Chapter 10: Labyrinth Libarintos (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 10: Labyrinth Libarintos (4)
Jinhyuk checked the item that appeared before him with trembling hands.
[Goddess of Luck Fortuna's Wheel of Fortune (Incomplete)
Acquisition Difficulty: S
Description: Maximizes your luck for 10 minutes (Single-use). However, because it is incomplete, its range of application is limited.]
The goddess of luck in Roman mythology.
And this was the very wheel of fortune she possessed.
Since it was synthesized from cheap F-rank items, it was single-use and incomplete.
But this was more than enough.
Because it would allow him to create something more powerful than any weapon found on the 5th floor or below.
'Let's see...'
Jinhyuk grabbed the handle of the wheel.
A hot, burning mana surged through his fingertips.
'I guess a relic is still a relic.'
It had a surprisingly spicy kick to it.
'Yeah, that's what makes it fun.'
With a smirk, Jinhyuk spun the handle 360 degrees.
Whirrr!
[The relic 'Wheel of Fortune' has been activated!]
[Luck is maximized for 10 minutes!]
Heavenly luck.
He didn't know the exact stat, but his current luck had to be at an absurd level.
The kind of luck where every lottery ticket he scratched would be a jackpot, and where he could take a nap in the middle of a bullet-swept battlefield and emerge unscathed.
Of course, there was a catch.
The condition that its range of application was limited.
This was actually a terrifying caveat...
Because it meant that if he wasted his luck on something trivial, it would be completely useless.
Above all, there wasn't a single line of explanation detailing what that range actually was.
Since his hard-earned luck could easily go down the drain, using it was naturally a delicate affair.
However, that only applied to amateurs.
Jinhyuk knew exactly where that boundary lay.
'This is information I paid a hefty price to learn.'
Though he had cursed thousands of times back then, thanks to that, he wouldn't make any more mistakes.
Shall we get started?
Jinhyuk pulled out ten 'Lotto Enhancement Scrolls'.
Enhancement success rate: 0.000012%.
1 in 8.14 million.
It was an enhancement scroll with the exact same odds as winning the actual lottery.
If he used this on his dagger...
[Enhancement successful!]
[You have obtained Old Dagger (+1)!]
The dagger glowed with a faint red light.
Just as expected!
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
Though the scroll boasted atrocious odds, now that his luck was maxed out, it was nothing more than a guaranteed 100% success rate.
From here on, all he had to do was repeat the process.
Over and over, until he used up all ten scrolls he had purchased.
Jinhyuk used the second scroll.
[Enhancement successful!]
[You have obtained Old Dagger (+2)!]
[...]
With each successful enhancement, the color of the dagger shifted slightly.
The blade stained a deeper and deeper red.
And finally...
[Enhancement successful!]
[You have obtained Old Dagger (+10)!]
[Maximum enhancement level reached. No further enhancements can be made.]
[You are the first on the Korean server to successfully craft a +10 enhanced item!]
[You have acquired 5,000 Coins!]
[This achievement will be featured on the 'Hall of Fame' all day tomorrow!]
+10.
He had reached the maximum enhancement limit for an F-rank item.
On top of that, he had pocketed a hefty sum of Coins as a reward.
Whoosh!
Jinhyuk lightly spun the dagger counterclockwise.
A smooth arc sliced through the air.
It felt light and clean in his hand.
'I like it.'
[Old Dagger (+10)]
Acquisition Difficulty: F (→ A)
Attack Power: 280
Durability: 110/110
Effects: Bleeding Damage +3%, Weight Reduction +50%
The attack power was decent, and it even had bleeding damage and a weight reduction enchantment.
'Finally, I have something usable.'
It looked like he wouldn't have to worry about weapons for a while.
* * *
A day had passed since the Tower of Trials opened.
On the first day, countless Players uploaded videos documenting their exploration and growth in the Tower.
