Chapter 23: The Temptation of Enhancement

Shining on the screen was the weapon of Sisi’s class, [Cavalier], a [+13 Dragon Slayer’s Ahlspiess].

Of course, it was a weapon I was well acquainted with, which made me automatically grind my teeth.

But regardless of my teeth-grinding, Sisi was busy boasting about his weapon in a cheerful voice.

“Actually… as far as I know, this is the first +13 weapon successfully enhanced on any server.”

[Baekseol] Wow amazing;

[Nemal] Planet-destroying level lmaooooooo

[kim.kj] I’m so jealous, Sisi-nim ㅠ

[Kkumang] The forums went crazy back then lolololol

[Minyak] First on all servers? Wasn’t it Luna-nim? ㄷㄷ

[Haega] That’s insane

[Deran-nim] The stats are broken

The reactions, praising Sisi as amazing without knowing a thing, made me want to throw up all over again.

It was truly awful.

In the video, Sisi dragged out the moment with a greasy “Umm…,” then smiled shyly and said.

“Actually, I wasn’t the one who succeeded with this… my friend did it for me.”

[Nocchi] omg

[zlak] At that point, isn’t that a lover, not a friend?

[real] If it’s a +13, you gotta date them

“Back then, my friend logged in for me just once. They were a very lucky friend. You know Royal Kits, right? They were really good at getting good stuff from them, so I asked.”

…I remember.

At that time, Sisi had become sensitive due to his continuous failures at +13 enhancement, and he was especially anxious after hearing that a ranker in his guild, whom he was jealous of, had succeeded at +12.

I remember Sisi fuming for a long time after hearing that the guild member was going to attempt +13.

So Sisi practically begged me to try for +13 for him.

Of course, I refused.

But Sisi kept nagging me for two whole days, saying things like it seemed the goddess of luck was with me, that he couldn’t do it, and that he would quit the game if it broke this time….

He used all sorts of bullsh*t and sweet talk.

So in the end, I logged into Sisi’s account.

Sisi’s voice, which had paused for a moment, flowed out from the speaker again.

“My friend felt burdened by it too, but… for some reason, I had a strong feeling that day, so I pushed them, saying I really wanted them to do it for me. So my friend, trembling, just closed their eyes, pressed the enhancement button, and logged out immediately. When I logged back in, it was exactly +13.”

And after that, Sisi just said thank you and didn’t give me a single thing.

I wasn’t upset about it at the time, but thinking about it now, he was a really shameless b@stard.

At the time, the market price for a +12 weapon was 7 million won in cash.

A +13 was whatever the seller asked for.

The general consensus was that it was worth about the price of a decent mid-sized car, and to get something that good and not give me anything….

No, more than that, the fact that I had done something like that for that j*rk for free was now so infuriating that I felt like I could go crazy and jump out of my skin.

“I really want to kill him….”

Just as I muttered that, Sisi feigned regret in the video.

“They’re a friend I can’t really get in touch with now…. I hope they contact me if they see this.”

Naturally, my face soured terribly.

The cushion I was hugging was squeezed so tightly that it made a creaking sound.

“No way, you got that for him?”

“Ack!”

I was startled by the voice that suddenly came from my side and jumped up from the sofa.

I was currently watching Sisi’s YouTube video on the television.

Thanks to that, Ban-ye, who was sitting on the sofa playing with his smartphone, could also see Sisi’s video.

I was so pissed off that I nodded my head furiously.

“Yeah. I’m the one who got it… and he has the nerve to brag about it.”

I was grinding my teeth so hard from anger, and Ban-ye stared intently at my hand.

“Considering you got the Gold Fox Egg in one go before, hyung must have a blessed character.”

“Blessed character, my a**! The +13 only happened once. Normally, I even fail at +12….”

The miraculous +13 weapon was now in Sisi’s hands.

It pisses me off just thinking about it again.

What pissed me off the most was that b@stard Kwon Da-jung acting like a good person, saying ‘a friend got it for me’ as if he were so great.

I ignored his calls, and now what?

Contact him if I see the video?

What does he want me to do if I contact him, why is he being so pathetic?

Of course, he must be disappointed that his good meal ticket is gone….

Just then, as I was reminiscing about the past, Ban-ye’s face suddenly popped up in front of me.

My breath caught for a moment at his handsome face, which I could never get used to, no matter how many times I saw it.

“…Wh-what?”

“Why did you only get a +13 for Sisi?”

“I didn’t want to get it either!”

