Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Sometimes Reality Surpasses Imagination
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"What...? Enhancement Stone...?"
"Wh-what the hell is going on with this?"
Sangjin knew what an Enhancement Stone was.
It was a consumable item used in almost every RPG game to reinforce equipment.
And now, one had just been created in his brother's hand.
No matter how he looked at it, an Enhancement Stone was way ahead of its time.
"This could be dangerous, right?"
"Obviously! Bro, if word gets out about this, you're done for. For real."
If it fell into the wrong hands—like a criminal organization—he could end up locked in a room, forced to churn out Enhancement Stones day and night.
Power or abilities beyond one's station invite disaster.
But there was no doubt it was a valuable item.
Later, once Woojin and Sangjin had a bit more social influence...
It wouldn't be a bad idea to reveal it then.
"Or we could secretly trade it with Jihyun Yoo? She's from a big corporation, so they probably wouldn't suspect much even if they knew about it."
Sangjin pondered Woojin's suggestion for a moment.
"It's a good idea, but it's still too early. For now, you'll reinforce things directly, and when we start distributing Enhancement Stones, we'll go through Jihyun first. That feels right."
The brothers reached that conclusion.
"Phew... Alright, then... time to test other methods?"
Sangjin jumped in surprise at Woojin's words.
"?? What else is there?"
"What I just did was Imbue using my 'magic' ability. I didn't use any materials."
"Oh... right?"
Woojin finally felt like he was getting a handle on the Imbue skill.
"The category restriction is trickier than I thought. But it's not impossible."
Woojin picked up the stone he'd found on the street and turned it into a +2 Hardness stone again.
Then he grabbed the kitchen knife he'd reinforced earlier.
"If my guess is right..."
Woojin planned to Imbue the knife with the stone's 'Hardness Lv 3'.
"Imbue."
Light rose from the stone and was absorbed into the kitchen knife.
And just as Woojin predicted, the knife's ability description changed.
"Yes!"
Sangjin asked Woojin.
"What happened? Tell me!"
Woojin explained the Imbue skill to Sangjin.
The first principle of Imbue: infusing his magic directly into an object.
But he couldn't imbue just any 'Enhancement' ability into anything.
There were items like Enhancement Stones or 'Enhancement Talismans,' but no 'Enhanced Kitchen Knives' or 'Enhanced Chopsticks.'
The second principle: he could only imbue abilities that 'fit' the target object.
A knife being hard made sense.
But could you use chopsticks with a kitchen knife?
You could force it, but it wouldn't fit and would be awkward.
Woojin's Imbue skill couldn't apply abilities that didn't match the object.
Like trying to imbue fire into water.
After finishing his explanation, Woojin said to Sangjin.
"Got it?"
Sangjin nodded seriously.
"This is insane... What a crazy ability!"
He'd thought Enhancement was nuts, but Imbue took it to another level.
"With this... new products are no problem. This is huge!"
Sangjin was thrilled, and Woojin couldn't help but smile.
"Ha, I'm beat. Imbue seems to consume more mana than Enhancement. You handle new products."
Sangjin nodded vigorously.
"Got it."
It was the moment another possibility opened up for the brothers' future.
Jeong Seonghwan, director of the Awakener Management Bureau, asked his subordinate in disbelief.
"Is this... even possible...? He leveled up how many times in one day?"
"Exactly... 20 levels."
"Ha!?"
Jihyun Yoo, who had her Gale Roll enhanced by Woojin, was tearing through gates like a tiger with wings.
Her very existence was a catastrophe for the gate monsters.
No close-range or long-range monster could stand in her way, and even 'dark' attribute monsters, which were tough for humans, crumbled before her.
All because her Gale Roll was a legendary light-attribute weapon.
Jeong Seonghwan, unaware of the details, couldn't believe the report in front of him.
What was a gate? A place swarming with monsters and traps where even one encounter would make a normal person's legs shake, turning them into monster chow.
Yet Jihyun Yoo, a player who dropped from the sky, was rewriting Korean hunter history.
"Re-measurement?"
"We haven't re-tested since it was recent, but she's already reached A-rank."
"This is madness. Should I be happy about this?"
From Korea's perspective, it might seem good, but reality was different.
The whole world was pouring everything into securing Awakeners and training top hunters.
National defense standards had shifted from cutting-edge weapons to the strength of their hunters.
Thus, every nation was in a frenzy over headhunting Awakeners.
Intelligence agencies prioritized tracking Awakeners' info, and Korea was no exception.
USA, China, Russia, UK, Germany, Japan, etc.
Even nations strong before gates were desperate to recruit Awakeners.
Jihyun Yoo? Her initial B-rank was already known abroad.
But they wouldn't make overt moves yet. Korea was a powerhouse too.
However, if her absurd growth rate leaked, things would change.
The US, Japan, China, Russia would approach immediately, followed by European powers and Middle Eastern royals flush with oil money.
Plus, Jihyun was the youngest daughter of DH Group.
Interests were deeply entangled everywhere.
Jeong Seonghwan's biggest worry: Jihyun could be traded off for DH Group's benefit.
Her father, Yoo Daeho, was exactly the type.
"Control the information. Thoroughly."
But his aide looked troubled.
"Well..."
Jeong Seonghwan knew what that meant.
"Don't tell me it's already spreading?"
"No choice. With Jihyun clearing gates left and right, people were bound to take notice."
Jeong Seonghwan clutched his throbbing temple.
"Haa..."
"What do we do?"
