God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 205: Episode _Smoked Golden Chicken (1)

1.

“Squeak?”

An awkward silence hung in the air. Simin deliberately avoided Squeaker’s quizzical gaze and checked again.

“...It’s true.”

His intuition told him he wasn’t mistaken. This was it. This was the one he could enhance with the Special Enhancement Stone. A wave of conflicting emotions washed over him. He had been half-convinced, half-hoping that he could enhance his hammer. In that context, Squeaker was a completely unexpected development. In fact, Squeaker hadn’t even been on his list of potential enhancement targets.

It was only natural. Anyone would have thought the same. No matter how realistic and fantastical the game was, based on all previous patterns, enhancing a living creature was out of the question. Hadn’t he imagined it once before and failed when he tried to put it into practice?

“...Could it be?”

Then, a hypothesis surfaced. The difference between then and now. The clear change between when it didn’t work and when it did.

“Is it because of the 5th Awakening?”

It was the most logical explanation. The hologram that appeared with each awakening had always consistently stated that the scope of enhancement had increased, but it had never specified where, how, or by how much.

He fell silent. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

If that was the case, then the reason didn’t matter. The fact that it worked was a good thing. As always, an expansion in the scope of what he could do meant an expansion in the market where he could make money. He quickly accepted it and began to think. In that respect, Simin was ahead of anyone else in the world. Even if Squeaker suddenly turned out to be his father’s old character instead of a dragon, he was prepared to accept the situation and use it to his advantage.

Without hesitation, he let go of Squeaker and began to pat down his own body with the Special Enhancement Stone.

“Please.”

The fact that a living creature could be enhanced was surprising, but also welcome. Enhancement inherently came with a percentage-based increase in power. If his stats increased at the same rate as an item’s... the efficiency at lower enhancement levels wouldn’t be great, but as he raised the level step by step, he would achieve a level of growth incomparable to other players. No, he wouldn’t even need to compare himself to players. He could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with NPCs, and in just a few years, he could reach a level that rivaled, or even surpassed, those who had lived on the continent for decades. It was a foundation for what could be called potential. A percentage-based enhancement bonus added on top of the stats gained from leveling up. He would possess an innate power that others could not.

Any player who had spent even a little time in the game would keenly understand how significant that was. Especially those who had played PC games and hadn’t hesitated to spend real money just to start with one or two more stat points than others.

How could he not be excited?

But there was no response.

Unfortunately, his body did not respond to his expectations. No matter how much he patted himself down, there was no reaction. Even after checking every deep and secret place without exception.

“Haaah.”

Of course. There was no way Betago would grant him such a blessing so easily. It had been a half-hearted hope, but the disappointment was real. Did he have no choice but to enhance Squeaker? If he was going to do it, he wanted to do it on his own body, which would never betray him and would revive even after death.

He quickly shook off the lingering regret. There was nothing more draining than clinging to something that wasn’t meant to be. As he approached Squeaker again, Simin paused.

“No, wait a minute.”

Did he have to enhance only Squeaker? The sudden question made him look around. Sudal was off creating a mine. The rabbits were roaming the territory’s outskirts, beating up any monsters they saw to expand their domain. It was true that enhancing Squeaker was more cost-effective than enhancing them. In the past, that would have been the obvious choice. But things were different now. There was another candidate comparable to Squeaker.

“What are you looking at, human?” Kardian’s voice dripped with annoyance.

“...Do you want to get stronger?”

“I am strong.”

Simin’s gaze stopped on Kardian, who had thrown back the hood of her robe as if frustrated, revealing her alluring collarbones. If it weren’t for that irritating tone of hers, she was beautiful enough that spending time with her might actually lead to something. He shook his head and continued.

“No, I mean, do you want to get ’even’ stronger?”

“You ask the obvious.”

“Then how about a deal?”

Kardian gave him a questioning look.

Kardian, who had been watching Simin’s antics with a look of disdain, took a step back. She didn’t know what it was, but she smelled a rat. She had already decided to refuse anything he proposed, so her first instinct was rejection.

“No.”

“At least hear me out before you decide.”

“I have a feeling I’ll dislike it even after hearing it.”

“What if I told you I could remove the restrictions placed on you?”

Of course, Simin wasn’t one to give up so easily. He subtly probed Kardian’s weakness as he approached. Simin’s breath tickled her ear as he drew close.

“How about it? Tempting, isn’t it? It might not be all of them. But it’s possible you could not only be completely freed but even break through your limits.”

Even a mighty dragon couldn’t help but waver at words that were half-sincere. It was only a guess, but he was confident enough in the possibility to make the offer. If it didn’t work, so be it, but Simin, as always, believed it would.

’It should work to some extent.’

For him, it was a once-in-a-lifetime gamble. Comparing the two, Squeaker was the one he would have around longer and was less likely to betray him, so enhancing Squeaker was the safer bet. However, in terms of utility, Kardian was far superior, making her worth the wager. Squeaker could be strengthened with gold anyway. But Kardian was only a temporary contractor. One day he would have to let her go, and they might even meet again as enemies. What if he could erase that possibility? This bet was by no means a bad one.

