Welcome to Enhancement Land

To humanity, mana was an unknown resource whose true nature remained utterly beyond reach. The shaman I had hauled back from a mere fourth floor of the Tower, however, was fluent in every kind of hex imaginable. His lightning-calling rites packed a decent punch, but what had me genuinely hooked was his talent for enchantment.

A hobgoblin shaman could perform two kinds of enhancement. The first was Essence Enhancement, which amplified an item's innate properties. A sword would cut sharper; a spear would pierce deeper. A shield, I supposed, would simply become harder to break. The second was Special Enhancement, which upgraded items that already carried unique abilities — like the robe I used to hide my identity.

The robe and the cloth itself had come from a costume shop, so the flavor text was... unfortunate. Still, the fact that I had created a magic item with my own hands meant something. And the fact that I could enhance it further meant even more.

"Shauta. If you were enchanting every day, how many times do you think you could do it?"

"We have little material left, Great Shaman. I will not manage even three more."

"And if someone kept bringing you materials?"

"The hex itself is not difficult. A hundred times a day would be well within reach."

According to Shauta, because he worked with materials already saturated with mana, his own mana was barely consumed at all. Those materials, however, were hard to come by.

"Getting them won't be hard. Not if we add a little magic to the mix."

A brilliant idea for making legitimate, clean money had just occurred to me. I decided to call it Enhancement Magic.

Now and then, named monsters would drop items sitting at something like +3 or +7. But a method for a human being to attempt enhancement themselves had never been discovered. Interest in the 5th floor enhancement service shot straight through the roof.

Not that the thought hadn't crossed my mind — sweeping up Mana Dust before the price exploded. I dropped the idea for two reasons. One, it would have been far too easy to trace. Two, the returns simply did not work out. My capital was tiny, and Mana Dust — being mana, after all — already sat at a fairly high price on the assumption it had to be useful for something, somewhere.

Besides, once I opened Enhancement Land — or rather, the Enhancement Center — I would be duplicating materials through the service fees. There was no need to play the retail-investor game. That's right. The house always wins.

I would collect enhancement fees at Enhancement Land, roll highly enhanced items, then sell them outside the Tower for cash. Hm? Feel like you've seen this scheme somewhere before? No chance.

The arrival of the radical new concept called a Floor Master. And the Academy and item enhancement service that Floor Master had announced. The Academy was still under construction, but hunters poured in anyway, eager to try the enhancement service that had been released ahead of schedule.

"When did a wooden building this huge go up on the 5th floor?"

"The Enlightened One. What the hell kind of person is that?"

Most of the people staring up at the building in awe were the working-level staff of the various guilds. For a high-floor hunter, spending a once-a-day entry on a personal visit was far too wasteful. And for rookies, most lacked both the means to gather the materials and the credibility to be trusted with them. So the familiar faces of the guilds' operations people stood around staring blankly at one another — until a goblin shouted from the outer wall of the building.

"Here! Come! Take! Number!"

People jumped. A goblin, speaking Korean? They had known from the first glance that these were intelligent beings, but not one of them had imagined a day would come when conversation actually worked. The staffers hurried over and each took a numbered wooden tag from the goblin. A waiting-queue ticket, apparently.

"Hold on! I got here first, so why am I number eight and that guy is number seven?"

The goblin answered the woman who had demanded an explanation.

"Eight! More than fingers! Seven! More than fingers!"

This goblin, it seemed, could not count past five.

"If one hand isn't enough, use both!"

"There's no way a goblin this stupid is the entire staff, right?"

While they were busy tearing down the goblin employee, a voice carried from far along the outer wall.

"Customer number one! Please come into the annex Enhancement Center!"

The enormous wooden building facing the portal was the Academy. Follow the outer wall far enough and a separate structure came into view: the Enhancement Center. Yu Hojin of the KC Guild, who had moved fast enough to snag ticket number one, stepped inside.

