The Only Enhancer - Chapter 45

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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 45
Episode 45 – Challenging 6-Star Enhancement, and… (1)
0.
Level 4.
It was a turning point for hunters.
From this point onward, a special message appeared whenever one’s level increased.
For those without aptitude, a cruel message.
[You have reached your level cap.]
And for those with aptitude, an unwelcome message.
[You can no longer gain experience from dungeons below your level.]
It was a message indicating increased difficulty, but far better than the fate of those without aptitude.
A declaration that one’s level would never rise again.
Many hunters found themselves permanently stuck at level 4.
Even possessing the aptitude for level 5 or level 6 only meant the challenges grew exponentially harder.
Some level 5 hunters even called this point the beginning of true leveling.
But for Min-jun, it hardly mattered.
[You can no longer gain experience from enhancements below your level.]
On the surface, it seemed like a restriction, but it held little real significance.
Unlike other hunters who had to face monsters, Min-jun could simply sit down and enhance items instead.
‘After all, I can just buy hundreds of unenhanced items, enhance them to 4-star, and duplicate the experience.’
Of course, wasting enhancement mana early on could have been painful, but now that I possessed mana in such abundance, it felt trivial.
Most importantly.
‘Experience is gained proportional to the mana consumed according to the conditions, right? So if I challenge 6-star enhancement now, I’d gain an insane amount of experience.’
6-star enhancement—now within reach.
I had become capable of creating items that barely existed anywhere in the world.
What mattered most was the success rate.
Without hesitation, I opened the probability window.
I’d already sensed it intuitively, but certainty was always preferable.
The probability window opened before me.
*0→1-Star = Success Rate 100%
*1→2-Star = Success Rate 100%
*2→3-Star = Success Rate 100%
*3→4-Star = Success Rate 70%, Failure Rate 30%.
*4→5-Star = Success Rate 20%, Failure Rate 55%, Destruction Rate 25%.
*5→6-Star = Success Rate 0.1%, Failure Rate 50%, Destruction Rate 49.9%.
*Insufficient level to enhance to 7-Star.
‘Huh.’
Now 3-star was guaranteed success.
Which meant creating a unique option at 2-star was 100% certain.
On top of that, the probability of reaching 4-star had increased dramatically.
The same goes for +5!
With this, I could make the challenge to +6 considerably easier.
Of course, attempting it without +5 essence would have been madness.
The destruction probability was nearly 50%.
Enhancing without essence meant immediate failure.
By enhancing unranked items, I could extract essence like crazy.
But this wasn’t the end.
‘The probability increase from mana enhancement is roughly 10%, right?’
Now there was the additional probability from the Enhancer’s Blessing.
But the Enhancer’s Blessing had an option on a completely different level from mana enhancement.
[Enhancer’s Blessing]
-When buff is used, increases enhancement probability by 10% for 1 hour.
-When buff is used, increases critical success probability by 5% for 1 hour.
-Can be used three times in 24 hours.
*Based on the first use, it can be used again after 24 hours.
It was none other than the critical success probability increase.
This was a hidden option I’d discovered upon seeing the +6 item this time.
The number of uses had increased to three times within 24 hours.
‘At this rate, wouldn’t it be worth attempting to enhance a +4 item to +5 while aiming for a +6 critical success?’
Of course, in four days, a critical success had only occurred once.
5% was a low probability, but it was still better than nothing.
I wanted to challenge +6 right now.
Hadn’t I already completed all the preparations?
‘Should I check the skills first?’
I shook my head.
As new skills emerged and their power settled into Min-jun, the strength I could roughly sense from them had nothing to do with enhancement.
I could check after attempting +6.
So for now, I focused on this.
Hadn’t I been preparing for four days?
I couldn’t wait any longer.
Just yesterday, even +5 had been uncertain, but now it was different.
‘Going for +6.’
Now I was looking beyond +5.
From four days of preparation, I had as many as 10 unranked items to turn into +5 essence.