It wasn't the aide's fault, but Jeong Seonghwan couldn't hold back his rising voice.
"What do you mean? Meet Jihyun right now!"
"Y-yes, sir. Oh, and one more thing to report..."
"What!!"
"That Enhancer Kim Woojin with the reinforcement ability we mentioned. We're contacting him today."
"Is that the priority now? Handle it yourself!"
"Yes, sir."
To soothe his weary mind and body from experimenting with Imbue, Woojin picked up his phone again.
He logged back into Jaya's YouTube channel.
Woojin loved this video.
As the first one featuring a product made by him and Sangjin together, it held special meaning.
Sangjin grumbled at him.
"Watching that during your break again? What are you, a baby? Looping one video infinitely?"
"Mind your own business. Kid. You got no love for the product... Huh? What's this."
Checking the comments again, Woojin saw Jaya had replied to the hate comments he'd seen earlier.
The reply to the first one read:
Jaya's Korean typing had improved a lot.
Impressive.
The reply to the second hate comment was longer:
Damn... Still companies out there working people 14 hours a day?
He'd look into it later and report them to labor authorities.
Sangjin peeked over and commented on the screen.
"You wanna crush them that bad?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm... Alright then?"
Sangjin's eyes sharpened.
Right then, as the brothers watched, Jaya and the troll started exchanging comments in real-time like a chat.
"Whoa? They're going at it?"
"F-for real?"
Woojin couldn't comprehend the troll.
Why waste time so obsessively? What did it matter if it was real or fake? Did debunking it change the troll's life?
"Dude, why's he like that? Did we kill his family or something?"
"No reason. Just for fun."
"And why should the victim prove anything? He's nuts."
"That's how it is there. Brag? Proof. Poor? Proof. Good grades? Proof. Handsome? Proof. Ugly? Proof. Proof, proof, proof. Place is full of proof-obsessed maniacs."
Sangjin smirked slyly from the side.
"This could be fun. Gimme your phone. This is the shop's official account, right?"
"?? Uh? What's a public account?"
"Never mind. I'll use mine."
Sangjin grabbed his phone.
With a wicked grin.
Woojin knew that look well.
Whenever Sangjin made that face, someone ended up... well, not dead, but in deep shit.
Back in school, he'd set traps for a bully who tormented Woojin, dragging the kid and his parents to the police station.
Woojin couldn't even imagine the process.
Feeling a chill, Woojin warned him.
"Hey, whatever it is, don't!"
Sangjin grinned back.
"Why? You said crush 'em."
"That face! It's sleazy. I said crush, not kill."
"Why would I kill someone, you psycho?"
"Socially killing is murder too, punk!"
Ignoring him, Sangjin typed a reply.
Woojin glared at his brother after reading it.
"This is your 'warrior' keyboard shit?"
"Shut up. Watch. He'll bite. You can size up these types from comments alone. He's pissed."
And like clockwork, the troll replied.
Sangjin set his phone down, satisfied.
Woojin asked.
"That's it?"
"I know these types. Poke 'em a bit, and they'll self-destruct. Even if not, he's just a broke whiner who never tried the product. Ending it like this ain't bad."
"...I didn't raise you to be this sly... Weird..."
"He needs to learn the world has crazier shit than he imagines. People enter games, so magic chopsticks are tame."
Woojin nodded emphatically.
"But why step in after telling me to chill?"
"You seemed distracted. Plus, this could go viral."
Still, knowing Sangjin handled it, Woojin felt good.
Jaya wouldn't get harassed anymore.
"Alright, dinner out tonight."
Sangjin's head snapped around at "dinner out," eyes gleaming.
"Menu?"
"Dakgalbi. Fried rice for the main."
"You checked all orders?"
Woojin sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, dude. 32 orders this week! 156 in stock! Plenty left."
Sangjin grinned.
"Sweet! Soju time after ages!!"
"You know it. Enjoy after hard work!"
"Notifications off? Don't half-ass dinner checking alerts."
The shop notifications were off.
Alerts had wrecked their daily rhythm.
They'd check morning, evening, and reviews at set times only.
"Yeah, better with 'em off. Used to it now. No alerts, feels alive. Let's go wild guilt-free."
Sangjin said, donning his jacket.
"Dakgalbi's done for."
The next day.
"Ugh, my head..."
Woojin and Sangjin had gone hard last night.
Sales were steady, Woosang Shop growing—it felt rewarding.
Sangjin stuck to beer, enjoying brotherly chat without overdoing it.
He admired his brother. Not authoritarian like others said.
Like a friend, he listened well.
Running the shop together proved it—Woojin griped but never refused.
If curious, pride be damned, he'd ask and learn. Sangjin was sure Woojin could've outshone him in studies.
"Sangjin... Water... I'm dying..."
Woojin had downed five soju bottles solo. Sangjin had three beers, hangover similar.
Still, he fetched water for his bro, washed up, and checked Woosang alerts.
Sangjin suddenly yelled while checking.
"Wh-what the hell!?"
Woojin, mid-sip, spat out the water at the shout.
His brother rarely freaked like that.
"Pfft! Hack! Cough cough! What! What happened!"
Choking, but curious, Woojin crowded the laptop.
Seeing the screen, he yelled too.
"F-fucking insane!!! What is this!!!???"
The brothers stared at each other with trembling eyes.
"B-bro...?"
"You idiot! Check what happened first! Click it!"
As they'd talked yesterday, sometimes reality surpasses imagination.