God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 258: Episode _The Great Gear Arms Race (1)

1.

’What the hell? Am I watching some insane, trashy soap opera?’

The curse slipped out before he realized it.

He couldn’t help it. Compared to the sultry, ethereal image of the Demon King in her castle, the Epia he was seeing now looked so pure and innocent that if not for the tail and ears, no one would even believe she was a succubus.

Her appearance wasn’t all that different from a few hundred years later.

But the previous Enhancer shown in the video looked, at the very least, like he was in his early thirties.

Considering the “hero’s privilege” of aging slowly, and the fact that the war had dragged on for decades, he might have been much older.

In other words, this looked like a dangerous romance between a man in his thirties and a girl who looked like she was in high school.

The only reason it was even remotely acceptable was that the previous Enhancer was young-looking and handsome, and the Demon race’s aging was different from humans’. If not for that, this ridiculous situation would have left Han Simin so frustrated he could neither move nor speak, just stewing in silence until he died of stress.

“When this war ends, you’ll have to go back, Epia.”

“No. I’m staying here. I’m going to be with you forever.”

“I want that too. But that would be far too cruel to you.”

Regardless of his objections, the two of them kept up their sickeningly sweet display.

They clung to each other and whispered sweet nothings as if they would literally die if they were separated for even a moment.

Han Simin, who knew that if something wasn’t his, it was worthless to him, clicked his tongue but quietly watched.

Even though he had already seen Epia’s true form, this was its own separate thing.

Besides, while he couldn’t control the body, he was sharing the senses and memories from within the previous Enhancer.

He was experiencing, firsthand, the nascent charm of the succubus who would one day become the Demon King.

There was no reason to refuse.

He’d suffered the humiliation of being called impotent despite being surrounded by countless beauties, all to keep playing the game, but he wasn’t actually impotent.

He wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity that fell right into his lap.

After all, hadn’t his attitude made even the Princess more obsessed with him?

He was fine.

With that self-consolation, the video moved on.

If the first clip had been the tug-of-war confirming the love between demon and human, the next showed them after they had fully acknowledged each other’s feelings.

Like most couples, once they had become “lovers,” they shared their love without reservation, setting aside race and simply confirming their affection as a man and a woman.

Those scenes were genuinely beautiful.

They were so lovely and pure.

’So what if it’s a succubus and a piece of human trash?’

It was his first time seeing his “teacher,” but the man was, quite naturally, human trash in his eyes.

Despite having a Legendary class, he had failed to fully utilize its potential and had saddled Simin with nothing but a massive experience penalty.

The man’s legacy, still sealed tight in subspace where Simin couldn’t even see what it was, didn’t help his opinion either.

Even so, Han Simin was willing to understand and even cheer for this piece of human trash’s love.

That was how intense their love was.

The quest’s protagonist, Han Simin, could feel that burning love himself, which made it tolerable to watch.

’Fantastic World really is a god-tier game.’

In most games, lovey-dovey, personal scenes like this were either skipped at key moments—whether to provoke the players’ anger or for some other reason.

There was the age rating to consider, and the social climate; if you showed scenes like this unfiltered, people would start arguing whether it was porn or a game.

Fantastic World didn’t do that.

He hadn’t seen the other flashback videos, but at least in this one, it displayed every last “fruit of their love” without skipping a single frame, as if this were a story-critical cutscene.

Honestly, he wasn’t some starving hyena; there was no real reason to enjoy watching this.

At the end of the day, these were the previous Enhancer’s memories, not his.

It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it wasn’t unpleasant either.

’It’d be great if this were going out on stream.’

That was the only reason.

“Oh, no... not there... the tail...”

It really was only for that reason.

It was absolutely not because of the succubus’s charms.

He was sure of it.

*

—Wow. What is this?

—Is this for real? What the hell? It suddenly cut to a different video?

—Damn, is this in first-person?

Han Simin had no idea, but the broadcast had switched over to his point of view.

Behold, the power of the goggles’ technology.

They were proving their confidence that they could capture every single event that occurred inside the game.

Some viewers already knew this could happen, but there was a big difference between knowing and experiencing it firsthand.

The difference was especially stark between simply seeing succubi in first-person and actually ’becoming’ someone and directly experiencing the past with them.

They were jealous.

It was like this:

Watching succubi and facing the Demon King from Han Simin’s point of view was still first-person, but you existed as a separate third-person “me,” like watching a movie.

Watching this new video, however, felt like directly experiencing the thought, ’What if I were standing there?’

Of course, they couldn’t fully immerse themselves.

—Ugh. Just watching is so frustrating.

—The goggles should have 4D support!

—Come to think of it, doesn’t the streamer feel everything?

—I’m jealous as hell.

—Life should be lived like Simin’s.

The grass is always greener on the other side. No one had tuned into Han Simin’s stream for this, but once they were watching, greed kicked in.

’I’m only seeing this, but that bastard is actually feeling it. How good must that be?’

Thankfully, before their jealousy could explode, the video moved on.

They still felt a pang of regret over the second clip, which had lasted a full hour, but at least the record remained intact. It wasn’t just the highest viewership in Han Simin’s channel history, but the highest in Fantastic World streaming history—all on a paid stream that cost a whopping $200.

The only thing missing was the chat.

—Everyone, hands... never mind. I get it.

—Men, man...

