The Only Enhancer - Chapter 20

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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 20
Episode 20 – Long-term Raid (4)
Treating me casually?
It’s not terrible.
Actually, it’s rather nice, which is why Min-jun hasn’t objected until now.
We’ve talked and gotten along.
And Min-jun has respected boundaries.
A warm atmosphere is better than him constantly asserting his role as a healer.
It’s better than him ruining the mood by emphasizing his healer status.
But this only works when the other person also respects boundaries.
Speaking informally because he’s older?
Someone might find it unpleasant, but at least Min-jun wasn’t like that.
If he thinks of me like a son, then it’s understandable.
But why does he speak formally to the party leader while dropping formality with me?
Ah, well, the party leader does have a position within the party, so that’s acceptable.
‘But does he call Kang Na-jin the “tank” with formal speech?’
Kang Na-gyeong also speaks formally to Choi Jung-pal, and Choi Jung-pal uses formal speech with Kang Na-gyeong.
The same goes for her sister, Kang Na-jin.
So did Min-jun drop formality first?
No.
Min-jun also showed respect by speaking formally to the sisters, just as he did with them.
Then why did he drop formality only with me?
Is the party leader Kang Na-gyeong and the tank Kang Na-jin difficult to approach, while I’m easy?
Because we talked a lot?
Choi Jung-pal actually talked more with the party leader Kang Na-gyeong and Kang Na-jin than with me.
Our conversation barely lasted ten minutes.
If this isn’t discrimination, what is?
‘I’m easy to take advantage of.’
Min-jun clearly treated the party leader, tank, and dealers all equally without discrimination.
I also didn’t flaunt any special privilege as a healer.
That’s why I apologized when I was late.
But after that apology, he noticed I was different from other healers, started testing the waters, and dropped formality only with the dealers and me.
This clearly crossed the line.
I won’t tolerate any more discrimination or being treated as easy prey.
I wasn’t trying to crush them with the authority of being a healer.
They simply crossed a line, so a warning is sufficient.
After all, I wasn’t trying to strangle them with that line.
“W-what do you mean by that?”
Choi Jung-pal finally spoke up.
Though it seemed he understood what Min-jun was implying.
His expression showed he had plenty to feel guilty about.
The other party members also watched Choi Jung-pal nervously.
As if asking why he’d brought it up at all.
Min-jun observed both Choi Jung-pal and the other party members before speaking.
“No, I understand dropping formalities can happen. But using formal speech with honorifics toward Party Leader Kang Na-gyeong and Tank Kang Na-jin while speaking casually to the other dealers and me—that seems to cross a line.”
Initially, he’d burst out with a confrontational tone, asking if they were close, but after collecting his thoughts, Min-jun stated his position clearly.
Polite, yet resolute.
With each point Min-jun made hitting home, Choi Jung-pal visibly shrank back.
Everyone nodded in agreement with Min-jun’s words.
Choi Jung-pal’s behavior had indeed been discriminatory.
“I-I’m sorry. Ah, no, my apologies. I didn’t think it through that far.”
“Yes, I appreciate you saying that. A friendly atmosphere is good, but it seemed too casual, so I felt I should mention it. I also apologize for raising my voice emotionally at first.”
“Ah, no. It’s my fault for being careless.”
When Min-jun apologized for his own raised voice earlier, Choi Jung-pal waved it off, saying it was fine.
The other party members exhaled in relief watching the exchange.
They’d worried something might explode.
But I couldn’t let my guard down yet.
There was still more to address.
“And Party Leader Kang Na-gyeong?”
“Yes? Four!?”
Startled by the sudden call while everyone was relaxing, Kang Na-gyeong answered hastily.
Min-jun then asked, watching her reaction.
“I recall that before we entered, Party Leader Kang Na-gyeong said you’d leave the buff timing to my judgment. Is that correct?”
“Yes? Ah, yes! Of course.”
Buffs naturally have a set duration.
The duration is fixed, and mana decreases with each cast.
Because of this, to maximize the duration, healers often apply buffs either right when combat starts or after the tank has established aggro.
Stretching the buff as long as possible prevents disruptions in combat.
Most party leaders with tank experience understand this well, so they entrust buff timing to the healer’s discretion.
They let the healer use buffs based on their own judgment.
After all, the healer knows best about remaining duration and mana reserves.
Beyond that, giving orders to a healer itself feels awkward.
Any competent party leader knows this basic principle.
But then.
“Yet a dealer ignored that and shouted buff orders at the healer. Isn’t that right, Dealer Jung Da-un?”
As I fixed her with a cold gaze, her complexion turned ashen.
Had she genuinely not known what she was doing?
Or had she known but ignored it anyway?
Either way, it didn’t matter.
“Brother, you really did that?”
“I… I didn’t mishear back then… Da-un, why… why did you do that?”
Kang Na-gyeong asked Jung Da-un in an equally cold voice, and Kang Na-jin, who had just heard it, looked genuinely worried.
When Kang Na-jin spoke, Kang Na-gyeong heard her words and fixed Jung Da-un with a frigid stare.
