WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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Chapter 4: Enhancement

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I slept in again today and woke up in the afternoon as usual.

[Tower of Trials#2661 (1/1)]

I'd thought at least one person would enter by around day three, but I was still alone in the Tower today.

So far, there hadn't been anything that required a party, so it was probably fine. Still, were newbies usually this rare?

I opened the Open Community and looked into how many newbies were entering other servers. The differences between servers seemed pretty huge.

Apparently, more than a hundred newbies had been thrown into a server in a single day before. Then again, some servers went nearly a month without any news at all.

Our country supposedly had a large population compared to the number of Towers, so gaps like that were rare.

Either way, three days without anyone entering wasn't particularly strange. Someone would show up when the time came.

"Then... I'll start with enhancement today."

After ordering a 200G breakfast at the inn to fill my stomach, I headed to the village blacksmith.

The Tower of Trials was structured a lot like an RPG. Its system for enhancing weapons and armor with materials was no different.

[Steel Straight Sword]

Attack Power +35 (Slash)

Critical Damage: x2.0

Durability 200/200

Enhancement Attempts Remaining: 5

Those were the stats of the [Steel Straight Sword] I was using now. Since it was a shop weapon, it didn't have any equipment requirements.

Attack Power showed the weapon's basic strength, while the (Slash) next to it showed its attack type.

A Slash-type weapon only applied its full Attack Power when used for slashing attacks. If this had been a hammer instead of a sword, it would've said (Strike).

Attack types also had different additional effects. Slash-type attacks could inflict bleed damage by chance.

The Critical Damage below that showed the damage multiplier when a critical hit occurred, like when I'd killed that Goblin yesterday.

It said 2.0, so I guessed that meant roughly double damage. Still, people on the Open Community said I shouldn't trust displayed numbers too much.

Apparently, even critical hits varied in power depending on where they landed. Of course, a higher number was always better.

Durability didn't need an explanation. Once it hit zero, steel and mithril alike would snap clean in half.

The most important stat was the one at the bottom, Enhancement Attempts Remaining.

Every weapon could only be enhanced as many times as that number allowed.

"Welcome~ What can I do for you?"

I approached the blacksmith, who delivered the line without a trace of emotion, and held out my [Steel Straight Sword].

The shop-bought [Steel Straight Sword] had five enhancement attempts. Since failures also used up an attempt, getting it to +5 wasn't easy.

The base enhancement chance was exactly 50%, so the chance of succeeding all five times was only a little over 3%. I'd barely ever beaten odds like that in my life.

But that was fine. I had the enormous pile of Enhancement Materials I'd collected yesterday.

Using additional materials during enhancement increased the success rate accordingly. Filling it to the limit gave me a 90% chance.

Unless I was unbelievably unlucky, I'd get at least four successes. I fed in the materials and hit the enhancement button.

Naturally, I selected [Sharp], the option that raised Attack Power, and naturally, the result was...

[+5 Steel Straight Sword]

Attack Power +65 (Slash)

Critical Damage: x2.0

Durability 200/200

Enhancement Attempts Remaining: 0

...A clean +5. Even though it was a shop weapon, it now performed better than most boss-drop items.

And I still had Enhancement Materials to spare. I immediately enhanced each piece of armor as many times as possible.

Seo Jinhyeok Lv.14 (Unemployed)

HP: 260/260

MP: 175/175

Strength: 20 (14+6)

Agility: 16 (14+2)

Durability: 20 (14+6)

Intelligence: 14

My stats had visibly changed through equipment enhancement alone. Including the Attack Power that didn't show up in my Status Window, my effective level was over 20.

Obviously, that wasn't something a day-three player could achieve. I took screenshots of my Equipment Window and Status Window and posted them straight to the Open Community.

"Heh, they're losing it."

The Open Community addicts' intense reactions made the corners of my mouth rise on their own.

But my third day hadn't even begun yet.

Now that I was done enhancing, it was time to level up in the Labyrinth again.

* * *

I hadn't changed classes yet, so I didn't have a single skill, but that wasn't a problem for hunting in the Labyrinth.