“I still refuse. The restrictions can be sufficiently mitigated with my Dragon Heart.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You’re really not going to do it? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“You’ll demand something of equal value.”

“No, I won’t ask for anything. Let’s just modify the contract a little. And you just have to stay with me, just like now.”

“...That’s absurd.”

In the end, the negotiation broke down when he presented the one condition Kardian wanted least.

“Hey, you know what? You’re going to regret this. Being so defiant to your master, not even listening. You hear me?”

“Do as you please.”

When his final threat failed to land, Simin coolly gave up. There was no need to beg. He immediately turned to Squeaker.

“Squeaker.”

“Squeak?”

“The day has finally come for you to become strong.”

“Squeak?”

“I’ve been waiting for the day I could make you stronger, and I promised myself that if I ever got the chance, I would use it on you first. Today is finally that day.”

“Squeak!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Let’s go. Time for an enhancement.”

And he took flight, ready to finally use the Special Enhancement Stone.

*

Life is a series of choices. Now, with the final step right in front of him, Simin scowled.

“Ah, damn it. Let’s just get this enhancement over with.”

He was wasting too much time on this one thing. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do, but he was tired of waiting and wanted to see the results. Wasn’t it about time for a happy ending?

“Hah.”

But even as he grumbled, he focused on his final, crucial deliberation. In a way, this was the most important decision of all—a dilemma so massive it made all the time and enhancement stones he had invested seem trivial.

“Do I use the Gold Points and then enhance, or enhance and then use them?”

It was a dilemma. An incredibly important problem.

Though he didn’t know exactly how the enhancement would work, his experience told him it would be beneficial in some way, whether through a stat increase or something else. His hardcore gamer instincts also made him consider the possibility that the Gold Dragon’s unique characteristics would be enhanced. That meant there was a chance he’d receive greater benefits if he invested his gold ’after’ the enhancement. From that perspective, the obvious choice was to enhance first and then spend his two million GP.

The problem was, the opposite could also be true.

"What if it eats even more GP after the enhancement?"

It was unlikely, but the enhancement might require more GP for a disproportionately small stat increase. One might ask what kind of nerf-like enhancement that would be, but with Betago, anything was possible. The AI might even add a completely useless option to maintain balance. Or perhaps the enhancement would just be a one-time percentage increase based on its current stats, and that would be it.

Hah.

In the end, it was a gamble. With no information, he had to roll the dice and hope for the best.

"Ah, damn it."

It was a 50% chance—the one probability Han Simin hated most in the world. Even his ability couldn’t change it. In situations like this, he always made his decision faster than anyone.

Simin abruptly shoved the enhancement stone into Squeaker’ mouth and raised his hammer. "This might hurt."

"Squeak!"

He squeezed his eyes shut, performed the ritual, and brought the hammer down. The hammer, swung with all his might, struck Squeaker squarely on the head.

Flash!

A brilliant light erupted. Thankfully, the worst-case scenario—Squeaker’ head exploding—didn’t happen. Nor did the special enhancement stone stubbornly bounce off, or the light fade to reveal no change at all. The fact that nothing had gone wrong was a relief in itself.

But the holograms that appeared next seemed to mock Simin’s modest wish, startling him with one notification after another.

"Crazy..." Simin’s quiet, heartfelt whisper was the only review the enhancement needed.

2.

The black magic mages gathered swiftly and secretly.

"This is the turning point," one declared. "It’s our last chance to complete the grand plan. If we fail, things will become difficult. We will risk everything to conquer the Rich Territory."

"Yes, sir!" they responded in unison.

A Sanctuary’s inherent properties were already a major detriment to black magic mages and demons, but its very name was a symbol of the Temple’s pride. The thought that two of them existed—one in the capital and one in the Rich Territory—was a great burden to the black magic mages, but it also served as the very reason they had to destroy the one in the territory.

"The capital will fall naturally once the rest of the continent is conquered. We will destroy the Sanctuary, the symbol of the Temple, and activate the gate to the Demon Realm."

In short, they were only going after the weaker target. Yet, the black magic mages felt not a shred of guilt. That was their nature. Their full force was committed to the castle’s capture. There would be no holding back, no carelessness. The more vile and conniving a person is, the less careless they tend to be. After all, they were experts at luring others into complacency before stabbing them in the back. All sorts of monsters were gathered, and curses and plagues were prepared. They would be useless against the Sanctuary itself, but the moment it was destroyed, hell would be unleashed.

"We begin at nightfall."

"Yes, sir!"

Having finished their preparations, the black magic mages began to move from their secret gathering place. Or rather, they were about to move.

"Oh? Who’s there?"

The other mages looked around in confusion.

"Are you black magic mages? Wow! Jackpot! Seolah! Come over here! There’s a whole horde of black magic mages!"

"Contact Simin, quickly."

"...Don’t be so loud."

If only they hadn’t been discovered at such an unexpected moment. The black magic mages’ expressions hardened as their magic began to stir.

*