God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 166: Episode 33_So Sue Me (3)

4.

Han Simin’s unexpected stunt wasn’t just a show for his own benefit. Even though most of the players and continentals had blown through their cash and even put up collateral, effectively liquidating their assets, their morale had soared.

“So? Your son-in-law is being pretty helpful, isn’t he?”

The Emperor remained silent.

That was why the Emperor couldn’t point a finger in his face and curse him out, no matter how brazenly Simin demanded praise.

He was a man who judged by results. He had always lived that way, and although meeting Han Simin had started to shift some of his values, he had no intention of changing the truths he had learned over a lifetime. It was one of the few things the Emperor and Han Simin had in common.

In any case, the outcome was good. There had been no coercion, and while there had been a bit of a sales pitch, the guilds whose spirits had flagged at the word “dragon” had regained their energy. It was a small thing, but it made an enormous difference. The gap between those willing to throw their lives away with confidence and those who were not was the kind of thing that could decide the outcome of a war.

The theme of the Guild Selection Tournament—“dragon raid”—had not changed, but at the very least, they now had hope that if they worked hard, they might win. That was what the new gear meant, to players and NPCs alike.

“You’re truly amazing. How did you come up with that...?”

Unlike the Emperor, who looked at him with displeasure, the princess couldn’t stop showering him with praise. It was the difference between a jaundiced eye and one blinded by love.

“Wherever you got them, they looked incredible. Is it really okay to give things like that away at such a low price?”

“Come on, don’t worry. It’s all for our Empire, for the continent, and for you. So what if I take a little loss?”

“Oh my.”

Those words were dangerous enough on their own, but when coupled with Han Simin’s smooth pickup lines, they were like gasoline poured on the flames of the princess’s love.

“Ahem.”

The Emperor cleared his throat pointedly, but the signal went completely unnoticed.

“It’s been so long, and you’re still as beautiful as ever.”

“Oh, stop.”

“I heard you’ve been working hard helping His Majesty with politics, diplomacy, and finances. Can I see how much you’ve earned?”

“Of course.”

“I swear, with how often monsters have been invading our territory lately, I feel like my back is going to break.”

“Oh dear. Don’t worry. You have me.”

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. While there were exceptions, that was someone else’s story for a princess who was already blinded by love. She didn’t spare the Emperor a single thought as she and Han Simin strolled through the garden hand in hand, chatting away.

The Emperor frowned.

The Emperor’s brow furrowed again. Every time Han Simin came—no, every time he so much as thought of him—he felt a stress greater than when he had unified the continent. He found himself thinking, over and over, that he needed to find some way to deal with this.

“Ah, Your Majesty. Since I’m heading out anyway, can I borrow your secret treasury? It’s a dragon raid, after all. It’d be a shame if I took my valuables with me and lost them.”

The Emperor was too stunned to speak.

He definitely had to find a way.

No matter what it took.

* * *

Whenever she was bored, the Black Dragon Kardian would assume her true form, gather monsters, and invade human territory.

“Graaaawr!”

She had already burned through nearly all her mana threatening the humans—expending every last bit she had stockpiled.

GRRRRRAAAAAAA!

And yet, her fury was simply too great to contain.

She couldn’t hold it back.

Despite the restrictions placed upon her, she was so weakened that if the monsters at the base of the cliff were to swarm her now, they might actually scratch her scales.

But the moment she closed her eyes to meditate within her lair, the memory returned.

No.

She didn’t even have to remember.

She just had to open her eyes and see it.

The dazzling gold and rare artifacts that had once illuminated the dark, gloomy interior of her lair were gone. Now, all that remained was a hill of trash so vast she could trip over it as she roamed the forest—a monument to her mockery.

Whoever did this, she knew, had done it on purpose.

Otherwise, there was no way they could have piled it even higher and wider than the original hoard.

The thought only made her rage burn hotter.

’How dare they!’

’Some mere human!’

Not only had they dared to fearlessly rob the lair of a mighty dragon, but they had left behind a monument to their insolence!

GROOOOAAAAAR!

And she was supposed to just lie there and sleep like an idiot? For a dragon—a being born with pride equivalent to the 10th Circle—it would be an unforgivable stain on her honor.

Deciding she was more likely to die of pent-up rage than from any wound a human could inflict, she had emerged from her lair.

She had worried, just for a moment, about a worst-case scenario, but after a few days of activity, those concerns had been completely erased.

GRRRRRAAA!

’Just as I thought.’

Humans were still weak.

In truth, things had been better hundreds of years ago, during the demon invasion.

Back then, led by the Five Heroes, humans had fought so brilliantly—so united and powerful—that one might have called it their golden age.

Even a dragon, proud as she was, had to acknowledge that much.

That was why they had lost.

They had lost, but they had fought well.

Back then, humans had shown a hidden strength worthy of that praise.

But now?

In her weakened state, they couldn’t even stop her. The moment her true form appeared in the sky, they tucked their tails and ran.

She could rampage as she pleased.

With that resolve, Kardian destroyed a few small territories and even wiped out a mid-sized city. It was then that, for the first time, a human appeared who did not turn and flee.

GRRR?

To be precise, it was humans.

Fewer than ten of them, a tiny group, but it was enough of a change to make Kardian hesitate.

’What is this?’

’Who are they?’

’Are they an elite force?’

For a brief moment, tension seized her.

