Absolute Dweller-Chapter 238

The downside of enchanting items was that it was rare to get useful abilities for the money spent.

Most enchantments were of the lowest grade, "common," and those typically only offered small increases to strength or stamina.

The rare-grade "Durability Enhancement" was a near one-in-a-thousand occurrence.

For me, it was a feature that didn’t offer much value.

‘It’s much more beneficial to use that money to level up the guardians or assign personal quests.’

However, from the citizens’ perspective, it was a bit different.

For them, in order to increase their strength or stamina even a little, they had to put in a lot of effort.

Unless they received rewards from daily quests, they had to either train or hunt monsters to level up, and as they leveled up, the efficiency of those methods dropped.

Thus, as their levels increased, the value of the small effects granted by enchantments became more pronounced.

For this reason, enchanted items were particularly popular among the so-called "hunters" who hunted monsters.

Moreover, once they reached around level 20 and started targeting orcs, they could easily earn hundreds of thousands of won per day, making the 3 million won cost for enchantments negligible.

It was unclear who started the trend, but soon everyone was carrying enchanted items, and the first rare-grade effect, "Durability Enhancement," was born.

And then.

‘I paid 1 billion won as a reward.’

Actually, I didn’t need to give away the 1 billion won just by registering the item in the store.

However, I chose to reward the person who got that option.

It was a very strategic decision.

‘If anyone else pulls the durability enhancement option with another weapon, I promised to give the same reward.’

I also said the same for other useful functions.

The result after those words was inevitable.

From that point on, enchantments weren’t just about spending 3 million won to get a decent effect.

Spending 3 million won became a lottery, where you could potentially pull 1 billion won.

‘Enchanting became hugely popular.’

Among hunters, some invested all the money they earned into enchanting, doing it dozens of times.

As more and more people actually received the 1 billion won reward, the popularity of enchantments exploded.

Soon, even non-hunters started using enchanted items.

As a result, one major change occurred.

‘The burden of enchantments decreased.’

With the demand for enchanted items skyrocketing, even items with common-grade enchantments could be sold for money in the marketplace.

Of course, they had to sell at a loss, but it was important that they could recover at least half of the cost.

As demand grew, enchantments, which were initially limited to weapons and armor, began to expand into everyday items.

Shoes that made long walks less painful, training clothes that improved workout efficiency, and supplements that maximized fatigue recovery.

Enchantments were being applied to all sorts of items, with a wide variety of options emerging.

‘When you get a "premium" option, it’s possible to sell for more than the enchantment cost.’

In fact, there were quite a few useful items among them.

It was so impressive that Kim Da-bin even opened a new department.

The items piled up in the warehouse were being distributed to military units and hunting teams as needed and were being used in the right places.

‘It’s time to change the reward payment system a bit.’

If you register 10 items with the same enchantment effect, an [Enchant Orb] is created.

The effect was simple.

Using it on an item would grant that effect.

Now, it no longer made sense to pull the "Durability Enhancement" option from the enchanting workshop.

‘I should tell Kim Da-bin to make an announcement about this.’

It wasn’t just durability enhancement.

[10 items with the same enchantment effect have been registered in the store.]

[‘Sharpness Enchantment Orb’ has been created.]

[10 items with the same enchantment effect have been registered in the store.]

[‘Acceleration Enchantment Orb’ has been created.]

[10 items with the same enchantment effect have been registered in the store.]

[‘Bleeding Enchantment Orb’ has been created.]

I registered all the rare-grade items that had been collected in the warehouse.

As a result, I was able to acquire three more Enchant Orbs.

‘The rest still isn’t enough.’

That would be solved with time.

Among the rare-grade items, there were four that didn’t grant the 1 billion won reward, so enchantment popularity might die down for a while, but that was fine too.

‘It feels a bit too heated right now anyway.’

It was already starting to feel like it was shifting from investment to gambling.

‘It’s probably better to tone it down a bit.’

While thinking this, I checked the remaining shop slots, and there was exactly one left.

‘All the rare-grade ones are already registered…’

But I didn’t want to register an item with a premium option in the shop.

Even though the 10 identical items would turn into an Enchant Orb, it would still occupy one slot.

I didn’t want to waste a single slot.

‘Hmm. What should I do?’

After some brief contemplation, I decided to wait.

‘If I wait, one of the rare-grade items should come up. I’ll tell Kim Da-bin to make an announcement in the meantime.’

***

Seomyeon, Busan.

It had now become the center of South Korea, even more than Seoul.

The most active place in Seomyeon was the apartment complex where Kim Jae-hyun lived.

At 114-dong, where he resided, there were still many people gathering today.

"Wow, look at the line. Is this all for the enchantment?"

"…Looks like it."

The enchantment workshop.

It was located on the first floor, room 102, of the apartment building.

The line, starting from room 102, extended all the way outside the building.

It looked like there were at least a few hundred people.

"I didn’t expect this even though I came early in the morning... How long do we have to wait?"

"I heard it's at least six hours."

"…Should we just buy something useful from the marketplace instead?"

"What are you saying? My luck is really good, okay? If I get even one rare-grade, it's 1 billion. Are you really going to give up?"

"Hey, logically, do you think that’s going to happen?"

"Of course it will. Why wouldn’t it?"

"Ugh, I don’t know anymore."

Kang Jae-wook was somewhat confident in his luck.

In reality, he had always lived a lucky life.

He was born into a wealthy family, grew up without hardship, and made a fortune from Bitcoin and stock investments.

To be honest, all of those were purely luck.

‘It wasn’t luck, it was more of a gut feeling.’

Unlike others, he didn’t have deep insights or knowledge about Bitcoin or stocks.

In fact, he could say he was completely ignorant about it.

