Hundreds of gazes locked onto the golden anvil.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A relentless barrage of hammer strikes rained down on the golden anvil.

He swallowed.

Hundreds of players watched the scene unfold.

All eyes locked onto the Golden Anvil stage, tension written across every face.

*CRACK!*

The unmistakable sound of failure shattered the air.

“What the hell? They all failed?”

“Well, if +10 was easy, everyone and their mother would be walking around with one.”

The onlookers smirked, wearing expressions that said ‘I knew it all along.’

The man who had just attempted the Enhancement was the tenth participant to step up.

Since Ha Gangwoo started, every single one had failed to reach +10.

‘Figures. +10 isn’t easy.’

Watching the last failure, Ha Gangwoo glanced down at the +9 Worn Dagger glowing in his right hand.

He’d failed, sure—but at least his weapon hadn’t shattered like that guy’s.

When Enhancement failed, one of three things happened.

1. The Enhancement rank dropped by -1.

2. The rank remained unchanged.

3. The item was destroyed.

And after watching all those attempts at +10, he understood.

‘Most of them just get obliterated.’

Anvil[E]

Grade: ???

Owner: Ha Gangwoo

Description: An anvil released to celebrate Enhancement Day! Imbued with a fierce power that makes hammering even more enjoyable.

Effects

– Enhancement Success Rate +16% (6↑ increase).

– Repair Success Rate +86% (6↑ increase).

– Grants Destruction Prevention effect.

– Grants Great Success effect with a 7% (6↑ increase) chance.

Until now, he’d never seen an item destroyed through the Destruction Prevention effect, so he didn’t know.

But seeing it with his own eyes, he understood.

The sheer brokenness of the Anvil[E].

Just moments ago, eight +9 items had shattered to pieces before him.

‘No wonder nobody uses it.’

Ha Gangwoo looked down at the item that resembled granite.

[Enhancement Protection Stone]

Grade: A

Description: A mineral imbued with the mysterious power of Dragonic. It holds a protective energy for items.

Effects

– ” It drastically lowers the chance of the item being destroyed on failed enhancement.”

The item Tom Antonio had given him. Worth a whopping 50 million Gold. And so far, not a single participant had used it.

Well, fair enough. If you were going to fail anyway, you’d want to at least salvage something from this game.

Ha Gangwoo felt the same way.

‘So what happens now?’

With all ten of them having failed the enhancement, what became of the chance to upgrade Zidhart’s Longbow?

Just as Ha Gangwoo was puzzling over it, Tom Antonio scratched the back of his head and stepped forward.

“Looks like everyone failed. Aside from the two whose weapons didn’t break, you’re all out.”

At Tom Antonio’s words, the eliminated players quietly filed out of their spots.

They’d already received the 50 million Gold worth of Enhancement Protection Stones — no complaints there.

That left just Ha Gangwoo and Ikeda Gondo.

Ikeda Gondo stood before Tom Antonio holding an F-Grade longsword, while Ha Gangwoo held an F-Grade dagger.

“We’re going to try enhancing again. Same rules as before. Whoever hits +10 wins. If you fail but maintain your current enhancement level, you try again. If both weapons break, this event never happened. Understood?”

In short — they were picking the luckier bastard to raise.

But he’d also thrown in a threat: in the worst-case scenario where both broke, the event was off.

‘Almost there.’

Still, Ha Gangwoo cracked a grin at Tom Antonio’s words.

Both weapons breaking? That situation would never come.

And right now, there was only one way Ha Gangwoo could lose this game.

If Ha Gangwoo failed his enhancement, and his opponent Ikeda Gondo hit +10.

What were the odds of that? That’s why Ha Gangwoo was relaxed.

‘1 billion Gold.’

1 billion Gold. It was as good as already won.

“This time, you start. Let’s begin right away.”

Tom Antonio pointed at Ikeda Gondo and proceeded with the game.

And so, Ikeda Gondo stepped before the golden anvil, and the event continued.

***

“Nice!”

Ikeda Gondo wore a satisfied smile as he gripped the longsword in his hand.

Hundreds of eyes were fixed on him.

Thump— Thump—

‘I’m nervous.’

An electric thrill coursed through his entire body — even more intense than the moment his whole party was dying in Jutrek’s poison mist.

Ikeda Gondo clutched the Enhancement Hammer and slowly closed his eyes.

‘I can do this.’

Ikeda Gondo. He had confidence in his luck.

