The Only Enhancer - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Prologue
0.
I grew up an orphan my entire life.
I lived facing all manner of discrimination.
But now, things are different.
[Trait – ‘Reinforcement Mage’ has awakened.]
The world is full of items to reinforce, yet only I possess the ability to enhance them.
Chapter 1
Episode 1 – Trait Awakening (1)
0.
Kim Min-jun.
He had always believed himself to be cursed by misfortune.
At merely twenty years old, he had already weathered far more storms than most.
Perhaps it was truly the case.
He lost his parents to a monster called a calamity when he was still a child.
Before he could even grieve their deaths, he found himself moving into his Uncle’s house.
His mother had no siblings, and his Uncle was the only one willing to take him in.
Yet even his Uncle’s family was less than welcoming.
Because of this, I could never let my guard down.
From childhood, I never dared to ask for anything.
And to make matters worse, my Uncle’s eldest son was the same age as me.
I was constantly compared to him, and at school it was no different.
I was pointed at and mocked for being parentless, and my cousin—who lived with us—bullied me relentlessly at school.
In fact, he was the ringleader.
School was painful, but at least home was somewhat better.
There was little I could do, but at least my cousin left me alone at home.
They never starved me or treated me with outright cruelty, but whenever the family went out to eat or took vacations, I was always left behind to watch the house.
As a result, I accumulated considerable victim mentality and inferiority complex.
They always looked after their own family, and I was always just an afterthought.
I had to read the room constantly, and I could never forget the contempt in my Aunt’s eyes—the way she looked at me as though I were nothing but baggage.
My unresolved sense of deprivation only deepened my victim mentality and inferiority complex.
And the breaking point came on the day I turned twenty.
I left that house.
It was not by choice.
One day, my Uncle told me to leave and handed me ten million won.
At first, I was grateful.
I thought he was providing for me one last time.
He was giving me a substantial sum to help me become independent.
But not long after I left, I learned the truth.
That money was nothing compared to what my Uncle had gained by embezzling the insurance money my parents left behind.
There was every reason to believe I had been cursed by misfortune.
That is, until I awakened.
1.
One day, the world transformed.
The emergence of mana and monsters shook the very foundations of global order with unprecedented force.
Humanity could no longer claim dominion over the Earth.
Yet this upheaval proved temporary.
A kind of self-correction, perhaps?
Mana—magical power—manifested, and humanity began to adapt to its presence.
From this adaptation arose the System and the Awakeners.
Just as in films, comics, and novels, people gained the power to hunt monsters.
But that was merely the beginning.
The System granted glimpses into the fundamental truths of reality, and extraordinary phenomena commenced.
When monsters were slain, their bodies crystallized into items—much like in a game.
Precisely like a game.
Among the items monsters dropped were those bearing enhancement values.
These enhancement values typically ranged from ±1 relative to the monster’s level, and their presence fundamentally altered the landscape of monster hunting—raids themselves.
As in games, higher enhancement values naturally meant superior item performance, and hunting monsters of equivalent enhancement level became considerably easier.
In other words, an item with a +1 enhancement value could pierce through the magical barriers of Disaster-level 1 monsters.
The difficulty in hunting monsters stemmed entirely from the mana-infused barriers enveloping their bodies.
Even Awakeners with acquired traits required considerable time attacking to penetrate these barriers and land direct blows, making hunts grueling.
Yet enhanced items of equivalent value could ignore these barriers entirely?
This meant raids concluded far more swiftly.
In essence, possessing an item with enhancement values equal to or exceeding a monster’s level allowed for faster, more reliable hunts.
Unfortunately, while the world had become game-like, no method existed to increase enhancement values.
Unlike in games, enhancement was impossible.
No Awakener possessed the ability to enhance items.
Upon awakening, individuals gained exactly three types of traits.
Like game classes: Healer, Tank, or Dealer—only these three.
Thus, there existed only one method to obtain enhanced items.
Hunt monsters until one dropped an enhanced item of ±1 relative to that monster’s level.
To those of the old world, this reality would have seemed utterly surreal, yet now it felt unremarkable.
