God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 98: Episode 20 _ The Sin of Loving More(1)

1.

The Butterfly Effect.

A very famous phenomenon, even made into a movie, stating that the flap of a small butterfly’s wings on the other side of the globe can turn into a massive storm.

’Could it really go that far?’

Apart from such skepticism, it actually applies in quite a few situations.

The most representative example, and one easy for the younger generation to understand, is games.

In the MOBA genre that dominated PC games before 『Fantastic World』 came out, this Butterfly Effect was called "Snowballing," and it was accepted and talked about as a perfectly natural phenomenon.

The flap of a small butterfly’s wings rolling from the start of the game.

If you take one minion, a little gold coins, and one object at a time, by the time 5 or 10 minutes have passed, even if nothing special has happened, the gap with the opponent widens, and you can gain an advantage, big or small, in fights.

If that becomes 20 or 30 minutes, a truly massive storm—a small snowball turning into a huge avalanche—can occur, dominating the game.

Therefore, players who have played and watched a lot of games are familiar with it.

Han Simin was the same.

Although he took a loss and bestowed his enhancement benefits on quite a few players, he didn’t feel regret at all.

’It’s bound to come back.’

Why do shops give away so much when they open, to the point where you wonder if they’re actually losing money that day, even though they wouldn’t sell at a loss even with a knife to their throat?

Even if the sales don’t meet expectations, they are looking at the future!

Riding word of mouth—that shop is delicious, the service is good, the portions are large.

It spreads to people, more customers come, and regulars are attracted.

You can gain long-term profits to the point where you won’t even remember the losses you took on the first day.

And that applies not only to restaurants but also to electronics and all sorts of situations.

Would enhancement be any different?

Players who had enhanced their gear to at least +5 and up to +10 were now slowly accumulating contribution points and heading to nearby hunting grounds.

Although beginners were flocking in and building the castle after hearing rumors that there were many quests with lucrative rewards separate from the Main Quest, most of the customers who did enhancements were high-level!

What would be the first thing they felt when they went out to the hunting grounds?

’The difference, of course.’

The difference in attack power compared to yesterday.

The difference in incoming damage.

While building intimacy with NPCs, whenever they had time, they would wander around the nearby hunting grounds, testing where they gave the most experience.

Once they felt the visible difference from back then?

Would the cost of enhancement still feel wasteful?

Even though to add that much efficiency at the point where they had decently fitted their gear, they would have to spend at least three times the money used for enhancement on accessories?

They would immediately preach about the efficiency of enhancement to their acquaintances and guild members.

No need for praise.

Just, "I heard it’s good."

"The efficiency seemed decent?"

Perhaps the key to conquering Act 2 of the Main Quest was enhancement.

Even with just a word from each of them, Han Simin’s strategy succeeds.

The results of that meticulous design were visible today, on the fifth day.

"Please take care of my enhancement."

"Simin, I’m going for +10!"

"You said it’s 2 gold coins per 10%, right? Please give me 20% from the start."

"Is 30% possible?"

Low investment, high efficiency is every player’s dream.

Especially on high-spec, high-level hunting grounds like this, it is a crucial element that can shorten the time spent hunting monsters by several minutes.

Rankers who would fall behind the times if they didn’t open their wallets after discovering the geographical prime spot called Rich Territory and finding a new hunting ground!

Han Simin’s wallet began to thicken.

It was a tremendous success; the pouch, which had been empty of glittering gold coins because Squeaker ate them all, now contained 2,000 gold coins before he knew it.

"As expected, the luxury business is the best business."

He was deeply moved.

Although he had earned more money than this before, and even now was accumulating a comparable amount by hunting with the Specialists when not enhancing, as a merchant, how could money earned from a single source be relied upon as a fixed income?!

If his standing in his main profession of proxy enhancement rose like this, he wouldn’t have to worry about making a living even if the Specialists quit the game later.

’Though that won’t happen.’

Human affairs are unpredictable, aren’t they?

It seemed more likely that 『Fantastic World』 would go under before the Specialists quit, but relationships could sour before then, and the number of variables was countless.

"Heh."

As Han Simin closed the day’s business, shaking and counting the full gold-coin pouch, Squeaker approached, eyes full of greed.

"Tsk. No!"

"Squeak..."

A firm shield.

He earned it to feed it anyway, but not now.

Originally, if you do anything little by little, even things that were meant to succeed will fail.

Occasionally, there are cases where someone wins the lottery with one or two tickets bought because a god dropped a hair while sleeping, but Han Simin was different from those naturally lucky people.

"Let’s eat when we gather about 5,000 gold coins."

"Squeak."

The money earned by working his fingers to the bone enhancing for nearly a week was 2,000 gold coins.

It was a substantial amount, but since demand for enhancements dries up until players change equipment, he had to find new customers. Since he had tapped out the Rich Territory, he couldn’t see a way to earn an additional 3,000 gold coins, yet Han Simin remained composed.

"Those Kenji bastards. Let’s see how long they can hold out."

Because the greatest suckers on the continent still remained!

They weren’t even considering reaching out to Han Simin out of pride, but what could they do?

No matter how much money they had, enhancement wasn’t that easy.

Somehow he managed to get his weapon to +12, but would he be satisfied with that?

What about his guild members’ enhancements?

They were strong enough and had the numbers, so they probably didn’t have trouble hunting right now.

But it would come soon enough.

’They said the mid-boss monster would be incredibly strong.’

