MSGE 03

Chapter 3

[Park Kang-hoon’s LCD Tablet +2]

Clang!

Clang!

Claang!!

Past the clear ringing sound.

The item’s information appeared vividly before his eyes.

[Park Kang-hoon’s LCD Tablet +2]: The LCD tablet of Park Kang-hoon, an unknown illustrator. An old model from the Wacom brand, a semi-relic that can’t be found in stores.

Up to this point, it wasn’t surprising.

The basic description was the same except for showing it was an item enhanced twice to +2.

The problem was the options attached at the bottom.

* Work result quality increased by 25%. * Work speed increased by 30% during work. * Eye fatigue decreased by 5% during work.

“Wh, whoa! It became three lines?!”

New options had been added!

Two more of them!

‘And the content is [Work Speed Increase]? This kind of thing could be attached as an option too?’

It was exactly the condition Kang Hoon needed, as he was troubled by his slow hands.

‘30% faster! If you add up eating and sleeping time, the time saved will be even greater.’

It’s something any professional would know.

Illustration work is hard to divide strictly by time.

You need time to eat and sleep while working, and you should exercise if possible.

Many artists suffer from depression or brain disorders from cutting down on sleep.

Many people also suffer from disc problems from reducing exercise.

So the figure of 30% means more than just a simple number!

When actually applied to reality, it would save many working days!

‘With this, I could take on more freelance work in the spare time, or build up my drawing skills.’

Freelance work is a battle against time.

The more skilled an illustrator is, the better they distinguish between parts that need a lot of time and parts that can be roughly done.

“…”

Park Kang-hoon always found that difficult.

‘That’s why I always honestly worked on everything meticulously and barely made deadlines.’

To put it nicely, he was steadfast.

In today’s world, he was just stupid.

‘They say as long as the protagonist’s face in the drawing is pretty, the rest can be roughly done…’

Kang Hoon somehow couldn’t accept that.

Stupidly, he was putting his best effort into every part.

‘That’s probably why I’m an unpopular illustrator.’

Fool.

There was no bigger fool in the world.

Still.

That fool had never missed a deadline.

He just skipped meals, reduced sleep, and couldn’t exercise to draw even a little more.

Gaming after finishing deadlines.

Just that much was his only pleasure in life.

He lived like this because cutting down on gaming too would drive him crazy.

‘I always wished I had the talent to draw quickly, and it came like this…’

That wasn’t all.

Even the [Eye Fatigue Decrease] condition was attached!

To ordinary people, the number 5% might seem ambiguous.

But.

Considering how important eyes are to an illustrator, it was truly an incredible figure.

His eyes often stung from staring at the monitor for so long.

“Wooooooah! I made something like this? An item that gives anyone talent just by sitting here. Just with a simple skill?”

He couldn’t believe it.

He had lived his whole life as an unpopular artist.

It felt like being compensated for all the past years at once!

In his joy, he examined the information more carefully.

* Work result quality increased by 25%.

“Huh?”

The number in the first line option seemed different too.

What was 15% increase at +1 had become 25%.

A whole 10% more improvement!

“Keuuuu! What kind of amazing enhancement event is this!”

Unable to hide his excitement as a gamer, Kang Hoon shouted.

“Let’s go for max enhancement! One more time!!”

Without hesitation, he placed his hand on the LCD tablet.

Was it because he had used the skill twice?

The aura of the item felt under his palm had changed!

Before, he only felt the plain texture of the screen.

But now, how should he put it.

He could feel some kind of brilliant energy.

“Enhancement!”

The moment he shouted with such excitement.

【 Success rate is 50%. Do you want to proceed? 】

“…Stooooooop!!”

Huff, huff!

Breathing heavily enough to make his chest heave, Kang Hoon quickly raised both hands.

As if surrendering,

Taking his hands off his precious LCD tablet.

He spoke in shock at the true nature of the ‘amazing enhancement event.’

“From +3 it goes Ferguson?! If it fails, the tablet disappears!”

And that probability was 50%.

“Even the blacksmith character in the game had a 90% success rate for +3, but this is just plain nasty.”

If ‘Nogimabi’ had been released with such conditions, the gaming community would have been on fire.

‘They’re telling us to pay real money for [Destruction Protection Stones]!’

With outcries like that.

But the precious stone that protects against destruction upon enhancement failure, the ‘Destruction Protection Stone,’ doesn’t exist in reality.

‘It just gets destroyed.’

“….”

He got goosebumps.

If he had simply been a gambling-addicted brain, he would have bet on the 50% chance here and blown it up, but Kang Hoon stops.

His diligent personality from living earnestly saved him.

Rather.

He contemplated this situation in a different way.

“Wait a minute. That means I can do a total of ten enhancements per day… So no matter what, I can hit up to +2 on a maximum of five items, right?”

If he had awakened when he was young.

He might have enjoyed the dopamine rush until everything he owned exploded.

However,

Kang Hoon’s thinking was the complete opposite.

“How many talent corrections are there just at +2? Then I can safely produce five of those every day.”

A peculiar judgment.

Rather, because he was a late-blooming awakener, he could remain calm.

