returned alone, always protecting the territory and occasionally going to nearby hunting grounds to pick up this and that, were nowhere to be seen.

Although the rabbits felt like family to the Rich Territory residents, they didn’t have even a bit of control over them, so there was no way to check where they went at the crack of dawn nor was it their business, but it was true that they were worried!

"Don’t tell me intruders got the rabbits?"

This worry also quietly surfaced. But it soon subsided.

"Ey. No way. Unless they’re a psychopath, there’s plenty to loot, so they wouldn’t touch the rabbits and go on a trip to the afterlife."

Although they moved in a pack, aren’t they monsters that beat up vicious monsters in the vicinity?

To put it bluntly, even if a massive group of intruders had slipped in unnoticed at dawn to mess with the rabbits, the only things found in the morning would have been the intruders’ corpses, not the rabbits.

"Then where did they go?"

"Maybe they got up early to go for a morning stroll."

The residents harbored doubts, but they weren’t worried. Looking at the territory currently under development all around them, this wasn’t the time to worry about rabbits.

They had to develop the territory as quickly as possible to repay the lord’s grace!

Furthermore, Han Simin had promised that if he personally stepped in to visibly expand the territory, he would build a massive castle to match the growth.

The residents of the Rich Territory put the rabbits out of their minds and dove back into their daily routines.

It was then that they made a discovery.

The landscape surrounding the territory was different from usual.

"What is this? Was this area always cleared like this?"

"Cleared? Don’t be ridiculous. This is monster territory. What the... why is no one here?"

"Come to think of it, I haven’t felt the presence of even a single mouse on the way here. What’s going on?"

Thanks to the Specialists, the safe zone where monsters couldn’t approach the Rich Territory had already been expanded significantly. But this morning, it extended far beyond that.

And not just by a few meters.

If the expansion had been that small, the patrols who checked the boundaries of human activity every day would have noticed.

"...Did they all go out for a group picnic or something?"

"No way. These are the bastards who used to glare at us from the boundary every day as if they wanted to kill us."

Their own land was being eaten away bit by bit, leaving them no time to even figure out how to respond. Would monsters go on a picnic in a situation like that?

What if their empty homes got looted in the meantime?

This could only mean one of two things: either something had happened to the monsters standing guard, or the territory’s boundary had expanded further.

"Which is it?"

"Let’s report this to the aide for now."

"Agreed."

Either scenario was good news.

However, if they let their guard down assuming the former, only to find it was a trap, they could suffer heavy casualties.

The territory buzzed with noise at the report from the scouting residents.

And amidst the confused people, a plausible theory emerged.

"The rabbits disappeared this morning. Could they be responsible for this?"

They were speechless.

They were only half right.

5.

At first glance, the Imperial Knights might seem to idle away their days within the Imperial Palace, doing nothing. In reality, however, they endured a grueling, regimented, and harsh daily routine.

It was, in fact, worse than the army!

Their day began before sunrise with a run at the training grounds, followed by morning physical training. After meals, they were deployed for numerous duties to assist the Emperor, squeezing in swordsmanship drills and physical conditioning whenever they could.

After lunch, there was more physical training. In the afternoon, they listened to and memorized the political situations of various kingdoms and countless related classified dossiers.

It was a position that required mastery of both the literary and martial arts!

That wasn’t all.

In the evening, there was practical combat swordsmanship training that continued until midnight.

Only then were they given time to sleep.

Getting less than six hours of sleep at best was a habit anyone who wanted to become a Royal Knight—no, anyone who wanted to become a knight at all—had to ingrain in their bodies from a young age. And splitting their twenty-four hours to go on duty twice a day was a separate matter entirely.

Robust stamina and an unshakeable spirit!

Wasn’t this the absolute pinnacle that the Republic of Korea Army aspired to reach?

The Imperial Knights had been doing this every single day for years.

Naturally, their physical strength and mental fortitude had matured to match.

Yet, even such men couldn’t help but frown as they looked at Han Simin.

Breathing heavily and suffering from mental stress, each of them muttered small curses under their breath. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Haa. Haa."

"More! Faster! Cut down another one! Do you think you’ll grow at that snail’s pace? Your levels are so high that you won’t raise even one level with mediocre hunting. Run faster! Yes! You there. Why has your sword speed slowed down?"

He was silent.

He was a devil. A devil.

Simple labor combined with the ceaseless shouting of the devil was not easy to endure, even for trained knights.

Whoosh—

Thwack!

Shriek!

The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the monsters they were facing weren’t exactly weak.

Cleaning up the area around the territory had been manageable. After all, they were Imperial Knights, and the knights and soldiers occasionally dispatched to the Rich Territory were on a level that wouldn’t even make it to the Imperial Palace.

But the moment the range expanded and Han Simin’s hard training—which only occasionally allowed for ten-minute breaks—surpassed forty-eight hours, their minds began to go numb.

"That’s right. Cleanly. Kill them without damaging the leather. This is also a form of training. How long are you going to just stab things to death with brute force? Aim for the vitals. The vitals! That way the leather won’t get damaged and will sell for a high price!"

The knights were certain that their exhaustion wasn’t due to the prolonged life-or-death combat, but because of that damn voice.

’Someone shut that bastard up.’

’Captain! Please!’

’I think I’m going to die!’

However, no one was bold enough to voice their inner thoughts.

After all, they could feel themselves getting stronger, even through this ignorant method.

The frustration came from the gap between the reality and the result.

Meaningless repetitive grinding without enlightenment, accompanied by nagging.