Besides that, I’d succeeded in raising the main enhancement items to +5.
Now only the +6 challenge remained.
“Mana Enhancement, Enhancer’s Blessing.”
I raised the probabilities first.
Feeling the critical success probability rise as well, I gazed at the item placed below.
Two steel gauntlets wrapped in blazing flames that shone with the light of red rubies.
It was Hongryeon’s gauntlets.
There was a reason for reinforcing Hongryeon’s gauntlets.
First, waiting for a dedicated option to attach would take far too long.
I’d need to reach at least level 6 to reliably obtain a dedicated option.
That was still a distant dream.
Rather than using them in their pure form until then, it was better to enhance them to +6 and then sell them.
Min-jun made that judgment and closed his eyes.
‘Please!’
Min-jun silently cried out with desperate longing.
“Item Enhancement.”
A massive amount of mana drained from my hands.
By now, my mana had grown enough to attempt +5 enhancement ten times, but +6 was still considerable.
Nearly half my mana burned away in an instant, pouring from Min-jun’s hands.
The enormous mana condensed, radiating a violet brilliance as it took the form of a fairy.
Or rather, it tried to.
The fairy, wielding the resplendent violet power, soon failed to maintain any form and shattered into fragments.
A failure?
No, this was…
Crack!
With the sound of something breaking, the +5 essence beside Min-jun shattered.
The essence was destroyed instead of Hongryeon’s gauntlets.
At least that was fortunate.
I still had nine essences remaining.
But…
“Ugh.”
As nearly half my mana was consumed in one go, I felt a sharp, throbbing pain in my head.
But Min-jun did not give up.
“Item Enhancement!”
I used Item Enhancement once more, and the result was the same.
Shatter!
The +5 essence was destroyed instead, leaving Hongryeon’s gauntlets unscathed, but Min-jun was far from fine.
I had depleted most of my mana and was on the verge of collapse.
“Gasp.”
Symptoms of mana exhaustion appeared, yet stubbornly, Min-jun activated the Cycle of Reincarnation.
Feeling mana surge back rapidly, I barely managed to exhale.
I thought I was actually going to die.
But shaking my head, I focused clearly on Hongryeon’s gauntlets once more.
‘Alright, let’s see who wins.’
Two chances remained.
And Min-jun’s success rate for +6 enhancement was merely 20.1%.
Even though failing twice in a row wouldn’t be unusual given the odds, Min-jun paid no heed and cried out.
“Item Enhancement.”
I’ll see that thing succeed today, no matter what!
I’d just sworn to it moments ago.
Fwooosh!
Once again, the +5 enhancement essence crumbled to dust and vanished, and my mana disappeared with it.
A 49.9% destruction rate, they said.
This time too, it was destruction.
If it weren’t for the enhancement essence, I wouldn’t have even attempted it.
Feeling symptoms close to exhaustion, I breathed shallowly.
“Haaah…”
Could I succeed this time?
Or perhaps I wouldn’t.
Yet despite that, I raised both hands for another enhancement attempt.
If only the essence wouldn’t be destroyed and would remain intact, that would be ideal.
I thought so and half-surrendered to the attempt.
After all, it was only a 20.1% success rate.
It was natural that it wouldn’t work at this rate.
‘If it doesn’t work today, I can try again tomorrow.’
But I wasn’t discouraged.
If I failed today, I could simply try again tomorrow.
Let’s see who wins this battle.
“Item Enhancement!”
I’d enhance without great expectations.
Feeling all my mana drain away like an ebbing tide, I opened my eyes wide.
The pain was so intense—as if my very soul was being torn from my body—that I couldn’t even cry out.
“…!”
As I writhed in agony, the colossal mana pouring from my hands blazed with a brilliant violet light before the Crimson Gauntlet, hovering in the air.
The immense mana gradually took form—a far more vivid shape than any of the three previous attempts.
A fairy?
No, it was far too large to be called a fairy.
