Hard Carry Support

Chapter 12 - The Day Things Don't Work Out (1)

Hyun and Ain teleported to Loupra, one of the biggest cities of the Magic Country.

Even at night, the streets of Loupra were full of life.

In the Magic Country, artifacts that resembled neon signs illuminated the streets.

It was like looking at the night view of a big city.

The most important building of Loupra was the one that belonged to the Magician's Guild.

Something that looked like an artificial sun was orbiting through the installations of the building. So even at night, inside the Guild, it was bright as day.

They were using an artifact similar to an escalator to go up. They were there searching for the Guild's item enhancer.

"Everyone... Is looking at us, right?"

Ain asked Hyun with a low tone of voice.

"I think it's because of how we're dressed."

It wasn't their imagination. Everyone, from the guide to some clients, was looking at them.

He was wearing the 'The Ghost Commander's Robe of Darkness' he had gotten while hunting ghosts.

Hyun and Ain were wearing dark clothes, so in the eyes of some NPCs, they probably looked like suspicious people.

"Are you Dark Priests? This place isn't somewhere your kind can enter. Get out immediately!"

The NPCs didn't try to hide their distrust towards them.

Hyun denied it before the misunderstanding deepened.

"No, we're not dark priests!"

"Then... Why are you wearing those clothes?"

"We're 'users,' we got these clothes while hunting!"

"Hmm..."

The NPCs of the game knew about the existence of users.

From their point of view, they had come from another dimension and were fundamentally different from them—that's why they gave users a lot of freedom.

After ten minutes of explanations, they finally let him go.

"Damn it. I'll throw away these clothes as soon as possible."

Hyun felt the need to change his robes and equipment quickly.

After walking for a while, they finally arrived at the Item Enhancer Department on the third floor.

The interior looked like a luxurious department store's jewelry shop.

The Magician, who was reading a book reclined on the sofa, looked at the awkwardly standing Hyun and Ain.

"Are you clients?"

"Yes, we're clients," Hyun answered with an awkward tone of voice.

The Item Enhancer began explaining.

"The prices are like this: Magic Items: 500 Gold, Rare: 2,000 Gold, Unique: 8,000 Gold. Ones from a higher category depend on each case. The success of the item-enhancing process isn't guaranteed. So even if it fails, there's no reimbursement."

After giving a cold and concise explanation, she again turned her eyes to the book.

"Once you're ready, give me the items you're going to give magic and the ones that'll be used as materials."

"Excuse me... Do you have a dressing room?"

Hyun asked while carefully raising his hand.

The item enhancer looked at Hyun. Then she hit the desk with her wand.

At that moment, both Hyun and Ain teleported to the room next door.

Hyun was flustered because the scenery had changed suddenly. But after seeing through the blind the place where they'd just been, he understood what had happened.

"Is this a remote teleport magic circle...?"

"Yes, I think so."

"It seems like that woman's level is quite high."

Drawing a magic circle that allowed another person to teleport required a third rank ascension.

Because Hyun and Ain's levels were low, they were teleported before they could notice what was happening.

Thud-

Hyun took out the rare items inside his inventory he had obtained after beating the hidden named boss monsters.

—From a full-body armor made of steel to a light one made of leather.

Lastly, he took off the 'The Ghost Commander's Robe of Darkness.'

"I'll finally be able to throw this old and rugged robe away."

"Isn't the design okay?"

"No, I mean… They say that it's better to throw away the old stuff, right? It's better to change items frequently."

He had been wearing that robe since level 20. If it were real life, it would probably stink.

Hyun was about to take out from his inventory a robe worth three gold that the only good thing it had was the design when he noticed something weird.

Ain was acting differently from usual.

'Did her eyes shine...?

Now that he thought about it, she'd been acting weird.

Ain was walking in circles around 'The Ghost Commander's Robe of Darkness.'

She was staring at the item as if she was analyzing it.

She also got closer to the robe and placed her nose on it.

"Ain, what are you doing?"

As Hyun called Ain, her shoulders shrugged.

It was as if she'd awakened after being hypnotized.

"Umm... I was just... The smell... No, not that. I was just trying to see how much durability it had left!"

"Durability...?"

"Yes..."

"It should be similar to yours, right? After all, we began wearing them at the same time."

"R... Right? Since we began wearing them at the same time..."

