When the guild members who had been watching the staff all gathered and moved to the Feroco Lighthouse, we found Yuchae there waiting for us—with a reinforcement altar already set up.
[Guild] Yuchae: ?
[Guild] Yuchae: Hyung, why are you dragging trash around behind you?
[Guild] Hwasoun: 😱(shivers)
[Guild] MochaBread: 😱
[Guild] Starek: 😱
…Wait, was I the only one she was actually waiting for? Anyway.
[Guild] SoSleepy: "Trash"? Really?
[Guild] SoSleepy: Can't you speak more nicely?
[Guild] Yuchae: ♥Why are you dragging trash around~?♥
[Guild] DrinkWater: LOLLLLLLLLLL
[Guild] MochaBread: LMFAOOOOO
[Guild] Haeren: LOL like adding hearts makes it any prettier, wtf lmaoooo
[Guild] SeasonedCrabChomp: Seriously annoying af lol
Whatever. No use nagging. As I shook my head, Yuchae sent me a trade request.
[Guild] Yuchae: Let's keep it simple for now.
[Guild] Yuchae: I prepped around 70.
In the trade window, 70 reinforcement stones and some gold were offered.
[Guild] DrinkWater: WTF, 70?!
[Guild] Let'sPlay: Huh?
[Guild] Let'sPlay: What's 70?
[Guild] Hwasoun: Reinforcement stones.
[Guild] Hwasoun: We're live-streaming SoSleepy's staff reinforcement attempt at Feroco Lighthouse right now.
[Guild] Let'sPlay: No way!
[Guild] Let'sPlay: I'm on my way!
[Guild] I'mDorahee: Can I come too? Hehe
[Guild] DrinkWater: GOGOGOGOGO
[Guild] MochaBread: Damn, with 70 stones…
[Guild] MochaBread: You could definitely hit +7, easy.
[Guild] TheHunter: Yeah, +7's basically guaranteed.
[Guild] TheHunter: If you hit the jackpot, +8 is possible too.
[Guild] ManaDrainedGuy: I think when I reinforced my staff before,
[Guild] ManaDrainedGuy: It took about 80 stones to hit +8.
[Guild] ManaDrainedGuy: But I got super lucky back then.
No matter the weapon, reinforcement requires reinforcement stones. But these stones are only dropped at a certain probability from raids on hard mode or higher, so they're pretty expensive.
[Guild] SoSleepy: Thanks, thanks.
[Guild] SoSleepy: I'll just take the stones.
[Guild] Yuchae: You can take it all though…
[Guild] SoSleepy: Nah, I've got my own gold.
Even just the reinforcement stones cost a decent amount. Taking the gold on top of that from Yuchae felt a bit shameless, so I declined the gold and only accepted the stones before heading to the altar.
[Guild] DrinkWater: But honestly,
[Guild] DrinkWater: SoSleepy feels like he'd be good at this kind of thing.
[Guild] Hwasoun: For real.
[Guild] Hwasoun: Gives off mad lucky vibes.
[Guild] CrazyForHunting: Are we about to witness a new legend today?
[Guild] CrazyForHunting: Is this the moment he hits +8 in one go?!
[Guild] Haeren: People who are good at games are usually lucky too, sigh…
Reading the guild chat, I felt a little awkward. I was sorry that I probably wouldn't meet their expectations, because…
Sigh...
…I have the worst luck ever.
I've been gaming for years, so there's no way I haven't tried out these gambling systems. From simple mobile games to big-time prize events, I've failed at all of them, equally.
So-called "box pulls" or gachas always ended in failure, and even when reinforcing, I had to put in more than double the effort of others just to succeed.
'No way… It won't be like that again this time… right?'
Swallowing dryly, I carefully moved my mouse and clicked the reinforcement altar. A window popped up to place the reinforcement stones and weapon.
My current staff was +6. To go up to +7, I needed 10 stones and 150,000 gold. The success rate was 40%. The higher the reinforcement level, the lower the success rate, and the more stones and gold it required.
After placing the 10 stones I got from Yuchae and the staff onto the altar, I pressed the [Begin Reinforcement] button.
Please… please…!
CRACK-BOOM!
Before I could even finish praying, black lightning struck between the character and the altar. And then—right in the middle of the screen:
[Reinforcement failed. Reinforcement level has decreased.]
I confirmed that my staff's reinforcement level had dropped from +6 to +5, and I groaned, pressing a hand to my forehead.
[Guild] Haeren: Gasp...
[Guild] CrazyForHunting: Huh? You failed?
[Guild] Hwasoun: Oh no…
[Guild] ManaDrainedGuy: Yikes
The black lightning that appears when reinforcement fails is visible to others too. The guild members who had been murmuring behind me quickly started offering their condolences.
[Guild] DrinkWater: It's okay, it's okay
[Guild] DrinkWater: Failing the first try is part of the ritual LOL
[Guild] Haeren: True
[Guild] Haeren: If it works right away, that's boring as hell hahaha
[Guild] Let'sPlay: Bad luck's out of the way now, right?
[Guild] Hwasoun: Facts
[Guild] TheHunter: At least dropping to +5 doesn't lower further LOL it's chill
[Guild] Starek: Yep
[Guild] Starek: Now you've just got to climb back up
[Guild] Hwasoun: What's the success rate from +5 to +6 again?
[Guild] MochaBread: 40% or 45%...?
[Guild] MochaBread: It's not that high, I think?
[Guild] I'mDorahee: It's 45%, hehe
[Guild] Let'sPlay: By the way, Dorahee, did you reinforce your weapon?
