CH 209

This was Siegfried’s second time enhancing his weapon after the enhancement machine broke.

And the result was…

A certain sound effect echoed in Siegfried’s ears.

Hahaha!

Siegfried’s eyes shot wide open after hearing the boisterous laughter. ‘This is…!’

The particular noise could only be heard upon successful enhancement, so…

[Alert: The enhancement requested by Seggs Stamina Machine-nim is successful!]

…it was a success. His +12 weapon had become a +13 weapon.

[Alert: Seggs Stamina Machine-nim has successfully enhanced the +12 Gaia’s Fist to a ‘+13 Gaia’s Fist’!]

However, the following messages were problematic.

[Alert: Seggs Stamina Machine-nim has successfully enhanced the +13 Gaia’s Fist to a +14 Gaia’s Fist!]

[Alert: Seggs Stamina Machine-nim has successfully enhanced the ‘+14 Gaia’s Fist’ to a +15 Gaia’s Fist!]

Siegfried doubted his eyes for a second. ‘Is it a bug…?’

He could have sworn that he only enhanced his +12 weapon once, but it suddenly became +15?

This was something that defied the very logic of the game.

‘Hmm… It must be a bug. I’m sure it’s just a text error. I should probably report this to Beehive’s customer service.’ Siegfried shrugged and turned his attention toward what he thought was his +13 Gaia’s Fist.

Seuuu…!

Steam was rising out from the +13 Gaia’s Fist that was still piping hot.

‘I wonder how strong its Attack Power has become…’ 

Siegfried thought before using the Rune of Insight on the +13 Gaia’s Fist

[+15 Gaia’s Fist]

However, there was something strange about the item’s name.

***

There was something strange about its Attack Power as well.

[Attack Power: 4,500 (+2,432)]

The Attack Power increase was by +2,432. It was more than double if taking into account that it only had +1,105 bonus attack power when it was only a +12 weapon.

“Give me a minute,” Siegfried said and logged out of the game.

Woooong!

A magic circle appeared underneath his feet before he disappeared.

Flash!

He returned thirty seconds later in front of the enhancement machine.

“Reconnecting usually works in cases like this…” he muttered.

BNW was a perfect game without any bugs or hacks, but there were certain instances where the VR capsule would not be in sync with the server, causing caused glitches in the texts or graphics.

Naturally, most of those glitches wouldn’t affect the game, and they would usually resolve on their own after a simple disconnect and reconnect.

“What the hell…?” Siegfried muttered after using his Rune of Insight on the supposedly +13 Gaia’s Fist.

“I reconnected, but it’s still like this? Perhaps I should log out once more?” Siegfried grumbled.

“Y-Your Majesty…?” Wilhelm tried to say something.

However, Siegfried interrupted him. “Give me a moment.”

Siegfried immediately logged out before Wilhelm could stop him. Thirty seconds later, he was back in the game. However, he did it once more for a total of three times.

“What’s going on…? Is it really plus fifteen?” Siegfried was extremely confused.

“Your Majesty,” Wilhelm approached him and explained, “I’m sure it’s unbelievable, but you have indeed successfully enhanced the artifact to its fifteenth enhancement level.”

“Huh? How is that possible? I’m certain I only enhanced it once…”

“Well, I’m not certain myself, but I suspect that the energy from the previous enhancement was still in the weapon, so the machine enhanced it two more times.”

“Hm?”

“I think that’s why it reached its fifteenth enhancement level.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes…”

“Then, what are we going to do? Don’t tell me I have to return it to plus thirteen…?” Siegfried asked as he shoved the +15 Gaia’s Fist into his Inventory just in case Wilhelm would ask for it.

“No, an item enhanced to that level can be destroyed, but it can’t be downgraded,” Wilhelm replied with a smile.

“T-then, does that mean…”

“Yes, Your Majesty is now the proud owner of a plus fifteen weapon.”

Siegfried immediately exclaimed inwardly, ‘I’m eating premium beef tonight!’

