If It Lands, You're Good
If it lands, you're good, lol.
Ask anyone what the hottest topic on the Hunter Gallery is today, and the answer is obvious.
It's the flex post I uploaded.
(Attack Power 20+ Wooden Branch)
First thing I ever made, so I have no idea if it turned out well...
"Eheheh. This is why you flex."
I was sprawled out on my bed, rolling around while I watched the community lose its mind.
"Hm? A DM?"
I tapped the private message icon, and a flood of handshake requests filled my phone screen.
"What—what is all this?"
Most of them were guild recruitment pitches, ads, or straight-up begging. One message, though, stood out.
"They want me to open an online blacksmith shop?"
Curiosity got the better of me. I hit View Details.
It was a long wall of text, but the summary was simple.
"So I just… open it like this?"
What set the Hunter Gallery apart from other communities was the suite of convenient features you unlocked once you linked your Awakening data. Among blacksmiths, the most famous of those features was the online forge.
"A name, huh…"
Ninety-nine percent chance of destruction. Yeah. Perfect name.
Blacksmith shop successfully opened.
All that was left was to wait for customers…
"They're late."
Thirty minutes crawled by without a single commission.
"Maybe I should advertise."
Why was I so desperate to enhance things, anyway?
Money was nice, sure. But there was a much more important reason.
"My hands are itching."
Interest in all non-enhancement activities is halved. Enhancement dopamine increased by 500%.
Maybe it was because of a power I'd never had before, but I wanted to blow up an artifact as soon as possible.
"Alright. Looks good."
I hit the post button.
(Attack Power 20+ Wooden Branch)
Hey. I'm the one who got famous on the blacksmith board from that photo.
Anyway, people asked me to open a shop, so I did.
Figured you wouldn't believe me, so here's my status window.
(EX-rank status window photo)
My only ability is Enhancement.
It blows up 99% of the time, but when it sticks, the stats inflate like in the photo. Think carefully before you commission.
Thinking about five million won per attempt.
For the record: not taking guild offers.
"That should do it, right?"
Slapping EX-rank in the title had done its job. Interest detonated.
Opinion was split on the price, but roughly half and half meant I'd priced it about right. And if nobody commissioned because of the fee, I could always shave it down later.
Ding!
"Oh? First client?"
A commission has arrived.
Every artifact lined up for enhancement was a greatsword. First customer of the day, so I poured a little extra sincerity into it.
"Rolling Thunder, activate!!!"
I swung the hammer.
Crunch—
The artifact has been destroyed.
Still two left, though!
Crunch—
Boom—
I blew up the remaining two as well.
"He's not going to show up at my door, right?"
It was an anonymous site, so finding an address would be hard — but EX-rank wasn't exactly common. Tracking me down would be way too easy.
"I can't even tell how mad he is."
If he was typing out a novel-length rant, why hadn't the typing dots disappeared yet?
A commission has arrived.
It looked expensive. Attack Power a full 100. Price tag somewhere around a hundred million?
"Alright. I warned you."
Enhancing an artifact that went for nine figures? I was already buzzing. One swing of the hammer and a hundred million could vanish. And it wasn't even my weapon — pure, zero-liability pleasure!
"Rolling Thunder, activate!!!"
I brought the hammer down.
Flash—
◈ Attack Power 125+
A hundred-million-won artifact had just rocketed into multi-billion territory. A shiver ran through my hands.
"So it really can stick."
I checked my account. Another five million had come in.
"…Money can just… duplicate itself!!!"
Twenty million in enhancement fees plus a five-million tip. One little click had printed twenty-five million won.
Ding! Ding!
A commission has arrived.
A commission has arrived.
A commission has arrived…
My phone started screaming with alerts. Wondering what had happened, I dug through the gallery and found it.
(Attack Power 100 Annihilation Blade)
This was my artifact before enhancement
(Attack Power 125 Annihilation Blade +1)
And this is the success version. Currently shopping it around to top-tier guilds.
Biggest selling point: five million won for a potential life turnaround.
Better odds than the lottery and probably pays better too lmao
Downside is a 99% chance your artifact explodes. I blew three myself.
But if it lands, you're good, lol. Don't do it if you're scared haha
As expected, the comment section was nuclear.
"Alright then. Time to start the money-dupe bug."
The artifact has been destroyed.
The artifact has been destroyed.
Success or failure, every time the hammer came down, the reason I was alive snapped into focus.
"Thrilling! Fun!"
I had become a creature that could no longer live without enhancement.
"More enhancement… more dopamine…"
By the time I'd cleared the endless stream of commissions, my account was showing nine figures.
"Heeung…"
The continuous rush of thrills left me slumped in post-nut clarity for a while. Once the dopamine hangover wore off, a real goal finally settled into place.
"What even is that last ability?"
Unlike ordinary Awakening powers, EX-rank was a growth type. The conditions were all absurd, but compared to the rest, the requirement for the final ability looked almost gentle.
Craft 10 Masterpieces
Looking into what counted as a masterpiece: every five successful enhancements, an artifact gained a title. You needed twenty successes total for masterpiece status.
Wait. Does just keeping enhancement on something eventually make it a masterpiece?
The thought hit me as I looked at the wooden branch I'd just succeeded on. Just in case, I double-checked the conditions…
Maximum enhancement attempts are limited by grade.
Of course the system had blocked that loophole. Meaning I had to gather high-grade artifacts and push 1% odds twenty times each — for ten separate pieces. With my current power, it was nearly impossible.
Of course, to a brain melted by dopamine, probability was irrelevant.
"It's a 50% chance, right?"
It either sticks or it blows. Only two options, so clearly fifty-fifty. Miracle logic.
"How strong would a masterpiece even be…"
Like, world-splitting sword beams or something?
"Eheheh…"
Just imagining my masterpieces entering the world made my hands start itching again. I was about to bring the hammer down on another commissioned artifact when—
◈ You can now attempt enhancement on monsters inside the Tower.
◈ After leveling up, the first artifact enhancement succeeds with 100% probability.
"Level up?"
I had just gained a 99% instant-kill skill.