God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 100: Episode 20 _ The Sin of Loving More(3)

5.

Slaves are given only the minimum food and sleep required to survive and are overworked all day long.

It’s not right, but for the slave owners of that time, the mindset of needing to get their money’s worth since they paid for them was natural!

Even if it’s not strictly that, ordinary people usually want to extract results proportional to the standard of what they paid for.

Whether that be money, joy, or killing time.

In that sense, Squeaker was a friend who held many meanings for Han Simin.

Because to him, who had vowed never to live, taking a loss in his life came as a massive debt.

One million dollars for hatching!

Hundreds of thousands for buffs.

And hundreds of thousands again for the 1st growth.

Could he really even break even on this?

Doubts naturally arise first, even if one isn’t a wicked boss or a slave owner.

’It’s fine.’

But after long deliberation, Han Simin was certain.

Watching Squeaker fly up reliably.

Since he had zero interest in hunting, he couldn’t know the level of the monster loitering in front of him or how strong it was, but wasn’t Squeaker mercilessly bashing the head of a monster that top-tier players were struggling to catch!

A magnificent sprout.

To truly please Han Simin, it should have snatched the head and killed it right there, but sure, whatever.

It’s the first time!

It’ll get better as time goes on.

“Good job.”

“Squeak!”

Squeaker, howling at the praise, circled in the air before rushing toward the ground again.

The target was the named mole wandering around digging the ground in rage!

A true showdown between a dragon’s wounded pride at not killing it in one shot and a mole who got its head smacked by some winged guy!

“Screeeech!”

“Dig-dig-grrr!”

A mole cry he had heard somewhere before!

From the view of Han Simin riding on its back, the giant mole grew larger and larger.

’Fast.’

Even in this situation, a smile naturally spread across his face at the satisfying ride quality.

So this is why people sing songs about luxury cars.

Even flying this fast, he didn’t feel the slightest bit like he would fall or get hurt.

A sense of stability, as if he would survive even if his head was slammed into the ground.

This is how a $1.5 million mount should be.

Watching the moment Squeaker’s beak and the mole’s bald head were about to clash, he let go of the golden fur he was holding.

“Die!”

WHOOSH—

“...?”

And the swinging Legendary Hammer!

The hammer accurately struck one of the three heads that had let its guard down. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

“Gwaaaah!”

“Screeeech!”

Han Simin’s strength was not something to be ignored.

The mole, who hadn’t expected to be hit at all, staggered from the tremendous impact, and the head in the middle, engaging in a contest of strength, couldn’t maintain its balance either.

At the same time, Squeaker’s beak pecked at its eyes!

The mole cried out in pain.

Enraged, subordinate moles burst out from the ground.

“...Wait, hold on.”

What is that scene destroying childhood innocence?

To think the situation involved moles, who had only been poking their heads out, pulling out their hidden hands to reveal burly physiques.

Isn’t this too much fantasy?

“Dig-dig-dig.”

The crowd was flabbergasted.

Of course, that wasn’t the problem.

It’s a world where a guy called a Gold Dragon was the size of a sparrow at first and even acted cute to humans.

However, the big problem was that Squeaker missed the moment to fly up during the brief confusion.

If they fought on a battlefield that maximized the advantages of moles, even Squeaker, who was only level 33, wouldn’t be able to avoid a struggle.

“Boys! Get ’em!”

So he called for reinforcements.

Cowardice? Shame?

As if Han Simin would have such emotions!

If he did, he wouldn’t have swung his hammer straight away in a duel between Squeaker and the mole.

“Squeak-squeak-squeak!”

“You guys brought your kids to an adults’ fight first, so don’t blame me.”

And on top of that, playing the victim and engaging in political maneuvering to shift the blame to the enemy!

Though no one was listening, his instinctive reaction vividly showed what kind of character Han Simin was.

The players, who had briefly stepped back due to the commotion of the moles swarming to protect the named mole, belatedly took out their popcorn and settled in.

“Wow. He intends to catch that monster alone?”

“Amazing. We failed four times already.”

“Just failed? We couldn’t even respond to that pattern where they burrow and pick off the healers and dealers.”

“Certainly, with a combination like that, the moles would be in a tough spot.”

“Was flying the answer?”

“If it were that easy, we would have caught it already.”

Trying is hard and exhausting, but watching others do it is fun and entertaining.

’Can he clear it?’

’What method will that person use for the raid?’

Before virtual reality came out, and even now, this was the reason PC AOS games that emphasized physical skill were loved by so many players.

The joy of watching!

Han Simin’s refreshing many-vs-many battle satisfied that, soothing the players’ weary minds and bodies.

“Wow. It’s like watching a movie.”

“If we rush in all at once, we’re moths to a flame, but why do those rabbits look like freedom fighters?”

“Pitiful.”

“Yeah.”

“...Am I the only one who feels sorry for the moles?”

“I was talking about the moles too.”

“Me too.”

The feeling of empathy for the weak amidst the spectacle.

The players expressed their condolences for the moles that had tormented them so much.

Arriving late and tormenting a group that didn’t even number in the triple digits—objectively speaking, the object of pity was bound to shift.

“Vicious guy.”

“He could have let about fifty of them watch from the back.”

“He’s a toxic one.”

“I knew it from the moment he tried not to lose even one silver of enhancement cost.”

And so, the insults pouring toward Han Simin increased.

Sympathy directed toward the moles.

But the result did not change.

As always, evil triumphed.

“Mwahahahaha!”

