Chapter 138: Cursed Luck

“You take it, Senior. The High Priest job.”

I said after a brief moment of contemplation.

“No! I think it would be better for you to change jobs, Sister!”

“Senior. Your words and actions don’t match. Your body is already in front of the podium.”

“Ah!”

Senior took a step back and asked,

“But why are you giving it up? It seems like a really good job… Is it because it suits me, the saint?”

“It’s not because of you, Senior. It’s just not a good fit for me.”

I looked up at the temple ceiling, as if I could see the fields and sky beyond.

“Even without spirits by my side, I am a Spirit Summoner. Even without anyone to protect, I am a hero. Even with a humble bow in hand, I am still a great archer.”

I slowly lowered my gaze again. The faint blue light spreading across the black voxel floor enveloped my feet.

“So, if it’s a path that doesn’t suit me, I won’t force myself onto it.”

Senior seemed momentarily speechless, but then she raised both hands.

“What? That’s so cool! I said something similar when I conceded… but it would’ve been so much better if I had expressed it as cleanly as, ‘Even without changing jobs to High Priest, I am a saint!’”

• Does Leah’s expressiveness, honed by RP, look like a joke to you?

• Leah could ramble on in chat all day with that kind of tone…

• I somehow knew she wouldn’t change jobs to that lol

• The reason is so Leah-like, it makes sense

• Now let’s find a cool archer job lol

Even as they chatted, there wasn’t a moment of hesitation in her hand reaching for the light of the podium.

『You have successfully changed jobs to High Priest.』

A dazzling light enveloped Senior, and a new job title appeared next to her name.

“Anyway, thank you! I’ll give you all the rewards from the dungeon, except for the contribution points, Sister!”

I decided not to refuse that.

“…Except for the High Priestess’s Pendant.”

“…You’re so thorough, Sister.”

The day after clearing the temple-like dungeon with Senior. After the Stage 2 unlock, the changes to the server weren’t limited to the addition of jobs and dungeons.

Weapon Enhancement.

A slightly temple-like structure, made of natural stone and emerald blocks, appeared in the village square. Placing a weapon on the ‘glowing block’ in the center would allow for enhancement attempts.

“You understand, right? You’re not going to keep carrying that basic bow forever, are you? You have to quickly switch to your final weapon and finish enchanting it! You can’t waste coins enhancing what you’re using now!”

Karen, who explained enhancement to me, pointed at the bow in her hand.

“Well… I don’t particularly feel the need for enhancement. I haven’t met an enemy I couldn’t defeat with this bow yet.”

“I-is that so?”

• True, if you can kill everything, you should save money lol

• Self-balancing patch lol

• Strong by default (Human itself is enhanced)

• I still want to see enhancements!!

• She should at least change her weapon; it’d be less painful if that one breaks

• So you just want to see it break lol

Karen, after a brief pause, showed me her sword.

“Look at this. A +5 Etherite Sword enchanted with Sharpness V, Unbreaking III, Looting III, and Sweeping Edge III. Isn’t it cool? It’s not just about performance. You have to enhance for the looks too.”

Karen spun the sword around and gripped it in her hand. A thin, blue light shimmered from the blade.

The light flowed continuously, flickering like tiny spirits moving along the surface of the weapon.

The surface was the deep blue-gray characteristic of Etherite. On top of that, faint golden patterns floated subtly, as if proving its enhanced power. It wasn’t a weapon taken from an anvil, but rather, it looked mystical, as if it had been blessed in a temple.

Every time Karen flicked her wrist, a light like an electric current briefly spread from the tip of the sword. It was a fleeting movement, but enough to catch the eye of anyone watching.

Being strong doesn’t mean you’re not concerned with weapons.

Rather, because you know you can achieve results with almost any weapon,

The desire to find a ‘true’ weapon worthy of wielding becomes even deeper.

The Spirit Bow.

I also used a specially crafted, personalized weapon.

Of course, it was a game, but to once again hold a truly impressive bow… wouldn’t be bad.

“Alright. I think it’s time to let this bow go. But Karen… my Pia are calling you a scaredy-cat? They’re saying +5 isn’t something to brag about.”

“What?! A scaredy-cat?!”