Whenever he got loot in a Gate, he always rolled first place and hogged the items.

He succeeded at probability-based items and skills like it was nothing.

But this Jutrek Raid was the one time his luck had failed him.

The leader who formed his party was trash, and even the boss he was fighting got stolen by some dickhead.

‘Guess that was my bad luck burning off.’

But now it dawned on him—fortune had finally swung back to settle that old score in one go.

Ikeda Gondo opened his eyes slowly and fixed them on Ha Gangwoo. A lazy grin spread across his face as he stood there, arms crossed, oozing smugness.

‘Lucky bastard. If it weren’t for this punk, I’d be the one enhancing.’

The guy who’d already snatched Jutrek away from him. The garbage who’d strong-armed the anvil too.

Running into him again here made the resentment boil up fresh.

‘No way I’m losing!’

Ikeda Gondo plunged his hand into his Inventory and pulled out an item.

Ding—

[Enhancement Protection Stone]

Grade: A

Description: A mineral imbued with the mysterious power of Dragonic. It holds the ability to protect items.

Effect:

– Greatly reduces the probability of item destruction on failed enhancement.

Tom Antonio had given it to him as part of a compensation package.

Worth fifty million Gold, he’d planned to sell it, not waste it.

But the sight of Ha Gangwoo had sent him into a blind rage.

Gondo rubbed the Enhancement Protection Stone—rough as granite—against the edge of his longsword.

And then—

Ding—

[Enhancement Protection Stone has been used.]

The stone dissolved, slurping into the blade like water into sand.

“Whoa, he’s dumping that on an F-grade item?”

“Well, I’d do the same. If he wins, he’s got a shot at a billion Gold, right?”

Onlookers watched him with keen interest, their gazes thick with curiosity.

Feeling their eyes on him, Ikeda Gondo hoisted the hammer high into the air.

*Whoosh—Clang!* A violent crack split the air. *Clang! Clang!* Blow after blow thundered outward, echoing off every surface.

*Crunch—*

[Enhancement failed.]

[The effect of the Enhancement Protection Stone has absorbed the equipment destruction.]

[Enhancement level is maintained.]

“Fuck…”

Ikeda Gondo’s face crumpled at the failure message. He’d hoped for success, but it wasn’t meant to be.

‘Good thing I used the stone.’

[The effect of the Enhancement Protection Stone has absorbed the equipment destruction.]

Judging by that message, this enhancement was always slated to break the item.

“Ahh…”

Ikeda Gondo scratched the back of his head and trudged back to his spot, while Ha Gangwoo stepped up to the Golden Anvil.

Gondo gnawed at his nails, features twisted in a scowl.

‘Fuck. I’m nervous.’

Whether it was the sting of blowing fifty million Gold or not, he looked rattled.

But the odds were overwhelmingly in his favor.

A weapon at +9 had a 5% chance to hit +10, everyone knew that.

Meaning Ikeda Gondo’s chances of losing right now were just five percent. The other ninety-five percent was destruction or maintenance—and destruction had the lion’s share.

There was no reason to be anxious.

Yet his instincts kept screaming at him.

Do something, or this is your loss, they said.

‘Use it!’

In an instant, Ikeda Gondo’s expression twisted into something vicious.

He hadn’t planned on stooping to dirty tricks, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Ikeda Gondo didn’t hesitate to stoop to underhanded methods.

[Curse of Kerotoron — Cast a curse on the target, reducing all stats. (Caution! If the curse fails, it rebounds on the caster with amplified potency.)]

Enhancements came with their own set of superstitions.

—Status buffs improve enhancement odds.

Rumors like that, anyway.

That was why Ikeda Gondo decided to hit Ha Gangwoo with a Debuff.

Ikeda Gondo extended his index finger, and with a low hum—he scattered Mana toward Ha Gangwoo.

Ding—

[You have used the Curse of Kerotoron.]

The Curse of Kerotoron engulfed Ha Gangwoo’s entire body,

‘Got him!’

Right as Ikeda Gondo let out a triumphant cheer.

Ding—

[The target has resisted the Curse of Kerotoron.]

[The Curse of Kerotoron rebounds with amplified force.]

An ominous alert hammered at his eardrums.

‘What—what the hell?!’

The Curse of Kerotoron—something even most level-100 Boss monsters couldn’t resist—had been blocked by some tramp.

