Who Is the GOAT

Doloris's mansion.

It was night.

The mansion was surrounded by high stone walls, and opening the back door revealed a sprawling garden.

Rows of lights stood over the manicured lawn, and just as Duchess Doloris had ordered, every single one of them was lit.

In the middle of the garden stood a pavilion.

Its roof was covered in vines, and a wooden bench and table sat inside.

Sebas was sitting there.

Holding a teacup in one hand, he welcomed the cool night breeze.

He usually enjoyed spending this time of night here.

It was his time to confirm that the mansion's lights were out and organize tomorrow's preparations in his head.

But tonight was a little different.

“Please, Sebas.”

Looking down from the pavilion, his eyes met the darkness, and at the edge of the garden, he saw the newly built annex.

To be precise, it was a workshop hastily converted from an old warehouse.

It was a building the Duchess had urgently ordered him to construct via a crystal ball.

“A blacksmith workshop for a young child.”

An orange glow leaked from the workshop's window.

The lamp was lit. That meant the boy was inside.

The Duchess's message had been simple:

“If he gets scared or starts to cry, please comfort him.”

Sebas set his teacup down and looked toward the workshop.

A child who would get scared.

Would he, really?

Sebas was already serving his third generation of the Doloris family.

He had seen the boy in front of the mansion earlier.

He remembered the look in the boy's eyes when a servant had reached out to take his hammer.

The way his eyes flashed as he reflexively hid the hammer—those were the eyes of someone protecting what was theirs.

A child's eyes? How could a mere child possess such a tenacious gaze?

Obsession, and a deep emotion bound to something...

Having served three generations and met countless people, he still found it hard to believe those were the eyes of a thirteen-year-old.

Still, the Duchess had ordered it.

Sebas took a sip ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of his tea and waited quietly.

After all, the Duchess would also be listening from her second-floor window.

Just then.

A sound echoed from the workshop.

"Yeehaw!!"

"......?"

Sebas flinched.

Was he crying?

He half-rose from his seat to assess the situation.

"Yes, yes! Nice~ Perfect! Gotcha, you little...!"

"......?"

An incomprehensible shout filled the garden.

It certainly didn't sound like crying.

Was that how blacksmiths usually worked?

He tilted his head, wondering if it was a crucial step in the crafting process.

"This is it! This is it!!!"

"......."

...It seemed there was no need to comfort him.

Sebas sat back down and drank his cooling tea.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

After putting Ruby to sleep.

Doloris walked out of the room.

The hallway was quiet. Through the window, the garden lamps were visible.

"......."

Doloris headed toward the end of the hallway.

Not toward her own room, but the opposite direction.

There was a room in this mansion that no one was allowed to open.

Not Sebas, not Ruby, nor any of the servants.

Only Doloris could open this door.

Click.

The magically locked door clicked open.

The door swung wide.

It was dark inside. There was only a single window, its curtains drawn back.

"......."

There was only one thing in the room.

A rope hanging from the ceiling, catching the moonlight.

At its end was a circular loop.

She had created this room on the day she decided there was no point in living anymore.

Her meridians were frozen, her senses were fading, and while her sworn sisters climbed to the highest heights, she alone was left behind.

This room was meant to be her end.

Paradoxically, the knowledge that she could end it all at any moment might have been what kept her going.

She endured until Ruby arrived.

After Ruby came, she told herself she would hold on just until the child grew up.

That was Doloris's deadline.

Setting a deadline made it possible to survive another day.

But.

Slash!

With a wave of Doloris's hand, the rope before her was severed. It wasn't even clear what had cut it.

It fell to the floor with a dull thud.

"......."

Doloris looked down at the severed rope.

She didn't look for long.

The moonlight illuminated her gloves.

The sun emblem engraved on the gloves absorbed the light and glowed.

She still had a reason to live. She still had something to verify.

That alone was enough.

Doloris left the room.

Click.

The door locked once more.

This room would likely never be opened again.

And the place she was heading to.

"...Lionel."

She hoped he wouldn't overexert himself.

The miracle he had gifted her.

It was safe to say he had already paid for most of its value in advance.

So, there was no need to push himself.

They had plenty of time.

Pitter-patter...

Forgetting her dignity, Doloris ran toward the window with somewhat hurried steps.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom in the middle of the hallway.

Ruby, who hadn't fallen asleep yet, heard the footsteps passing by.

Whenever her master entered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that room, she would stay for at least an hour.

And when she came out, her footsteps were always slow and heavy.

Today was different.

She came out... so quickly.

Under the covers, the corners of Ruby's mouth curled up slightly.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Doloris.

Don't expect too much from me.

"I told you not to expect too much," I said, standing up and spreading my arms toward the ceiling.

Then, I pointed both of my index fingers toward the sky.

"I'm sorry, but don't expect me to fail."

This is a message to all my haters, including the fixed-nickname users of the rhythm game gallery who claimed I was finished.

I am still alive.

Even if the world is a bit different.

Flash!

The gloves were instantly dyed red.

To be honest, I didn't really care about the enhancement itself.

But when I snapped out of it, they were already at +19.

What is this?

First of all, I noticed a few things while enchanting.

First, the difficulty definitely increases as the enhancement level goes up.

The time limit gets tighter, it demands more focus, and the speed increases.

I call these target rings "Hit Circles." In falling-note rhythm games, they're called notes, but since these are circles, Hit Circles is the correct term.

