*Whoosh!!!!*

A massive fountain before him shot a column of water high into the air.

A gust of wind caught the spray, flinging droplets against Ha Gangwoo’s entire body.

“Buying all weapons B-rank and above at +5 or higher!”

“Selling A-rank weapons for Enhancement! Come take a look before you go!”

Maybe it was the atmosphere, but his heart thumped — a strange, swelling anticipation rose in his chest.

The place he stood now was the Street of Enhancement.

A massive crowd was visible in front of the giant fountain.

Mostly merchants, buying and selling items.

Gangwoo sat on a bench before the fountain, taking a moment to rest and reorganize.

*BEEP!*

Gangwoo pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the messages.

—Association

Dear Player Ha Gangwoo. The Seoul Branch of the Association is pleased to invite you. If your schedule permits, we would appreciate your attendance. A small gift has been prepared, and we thank you for taking the time.

—Hope Repository

No abnormalities today either. Have a pleasant day!

—Hwang Taeseong

Here is the list of max-level healers. Traits are currently being identified. Please wait a little longer.

‘Nothing.’

Gangwoo clicked his tongue in disappointment as he looked at the phone.

He’d left Seohyun his number, but she still hadn’t contacted him.

‘Must be in the Scenario. Area 2.’

If he had to guess her route, by now she’d probably finished her job change and was in Scenario Area 2.

Maybe it was the hint Antero had left him, but the thought of Chae Seohyun kept nagging at him.

‘Don’t rush.’

Gangwoo’s ultimate goal was to find a Resurrection skill, but his fight with Madre had taught him something.

What came first was the power to protect himself.

And Hwang Taeseong seemed to be making real progress, too.

[Max-Level Healer Player List]

Kim Cheolsu — Association Affiliated — Trait: Identifying.

Kim Suhyeong — Association Affiliated — Trait: Identifying.

……..

…..

….

.

‘He collected a lot.’

The list Taeseong had sent contained roughly over a thousand players.

It seemed like valuable info, but since he’d already found the clue to the Resurrection skill from Shamiel, it didn’t look all that useful anymore.

‘First, let’s check the money.’

Gangwoo put his phone back in his pocket and checked his remaining Gold.

[Gold Held: 94,485,000 Gold]

This was all his current wealth — the capital he planned to invest.

‘I’ll make it grow, no matter what.’

Gangwoo clenched his fist as he stared at the Gold window.

[DLC Shop]

DLC — Book of Job Change: Elemental Master — 500,000,000 Gold

—

—

(Refresh)

With the costume repair problem solved,

Gangwoo’s top priority now was saving up five hundred million.

‘Giving up on the ‘DLC — Book of Job Change: Elemental Master’ would make everything easier, but he wanted it.’

That was why he’d come to the Street of Enhancement.

[Luck: 100 (+30)]

Every time his Luck stat had made a difference so far, it had been in probabilistic effects.

Every effect touched by Luck so far had been a probability trigger — from percentage-based skills to the dice that divvied up loot.

Which made this enhancement hustle a gamble worth taking.

‘Let’s check the item first.’

Ha Gangwoo examined the weapon he’d pulled from Jutrek.

[Jutrek’s Wrath]

Grade: B

Durability: 65/65

Attack: 255

Strength: +105

Agility: +165

Description: A fine blade steeped in Jutrek’s fury. Yet long exposure to the spider’s venom has drained its power.

It wasn’t an Artifact, but the stats were solid for a B-grade item.

Two hundred fifty-five base Attack — numbers that made him want to feed it to Barzel’s Appetite.

‘Perfect timing.’

Still, this sword had a different use in mind.

Gangwoo pulled out his phone and scrolled through an internet post.

[Enhancement Hustle TIP: Dropping advice after hoarding 10 billion Gold.]

1. Buy at least B-grade items (Artifacts preferred. No money? Tough luck.)

2. Push to +5 even if your luck is shit.

3. Sell the +5 item to a dealer.

Repeat steps 1-3.