Most humans showed their backs and ran. Therefore, a human who did not was effectively declaring they were confident they didn’t need to.

She may have spent centuries in hibernation, but as an intelligent life-form, a dragon possessed that much common sense. She scanned them quickly.

GRRRRR...

However, it wasn’t easy to find any clear clues.

Their bravado was impressive, rivaling that of the Five Heroes of old, but she felt no particular trace of magic from their weapons or armor, and their own strength didn’t seem all that great either.

If anything, they looked more insignificant than many who had already turned and fled.

For a moment, she was puzzled.

But that didn’t last long.

“Wow! It’s a dragon!”

“For real. So there really was a dragon here?”

“Holy crap. Let’s get this on video.”

“I heard guilds from all over the continent are coming to hunt this thing, right?”

“Aren’t we the first ones?”

“Come on, the first video already got leaked.”

“Yeah, but no one’s filmed it this close up.”

“Should we get a little closer?”

“Damn, I’m going live.”

“Hey everyone! You seeing this? A live dragon! Smash that like button, hit subscribe, and add this to your favorites—!”

One of the chattering humans bounced closer and was promptly stepped on, dying without so much as a squeak.

“Aaargh!”

“It’s attacking!”

The rest met the same fate.

The dragon didn’t even need to lift a claw. The monsters she’d brought as backup—out of a flicker of anxiety—were so high-level that they could obliterate an average city on their own.

Relaxing, the dragon let out another roar.

She had gotten worked up over nothing. She let out another roar, this one to cover her embarrassment.

At the same time, she nodded to herself.

’This will do.’

The strategy was clear.

If she called the demons now, they could conquer the continent this time with almost no risk.

She believed it.

It was a conclusion drawn from the clues she had coolly pieced together.

Compared to hundreds of years ago, humans were far too weak.

There were a few brave ones who charged in despite their weakness, but they weren’t variables; they were just moths drawn to a flame.

The only true variables were beings on par with the Five Heroes.

While the possibility existed, she wasn’t particularly worried.

That, too, was a matter of morale.

Of unity.

’Could they truly achieve such a thing again?’

The dragon shook her head.

Then she took to the sky.

Now that she had grasped the situation, she would begin tormenting humans in earnest tomorrow.

She would steadily drive the humans of the east toward the west, expanding her territory and laying the groundwork for the demons.

The wars that would break out in the process would be ecstasy for a Black Dragon.

The terror of the humans charging to their deaths would, in turn, sap their morale and will to fight.

That was war.

That was war, and that was the terror of a Black Dragon.

However, there was one variable in her judgment, in her calculations, that she had not accounted for.

Players.

In the days to come, the Black Dragon would be forced to feel that variable in her very bones and revise her calculations.

Whether she liked it or not.

5.

There was no particular reason.

Han Simin had simply, gently, made it public.

He revealed the benefits granted to the guild that won the Guild Selection Tournament.

1. A building worth $50 million in the heart of the Imperial Capital (Internal leasing permitted).

2. A monthly guild subsidy of $50,000 in cash.

3. The Emperor’s personal backing.

He had only listed a few points, yet the post shot up to the top of the forums, leaving players speechless.

This was information they might have otherwise gone their entire lives without knowing.

In reality, most people couldn’t even guess how long it would take to assemble the strength to enter the Guild Selection Tournament, let alone become the continent’s top guild.

And that was only for those who poured enough affection and cash into the game to both raise their own level and build a guild.

Even now, with this information revealed, the odds of players overturning the NPCs to win the tournament through sheer motivation were effectively zero.

In other words, it was a pie in the sky.

Yet even so, for gamers everywhere, it was a pie in the sky they felt compelled to reach for, no matter how impossible it seemed.

’If I keep at it, I’ll get there eventually.’

’Come on, it’s a game. They’re not going to put in content that’s literally impossible to clear.’

In any case, the final results of the tournament wouldn’t be decided by the dragon raid itself, but by how many of the monsters accompanying it were eliminated.

In other words, the rankings would be calculated automatically based on the monsters’ levels and combat power.

Naturally, if players wanted to crack the top 100, they would have to choose a different approach.

That approach was the final boss.

If they killed the dragon—an unplanned target in the original event—they would shoot straight to first place.

The top-tier guilds, who knew how to think things through and preferred to focus on practical gains rather than overextending themselves, held back. But the players, desperate to turn their lives around, threw themselves at the dragon like madmen.

They were not afraid of dying.

On top of that, streamers and content creators—those who made their living from the game rather than in it—joined the fray.

“We’re here on a mission: Die from getting hit by the dragon’s tail. Man, this is a tense moment. We just got a report on the dragon’s location, so we’re heading out now.”

They came at it day and night, without rest.

GROOOOAAAAAR!

Even when the dragon’s roar filled the air with rage, the players still charged.

“Whoa! Dragon Fear!”

“What the— The stat reduction isn’t that bad.”

“So it was all just hype?”

“Yaaah! Let’s at least rip off one scale before we die!”

They charged, and charged again.

The NPCs, buoyed by the morale of these endlessly resurrecting adventurers, held their ground and responded in kind.

And at the very front of it all was Han Simin.

“Yaaaaaah!”

He circled at a moderate distance from the dragon, steadily picking things up. He would occasionally pull out a sheet of paper, check it, and smile in satisfaction.

And so, a dragon raid completely different from the one in the novels continued for over a week.