2.

Kim Buja divided the Gold Maker class into two broad categories: combat support and growth support. He had recently acquired "Mimicry," a skill that allowed him to participate directly in combat, but with only one example, it was too early to treat that as its own category.

In any case, Wait for Free Gold was a growth support skill. It aided his development and had the greatest impact on securing the "gold" needed for that growth. It was also why he had been investing more gold into it lately, prioritizing it over "VIP Level" and the "Gold Shop."

All Gold Maker content ultimately ran on gold. In the early stages, he had invested in content like Enhancement and VIP Level to secure gold faster, but once his income stabilized, he needed to build a more efficient and substantial way to acquire the very foundation of everything: gold.

In a way, it was a self-perpetuating cycle. That was likely why the system provided two main sources of gold: Wait for Free Gold and direct monster hunting in dungeons. There were also ways to earn large sums through systems like achievements, but achievements that rewarded gold were rare. Even if you did get them, you would need to clear at least Unique-grade achievements to earn a significant amount, making it practically impossible to farm them intentionally.

Within this cycle, the key to rapid growth was to manage gold wisely and efficiently, developing both sources of income in a balanced way.

That was why he planned to invest the remaining 16,000 gold into combat support.

"Hm."

The first thing that came to mind was, of course, Gold Enhancement. It was the skill that had shone the brightest after the Gold Shop during the recent event. The fixed stat and attack power boosts from each enhancement level were the perfect complement to his Gold Maker trait of gaining special stats with each level-up.

Naturally, it was content he needed to pay close attention to. If he could, he would invest gold in raising only the Gold Enhancement level, because the level-based effects were that good.

However, this time, he didn't intend to prioritize it.

Gold Enhancement was, in the end, a gamble. Success and failure were determined by probability. If he failed, whether he had spent 1,000 gold or 10,000, he would receive nothing and be left exactly where he started.

There was no need to explain how hollow that felt. Five to ten years ago, when mobile games were at their peak, some whales spent tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars, only to fail their enhancements and get ruthlessly mocked as "free-to-play" despite all the money they had burned.

And that meant he himself could become one of those suckers.

Gold Enhancement was something to think about only when he had gold to spare. No, he had to treat it that way.

'Let's go with the Gold Ring.'

So he settled on a weapon. Like Gold Enhancement, the ring fell under combat support, but it had a direct impact on his fighting power. It was his most recently acquired and frequently used item. It wasn't a skill, but as a bound, growth-type, class-exclusive weapon, it was something he could conceivably use for the rest of his life. Since he could only grow his weapon in line with his level, he had to prioritize it for his 2-star dungeon runs.

"It's insanely expensive, though."

It was a weapon with a base attack power of 30. On the flip side, you could say that for a Legendary-grade item, the only thing it had going for it was that 30 attack power and the ability to change its appearance, making it a bit of a defective product.

The amount needed to turn this half-broken weapon into a proper one was enough to make his back ache, and a sigh escaped his lips. Just like with "Wait for Free Gold," the chunks of gold he was spending were getting bigger as his income grew.

But what could he do?

[You have used 5,000 gold.]

[Due to the effect of Gold Power (25), the level-up cost is discounted by 1,250 gold (25%).]

[Due to the effect of Weapon Absorption Points, an additional 98 gold is discounted.]

[The level of Gold Ring has increased. ★ → ★★]

His stomach twisted every time he watched his gold get shaved away. During the event, he had burned through consumables without hesitation, wondering if he would ever again have a chance to spend gold so freely. Yet only a few days later, he was spending gold at a rate that made the event look like child's play.

Of course, unlike then, this investment had a guaranteed and immediate return.

[Gold Ring]

▶ Grade: Legendary

▶ Level: ★★

▶ Attack Power: +50 (+73)

→ Enhancement +40 / Orange Aura +5 / Pet Codex +8 / Achievements +5

▶ Magic Power: +50

▷ A weapon exclusive to the Gold Maker class. Becomes bound when equipped.

▷ Can never be destroyed.

▷ At level 21, you can spend 10,000 gold to increase its level. (0/10,000)

▷ Can be transformed into any weapon type you desire.

▷ Can perform "Weapon Absorption." The absorbed value is converted into points needed for the next level.

▷ Due to the effect of Gold Power, additional attack power is applied: +25

▷ (Inactive Trait 2): You can spend 3,000 gold to activate it.

"Hah."

A wave of emotion crashed over him.

Five thousand gold? Not a single coin wasted.

'I don't know why it comes with 50 magic power, but I'll take it. Thank you.'

Kneeling on the bed, he bowed toward the ring.

"Did you get something good?" Seora asked.

"Yeah. My weapon just got twice as strong."

Even now, its attack power was still on the low side for a Legendary-grade weapon. Just because it had become a 2-star weapon didn't mean its attack power had suddenly skyrocketed. While the growth curve was promising, if he compared it to weapons that hit like a truck, it was only around Special-grade.

