The Only Enhancer - Chapter 12

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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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Episode 12
Episode 12 – Reversed Positions (1)
0.
There had been quite a commotion, leaving a lingering sense of turbulence, but it quickly subsided.
Wasn’t that how these issues always went—fading away almost as soon as they appeared?
This time was no exception.
I didn’t pay it much mind either, but a text message arrived on my phone.
[All incidents related to healer ‘Kim Min-jun’ are being processed through legal channels.]
The sender was the Hunter Surveillance Bureau.
It was a message assuring me I wouldn’t have to see Sung-jun and his family again.
I could have felt satisfied, but I didn’t particularly care.
‘Dwelling on already-resolved matters is just wasting time.’
It was far more beneficial to focus my thoughts on the upcoming raid instead.
As I sat there thinking to myself, Choi Jung-min returned, fully equipped.
The same gear I’d seen before.
The dealers hadn’t arrived yet, but it was good to prepare ahead of time.
I equipped my own gear as well.
There was no need to go all the way to a changing room.
My equipment consisted of nothing more than a robe, a wand, and a dagger at my waist.
The dagger was only +1 reinforcement, which was somewhat disappointing, but the jet-black robe shimmered with an ethereal blue radiance, as did the wand that gleamed with the same luminous azure hue.
There’s a saying that the right appearance can transform a person entirely.
This was exactly that.
A hunter in Disaster Zone 1 wearing two +3 reinforced items—it was unheard of.
“W-wait, is that person wearing +3 gear?”
“Huh? Isn’t it +2?”
“The color is darker! Insane! I’ve never seen +3 gear before.”
“Just those two items combined are worth over a billion won, right? That’s crazy.”
As I equipped the items, numerous hunters began murmuring among themselves.
Everyone gazed at me with wonder and admiration, as if looking at a celebrity, their jealousy and inferiority completely overshadowed.
When the gap was too wide, even envy couldn’t take root.
It seemed to be true.
“Isn’t this person a famous hunter?”
“No, I’ve never seen them before though?”
“Maybe they’re a scout from a major guild?”
“Wow! That could be it.”
“Oh! Isn’t that the healer from earlier?”
“That makes sense! They’re a healer. That explains it!”
“Wow, if they’re a healer and they’re here, they must be level 1, right? And they already have gear like that?”
“Are they being groomed by a major guild?”
“Are you a healer being raised by a large guild?”
“That’s not even enough! Shouldn’t it be at least one of the top five guilds?”
Though embarrassing details were exchanged, Min-jun simply accepted it as inevitable.
He’d anticipated it to some degree, after all.
Of course, Choi Jung-min was equally surprised.
He’d thought Min-jun was too impressive to belong to the Han-byul Guild, but to already be equipped with triple-reinforced gear—that was remarkable.
Such a thing would be difficult without already being affiliated with a guild.
‘So he really was part of one of the top five guilds.’
Choi Jung-min, thinking similarly to the nearby hunters, silently commended himself for not extending an invitation.
There had been instances where offering guild membership to a healer who already belonged to one had soured relations with their original guild.
Healers possessed that much value.
It was truly fortunate that he’d maintained only a cordial relationship without making an offer.
“It’s about time everyone gathered. Shall we prepare?”
Min-jun smiled softly at the thought.
What kind of loot would he acquire in the second raid?
Ideally, nothing for the same equipment slot.
Something other than the robe, dagger, and wand he currently wore—something he could actually use.
Well, it had already been arranged with Choi Jung-min that Min-jun would receive all the unrefined drops.
Now he just needed them to appear.
Though there were many items he could use, he had something specific in mind.
‘Accessories!’
Accessories, when triple-reinforced, supposedly granted skill enhancement effects.
With his abilities, he could often push them to triple reinforcement.
That’s what he was targeting now.
The only problem was that accessories were far more popular than other unrefined equipment types.
Consequently, their prices were inevitably steep compared to equipment-type unrefined items.
After all, these were gems extracted from defeated monsters.
Some accessories even surpassed the craftsmanship of modern jewelers, making them quite expensive.
Given that, acquiring them casually might prove difficult.
‘If an accessory drops, I’ll take it from my share of the distribution if necessary.’
He didn’t harbor great expectations.
Accessories were said to drop as rarely as single-reinforced items.
‘By the way, will this raid also be just twice?’
As he pondered this, a sudden question occurred to him.
