Chapter 143: If you don’t want to regret it

Karen, who had urged me to enhance right away, also took a proper look around the garden. She even flew around using her wings.

Meanwhile, another visitor arrived. Senior Ciel.

“Sister. Your house is so pretty. It’s a view worthy of at least 10 screenshots.”

“Thank you.”

“I heard an unsightly rat is hiding in this beautiful place.”

• Gasp

• Ciel’s not paying back her money lol

• Abusive Saint on

“…I don’t know exactly where she is either. Go upstairs and look for her.”

“Okay. Then I’ll be going… see you later, Sister?”

I heard the sound of her quickly moving away across the rope bridge.

“Noah, you
! Get out here!”

• ㄷㄷㄷㄷ

• Scary…

• Is she two-faced…?

• There’s no saint or anything in front of money lol

Just then, the seniors who were looking around with Karen came down all at once.

“This place is really nice. Can I come visit anytime?”

Karen asked.

“Please do. And I’m going to enhance now, so watch if you want.”

The seniors were even quicker to respond.

“Can I come too? Our Lumiere de Savanna Blackfeather the Second loves the sound of enhancing.”

“Assessing the specs of an education subject is necessary. I shall observe as well.”

At this point, a new worry began to creep in.

With everyone having such high expectations, what if I succeeded all the way to +12 in one go?

When I arrived at the enhancement area, Koharu was there.

“Krahaha! You came just in time! Perfect timing indeed!”

Karen muttered anxiously,

“What’s with that smug attitude from Koharu? Don’t tell me…”

“Yes! Applaud! Applaud before my overwhelming weapon!”

Koharu triumphantly pulled out her weapon.

Without exaggeration, the sword looked like a relic. The light flowing along the blade now formed a shape, as if encasing its outline. The golden patterns, which were subtle at +5, now floated and spun around the weapon.

With just a slight flick of her wrist, a line of crackling electricity spread from the tip of the sword to the ground, accompanied by a swirling wind.

The impression wasn’t that of a weapon, but rather, a transcendental will awakening and moving on its own. It felt like a sanctified piece of equipment.

“”Wow…””

The seniors behind me let out a simultaneous gasp of admiration.

“Y-you, Koharu! What is that weapon! What happened!”

“Oh… this? It’s called a ‘+10 Etherite Sword.’”

“No way… how did Koharu, with her cursed luck…”

Koharu brandished her sword dramatically and said,

“Hmph. It wasn’t that I was unlucky. It was a trial given to the protagonist! Once I broke through +6, it was a straight shot to +10! The second +10 weapon on the server was born!”

• What a twist lol

• Does regression to the mean even exist…

• Who has the first +10 weapon on the server?

• Minato Rue

• +10 with the lowest playtime? lol

• Just luck lol

I took a step towards Koharu.

“Congratulations, Koharu. You finally got what you wanted.”

“Oh, it’s my soul mate, Leah! It’s all thanks to you! Thanks to the restoration funds you lent me, I was able to get this far! Here, I’ll pay you back! The enhancement finished quickly, so I even have some extra funds!”

Koharu handed me 1,500 coins, generously adding interest to the 1,200 I lent her.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it! I’m the one who should be thanking you! Now then…”

Koharu turned to Karen.

“Well, loser? How do you feel now? +10 is the right of those who challenge! It’s a realm that a scaredy-cat like Karen can never reach!”

Karen just stared at Koharu without saying anything.

“What? Are you so angry you can’t speak? Or are you reflecting on yourself? It’s okay! Courage is also a kind of talent! Since Karen has no talent, she can just watch the legend unfold from the sidelines!”

Just as I was starting to think Koharu was getting a little too excited, the quiet Karen spoke in a low voice,

“…Yes. I admit it.”

“…Huh?”

Koharu faltered.

“Yes. I really think it’s amazing. I stopped at +5 because I’m a scaredy-cat, but you did it. I’m so envious.”

“Uh… really? W-well, I guess that’s possible.”

Karen quietly approached the sword and said, admiring it,

“Can I take a closer look at that sword?”

“Uh… sure, go ahead!”

Karen even took out her own sword and started comparing them.

“Compared to yours, mine is just a stick… well, this is all that’s fitting for a scaredy-cat.”

“No, Karen, if you just try a little harder, you can reach +7 or +8! Don’t give up!”

At this point, Koharu started comforting Karen. Then, Karen, who had been shaking her head, suddenly stopped and said,

“But there’s one thing that’s a bit disappointing.”

“…What’s disappointing?”

“It’s not the only one on the server. If you just enhance it one more time, it would be the first and strongest on the server.”

“Hmph. I’m not going to enhance it any further just because you said that.”

• Gaslighting lol

• Trying to drag her down to +0 lol

• Koharu doesn’t need to go any further

But Karen continued, quite seriously,

“No. I’m genuinely saying this because I’m disappointed. +10 means you’ve earned the ‘right’ to attempt +11, right? It can also be seen as an opportunity to reach greater heights. An opportunity that others don’t have.”