They tried to stand out from the crowd, leveraging their own unique styles to secure subscribers by any means necessary.
Meanwhile, the general public living outside the Tower...
watched those Players' videos.
There was only one reason: to find the most outstanding and promising Players.
Only then could they conquer the next floor of the Tower within 90 days and prevent the extinction of humanity.
Just then, Jinhyuk paused while browsing the [Tower of Trials] community forum.
He had found something interesting.
[#Player Haemosu #Korean Server #Super Veteran #Tower of Trials 1st Floor, Goblin Dungeon Speedrun Video!]
'There's always someone trying to show off with stuff like this.'
The claim of clearing the Goblin Dungeon in just 15 hours had garnered over a million views.
Converting that at a 10,000:100 ratio meant about 10,000 Coins.
Subtracting the 90% platform fee, he had earned 1,000 Coins.
'Haemosu... I think he was a guy who made quite a name for himself in the lower floors back in the day...'
It was a name he remembered.
A rookie who flashed briefly before fading away.
He was definitely a Player who went by the nickname Haemosu.
'A 15-hour clear, huh...'
Jinhyuk clicked on the video with a bored expression.
It showed a melee damage dealer mobbing and hunting goblins.
Well, the speed wasn't bad.
For an average player, that is.
Of course, to Jinhyuk, who had cleared it in 3 hours and 40 minutes, it was just cute.
However, the reaction in the comment section was completely different.
-OhMyGawd: This is insane. A 15-hour solo clear, is this for real?
-Taejeongtaesebeyonce: Fr. I had to go change my pants.
-LeaveWorkEarlyFairy: Wow. Subscribed. I'm only watching this guy's videos from now on.
-MalteseAssociationPres: 22222222
-SquatBenchDead500: 3333333
The comment section was flooded with awe and admiration.
People were claiming that only this Player could climb the Tower and save humanity.
But just then...
-Bald Human: 15 hours isn't actually that fast. I know someone who cleared it in under 5 hours.
Someone left a comment.
A comment that threw cold water on the festive mood.
Naturally, a massive backlash ensued.
-Taejeongtaesebeyonce: No proof = fake. Spewing headcanons is honestly disgusting.
-UnbuttonedScholar: His tone is so annoying. Who uses polite speech on the internet?
-GopchangSoju: Yeah, yeah. Sure. I cleared up to the 50th Floor in 1 minute. No proof, of course. Just trust me bro.
Hundreds of insults and sarcastic replies piled up in an instant.
People mocked him, saying it was just another typical day of a keyboard warrior running his mouth from his room.
Yet, while everyone else was laughing, Jinhyuk didn't laugh.
Bald Human...
'So he's in the Tower too.'
How could he ever forget him?
The guy he had often played with up to the 20th floor of the Tower.
Though he hadn't seen him after the 20th floor, he was on a completely different level from flashy, superficial hacks like Haemosu.
They were built different from the very foundation.
'A crane among sparrows.'
Bald Human was one of the few 'true veterans' Jinhyuk actually acknowledged.
* * *
"Bwahaha! Yes! We did it!"
A man browsing the community forum cheered in triumph.
This man was Haemosu.
Or rather, Lee Myung-hwan, who went by the nickname Haemosu.
"See? I told you this would work."
"Damn, look at all these comments rolling in."
"The forums are completely flooded with posts about you. It was totally worth fighting those goblins to the death. Cheers!"
The men and women surrounding Lee Myung-hwan high-fived each other, raising their voices in excitement.
"It's all thanks to everyone's hard work. Thanks, guys."
Lee Myung-hwan scratched the bridge of his nose.
"Hehe. People probably think you did all of this completely solo, right?"
"The editing was top-notch, and we supported you so subtly that they'll never notice."
"Exactly. Look at this. There's a whole truckload of gullible suckers lining up to donate."
The video uploaded as a solo run was actually...
staged.
Because four other people had helped Lee Myung-hwan.