He immediately declared today as a special day that called for a special meal, so he wouldn’t be eating convenience store lunch boxes today.

Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original.

A +15 weapon! Who would believe that he had a +15 weapon? It wasn’t a +12, +13, or a +14 weapon but a +15!

The weapon only had one downside, and it was the fact that it was just a Level 210 weapon. However, the enhancement alone was more than enough to make up for its low level.

‘I think I can use this forever…’ he thought.

The Debuff Master didn’t really depend on weapons, but using a weapon with high Attack Power would always be helpful.

A +15 weapon was a weapon he could use until he was Level 299.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty. It seems that our mistake has been an unexpected boon for you.”

“It seems like it. I got a trip down to hell and up to heaven thanks to you,” Siegfried said with a smile.

“Pardon me…?”

“I-It’s a figure of speech…”

“I see…”

“Thank you very much.”

Siegfried was able to safely retrieve his weapon thanks to the enhancement machine going out of service, and his weapon was also enhanced to fifteen.

“Huh? It looks like someone succeeded in enhancing their weapon to +15!”

“What? The enhancement machine one is already fixed? But who is it?”

“How does it make sense that they went straight to fifteen…?”

“It’s him! That’s him!”

The Adventurers flocked toward the repaired Enhancement Machine One.

[Alert: The Adventurer Seggs Stamina Machine-nim has successfully enhanced +15 Gaia’s Fist!]

The Adventurers were in an uproar after seeing the +15 success message, but their excitement quickly turned into incitement.

“Let’s go one more time!”

“Sixteen! Let’s go!”

The crowd started chanting. “Round of Sixteen!”

A huge crowd gathered in front of Siegfried, and they started chanting at the top of their lungs.

‘Are they talking about football or what…?’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly.

However, he understood why the Adventurers were acting like this.

‘Yeah! Go and fuck yourself up!’

‘Screw up and go take a plunge into the Han River!’

‘A man should go for it and off himself if he fails!’

The Adventurers didn’t want him to succeed. They wanted to see a +15 weapon shatter in front of their eyes. Siegfried was aware of that, so there was no way that these Adventurers would succeed in their plans.

He turned toward the crowd and smirked. “Heh.”

“Have a nice day~” he said before logging out.

“Hey! You coward!”

“No balls, loser!”

“Did you see him run away with his tail tucked between his legs?!”

“Fucking coward!”

The Adventurers started hurling all sorts of insults at him, but Siegfried had already logged out, so it was none of his concern.

Meanwhile, Tae-Sung emerged from his VR capsule and exclaimed at the top of his lungs, “JACKPOT! I’m eating beef today!”

***.

Sizzle… Sizzle… Sizzle…

Tae-Sung called Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu. He invited them to a premium beef place in Cheongdamdong the same evening.

“What’s with the sudden dinner invitation, Mister Stingy Miser? You always refused to pay for meals whenever I asked you to pay, so what’s with the sudden change of heart?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked.

“Hmm? You don’t want to eat?” Tae-Sung asked. He immediately tried to grab Cheon Woo-Jin’s plate.

However, Cheon Woo-Jin defended his plate and replied, “I didn’t say that. It’s just strange that someone as stingy as you would suddenly treat us to an expensive beef dinner course.”

“Oh, that? Well, it’s because something good happened,” Tae-Sung replied with a smirk.

“What happened?”

“I successfully enhanced my weapon to fifteen.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s definitely something that calls for a—huh?” Cheon Woo-Jin repeatedly blinked before asking, “What did you just say? You have a plus fifteen weapon?”

“Yeah, I have a Mythic weapon I enhanced to twelve with a coupon, and I got lucky enough to enhance it to fifteen.”

“Ha! Stop lying,” Cheon Woo-Jin shot him down.

“I think you’re exaggerating a bit too much, hyung-nim…” Seung-Gu chimed in.

“Hey, can’t you come up with something more believable? Okay, the coupon makes a bit more sense, but enhancing it to fifteen right away? No way.”