Nearly twenty years had passed since then.
Everyone had adapted.
In an era where Hunters commanded unprecedented prestige, Kim Min-jun—who had endured discrimination his entire life—finally awakened.
Bearing a trait that had never existed in recorded history.
2.
I wish I could awaken too.
It was my habitual refrain.
What young man wouldn’t feel the same? Yet I envied the Awakeners with an intensity few could comprehend.
Awakeners—those chosen by the System in a single day, granted tremendous power to hunt down the monsters threatening humanity’s safety.
Who wouldn’t want to become one of these so-called Hunters?
The notion that being a Hunter meant risking one’s life was merely a relic of the early days.
With items bearing enhancement stats in circulation, the mortality rate had plummeted far below that of traffic accidents.
Like any other young man, I too yearned to become an Awakener.
An orphan facing discrimination, possessing no special skills—I believed this was my only path to success.
Of course, it was a delusion born of inferiority and resentment.
Even without becoming a Hunter, I could have learned a trade and built a modest life.
But having lived my entire existence under the weight of others’ contempt, starved of confidence and drowning in victimhood and self-doubt, such alternatives never even crossed my mind.
It was much like the habitual wish to win the lottery.
I wanted to awaken too.
Not a conviction I proclaimed with certainty, but merely a complaint I muttered to myself.
I stood frozen, utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend what materialized before me.
Or rather, not before me—not exactly.
A message suspended in the empty air itself.
[You have awakened.]
[You may now utilize the System.]
“…Insane. Is this real?”
The message hanging in the void forced words from my lips—something I rarely did, even in solitude.
I could see it? A message only the chosen were supposed to perceive?
It was unbelievable.
With my self-worth eroded by victimhood and inferiority, I had never imagined this could happen to me.
I swallowed hard and pinched my own cheek.
The pinch stung sharply, and as I rubbed my burning cheek, I opened my mouth.
“Huh!”
At first, a sound like air escaping a deflated balloon.
But soon, a grin spread across my face as a shout erupted from my throat.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
“Hey! You living alone in there?! Shut up!”
“Leave me be! Looks like I passed something! Mind your own business!”
“Hahahaha! I’m sorry! So sorry!”
The Gosiwon’s thin walls meant everyone could hear everything, and despite the unintended disturbance I’d caused, I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face.
Was my bleak life—one of scraping by with part-time work—finally about to brighten?
As I thought this, I recalled all those who had looked down on me.
My Uncle, who had taken me in but secretly pocketed my parents’ insurance money for his own business.
My Aunt, who had conspired with him to steal that same insurance money while regarding me with nothing but contempt.
My cousin Sung-jun, a worthless human being raised under such parents, who had actively bullied me throughout school.
And beyond them—teachers who dismissed me for being an orphan, classmates who looked at me as though I were vermin.
None of them would ever dare mock me again!
‘I’m an Awakener now!’
At last! At last I could see the light!
What should I do in a situation like this?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I recalled the protocols for handling an awakening that I’d seen somewhere before.
When you awaken, you must go to the Awakener’s Association and register as an awakener.
Only then would you become a recognized awakener.
Kim Min-jun recalled this and hurriedly prepared to leave.
How did I know all this? Well, it’s like knowing the methods and precautions for winning the lottery even though the odds of winning are astronomically low.
That was Kim Min-jun.
Because I’d dreamed of awakening, I naturally knew at least this much.
The first person I contacted was the Convenience Store manager I currently worked for.
The moment he learned I was an orphan with nowhere else to go, he paid me a pittance and worked me like a dog—a scoundrel not worth forgiving—but I decided to let it slide graciously.
“Hahahaha! Boss? I’m quitting effective today!”
-What?! Kim Min-jun! Are you insane! If you leave, who am I supposed to send for the night shift!
“What do you mean, boss? Why don’t you work it yourself! Ah, at your age, is even standing difficult?! Of course, I’m talking about your legs. Hahahaha!”
-What, what? You, you crazy bastard!
Even through the phone, I could picture the manager’s face flushing red and purple.
This was refreshing.
I thought so and hung up with a hearty laugh.
