MSGE 23

Chapter 23 [Hammer of Success and Failure] (1)

“Huh, whoa!”

【 Achievement Unlocked! Tutorial Dungeon Clear Speed Record Broken! 】

“…Ooh?!”

There’s a saying.

‘Hunters’ don’t trust the news, acquaintances, or even their mothers.

The only thing hunters truly trust is their ‘Status Window’.

Kang Hoon truly understood the meaning of those words today.

The praise and cheers from the people surrounding him.

Those were nice too, of course.

But what felt most certainly ‘real’.

─Was the ‘Status Window’ that only he could see!

“I really did break the speed record.”

Before he could even marvel at it.

The ‘Status Window’ appeared one after another.

【 Title! 】

Flash!

【 One Who Defeated the Boss in a Single Strike. 】

He had shot three arrows.

But apparently he had definitely killed it with Perfect Accuracy on the first shot.

Flash!

【 One Who Crafted Rare Items. 】

Well, that was obvious, since Kang Hoon was an Enhancer.

He had crafted not just one, but five rare items.

Flash!

【 One Who Cleared the Tutorial Dungeon in Record Time. 】

This was an achievement that made even Kang Hoon’s heart race.

【 As a result of achieving three achievements in total! 】

Then, the ‘Status Window’ began making sound effects.

Ttiri— ririri—!

‘It’s just like using 10 gacha tickets in a luck-based gacha game.’

In the brief moment Kang Hoon had that random thought.

【 We present you with a Diamond Box! 】

Along with the ‘Status Window’s’ cheerful exclamation.

A brilliantly sparkling box suddenly appeared before his eyes!

“Gasp!”

Seri and Ji-seong reacted even before Kang Hoon did.

“A, a Diamond Box?!”

“It’s a Diamond Boooox!”

Perhaps because they were A-rank Hunters, their reaction speed was fast.

Following them, not only Cheong Jeong-kwon but even the regular staff members began shouting “Woooah.”

“Wow, a Diamond Box!”

“My goodness! Getting that from a tutorial!?”

“Hunter Park Kang-hoon, congratulations!”

The one who reacted latest was ironically the box’s owner, Kang Hoon himself.

“Is this… a good thing?”

Once again, the Park siblings were the fastest to respond.

“Hyung! You call that a question!”

Ji-seong shouted, unable to contain his excitement,

“Most novice Hunters receive Copper, Steel, Silver grade boxes from tutorial dungeons.”

Seri explained.

“Copper, Steel, Silver, Gold, Platinum. Diamond comes after that.”

‘It’s just like game tiers.’

Nodding his head, Kang Hoon asked.

“Then above Diamond is Master, Grand Master, Ranker. Something like that?”

“No.”

Seri laughed as if it was absurd.

And she pointed at the box floating in front of Kang Hoon’s chest.

“Diamond grade is the highest grade. This box that Kang Hoon received today. There’s no box better than this!”

“What?! It’s that amazing?”

Now he finally understood why everyone around him was making such a fuss.

Kang Hoon nodded and marveled, several beats late.

“Oh. I really did amazingly well…”

Then he reached his hand toward the Diamond Box.

After hearing the explanation, it looked even more sparkling and beautiful.

“First time seeing a Diamond Box being opened…”

The innocent-faced staff members whispered among themselves.

“I hope some cool equipment comes out. Like the strongest weapon.”

Ji-seong also whispered to Seri.

With many people’s attention and expectations focused on him-

Kang Hoon’s hand touched the Diamond Box.

And.

[Diamond Grade Box]: The highest grade box among Gate Dungeon clear reward boxes. Contains random items, and can only be opened by the person who received the reward. * [■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■ ■■, ■■ %]

“…Huh?”

Like all other objects and items.

The information for [Diamond Grade Box] unfolded before Kang Hoon’s eyes.

And even the ‘Options’ section.

─That was a bizarre square box that the current Kang Hoon couldn’t read.

‘This looks just like… the item description window I saw when I went to get my Hunter license?’

At that time, when he tried to enhance that moktak, a ‘magic item’.

Even the attempt had failed.

Something about not being able to enhance items of higher grade than himself.

Gulp.

Would he someday be able to enhance such ‘magic items’ too?

Kang Hoon fell into deep thought.

If that were the case.

──It would mean he could also enhance this [Diamond Grade Box].

‘What kind of message would appear if I tried to enhance this?’

But unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped.

He had gotten excited clearing the Tutorial Dungeon and used up all 10 attempts.

‘Tch! Since I used up all of today’s enhancements.’

He decided to set aside his new curiosity for now.

Instead, Kang Hoon slipped his fingers under the lid of the glowing box.

Click!

The sound of the lock opening rang out pleasantly.

The moment he forcefully opened the lid.

Ta-da-da-dam~!!

With a loud sound, confetti poured down from the sky.

Like the ‘Status Window’, it seemed to be an effect of the Gate system.

Colorful pieces scattering through the air.

“Wow!”

“Ooooh!”

As soon as he blinked his dazzled eyes from the spectacular effects, the reward hidden inside the [Diamond Box] popped out!

