God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 149: Episode 29_Kenji Performs, Simin Profits (4)

Chapter 149: Episode 29_Kenji Performs, Simin Profits (4)

6.

It was a lopsided massacre.

The gap was so overwhelming that even the viewers felt a twinge of, ’Isn’t this going a bit too far?’

The dwarven village was full of dwarves, and the Specialists hadn’t even joined the fight, yet the difference in power was so obvious that anyone would think the same.

“...Every time I see it, it’s just broken. Seriously.”

No one could deny it.

“Forget control or anything—he’s just smashing everything.”

And there was no reason to deny it.

If anything, that was the last line of defense keeping the viewers from dying of sheer frustration.

’At least he doesn’t have godlike mechanics on top of everything else.’

’At least God is fair.’

Of course, that was nothing more than self-soothing.

Objectively, Simin was dodging every critical attack. He might not have been on Jeong Seolah’s level in terms of control, but he was clearly demonstrating game sense well above that of an average player.

It was just that his gear overshadowed everything.

“Phew! That was a nice warm-up. Been a while.”

More than anything, the biggest reason this turned into a one-sided slaughter was the Kaiser Guild’s level.

They were a guild that, like Kenji’s, took over hunting grounds and farmed with large numbers of players, but the money backing them and their members’ mentality were completely different.

They were people who logged in to earn some pocket money and level up when they felt like it, ambling through the game.

How were they supposed to beat Han Simin, who played more than twenty hours a day and poured every ounce of luck in the universe into his gear?

On top of that, his level wasn’t even that much higher anymore. If anything, some of them were probably lower than his.

Enjoying a game wasn’t a crime.

But bullying others without the strength to back it up was.

So Han Simin coldly killed them all, looted their items, and even shook them down for cash before finishing them off.

Silence filled the air.

On top of that, he now had the dwarves’ admiring gazes.

Even if the dwarves had fought, the outcome might not have been much different.

However, the dwarves had little interaction with humans.

The thought that a few of their own might have died if they had stepped in created a sliver of gratitude toward Han Simin.

“Shall we continue where we left off?”

“Ah!”

Not to mention, their fondness for the ore had only grown.

Their attitude toward Han Simin and the Specialists had changed.

No, more accurately, it was reverence for the ore itself.

“Where did you obtain this?”

The dwarven chieftain’s tone had become respectful.

The moment Han Simin felt that suspicious gaze running up and down his body, he realized.

’Do they think I’m a dragon?’

It was a cliché straight out of a cheap fantasy novel, and it made no sense—but this was a game, so anything was possible.

He didn’t know exactly what the ore from the otter’s mine was used for, but judging from the dwarves’ attitude, it was clearly extraordinary.

So he decided to push it a little.

“I got it from my lair.”

He gasped silently.

He clasped his hands behind his back, tilted his chin up slightly, gazed at the sky, and dropped the line in a solemn tone.

’Would they really fall for this?’

He had nothing to lose by trying.

It was also a way to shake the dwarves, who still seemed half in doubt.

And technically, it wasn’t even a lie.

’The otter’s den is my den now.’

If the otter had heard that, it would have wailed in despair, but the dwarves reacted to his lie.

“Could it be...”

“Ahem. I am in the middle of a pastime. There is no need for formalities.”

“...Hup!”

At a line so obvious that anyone who had read even a single fantasy novel would recognize it as bullshit, the squat dwarf—who looked like you couldn’t draw blood from him with a needle—flinched and stumbled back in fear.

* * *

He had wondered.

“This ore is...”

“Yes. It is mithriltein, passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years.”

Even as he looked at the ore the sentry dwarf had rushed over with—

Even as he confirmed that it was identical in every way to the ore that had been bestowed upon them by a Dragon Elder and passed down only to the chieftain—

He still left room for doubt.

The continent was vast, and there were many kinds of ore.

It was possible this was just some human who had picked it up somewhere, not a dragon.

That was why he had deliberately spoken down to him, as he would to any ordinary human.

Fortunately, the man didn’t react. Instead, he responded politely and even ratted out the humans who had come with him.

That was when suspicion began to creep in.

’Why?’

Dwarves were not fools.

The other dwarves might have been too dazzled by the ore to think that deeply, but the chieftain was different.

He was the one who had to protect the village.

More important than the fact that they now held ore that only dragons had used hundreds of years ago was the question of why the one who brought it here had come in the first place.

Once he focused on that, everything seemed off.

The casual words Han Simin had tossed out now all carried weight.

That certainty solidified when he saw him, alone, slaughtering his fellow humans with a blazing crimson aura.

’Perhaps...’

’He really might be a dragon.’

A human with mythic-grade equipment?

The thought was absurd.

The tension ratcheted up.

Even so, he didn’t jump to conclusions. He probed, just a little.

He asked where he had obtained it.

And then—

The man brazenly asserted himself.

If he was a dragon, he must be polymorphed into a human form.

’Do dragons normally reveal themselves like this while they’re playing?’

Why else would they bother changing their appearance and blending into the human world?

Because that was what made it fun. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Whether as dragons or as dragons wearing human skins, once their identity was exposed, it was no longer a pastime.

Yet Han Simin drove the nail in anyway, and at that point, the chieftain gave up on trying to judge.

He had lived his whole life without ever meeting a dragon. How could he presume to decide what a dragon would or would not do?

“Pretend you don’t know. Just pretend you don’t.”

“...Yes, sir!”

