Chapter 11

<Money Duplication>

[● Amount Held: 21 Copper]

“…Is this a dream?”

I pinched my cheek.

I didn’t feel much pain.

But the message in front of me was real.

Slowly, I began to grasp the situation.

The dopamine surging through me gradually faded, and my head cooled enough for me to see reality clearly.

I sorted things out.

The Enhancement had gone well.

Drunk on the golden light flaring even brighter around the +3 Enhancement, I had swung the hammer like crazy.

And in the process, I never checked how much Gold was being consumed.

“I’m insane.”

It was definitely 1 Silver at first.

I saw the T-Shirt become High grade at +4 Enhancement, and the cost rise to 5 Silver.

I checked the earlier messages.

“It became Rare at +6 Enhancement, and Heroic at +9…”

When +11 Enhancement succeeded, it became a Legendary item, and the Enhancement Cost for +12 jumped to a staggering 6 Gold.

Should I call it a relief?

“Other than the very first failure, everything succeeded, and it reached +12 Enhancement.”

It was enough of an achievement to trigger a server-wide announcement.

A +12 Enhancement item less than a week after the game launched.

A Common item bought for 3 Gold had turned Legendary through a string of successful Enhancements. Normally, I should have been grinning.

“…Haha.”

But when I thought of it as a T-Shirt worth over 22 million won, the corners of my mouth refused to rise.

Of course, that money hadn’t simply vanished.

The ordinary T-Shirt had transformed into a more transparent garment wrapped in a yellow glow.

The problem was that I couldn’t sell it.

[Novice Hero’s T-Shirt (Legendary)]

[+12 Enhancement]

[A stretchy, breathable T-Shirt for the Lucky Hero just beginning an adventure. Imbued with the power of Enhancement, it is regaining its true form.]

[● Lucky Hero Exclusive Item]

[● ‘Legendary’ Aura Effect manifested]

[● Defense +45]

[● All Stats +20]

[● Growing Hero (Unique): Upon death, Resurrection 1 time (21 days)]

[● Luck is Vitality (Legendary): 1% chance to recover ‘????’ Health when hit]

The Options had definitely improved.

No, calling them merely good didn’t do them justice.

They were better than the Comfortable Holy Garment Top of the Lucky Hero the priestess had shown me for 300 Gold.

Considering I made it with around 13 Gold, it was a profit.

“I should’ve just exchanged the money.”

I had planned to invest a certain amount, not dump in everything I had.

“Haaah.”

I tried to comfort myself by telling myself it was pointless to regret what had already happened.

Let’s think positively.

“At least I won’t need any other Armor for a while.”

The Boing Hammer handled my attack power anyway. What I needed right now was solid Defense so I could endure.

I’d bought Armor from the temple and come to enhance it for that exact reason, so in a way, I had achieved my goal.

“Right. Since it’s come to this, I just need to get the First Subjugation.”

Just like when I took first place in the Tutorial Tower.

I just had to be the first to kill the Cursed Ferocious Bear and recover the 14 Gold.

“Excuse me, could I take a look at your item?”

“Where did you get that Title?”

“Are you Han Youngwoong by any chance? The one who took first place in the Tutorial Tower?”

“I’m not.”

Leaving the gathering attention behind, I left the enhancement facility.

===

Whoosh-

Thud!

An arrow fired by a Corrupted Goblin flew at me.

With the boost to all my Stats, I could now see it and dodge it, but I didn’t bother.

It didn’t even shave off 10% of my Health.

“Heheh.”

A hollow laugh slipped out.

Thinking of it as a 13-Gold, 22-million-won T-Shirt still made my stomach churn, but if I forgot that and thought only as Han Youngwoong of Fantasia, my shoulders naturally straightened with pride.

So this is gear power.

Boing!

With one light swing of the Boing Hammer, the arm of the Corrupted Goblin trying to counterattack bent as if it had snapped.

Even when Luck didn’t trigger, my massively inflated strength tore through the Corrupted Goblin’s Health with raw stats alone.

To think one item alone could do this.

“Just how strong is that EasyLife guy?”

I heard he spent 50 million won during the Tutorial Tower competition.

Of course, the value of what he spent and what Han Youngwoong spent was different.