Kang Hoon’s first reward as a Hunter.

─Its true identity was!

“A hammer?”

It was a hammer.

“…What?”

“It’s a hammer.”

“It’s just a hammer.”

“It really is a hammer.”

As if trying to meet Kang Hoon’s eye level.

A hammer floating right in front of his eyes.

“…?”

The brilliantly shining Diamond Box.

The hammer that came out of it was so ordinary it was hard to believe.

More than ordinary, it was worn out.

“…Isn’t that used? That thing?”

The iron had different colors from how much it had been patched up.

The handle wrapped tightly with cloth was tattered.

It looked completely soaked with handprints and sweat.

An appearance that clearly screamed ‘used goods’.

If there was one peculiarity, it was its size.

“It is incredibly huge though.”

A level that easily exceeded five or six times the size of a normal hammer.

Was the previous owner, the Blacksmith, a Giant or something?

“Is it a mythic-grade item?”

Cheong Jeong-kwon muttered.

“…For something like that, its appearance is rather…”

The atmosphere where expectations had completely cooled.

However, Kang Hoon didn’t care about others’ reactions.

His gaze was entirely focused on the heavy and rough-looking hammer.

‘I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere.’

A somehow familiar feeling.

A welcoming feeling as if he had known it from the beginning.

It was an awkward sensation for an impression toward a dungeon item.

‘Strange. Why do I feel so glad to see it?’

Captivated by that sensation.

Kang Hoon reached his hand toward the hammer’s handle.

“Uh, uh, Kang Hoon. If you do that…”

Seri tried to stop Kang Hoon from trying to pick up the hammer that was bigger than his forearm.

“Box reward items have weight and gravity applied as soon as you grab th! em… huh?”

However, it was an unnecessary worry.

─Swoosh!

The huge and unwieldy hammer was light as it was held in Kang Hoon’s right hand.

“It’s light though?”

“Huh?”

“Hmm. Let me see…”

The grip that fit perfectly in his palm.

Light to lift yet with a pleasantly appropriate weight.

While lightly swinging the blacksmith’s hammer, Kang Hoon narrowed his eyes.

And the ‘information value’ he confirmed.

[Hammer of Success and Failure] : To you who felt anger, sadness, frustration, humiliation, irritation, and deprivation from failing enhancements. Shout out! “Failure is the mother of success!” * [When 10 cumulative enhancement failures accumulate, 1 guaranteed success. However, only possible up to +5 enhancement.] * [Daily enhancement attempts +10 increase]

Kang Hoon’s mouth gradually opened as he silently read the contents.

“This is…”

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the mouth of Kang Hoon, the only Enhancement Specialist.

The single word that fell from Kang Hoon’s mouth.

“Whoa!!”

They all reacted in unison.

“What?!”

“Why? What is it? What do you see?”

“What kind of item is this supposed to be?!”

After swallowing dry saliva with a gulp,

Kang Hoon spoke in a serious voice.

“This… is an incredibly dangerous item.”

“Dangerous?!”

“How so?”

Was there an amazing skill hidden, or was it an item with tremendous attack power?

In front of those murmuring with tense expressions, Kang Hoon fell into a different kind of worry.

“How do I explain this to ordinary people?”

“Huh?”

“O, ordinary people?”

They were, in their own way, a Guild Master, professional Hunter, and guild members.

People far from the term ‘ordinary people’.

However.

The ‘ordinary people’ Kang Hoon was referring to had quite different standards from the average.

“There aren’t any otaku here, are there?”

“…Huh?”

“O, otaku?”

As expected, there are no otaku here.

In the otaku world, if you’re not an otaku, you’re just a regular person.

For the regular people living their ‘godly lives,’ Kang Hoon cleared his throat.

And he began explaining at their level.

“Well then, everyone, have you ever played gacha games?”

Seri and Ji-seong just rolled their eyes around.

Cheong Jeong-kwon has had a look of giving up on understanding since earlier.

At least the youngest among the staff raised their hand.

“Gacha games, I know what those are. You’re talking about probability-based pay-to-win games, right? Games where you pull for heroes or weapons and stuff.”

Kang Hoon nodded at that.

“Yes. In gacha games, there’s something called a ceiling, isn’t there?”

“Ceiling…?”

“You haven’t pulled that far, have you.”

With a hammer in one hand and his mobile phone in the other.

Kang Hoon began his mobile game lecture.

What is a ‘ceiling’?

“When your spending amount or number of pulls reaches a certain threshold, you’re guaranteed to get a pickup hero or item. At least one is guaranteed.”

“Ah….”

“If you keep accumulating, you’ll eventually reach the ceiling. That’s why they call it a ‘ceiling.’”

A star instructor, no, a star otaku’s excellent lecture.

Everyone nodded their heads.

“So you’re saying there’s a limit to failure?”

“That’s right.”

Seri narrowed her eyes and asked.

“But why are you suddenly bringing up ‘ceiling’… Oh. That hammer! Don’t tell me!?”

Toward the smartest student, Kang Hoon immediately answered.

“Yes. It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

And Kang Hoon raised his right arm high.

It’s a pale arm without much muscle for a Hunter.