From what Min-jun had learned, parties typically conducted two raids against Disaster Level 1 Zone monsters.
But was his party anything like a typical one?
‘Weren’t we faster than average parties?’
Significantly faster than the standard time.
Wouldn’t that mean they could do more?
The thought crossed his mind, but perhaps he was mistaken about something.
Though he’d gathered information from Hunter Net, real combat experience could differ.
And fortunately, I had an excellent teacher right beside me.
So I asked directly.
“Our party’s raid times are shorter than other parties, aren’t they?”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s all thanks to our healer Kim Min-jun. No matter which party you join, it will be the same.”
It was exactly as I had assessed.
Typically, a Disaster Level 1 Zone monster raid takes between one hour and one hour twenty minutes.
When bringing beginners along, it takes even longer.
Yet our last raid finished in just thirty-eight minutes.
That was considerably fast.
Having Choi Jung-min, a level 2 tank, made the damage dealing more stable and saved time, but the real hero was me, as Choi Jung-min said.
Knowing that, I smiled and spoke.
“Then if we’re just counting time, we could do up to four raids, couldn’t we?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
Choi Jung-min was uneasy, not understanding why I was saying such things, but as the conversation continued, he began to realize.
Could it be?
“Then what if we do four or more raids this time?”
“I would be grateful.”
“No, no. I was asking because I wanted to go multiple times too. Since you’re fine with it, it’s a win-win situation.”
He bowed his head deeply in gratitude.
I said it might happen, and he actually agreed to go multiple times.
Some healers complain that even two runs are too many, but since the time was reduced, he figured they might as well do more.
He couldn’t believe such a healer existed.
Meanwhile, I was quite satisfied myself.
Last time, going only twice, I didn’t even get a single tier 1 item.
But if we go four times, surely at least one accessory will drop.
I hadn’t had high expectations at first, but with the number of runs increasing like this, things were different.
While both of us were satisfied for different reasons, the dealers began arriving one by one.
“Ah, hello! I’m Lee Ji-woo! My skill is Slash! Pleased to work with you!”
Lee Ji-woo, a melee dealer who greeted us quite enthusiastically.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Park! Do! Yoon! My skill is Triple Consecutive Stab! I’m confident!”
Park Do-yoon, a melee dealer who shouted loudly and flaunted his presence.
“I’m Go Jun-hyuk. I can summon ice spears. Pleased to work with you.”
Go Jun-hyuk, a magic-type dealer who spoke quietly.
Once the entire party had gathered, Choi Jung-min gave a brief introduction.
He introduced himself as a member of the Han-byul Guild and a level 2 tank.
And there was only one person left.
Gulp.
A swallowing sound came from somewhere among the party members.
Of course, because it was my turn—the healer wearing two tier 1 items.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Kim Min-jun, a level 1 healer.”
Though it was a brief greeting, the cheers that erupted were more fervent than ever before.
“Wow! A healer!”
“Insane! A healer in our party!”
“Huh, I had a feeling something was off when you had two Tier 3 pieces of equipment….”
Each member reacted differently, their attention fixed on me.
I acknowledged them appropriately while focusing on what Choi Jung-min, the party leader, was saying.
A briefing was essential before heading into a raid.
Choi Jung-min observed my response and understood exactly what he needed to do.
He quickly gathered everyone and spoke.
“Normally, we planned to run the Disaster Level 1 Zone raid twice, but with Kim Min-jun the healer joining us, we’ll increase it to four runs.”
“Wow! Four, four times?”
“Four times?”
“…Today’s earnings will be substantial.”
Though it could have meant a longer day than usual, the party members were all delighted.
Their theoretical income would double, after all.
For dealers who spent most of their daily earnings on equipment, this was excellent news.
And it was all thanks to me.
They all bowed their heads respectfully, offering their thanks.
“Healer! Thank you so much.”
“Heh, you’re truly amazing! Running four times!”
“…You’re impressive.”
Each one offered praise.
As if it were such a great feat.
Though it made sense when I thought of other healers.
‘Wasn’t it that they’d be grateful if a healer even joined once, let alone twice?’
Monsters in Disaster Level 2 and below could be raided twice a day.
First, unlike Disaster Level 3 where difficulty spiked dramatically, one could maintain concentration for quite a long time.
If the tank was competent, they said you could even go five times a day.
But healers, even when joining a party, typically only run raids once or at most twice.
The reasons varied, but the common thread was singular.
