Lucky Fatty

Trust.

The new ability I'd just obtained was simple enough.

Up to that point, it was a solid, useful skill. But then came the kicker.

Now that looked fun.

"I have completed my mission and returned, my Princess."

Curious about the inner monologue, I tried the skill on Mitsu the moment she stepped back into the house.

"What is this…"

So the ice-cold beauty who'd just five-seconded Hard Mode was, on the inside, a puppy begging for my praise?

That was ridiculously cute.

If she wanted praise that badly, I supposed I had no choice.

"Mitsu! You did amazing! That footwork was incredible!"

"P-Princess?!"

I ruffled the hair of the kneeling Mitsu with both hands, petting her head like crazy.

Hit with sudden praise, Mitsu's face flushed red in an instant.

"Princess, why are you suddenly doing this?"

On the outside she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept her cool, but inside she was completely losing it. This was pretty entertaining!

Uh… okay, that reaction might be a little much?

Mitsu's inner thoughts started cascading over her head like a broken faucet, spamming out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of control. In a state like this, she might even hand over her katana.

"Hey, Mitsu."

"Yeees, Princess."

"The stream looked really cool, but there's one thing that bugged me."

"Speak at once to this lowly one. I shall correct it immediately."

Heh. Almost there.

"I just think it would've looked even cooler if I'd enhanced your katana first."

"The katana is out of the question. Perhaps Your Highness would prefer to use the Artifact Gacha Ticket I brought back this time instead."

Even her inner thoughts were a hard no. She really treasured that blade.

"Tch. Fine."

If she was going to dig her heels in that hard, I had no choice but to back off. Looks like there wouldn't be an enhancement show today. Shame.

"Please, may this spark Your Highness's interest."

Mitsu held out the gacha ticket.

"Great. Let's crack it open right now."

For the record, I decided to open this one off-stream. One ticket alone wasn't really enough to justify firing up a broadcast anymore, right?

I tore the Artifact Gacha Ticket. A flash of light burst out, and an item dropped from midair. No fancy effects — so probably nothing special.

It looked like a monocle that fit over one eye. For an artifact, the description was refreshingly straightforward.

"Mitsu, stay still for a second."

Curious about its performance, I held the Eye of the Unbeliever up to her.

Nothing better than what the status window already told me. Figuring it was a dud, I tossed a post up on the gallery…

"This guy. He's been getting on my nerves for a while now."

He was the same one who'd been dropping toxic comments under every post.

"People are allowed to fail a few enhancements, right?"

"If Your Highness but gives the order, I shall dispose of him."

I shelved Mitsu's bone-chilling inner thoughts for a moment and slipped on the Eye of the Unbeliever. Just out of curiosity — would it even work on an anonymous gallery user?

"It actually works."

I couldn't help the gasp that slipped out. The real name and specs hidden behind the username were being stripped bare in real time. "Reveals designated information about a target" — I never imagined it would forcibly dredge up the personal info of anonymous users on the other side of the internet.

"This guy's a little too valuable to just enhance and blow up."

An artifact this entertaining? I could put off enhancing it for a while.

"Alright. Let's mess with him a little."

The second I hit him with the doxx, the other users swarmed like they'd been waiting for a free meal.

From that day on, Gyeong-seok never showed his face in the comments again.

"Heeey~ Hello everyone! Today's tower is Easy Mode, Floor 22!"

A week had passed, and I could enter the Tower again.

Why such a low floor, you ask?

To farm some enhancement exp.

Enhancing monsters still stacked experience, after all. And Floor 22 was infamous for having the densest monster population of any floor. Perfect for a little exp grind.

The moment I stepped inside the Tower, hundreds of goblins came roaring in from every direction, weapons raised, surging toward us like a green tidal wave.

An ordinary Awakened would have been overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

"They're just walking experience points!"

To my eyes, this was nothing more than a bonus stage.

Kieeeeek!

Of course, if a goblin's attack actually connected with my body it would be bad — but I wasn't particularly worried.

"Insects."

"Mitsu, don't kill them. Just knock them out."

"As you command."

Well, I did have an SS-rank familiar at my side.

Mitsu blurred into motion at a speed the eye could barely track, knocking goblins unconscious left and right. A single strike of her scabbard to the back of the neck, and they crumpled like rag dolls.

I walked over to a fallen goblin and gave it a light tap with my hammer.

The goblins' bodies crumbled into dust and vanished. Hundreds of them were gone in no time. When I tried enhancing the very last one left…

It succeeded out of nowhere. But the thing was ugly, and I already had Mitsu, so I kept enhancing with every intention of blowing it up…

It succeeded again?

I slipped on the Eye of the Unbeliever and checked the details.

I liked the trait, but it was still far too ugly to take as a familiar.

"Just die already!"

"Uh…?"

I had never planned on it succeeding this many times in a row.

My resolve to keep swinging the hammer wavered just a little. Killing it now would feel a bit wasteful…

Hang on through just one more. Then I'll actually think about it, okay?

I brought the hammer down again. Rainbow light flared, and status windows cascaded across my vision all at once.

"Average Work?"

I couldn't quite process what had just happened. I'd punched through a 1% chance four times in a row, and somewhere in there I'd even gotten a Great Success for the first time in my life. And the beneficiary of all that luck was… a goblin. I was starting to hate the world a little.

"…Kinda hard to kill it now, I guess."

The chat was eating it up, and it was my first Average Work besides. Might as well.

It wasn't exactly love at first sight, but I hit Contract and gave it a name.

"From now on, you're Undtung."

The name was short for "Lucky Fatty." The moment I named him, the little guy regained consciousness. Undtung looked up at me and Mitsu, then started scanning the surroundings like he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Uh…"

Nobody around but the two of us — and that clearly terrified him.

"Please spare me!!"

Undtung dropped to his knees and slammed his forehead into the floor.

"I'll do anything!"

How badly did this thing want to live? I couldn't even begin to guess.

"Uh…?"

"It would seem he instinctively understands how to submit to the strong."

Mitsu offered a dry comment from the side. Her tone was a touch more irritated than usual. Curious, I used Trust to check her thoughts — no deep reason. She just didn't like Undtung.

"Undtung, get up."

"Yes sir! Understood!"

He scrambled to his feet at a single word from me, flinching hard. The way he kept his arms up to shield his face, nervously reading the room in case a slap was coming — it was almost pitiful.

"I didn't even do anything."

I ignored the booing chat and checked the status window I'd missed while naming him.

A new blacksmith ability had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just been unlocked.