Mine was microtransactions and Luck.

The starting probability had been 70%, but by the end, the success rate for +12 Enhancement was only 1%.

“1% again. I really do seem tied to 1%.”

In the end, since I had overcome the odds and pushed the Enhancement this high, shouldn’t I be allowed to enjoy this power to the fullest?

It was Luck even the system acknowledged.

[You have acquired the Title ‘1% Miracle! (Legendary)’.]

[You have acquired the Title ‘Straight! (Legendary)’.]

I got ‘1% Miracle!’ for succeeding with +12 Enhancement, and ‘Straight!’ for reaching +12 in a row without a single failure.

In terms of difficulty, ‘Straight!’ had far lower odds, so its effect was incredible.

[1% Miracle! (Legendary)]

[A Title granted to the Hero who overcame the 1% miracle of +12 Enhancement.]

[● Luck Stat +5%]

[● Enhancement Cost -10%]

[Straight! (Legendary)]

[An achievement granted to the owner of wondrous luck who reached +12 Enhancement from +1 without a single failure.]

[※ If you continue to +15 Enhancement, this achievement will be upgraded to Mythical.]

[● Luck Stat +20%]

[● Enhanced Equipment performance +10%]

[● ‘Legendary’ Effect manifested]

Even though Luck didn’t appear as a number in my Status Window, the fact that every Monster so far had died in a single hit meant this additional +25% Luck was definitely having a meaningful effect.

And the Enhancement Cost reduction was an Option that would save me a huge amount of Gold in the future.

As for the 10% increase to Equipment performance from ‘Straight!’, it was so absurdly overpowered that it left me speechless.

“Wow…”

Even a mere +1 Enhancement would effectively give me an extra 10% of the item’s Options for free.

On low-option Equipment, 10% might not look like much, but if you looked only at this +12 T-Shirt, adding another 10% to its base Defense was like wearing another ordinary T-Shirt on top of it.

There was no need to debate whether this Option was good or not. The only thing left was to calculate exactly how broken it was.

“For something like this, I should be bowing in gratitude.”

Golden Light is a god.

Even if I had lost my mind and burned through 13 Gold.

If I thought of it as an investment, there couldn’t have been a more efficient or wiser result.

“I should’ve opened the Slime Dungeon box too.”

I had intentionally left the Rare Box I got from the Slime Dungeon unopened.

If I was going to open it, I wanted to do it in the Land of Golden Light, the same place that had covered the enhancement facility earlier.

Wondering whether it was nothing more than superstition, I had asked a priest before leaving.

“The Land of Golden Light. If a miracle occurred there for you, Hero, then I believe it must be a Land of Luck.”

“A Land of Luck?”

“The Goddess reveals herself through golden light. When she delivers an Oracle, when she answers a prayer. Of course, only those with Divine Power as deep as the High Priest can perceive that light… but if you truly saw such dense golden light, then I believe it was the Goddess’s grace.”

I had filtered it out as a devout believer forcing things to fit his faith, but if the golden light didn’t simply raise probabilities and instead had an effect similar to Luck, then maybe it was something I could actually use.

Either way, the ‘Straight!’ effect on my T-Shirt was still active, and if I gathered more Gold, I might even be able to push it all the way to +15 Enhancement in one go.

If I tried it while the enhancement facility was bathed in golden light, the odds would probably be higher.

“Oh my, you already gathered the Corrupted Mana Stones. Please come this way. I’ll teach you how to make Magi Purification Water.”

Once the fear of getting hit disappeared, my hunting speed in the Contaminated Moina Forest shot up.

I gathered five Corrupted Mana Stones, completed the request, learned how to craft Magi Purification Water, and received 50 Silver.

At least now my empty silk pouch had some silver coins in it.

Seeing Han Youngwoong’s expression ease a little, the priestess kindly explained.

“Magi Purification Water is used to purify the dense Magi in the surrounding area. If you mix a Corrupted Mana Stone with Holy Water like this and neutralize it…”

The pure white Holy Water turned murky as it mixed with the Magi.

[Magi Purification Water (High)]

[Strong Magi has been purified and mixed with Common Holy Water. It neutralizes the Magi in the surrounding area.]