“Want me to show you?” Tae-Sung retorted.

He showed them a video of his freshly enhanced +15 Gaia’s Fist before turning toward them with a smug smirk and asking, “Now, do you still think I’m lying?”

Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu suddenly glared at him, and the look on their faces made it clear that they were trying to ascertain Siegfried’s identity.

“Wow… You’re such a lucky bastard.”

“Hyung-nim… you should share some of your luck with me…”

However, Tae-Sung begged to differ. “It’s not luck. I was once at the bottom, so I’m probably just being compensated for what I had to go through.”

Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu’s eyes narrowed. They thought that Tae-Sung would end up being a trillionaire if life decided to be fair and rewarded him for his troubles a few more times.

Still, they decided to drop it and congratulate Tae-Sung on his new +15 weapon.

“Oh, right, have you heard the news, hyung-nim?” Seung-Gu asked.

“What news?”

“The one about Marquis Decimato.”

“Marquis Decimato? What about that old man?”

“He became a Great Wizard.”

Clack!

Tae-Sung dropped his chopsticks.

Clack!

Cheon Woo-Jin dropped his chopsticks as well.

“Marquis Decimato became a Master?”

“Isn’t that the old magician? Are you telling me that NPC became a Great Wizard?”

Tae-Sung and Cheon Woo-Jin asked at the same time.

“I’m not sure how it happened, but he told me that he attained enlightenment all of a sudden and gained one hundred levels. I think he’s over Level 300 now…” Seung-Gu replied.

“I guess he triggered a growth event. Something probably happened, but it’s quite a common occurrence among NPCs. An event will trigger, and they’ll end up gaining more than one hundred levels once they satisfy its conditions,” Cheon Woo-Jin explained.

“I-Is that so?”

“I think it was mentioned somewhere on the main website. The NPCs are provided with those events in exchange for not having a Rune of Transcendence like us Adventurers.”

“I think I heard of it somewhere…” Tae-Sung trailed off.

Cheon Woo-Jin shrugged and said, “Well, it seems that the Proatine Kingdom has a Master now, so…”

“Yes, we’re no longer a small and weak kingdom,” Tae-Sung concluded.

Master. It was a title given to someone beyond Level 299. Level 300 was the starting point for individuals who were truly powerful.

There were only five officially known Masters on the continent—the Five Stars Heaven, but they were reduced to four after Shakiro’s passing. In other words, the fact that the Proatine Kingdom had a Master meant that the other kingdoms couldn’t mess with it anymore.

“I guess you finally managed to steer your kingdom in the right direction. You seemed to be struggling initially,” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

“Yeah,” Tae-Sung replied with a nod.

“But that’s not all, hyung-nim. Oscar is leveling up like crazy these days, and I think she has already surpassed Level 200,” Seung-Gu said.

“Oscar?” Tae-Sung was surprised once again.

“Yes, she levels up almost every day, and I’m starting to wonder whether NPCs have some sort of buff that helps them level up fast.”

“What’s going on…?” Tae-Sung tilted his head in confusion.

“What are you talking about? That’s all because of you,” Cheon Woo-Jin said before explaining, “The NPCs are bound to get affected by the Adventurers. They’ll move and do their own stuff, even when there are no Adventurers around since their AI system is ridiculously good, but they’ll still get affected by the choices of the Adventurers around them.”

“How do you know that?”

“I know from experience. And you have more influence over those NPCs since you are their king.”

“Hmm…”

“I think you will beat those Genesis bastards soon once you get enough numbers on your side,” Cheon Woo-Jin said with a smirk.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

Cheon Woo-Jin’s phone suddenly started ringing.

“Hello? Yeah, so? What?!” Cheon Woo-Jin’s eyes shot wide open.

“Hey, Tae-Sung,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“You better hurry up and log in.”

“Why?”

“Your house is in trouble.”

“What do you mean? And how do you know that?”

“A member of the Guardians is in touch with your Minister of State, and he told me...”

“Told you what?”

“He told me that… the Vampire Lord is looking for you.”