Sure, it was inconsiderate, but what did it matter!
I was an awakener now—I wouldn’t even glance at a convenience store again!
And so I took a taxi, something I’d never normally consider, heading toward the Awakener’s Association.
Taxis really are something.
A distance that would take thirty minutes by bus was covered in less than half that time, and I stood before the Association building.
My shoulders rose with pride.
To think I was actually coming to the Awakener’s Association.
The feeling was surreal.
Anyway, I stepped inside the building.
I pulled a number ticket at the registration center on the second floor.
There were many people waiting, but what did it matter?
I could wait!
Had life ever been more beautiful than this moment?
Absolutely not.
‘I always hated waiting like at a bank, but ah, as an awakener contributing to society, I must endure this. Hehehehe!’
I thought this to myself while grinning foolishly, but no one around me paid any attention.
This wasn’t unusual—newly awakened individuals always acted like this.
Just looking around where I sat, I could spot two or three others behaving similarly if I turned my head slightly.
How long had I been waiting?
Finally, my number was called, and as I sat down, the Association staff member spoke.
“Please place your hand on the device to your right.”
“Ah, yes.”
Perhaps it was still unfamiliar, still somewhat bewildering.
I raised my hand with a hint of nervousness.
A soft luminescence emanated from it—clearly some kind of device for measuring awakening status.
The staff member confirmed it and greeted me with a radiant smile.
“Congratulations on your awakening. Prospective Hunter, the Awakener’s Association always welcomes those who have awakened.”
At the words “prospective hunter,” my shoulders lifted with pride.
More than anything, there was a note of respect and reverence in those words—something I’d rarely heard in my lifetime—and it stirred something deep within me.
Always welcomes, they said.
What sweeter words could there be?
For someone like me, who had lived drowning in discrimination, victimhood, and inferiority, nothing could be more moving than this.
Yes, now I was a prospective hunter.
As I stood there smiling at that thought,
the staff member nodded and asked me a few simple questions.
“How long ago did you awaken?”
“Ah, roughly thirty minutes ago, I’d say.”
“You came right away. Not many come immediately after awakening—you’re quite diligent.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Since I’d rushed here the moment I awakened, that timing seemed about right.
Even such a small compliment lifted my spirits, and I couldn’t help but grin.
The staff member prepared a few things and handed me some documents.
“Could you fill in your personal information and characteristic on this form?”
“Characteristic? What do you mean?”
I’d heard of it before.
I’d heard that you needed a characteristic to become a hunter, but I’d rushed here the moment I awakened without even checking mine.
It was a bit foolish not to verify it, but I’d been too elated.
It was like running straight to the lottery office the moment you confirmed your winning ticket.
How could someone like me possibly know my own characteristic?
As I asked this in confusion,
the staff member, unfazed, kindly answered with a smile.
“Yes, just write down the characteristic listed in your status window. If you’re a Healer, write Healer; if you’re a Tank, write Tank; if you’re a Dealer, write Dealer. One of those three will be there.”
The way they spoke so calmly suggested this had happened before.
Others who, like me, had rushed here without checking their characteristic.
At the staff member’s words, I nodded and recalled what I’d learned.
‘Right, there are only three characteristics, weren’t there?’
Healer, Tank, Dealer.
There were no other characteristics beyond those three.
I wondered eagerly what my characteristic might be.
‘They said Healer is the highest rank, but I won’t hope for that—Tank would be more than enough, right? At the very least, I’d rather not be a Dealer, since there are supposedly the most of those.’
Filled with hopeful thoughts, I called up my status window with anticipation in my heart.
The status window that appeared was sparse.
Far more than I had anticipated.
[Kim Min-jun]
[Lv.1]
[Trait – X]
[Skills]
– X
Upon seeing that status window, Min-jun found himself asking the staff member without thinking.
“By any chance, what kind of trait is X?”
“Huh? Wait? Do you mean there’s only an X written in your Trait section?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Ah….”
Watching the Awakener’s Association staff member’s complexion stiffen abruptly, Min-jun could comprehend the gravity of the situation.
‘I’m screwed.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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