Laziness.
‘They’re full of themselves.’
Well, when given so many privileges, becoming lazy and arrogant was inevitable.
Though there were healers who weren’t like that, the majority had strong egos.
Some healers would even abandon the party before a raid if something rubbed them the wrong way.
Compared to those healers, I was like an angel.
At least, that’s how this party perceived me.
No arrogance, no sense of superiority.
Above all, that respectful attitude.
‘They really struck gold finding a healer like me.’
‘I heard from a friend that there are plenty of healers who act like they’ve become actual royalty, so I’m grateful this isn’t the case.’
‘At least I won’t be nitpicked over trivial matters.’
Each of them silently felt fortunate to have met me, listening to Choi Jung-min’s explanation about the monster.
I had already heard this information before, so it was somewhat tedious, but I listened intently in case there were details I’d forgotten.
Once all the briefing concluded.
We climbed to Disaster Zone 1, Seungma Mountain, for the raid.
1.
As Choi Jung-min fell back after blocking the Black-claw Saber’s charge, Lee Ji-woo swiftly seized the opening without a word and swung his sword along with a skill activation.
Scrape. Thud, tumble.
The Black-claw Saber’s head fell lifelessly to the ground.
Soon after, its corpse coalesced, scattering an item and magic stones.
What dropped was a +1 reinforced item.
Yet no one cheered.
Instead, their expressions bordered on shock.
‘H-how many minutes was that?’
‘…28 minutes.’
‘…That’s insane.’
Faced with an absurd pace, the party members all checked their watches in disbelief, whispering to each other in astonishment.
Since none of the party members were first-timers, they knew the average hunting time for Disaster Level 1 Zone well.
And they understood perfectly how impossible what just happened was.
It was proof of how broken my buffs were.
Especially for melee dealers.
It was a power that enhanced the entire body—physical prowess in its entirety.
Even when using skills, they could execute them faster and more powerfully.
Above all, they could seize openings more quickly and retreat faster as well.
‘This buff is genuinely ridiculous.’
‘Sigh, how would we even raid without this buff now?’
‘What a shame. I’d love to experience that kind of amplification rate myself.’
While the party members marveled at the overwhelming buff amplification, Choi Jung-min was equally astonished.
Originally, he had recruited experienced dealers to test Sung-jun.
Of course, they all fell short, but that was actually fine.
There was no Sung-jun to test anymore, but curiosity stirred about how much time could be saved if I formed a party with these adapted hunters.
The result exceeded expectations.
‘Certainly, teaming up with those who’ve adapted is much faster.’
At this rate, not four runs but five, or even six might be possible.
However, my expression wasn’t particularly pleasant.
What was bothering me?
He grew concerned whether I’d made a mistake.
Choi Jung-min’s thoughts were correct.
Just for an entirely different reason.
‘I don’t even see an accessory drop.’
I clicked my tongue in disappointment, but the drops were supposed to be similar to Tier 1 monsters—so why were only Tier 1 items appearing and no accessories?
Other old-tier items dropped fairly often, but that wasn’t what mattered.
Still, there was some good news.
“How long did that take?”
“…Twenty-eight minutes.”
“Hmm, at this pace, we could increase the number of runs?”
At the speed we just cleared it, we could do more runs.
It was obvious what they’d ask.
“Of course.”
At Choi Jung-min’s words, the dealers also nodded toward me with expressions full of anticipation.
Everyone was in agreement.
After all, four monsters only took about two hours.
And we’d even taken breaks in between.
Still, better to be safe.
Choi Jung-min asked the other dealers.
“Is everyone managing their mana well?”
“Yes! I think I still have about 30% left!”
“Same here!”
“I believe I have around 40% remaining.”
Everyone had managed well.
Or rather, they’d managed well because we’d finished so quickly that it was forced efficiency.
Everyone took a brief rest before searching for the next prey and moved out.
Since it was the Disaster Zone, we found one quickly.
No one let their guard down, and after sufficient rest, we took down the monster at the same rapid pace.
As the monster’s corpse condensed into energy and expelled items and mana stones.
My eyes began to sparkle with excitement.
A single ring lay on the ground where the monster had vanished, along with the mana stones.
Finally, an accessory.
Just as I was about to celebrate, a strange voice reached my ears.
“What? You guys? Don’t tell me you just killed the monster we were hunting?”
Another party appeared nearby with a sinister smile.
What is this now?

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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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