I'd been able to slaughter regular Goblins yesterday, so today I tried facing stronger monsters like Goblin Soldiers and Goblin Squad Leaders.

They moved very differently from regular Goblins, like you'd expect from stronger monsters. But they were fast and nimble, so what?

"Hyaaah!"

-Swish!

The [Steel Straight Sword], enhanced to +5 with Sharp, swung once and sent a Goblin Soldier's head flying.

Two Goblin Soldiers behind it shrieked and thrust their spears, but they were easily blocked by the shield I raised, the [World Rabbit Encyclopedia].

Honestly, I didn't even need to raise my shield. The effects of my armor and shield were always applied.

Just as my weapon's Attack Power had more than doubled through enhancement, my Defense was now four times higher after enhancing each piece of armor.

-Thud!

A Goblin Squad Leader standing behind the soldiers shot forward like a bullet and swung its axe, but it felt like getting hit with a pillow.

"What are you doing? Come at me!"

I shouted at the Goblins and charged in. One body slam sent two of them tumbling over.

I hacked down at the fallen Goblins with my sword, and their lives were snuffed out as experience flowed in.

Goblin Squad Leaders looked exactly like regular Goblins, but their combat ability was far higher, so they were called the natural enemies of newbies.

They were supposedly responsible for more than half the deaths of clueless first-floor newbie Challengers, so they had to be dangerous monsters.

"You fucking scrub!"

And here I was, a newbie only three days in, killing Goblin Squad Leaders while laughing in their faces. It was an absolute rout.

That was all thanks to me being able to monopolize Tower 2661's resources by myself. When I first entered the Tower, I thought I'd be dirt-poor even as a Hunter.

Not at all. I was now in the exact privileged position I'd always dreamed of.

Ah, this was what it meant to turn your life around.

* * *

Today's Labyrinth hunt was sweet too.

Leveling up was nice, but I got an especially large number of treasure chests today. Eight Medium Treasure Chests alone.

I also got two Large Treasure Chests. Apparently, even Rankers on other servers had barely gotten their hands on Large Treasure Chests in the Labyrinth, yet I'd already opened two of them.

The Large Treasure Chests contained the Enhancement Materials I already had too much of, piles of gold, and Unique items with special effects.

[Vampire's Ring]

Defense +5

Intelligence +2

20% chance to recover 5% of HP upon defeating an enemy.

Enhancement Attempts Remaining: 2

It was a ring accessory that couldn't normally be obtained on the first floor, and it could be enhanced on top of having stats and a special effect.

There weren't many rings that boosted base stats other than Defense, and even fewer that had enhancement attempts.

Accessories with special effects like this were rare too, not just rings. It was an incredibly rare item.

"Fuck... this is a real jackpot."

There was no way to sell it right now, but if I could sell it later to Challengers aiming to become Rankers or high-ranking Hunters, it would fetch a hefty price.

Besides that, I got a few armor pieces better than shop gear and completed several quests for pretty decent rewards.

Any of those things would make newbies in other Towers lose their minds, but they weren't a big deal to someone monopolizing an entire Tower.

"This is the life."

Ever since entering the Tower of Trials, every moment had been a dopamine rush.

I felt like I was getting addicted to the stimulation and pleasure I'd never have experienced if I'd continued living my worthless, dirt-poor life.

And the final destination of all that dopamine was, of course, flexing on the Open Community.

[Author: Seo Jinhyeok#2661]

[Title: How's a day-three Tower newbie's build?]

(Photo)

Like yesterday, I rented the most expensive room and immediately flopped onto the bed to start browsing the Open Community.

It was so fun seeing comments asking how anyone could have these stats after only three days, with some even claiming it was fake.

I stayed absorbed in the Open Community until dawn again, then woke up late in the afternoon the next day.

[Tower of Trials#2661 (1/1)]

No other Challenger entered today either. I was still alone in the Tower, but I didn't think much of it.

Looking back, I think that was the last day I could simply be happy.

What I'd thought on the day I was dropped into this insane Tower by myself had been right.

Yeah. My life was completely fucked.

Footnotes:

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