3.

The path of enhancement was simple. He could open 'Gold Enhancement' and attempt to upgrade his weapon to +6—a 3,000 gold per-attempt gamble with a 40% success rate—and pray it worked within two tries. Or, he could bring all his other armor pieces up to match the weapon's +5 enhancement level.

His +3 hat, shoes, and gloves cost 200 gold per attempt, while his +4 top and bottom cost 800 gold each. With 8,000 gold to spare, as long as his luck wasn't abysmal, he should be able to get his overall 'Enhancement Stage Level' to 5. As the level rose, the glowing aura and bonus stats improved, making it a decent option for a player flush with gold, despite the inherent risk.

'Is there no enhancement content that doesn't involve probability?' he wondered.

Of course, that was all assuming his upgrades succeeded at an average rate.

He needed eight successful upgrades across five pieces of gear, with success rates of 65% and 55%. A 65% chance was pretty good, and he could try to delude himself into thinking 55% felt better than 50%, but they were still numbers that made him sigh.

Getting everything to +4 wasn't a huge barrier. In the worst-case scenario, even if he failed three times on each piece before succeeding, he could still raise his 'Enhancement Stage Level' for 2,400 gold. The problem came after. He would have five pieces that needed to go to +5. At 800 gold per attempt with a 55% chance, he wouldn't have enough gold even if he got lucky and succeeded on the second try for each.

This was why Kim Buja was agonizing over what should have been the most rational way to power up.

'Pet gacha.'

Normally, he wouldn't even consider it. Getting his Enhancement Level to 4 and just accepting whichever pieces made it to +5 would have been fine. But while working on the Gold Mission, he had taken time to examine the Gold Shop more closely and had discovered a way to utilize the 'Pet' system he'd long neglected.

Growth through pets.

'I do have 14 summoning tickets.'

His plan wasn't to pull a pet stronger than Hwangdo and fight 2-on-1. Even if that were allowed, Hwangdo's combat ability wasn't reliable. Its draconic instincts and base stats were impressive in 1-star dungeons, but to players who frequented 6-star and 7-star dungeons, it was just a chubby, flying sparrow.

The power-up he envisioned came from the Pet Codex.

[Random Pet Summoning Ticket]

▶ Grade: Normal

▶ Tear the ticket to acquire 1 random 'Normal~Special' pet.

▷ Due to the ticket grade effect, the chance of getting a 'Normal' is reduced by 1%.

It was the most basic summon ticket, one of the myriad junk items from the 'Daily Gifts Galore' box. Convinced it would only yield useless trash, he had been saving them up. Now he had 14.

They were the reason he was even considering the Pet Codex. He called them junk, but for junk, they didn't drop very often. He'd only managed to collect this many because his VIP level had increased the quality and quantity of items from the daily box.

'Will I even get one good one from these?'

The ticket couldn't even produce Legendary pets. He wasn't hoping for a Special, but he wished for at least one Unique. What kind of stats would a Unique Pet Codex entry grant?

If it looked promising, he was prepared to blow the entire 8,000 gold on the pet gacha instead of enhancement. The process was more complicated, however. He couldn't rely on daily boxes alone; he'd have to buy tickets from the Gold Shop. Naturally, the Level 1 shop didn't sell them. To purchase Normal-grade pet summoning tickets, he needed a Level 2 'Gold Store,' which cost 500 gold to upgrade. It was an extra step, but it offered more reliable results than enhancement—assuming, of course, that even Normal-grade pets were added to the codex and provided stats.

'Hmm.'

What should he do?

* * *

When he thought about it, no matter which path he chose, the results wouldn't be drastically different. Assuming the best outcome for both, the only difference was a slight variation in stats. For other players, a gap this small wouldn't be enough to overcome a class difference when all other stats were standardized.

So he made his choice. He pretended to agonize over the comparison, but the answer had been decided from the start. "I'm going with pets."

[500 Gold has been used.]

[Due to the effect of Gold Power (17), the level-up cost is discounted by 17% (85 Gold).]

The Gold he was getting back per level-up was now so significant that leveling up the store seemed like a better investment than buying a bunch of miscellaneous items. At the same time, a sliver of disappointment crept in. 'It'd be nice if I got a discount when buying things from the Gold Shop, too.' The only thing Gold Power discounted was the level-up cost itself.

At first, he'd thought even that was an incredibly broad and overpowered benefit, but once he got used to the sweet deal, he couldn't help but wish the perks applied to more things. 'A Trait will probably unlock later.' Kim Buja was gradually getting a better grasp of the Gold Maker's system. It would unlock eventually—after ripping off a tremendous amount of gold, of course. Hoping for just that, he checked the Gold Shop, now at Level 2.

[Gold Shop]

▶ Grade: Legendary

▶ Classification: VIP3 Skill

▶ Level: 2

▷ You can use 3,000 Gold to raise the level.

▷ You can use 2,500 Gold to activate Trait (1).

