Bestiary Milestone - The Enhancement Unlocked

I'd received a Muksi Saengmyeongche from Woorim Group. When I opened the bestiary once, a ton of system messages popped up.

Before I knew it, there were 20 entries registered in the bestiary. It looked like I'd hit a new bestiary reward without even realizing it.

But Enhance? "What the heck does that even enhance?"

The first things that came to mind were weapon or equipment enhancement. But this was a horror game world, right? Most items players could get were consumables, so an item enhancement system didn't quite fit.

So maybe it wasn't for items? I clicked on the system message.

"Oh, so it enhances Bond Effects?" I nodded without thinking.

I'd figured a Bond Effect enhancement feature would show up eventually. Most Bond Effects had long cooldowns like "once per day."

Even Lisa's Bond Effect was powerful, but the once-a-day limit left a lot to be desired.

So this was welcome news. But...

"To enhance one Bond Effect, I have to seal three others?" And it specified "non-active" ones. No cheeky plays sealing ones on cooldown.

High risk, high return. Still, for the risk, it seemed pretty useful.

For example, Taemi's Bond Effect generated light sources. It shone in events like the "Darkness-Swallowing Fox" or "Erosion," but daytime anomalies? Useless.

And Lisa's didn't work on physically nonexistent monsters.

Sealing three for a key enhanced one might actually be a net gain.

"Whoa..." Take the Murderer Hotel: I could fool every killer that showed up.

Not bad at all? I read through the rest of the enhancements carefully.

Everything went smoothly with the handover and the new feature, but the office members' separation anxiety wasn't improving.

"Lisa, Nao. How about a vacation?"

"Where to this time? Please don't disappear."

"Y-Yeah... Let's just stay home together, okay?"

"...S-Sorry."

I suggested it for a mood boost, but it got shot down immediately.

Lisa was at least getting better. She no longer talked to me while I showered...!

"I can sense where Mayuri-nim is. So as long as I can feel your presence, I know there's nothing to worry about."

The wording was a bit creepy, but her separation anxiety was improving—a little.

The real issue was Nao. She was glued to me like gum lately.

"Nao, don't you have streaming to do? Go stream."

"Don't wanna..."

"Your viewers are waiting."

"To stream, I'd have to go home alone. I'll stay here..."

She had her main job, yet she was commuting with me...

It was a bit pitiful. Probably trauma from that horrific "Erosion" ordeal.

So I'd been leaving work early to match her stream times. No big deal—hardly any walk-in clients anyway.

"This is my house owner sis. Like roommates, right?"

"More like landlady...?"

"Yeah. She moved in, so now we live together."

Her separation anxiety dragged me into her streams too. I worried viewers might hate it, but nope.

They loved me more than expected—must be my cosmic cuteness.

Some weird meme spawned, but Nao didn't care. Streamers get odd ones all the time.

Maybe I should get serious about streaming too? The thought hit me.

Say I returned to my original world right now. What would I do there?

Here, I had game knowledge, Cute Girl Mod powers, office staff, connections. I scraped by financially.

Back home? Lose it all. Only my universal beauty left.

Idol, model, killer streamer. That's it.

Realization: In a monster-free world, I'm just a pretty face.

"Alright! Time to train my streamer skills ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on break!"

Streaming's no joke. Beauty alone won't cut it—streamers are clowns at heart; gotta be fun.

Show up on Nao's channel, hone talk skills and senses.

Back home, launch my own for rice-farm views. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Goal: Become a fun girl!

Reject all requests, streamer seclusion training!

"A guest?" I tilted my head.

Sunny morning. Full summer now—hot outside.

But villa-owning cutie Mayuri enjoyed system AC bliss. Loans be damned, cooling's covered!

House too comfy; hated leaving for work.

Anyway. "Anyone who'd visit home?"

Only parcels or deliveries. Neither expected.

Few knew my address. Woo Jin-ho who hooked me up, maybe?

Foundation, Special Task Force, church, deep web—no clue I moved.

Recent move.

"Someone you know, Mayuri-nim."

"I know them?"

"Yes."

Even less clue. I checked the intercom.

A skull stared back.

"Eek?!" I yelped instinctively.

Thought it was a real skull at first. Nope.

Something wearing a skull like a mask. Hooded figure.

Gender unknown, voice androgynous. Chuckling: kukukuk.

The "Deal with the Devil" was laughing.

"Wh-what? Why are you here?"

"Not that... Summon circle required, right? Never thought you'd show up at my door."

My dumbfounded face amused it. The devil snickered.

True enough. Devil, sure, but safer than most monsters.

Super passive. Give money or something, gets equal value trade. No reason to harm humans.

To it, every human's a potential client, a cash cow. Killing = lost revenue.

"...Fine." I sighed, letting the devil in.

Soon, it entered the living room. Small for a guy, big for a girl.

Unique outfit aside, very human-like.

Sat on the sofa like it owned the place—relaxed, elegant.

"Long time no see, customer. Glad you're doing well."

"G-get to the point... Why my house?"

"Was trying ice-breaking, but fine by me. Time is money—save time, earn more."

It shrugged.

"'Magical Girl's Birth' appeared in Suwon."

"...What?"

"Grateful if you resolve 'Magical Girl's Birth' for me."

Just those two lines.

Magical Girl's Birth. I knew it well.

Threat Level 5, Devastation rank. City-wrecker Muksi Saengmyeongche.

Devil lies by omission, never outright. So it was real.

I recalled Magical Girl's Birth.

That's it. Simple, deadly. No known fix.

Like hurricane, tsunami, quake. Pops up sudden, vanishes sudden.

But once here, razes city.

In monster game, not player quest—random bad luck event. Reload from save if it hits.

Me, isekai'd here? No save/load.

Any chance Cute Girl Mod added save/load?

...Nah. Core system vs. mod add-on.

Decision: Never go to Suwon. Won't even sleep facing it.

"No way I can fix that. No solution exists? No user's cleared it..."

"Only I can...?" How?

No ideas. I eyed it puzzled; it just chuckled.

"Hah..." Tempting. I wavered for a sec.