Watching Han Simin immediately order the rabbits to transport the corpses to his territory and leave riding the hawk that had contributed the most to the hunt, the players clicked their tongues.

Even to them, Han Simin looked like a wicked boss.

6.

A heavy silence hung between them.

Neither spoke.

Kang Yeseul and Jeong Seolah were showing off their beauty while sipping coffee in a cafe.

Even though they were in a secluded corner seat, people kept glancing at them, finding ways to walk past.

That’s how pretty the two women in civilian clothes were.

On top of that, they each possessed their own individual charms—young, rich, and even carrying the worries written on their faces!

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but could I get your number...”

Men naturally swarmed.

With their max-level looks and the shield of luxury goods they were wearing, most men wouldn’t dare to even think of talking to them, but those confident in their own faces and wealth dashed in without hesitation.

“Hey, handsome. Are you good?”

“...Excuse me?”

“Is it big?”

“I’ve never heard that I’m small anywhere...”

“Let’s see.”

“Huh? No, wait, why are you doing this?”

But they were knocked out by Kang Yeseul’s unimaginable response, honed since she was seventeen.

Who could respond to her mischievous jokes!

“Haa.”

The cafe fell silent after the brief commotion.

In the cafe that had become quiet after a brief commotion, sighs were heaved once again.

It was the same for Jeong Seolah.

“On such a nice day. To be stuck in a cafe.”

“...We pushed too hard. This time.”

“That cheapskate Hyeonsu. He was the only one who survived.”

“It’s fortunate that at least one person survived.”

The reason for sighing!

The reason they were sitting in a cafe sipping coffee instead of hunting on a perfect day!

The reason was simple: they had died.

“Argh! My gear! I wonder what dropped? Not my staff, please not the staff.”

“Hyeonsu oppa probably picked it up.”

“Still. You never know. Ah, damn it. That damn tiger. Why is it so strong? In my opinion, that thing is definitely the Ruler of the Forest.”

She remained silent.

Jeong Seolah agreed with her silence.

It was strong. Too strong.

They had narrowed the options down to four and presented them to the players, but in reality, the Specialists had headed to the location they considered the most probable first.

Naturally, the Kenji Guild chose a different location, and the rest of the players scattered to avoid the two groups considered the Top Two.

The place the Specialists chose was beyond the Burnt Forest.

It was the location farthest from the Rich Territory and closest to the land completely obscured by the northern fog.

And there, they met them.

The tigers.

Of course, the Specialists didn’t announce their findings either; they slowly gathered data and attempted a raid.

The first attempt was a failure.

Forget a named monster; they struggled to catch even a single tiger as big as a mountain, so the result was obvious.

They spent every day there, and just as they were getting used to the patterns, they tried for the named monster.

Once. Twice. Three times.

They tried endlessly.

Give up? If they were going to give up, they wouldn’t have called the other players in the first place. They would have just left it alone and interfered to prevent the Main Quest from progressing as much as possible.

There were times when they saw a chance to die and retreated immediately, attacking up to three times a day.

But today, they missed the timing to hit-and-run properly.

There were no mistakes, but they had overlooked something.

The fact that the game they were playing was 『Fantastic World』, and the monsters living in it were not idiots made of zeros and ones like in other PC games—monsters that would return to their spots like blank slates and wait for someone to appear the moment players disappeared from sight and the aggro reset.

So, they were baited.

Conversely, by the tigers.

In that short moment, they came up with the best countermeasure and saved Jeong Hyeonsu, who had the highest defense, but Jeong Seolah and Kang Yeseul had to retreat to a cafe like this.

“Unni, let’s just use the Simin card.”

“...That’s a bit much.”

“Ah. Just this once. Huh? It’s too hard. Honestly, how are we supposed to clear this? It’s overkill.”

“Still, if we keep using cheat codes, it’ll get harder later on.”

“I’ll pay the money.”

“Money isn’t the problem.”

“No, honestly, aside from money, I think he’d do it if you just asked him, Unni. I think Simin Oppa likes you a little.”

Seolah didn’t reply.

The grumbling eventually returned to the topic of 『Fantastic World』 and flowed into a discussion about Han Simin.

Jeong Seolah avoided Yeseul’s gaze at the blatant assessment.

What could she say to the claim that he seemed to like her?

To say yes felt arrogant, but to say no, she had definitely seen his goodwill.

Of course, there were parts she wasn’t sure about.

“It seems like he does, but then again, it seems like he doesn’t.”

“Right. You feel it too, right, Unni? It’s weird. With me, he treats me like a cute younger sister, so let’s say that’s fine. But with you, Unni, he acts like other men do, yet he never crosses the line. Even when you secretly give him an opening... Maybe he’s impotent.”

“Hey. No way.”

“Uh-uh. Unni, in this day and age, you shouldn’t judge so hastily. You never know. Maybe he’s impotent but pretending to be interested in you to hide it.”

’You’re the one judging hastily, Yeseul.’

Jeong Seolah thought about correcting her, but shook her head.

She didn’t argue because there was a strange persuasiveness to it.

“Unni, want to test it?”

“Test what?”

“Aren’t you curious? Whether he’s impotent, gay, or a living Buddha.”

“You do it.”

“Ah. No way. I don’t want to. Let’s do it together. Huh? We have that penalty game pending anyway.”

She hesitated.

“We’re doing it. Okay?”

They looked like ‘normies’ on the outside, but in reality, the 『Fantastic World』 addicts had found an interesting game.

* * *