This got me 10 billion Gold. Probabilities are what they are — if you’re cursed, don’t try it.

Feeling lucky? Go for +6. If it breaks, you’ve just sunk tens of millions. Know your risk. That’s it. Enjoy the grind.

└Jackpot! Blew my gear on the third try and rage-quit every time. After ten attempts, my pockets were fat.

└Tried twenty times, broke even, and quit.

└Nobody’s dumb enough to fall for this, right? I went bankrupt after three straight breaks… damn bastard

└Unlucky prick. I made 100 million off this. Thanks for the pro tip.

Just another shitpost you’d find on the web.

But enhancing for margin? That wasn’t total bullshit.

After some digging, enhanced weapons had real demand.

B-grade minimum. +5 or higher drove the price up. Guilds snapped them all up — that’s why dealers existed.

And the odds weren’t terrible.

0→1st Reinforcement: 98%.

1→+2: 82%

2→+3: 71%

3→+4: 54%

4→+5: 33%

5→+6: 14%

6→+7: 11%

7→+8: 8%

8→+9: 5%

……..

…..

….

.

The highest enhanced weapon ever recorded was +14 — roughly a 0.1% chance, if the numbers held. No idea which lucky bastard pulled that off.

‘The odds drop hard after +4.’

Looking at the rates, +4 to +5 was brutal.

Fifty-four percent meant one failure every two tries.

And failure? Not only did the enhancement level drop — the item could shatter outright.

With a B-grade item costing at least 10 million Gold, a single failure hit like a truck.

But high risk, high reward.

For every bust, the payout was real.

At least, for the dealers.

The moment a B-rank weapon worth 10 million Gold hits +5 Enhancement, you can get 20 million Gold for it.

If it goes straight through without a hitch, after the enhancement cost, it’s still a 750-thousand-Gold profit play.

Ha Gangwoo intended to dip his hands into that.

From what he’d found out, Artifact effects also got enhanced past +6.

‘If there’s money in it, I’ll have to enhance Barzel’s Appetite too.’

Ha Gangwoo opened his palm and looked down at Barzel’s Appetite.

Now that he knew the Enhancement system existed, he felt the need to upgrade everything—Lucifel’s Ring, Barzel’s Appetite, Asrul’s Lust—the whole set.

[Barzel’s Appetite:破]

Grade: ???

Durability: ∞/∞

Satiety: 90/100

Attack: 267

Strength: +43

Agility: +21

Mana: +6

Description: A glove imbued with Barzel’s Appetite. A ravenous hunger lingers within—beware, it may devour its wielder.

Effects

– Barzel’s Appetite gains the Devour effect.

– Barzel’s Appetite gains the Ruin effect.

Additional Effects (3/10)

– 30% (5↑) chance to explode on impact.

– Gains the Extreme Pain effect.

– Can use Paralysis Fog.

How would those already broken effects change if they got enhanced?

Ha Gangwoo smiled with vague anticipation and continued his maintenance.

‘Next up, the stats.’

Ding-

Strength: 115→117 (2↑)

Mana: 85→90 (5↑)

He’d gained only 1 level in this Dungeon run.

He’d spread the 7 points evenly between Mana and Strength.

Part of him wanted to dump them all into Luck, but from everything he’d seen about how that stat worked so far—

He’d decided it was meaningless unless he put at least 20 points in at once.

[Level: 61]

‘Not much left now.’

Ha Gangwoo looked at his level and let a satisfied smile curl his lips.

[Demonization]

Grade: ???

Description: A core that generates Demonic energy is created within your body. You can wield the power of the Demonfolk.

Effects

– All Status increased by 100%.

– Can recover lost body mass. (Consumes high HP.)

– Madness dominates your mind.

– Gains the Demon Eye effect.

– Gains the Demon Horns effect.

– [Unlocked at LV.75]

– [Unlocked at LV.100]

– [Unlocked at LV.150]

‘What’ll pop out when I hit 75?’

