I Level Up With In-app Purchases

EP.104 Enhancement is Gambling (1)

Clang!!!!!

A sound that rings exceptionally clear.

“Success? Please be a success. Success, success, success, success!!!!!!!”

“More?”

“Kyaa! More, more, more, more! One more time!!”

Clang!!!!!!

But for someone, this sound might not always be a happy one.

“Did it succeed?”

“Failed. It’s +8 now.”

“Urrrrrgh!!!!”

Ariane twists her whole body.

I felt a sense of guilt about making this rich young lady suffer so much.

“Why don’t you stop now? Do you even know how many hours it’s been? You haven’t even eaten while doing this.”

The special item she brought as sales revenue was incredibly expensive.

The sales amount alone was a whopping 300 million.

I can’t even describe how shocked I was.

When I added another 300 million in-app purchase, I even got an achievement for breaking 500 million.

When I reached 200 million in purchases, they gave an update, but contrary to expectations, they didn’t give anything that great for reaching 500 million in purchases.

‘Even clicking is becoming difficult.’

To be honest, I wondered if it was really necessary to spend this much money on enhancement.

Surprisingly, Ariane seemed to have good luck, as she reached +9 without much difficulty.

‘What if she had listened to my advice and stopped at +9? Or at least stopped at +10?’

If she hadn’t been so unnecessarily obsessed with +12, the enhancement would have ended long ago.

But Ariane, true to her upbringing as a daughter of a family that had never known financial hardship, shouted GO without question or hesitation.

+12 at all costs.

And the result of that was the current +8.

No matter how much money she had, the enhancement just wouldn’t succeed, and it was driving her crazy.

“Why!!! Why isn’t it working!! Why won’t it work for me!!”

Ariane’s dejected cry made me feel dejected too.

At first, I teased her saying, “Oops! My hand slipped!” but as more and more was poured in, I couldn’t even say that anymore.

“Hang in there, kid. You’ve maxed out the stats. +12 is honestly a bit unrealistic, let’s compromise with +11. You’ve reached +10 several times, so it’s worth trying for.”

“No!!! It’s meaningless if it’s not +12!”

“We’re running out of time. It’s already very late, you know? Aren’t you going back to the dorm?”

Judging by her lack of response, it seems she really doesn’t intend to go back.

She can’t even see the enhancement effect in front of her, so I couldn’t understand why she was so obsessed with +12.

“Is there a reason why it has to be +12?”

“No noble wants to use something that’s not perfect. That’s just how it is.”

Ariane’s serious answer, which I had never felt from her before, automatically made me close my mouth.

Is this what they call noble pride?

I didn’t expect her to be this serious about +12.

It seems they don’t know the word ‘cost-effectiveness’.

“Alright, then let’s go for +12 all night. When you think of money as infinite, the only thing we need more of to get to +12 is time.”

“Please, please +12!! +12!!! I’ll get you another one similar to what I paid for your hard work today. So please make it stick!”

It’s not like I can make it happen just because I want to…

“Is it really okay for you to spend your family’s money like this? Shouldn’t you be more careful, especially after causing trouble last time?”

“It’s fine! Because of what happened with the boss last time, my dad will do anything I say these days.”

“Ah, I see?”

I wondered why she was so confident, but it turns out she’s been using me to her advantage.

Since Ariane said she would pay generously for the enhancement, I couldn’t remain passive anymore.

It seemed like the time had come to use any means necessary.

“Alright, let’s stop here for now.”

“Huh?! But you just said we’d go all night!”

“If we’re going to pull an all-nighter, we need to do it in the right place. I’m not badmouthing my own shop, but doing important things in just any place brings bad luck.”

Just like there are lucky spots for drawing, there are lucky spots for enhancement and NPCs who are particularly good at it.

Since I was playing the role of the NPC here, it was very convenient to change locations.

“???”

Ariane, not understanding the meaning of a lucky spot, expressed doubt at my words.

“If you don’t understand, just follow me. This is something that won’t work without faith, so don’t be too skeptical.”

Only with complete faith will heaven bestow a miracle.

I started walking down the street with Ariane.

“There are two methods. One is to enhancee at a place that you feel strangely drawn to, and the other is to enhancee at a famous spot in this city. Usually, places with meaning are special.”

“Does changing locations increase the probability?”

“No, there’s nothing like that.”

“????”

I decided to be understanding of Ariane’s confused expression since she was still a beginner.

“You’ll understand when you do it more. This doesn’t work by just blindly enhancing. It’s these efforts that come together to create results.”

So I gave Ariane the choice of location, and after much consideration, she chose one famous spot in the city.

“This zelkova tree is really old. There’s a legend that if a couple who just started dating has a date here, they can live happily together for a long time.”

It was under a large zelkova tree with a legend that academy students would likely enjoy.

“I didn’t know a place like this existed.”

I thought I had been all around the academy city, but apparently not.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

We decided to start the enhancement again.

I may not be a blacksmith, but I pride myself on my skill in pressing the enhancement button.

‘If she wants it that badly, I should help her get it.’

+12

Let’s give it a shot.

Clang!!!!!!

The enhancement began once again.

“Failed.”

And it became +7.

Clang!! Clang!!!!! Claaaaaang!!!!!!!!!!

How many times did I click that hammer icon?

“Don’t give up!!”