Karen raised her sword, then immediately added firmly,

“Fine, I’ll explain. The average coin cost to enhance to +5 is around 888. Even considering the failure rate, the cost-effectiveness is highest up to this stage. But from +6, there’s a chance of dropping to –2 and even the possibility of destruction, so the expected value plummets!”

• Yeah, scaredy-cat~

• Leah’s a real woman, so she won’t do something uncool like stopping at +5, right??

• Judging by the box openings last time, she’s pretty lucky lol

• I can’t watch her settle for +5 because she chose the wrong streamer!

It seemed Karen’s answer hadn’t convinced her Pia, let alone her own viewers.

“Fine! Look over there! There’s living proof that my choice was right!”

In front of the enhancement altar, there was a large wooden sign.

【 Raising Weapon Restoration Funds (ㅠ_ㅠ) 】
【 Coin donations are appreciated…! 】

In front of the sign, Koharu sat quietly with her head bowed. There was even a small basket next to her.

“…How did she end up like that?”

I asked, dumbfounded.

Karen sighed and explained.

“She attempted a +6 enhancement and it broke twice in a row. She went all-in with her entire fortune and doesn’t have enough left to restore it. Am I still wrong?”

I briefly looked at Koharu standing in the square. She looked so pathetic that I almost laughed.

• The destruction rate for +6 is 10%, and that happened twice? lol

• And even getting to +5 drains a ton of coins lol

• Wow… Koharu really shouldn’t gamble

• She failed the box openings last time too lol

• Is her account cursed? lol

I had a lot of coins. I still had some left from capturing the tiger, and I earned quite a bit of contribution from the dungeon run with Senior Ciel.

“Koharu.”

Even when I approached and spoke to her, Koharu didn’t even raise her head.

“How much is the restoration cost?”

“Huh? 1,000 coins…”

“I’ll pay.”

I dropped the coins into the basket. Koharu immediately lifted her blocky face.

“Really? Seriously?!”

She jumped up from her spot almost as if she was about to bounce.

“I love you, Leah! As expected of my gorilla capture duo! My soul partner! Let’s just get married!”

As I stared at her, Koharu flinched and corrected her posture.

“Ah, you said I should pay you back. I will. Really!”

And then she scurried off towards the restoration altar.

“…She’s going to attempt +6 again after restoring it. I bet on it.”

Karen clicked her tongue.

“What’s the big deal? Those who challenge are the ones who achieve results.”

“Hmph. The way you’re talking, you’re planning on going past +6 too, aren’t you, Leah? Look at the probability chart again!”

The enhancement probabilities and costs were posted on the wall. The higher the level, the higher the attempt cost.

“+6 has a 30% success rate. +7 is 20%. +8 is 15%… +12 is a bit strange. 1% success rate and 95% destruction on failure?”

“At that rate, +12 is basically telling you not to do it.”

Yes. It was a truly abysmal probability… but was it really impossible? I pulled a unicorn with a 0.5% chance.

“Anyway, I only have the basic bow right now. I need to make a weapon first.”

“Yes! Let me know when you’re ready to enhance! I’ll watch!”

“So you’re stopping at +5 and watching another elf enhance?”

“…Yes. Watching Koharu’s weapon break gave me a dopamine rush! Anyway, no matter what I say, it seems like you’re aiming pretty high…”

• Did the 3rd generation fight? lol

• Can’t miss watching lol

• Didn’t Karen say something about loving her colleagues before? lol

• Wanting your colleagues to realize the dangers of gambling… that’s love…

“Well, I’ll think about whether to call you, Karen, when the time comes.”

My tasks in Voxel Craft were set.

First, finishing touches on the almost completed Sky Garden.

Finding a job that suited me.

And crafting a final bow for enhancement.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed Voxel Craft on stream, I didn’t only play Voxel Craft.

After being mentioned in the Origin Rift League interview, more Pia wanted to see me play Origin Rift.

And I no longer practiced with Origin Rift before streams.

Although I didn’t have to consciously control my battle lust as much as before,

Origin Rift was still my one and only, precious playground for sharpening my combat senses.

So, after Voxel Craft, I always played at least one or two games, sometimes even more.

I was currently in my second game, when.

• Breaking news) Leah in a head-to-head match against Zerok