The fact that his investments turned out to be successful was entirely thanks to his gut feeling.

‘The reason I survived when the monsters appeared was also because of that.’

By sheer luck, after making money from his investments, the first thing he did was buy an apartment.

That apartment was the one in Seomyeon.

He also forcibly brought his parents, who had been living in Haeundae, to this place.

And what was the result?

‘Thanks to that, my whole family is living here.’

It wasn’t just that.

His habit of buying bottled water had helped him endure more easily than others.

When food ran out, he could count on Kim Jae-hyun’s help, and somehow, he ended up working for the administration and getting paid.

After that, he continued living a safe and peaceful life with his family.

But there was one thing he regretted.

‘I should’ve joined the military back then.’

When the corpse legion attacked, he had the chance to join the military.

He had served in the artillery as a fire control specialist and discharged as a sergeant after his service ended.

At that time, Kang Jae-wook didn't trust his instincts for the first time.

No matter how much his instincts told him, he couldn't accept the idea of going back to the military.

Despite how much his gut urged him, he didn’t want to give up his peaceful daily life and risk his life to fight monsters.

To be honest, he was scared.

It was something that could really lead to death.

‘How foolish I was.’

But who would have guessed that it would turn out to be the lottery?

The people who had bravely chosen to fight back then came back as multi-billionaires, all having surpassed level 50.

‘I should have gone then.’

It was a regret, but it was something that couldn’t be helped.

A friend who had been standing in line with him at the time said.

“I still don’t want to do it. It feels like a waste of money.”

“What?”

“Do your best. Let me know the results. I’m going home to get some sleep.”

“Wait a second.”

Kang Jae-wook grabbed his friend, Kim Young-bin, with a serious expression.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

“Yeong-bin.”

“…Yeah?”

“Can you lend me some money?”

“….”

Kim Young-bin’s eyes showed several emotions.

Kang Jae-wook tried to persuade him.

“I’ll pay you back with 10% interest. You know I’m a public servant.”

Being a public servant meant having a job with the rank of ‘economic activity population’ selected by the administration.

Kang Jae-wook’s rank was ‘Assistant,’ and he received 300,000 won per day.

If there was a bank, his trustworthiness would be top-tier.

“How much?”

“Lend me 30 million.”

Kim Young-bin looked at him with a disappointed expression.

“Why are you going this far? Why do you need the money?”

Kang Jae-wook hesitated for a moment before answering.

“You know I work for the rescue team, right?”

“I know.”

“Recently, I saw someone die right in front of me.”

“...”

“It was a child, no older than 10.”

“...”

“I was too weak, and that’s why they died.”

“...”

“I looked into it, and in order to get stronger quickly, I need quite a bit of money.”

“...Alright.”

Kim Young-bin sighed deeply and spoke.

“I guess you won’t get your senses back until you lose big. If that’s the case, go ahead and blow it all out.”

“Thank you. Really.”

After transferring the money through the marketplace, Kim Young-bin continued chatting in line with him before leaving.

“Here’s a gift. If you get tired waiting, you can eat this. You’ll need the energy.”

“Thanks. You should go home and sleep too. You must be tired.”

Kang Jae-wook waved his hand while putting the chocolate Kim Young-bin gave him into his pocket.

After his friend left, he had to wait for another two hours before it was finally his turn.

The man who had been ahead of him came out of room 102, his face grim.

“Next, please come in.”

Kang Jae-wook entered and sat down as the woman sitting by the desk briefly explained.

“You have up to 5 minutes per person. Time starts as soon as you enter, so please proceed with the enchantment as quickly as possible.”

“How do I do it?”

“Place the item on the altar and then put your hand on the crystal ball.”

Kang Jae-wook quickly placed his sword on the altar and touched the crystal ball to save time.

[3,000,000 won is consumed.]

Whirrrrr—

His heart raced.

‘Please.’

At that moment.

Fwwwoooosh—

The sword on the altar glowed with a blue light.

“Oh my.”

“Wait, what’s happening?”

The staff member, who had been sitting quietly, looked at the altar and, in a raised voice, said.

“Durability Enhancement! Congratulations! You’ve hit the jackpot!”

“Really? Is that true?”

As dopamine flooded his system, he was about to rejoice, but then—

[This is a notice for everyone at the Enchantment Workshop.]

[As of now, items with the Durability Enhancement, Sharpness, Acceleration, or Bleeding enchantments will no longer receive rewards.]

[We repeat the announcement.]

[As of now, Durability Enhancement...]

The telepathic message rang in his head, instantly wiping away his joy.

“What does that mean?”

“…Don’t worry. It’s probably because the announcement came just before you. It should be taken into consideration. Probably.”

It felt like a bolt from the blue.

“Well, you still have items to enchant, so how about finishing the process? There are about 3 minutes left.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Trying to ignore the growing anxiety, Kang Jae-wook proceeded with the enchantment.

However, after that, no more light came from the altar.

He felt vibrations from the crystal ball, but that was all.

Everything was common-grade.

‘Status window.’

He still had about 10 million won left.

But there were no more items to enchant.

“…There are 10 seconds left.”

And the last opportunity was this final chance.

‘Anything left? Nothing?’

As he was about to consider using his clothes for enchanting, a piece of chocolate fell from his pocket.

‘Ugh!’

He nearly threw it, but instead, he quickly placed the chocolate on the altar and proceeded with the enchantment.

And then.

Whirrr—!!

An unexpected reaction occurred.

Fwwwoooosh—

Intense purple light burst out from the chocolate.

“Hmm?”

After the light subsided, the staff quickly checked the chocolate on the altar.

And then.

“W-Wow! This is... a new grade! A Unique-grade option!”

“…Huh?”