The Crazy Girl's Enhancement Fantasy
Come to think of it, back when I first awakened, I was pretty sure I'd seen a message saying people could be enhanced too.
Just like when I'd first gotten my ability, I lightly pressed the hammer against my own body — and the status window fired off a warning.
Humans cannot be enhanced yet.
So it was just because my level was still too low.
"If people can be enhanced…"
A spark of hope lit up inside me — the hope that I could finally transform into the absolute goddess of my dreams.
Becoming a beautiful girl was obviously an upgrade, right?
Just like that, without really meaning to, I'd added a brand-new goal to my list.
While I was lost in that fantasy, Mitsu sidled up beside me and glanced at my phone.
"Who is this 'absolute goddess' that has so offended Your Highness's sensibilities? Give the word, and I shall deliver their head at once…"
She was already fingering her katana, looking ready to march off to war that very second.
"No! It's nothing. Calm down."
It took a painfully long time to talk her down.
"Alright. Mitsu, you ready?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Camera setup complete."
After a solid four hours of training, Mitsu had finally grasped the basics of operating a camera.
I could've just done it myself, but if I teach her now, she'll keep handling it for me next time too.
Given that she knew absolutely nothing about the modern world, I'd braced myself for it to take forever — but thankfully, she picked things up faster than expected.
If she'd been as dumb as me, it would've taken a day or two at least.
She was smarter than she looked, huh.
"However, Your Highness…"
Mitsu spoke up, clearly less than thrilled about something.
"Must I truly wear an outfit like this?"
It was a frilly maid uniform I'd bought specially for her.
"Of course! This is how you get people to show up for the stream."
"If that is the case… then I shall obey."
The moment I went live under the title [S-Rank Magic Stone Firework Show in 5 Minutes], viewers flooded in like they'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"What the… I'm this popular?"
Honestly, was there some kind of charm skill making everyone fall for me or something?
The second the stream went live, chat erupted in a barrage of messages.
Most of them were just roasting me for starting later than I'd announced.
Oh. So they weren't here for me — they were here for the magic stones.
"How dare these insects insult Her Highness… I shall bring you their heads at once."
"Mitsu, no!"
Apparently my voice stopping her got picked up by the mic.
I hadn't planned on revealing anything this fast, but…
The reaction was better than I expected. Should I just go ahead and show my face too?
"Yaaaay~ Hello everyone! Today, just like the stream title says, we're gonna enhance the world's first S-rank magic stones!"
That was the opening line Mitsu and I had practiced together, just the two of us. I'd been sure it'd go over well.
This is… not the reaction I was going for.
Feeling thoroughly embarrassed, I pivoted and held the S-rank magic stones up to the camera.
"Here they are — the S-rank magic stones you've all been waiting for."
Lined up in a row were ten enormous stones, each so big I needed both hands to lift one.
The viewers seemed genuinely awestruck by the sheer size of them.
A million-won donation on the first stream — that should've been something to celebrate, except the message itself was shady as hell.
Trying to snag an S-rank magic stone for a million won? Not a chance.
"That's… not really gonna cut it?"
Chat seemed to agree with me, because they lit him up immediately.
"But if you keep donating, I might consider it."
"Aigoo, if that's what you want, then let's goooo!"
Now that was a real donation.
I angled the camera so both the magic stones and my body were in frame.
The second my face appeared, chat exploded.
Not that I could actually read any of it.
The messages were scrolling too fast — and more importantly, I couldn't hold back any longer.
"Rolling Thunder, activaaate!!!"
One percent chance. Out of ten, at least one of them had to stick, right?
CRACK—
It has been destroyed.
"……"
"Your Highness…"
I'd blown up every single one of them except one.
What a goddamn cursed world. How do you not hit even one percent?
No — there was still a chance. If the last one stuck…!
A desperate donation chime rang out, but my eyes had already rolled all the way back in my head.
"Why wouldn't I."
I'd built up the stack and everything. This time it was a guaranteed one hundred percent hit, right?
CRACK—
It has been destroyed.
Yeah, of course it blew up.
"AAAAAARGH! That crazy bitch!"
Kang Chan-seok, Director of the Magic Stone Research Institute, hurled the tablet he'd been watching onto the floor.
All because of that blacksmith — the one who'd just detonated ten of the world's first, one-and-only S-rank magic stones in under a minute.
"She blew up every last one of those priceless things?"
Right now, South Korea was powering the entirety of Seoul for a full week off a single B-rank magic stone.
And these were S-rank stones — condensed with tens, maybe hundreds of times that much energy.
If they could get even one of those stones into the lab for analysis? Korea could become a superpower dominating the global energy market.
And she'd burned through a resource that could have been the nation's future — a revolution in human science — as nothing more than stream content?
"Goddamn bitch…"
Kang Chan-seok snatched up his phone and called the Director of the Hunter Management Bureau.
"Are you watching this stream right now?! Arrest that insane blacksmith bitch immediately! National asset destruction, whatever — just lock her up right now!"
Where Kang Chan-seok was frothing with rage, the Bureau Director remained perfectly calm.
"Settle down for a moment."
"Settle down? She just vaporized hundreds of billions — no, trillions of won in value, and you want me to settle down?!"
"Tower rewards are the personal property of the player who cleared it. Whether they sell them or blow them up trying to enhance them, there's nothing illegal about it."
"The law?! You think this is about the law right now?! The future of this country is at stake!"
"Watch your tongue. If you go poking that shut-in blacksmith the wrong way and set her off, we'll have a catastrophe on our hands."
"What… did you just say?"
"Anyway, I'm hanging up. I have a stream to watch."
The call ended there, and Kang Chan-seok was left alone in his office, letting out nothing but hollow, empty laughter.
The moment the magic stone enhancement show ended, viewers started bailing in droves.
"Your Highness, it's alright. I shall mine more from the Tower myself."
Mitsu gently patted my dejected self on the back.
"Hey, Mitsu."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Can I just… borrow your katana for a second…?"
"Pardon?"
The second she saw me staring at her weapon with that unhinged look in my eyes, she clutched the katana protectively to her chest.
"This one is off-limits, Your Highness…"
"Just once. Come on? This time it'll definitely stick."
"I cannot allow it. I would sooner enter the Tower this instant and mine magic stones myself."
"Huh?"
Mitsu's words jogged my memory — there was an item I'd completely forgotten about.
"That's right. The Artifact Gacha Ticket!"
I rummaged through my status window inventory and pulled out the ticket I'd been carefully stashing away.
It looked like a golden ticket.
"So… how do I use this thing?"
Even Mitsu, who'd lived inside the Tower, just shook her head when I asked.
I turned it over in my hands, examining it from every angle, then gave it a little squeeze — and the ticket tore.
"Ah! Nooo!"
Using Random Artifact (Relic) Gacha Ticket.
The ticket shattered into motes of light, and my tiny one-room apartment went dark.
Clack-clack-clack—
Like a slot machine spinning, the light cycled through the forms of countless artifacts, until—
A radiant white light flared so brilliantly it seemed ready to swallow the entire room.
◈ When the wearer would take fatal damage, nullifies the blow.
◈ Upon activation, Guardian Angel is destroyed.
As the light slowly faded, a tiny angel-wing necklace settled into the palm of my hand.
A survival utility artifact that would save your life exactly once.
"This one would serve Your Highness well if you wore it."
When I didn't answer, Mitsu looked at me with growing unease.
"Your Highness…?"
"I can do it. If it's me."
My brain knew I shouldn't enhance it. But my heart was calling the shots now.