That being, human-sized and identical in stature, gazed down at me with the dignity of a monarch.
Witnessing a presence of entirely different caliber from all the fairies before, I forgot even my pain as I beheld her.
As if glimpsing a fragment of tremendous power, I trembled.
That cold existence offered me the faintest of smiles.
As if to say—
-Do not fear.
That’s what it seemed to convey.
Entranced by that compassionate smile, I gazed at her.
She turned her body and extended her hand toward the Crimson Gauntlet.
A orb shimmering with violet and blindingly white radiance materialized, settling into the gauntlet of Crimson Lotus.
I knew exactly what this phenomenon meant.
How many times had I witnessed it before?
As I stared at it in disbelief, the gentle smile on her face vanished, and a fierce light illuminated the entire room.
Whoooooooosh——!
Alongside the intense radiance, a brilliant violet glow swirled around the Gauntlet of Crimson Lotus, which was enveloped in a vivid ruby-red luminescence.
“Success…?”
Perhaps because the being I had just encountered remained vividly etched in my memory.
I continued muttering in bewilderment even now.
And recalling the white radiance I had seen at the very end, I muttered once more.
“Wait, wasn’t that an exclusive option effect?”
No way.
That couldn’t be possible.
The pure enhancement probability at +6 was merely 0.1%.
An impossible probability to achieve.
And an exclusive option appears on top of that?
I muttered thus, gazing at the Gauntlet of Crimson Lotus wrapped in violet light.
And immediately checked the options.
Then.
[Gauntlet of Blazing Crimson Lotus]+6
-It is said that the blazing flames dwelling in the gauntlet illuminate the hero’s hand.
-It is said that the blazing Crimson Lotus inflicts no harm upon its wearer.
-Defense increased.
-When armor is equipped, skill ‘Crimson Lotus’ becomes usable.
-When possessing concealment-type skills, skill ‘Radiant Sphere’ becomes usable.
-When equipping ranged weapons, ultimate skill ‘Crimson Lotus – Blossom’ becomes usable.
-When target is using ultimate skill ‘Crimson Lotus – Blossom’, ultimate skill ‘Crimson Lotus – Full Bloom’ becomes usable.
*Exclusive option for Enhancement Masters*
-Guaranteed enhancement can be attempted.
*Once the guaranteed enhancement on this item is used, it cannot be used again.
*When equipped with an item that has lost its guaranteed enhancement, enhancement probability increases by 5%.
“?????”
I stared at the final line, unable to comprehend it.
The exclusive option succeeded?
More than that, what kind of option even is this?
‘Guaranteed enhancement? Something like that existed?’
For a moment, I stood dumbfounded, staring blankly at it.
Though it was an option that could only be used once before becoming unavailable, I wasn’t foolish enough to overlook its value.
‘Really? Guaranteed enhancement?’
It was a system I’d only ever seen in games.
Besides, enhancement artisans didn’t exist in reality anyway, so that was the same thing.
But it meant I could create a Tier 6 item definitively, just once.
And right now, at this very moment.
‘This is an option that drops from a naturally born Tier 5 item?’
The moment Min-jun thought that far, I felt the world spinning around me.
In that instant, I could realize what was happening.
‘Ah, mana exhaustion.’
A dull thud.
It was the moment when an eleventh Tier 6 item was added to the world, when there had only ever been ten.
1.
Ma Hyun-seok was called a hero, but he was also the Association Chairman.
As a result, the work piling up on his desk was mountainous.
There was the Gangneung disaster raid to handle, but before that, there were considerable backlogged tasks as well.
Even Ma Hyun-seok found himself at a loss before the sheer volume of documents that seemed impossible to process.
“Hmm.”
After finally negotiating with the government over the compensation to give Min-jun, this was what remained.
Well, the negotiations weren’t completely finished anyway.
One could say there was still more work to be done.
A sigh escaped naturally, but what could be done about it?