“That’s in the past, so it can’t be helped, but if you got one for Sisi, you should get Ah-ang a +13 weapon too.”

“That’s….”

That was ridiculous.

A +13 weapon, sure, it’s good.

It’s really good, but… while it wasn’t the only one anymore like it was back then, it was still rare.

The +12 weapon Ah-ang was currently holding was something I barely managed to buy after spamming Royal Kits like crazy.

I was completely broke after buying that.

“There are no +13s for sale either….”

“Why are you thinking of buying one?”

“Huh?”

At my question, Ban-ye frowned as if he was the one who was more perplexed.

“If you succeeded once, you should succeed again.”

“You think it’ll succeed just because I try?”

“So you’re not even going to try?”

“No, it’s not something that happens just because you try, is it?”

“If you’ve done it once, the second time is easier.”

Ban-ye pulled me up as I was watching Sisi’s video.

While I was still saying “Uh, uh,” Ban-ye logged into my account.

Then he pulled out a chair and sat me down in front of it without my permission.

“Wait….”

I resisted for a moment, but it was useless.

Ban-ye stood behind me, took the mouse, and moved to the enhancement NPC on his own.

He handed me the mouse as if he was going to enhance the weapon right this second, but I dropped it in horror, as if it were the button for a bomb.

But Ban-ye forcibly put the mouse in my hand and held my hand tightly so I couldn’t let go.

A cold sweat broke out on the hand that Ban-ye was holding.

“N-no!”

“Try it.”

“It’ll break….”

“Why do you think it’ll break? You got one for Sisi.”

“No, that was a miracle, I tell you….”

If I think about it rationally… no, I don’t even need to go that far.

Ban-ye, who’s more of a gaming addict than I am, would know the enhancement rates better.

He was fired up over nothing and being completely unreasonable.

I used my other hand to forcefully pull Ban-ye’s hand away.

The Ban-ye who turned around had a sullen face.

He glanced back and forth between the Sisi YouTube video still playing on the living room TV and my face, then whispered crookedly.

“A miracle, my a**.”

“There’s no way I can get a +13 twice. That time….”

“Did you succeed with the power of love?”

“No!”

That was a mortifying thing to say.

I was so pissed off I shrieked.

I had almost enhanced Ah-ang’s weapon in the heat of the moment, but I barely managed to regain my senses.

“No, why should I destroy an innocent weapon because of Sisi?”

“You said you wanted to beat Sisi.”

“Even if I enhance this, I can’t win….”

…I was about to say I can’t, but I paused.

A rather tempting idea had popped into my head.

“If I succeed in enhancing it, will you be a streamer?”

“No thanks.”

He hated it last time, and this time too, Ban-ye recoiled in disgust.

Now it was my turn to beg.

“You don’t even have to talk! Just record your gameplay like last time. That’s not much of a burden, is it?”

Ban-ye thought about it, then reluctantly nodded.

“Well, I guess I could do that.”

Of course, his attitude was more sullen than when he was badgering me to enhance it quickly a moment ago.

Now I was the one who was excited.

With Ban-ye’s skills, beating a scrub like Kwon Da-jung wouldn’t be difficult.

He’d get a Silver Play Button just by showing his face.

My heart pounded like crazy.

It was a palpitation filled with a little bit of hope and a lot of anxiety about failure.

And.

[‘Ah-ang’ has succeeded in enhancing a +13 Rose Vine Whip!]

“Ho… holy sh*t, I did it!”

I really did it!!

Elated, I threw my arms up and hugged Ban-ye.

But, as Ban-ye slowly backed away, my reason returned.

Ban-ye was staring intently at the +13 whip.

Then he grabbed my hand again and placed it on the mouse.

“Try it one more time.”

“Are you crazy?”

“I think it’ll work.”

…Could it really work?

Today might be the day.

As if possessed by Ban-ye’s words, I pressed [Enhance].

And….

[Caw, caw, caw…]

It failed.

“….”

“….”

Fortunately, the weapon didn’t become unusable.

Its durability was reduced, and it reverted to +12, but….

“A +13… I did get one, though?”

“Give it here.”

“W-wait a minute. Calm down.”

“I’ll just try one more time.”

This was the path to ruin.

This is how people get excited and destroy their weapons.

“Please, let’s just stop here….”

I begged and pleaded, calming Ban-ye down.

And so, we ended up back at +12.

But the experience of having succeeded at +13 once made my hands itch for some reason.

‘Just one more… try?’