Yet, they were becoming stronger.

It felt like proof that all their suffering until now had been nothing but pointless labor.

"Move! Move!"

Han Simin, having grasped this point well, drove them even harder.

Since he had already received the Emperor’s permission to temporarily incorporate the knights as his territory’s knights, he had no hesitation.

"Good! Offer up that experience just like that!"

Although the rabbits snatched away almost all the items and dismantled leather from the dead monsters behind them, leaving him with only a measly amount of experience points, even that was something!

Sitting still and watching his experience points rise, however slowly, filled Han Simin’s heart with immense pride.

If he had hunted them himself, how annoying and difficult would it have been?

Killing them would just require swinging a hammer, but experience points that didn’t rise relative to the effort put in always had a way of draining a person’s motivation.

"March forward! Keep going! There is no retreat for us!"

Furthermore, the further north they went, the noticeably higher the experience gain became.

It meant that higher-level monsters were appearing.

At some point, the surrounding scenery had changed to the Gloomy Forest he had visited last time.

"Shall we slowly get started?"

And that was a ray of hope for the knights suffering from his nagging.

Enhancement!

At least while he was enhancing the armor they had brought, he wouldn’t be yelling at the knights.

"Alright. Left turn!"

The real hunting began.

* * *

The Specialists, too, were adapting perfectly to the Gloomy Forest, thanks to their upgraded specs and Kang Yeseul’s power, backed by a $6.1 million skill.

"Left!"

"I cast a curse! Unni!"

"Storm Cutter!"

The combination, which had been one Dealer, one Tank, and one Healer, effectively became two Dealers and one Tank. Jeong Hyeonsu naturally moved to the front to block aggro that bounced off instead of drawing it himself, while Jeong Seolah hid behind him, acting as a joker to strike at the monsters’ vitals.

Kang Yeseul, who used to only provide heals, took on the biggest role with her $6.1 million skill, eating up the monsters’ aggro and slowing the movements of those approaching.

Moreover, since she used five spells simultaneously, heals came in immediately when health dropped. It was a three-person party, but their efficiency was far superior to a party of four or even more.

Thanks to this, they displayed an impressive spirit, their leveling speed not slowing down much even without Han Simin.

"Ah. If only Simin Han were here, it would be perfect."

"No matter how efficiently we hunt like this, it’s not as good as just one of his rings."

"That’s just how the game is."

"This luck-based shitty game."

Jeong Hyeonsu spat on the ground.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t wrong to say it was luck that the Ring of Blessing came out when Han Simin opened the box!

However, such grumbling couldn’t offset the envy at all.

"Ugh. My stomach hurts."

"Hyeonsu, try to have a better mindset. How will you ever get married acting like that?"

"I don’t need to get married."

"You going to live clinging to Seolah forever? Did she say she’d let you? I don’t think so."

"What?"

To envy is to lose.

He had already lost, but Kang Yeseul, who had invested $6.1 million to buy a good skill, scratching at his insides made him burn with irritation even more.

"Next time, I’m buying something good too."

"You are the most ordinary one right now, honestly."

He had nothing to say.

It was fortunate he was a tanker; if he were a dealer, he might have become a benchwarmer with zero presence, just riding the bus.

As a brother with a severe sister complex, that was absolutely unacceptable!

That was the reason he resolved to pour massive amounts of money into Han Simin, whom he didn’t even like!

"Go and get me something good."

No matter the cost, he would buy it!

They arrived at the tigers’ territory, where Han Simin had previously roamed for his +15 Egg enhancement.

Luck had been on their side in the vast Gloomy Forest.

"...What the? What is this place?"

"Is this the place that caught fire last time?"

"Seems like it."

The forest that used to be dense in the tigers’ territory was now a desolate expanse of ash.

The Specialists didn’t know the details, but the damage was unimaginable for the land of a species that ruled the Gloomy Forest!

"It really is the end if you get on Han Simin’s bad side."

"To think of setting fire to a forest. He’s not sane."

"It was a wise choice, though."

Who would dare think of such a thing?

An ordinary person confined by the framework of reality would be busy frantically stomping out a cigarette butt on the grass, let alone setting a forest on fire!

"He’s an amazing guy in many ways. Him coming to our guild might just be a divine move."

"Agreed."

In that respect, the three of them acknowledged him.

And they walked along the burnt forest.

They were curious about how far it extended, and also wondered where the monsters that used to live here had gone.

They didn’t know what sins they had committed in their past lives, but if they met the monsters who had suddenly emigrated, they should probably comfort them.

Crunch, crunch.

Ash underfoot.

An endless wasteland.

Tension slowly built in their bodies.

They were walking because they couldn’t see anything, but they were standing in the middle of the Gloomy Forest!

No, perhaps even further north.

Even if they had hunted through the entrance using equipment far exceeding their level and skill usage funded by real money, going beyond that was naturally impossible.

Their goal wasn’t to meet higher-level monsters, but to find clues about the Ruler of the Forest to progress Act 2 of the Main Quest.

Buzz buzz.

"Wait!"

"Hush!"

Just then, a sound tickled their ears amidst the silence.

It was very far away, but they naturally lowered their bodies.

And approached cautiously.

What could be in a burnt forest like this?

As they got closer, the voice grew louder.

At the same time, the words became understandable.

"Do you know what this is? This, you punk, is an achievement I made all by myself. You know there used to be a bunch of huge black tigers living here? I beat the crap out of them all and even set fire to the place so they wouldn’t mess around again."

The listeners were dumbstruck.

The voice was familiar, too.

* * *