—I’m a woman and I still enjoyed it. The succubus was gorgeous, and the guy in the video was really hot too. Where do you even find a man like that?

A silence born of a very clear reason.

—Grats on #1 viewership.

—How the hell does a $200 stream pull over 300,000 viewers?

—This is legendary.

—If you count free streams, isn’t it technically not first place?

—Those were free, you idiot.

—Either way, it’s #1.

Followed by the inevitable bickering.

It was a side effect of the growing audience, but since Han Simin had no way of knowing whether the stream was even still running, there was no one to rein them in.

Just like that, the third video began.

*

In truth, the first video had been the twist, and the second had been the highlight.

Those two alone were practically enough to call it complete.

From the third video onward, the footage existed purely for Han Simin’s sake, to advance the Enhancer’s class story.

“I’ll enhance a weapon for you, Epia. I want my very first +15 to be yours.”

“Oh my. Thank you so much.”

In the third video, the Enhancer looked a bit older and was holding a weapon.

This marked the true beginning of the war.

Love continuing even amid the conflict between demons and humans.

Even in that situation, Epia followed the previous Enhancer.

She trusted him and handed over the same twin swords that had grazed Han Simin’s neck.

’So those are the weapons the previous Enhancer worked on?’

He hadn’t seen any enhancement effects, though.

His doubt lasted only a moment before the video shifted again.

A brutal battlefield.

The air was thick with the tension of an impending final battle.

Alongside the demon who appeared to be the previous Demon King, hundreds of thousands of demons were gathered.

Facing them were the Five Heroes and an uncountable number of Continental Army soldiers.

And it wasn’t just the people of the continent.

Monsters, dwarves, elves, dragons.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that every living being on the continent had gathered here.

Compared to this, the earlier war between the black mages and the Continental Army looked like child’s play.

On the eve of that final battle, the previous Enhancer spoke to Epia, who was watching him with anxious eyes.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my promise.”

Epia remained silent.

“I only got it to +12. If you stay tied to me any longer, nothing good will come of it for you. You need to go back now.”

“No. I’m going to be with you forever.”

“You can’t.”

His face was filled with sorrow.

After the final battle, the two of them would have no choice but to part.

If the humans won, the demons wouldn’t be able to remain on the continent. If the demons won, there was no way they would spare the lives of the Five Heroes.

His desperate wish was to save Epia, somehow.

As he looked at Epia, who absolutely refused to be separated from him, the Enhancer nodded.

At the same time, the mage beside them finished casting a spell.

Teleport.

Epia was forcibly sent back to the demon lines.

And he ran forward without a moment’s hesitation.

The final war began.

A vivid past, absent even from the secret histories passed down to the Emperor, was being reenacted before his very eyes.

*

The war ended.

Along with the sacrifice of the heroes.

Humanity had won, but at the cost of countless lives, including those of the Five Heroes.

The Demon King escaped, and his forces, even in their disgraceful retreat to the Demon World, wreaked havoc to inflict as much damage as possible.

Even so, the humans did not lose courage, fighting calmly until the very end.

And on the desolate, lonely battlefield that remained—

There lay the fallen Enhancer, with Epia clutching him and weeping.

“You have to go back... cough.”

“Sob... No. Don’t die.”

“If you stay here... it’s dangerous. Go back... quickly...”

“No. I won’t. Don’t you dare leave me alone. I’ll kill you.”

“...I’m dying anyway...”

“Shut up! You said you’d make my weapon +15. You said my weapon would be your first +15! Don’t die. You’re not allowed. Not ever.”

He could not reply.

His vision blurred.

Epia’s fresh, youthful face was streaked with tears, but even her sobbing couldn’t hide her beauty.

And from the Enhancer, Han Simin could feel one very clear emotion.

’God. This is exhausting.’

What use was love in the face of death?

It was such a brutally realistic feeling that even Han Simin was taken aback, but he couldn’t say he didn’t understand.

He was worried about her, sure, but who had time to worry about someone else?

Death was right in front of him.

And instead of saying she would die with him, she was insisting on staying when he was telling her to go back. Of course it was frustrating.

Even so, the Enhancer didn’t get angry.

He didn’t have the strength to, and his love for her hadn’t changed.

“You bastard! Get up! I’ll save you. Waaah...”

They said a succubus in love loved more deeply than any other race.

Epia was showing that without a single filter, tears streaming down her cheeks.

He wiped them away.

“I’ll be with you forever. This sword... is the proof.”

“Liar!”

“It’s true... Later, much later, even if I have to be reborn, I’ll come find you. And I’ll keep the promise I couldn’t fulfill. I love you.”

“No!”

With those words, his breath stopped.

As the sensation of his consciousness being cut off hit, Han Simin’s perspective shifted to third-person.

The Enhancer, now lifeless.

Epia, crying as if the world were ending.

After she had cried for a long time, her expression hardened.

“I’ll take revenge.”

What followed was a video explaining how she had become the Demon King.

“I’ll wait. You have to come back. Got it?”

Epia hugged the weapon to her chest, the one whose enhancement effects he had hidden out of consideration for her.

At the same time, the video ended.

Back in reality—or rather, back in the Demon King’s castle—Han Simin’s expression hardened along with it.

“You said you’d enhance my weapon? Fine. Try it.”

“...You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The feeling that he had been dragged into something horribly complicated was definitely not his imagination.