But he knew there was no point in making that comparison. It was just him whining out of a desire to be a little stronger.

In truth, he had no complaints. The greatest strength of the Gold Ring was that it could freely transform into any weapon, anytime, anywhere, in any situation. Any deficit in its base attack power could be more than made up for with additional bonuses. Even now, the additional attack power piled on top of the base stat already far surpassed it.

All told, it was a weapon with a whopping 123 attack power.

'In terms of pure attack power, it's almost at the 6-star level.'

Even using Normal-grade as the baseline, it was still an absurd number. Damage, just like in games, didn't explode just because your raw attack power was high, but at this level, even if his stats were a bit lacking, he could probably slice through most enemies' armor like butter.

A deep sense of satisfaction welled up inside him. It was an incomparable feeling of security compared to the days when he had been using a beginner's dagger.

'The beginner's dagger was decent in its own way, but Legendary is Legendary.'

There was a clear reason why players went crazy for Legendary gear. Its options alone explained why Legendary items could easily be worth an astronomical sum.

Magic power, too, wasn't as useful as Strength, Agility, or Stamina, but having it wasn't a bad thing. The higher his magic power, the more weapon forms the ring could take.

'Ah, that part's kind of depressing.'

The fact that the only use for his 130-plus magic stat was changing the Gold Ring's weapon form was a bit sad.

He continued on, hoping that at 3-star, he would get Strength, Agility, or Stamina instead.

[You have used 3,000 gold.]

[Due to the effect of Gold Power (25), the level-up cost is discounted by 750 gold (25%).]

[Trait (2) of Gold Ring has been activated.]

The first trait had been additional attack power based on Gold Power. What would the second, 3,000-gold trait be?

▷ Due to the effect of Gold Power, a random status effect appropriate to your level is additionally applied (+2.5%).

▷ (Inactive Trait 3): ★★★ / You can activate this by spending 5,000 Gold.

On top of the attack power boost, it could even inflict a status ailment.

The chance was only a tenth of that, but a 2.5% probability of inflicting a status ailment was still enough to create unpredictable variables in battle. Besides, weapons with built-in status effects were rare. Just having that option was more than enough; an attribute like that could send an item's price skyrocketing.

'I guess this is my reward for grinding myself half to death during the event.'

More importantly, the status ailment inflicted by a weapon changed depending on its grade. Right now, it was only a 2-star weapon, so it would only inflict a 2-star status effect. But as it leveled up to 3-star and 4-star, the effects would become stronger and harder for opponents to counter. Even the Legendary Crystal Necklace he was wearing, a Legendary-grade item, only inflicted a 2-star status ailment.

"Nice."

He felt as if he had already gotten more than his money's worth, and he still had 10,000 gold left over. He had acquired one combat support skill and one growth support skill. At this point, it didn't really matter where he spent the rest.

Naturally, his gaze drifted toward Gold Enhancement.

'Should I try enhancing the weapon?'

His enhancement levels were uneven. His weapon was at +5, his chest and leg armor were at +4, and the rest of his gear sat at +3. It seemed smarter to raise everything equally, but he couldn't help feeling attached to his weapon, which was the most direct and noticeable source of his power. In terms of efficiency, nothing could really compare to it except his chest and leg armor.

It was a choice between attack power and stats. Stats were great, but he was already getting plenty of those from his other items. Even if he'd eventually need to squeeze every last stat point from enhancements, for now, it made more sense to focus on what was most efficient.

"Hmmm."

Each attempt would cost 3,000 Gold. He had to start Gold Mission Chapter 2 soon and needed to keep some spare Gold on hand, so he could only afford one attempt—two at most.

'No, if I fail once, I should just stop.'

If he pushed it to two attempts and failed both, the loss would be too great and could throw off his future plans.

The success rate was 55%. The movie was almost over. He glanced over at Jeong Seora.

"Go for it," she said.

"…Okay."

He couldn't help but let out a short laugh as she reached over to ruffle his hair.

'Fine, whatever. I've already profited more than enough from enhancing the WFFG and the Gold Ring. I'll just think of it as tossing away 3,000 gold.'

Things often succeeded when he threw money at them without overthinking it. More than anything, he felt incredibly lucky today. He had that feeling—that anything he did would work out. On days like this, luck had always seemed to pile on top of luck. Things that usually never worked out would suddenly click.

"Enhance!"

'There's no way it'll fail.'

He threw in 3,000 Gold, deliberately pushing away any thought of failure.

[You have spent 3,000 Gold.]

[Enhancement has failed.]

"Damn it."

The gold vanished as casually as he'd spent it. His empty gaze swept over the hologram again, but of course, the vanished gold wasn't about to magically reappear. Feeling wronged, he turned his resentful eyes toward Jeong Seora, who was still staring at the TV.

Humans were, by nature, ungrateful creatures. A hundred pieces of good advice could be wiped away by a single grudge.

"Eek!" she squealed.

Brimming with pent-up frustration, Kim Buja launched his revenge.

* * *

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