The Only Enhancer - Chapter 21

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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 21
Episode 21 – Why Is This Going Up? (1)
0.
My entire body felt heavy and waterlogged, like a soaked sponge, drooping with exhaustion.
The journey home seemed to stretch on forever, each step weighing a thousand pounds.
But I made it back somehow, and after washing up, I felt considerably better.
A grueling expedition that drained the mind far more than the body.
Yet the gains were far greater.
‘I obtained plenty and learned plenty.’
I had hunted down thirteen monsters.
In just one night and two days, thirteen of them—all Black-scaled Serpents, no less.
The harvest was quite substantial.
My share alone came to 52.17 million won in distribution, two Tier 2 items, and a staggering fifteen Tier 1 items!
I wouldn’t need to worry about enhancement materials for a while.
On top of that, I even received two Tier 2 items.
Honestly, I didn’t expect them to drop, and I never thought I’d be the one to bring them back.
‘It seems she was worried about complications after all.’
Kang Na-gyeong and Jung Da-un appeared to be close, despite everything.
There must have been many concerns.
Besides, I couldn’t predict what Kim Min-jun might think later, even if he let it slide now.
The other party members probably felt the same way.
I decided to let it go—such things happen.
There was no end to overthinking it.
I was already troubled by other matters and didn’t have the mental space for this too.
The reason for my turmoil was none other than….
[‘Kim Min-jun’ Healer-related incidents have all been resolved.]
It meant the matter involving Sung-jun, Uncle, and Aunt had been settled.
There was no reason to be troubled over contemptible people.
It was the money that had been deposited into my account following the resolution.
After about ten days, my parents’ death insurance payout was deposited.
Money I’d received for the first time in over a decade, yet instead of feeling relieved, why did my chest feel so heavy?
“…Sigh.”
Combined with the money I already had, it amounted to nearly 700 million won.
Skimming through the lengthy message, it said they had returned it with interest included.
At first, I was hesitant to use this money.
Still, it was money my parents had left behind, and I considered keeping it untouched.
After all, I was no longer someone who worried about money.
I could enhance the Tier 1 items I obtained today to Tier 2 and sell them for 200 million won alone.
It was money I could earn quickly with just a few more raids.
So why was it?
‘Yes, let me buy a home with this money.’
Why didn’t Father sing about buying a house first whenever he earned money back then?
Mother would scold him for filling my head with such nonsense.
That house is gone now, but I wanted to buy a place like that with the money my parents left me.
Of course, buying a house won’t bring them back.
But it would feel meaningful, wouldn’t it?
If I just keep the money, it’s nothing but a number on a screen, but if I buy a house with it, I’ll have a real place where I can actually live and build my life.
Isn’t that more meaningful than just holding onto the money?
It was probably just me reading too much into it, but I wanted to do it anyway.
“Sigh…”
Thinking about the past like this just makes me feel down.
It must be because the raid was so exhausting.
I’ll start looking at houses tomorrow. For now, let me just do some quick reinforcements and get some sleep.
Feeling melancholic, I quickly laid out all the unenhanced items I’d obtained today.
I considered enhancing the two +1 items I’d just acquired first, but shook my head.
I didn’t want to tempt fate by doing it in this house with bad luck.
+1 enhancement has a 100% success rate anyway.
I just needed to enhance the unenhanced items.
‘Thanks to the ring, +1 enhancement only consumes about 7% of my mana per attempt.’
During the raid, giving buffs didn’t consume even 1% of my mana.
I could do all 15 enhancements right now.
With a 100% success rate, what was there to hesitate about?
I used Item Enhancement on each of the unenhanced items laid out before me, raising them all to +1.
Suddenly, a sharp dizziness washed over me.
Maybe it was because I’d used 98% of my mana all at once.
‘I feel dizzy.’
And there was also an odd tingling sensation in my chest.
It felt different from usual, but I didn’t think much of it and headed toward my bed.
It had been an exhausting day.