In that moment, as Ikeda Gondo staggered under the wave of lethargy coiling through his limbs,

Whoosh—Clang!!!

Ha Gangwoo’s first strike landed.

***

Clang! Clang! Clang! Crack—

“No!!!!”

The final match ended with Ikeda Gondo’s scream and the shattering of items.

In the end, not a single Player had succeeded in reaching +10, and the match had been decided by item destruction.

“So, no one managed to pull it off. Perfect timing, then. I’ll entrust Zidhart’s Longbow to you.”

Tom Antonio grinned broadly as he handed the massive longbow to Ha Gangwoo.

The reason Antonio smiled even with every attempt having failed was that he considered all those failures mere sacrifices for Zidhart’s Longbow.

‘This is… an S-Rank item.’

Ha Gangwoo received the longbow, radiant with intense light. An S-Rank item, no less—an Artifact wielded by the world’s 6th-ranked Player.

This was the kind of item entire nations would covet.

He was dying to see just what kind of power it held.

Ding—

[Zidhart’s Longbow +9]

Grade: S

Attack Power: 1141 (+1508)

Strength: +315

Agility: +360

Mana: +295

Description: A longbow steeped in the legend of Zidhart. A legendary armament said to have pierced a Dragon’s heart in a single shot.

Effects

—Upon drawing the string, generate 1 (+4) arrows of destruction, condensed with intense Mana.

—Increases the attack power of destruction arrows by 50% (+12%).

—Increases damage dealt to Dragon-kind by 100% (12%).

‘This is insane.’

Ha Gangwoo’s mouth fell open involuntarily, unable to suppress his awe.

The bow was roughly 180 CM in length. Its ornate engravings gave it an antique, elegant look—pleasing to the eye.

But calling it worth hundreds of billions of Gold? That part still didn’t click.

A single item worth more than dozens of buildings? That didn’t make sense. It felt like a price that would break the market.

But the moment he saw its options, he understood.

This one weapon held enough power to save a collapsing nation through sheer force.

Gulp-

Just as Ha Gangwoo licked his lips at the sight of Zidhart’s Longbow,

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Tom Antonio handed over the remaining items needed for the enhancement.

At a glance, they were a single high-end Enhancement Hammer and ten Enhancement Protection Stones.

[Enhancement Hammer][Diamond]

Grade: S-Rank

Durability: 10/10

Description: A hammer made for enhancement. Try enhancing your item to make it even more powerful.

Effect:

-Consumes 1 durability to strike an item 3 times, enhancing it.

-Increases enhancement success rate by 5%.

-Decreases the probability of item destruction on failure by 10%.

A Diamond-grade S-Rank hammer, the highest tier among Enhancement Hammers.

With 10 durability and 10 Protection Stones, it looked like he had ten chances.

Thump- Thump-

Ha Gangwoo stood before the golden anvil, placed the longbow on it, and steadied his breath.

“Only ten tries, huh.”

The moment this opportunity came, he thought failure wasn’t an option.

But that was only true if enhancement costs were infinite. The chance he had now? Just ten attempts.

“Phew…”

Still, there was a silver lining.

Ha Gangwoo placed all ten Protection Stones under the golden anvil, then picked one up.

‘Even if I just keep this, I’ve hit my target.’

He acted as if rubbing the Protection Stone onto Zidhart’s Longbow, then called up his Activation Word.

‘Store.’

In that instant.

Ding-

[You have stored an Enhancement Protection Stone in your Inventory.]

The stone in Ha Gangwoo’s hand vanished without a trace.

A normal Player would have to open their Inventory and manually place it inside, but not Ha Gangwoo.

How would it look to a Player who didn’t know that? Anyone watching would think he’d just used the stone on Zidhart’s Longbow.

‘Ten stones is exactly 500 million Gold.’

Even if he failed to get Zidhart to +10, he’d still have a way to make 500 million Gold.

“Finally doing it.”

“Will he succeed? If this goes through, isn’t it news-worthy?”

“Damn right it is! A +10 S-Rank Artifact. And Zidhart is top-tier among longbows. If that pops, Zenith Elysifer’s Ranking might even jump.”

Hundreds of eyes locked onto the golden anvil.

“He’ll probably fail anyway.”

“Obviously. Didn’t you just see those ones blowing up back-to-back? It’s clearly a fail.”

Everyone, wishing for failure, raised their phone cameras.

Amidst the murmuring, the negative words drummed against his eardrums, but Ha Gangwoo didn’t hear them.