He had been about to prostrate himself, but at the sharp hiss, he sprang back up and bowed instead.

The thought that this might just be a lying human never even crossed his mind.

That was the nature of dragons.

And the evidence was overwhelming.

’Mythic gear and mithriltein...’

Most dwarves would be lucky to see even one of those in their lifetime, yet this human held both.

Even if he wasn’t a dragon, it was not a waste to swallow his pride and bow.

And so, Han Simin became a dragon.

“Scriee!”

And the real dragon on his shoulder let out a cry.

7.

Han Simin had no idea why, but after tossing out a few worm-sized bits of bait, he had somehow become a dragon.

He had no intention of correcting them.

“So mithril and mithriltein are different things?”

“Yes, Your— I mean, yes, that’s correct.”

“And pure mithril is...?”

“Pure mithril is mithril with all impurities removed. Mithriltein is just a name we came up with ourselves.”

“Whew.”

The dwarves—the same dwarves who supposedly wouldn’t speak to a human unless he was one of the greatest blacksmiths alive—were now treating him with deference and kindness, all on their own. Why on earth would he bother correcting their misunderstanding?

He had been bowing and scraping, ready to hand over half the ore and accept the short end of the deal. But when opportunity knocked, he answered.

“So you’re saying it’s good stuff, then?”

“It’s harder than mithril and has a much higher affinity for mana. Among us dwarves, we call it the Ore of the Gods.”

Now that was the kind of answer he liked to hear.

Suddenly, the long journey felt entirely worth it.

’This is why people steal!’

It felt like rummaging through a family vault, grabbing a random painting, and then discovering it was the work of a world-renowned master.

“It must be expensive, right?”

The words slipped out before he could stop himself.

“Pardon?”

“I said, it must be expensive, right? At this level. How much do you think it would go for?”

The dwarf chieftain remained silent.

Naturally, that was not the sort of thing a dragon was supposed to say.

Which was exactly why the dwarf chieftain looked so flustered.

Han Simin, however, didn’t bat an eye and simply waited, brazenly, for an answer.

“I had to rush out, so I didn’t have time to grab any money. I only brought this.”

The chieftain was too stunned to speak.

’So what if a dragon is a little money-hungry?’

Under normal circumstances, even Han Simin would have thought, ’A dragon wouldn’t say that,’ and held himself back. But spending day after day with a gold-guzzling lizard on his shoulder had changed his perspective.

Apparently, dragons weren’t always above such petty things as currency.

He had always assumed dragons piled up gold and jewels in their lairs as a quirky hobby, or because they just shoved the constant tributes into a corner. But watching Squeaker, he couldn’t help wondering if maybe they were just trying to keep themselves fed.

His current behavior was a direct result of that line of thought.

“As for the price, I wouldn’t dare...”

The dwarf chieftain scrambled to think, blindsided by a question he had never imagined hearing.

’Sell this? For money?’

“How could we possibly...”

Every single piece looked like it ought to be forged into a masterpiece, and this dragon was talking about selling it?

He tried to do the math, then gave up.

He didn’t even want to entertain such a horrifying idea.

“By any chance...are you planning to sell this ore to humans?”

“Of course. I told you, I’m short on cash.”

“...Then, would it be acceptable if we were the ones to purchase it?”

Instead, he proposed a deal.

A deal. To a dragon.

He had no idea how he’d dared to entertain such a blasphemous thought when, by rights, even offering up every valuable in the village wouldn’t be enough. That was how desperate the chieftain was.

Perhaps his pride was dearer to him than his life.

Or perhaps it was sheer longing.

They had known for generations that this ore was extraordinary, yet because each piece was only about the size of a fist, they had never once dared to smelt it.

Now, it was piled up like a mountain.

And the dragon who owned it was trying to sell it.

’If he’s in human form, enjoying a little pastime, maybe—just maybe—he’ll agree to a trade.’

Han Simin nodded readily at the dwarf’s desperate hope.

“How much are you offering?”

Naturally, he followed it up with a question so difficult that no one in the world could answer it easily.

* * *

As the Unknown Mountains gradually became a no-go zone, viewers who had pinned their hopes on Han Simin for the final phase of the Main Quest’s second act spent all day watching both streams. Then, on the feed that had shown nothing but fog, they sensed a change.

– Hey? What’s that? The fog looks a bit thinner, doesn’t it?

– What are you talking about? Looks the same to me.

– Nah, I’ve watched every day. It’s definitely thinner.

Similar reactions began popping up all over the chat.

And it made sense. The Kenji Guild was currently standing just outside the mountain range, watching the fog.

Until now, the mist had been so thick they couldn’t even make out the range’s outline. The fact that they could now see it, however faintly, could only mean one thing.

Kenji seemed to have noticed it too, and his response was full of hope.

“As expected. I knew it couldn’t stay like that forever. From this point on, the fog will thin, and naturally, the monsters will weaken as well.”

The only difference between him and your average delusional braggart was that he went and verified it himself.

[The Curse of the Fog is activated.]

[All stats are reduced by 9%.]

[You have been afflicted by the Curse of the Fog. If you do not move outside a certain radius, your HP will continuously decrease.]

The curse was weakening, too.

That undeniable truth solidified into certainty.

At the same time, it heralded a single conclusion.

– We will raid Sudal, the final boss of Main Quest Act 2, and our Kenji Expedition will be the ones to seize that historic moment!

The end of a long war was at hand.

And the countdown on Han Simin’s time had begun.