Thinking about my parents made me feel melancholic too.
What kind of party should I recruit for the next raid?
As I was trying to fall asleep with such thoughts, I suddenly remembered something I’d forgotten.
‘Ah, Han Tae-jun. I’d completely forgotten about him.’
I needed to contact him too, and with that thought in mind, I drifted off to sleep.
Unaware of the light flickering across my own body.
1.
Changgong Guild.
Known as one of Korea’s Top 5 Guilds, it is undoubtedly one of the nation’s greatest guilds, mentioned whenever the topic of Korea’s finest comes up.
And recently, news about the Changgong Guild had spread.
[Changgong Guild’s Second Level 5 Hunter, Cha Hae-yeon! Becomes the Youngest Level 5 Hunter!]
[Changgong Guild, ranking third among the Top 5 Guilds with two Level 5 hunters!]
[What lies ahead for Changgong Guild?]
[Cha Hae-yeon of Changgong Guild: “I will dedicate my loyalty to the Guild Master who gave me this opportunity.”]
[Korea’s twenty-first Level 5, Changgong Guild’s second Level 5, Shield of Changgong Cha Hae-yeon, expressing her resolve: “I will devote myself to Changgong Guild going forward.”]
[Another hero born to protect Korea from disaster!]
It was news that surpassed even last year’s record—Han Tae-jun’s rapid ascent to Level 3 in the shortest time possible.
Every website was buzzing with nothing but this story.
And for good reason. Unlike Level 3 hunters, Level 5 hunters were extraordinarily rare.
Korea had only twenty Level 5 hunters.
With Cha Hae-yeon’s emergence, that number became twenty-one.
Among them, only eight belonged to the Top 5 Guilds.
In other words, only three guilds had two or more Level 5 hunters.
Despite such momentous news, Han Mu-gyeol—the master of Changgong Guild and its other Level 5 hunter—maintained an expressionless face.
Rather than rejoicing, he simply continued his administrative duties as usual.
His unwavering composure, neither elated nor despondent, made him appear colossal to any observer.
Truly, his epithet as “the Giant” was fitting.
After signing the necessary documents, Han Mu-gyeol lifted his gaze to regard his nephew standing before him—a stern-looking man wearing glasses.
It was Han Tae-jun.
“Congratulations on this achievement. Even knowing the principles of experience accumulation, reaching Level 5 must be extraordinarily difficult.”
“….”
Han Mu-gyeol offered no reply, merely nodding his head.
The principles of experience accumulation.
It remained unknown to most hunters.
Perhaps only the Top 5 Guilds and the so-called elite large guilds in Korea understood it.
Han Tae-jun had leveraged this principle expertly, allowing him to ascend to Level 3 faster than anyone else.
Moreover, he possessed the nature of a healer.
Most people believed experience came only from slaying monsters, but that was a misconception.
Monsters do not grant hunters experience.
Yet raid participation naturally elevates one’s level.
This misunderstanding arose because people assumed monster-slaying was necessary for experience, when the reality was entirely different.
“The structure makes it inevitable that people wouldn’t realize experience comes from consuming mana through their own skills.”
“Indeed, with a system so game-like, misunderstandings are unavoidable.”
Using skills to consume mana.
This was the sole method of gaining experience.
Thus, naturally, experience accumulated during raids.
Of course, certain principles governed this.
The higher the mana consumption of a skill, the faster experience accumulated.
But therein lay the difficulty.
A hunter’s mana reserves were finite, and using skills as frequently as possible was far from simple.
Above all, there existed hidden conditions.
This condition was precisely why so few knew of it.
First, the essential requirement was that the skill had to succeed.
For healers, if a buff was already active on a target, they couldn’t reapply that buff until its duration expired.
In other words, if mana was consumed using a buff but the buff failed to land, no experience could be gained.
Dealers had to land their skills on targets, and tanks could only gain experience by protecting someone.
If this were a game, one might say it was a game that forced party play.
Because of these conditions, even knowing about it didn’t make leveling easy.