A broad workbench dominated the center of the room, and beyond it sat a hobgoblin shaman. Nearly two meters tall, with red fur that was either a rare mutation or a dye job, and a mantle of feathers across his shoulders.

"Welcome, customer. This is not a tavern that serves conversation, so let us proceed to the matter at hand. Have you brought the item you wish enhanced?"

Fear. Yu Hojin felt fear. That goblin outside? Hearing it speak Korean had been startling, sure, but it had sounded about as intelligent as a parrot mimicking human speech. This hobgoblin shaman was another matter entirely. A dry little joke, then straight to business with the brisk attitude of a clerk. That intellect did not look the least bit inferior to a human's. The reality that the monsters he had been fighting — and would keep fighting — were beings of that kind of intelligence was something he could barely accept, and did not want to.

"That mouth of yours is real arrogant, monster!"

"My apologies. I am not yet accustomed to the language of this country. Could you not show a little generosity toward a foreigner — or rather, toward another species?"

Don't make me laugh, monster. He could sneer like that. There was no chance he couldn't manage formal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠speech or honorifics. Yu Hojin felt a hostility he could not swallow. He drew his weapon and lunged at the shaman. His highest cleared floor was the nineteenth. A low-floor hobgoblin shaman was something he could butcher without breaking a sweat.

"Gah!"

He slammed face-first into the floor. A woman who had been hidden behind a decorative fixture — well outside Yu Hojin's field of view — burst out, locked him down, wrenched his arm until it snapped, and dropped him.

"Please remain still. I won't kill you — so long as you offer no further resistance."

Shauta, the hobgoblin shaman, let out a long, low whistle. Hobgoblin warriors filed in, scooped Yu Hojin up, and carried him outside.

"Kyaa!"

"What the hell!"

"Please don't be alarmed. We only defended ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ourselves against an attack on our staff."

"If none of you resort to violence first, nothing will happen."

The hobgoblin warriors carried the human along without expression, his broken arm dripping blood, the way a hunter might haul a slab of meat. Tension ran thick through the crowd. And among them appeared a figure in a suspicious black robe, face hidden behind a white cloth stamped with a red question mark.

"That's a suspicious-looking boss mob!"

"That looks like a mastermind no matter how you slice it."

"We're all gonna die!"

People trembled with fear. Kim Bada spoke in a calm, even voice.

"Please, relax. So long as you don't do anything sudden, you're safe within the rules."

"Napolitan! Napolitan!"

"Where's the rulebook?"

"This isn't a ghost story, you people. I'm talking about the common-sense rule that you don't assault the staff."

Kim Bada shrugged, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Nice to meet you. I'm The Enlightened One, Floor Master of the 5th floor. The 5th floor is operated solely to support you hunters, so there's no need to worry. The first customer was simply expelled for an act of violence. I hope the rest of you will avoid any conflict — between customers and staff, and among yourselves — and enjoy a safe, comfortable enhancement journey."

An enigmatic boss-mob visual. Faced with a despair that made escape feel impossible, customer number two had no choice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but to head into the Enhancement Center.

"Yes!"

And five minutes later, he came back out wearing an enormous grin.

"It was just a test piece, but this longsword is my personal property! It went from +0 to +3!"

He had taken a job at a tiny, family-style guild, and they had given him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the absurd order to go enhance the weapon he actually used. Refusing hadn't been an option. He would have been fired. So he had come in shaking like a leaf — and never in a million years had he expected it to go straight to +3.

Maybe I should enhance my own weapon too...

The staffers from the major corporate guilds had all been issued spare items specifically for enhancement. But watching customer number two walk out stronger after hitting +3 in a single sitting, they started getting the itch to enhance their own weapons.

"Let me see that. What happens when you enhance it?"

"You can see the description right here, yeah?"

The customer who had succeeded was so delighted he started showing off his weapon to anyone who would look. A dark, fierce hunger began to pour out of the customers' hearts. Kim Bada watched the whole spectacle and nodded.

"Business is going to be good. I just have to keep the problem customers out."