Hyun thought that Ain was acting weird but decided to ignore it.

Even normally, he couldn't understand what Ain was thinking.

It wasn't like she thought of something ridiculous once or twice.

"Then I'll go first. Come out when you're ready."

As Hyun walked out of the dressing room, the Magician looked at him and said in a dry voice.

"Rare item enhancement costs 2,000 gold. You need to pay first."

"Hmm... It's a little bit expensive."

Hyun had a grim expression while taking a huge sum of gold out of his inventory.

He was about to blow the money he had saved up through a lot of effort in enhancement.

The moment he took out the money, the Magician took out a scroll.

He didn't have time to mentally prepare for what was about to happen. The normal rarity robe began to shine.

The process didn't even take three seconds.

A few moments later, Hyun got a message from the system.

[The item enhancement has failed.]

[The Brilliant Pauldron of the Water Dragon (Rare) has been destroyed.]

"...?"

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

Hyun couldn't understand what was happening. He just stared at her blankly.

She looked at him as if nothing had happened.

After a while, words came out of Hyun's mouth.

"Was that a try?"

"Yes, and it failed," she coldly replied.

"Are you going to try again with another item? A rare one costs 2.000 gold."

More than being dishearted by the results, he was getting annoyed.

Was item enhancement supposed to end so quickly?

It was true that item enhancement was done with one click in Asra Online.

He thought there would be some kind of special effects in Asrian Online, a game that used the latest technology.

'Anyways, the enhancement has failed, huh? Well... I wasn't expecting for it to be a success on the first try.'

Hyun took out the next rare item.

Dale's Armor.

It increased your HP by 20%, and when hit with an opponent's attack, it decreased the amount of damage received by 30%. A great new item would be born if the item enhancement was successful.

"Please, try to proceed slowly."

She nodded, but Hyun felt that talking to her was as if he were talking to a wall.

The Magician took out a scroll from the drawer.

Plaf - He heard the sound of the wand hitting the desk. Then he received the same message.

[The item enhancement has failed.]

[The Armor of the Fallen Knight Dale (Rare) has been destroyed.]

"Here's 6,000 gold. I'm not stopping until I get a successful enhancement!"

"Understood."

She took out three scrolls and hit them with the wand.

The item enhancement that took a huge sum of money was over instantly.

[The item enhancement has failed.]

[Istal's Life (Rare) has been destroyed.]

[The item enhancement has failed.]

[The Blue Light Bone Armor (Rare) has been destroyed.]

[The item enhancement has failed.]

[Lamyla's Armor (Rare) has been destroyed.]

He got three consecutive messages that said that the item enhancement had failed.

He subconsciously hit the desk of the NPC with both hands.

"Are you kidding me?! How is this even possible?!"

The probability of success was 50%. Shouldn't at least one have been a success?

"Isn't this rigged?"

He had blown up 10,000 gold plus five rare items in just an instant. For a moment, he became blind because of anger.

"My money! My items!"

Hyun was about to make a scene but suddenly stopped.

Next to him, the Magician was applying pressure on him.

"Be quiet."

Just a stare was enough to suffocate him.

She seemed to be using magic to apply pressure on his heart.

He was short of breath and could feel his blood circulation accelerate.

If it were real life, he would've been seriously worried about possible side effects on his body.

"If you make a scene in the shop, I'll have to take measures. I don't decide whether an item enhancement will be successful or not. The success rate depends on your luck."

Once the Magician stopped applying pressure on him, he could finally breathe normally.

'A game that can control how you feel, huh? I almost lost my mind...! Also, can a shop employee treat the user like this?'

At that moment, he felt that a game using the latest technology had many cons.

'That's not important. Right now, I need to think about how I'm going to recover the gold and items I've blown up!'

10.000 gold and five rare items had disappeared in just an instant.

They were items he could have sold at the auction house for at least 1,500 gold each.

'I can't go back to hunting named monsters, but it will be hard from now on without good items...!'

Until then, he'd been able to confront enemies without any items. But from that moment on, things would get consistently harder.

He needed to have the best items and new skills.

But the item enhancement process had ruined all his plans.

It reminded him of what had happened in Asra.

Once again, he had to struggle because of the success rate! It made him want to cry.

At that moment, he heard the woman's voice that made him want to cry.

"The percentage of success is low, but it has been successful."

