I Level Up With In-app Purchases

EP.106 Enhancement is Gambling (3)

Even criminals would have enough sense not to show up when teachers are openly patrolling like today.

"Is everything alright?"

Even as I walked with Haeshi, I could feel the teachers keeping a close eye on us.

One teacher even went so far as to ask Haeshi if he was okay.

It was obvious they found me suspicious.

"It's fine! He's someone I know. He's walking with me because it's dangerous out here!"

"Ah, is that so? My apologies."

"Not at all. Thank you for your hard work, teacher."

Realizing that I was being suspected by the teachers, Haeshi gave quite a clever explanation.

Seeing him cling nervously to my leg afterward made me feel an unexpected surge of paternal affection.

I couldn't help but pat his head.

"What's that for!"

"You looked scared."

"I wasn't scared!"

Haeshi makes a cute protest by clenching his fist and hitting my abs.

Judging by how little force he used, he was being considerate even while upset.

'What could they be planning to do with kids like this after kidnapping them?'

Whoever did this won't get away easily.

The knights and teachers dispatched by the state are searching everywhere with bloodshot eyes, aren't they?

"They wouldn't dare come here, would they? Unless they have a death wish, they absolutely can't. We're deliberately taking the main road where there are lots of people, so don't worry."

"Hmph."

That bold kid who said he'd freeze any criminals who showed up seems to have disappeared somewhere, as he relaxes at my words.

With even the frontlines having disturbing rumors these days, it's devastating to see the Academy in this situation.

When I was a mercenary living among commoners, I often thought the world was going to ruin, but after coming to the Academy city and adjusting, I had fallen under the illusion that the world was still livable.

Sure enough, whether then or now, this

world really was heading towards ruin.

"The Academy!"

Finally spotting the Academy gates, Haeshi brightens up with relief and dashes forward.

Just as I was about to turn back, thinking he'd made it safely inside, Haeshi turns around to wave goodbye and thank me.

"Thanks for walking me back, mister! I'll come visit again when we're allowed out!"

"He's being quite casual with me, isn't he?"

I smirked and gave a short nod before turning to head back to my general store.

Then I was stopped by knights on the street.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?"

I hadn't expected this situation even while walking Haeshi back.

"I apologize, but do you have any identification on you?"

"...I run a general store right nearby so I didn't bring any. If you'd like to verify, I can show you at the store."

It seems the knights found me quite suspicious.

Since they were trying their best to find a kidnapped child, I decided not to get upset about it.

In times like these, isn't it natural to question someone suspicious hanging around the Academy?

"Here."

After showing my merchant license at the store, the knight finally stopped giving me suspicious looks.

"Have you noticed anything suspicious in the area?"

"Nothing so far, but I'll report immediately if I notice anything."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Though they were suspicious of me, I exchanged proper greetings with the polite knight who hadn't been rude until confirming my identity.

Only after the knight left did silence finally return to the general store.

"Alone again for a while, huh."

The Academy had imposed an outing ban for a while, and even though that ban was lifted, the entire city was under lockdown, causing student visits to the store to completely stop.

I know it's not strange since it's exam period, but...

'It's surprisingly lonely when they're not around.'

It was a strange feeling.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

BANG!!

I was taking a sweet nap in the general store when I suddenly woke up startled by a loud noise.

"What's that?"

I was confused, unable to grasp the situation, then sighed when I realized it was just the sound of the door opening.

For a moment, I thought something 'suspicious' that the knight had asked me about might have happened, but it was nothing serious.

"Mister!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Long time no see."

The customer who entered the general store was none other than Shine.

As I was waving hello to the kid I hadn't seen in a while, his face was notably flushed with excitement.

"Mister! What about Ariane?"

I was blank for a moment at Shine's sudden mention of Ariane before responding.

"Huh? Ariane? What about her?"

"The weapon! The weapon!!"

"Ah~ Ahh~ That's what you meant. Why? You want one too?"

"Of course I do!!! When our baby can shine so brightly, how could I not? If you'd told me earlier, I would've been the first in line."

Shine's eyes sparkled.

It seems he saw Ariane's reinforced weapon, but I never expected to get word-of-mouth business like this.

"How many reinforcements were you thinking of?"

"I heard it costs a lot, you know? But even Ariane didn't know exactly how much. So I brought what I could, but will this be enough until it runs out?"

After checking what Shine brought, I nodded.

"This should be more than enough to get to +10 and still have some left over."

Having run Extinction with Ariane before, I had a rough sense of how much reinforcement this amount could buy.

Though he couldn't bring 300 million right off the bat like Ariane, he'd brought enough to comfortably reach +10 with some to spare.

"+10? But Ariane's is +11! Her weapon was all sparkly. Purple sparkly. So I want to go to +12."

"Ah."

He talked about going to +11 but why did he conclude with +12?

"Didn't Ariane tell you the details?"

About how she tried for +12, failed through the night, and finally gave up at +11.

I thought if he'd heard that, he wouldn't rashly declare he was going for +12.

"I heard the story. That's exactly why I have to go for +12 even more."

"......"