Of course, they hadn't helped him openly.
Standing just a step back, out of the camera's frame, they had assisted Lee Myung-hwan by stacking buffs and debuffs.
All to make him look stronger and more flashy, instantly capturing the public's attention.
'Heh.'
The corners of Lee Myung-hwan's mouth curled up.
[Views: 1,235,095]
This was the view count achieved just six hours after uploading.
If he kept gathering viewers like this, he would eventually secure a massive amount of Coins.
Even after accounting for the 90% platform fee.
'Don't feel too bad about it.'
In this world, the outstanding pioneers always take it all.
Just as Lee Myung-hwan was snickering, lost in his delusions of grandeur...
Ding!
[A new video has been updated on the Hall of Fame.]
A new video had suddenly been uploaded.
And right at the very top, at that.
"W-what is this?"
Lee Myung-hwan sprang up from his seat.
He was so shocked he almost bit his tongue, but he didn't even have the luxury to care about that.
"Someone... got a higher honor score than me?"
That was impossible.
There shouldn't be any achievement higher than this on the first day...
It made no sense.
But seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't deny it.
"M-Myung-hwan..."
"Pull it up. Now. Let me see."
"It must be some kind of scam. This can't be happening... absolutely not."
"Shut up and just pull it up already!"
Lee Myung-hwan roared.
"O-okay, got it."
Finally, the video began to play.
Unlike the one Lee Myung-hwan had uploaded, it was a short video, barely five minutes long.
And it wasn't even edited.
Yet, the content it held was far beyond anything they could have imagined.
"W-what the hell..."
Lee Myung-hwan's jaw dropped so low it looked ready to dislocate.
He couldn't help it.
Because this...
'...makes absolutely no sense.'
[World's first successful +10 item enhancement!]
The emergence of a +10 enhanced item.
Any further explanation was meaningless.
As was calculating the odds.
"T-the views... No, more importantly, what about the comments? Tell me what the fuck is going on right now!"
Lee Myung-hwan screamed even louder than before.
His voice trembled.
His desperate, fragile question...
"It surpassed a million views in just fifteen minutes. Word of mouth is spreading like wildfire."
...was shattered to pieces by the reply that followed.
-Taejeongtaesebeyonce: Oh my god, +10? For real, +10?
-OhMyGawd: Insane. Was that even possible? I've only seen up to +5 before.
-LeaveWorkEarlyFairy: What are the odds of a +10 anyway? It looks like they used the lowest-grade enhancement scroll.
-Speedwagon: Speedwagon here. Just multiply 1 in 8.14 million by itself ten times.
-LeaveWorkEarlyFairy: So how much is that?
-Speedwagon: Look it up yourself. Do you not have hands or feet?
-LeaveWorkEarlyFairy: Hey, you son of a bitch!
-UnbuttonedScholar: But if they want to secure regular subscribers, they should make their info public. Why is everything set to private?
-GopchangSoju: I know, right?
-VeteranDetector: Who else could it be, logically? Who else but that Player who fought the Mangrove Tree?
-UnbuttonedScholar: No way... Huh. You're right. It has to be him.
-GopchangSoju: Wow, agreed. If it's that super veteran, it might actually be possible.
-LeaveWorkEarlyFairy: I literally just got goosebumps all over. I'm only watching his stream from now on.
-Harvard5thGradeClass3: I'm ready to strip down to my underwear and donate everything.
The excitement in the comments was beyond boiling point.
The news of the Goblin Dungeon clear was buried in an instant.
The internet was completely plastered with talk of this newly emerged veteran.
"U-uh...?"
Lee Myung-hwan slumped back into his seat.
Since he had only ever reached the 6th floor of the Tower at best, he had planned to stake everything on gathering viewers in this early stage.
'I'm ruined.'
Completely.
"Who the fuck is this bastard?! Aaaaargh!"
Lee Myung-hwan's desperate scream echoed miserably.