He’d gotten Demon Horns at LV.50. The ability at LV.75 was way more intriguing now, especially since that first upgrade had outperformed every expectation.

‘One more thing left.’

Last to check was Mimic.

[Mimic]

Rank: C

Status: So many items! This place is heaven! Mimic is overjoyed right now.

[Link: Ha Gangwoo]

HP: 820/820

MP: 83/83

Satiety: 27/100

Strength: 58

Agility: 55

Vitality: 40 (+32)

Mana: 45 (+41)

Sense: 50

Luck: 50

Capacity: 26/50

Skills: [Mimic Summon] [Aura of Growth] [NEW]

Thump—thump—

This was the check he’d been most looking forward to.

‘What did she get?’

Every time Mimic ranked up, she’d pulled a broken skill.

And then there was Evolution—the skill that kept appearing as a choice.

Until now, other skills had always pushed it down the priority list. Not anymore.

Mimic, grown on Fragments of Evolution. Barzel’s Appetite:破, evolved after devouring Stoss’ Masterpiece.

Evolution had proven far more useful than he’d expected.

Thump—thump—

That’s why he was dead set on picking Evolution this time.

‘But where’d she go?’

Ha Gangwoo craned his neck, scanning for Mimic. She’d been tailing him the whole time, and now she was nowhere in sight.

‘Something’s off.’

Ha Gangwoo frowned as he read the status line on Mimic.

[Status: So many items… This is heaven! Mimic is overjoyed.]

What the hell was she doing to get a status like that?

He barked the activation word.

‘Mimic.’

Whoosh—

Mimic’s form popped right in front of him.

“Whoa!”

Clatter! Crash!

Weapons crammed in Mimic’s arms spilled across the ground.

‘….’

“No! I worked so hard to collect these!”

Mimic scrambled to scoop the fallen weapons back into her tiny arms.

Right then.

“Th-there she is!!!!”

Urgent shouts rang out from a distance.

Mimic had been stealing weapons from the merchants around them.

A brief commotion followed.

Ha Gangwoo set a hand on Mimic’s head and spoke.

“Bow your head and apologize. Now.”

“I’m sorry…”

Mimic lowered her small head and apologized to the merchants.

“Honestly. One more stunt like that and we’re reporting you.”

“How’d a kid get in here anyway?”

Thankfully, the matter ended without serious trouble.

*Thunk!* — Ha Gangwoo whacked Mimic on the head.

“Ow!”

“I told you not to act on your own.”

“But I wanted to bring items for my Master!”

Mimic shot back, utterly brazen.

‘Is it instinct?’

Come to think of it, from the moment he first got her, she’d been picking up items.

Guess hoarding items was just Mimic’s nature.

‘Hard to get mad about that.’

Mimic was so young. She’d been born less than a month ago—no need to crack down on her right away.

“Haa… Let’s just check the skill.”

[10,000 Gold withdrawn from inventory.]

A clump of gold coins spilled from Ha Gangwoo’s grip.

Slurp—

Mimic licked her lips at the gold, and Ha Gangwoo handed it over.

Crunch—crunch—

In the moment Mimic was too busy gulping down Gold to notice, Ha Gangwoo checked her skills.

Ding-

[Please select a skill for Mimic.]

[Link II] — The link between Master and Mimic grows even stronger.

[Evolution] — Mimic evolves.

[Aura of Enhancement] — Grants a special aura to Mimic.

“There they are.”

Same as before—choose one of three skills. And there it was, the option he was most curious about: Evolution.

‘What, is she going to turn into an adult?’

The description for Evolution was way too vague. But hadn’t he already made up his mind? He was going to pick Evolution.

But—

‘Link II?’

Ha Gangwoo narrowed his eyes, studying the other two options.

Link II and Aura of Enhancement.

The skill he’d learned before, ‘Aura of Growth,’ was a broken effect that added a 50% EXP bonus.

So he needed to check what these new skills offered too.