I couldn't bring myself to say no to Shine's words.

That feeling when your friend gets to +9, so you have to get to +10.

How could I say I don't understand that?

If Ariane went to +11, then as her friend, Shine going for +12 is the proper attitude of friendship.

But maybe because I remembered the struggle under the zelkova tree a few days ago?

A negative response came out involuntarily.

"Getting to +12 is hard. It takes a long time too."

"Is this... not enough?"

"If you're aiming for +12 from the start, you need unlimited money."

Like Ariane casually bringing 300 million, you need to be prepared to use it all up.

What Shine brought today wasn't cheap, but thinking about +12 Extinction, it felt quite insufficient.

"Hmm... then there's no choice. Please keep going as far as you can for now."

"You're not planning to stop and be satisfied partway through?"

When I asked if he wouldn't stop even at +11 if it wasn't +12, Shine nodded.

"No, I won't stop."

Like Ariane's +12 Extinction, this was Shine's +12 Extinction.

Given how little money he had in his pocket, I predicted Shine's reinforcement would involve more hardship than Ariane's.

For the reinforcement, Shine's unique equipment left his hands for the first time in a while.

"Please take good care of our baby."

Geez, I'm not a kindergarten teacher.

"Want to do it here? Or go somewhere you prefer?"

"Ah! I heard about that. You do it at places where you get a good feeling, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I want to do it at the park. The park where I first met you, mister."

Seems it holds deep meaning for him since that's where he met me, saw the unique equipment, and ended up buying a weapon.

I gladly went along with Shine's wishes.

"Where in the park should we do it? Would that bench work?"

The park we hadn't visited in a while had people taking walks, probably because it was daytime.

"No, no. If we're coming all the way to the park, we should go somewhere really special."

Shine seemed to vaguely understand the importance of 'location,' probably from hearing quite a bit from Ariane.

He carefully specified the spot.

He led me to that place where we had our secret(?) meeting in the park.

"Here! Please do it here."

"Hmm."

"There's conveniently a bench here too. This should work well."

Since our previous meeting was conducted so secretly, this spot was notably deserted.

The thick foliage around the bench helped keep it well-hidden from people too.

"Alright, shall we begin?"

I sat on the bench, opened reinforcement, and placed the weapon in the square slot.

"Ooh."

Shine's eyes went wide as the weapon disappeared before his eyes.

I pressed the hammer with all my might, filled with craftsmanship spirit.

CLANG~!!

The hammer's sound rang out ethereally, as if celebrating the future of Shine's unique equipment.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

Just as Shine said, Ariane's +11 weapon was wrapped in an ethereal purple glow, making it look incredibly stylish.

It's natural for high-enhancement weapons to gain special effects.

After all, people spend hundreds of thousands to get these distinctive effects that set them apart from others.

'It's not just about performance - you absolutely can't resist the style factor.'

While it was great to enhance my precious weapon further, the relative deprivation from seeing others' effects was quite devastating.

In that regard, Shine...

"Let's stop. +12 isn't happening."

"No. Keep going."

"Are you serious? You don't have any more money to try with."

"Do it. I can get more money later. Even if it falls below +11 because we can't succeed, I need to at least try."

Our luck was so bad that Ariane's case seemed easy in comparison.

How many times had we built it up bit by bit only to have it all come crashing down?

I was getting tired of clicking the button over and over.

'It would be more fun to click if it would actually go up some.'

Despite clicking so many times, we hadn't even seen +9 once, as if we were cursed.

Then suddenly, as if something had finally broken through, it shot straight from +8 to +11.

Now all that's left is +12...

'There's no solution if this fails. We barely have any money left.'

Anyone could see it was like jumping off a cliff, and I couldn't understand why he insisted on doing it.

Given how hard it was to reach +11, I hoped Shine would make the right choice.

That's why I asked again, but Shine's resolve was too firm.

When we sold the enhancement materials Shine brought to the shop, it came to 16 million won.

Compared to Ariane's 300 million, 16 million was modest to say the least.

'With the money we have left, we can try maybe 10... no, 9 more times.'

Only 9 chances left.

Looking at Ariane's case, she'd reached +11 quite efficiently.

But even Ariane, who'd poured in so much money, had to bow before the majesty of +12.

So it was frustrating that Shine wanted to attempt +12 with just 9 tries left.

"Why not use it at +11 for now, and try for +12 later when you have more money?"

"I'm going to trust you, mister. Since we worked so hard to get here, I want it to lead to something meaningful."

Even if it failed at +11 and dropped to +10, and couldn't get back above +8, she was determined to at least try.

"Can't you just not trust me? I don't think I've done much to earn that trust."

Where was this trust even coming from?

I asked with exasperation, but Shine just shook his head.

"+12. Please do it."

There was no way to refuse his decision anymore.

I pressed the hammer-shaped enhancement button.

CLAAANG!!!!!!!!!

Rumble, rumble!!!!

Flash!

Papararara- bambambam!!

We encountered a miracle.

In the gaming world, the saying "those meant to succeed will succeed" rang truer than having deep pockets - a realization that came belatedly.