Enough that Jeong Seolah gave up and released the information.

With a minimum estimated level of at least 120, that said it all.

Didn’t even Han Simin record a draw by setting a fire after struggling against a pack of strange tigers!

"They’re bound to come. Those guys."

Originally, the one in need approaches first.

In terms of urgency regarding money, Han Simin was weaker than anyone else in the world, but he was a cool man who knew how to control the tempo.

He organized his gold coin pouch and crossed his legs.

"Good."

The real Han Simin had already been in a light sleep state inside the capsule for over a month, but a young body could handle that much hardship!

’Once money piles up in the account... or maybe not?’

He decided to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that every penny he earned was being invested right back into the game.

* * *

As always, we will find the answer!

Jeong Seolah finally found a clue about the Ruler of the Gloomy Forest.

"Unni, I think you’re really crazy."

Of course, she wasn’t certain.

The Gloomy Forest itself was so vast that collecting evidence by visiting every spot was nearly impossible.

But just reducing the number of possibilities to four was enough for her efforts to be recognized.

"It has to be one of these four."

"...Wow."

It definitely wasn’t something Jeong Seolah did alone.

She constantly moved around while hunting and never separated from the group for a moment.

However, Kang Yeseul didn’t have the concentration to use her brain like that.

She just beat up monsters when she saw them and used magic.

"First, based on the basic monster specs being strong, focusing on physical abilities, focusing on types where named monsters exist, and focusing on those who roam other monsters’ territories as if it were nothing, if it’s not that..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Moreover, there was no guarantee that the reduced possibilities were the correct answer.

Nevertheless, players gathered one by one upon hearing the story.

At a point where the number of people who received the quest to kill the Ruler of the Gloomy Forest had crossed double digits, her deduction sounded quite welcome.

"First, let’s set the direction to hunting in the relevant hunting grounds, and if we find the named monster, we group up and raid it."

"Sounds good."

The Kenji Guild was included in that, and they nodded at the decent proposal.

At the same time, the players scattered.

Naturally, there was no way a guild that listened existed.

Especially the Kenji Guild!

They were a collection of people who had very bad feelings toward the Specialists, and of course, Han Simin.

Cooperate with them?

"Guild Master, we found the named monster."

"Everyone gather. Strictly enforce information security and check if there are any surrounding players."

"Yes!"

Heading intentionally toward where the Specialists weren’t, they found the named monster based on their large numbers.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yes!"

A raid started naturally among themselves!

No one objected, and no one questioned if this was wrong.

Because it wasn’t a bad deed!

"Let’s hope for good luck."

"Waaaaah!"

"If we advance first here, Act 2 is our monopoly."

Manners in a game, my foot!

The one who takes it first is the owner!

Besides, it wasn’t a reward that could be shared anyway.

It was better to just eat it first rather than clash directly.

The corners of Kenji’s mouth curled up as he advanced confidently.

’As expected. PVP isn’t everything in gameplay.’

Take the Main Quest first, monopolize the rewards, and reduce the level gap based on that!

If he did that, he could sufficiently forget the current humiliation!

The Kenji Guild, capable of beating even a dragon with sheer will, clashed with the named monster.

2.

"You came sooner than I thought?"

"...Please. Perform the enhancement."

"Me? When there’s a perfectly functional Enhancement Shop right over there?"

Han Simin, sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a crooked smile, jutted his chin toward the Enhancement Shop.

Although Kenji hadn’t brought Khan from the Ain Kingdom yet, he had brought a few Enhancement Masters supported by his family. If he wanted to enhance something, the situation was perfectly set for him to do so without Simin’s help.

Of course, their success rate might not be as high as Han Simin’s, but considering Kenji’s pride, refusing to ask Simin was only natural.

“I will pay you whatever amount you want. Please, perform the enhancement.”

Despite the sarcastic remark, Kenji gritted his teeth and asked once more.

Pride?

He was ready to discard such a thing at any moment if it meant moving forward.

Begging a single player?

Or being a Guild Master who couldn’t even hunt a single named monster, lost half his guild members, and fled in a panic?

He didn’t need to compare the two to judge which was more humiliating.

“Hmm.”

Han Simin stroked his chin.

’The situation I wanted has finally arrived.’

He didn’t even need to play hard to get; the sucker was fully prepared to pay up.

’Then, shall I try ripping him off now?’

“Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“I am a sensible man who knows how to separate business from personal matters, after all.”

“...As expected. You are remarkable.”

To think he had to humor the very guy who had not only wiped out his guild members but also looted their items.

His insides were boiling, but Kenji maintained his smile.

“But unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult for me to maintain neutrality this time.”

Kenji remained silent.

“I’m only human, you know? People bothering me, trying to kill me, hearing rumors about people coming to find me in real life and whatnot...”

Kenji was speechless.

’When did I ever do that?’

It hadn’t gone that far.

Except for the fact that they struck first, the Kenji Guild was the victim here.

But as the underdog in this relationship, he wouldn’t have a word to say even if he had ten mouths to speak with.

“If the price went up a bit, I feel like I might be able to endure the emotional distress and perform the enhancement...”

“...I will pay it.”

“Deal!”

Han Simin, who had been looking at him as if he were a bug with a troubled expression, suddenly sprang up as if nothing had happened. He relaxed his posture and extended his hand.

A perfect business mindset!

Today’s enemy is tomorrow’s sucker!

The major shareholder he had been waiting for had arrived.

* * *