I knew she harbored negative feelings toward healers, but I never expected her to blur the line between professional and personal matters.
Jung Da-un’s complexion grew darker as Kang Na-gyeong and Kang Na-jin reacted.
Even though it was my first time with a healer, I already understood that such an order shouldn’t have been given.
I’d raised my voice for a moment, thinking I’d misjudged the timing, but that was my mistake.
“I think I must have failed to read the timing correctly, so you gave me that instruction…”
“Yes. That… that was it.”
When Min-jun spoke vaguely, I agreed readily.
Inferiority complex? Jealousy? Resentment toward the healer?
None of that came to mind now.
I simply wanted to make excuses and escape this situation by any means.
“…Isn’t saying I’d fail to read the timing the same as disrespecting me? You’re saying I wouldn’t be able to grasp the timing.”
“Ah… I’m… I’m sorry. I absolutely didn’t mean it that way.”
Jung Da-un lowered his head abjectly, trembling.
But Kang Na-gyeong was deeply disappointed watching him like this.
Beyond failing to separate professional from personal, he’d caused harm to the entire party.
The fact that we could attempt a Long-term Raid was largely thanks to Min-jun, the healer.
Though his initial skill was a buff, making healing difficult when injuries occurred, his combat enhancement alone made him invaluable to a Long-term Raid.
Yet he’d acted this way purely out of personal emotion.
There was no way this could be forgiven.
“This will be difficult to overlook, unlike with Choi Jung-pal the dealer.”
“…”
“Yes, of course.”
Jung Da-un said nothing, and Kang Na-gyeong answered on his behalf.
At those words, Jung Da-un’s expression crumbled.
How had I come to this place only for it to end like this?
But I couldn’t say anything.
Kang Na-gyeong’s cold demeanor, and Kang Na-jin, who wanted to help but knew her older sister’s actions were right, couldn’t step forward.
The two sisters who had brought me into the guild had turned their backs on me.
And above all, Jung Da-un swallowed hard without realizing it.
To Jung Da-un, Min-jun, equipped with +2 and +3 enhanced items, looked like the grim reaper itself.
Only then could I grasp the difference between myself and Min-jun.
I could finally understand why the seniors feared healers so much.
They said if you made a critical mistake with a healer, that healer would leave the party.
At first, I thought it was no big deal.
In fact, up to Disaster Level 2, teams without healers were far more common.
But now I could understand.
The position a healer truly held.
It wasn’t just about getting blacklisted by the healers.
That alone would mean expulsion from the guild, and it essentially meant Jung Da-un’s ceiling had been set.
Disaster Level 3 monsters and above were impossible to raid without a healer, after all.
Moreover, even in raids below that level, people would naturally avoid those on a healer’s blacklist to prevent any potential damage spillover.
As a result, the number of raids one could participate in would dwindle.
‘Ah, ah.’
Now I was beginning to understand why my younger sister had looked down on me so much.
But was it too late now?
When Jung Da-un saw Min-jun standing before her, he appeared like a giant.
A giant that no matter what I did or how I tried, I couldn’t overcome.
Was this the end?
The moment I resigned myself to it.
“So, I’d like Jung Da-un the dealer to be excluded from the loot distribution in this raid.”
“Excluded from distribution, not from the party?”
“Yes, well, if she drops out of the party now, that’s a burden in itself, and having her here is definitely better, but I just couldn’t overlook it.”
“Ah! Really, would that be enough?”
“Yes, that should be sufficient.”
As Kang Na-gyeong, the party leader, said this.
Jung Da-un lifted her head with a bewildered expression, as if she hadn’t fully grasped what was being said.
Then Kang Na-jin spoke from beside her with evident relief.
“Oh, oh brother, so you’re forgiving her?”
“Ah, ah!”
Being excluded from distribution but not from the party—that made all the difference.
Moreover, she said that would be enough.
A miraculous reversal of fortune.
Jung Da-un felt it and bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
“Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”
Jung Da-un continued bowing and expressing her thanks repeatedly.
The others also nodded their heads in relief.
Seeing this, Min-jun’s expression softened as well.
Now that it was settled.
“Let’s focus back on the raid.”
“Ah! Of course.”
Min-jun spoke of the many creatures still left to hunt, and they resumed scouting the surroundings for the raid.
The raid resumed.
It wasn’t quite as harmonious as before.
Rather, most of them approached with noticeably heightened tension.
The atmosphere befitting a raid party.
I found it quite satisfying.
And the way people looked at Min-jun had changed as well.
Now I treated Min-jun with difficulty.
That didn’t mean I stopped talking to him, though.
Literally, I was just reading Min-jun’s mood to some extent.
Min-jun thought as he observed this.
Jung Da-un had said it wasn’t her either, but ultimately she’d disrespected him and issued orders arbitrarily in anger, and since he was easy to push around, Choi Jung-pal had shown respect to the tanks by using honorifics but hadn’t done the same for him.
Since I wasn’t going to act rashly, I gave a warning.
There wouldn’t be a next time.