He could see far ahead.

In 5 minutes, junk equipment had become an amazing magical item.

What could that possibly mean?

“Without any prerequisites, unconditionally… I can do up to +2.”

What to choose for enhancement would also become important.

That’s when it happened.

Bzzzz-! Bzzzz-! Bzzzzzz-!

The phone shoved into a corner of the desk started ringing.

He frantically searched to answer the call, but the call ended.

Instead─

KakaoTalk!

A long message came up.

[Illustrator-nim~! ㅠㅠ Would you be available for an urgent commission?

It’s a cover commission for the web novel 【Siren, But I’m Tone-Deaf?】, which should have been completed last week but fell through.

The quality can be somewhat lower, that’s fine.

If you can just take on this rush job, I’ll pay you triple the usual commission fee.

Could you finish it and send it by 7 PM today?]

“Huh? Wasn’t that a test serialization by a popular author?”

A serialization that a famous author had written as an experiment.

But he remembered it becoming incredibly successful.

‘The cover commission must have been handled by a famous illustrator too… Something must have gone wrong.’

He didn’t know what happened, but this was an opportunity.

If he just drew for a bit. He’d get triple his usual commission fee.

“Good. Should I test out the Enhancement Skill while I’m at it?”

Kang Hoon placed both hands not on the LCD tablet’s pen, but on the chair─

More precisely, on the cushion.

And,

“Enhancement, Enhancement!”

He cast the skill he’d already gotten used to!

Without asking or questioning, immediately twice in a row.

He hammered it up to +2.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

──Claaang!!

[Park Kang-hoon’s Purple Cushion] : The purple cushion of the not-famous illustrator Park Kang-hoon. It’s a memory foam cushion, but because Park Kang-hoon’s butt has been attached to it for too long, it has formed a memory of Park Kang-hoon’s butt shape. * When sitting, 10% fatigue recovery for the sitter * When sitting, spinal alignment for the sitter * When sitting, 3% spinal alignment improvement for the sitter

It wasn’t content that would immediately boost work speed.

“In a way, it’s a natural result. This has nothing to do with drawing… It’s just a cushion, after all?”

But there was no need to be disappointed at all.

“Fatigue recovery?”

Delaying fatigue and recovering from fatigue are completely different concepts.

The former still accumulates fatigue anyway, but the latter has a healing effect.

In other words,

The more he worked while sitting on this cushion?

His fatigue level would actually decrease!

“Wow…”

The second and third options were also quite good.

It meant his spine worries had disappeared.

‘Someone with a herniated disc would want to buy this even if they had to pay a fortune.’

Following that,

Thwack───!

He slammed both palms down on the desk almost like striking it.

“Enhancement, Enhancement!”

He immediately hammered out consecutive enhancements.

[Park Kang-hoon’s Old Desk] : The old desk of lower-mid-tier gamer Park Kang-hoon. It has a hole punched through it from when he threw a shotgun punch after suffering a crushing defeat in the 【Luxury Watch】 competition 6 months ago. * When used, 15% prevention of turtle neck for the user * When used, 30% concentration improvement for the user

“What the… How does it know I threw a shotgun punch?”

Kang Hoon felt embarrassed by the relentless information value.

It was true that he had encountered an ill-mannered user while gaming and lost.

It was also true that he had thrown a “shotgun punch” – the motion of striking the desk with his fist.

That had caused a small hole to be carved into the desk.

“I covered that part with a mouse pad though…”

This ‘information value’ function seemed to be able to discover even invisible things.

“Ha! It even describes it as a ‘gamer’s’ item rather than an ‘illustrator’s’ item?”

Was it because the traces left on this desk were connected to gaming?

It didn’t matter.

What was important were the two attached options!

“Oh, ooh! Uwaaaah! 30 percent concentration!!”

This was enough.

Six enhancements.

Now it was time to experience the effects of those options!

“Five hours until deadline!”

Normally he wouldn’t have taken this commission.

He didn’t know what kind of bullshit had happened internally that made the prepared artwork unusable─

But since the other party was a popular author, if the cover art turned out badly.

Countless readers’ curses would pour down on him!

Kang Hoon, a man with a small-sized heart, couldn’t handle that kind of thing.

‘No matter how much money they offer. This is a poisoned chalice.’

Still.

This time he felt like it would work out.

With this Enhancement Skill he’d gained today.

He felt like he could perfectly handle anything.

‘…Let’s go!’

He gritted his teeth and sat down in the chair.

As soon as his buttocks touched the enhanced Purple Cushion, some inexplicable energy surged up.

He could feel his stamina recovering with a whoosh!

Like he’d just downed a hot bowl of soup!

“Wow. Is this what a recovery effect feels like?”

The moment he muttered that and placed his elbows on the desk.

Kang Hoon’s distracted mind began moving rapidly.

Since this was an extremely urgent freelance job, the instructions were everything, and there would be no mid-work revision requests.

Fortunately, the novel author had drawn what they wanted using stick figures in Paint.

This meant it was easy to understand the desired composition.

‘If I pull this off, the freelance fee will be tripled!’