Ding-

[Link II]

Description: The link between Master and Mimic grows even stronger.

Effect: The Link strengthens, granting beneficial effects.

– Increased stat transfer rate from linked Master. (50% → 75%)

– Increased loyalty.

– Forced commands become possible. (Forcing a command decreases loyalty.)

[Evolution]

Description: Mimic evolves.

Effect: Everything about Mimic evolves.

[Aura of Enhancement]

Description: Grants a special aura to Mimic.

Effect: Grants the Aura of Enhancement to all party members within 100M of Mimic.

* Aura of Enhancement: Increases the Status of nearby party members by 20%.

“They’re all good.”

Evolution was supposed to have a vague description, but Link II and Aura of Enhancement both had effects way better than he’d expected.

Forget the forced command and loyalty parts being bonus features—the stat transfer rate jumping from 50% to 75% was huge.

This meant more than just boosting Mimic’s combat power.

‘She’s practically my avatar now.’

She might still be lacking in skills and split-second judgment, but 75% was still 75%.

It was like gaining a powerful avatar that moved only for him.

And the other skill, Aura of Enhancement, was just as good.

‘A 20% Status increase. That’s excellent too.’

Originally, he would’ve picked Evolution without a second thought.

But the two skills that came alongside it were better than he’d ever expected.

Ha Gangwoo stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Considering the Enhancement business and growth he had coming up, the all-Stats +20% from Aura of Enhancement looked good.

But in terms of long-term payoff, Link II wasn’t bad either.

Ha Gangwoo frowned, mulling it over, then made his decision.

Ding-

[You have learned Link II.]

Vwoom-

The moment he selected the skill. Mimic, who had been scarfing down Gold, sprang upright.

A brilliant light coiled around Mimic.

Ding-

[The Link has grown even stronger.]

[Mimic’s loyalty has increased.]

[You may now use Forced Commands.]

[Mimic’s Status, boosted by the Link, has increased.]

A welcome system window appeared.

“Master!”

Mimic abandoned the Gold it had been eating and sprinted to Ha Gangwoo, latching onto him in a sudden hug.

‘What’s with the sudden affection?’

Was it the loyalty boost? Mimic felt more devoted than before, her hold a little tighter.

Ha Gangwoo peeled her off with some effort and urged her to finish the remaining Gold.

“Keep eating. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes!”

Mimic answered with a bright smile, and Ha Gangwoo checked her Status.

Ding-

[Mimic]

Rank: C

Status: Master looks especially handsome today. Belly’s full too. Feels like I could fly through the sky.

[Link: Ha Gangwoo]

HP: 920/920

MP: 108/108

Satiety: 87/100

Strength: 87

Agility: 82

Vitality: 60(+32)

Mana: 67(+41)

Sense: 75

Luck: 75

Capacity: 30/50

Skills: [Mimic Summon] [Aura of Growth] [Link II]

‘Ridiculous.’

Ha Gangwoo’s face relaxed into a satisfied smile as he looked over Mimic’s Status.

The 50% rate hadn’t been bad—but seeing the actual numbers at 75% made his choice feel absolutely perfect.

“Master, I’m done eating!”

Mimic raised her tiny hand high and padded over with a sly grin.

‘Should I teach her a weapon while I’m at it?’

The thought crossed his mind, spurred by Mimic’s insane growth rate. But he shook his head.

There was something he needed to do first.

‘Let’s start with the Enhancement system.’

He’d gotten a rough idea from the internet, but nothing beat experiencing it firsthand.

‘Let’s go.’

A smile still lingering from the satisfying reward, Ha Gangwoo turned and walked toward the Enhancement Chamber.

***

Whoosh—

Before a massive forge that belched searing heat.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of hammers pounding iron.

“Ah! Fuck! It broke!!! Son of a bitch!”

“Jackpot!!! +6!!”

The Enhancement Chamber—a place where joy and rage collided.

Ha Gangwoo arrived.