And what happened after that?
The party members were actually praising Min-jun.
‘They called me merciful.’
Amusing.
Min-jun was grateful that I’d done what I thought was appropriate and let them see it, yet they treated me with difficulty.
‘I learned something.’
Show respect and consideration, but don’t appear easy to push around.
If someone still doesn’t understand?
If that happens, it will definitely be different from today.
I learned something huge today.
8.
After my warning, everyone continued the raid smoothly.
The Black-Scaled Serpent, boasting an enormous amplification rate from my buffs, endured for over an hour, so the party members gradually grew exhausted.
Around the time we’d defeated four of them.
The Black-Scaled Serpent drew its massive body forward and swiftly swung its tail.
The crimson-stained creature’s eyes had only one target in sight.
Crash-crash-crash! Crash-bang!
The tail, swept across the ground with force, collided with a massive shield, but Kang Na-gyeong, wielding the shield, displayed inhuman strength to block the tail.
Unable to help the unbelievable force or the tingling in her hands, she furrowed her brow.
“Deploy the melee dealers!”
At Kang Na-gyeong’s shout, Jung Da-un rushed forward and drew her sword.
Perhaps because the buff was already applied.
The resistance felt minimal as she carved a long wound across the creature’s body.
Shhhhhhhhhhiing!
The sword wound, stretching quite far from its neck, was difficult even for the creature to endure, and it let out a terrible shriek.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
Everyone furrowed their brows at the creature’s metallic screech, but it was fine.
It was proof that things were going well.
At that moment, the Black-Scaled Serpent’s crimson eyes dimmed slightly, returning to their original color.
The aggro had been reset.
But Kang Na-gyeong, already aware, shouted.
“Melee dealer, pull back! Secondary tank!”
Just as she called out, the Black-Scaled Serpent, belatedly seeking Jung Da-un, who had carved its body lengthwise, was about to attack.
A shout erupted from right beside me.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
Though the cry was somewhat adorable for a skill activation, it was Kang Na-jin’s Skill Provocation.
My eyes blazed red again as I charged toward Kang Na-jin.
The moment I thought I was so massive she’d be swallowed whole, light cascaded down over her head and strength surged through her entire body.
Thanks to the buff, Kang Na-jin gripped her shield and rushed toward the beast.
Then she adjusted her stance to brace for impact.
Boom!
“Ugh.”
Even with the buff and preparation, the colossal impact crashed into Kang Na-jin.
But she didn’t get pushed back or fall.
Against the Black-Scaled Abyssal Serpent, known to be at the apex of Disaster Level 1 Zones, she was holding her own.
Not as well as my older sister, but that was only natural.
My older sister, Kang Na-gyeong, was Level 2 with a +2 Enhanced shield.
“Sub-tank, fall back! Ranged dealers, attack!”
While I was lost in thought, Kang Na-jin pushed the beast back and retreated.
The Black-Scaled Abyssal Serpent lunged only toward the retreating Kang Na-jin, so it never saw it coming.
The two magic skills and arrows that engulfed its body.
Crash! Bang! Whoosh!
The healer’s buff was physical-based so it didn’t help much, but the magic-type skills still packed considerable power.
Since the Long-term Raid was already well underway, the Black-Scaled Abyssal Serpent began transforming into light as energy concentrated.
Only then did the party members relax slightly.
It had been a raid without crisis, but the fatigue was considerable.
Kang Na-gyeong also judged the situation and decided she needed rest, but just as she was about to sit down, a faint blue light flowed from the Black-Scaled Abyssal Serpent as it vanished into light, and soon a single item dropped without a mana stone.
As the light cleared, a pale blue radiance softly illuminated the item.
No one here failed to recognize it.
“A +2? A +2 Enhanced?”
“This is insane!”
“Did it really drop?”
“Wow, wow!”
“Huh, gasp.”
Everyone reacted differently.
Yet they all shared the same sense of shock.
Of course—even at ±1, the probability of an enhanced item dropping at a level higher than the monster’s was extremely, extremely, extremely low.
In other words, we’d beaten those odds.
But then.
Kang Na-gyeong stepped forward first, gripping the +2 Enhanced item, and spoke.
“I originally planned to give a different reward, but since such a valuable item has appeared, I’d like to give it to Min-jun, our healer. What do the rest of you think?”
“I’m fine with it. Honestly, I haven’t been respectful to the healer just because I’m older. That’s been weighing on my mind, so I’m glad we can repay him this way.”
“I, I think so too.”
“Me too!”
“…I don’t have a choice, but I would have agreed anyway.”
“We couldn’t have taken down so many without the healer, so it’s only natural!”
Unanimous.
After hearing my party members’ opinions, Kang Na-gyeong handed me a freshly dropped +2 item.
“Ah, thank you. I’ll put it to good use.”
I expressed my gratitude with a satisfied smile.
There was no reason to refuse when they were offering it.
Besides.
‘Now that I think about it, I’ve never tried enhancing an item that’s already been enhanced. I wonder what happens?’
An unexpected opportunity had presented itself.

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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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