As long as he sat in the Chairman’s seat, it was unavoidable.
As he worked through the documents and reviewed various reports, information about the Tier 4 items Min-jun had chosen this time also appeared.
‘Rather, it’s unexpected that he chose these items.’
They were all items equipped with detection-type skills.
They were certainly valuable items.
Above all, two of them had those rare passive skills.
But the detection-type aspect was somewhat unexpected.
‘There were many better options for a healer….’
And the fact that he chose these detection-type items meant only one thing.
‘He’s planning to prevent dangerous situations in advance.’
Very cautious.
While defense against dangerous situations itself was important, detecting what would happen beforehand was even more critical than that.
With those items he’d taken, even if he couldn’t reach Jung Ji-hwan’s level, he would be able to detect most dangerous situations in advance.
And the next report made Ma Hyun-seok’s brow furrow.
None other than Jung Ji-hwan’s report.
‘China has made a move.’
Though he’d tried to prevent information from leaking overseas by any means, it seemed difficult to block it even from the neighboring country of China.
At first, they thought it was the Changgong Guild, he said.
Well, Chinese villains would do anything if you just gave them some money.
But through interrogation, they discovered it was from the Chinese side, he said.
However, that was where the intelligence ended, he said.
‘I’ve assigned Jung Ji-hwan as team leader. There shouldn’t be much to worry about, but one can never be too careful.’
I wondered if China might launch large-scale terrorist attacks, but I quickly dismissed the thought.
Even by Ma Hyun-seok’s reckoning, that wasn’t the case.
No matter how bold China was, they wouldn’t go that far.
The very reason they were moving so hastily right now was because Min-jun was still Level 3.
But what if he grew further?
Even China, for all their audacity, wouldn’t dare make reckless moves.
I could only hope that Min-jun would grow stronger soon.
2.
Jung Ji-hwan stared down at the man pinned beneath his feet with an expressionless face.
Another villain had arrived today, as tediously as ever.
This one was from China as well.
“Hmm.”
It had been four days since Min-jun left his home.
In that time, four villains had shown up here.
Truly, how very Chinese of them.
At first, they had moved with stealth, attempting kidnapping.
The last one was an assassin.
Their intent was unmistakable.
If they couldn’t have him, they would kill him.
At this, Jung Ji-hwan’s expressionless face twisted slightly into a frown, and he clicked his tongue.
“Tsk.”
When those bastards made up their minds, they became troublesome beyond measure.
For now, he was confident enough that there was no problem, but one could never know what might happen.
‘I’ll need to request reinforcements.’
As long as Min-jun stayed home, it would be one thing.
But once he began raiding actively, if villains appeared then, even Jung Ji-hwan would find it difficult.
And if they appeared in large numbers?
Even Jung Ji-hwan couldn’t hold them back alone.
If a large force of villains appeared targeting Min-jun, someone more powerful than himself would be necessary.
Fortunately, he happened to know just such a person.
Jung Ji-hwan made a phone call, and not long after, the other party answered.
“There’s something you need to do.”
-…Are you insane?
It was Won Eun-seong, the Window Breaker.
Jung Ji-hwan paid no mind to that remark and continued.
“I need you to protect Min-jun the Healer. When Min-jun the Healer goes on raids, I’d like you to participate with him.”
-…Sigh.
“What’s your answer?”
-Understood.
“Right, contact me again.”
Jung Ji-hwan was wearing a satisfied smile when a text message arrived.
It was from Min-jun, who had just recovered from mana exhaustion.
[Could you look into a raid for me?]
Jung Ji-hwan nodded readily and called back.
-Ah! What now!
“Tomorrow.”
-What!? To, tomorrow?
“Yes, let’s meet tomorrow.”
-Hey! Tomorrow’s raid….
Click.
After hanging up, Jung Ji-hwan thought he’d made the right call contacting Won Eun-seong.
Of course, Won Eun-seong was furious, but that wasn’t Jung Ji-hwan’s concern.

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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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