“E-even so…”

Koharu looked down at her sword hesitantly. Karen put more force into her voice.

“Especially since you went straight from +6. Enhancement is about momentum. Can you be certain that momentum won’t carry you to +11? If you stop now, that momentum… ends here. And when you look back later… won’t you think, ‘If only I had tried one more time’? Won’t you regret it?”

“Ugh… that’s…”

Karen took a step back and finished,

“Well, I’m not going to force you. It’s your choice. I think it’s amazing enough as it is… and having two +10 weapons on the server is fine too.”

Koharu, who had been standing tall with her sword, turned around as if she had made up her mind. And she walked steadily towards the enhancement altar.

• Uh oh…

• She’s falling for it? lol

• Koharu’s easy

“Yes! I have the momentum! +11 here we go!”

The success rate for +11 was 5%. The destruction rate was 60%. I too watched the unfolding situation with a cautious gaze.

The light on the altar fluctuated violently.

The light that had been crackling around the blade like lightning suddenly flared up –

Bang!!

With an explosive sound, the sword shattered into pieces. All that remained on the altar were remnants that looked like Etherite fragments, devoid of their holy light.

“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”

• Lol

• Boom!

• As soon as you stop, even for a few seconds, the streak is over

• Rue, eating potato chips at home, gets a win lol

• The only +10 weapon holder on the server (the other +10 self-destructed)

• But Karen’s persuasion skills were pretty good lol

• Even I would have been tempted

• Gaslighting level is over 9000 lol

Karen approached the collapsed Koharu with light steps.

“Oh, what’s wrong, Haru? Did your enhancement fail?”

“You… are… dead…”

Contrary to her words, it was Koharu whose voice sounded like she was dying. The seniors whispered behind me.

“Ayame. Our 3rd generation junior is scary.”

“Karen also has the makings of a maid. The cunning to endure humiliation for a purpose. The acting skills to not even bat an eye…”

What did being a maid mean to Senior Ayame? Was it because she was a combat maid?

Although I felt a little sorry for Koharu, who was sprawled on the ground, I had come here for a reason.

I placed the bow I had prepared on the enhancement altar.

It was a Deepwood Bow enchanted with Power V, Flame, Knockback II, Infinity, and Unbreaking III.

Originally, creating a fully enchanted weapon in Voxel Craft wasn’t easy. It consumed a lot of experience, the synthesis cost increased each time an item was placed on the anvil, and book enchantments were highly random, so you might not get the enchantments you wanted.

The Blooming Core server significantly mitigated this through the ‘coin shop.’

[Refined Magic Stones] that allowed you to choose and apply specific enchantments. [Mana Alignment Kits] that allowed you to choose from three possible enchantments. [Transmutation Catalysts] that had a low chance of increasing the enchantment level by one. [Precision Engraving Tools] that allowed you to directly enchant tools without books. All of these were available at the coin shop.

That’s why I was able to create a fully enchanted weapon while building, but the reason for lowering the difficulty was obvious. To encourage quick enhancements. So that we could create fun scenes like Koharu just did.

I apologized to my Pia in advance.

“…My Pia. I’ll tell you in advance. Even if this enhancement goes too smoothly… please don’t blame my luck, but just consider it the natural flow.”

• ???

• Do elves like counting their chickens before they hatch?

• I guess she’s acting like this because of the lucky box opening last time…

• Don’t you know about regression to the mean? You should be worried about bad luck!

• She’s still confident after seeing Koharu fail lol

• If she’s that confident, she’ll definitely attempt +10, right?

• Ah lol I want to see Leah’s crying face

And so, the enhancement began.

+1. +2. +3. Success without a single failure. The success rates were 100, 80, and 60, respectively.

• Good start

• This much is… well…ㅎ

And +4, +5, +6. Success again without failure. No destruction or downgrade. The probabilities were 50, 40, and 30, respectively.

• ??????

• What’s with her luck?

• Karen’s enhancement success is instant lol

And it was time to attempt +7. The success rate was 20%. Failure would downgrade the enhancement level by 1 or 2, or destroy the item with a 20% chance.

Flash –

The bow, enveloped in bright light, immediately signaled success.

I looked at the probability chart posted on the temple wall. Although I was slightly worried that I wouldn’t be able to create a funny scene, I was also puzzled.

“My Pia. There’s something wrong with this probability chart. Wasn’t 20% the failure rate, not the success rate? I think it’s labeled the wrong way around. Actually, it should have been an 80% success rate. Otherwise, there’s no way it would be this easy…”

• You

• So boring

• ㅗ

• Get out

• Ugh, disgusting, ugh, disgusting, ugh, disgusting

• If this was a gacha game that Pia played, you’d be executed…

• If I saw that and got flexed on, I’d delete my account lol