Luck and Reinforcement

Just as it had with Mindi, changing clothes turned into a miserable chore. It was more of a nuisance than it looked. Fight for any length of time and you sweat, and once you sweat you feel filthy, which is why players change their underwear fairly often. And there was something else I hadn't remembered until now: the sensitivity. It didn't only come out in perverted ways. Blows, heat, and cold all struck harder in combat, so serious discomfort was unavoidable. The grimy feeling would only be worse.

Was that why she climaxed earlier?

It didn't change the fact that she was a perverted woman. Even so, maybe the underwear had left her sensitive in every direction, and that was what pushed her all the way to an outburst like that. Either way, it was a good item. I had no intention of using it. Nothing was stopping me from putting it on, if I really wanted to... but no matter how good the options were, I did not want to wear women's underwear. Selling it would have been a waste, though, so for the time being I needed to hold onto it.

That was enough for today. I wasn't tired in the slightest, but that was probably just the excitement. My body was likely exhausted.

It's only the first day. Don't overdo it. Rest.

The connection ended, and I found my mind back on Earth.

"...Huh?"

I could tell at once that something was off. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Logging out ought to come with a jolt of dissonance. Unlike in the game, where stats exist, a real body is fairly powerless. But I felt no gap at all.

I opened my status window just in case, and a hologram appeared in reality.

Synchronization already?

In my previous life, synchronization had only begun once the Demon God recovered his full strength and destroyed the Wall that separated Earth from the world of Heroes. So why was it happening to me already?

Is this another kindness from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Goddess?

If it was, I couldn't be more grateful. Synchronization meant living in the same body in the game and in reality. It meant I could leave the real world as it was and pour myself entirely into Heroes.

And the Wall is still standing, so even if I die, I can come back.

That also explained why I hadn't felt a shred of fatigue. I was already synchronized, so every level-up had rinsed the exhaustion clean out of me. Then there was no need to rest. I logged into Heroes again.

The instant I reconnected, I opened my inventory. The moment I'd learned that luck clung to me, an idea had sprung up — and now it was time to act on it.

Enhancement is expensive. This dagger was Legendary, no less, so it devoured a full hundred thousand from the very first attempt. The average player in the beginner village wouldn't even dare to think about it. I was different.

I'd raked in a fortune at the gambling table. The entire reason I'd made that money was to get my hands on a weapon and enhance it.

I enhanced it again and again. Early on, the success rate is high. Barring bad luck, it succeeds.

And even when it failed, all I did was burn money and move on. That was no great burden for me.

The real problem started at +11. The odds fell off a cliff, and the cost crept into territory that actually hurt. If you cared about value for money, the smart move was to stop cold at +10.

Even that much wasn't bad. Attack power doubled, and ten percent of that damage became fixed damage — in other words, it ignored defense. That was why, in my previous life, no matter what I enhanced, I stopped at +10 unless I had a very good reason not to. I'd already tasted the bitter end of gambling back in my beginner days, and I'd taken myself in hand because of it. Anything beyond that, I saved for a weapon I truly needed, and only after turning it over in my head again and again. Every time I pressed the enhancement button, my heart hammered.

But I don't have to live like that anymore!

I'd roamed the dark streets at night clearing Luck Quests, and with the gauge I'd stored up that way, the enhancement went through.

"Hahh!"

The sound of admiration left me on its own. Up through +10, every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠successful enhancement raised attack power by ten percent. From +11 on, it rose by twenty. The risk was huge, and so was the return.

I made another circuit of the village, clearing Luck Quests as I went. Gather, enhance, gather, enhance — I repeated it. Not every attempt succeeded.

A twelve percent chance isn't hopelessly low. And I'd carefully stored up a Luck Gauge of ten percent, so I was sure it would be enough.

Luck did fire in the very instant I attempted the enhancement, but...

Squeak-squeak-squeak!

Out of nowhere, a rat popped out of the dark.

It wasn't an ordinary animal. It was a monster. Leech Mice mostly haunt the gutters of villages and cities, and because they have a habit of collecting shiny objects, they also go by the nickname Thief Rat.

Squeak! Squeak-squeak!

The one that had just appeared had something glittering clenched in its mouth. The moment it noticed me it startled, dropped the thing, and fled. What it left behind was an old necklace. As an item it had no effect at all — just an accessory. It didn't look like an ordinary object, though. A quest had appeared.

Right. Lucky, in its way. Ten percent luck had been enough to spawn a quest, and clearing it would hand me a fifteen percent Luck Ticket. It ought to have been pure profit — and yet.

"Goddamn it! You fucking rat!"

Why did it have to be now? A hair's difference in timing, and I got to taste the bitterness of a failed enhancement.

So it isn't unconditionally safe after all.

Fine. Look on the bright side. This was actually fortunate. If I'd kept enhancing blindly while I was this worked up, I might have seen something much worse. As lessons went, this one had come cheap. I still had plenty of money, and a Luck Gauge could always be gathered again.

"Kahaha! Drink! Drink!"

"Bweeeegh!"