[● Neutralizes Magi within a 30M radius for 60 minutes.]

“What do I do with this?”

I understood that it neutralized Magi, but where exactly was I supposed to use it?

The priestess handed me the Magi Purification Water she had made as a demonstration and explained.

“The place where the Cursed Ferocious Bear lives is covered in dense Magi, so simply approaching it will expose you to harmful effects. If you use Magi Purification Water there, you’ll be freed from the Magi and able to fight properly.”

“Ah!”

I had wondered why it was a Rare Hidden Quest that required five Corrupted Mana Stones.

“So I just need a Common Holy Water and one Corrupted Mana Stone?”

“Yes. For the Magi in Moina Forest, Common Holy Water is sufficient.”

“Thank you.”

It was an incredibly important request.

Not just for taking down the Cursed Ferocious Bear, but for refilling my empty wallet too.

“Hah, I can’t just let this go.”

I may have lost my mind and spent everything I had, but if I earned it all back, then it would be as if nothing had happened.

The 14 Gold from the First Subjugation rewards was important, but I could smell an opportunity to make even more money on top of that.

I pulled up the Fantasia Life account I had used to sell the Tricolor Slime King’s Slime.

Right around the time information about Field Bosses was finally starting to come out one piece at a time, EasyLife, who had been famous since the game’s early days, broadcast himself personally experiencing the effects of Magi and immediately getting sent back by the Field Boss.

You’ll need to be at least Level 15 with solid gear.

Would a 4-person Party still be rough?

With the Magi on top of it, Level 15 isn’t even close.

===

What shocked viewers even more was that this was a 4-person Party with a good composition and gear that, while not on EasyLife’s level, was still excellent.

– Party tanker here. Got hit by the bear’s one-two combo and died instantly. My Defense was +25.
└ ?? A Level 11 got one-shot?
└ Isn’t Defense 25 basically a full set?
└ If the tanker gets one-shot, then what are the rest supposed to do…
└ (OP) The Magi cut all my Stats by 10, and it looked like the bear’s fists suddenly multiplied, so I didn’t even get a chance to block. Unless you solve the Magi issue first, this won’t be easy.

And then came testimony from someone who had actually experienced it.

But games always have answers.

No matter how difficult Fantasia was.

The people who had devoted decades of their lives to games burned with fighting spirit and kept discussing ways through it.

– Isn’t there a way to get rid of the Magi?
└ Holy Water?
└ I bought Holy Water from the temple and tried it, but it didn’t work. Nothing happened when I sprinkled it…
└ There has to be another method.

And right then, as if on cue, a post appeared.

[Info] Sharing information related to the Main Quest Field Boss First Subjugation Event

– The Boss Zone where you hunt the Cursed Ferocious Bear is covered in Magi.

– That Magi places a Debuff on the user and grants a Buff to the boss.

– Fighting it normally is obviously difficult, but I heard that if you use an item called Magi Purification Water, you can fight the Field Boss for 60 minutes without any penalties.

– The required materials are 1 Corrupted Mana Stone and 1 Common Holy Water.

– I’m not interested in the First Subjugation… but I’m posting this in the hope that the Korean server gets the world’s first clear.

(Photo)

Vital information revealed.

– This is it.

– So it was Holy Water, but with an extra step.

– Common Holy Water is already expensive, and it also needs a Corrupted Mana Stone? Isn’t that 10 Silver right there?

– (Breaking news) Every Corrupted Mana Stone listing for sale just vanished lol

===

There was no need to verify whether the post was fake or not, since it included a screenshot of [Magi Purification Water (High)] as proof.

It was immediately showered with upvotes, climbed to the hot posts, and was discovered by countless users.

– The people aiming for First Subjugation are gonna cry.

– (Actual breaking news) Magi Purification Water just got listed for 1 Gold.

The item from the hot post had appeared on the in-game Exchange, which couldn’t be manipulated.

– Isn’t this an admin account?

– The timing is way too perfect. Isn’t the poster the one who made the Magi Purification Water?

===

A few people raised sharp suspicions.

– Sold!

But those small doubts were buried under a much bigger topic.

(T/N: MC be like controlling the economy lol.)