1.

He had wondered.

'Surely it won't just set off fireworks.'

He believed until the very end.

But his faith was betrayed.

He hadn't even hoped for that much.

It was fine if fireworks went off. He had entered the dungeon with Jeong Seora assuming at least that much would happen.

He also intended to test the "Companion" buff while he was at it.

Successfully completing the experiment of bringing another player into a 1-star dungeon was good.

However, the fireworks that exploded the moment he faced a monster and swung his weapon were so ridiculous that, for a moment, he couldn't even manage his facial expression.

'No, at the very least, if it's going to explode, shouldn't it fly toward the monster and burst or something?'

Monsters wouldn't suffer burns or critical status effects from fireworks devoid of magical power.

Still, they would be wary of the sudden flame, and a gap might be created by their surprise at the unexpected pyrotechnics.

At the very least, shouldn't there be a minimum utility worth the price of 3,000 gold? Perhaps a one-time effect of startling the opponent, even if it wouldn't work again?

"Phew."

Of course, there was a similar effect.

The monsters were startled by the flashing light from the weapon, and he did kill them by exploiting that opening.

But they were startled because they were 1-star dungeon monsters; in any other dungeon, the opponent would likely have tensed up and solidified their defensive stance instead.

He would have to re-roll.

He had come for a final check with his mind already made up, but it left a bitter taste.

Nevertheless, as he finished off the monsters stylishly and turned around, a smile hung on his lips.

Let's consider the 3,000 gold spent as the cost of a special event for Jeong Seora, who was watching the fireworks show in a trance while holding Hwangdo.

Still, it was fortunate that the fireworks popped off generously.

'To think there's a draw where you pay 3,000 gold just to pull garbage like this.'

He never wanted to do it again.

But more than that aversion, he hated having such a useless option attached to his Gold Ring.

"How is it?"

"It's so cool. What is that?"

"I got it from a draw. It says fireworks go off during combat."

"Wow, and then?"

"That's just it."

"Wow, that's really useless."

"Right? I'm going to change it immediately."

Jeong Seora also judged it coldly and objectively as a player.

It was pretty and cool to look at, but players always had to consider opportunity costs and choose efficiently.

Although she didn't know everything about Kim Buja's class, every player equipped a limited number of items in limited slots. Not a single option could be wasted, which was why items full of popular options skyrocketed in price.

"Still, thanks to you, I feel like my fatigue has lifted a bit. Thank you. It's my first time seeing a fireworks show in a dungeon. And for it to be a 1-star dungeon... just what is your ability, Mr. Buja...?"

"It is amazing. I guess people just have to be lucky."

Anyway, the experiment and night date ended somewhat successfully.

Upon arriving home, Kim Buja changed the refinement effect without hesitation.

* * *

[Tower of Trials]

> 1st Floor [Challenge Available]

> Clear Condition: Defeat Monsters

> Reward: VIP Token (10), Stat Point (1), level 1

There was a mountain of work to do.

Dungeon Breaks, Gold Farming, Gold Enhancement, Gold Missions.

Managing three major fields—reality, the continent, and his class—within the limited time of twenty-four hours was so tight that even sleeping felt like a waste of time.

Leaving those important tasks aside, Kim Buja prioritized the Tower of Trials above all else.

'I have to clear this first.'

There wasn't much information on what the difficulty was like or how it proceeded.

The information provided beforehand was merely simple conditions for clearing the floor and the rewards, but that alone was motivation enough.

The reward for just the 1st floor was Stat Points and a level.

Even considering the VIP Tokens as a bonus, it was groundbreaking compared to the content so far.

Especially since he had been searching for content that raised his level.

There was no guarantee that every floor would raise his level, but at least the possibility that the "Tower of Trials" was content that would make the sluggish leveling speed much easier had increased slightly.

Of course, he didn't do anything foolish like throwing himself in rashly, blinded by the rewards.

Hadn't he already experienced it once with the Gold Mission?

The Gold Maker did not give things for free.

High Risk, High Return.

A difficulty matching that would surely be prepared.

He was even more nervous because there were no recommended levels or conditions listed.

"Let's spend the remaining gold and go."

He had invested over 15,000 gold just last night on refinement effects.

Every time he rolled, trash options like "Shower" or "Drying" came out, so he inevitably lost his self-control.

Nevertheless, he eventually broke through the difficulties and pulled out a decent refinement option.

-> Freezing Lv1: There is a certain probability of freezing the opponent's equipment upon attacking.

When Kim Buja first saw the refinement effects, the picture in his head was imagining an explosion occurring with every swing of the sword, sweeping away dozens of monsters.

However, after the strong impression left by the Firecracker and seeing ridiculous options that would only be helpful for daily life appear five times in a row, he came to be satisfied with the "Freezing" effect.

In fact, when he entered the dungeon again to test it, it wasn't bad.

Perhaps because it was a level 1 skill, it didn't freeze the equipment to a noticeable degree, but what was certain was that it did freeze.

And it wasn't just the surface freezing; the temperature dropped for a moment in the small affected area, making it vulnerable to impacts.

It was a clear advantage.