‘I’ll succeed, no matter what.’

All he focused on was the enhancement right now.

If it succeeded, it would be a whopping 1 billion Gold.

With ten billion Gold at hand, from Barzel’s Appetite to Asrul’s Lust, the enhancement fees alone—not to mention chasing the next DLC product—would keep money worries at bay for a good while.

That’s why he had to succeed.

Thump-thump─

Ha Gangwoo listened to the pounding of his own heart as he raised the Diamond Hammer high above his head.

Then, gulp─ hundreds of Players, not even blinking, etched the scene into their eyes.

In the silence.

Ha Gangwoo swung the hammer with a whoosh─ a light, fluid motion.

That was the moment.

Flash!

Light flared along the longbow’s stave. He could tell from years of striking dagger blades—this was different.

‘Fast.’

It was the fastest flash he’d ever seen.

Ha Gangwoo narrowed his eyes, locking onto the light.

The light darted across the longbow with incredible speed.

With his Sense stretched to the limit, Gangwoo struck at the light.

CLANG!!!

A violent, piercing crack tore through the surrounding silence.

“…….”

Ha Gangwoo grimaced, grinding his teeth as he gripped the hammer tight, crunch─.

He’d missed [Perfect Hammering!!!]—a technique he’d never once fumbled before.

The light had grown faster with higher enhancement levels, but it had always been manageable.

Now, the grade itself made the difficulty soar.

‘It’s just one percent, though.’

Just once. A measly one percent missed. He hadn’t failed yet.

‘Focus.’

Gritting his teeth, Ha Gangwoo swung the hammer again.

Whoosh─ CLANG!!!

Another thunderous strike echoed. He’d missed the light again.

‘Damn it!’

Ha Gangwoo ground his teeth and raised the hammer high once more.

Whoosh─ CLANG!!!

At the end of that final strike—

CRUNCH─

[Enhancement Failed.]

[Enhancement Level Decreases by 1.]

[Zidhart’s Longbow +8]

Zidhart’s Longbow had actually dropped in level.

***

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Ding-!

[Zidhart’s Longbow Enhancement Successful.]

[Zidhart’s Longbow +9]

“What the hell, so this is really the last one?”

“Jesus, if it’s gonna bounce back and forth, just break already!”

The crowd of Players stared at the golden anvil.

They’d watched Zidhart’s Longbow yo-yo between +8 and +9.

On the fourth attempt, it had even fallen to +7.

This was the final, tenth attempt.

Now Zidhart’s Longbow sat at +9. The hammer had 1/10 durability left. Only one Protection Stone remained.

Literally one last shot.

“Ah, figures. Knew it’d fail. I’m going back to enhancing.”

“What a waste of time.”

The spectators had long since worn themselves out. One by one, they pocketed their phones and turned their gaze away from the golden anvil.

“I was overthinking it.”

Among them was one figure who had watched the golden anvil more intently than anyone else.

Zenith Elysifer stood with her arms crossed, her expression flat as she stared at Ha Gangwoo.

The lucky man who had crafted a +9 weapon in just thirty minutes.

He hadn’t managed to reach +10 in the final two-person round, but he’d shown outrageous luck — no Protection Stones used, not a single item destroyed.

But after watching those nine enhancements, she realized her expectations had been misplaced.

‘Of course. If +10 were this easy, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.’

Thinking about it now, this situation actually felt more natural.

If Enhancement were that simple, everyone would be walking around with high-grade weapons.

“Tough break, Master. Don’t be discouraged — let’s give it another shot sometime.”

Tom Antonio patted Zenith Elysifer on the back. The thuds carried considerable force against her small frame, but she didn’t flinch.

“I wasn’t expecting much to begin with. We’ll leave as soon as it’s over.”

Zenith Elysifer’s voice was arid, her face unreadable.

Truth was, she wasn’t in a great mood.

Because she’d let herself feel a hope she’d never had before — and it had let her down.

And right then, even Zenith Elysifer and Tom Antonio themselves had written the Enhancement off as a failure.

Clang!!

A thunderous strike echoed — and at the same instant —

*Ding-*

[Zidhart’s Longbow has achieved a Great Success in Enhancement!!!]

[Enhancement level increased by +2.]

[Congratulations!!!!]

[Zidhart’s Longbow +11 has appeared in the Gaia System!!!]

A colossal System window rose into the sky.