"Ugh... why the hell is a fence blocking the road? Damn it all!"

It was late, but filling the Luck Gauge wasn't difficult. If anything, it was far easier than during the day. The irritating parts were plentiful too.

"Hey. I'm already sick of the whores around here. How long are we supposed to stay in this dump?"

"Fucking hell. Just wait. The second I screw that bitch, we're gone."

A pack of men came walking out from near the brothel. Their gear was flashy enough that, in the beginner village, they were the sort who went around with their chins in the air. Right. Those guys. The ones who squat in the beginner village forever, carrying themselves like they're somebody. I hate that breed. In my previous life I'd gotten tangled up with them on the wrong side of things a few times, and I'd come to loathe them for it. Still, there was no need to pick a fight, so I tried to put them out of my mind.

"What's that guy doing?"

The Black man at the center of the group cocked his head at me.

"Hey. Yellow monkey. Why are you picking up trash? I don't know any quest like that. What, you land some hidden quest?"

Well, wasn't he talented. If you're going to ask a question, you start with some manners — and he opened with racism. The smug little attitude, as if there were nothing in this village he didn't already know, was genuinely pathetic. And if this really were a hidden quest, why would I tell him?

I was irritated, but I am a man who loves his peace. I want to live by the idea that easy is easy. A grudge carried over from my past life was one thing. I had no desire to make ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fresh enemy in this one.

"I'm picking it up because it's dirty."

"Hey. You gonna talk straight?"

This bastard really had no interest in reading the room. The Black man, who looked to be the center of the pack, dropped a hand on my shoulder with a thoroughly sloppy air.

"Talk straight. Yeah? Otherwise, living around here is gonna get real tiring for you."

I meant to ignore him. I reached down for the trash, thinking I'd just finish what I was doing.

Thud!

"Nice shot!"

The Black man had kicked away the trash I was about to pick up. His lackeys, delighted by God knows what, cackled and piled on.

"What, you so poor you're working as a janitor inside the game?"

"Oh! I got it! He's looking for a dog! So he can eat it! You savage!"

Don't engage. Dealing with them was a waste of time. If they kept this up, a passing guard would give them a warning anyway.

"You there! What's going on?"

See? A guard had shown up, so—

"Hm? You?"

Fuck. Of all the guards, why did it have to be Habak?

He still hasn't clocked out?

Looking closer, it wasn't so much that he hadn't clocked out as that he'd been wandering around outside again today. His face was red with drink, his armor was thrown on any which way, and there was a lipstick mark on the nape of his neck... So he'd gone and gotten drunk and visited the brothel again.

"Well, well! Mr. Habak, perfect timing! This bastard here's been sneaking around doing something suspicious!"

"Oh! Bigsim! You can tell too! That one is a very suspicious bastard!"

Unbelievable. They even knew each other? Like really does call to like. And yet, was I supposed to call this the lucky part? They left almost immediately. I hadn't given them much of a reaction, so they'd lost interest.

They'd already done plenty of damage to my mood.

You lot are not walking away from this.

I'd already been in a foul mood because of that rat, and now I felt worse.

We'll meet outside the village. Count on it.

The area around the beginner village is designated a protection zone. Players can't attack one another there. But step outside it? Indiscriminate PK is allowed. From the conversation I'd just heard, they sounded ready to leave this village soon. When they did, I'd go find them and kill them. That ought to be enough to vent.

Of course, it only worked if I was stronger than they were. That part wasn't difficult. I just had to finish the enhancement I'd already started.

I gathered the Luck Gauge again, and I enhanced, over and over. And at last—

"Kh... this is insane."

The highest enhancement I'd ever reached in my previous life was exactly +15. I'd done it on the first day of the game.

I desperately wanted to push the number higher, but I had to hold back for now. From here on, failure destroyed the equipment. If something like that damned rat happened again, I'd be in real trouble. And starting at +16, the probability itself wasn't even displayed. I couldn't begin to guess how low it was, which meant I also couldn't guess how much Luck Gauge it would take.

From here on, I try this only after I've gotten a Protection Scroll. At minimum.

There was an item called a Protection Scroll. Use it, and even if enhancement failed, the equipment was protected from destruction. It wasn't something you could buy with money, so I couldn't obtain one yet.

Then... should I enhance these, too?

With the dopamine still surging, it felt like a shame to simply stop. Maybe I should enhance whatever items were left in my inventory? I was turning that over when something else occurred to me.

What if I bought a sex toy and enhanced it?

Egelina's face came to mind. From what she'd told me earlier, her only means of masturbation was her fingers. She knew sex toys existed, but she'd been too afraid of people's eyes to buy one. Every time she purchased a thick, pillar-shaped vegetable — a cucumber, an eggplant — she was tempted, but she'd held herself back, thinking it was wrong to play with food.

I'd already promised to visit her again, and the quest that had just appeared meant I needed to go see her at least once anyway. What if I enhanced a sex toy and gave it to her then? It would be a gift, yes, but I also had a personal curiosity.

What kind of performance does a +15 dildo have?

I headed straight for a shady shop deeper in the Entertainment District.