It seemed more experiments were needed to see how far and up to what level of equipment it applied, but it looked good enough that he didn't need to spend more gold on refinement effects.

After many twists and turns, he erased all other options to use the remaining 42,000 gold.

"Going for enhancement."

He had postponed it time and time again.

Since a chunk of gold disappeared every time he pressed the button, it was painful just to watch.

But not now.

It was a stage where he had to leap forward.

He was facing the Tower of Trials, which seemed likely to become that stepping stone.

"I'm going all-in with weapon enhancement."

The situation was such that all enhancement parts had been leveled up by +1 due to an achievement anyway.

He forced himself to adopt the mindset that even if everything failed, it was still a gain, and opened the enhancement window.

[ Would you like to enhance the weapon? ]

▶ Current level: 6 → 7

▶ Required Gold: 10,000

▶ Success Chance: 30% (+5%)

▶ Failure Chance: 70% (-5%)

▶ Destruction Chance: 0%

▶ Options upon Success

1. Attack Power +60 → Attack Power +90

2. Attack Power +2% → Attack Power +4%

3. Magic Absorption +1% on hit

The probability was sufficient.

With 4 chances, theoretically, he could succeed within 20,000 or 30,000 gold.

The problem was that in a hologram where even 1% chances failed, theories didn't apply at all.

He carefully knelt down.

"Please, just give me +7. I won't wish for anything else for a while. Even if I fail three times in a row on a 99% chance, I will accept it as natural. Even if content that devours gold indiscriminately comes out worse than this, I will be grateful and reduce my sleep day and night to farm gold. Please help me just this once, God of Gold."

Kim Buja used to be the one who laughed at the idiot who performed an enhancement ritual before rolling.

That very man was now seeking God.

He closed his eyes and placed his hand on the enhancement window.

"I'll press it without looking. Until all the gold is sucked dry."

This was the final investment.

It was an enhancement started with the thought of saving gold completely abandoned.

Let's see who wins.

A fight with real swords.

Back against the wall.

An all-in for the additional attack power of 30 and 2%, and the option of absorbing 1% magic on hit.

"Please!"

Eyes closed, Kim Buja attempted the enhancement consecutively.

[ Enhancement successful. ]

[ Weapon level has increased. 6 → 7 ]

[ Enhancement successful. ]

[ Weapon level has increased. 7 → 8 ]

[ You have achieved the 'Achievement: Straight (U)'. ]

The God of Gold had granted Kim Buja's wish.

2.

Dungeon Breaks became a global issue, heating up the world.

The appearance of monsters.

At first, it was curiosity and excitement.

The atmosphere, which should have been rife with fear and terror, was skipped over due to the tangled perception of dungeons being manageable and the fact that the monsters were low-level.

In reality, there wasn't much damage either.

Most players had grown enough over the past five years to handle monsters even if they came out carrying dungeon penalties.

As they dealt with the situation well, hope was blossoming that they could research monsters as a new life form in a complete state, taking a step closer to humanity's growth.

At least, until about a week had passed.

However, people forgot.

The Dungeon Break was not a simple event.

It wasn't something that appeared overnight and would disappear when the event ended; it was an update—a process of slowly assimilating into humanity, just like when dungeons first appeared on Earth.

Of course, the majority of players admitted that this atmosphere was better.

Rather than losing their reason to fear when facing a dungeon or meeting a monster, it was more helpful in reducing damage—even slightly—to look at them with fascination and ask for help from nearby players or report it.

However, despite such a relatively desirable phenomenon, the Dungeon Breaks began to expand their influence.

The number of dungeons breaking before their conditions could even be figured out increased daily, and the rate of breaks for rarely seen 2-star dungeons also began to rise little by little.

As the number of texts from the Dungeon Management Committee sending break locations to users in the area increased, and as they began chasing monsters in broken areas once or twice a day without fail, the players realized it for certain.

[ I think we need to figure out the Dungeon Break conditions quickly? ]

[ I'm only blocking Dungeon Breaks, so I have no time to enter dungeons. ]

[ At this rate, if we keep only blocking dungeons, the Earth is going to be destroyed. ]

Update.

What the Dungeon Break signified.

What penalties players had to endure due to the Dungeon Break.

[ Monsters coming out to Earth is a patch to help humanity develop further? That's bullshit. ]

[ This is a time attack. The start of the real match. ]

[ Will the monsters conquer Earth faster, or will the players conquer the dungeons faster? It comes down to this. ]

The monsters coming out through Dungeon Breaks were stronger than the monsters inside the dungeons.

They were strong, and it was true that they gave more experience points.

But it wasn't efficient.

Players moved while adjusting even their sleeping hours to extract maximum efficiency by fighting monsters gathered inside dungeons.

But Dungeon Breaks didn't even allow for that.

No one knew when they would erupt, and the broken monsters no longer targeted the players—the "invaders."

Unlike inside the dungeon where one only had to comfortably hunt the monsters that chased them, now the players were in the position of chasing the monsters.

A world that was no longer a game one could access conveniently after sleeping and eating, but had become an actual fantasy novel.

The truth that all players and all of humanity had to face.

The first update had officially opened.

* * *

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