"...?"

Hyun lifted his head.

There was a pair of gloves that had holes in the fingers on Ain's hands.

It was just a normal pair of gloves that they'd just bought. But the aura that came out of them wasn't normal.

After checking out that item's specs, Hyun's eyes shook.

[ Black Half Gloves (Unique) ]

Requirement: [Magical Power 130]

<A half gloves with a simple design. Since your fingers show, during the winter, your hands could freeze.>

- It has [Item: Leopard's Wand] embedded.

Equipment created by Leopard while trying to replicate what the heavenly beings use. There's a powerful cold air incorporated into it.

Durability: (50/50)

Magical Power Increase: 30%

Critical Hit Damage Increase: 30%

Increased Element Magic Damage: 50%

- By successfully landing five attacks, you'll freeze your opponent.

- The speed of projectile-type magics is increased by 1.5 times.

"You've successfully managed to get a unique item enhancing done on the first try?"

Hyun had nightmares while playing Asra Online because of unique rarity item enhancement.

What was the probability?

Before Hyun thought of the answer, she told them.

"Congrats. The success rate of unique item enhancement is less than 20%, so I thought that it would fail."

Although the Magician had a mean tone of voice, at least he agreed with what she said that time.

He had failed five times to get a successful rare item enhancement, but she had managed to get a unique item enhancement with a success rate of just 20%.

'This damn game...'

He couldn't understand what had happened.

'This is all probably because of my bad luck. The unique item enhancement was probably successful because I offered five rare items as sacrifices.'

‘Yes, there's no way that it's possible to get a unique item enhancement on your first try!’

‘This means that I was partially responsible for her success. Then it should be okay to ask for compensation. Right?’

Hyun was thinking about nonsensical things when he saw another light coming from the side.

It was weaker than before but still enough to make Hyun surprised.

"Another success. But why would anyone embed a rare item in such a ragged thing?"

"It isn't ragged," Ain replied to the item enhancer.

In her hands, she had a black robe.

It was the 'The Ghost Commander's Robe of Darkness' he had just thrown to the floor.

[ The Ghost Commander's Robe of Darkness (Rare) ]

Requisite: [Level: 20], [Holy jobs can't use this item.]

<The robe that the ghost commander used to wear. It covers all your body, and it has a hat incorporated. Since it's too dark, you may look like a shadow by wearing it.>

- It has [Cloak of the Blood Fairy] incorporated into it.

It's the cloak that the blood fairy Rede used to like wearing. When you're low in health, you need to avoid running wild with excitement.

Durability: (24/70)

<Passive: The Blood Fairy's Torrent>

- When your health drops to less than 20%, your speed increases by 50%.

- This effect lasts for 60 seconds.

<Cooldown Time: 12 hours>

"This is for you."

Ain extended her hands with a smile on her face.

In her hands, there was the jacket he had been wearing up until then.

"If it's Hyun, you should at least be wearing something like this. Don't you think so?"

What Ain was wearing was the original robe she had obtained, and what she was giving Hyun was the one that had a rare item embedded in it.

Even though Ain could wear it herself, she was giving it to him.

"Y... You're giving that to me...?"

Hyun was having a hard time closing his mouth because of the surprise.

To be honest, he didn't like the robe because of the color, but that was when it didn't have a rare item embedded in it.

Hyun was feeling happy.

'It was worth raising her up! She knows how to pay back her benefactor!'

Hyun looked at 'The Ghost Commander's Robe of Darkness' again.

"Huh, wait a minute..."

He felt slight discomfort.

It wasn't anything notable, but he felt it was slightly different from the robe he had been wearing until recently.

"Is this mine...?"

Hyun mumbled.

Ain was shaking just like a little kid who had been discovered while making mischief.

"The durability seems too low."

"Uh... T... That's... Probably because..."

Ain stuttered.

When Hyun looked at her while wondering what had happened, she became flustered.

"Oh, what probably happened is that the durability got cut down in the process of enhancing."

"Really?"

Hyun scratched his head.

Well, that really didn't matter.

The durability could be increased. The cost of repairing a damaged item was almost free compared to enhancing one.

A weapon for a Support, clothes for Ain, and other armors—they still needed a lot of things, but there was no need to hurry. If they kept getting the necessary items one by one, eventually, they would be fully equipped.

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