He immediately turned on his LCD Tablet and picked up the stylus.

He sorted through and opened the necessary materials to work as quickly as possible.

He also checked the requirements listed in the email in advance.

He drew up a blueprint for completion in his mind.

And then he started working right away.

Truly incredible concentration!

Tap-tap-tap! Swish-swish! Tap-tap! Swish! Swoosh! Tap-tap-tap!!

The more he drew, the clearer his eyes became.

His work speed was unbelievably fast!

Amazingly.

Kang Hoon’s pen didn’t stop for even a single moment.

Going beyond the level of drawing a new picture.

It felt like he was rapidly reviewing an already completed drawing.

That’s right.

A concentrated sprint toward completion!

For the first time since starting work as an illustrator, Kang Hoon felt it.

──That today he had drawn the most perfect picture among all his works!

Who would have thought such a moment would be on the stage of this blockbuster work.

“Haaaaah….”

He sent the perfectly edited drawing via email.

At the same time,

Beep, beep, beep-!

The ‘deadline’ alarm rang.

He had met the deadline exactly!

Only after completing his goal did Kang Hoon properly appreciate the finished work he had created.

This was because he had been free of all distracting thoughts until now.

Probably due to the ‘Concentration Increase’ effect attached to the desk.

“Wow! How is this possible. I drew this? The quality is insane…!”

The [Quality 25% Increase] effect attached to the LCD Tablet was tremendous.

‘It seemed amazing just looking at the percentage, but now that I’ve actually used it, it’s even better.’

Combined with other options like [Concentration] and [Fatigue Recovery].

A true masterpiece had been completed.

That was the moment.

Ding!

[Web Novel, 【I’m a Siren, But I’m Tone-Deaf?】 Cover] : A freelance cover worked on by illustrator Park Kang-hoon. With a clear-colored ocean as the background, the beauty of the romance’s male and female protagonists stands out. The dreamlike atmosphere and detailed depiction are excellent, worthy of being called a masterpiece. Completed as an S-grade cover through editing. * [Reader’s impulse to click on the work increased by 30%] * [Park Kang-hoon’s fame increased by 200%]

“Huh, what? This shows up too?”

It was natural that the ‘information value’ appearing before his eyes was fascinating.

And the content was incredibly surprising too!

Ding!

[Thank you for the perfect work.

Fortunately, we were able to upload it on time. The novel author was also very pleased…

No, they told me to literally convey that they wailed in reality as soon as they received it.

They said they’re extremely grateful.]

‘Wailed? Were they really that happy? Come on, that’s quite an exaggeration, isn’t it? All I did was fill in what was about to be a cover disaster.’

Unaccustomed to such praise, Kang Hoon scratched the back of his head.

Ding!

[I’d like to make an advance reservation for the next cover as well,

and of course, I’d like to continue commissioning you regularly at the price we just agreed on.

How does your freelance schedule look? ^^]

Only after seeing the follow-up message.

“Ha, hahaha!”

Reality hit him.

He had been recognized! Not just for the quality of his illustration.

His abilities as an Enhancer had been recognized as well!

“On a day like today, I should raise a toast!”

With a joyful heart, Kang Hoon picked up his phone.

And ordered celebratory chicken and a congratulatory draft beer.

“All the enhancement options were real!”

* * *

[Anyone seen the 【I’m a Siren But Tone-Deaf】 cover??? Who is this illustrator?]

└ Seriously so amazing,,, the male lead matches my imagination perfectly ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└ Where?? Link please

└ Check this out

└ Wow… the female lead is insane too? So freaking lovely;;;

The web novel reader community was buzzing with talk about Kang Hoon’s cover.

It seemed like chaos had erupted everywhere thanks to the cover he submitted yesterday.

‘Wow, they published it the very next day after completing the rush freelance job. Just how does the inside of that publishing company operate?’

Seeing the title perfectly embedded made his heart ache somehow.

‘The deadline was definitely 7 PM yesterday…. Don’t tell me they didn’t go home?’

Such thoughts were dizzying, but only briefly.

Kang Hoon busily refreshed the page, following the stream of praise.

[Kang Hoon illustrator is a diligent person

Even though he does a lot of work, his skills weren’t at this level before..

Wow; did you come out after secluded training somewhere???]

Sincere praise and admiration, intense reactions.

The corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.

‘This is all thanks to the enhancement item power!’

Then suddenly, this thought occurred to him.

‘Huh? But wait, is this a more amazing skill than I thought? Maybe?’

From a common sense perspective.

What people usually respect most are combat abilities.

Abilities like collapsing mountains, evaporating seas, or shooting beams from your eyes, etc.

Compared to such flashy skills.

Production jobs do look somewhat shabby, that’s true.

Since it’s not a combat ability for hunting monsters, leveling up is also difficult, making it even more so.

That’s why ‘crafting support’ isn’t a profession that draws public attention.

But─

‘I’ve never heard of an ability that permanently enhances things with one touch without any materials.’

That wasn’t all.

Just one day after getting the skill, he earned three times his usual amount!

‘Starting from the very beginning like this…?’

Truly an incredible ability!