In any case, Han Tae-jun hadn’t come here simply to offer congratulations.
Since Han Mu-gyeol knew him well, he broached the subject.
“So, you’ve discovered a healer worth using.”
His flat, weighty voice carried unmistakable force—the kind that would make a faint-hearted person flinch.
But Han Tae-jun didn’t bat an eye, simply nodding as he replied.
“Yes, Guild Master. It’s been just over two weeks since their awakening, but they’ve already completed three raids. One of them was a Long-term Raid—an overnight expedition where they defeated thirteen monsters.”
“….”
Han Mu-gyeol said nothing in particular, but Han Tae-jun could sense it.
He was interested.
“A diligent healer.”
“Yes, exactly.”
Participating in many raids was proof of diligence.
One could see it from how healers unaffiliated with guilds went on raids at most once a month.
Healers as a breed were arrogant and lazy.
That’s why guild-affiliated healers were forced to maintain a certain raid frequency.
Without such measures, they’d only participate when it suited them.
But to encounter a diligent healer after so long.
It was undeniably interesting news.
However, this alone wouldn’t satisfy him.
“A diligent healer is useless if their abilities fall short.”
As expected, Han Mu-gyeol spoke flatly.
Though he seemed irritated, Han Tae-jun understood well that this was actually his uncle expressing concern for him.
So Han Tae-jun lowered his head slightly and replied.
“That’s why I’d like to assess their abilities through a simple raid.”
“With our guild members.”
“Yes, that way we can be certain.”
“That makes sense.”
A hunter’s true worth emerges in raids.
Healers are no exception.
Had raids not existed, the Healer Protection Act would never have been enacted in the first place.
Assessing them through another party would be tedious.
It was faster and more reliable to evaluate them through the Changgong Guild’s party.
Han Mu-gyeol thought his nephew was truly living up to his name.
Even without being told, the party members heading to the raid had surely already figured it out.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have come before Han Mu-gyeol to discuss it.
“So, has he reached out to you?”
“No, not yet, but I intend to contact him first.”
“I see.”
“After all, those who thirst dig their own wells.”
So Han Tae-jun was a talent worth going this far for?
My eyebrows twitched slightly as curiosity stirred within me.
I’d need to see him directly to know for certain, but there was no rush—that could wait until after Han Tae-jun had confirmed things.
Besides, I had far too much to do.
“Handle it as you see fit.”
With my permission granted.
Han Tae-jun bowed respectfully and left the room.
I thought he’d reach out immediately, but to think he wouldn’t contact me at all.
He’d been unpredictable from the start.
2.
Normally I could have slept in longer, but for some reason my body felt light.
Was it because I’d slept properly when I was tired?
I felt refreshed, as though all my fatigue had vanished.
“Yaaaaaawn!”
I woke in the morning and stretched into a long yawn, rubbing my eyes.
Today my vision seemed unusually blurred, as if sleep clung to my eyes.
Or should I say hazy?
Even after rubbing my eyes, the blur wouldn’t clear, so I stared ahead groggily, wondering what was wrong.
Strange characters were floating in my vision.
What was this?
Why were characters floating?
Still half-asleep, I couldn’t grasp the situation at first, but I soon collected myself and focused on the text.
Then.
[Your level has increased.]
[You have reached Level 2 and acquired a new skill.]
“…?”
What was this supposed to mean?
Was I still not fully awake?
Or was this a dream?
With a bewildered expression, I pinched my thigh, and a sharp pain jolted me fully conscious.
Yet the message remained, unchanged.
What was happening?
On a hunch, I opened my status window.
“Status window.”
[Kim Min-jun]
[Lv.2]
[Trait – Enhancement Sorcerer]
[Skills]
– Physical Enhancement
– Item Enhancement
– Enhancement Sorcerer’s Blessing
– Mana Enhancement
– Light of Enhancement
A status window unlike any I had seen before greeted me.
“…Why is this increasing?”

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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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