[Guild] I'mDorahee: Yep yep
[Guild] I'mDorahee: DrinkWater unnie helped me recently
[Guild] DrinkWater: Yeah
[Guild] DrinkWater: Though really I just stood around lol
[Guild] DrinkWater: Dorahee got to +8 super quick though
[Guild] DrinkWater: How many stones did it take again?
[Guild] I'mDorahee: About 90, hehe
[Guild] TheHunter: 90 for +8? That's lucky
[Guild] Hwasoun: Only 90? That's a total win
[Guild] I'mDorahee: You can do it too, SoSleepy~!
So Dorahee was already at +8, huh. Now that I think about it, I remember her weapon had a faint golden glow in yesterday's prelims.
[Guild] Yuchae: Hyung
[Guild] Yuchae: You got this!
Mm. Yuchae went out of her way to prepare all those reinforcement stones and even the altar—can't quit now. Plus, I just wasted one of the successful reinforcements from earlier, so I should at least recover that.
Thankfully, failing from +5 to +6 doesn't lower the level, so it felt less risky. First, let's get back to +6. They said the success rate's 45%, right?
[Guild] SoSleepy: Trying again…
[Guild] DrinkWater: Let's gooooo
[Guild] Hwasoun: GLHF!!
[Guild] MochaBread: You got this~!
As I approached the altar again and placed the reinforcement stones and staff, the guild members started waving their arms and dancing behind me in sync.
Alright, I'll soak up their energy and go for it again! This time feels good! Here goes!
CRACK-BOOM!
[Guild] Hwasoun: Oh no LOLLLLL
[Guild] TheHunter: LMAOOOOOO
[Guild] Let'sPlay: Wait what?! Again?!
[Guild] MochaBread: Hmm... SoSleepy's great at games but RNG... not so much lol
[Guild] ManaDrainedGuy: For real lol
"..."
Did I absorb their weird energy or something?
Should've ditched those useless punks and come alone... A wave of regret suddenly hit me hard.
[Guild] Yuchae: Hyung… it's okay
[Guild] Yuchae: That's why I bought so many reinforcement stones for you
Sigh...
How did she even know I'd have this kind of rotten luck? And that half-hearted comfort doesn't even help.
But hearing her say that sparked a bit of stubborn pride in me.
Alright, I'm not asking for much. Let's just hit +7. Dorahee got to +8 with only 90 stones—then I should be able to make +7 with 70, right?
Okay. Let's do this. With newfound determination, I clicked the altar again, placed the staff and stones, and pressed the reinforce button.
CRACK-BOOM!
[Reinforcement failed.]
CRACK-BOOM!
[Reinforcement failed.]
CRACK-BOOM!
[Reinforcement failed.]
Ding!
[You have successfully enhanced the item. The enhancement level has increased.]
RUMBLE!
[Enhancement failed. The enhancement level has decreased.]
RUMBLE!
[Enhancement failed.]
RUMBLE!
[Enhancement failed.]
RUMBLE!
[Enhancement failed.]
RUMBLE!
[Enhancement failed.]
"Damn it!"
After using up all 70 enhancement stones that Yuchae had gotten for me in an instant, I clutched my head and collapsed onto the desk. The situation got so bad that even the guild members, who had been teasing me, stopped and looked genuinely concerned.
[Guild] Hwasoun: Uh… wow...
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: How many times did you fail?
[Guild] Staeric: It'd be faster to count the successes lol
[Guild] Haereun: Wow, didn't think anyone could outdo Staeric, but here we are.
[Guild] Sesesehajago: So this wasn't just burning off bad luck... you actually tried your best, huh…
[Guild] ManaDrainedGuy: My eyes are tearing up lmaoㅠㅠ
The fact that it all ended at +5 was so ridiculous I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
Seriously, how can someone fail this much? At this rate, it's not 45% and 40% success rates—it's more like 10% and 5%, isn't it?
[Guild] SoSleepy: RNGesus hates me, goddamn this game…
[Guild] Haereun: LOLOLOLOL
[Guild] Staeric: LOL same man LOL
[Guild] Staeric: Can't even laugh—it hits too close to home LOL
[Guild] Hwasoun: But honestly tho LOL this is incredible LOL
[Guild] Yuchae: Hyung
[Guild] Yuchae: You're at +5 now, right?
[Guild] SoSleepy: Yeah
Since I was out of enhancement stones, I'd have to buy more to keep going. I opened the auction house intending to buy just a few dozen more and try recovering to +6. Then Yuchae's next message popped up.
[Guild] Yuchae: Want me to do it for you?
[Guild] SoSleepy: ?
[Guild] SoSleepy: You mean enhance it?
[Guild] Yuchae: Yeah, I'll give it a try.
He wants to enhance it for me? Is that okay? I mean, all he needs is the staff—it's not that hard.
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: Yeah that might be for the best.
[Guild] Haereun: Agreed. Our guild leader's enhancement luck is nuts.
[Guild] Haereun: Better to let him handle it.
[Guild] Sesesehajago: Wait wasn't it the guild leader who put +2 Luck on that staff too?
[Guild] Staeric: For real?
[Guild] TheHunter: Yeah, and he succeeded with the rare Erg enhancement in one go…
Everyone started urging me to let Yuchae do it. Come to think of it, he did have a successful run with Erg before.
So he's not just good at playing—he's lucky too? What, did he save a kingdom in a past life or something?
[Guild] SoSleepy: Okay
[Guild] SoSleepy: Go for it
[Guild] Yuchae: Of course, hyung
[Guild] Yuchae: If I get it to +7...
There was a pause. After hesitating a bit, Yuchae finally sent the next message.
[Guild] Yuchae: Marry me.
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