Those who challenge are beautiful, but it inevitably takes a long time to reap the fruits.

The enhancement that started again under the zelkova tree succeeded in reaching +11, but failed in the attempt for +12.

At this point, both of us were a bit mentally drained, so we took a short break.

“J-just one more time. Just one more, please.”

Ariane, with sunken eyes, said while tightly gripping my collar.

Seeing that, I nodded as if I still had strength left.

We rise from our failure and begin climbing again for the +12 challenge.

Clang!!!

+4→+5

Clang!!!

+5→+4

Claaang!!!!

+4→+5

+5→+6

“Ugh…”

The numbers keep going back and forth.

We’re treading water, unable to go above +6.

‘Is this enhancement probability even correct?!’

+6→+5

+5→+4

+4→+5

It’s repeating the same range so much that I’m starting to suspect someone tampered with the probabilities.

I was about to get angry.

“It’s +5 again?”

“Alright, let’s focus and go again. I have a good feeling this time. We’ll go straight to +11 without stopping.”

Clang! +6…

Clang!!! +7…!

We finally broke through.

Claaang!!!! +8….

The sound of the hammer striking is clear.

Clang!!! +9….

Claaang! +10!

“Ooooh!!!!”

“Feeling good. Let’s keep going!”

Claaaang!

+11!!!

Finally, we restored it to +11 and were about to attempt +12.

“Going for +12 now!”

“W-w-wait!!!”

Just as we were about to attempt +12!

Ariane urgently stopped me.

“Next time!! Let’s do it next time. The timing feels ominous right now!”

It seemed the shock of falling from +11 and bouncing between +4 and +5 for so long hadn’t fully worn off.

“You want to stop? Are you sure?”

It was 4:44 AM, after all.

It was a somewhat acceptable excuse for people in this world who consider the number 4 unlucky.

“Yes, let’s stop here. If we fail this time, we’ll have to keep going for hours more. The sun will rise soon, so I think it’s best to stop now.”

I gladly respected Ariane’s choice.

I handed over the +11 weapon to Ariane, and she seemed pleased, hugging her unique equipment tightly with a goofy smile.

“Are you satisfied?”

“I’m not satisfied yet! I’ll try for +12 later.”

It seemed she was scared to attempt +12 right away, but her pride wouldn’t let her say she wouldn’t do it at all.

‘This level of experience isn’t enough to truly taste the bitterness of enhancement.’

The amazing thing about Ariane is that, coming from such an extraordinary family, she doesn’t feel the impact of money being spent so freely.

Usually, you should feel that sticky, addictive taste that comes from the tightness of money, but that’s what real enhancement is about.

‘She’s just dizzy because +12 isn’t sticking, that’s all.’

Each enhancement attempt required not only destruction prevention but also increased success rate, costing over 40,000 won per click.

We clicked hundreds of times, so thousands of dollars were spent carelessly.

As the enhancement level increased, the required amount of Red Crystals for each attempt also increased, becoming one of the major expenses.

‘And yet, it’s amazing in many ways that she’s shocked not by spending that money, but by it not going up.’

Now that Ariane has tasted enhancement, I don’t think she’ll be back for a while.

Not because of the money spent, but because she realized how emotionally draining the enhancement process is.

‘She looked disgusted, but once she tries using that +11 unique equipment, she might not be able to forget the taste and come back.’

Didn’t they say it’s meaningless if it’s not +12?

I escorted Ariane to the academy gate, then returned to the general store, washed up, and lay down in bed.

I’m exhausted from clicking all night.

I knew it was almost time to open the general store, but I decided to take the day off.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

Academy students gathered to check the dean’s message posted in the corridor, whispering among themselves.

Murmur murmur —

“What’s going on? Why is the atmosphere like this?”

“Haven’t you heard the news? Look over there.”

“What news… huh?”

“They’ve banned all outings for the time being.”

“What? Why??”

“It’s written right there. Read it.”

With exams just around the corner.

The academy suddenly imposed an outing ban.

Since there had never been an outing ban before, all the students were bewildered.

“An academy student went missing? Is this even possible? Who would do such a thing?”

“They must be investigating now. How did this happen? Poor thing.”

The kidnapping of a lower-grade academy student.

It was not an issue that could be taken lightly.

“If they’re targeting lower grades, doesn’t that mean we’re not involved?”

“Let’s just put up with the inconvenience. If we get mixed up in this, what about our exams?”

With exams approaching, most students decided to comply with the outing ban.

“We wouldn’t be going out anyway because of exam studying.”

“That’s true…”

The problem would come after the exams ended.

It’s only natural to want to relieve the stress built up during exams.

They needed to resolve this issue before then so the outing ban could be lifted.

However, the situation that students thought would be resolved quickly was progressing more slowly than expected.

“We can’t find any traces.”

“Not even the knights?!”

“Is that all you have to say, so irresponsibly? When the exams are over, students will ask for the outing ban to be lifted. Shouldn’t you at least tell us what to do?”

Knights dispatched by the state were searching the academy city, and academy teachers were also looking around the city outskirts every night after classes, searching for the missing children.

But they couldn’t find any traces of the children anywhere.

It was as if they had vanished without a trace, suggesting a meticulously planned operation.

The knight investigating this incident pointed to Awakened Ones as the reason for not being able to find the children.