There was nothing particularly special. Just a cost that made him think he might as well level up the store to the next stage, and a burning curiosity about what Trait (1) could possibly be to cost so much. Compared to the relatively cheap 500 gold he'd just spent, more than thirty percent of the previously available items in the store were now unlocked.

But the biggest change was this. 'Huh, I can buy skills now.'

They were only 1-star skills, but what mattered was that they were sold in the form of 'Skill Books' that would teach the skill upon reading. 'Is my time finally coming?' For a mere 500—no, 415 gold—he had obtained the right to acquire items from the Gold Shop and sell them for exorbitant prices. Gold Maker. The power of a Legendary-grade class was revealed through gold.

Acknowledging this fact once more, he slowly browsed the newly unlocked items. It was nearly impossible to check everything, but he needed to at least get a feel for what kinds and what levels of items were available so he could use the store more effectively and efficiently later. "Hmm, about this much."

He also got a rough estimate of the range of items unlocked according to the store's level. From Level 1 to Level 2, the biggest changes were the introduction of combat abilities, including skills, and the activation of combat support items—even items related to the Gold Maker's growth. 'One hundred gold for one of these? What a rip-off.' The Level 2 store still seemed to be just a taste of the introductory phase beyond the tutorial, as he couldn't buy any gacha tickets above Normal Grade.

And yet, the 100 gold price tag for a single ticket made him frown. 'So the trash I was holding onto was worth a whopping 1,400 gold.' He had no hesitation in choosing the Pet Codex. Beyond the issue of probability, upgrading his specs through the Pet Codex was a stable, forward-thinking choice that included leveling up the Gold Shop in the process. Anything he leveled up now would be helpful eventually.

Even for the Gold Mission, without the Gold Shop skill, not only the achievements but even clearing it would have been difficult. But thanks to the Gold Shop, he had perfectly completed the achievements and received rewards that far exceeded the value of obtaining the store itself. The price of a single pet ticket made a small crack in his satisfaction and conviction. 'Should I just spend another 3,000 gold to level up the Gold Shop and unlock Trait (1)?'

Once the crack formed, other options became visible. He could either spend the remaining 7,500 gold and have nothing left, or he could invest 3,000 Gold into the Gold Shop. Not a bad idea. Of course, he knew the outcome would depend on RNG. So he made a wise choice. 'I'll open the fourteen free ones first and then decide.'

He was still full of distrust for probability, but not to the point of completely rejecting it. Hadn't he, Kim Buja, overcome low odds quite a few times? 'So, let's believe in it one more time.' The fourteen cards he'd gotten for free flipped over in sequence, creating a festival of holograms.

[You have acquired a 'Normal' pet.]

.

.

[Achievement: Animal Farm (N) acquired.]

['Normal Pet Codex (1)' will be activated.]

The result was excellent. "Excellent." Fourteen Normal-grade cards. The Pet Codex activated as a result. Out of the countless Normal-grade monsters, he was lucky enough not to get a single duplicate, allowing him to fill fifteen slots in the codex and activate it.

▷ Normal Codex Effect (1) is now active.

1. All Stats +1

"Truly excellent." It was a decent option, all things considered. Thinking about the treatment Normal-grades usually got in games, it was fair to say that in the Gold Maker's pet system, they were at least recyclable if you worked hard to collect them. The problem was that's all they were good for. An effect that was excellent 'for a Normal-grade' was only meaningful when you could collect them at no cost.

'And this is supposed to be a 1,400 gold reward.' The codex only applied when you acquired a non-duplicate pet. This meant that if he got a duplicate from a future pull, that 100 gold would be gone without even being recycled. Of course, if he was going to complain like this, he shouldn't be touching the pet system at all. Gacha was all about probability. But before that, it was a money sink.

The gacha for grades that made you question if they were even designed to be pulled was ultimately conquered by an overwhelming number of attempts backed by money. Eventually, if you pull enough, you get it. The codex was built from the byproducts of those countless attempts. Until now, Kim Buja had treated people who did such things in games as if they were out of their minds.

For him, who used to hunt while picking up every last silver that dropped from monsters just to earn a single penny, pouring money into beating probability was the greatest luxury in the world. He was at a crossroads: to start or not to start. Should he do it? The deliberation wasn't long. 'Let's just think of it as money I lost on a failed enhancement and go for it.'

The old Kim Buja was gone. He no longer had to risk his life every month in a game just to make rent, and he no longer had to beat himself up all day over one tiny mistake. He could afford to be extravagant, and it was okay to waste a little time. He had the potential and the class to overcome all of that. 'I'll try it, and if it really doesn't feel right, I'll just think of this as the last time.'

He knew that if he got addicted to RNG and squandered everything he earned, there would be no more progress.

'But since I'm starting from a blank slate, the efficiency should be pretty good.' Combined with some reasonable calculation, he decided to go all out this time.

[7,500 Gold has been used.]

It was a card-pulling spree. Dozens of cards danced in the air, welcoming their owner.

* * *

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