Anyway, the speed at which the circles shrank got faster with each level.

It became noticeably faster after +10.

And before I knew it, this was the result.

So, this is basically like a +20 Attack Workman's Cotton Glove, right?

A +19 enhancement on a starless piece of trash equipment.

Hmm... Did I just waste my time?

No. It was practice.

And it was fun.

I opened the enchant log.

There was actually a log feature.

Succeeded on the fifth try.

Clearing a 36% chance in five tries wasn't exactly lucky, but it wasn't terrible either.

Well, since I've come this far.

Shall we go for +20?

Let's try just one last time. The sun is coming up anyway, so I should wrap it up.

"Oh, Yuna. You're still awake?"

Ah, right.

That was true. From +15 onward, there was a chance of destruction if the timing was off.

Earlier, I sneezed and missed the timing, getting a [Poor] rating, and the destruction rate suddenly jumped by 1%.

Of course, other than that, I hadn't failed a single note.

Destruction? There is no such word in my dictionary.

"......."

I had already figured out the relationship between the amount of powder and the difficulty about two hours ago.

Up to a certain threshold, sprinkling more powder lowers the enchantment difficulty.

Beyond that threshold, the equipment simply stops absorbing the powder.

But the biggest issue was...

Sprinkling powder made it easier.

"Kim Yuna."

"Do you think I'm bad at this?"

Lower the difficulty?

What nonsense is that?

"In this situation..."

Tap.

"I'm actually going to reduce the powder."

This is it. This is the way.

Nope.

And.

"Yuna, I respect you, so I didn't say anything earlier, but this music is way too gloomy."

I wasn't asking for pop music, but playing nothing but classical-sounding tracks was a bit much.

The reason I couldn't get an All Perfect—I mean, All Marvelous—was definitely the music's fault.

It had been bugging me that I hadn't hit a perfect run yet.

"Is that so? Well, nothing we can do about it then."

The music in the Tower is pretty weird, but I guess it's kind of catchy.

"Begin enchantment."

*Hummmmm...*

The gloves, dyed in a red aura, blinked before my eyes.

The enchantment began.

I picked up the hammer with a light heart.

How hard could it possibly be?

[0:02:00]

The time limit doubled.

Just as I sensed something was off.

The Hit Circles appeared.

But.

"Oh, crap."

There were two of them.

Two circles appeared at the same time.

They were in different positions, but shrinking at the exact same rate.

So that's why it warned me.

Until now, no matter how fast the circles were, they only appeared one at a time.

No matter the speed, I just had to hit them in order.

But simultaneous hits...

Fortunately, I have a solution for this.

Even with two notes, I can play them both with just one hand.

The best way is to split the beat.

Hit one slightly early, say 0.2 beats fast, and hit the other slightly late, 0.2 beats slow.

Relying entirely on my internal sense of rhythm for that 0.2-beat gap.

*Clang!*

A clean, split double-strike.

There is a technique for this. The context is slightly different, but...

It's called a trill.

*Tap-tap!*

[Marvelous]

[Marvelous]

*Tap-tap!*

[Marvelous]

[Marvelous]

"Hahaha!"

A laugh escaped my lips. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It actually worked.

For the next two minutes, I hammered away in a state of pure trance.

Just as I felt my body moving on autopilot.

Alright, 19%.

It couldn't be helped that the ratio of Excellent hits went up and I got one Good.

I'm not a metronome, and I don't have two hammers, so how could I hit Marvelous on every single double-note?

I waited with a racing heart.

【Attempting...】

"......."

It wasn't a probability I could count on, but.

【Enhancement Successful!】

*Flash!*

"......!"

The red light on the gloves flickered.

The red color slowly faded from the edges, replaced by a green glow.

The moment the green light completely enveloped the gloves.

The basic cotton gloves had become +20.

"......."

I lifted the gloves.

A faint green glow shone above my head like a spotlight.

"Kim Yuna."

"Say my name."

"Who is the GOAT?"

As expected of someone who has done this a time or two.

She catches on quick. You really are my soulmate.

I looked down at the green-glowing cotton gloves.

"Alright, shall we test the performance?"

I tossed aside the temporary gloves I was wearing.

And slipped on the +20 cotton gloves.

"......."

What the. I don't feel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anything.

The moment I put them on, the green glow vanished.

Is it because it's a trash item, so the enhancement efficiency is low?

I suppose that makes sense.

Henrik did say that items with more stars are harder to enchant.

So it stands to reason that easier enchants yield lower returns.

"Well, let's head out for now."

No need to be disappointed.

This is just the first step. I can't wait for the day I get to work on high-tier equipment.

Smiling, I grabbed the workshop door handle.

*Creeeeaaak—CRACK!*

"?"

The iron doorknob attached to the wooden door was completely crushed and ripped clean off.

"......What the?"

I stared at the flattened piece of metal in my hand—the object formerly known as a doorknob.

There was a gaping hole in the door.

"Huh?"

Wait a minute.

I quickly put two and two together.

I carefully, very carefully, took off the gloves.

Then, I stared at the door that could no longer be opened without a handle.

Realizing I was trapped inside the workshop.

"......Butler Sebas!!"

From the early hours of the morning.

I had to call out to Sebas through the window.

On my second day at the Doloris estate.

I broke the workshop.