It didn’t matter how many times I looked at the dagger, it was the Third Virtue’s main weapon. He had actually reinforced a piece of trash from a bronze box to S-class. Well, he was the type of guy who got obsessed with something when he was hooked on it. Therefore, whoever he targeted couldn't survive.

“That’s a good one, right?”

I nodded in response to Woo Yeon-Hee’s question. Although it wasn’t a godly weapon off the bat, I knew its power and history. In fact, it was one of the most powerful weapons that the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues possessed, and the Third Virtue was able to curse others because of the dagger’s random negative effect even though he didn’t have any mental-based skills.

Moreover, the weapon had not been registered in any databases that I had searched in the previous timeline. I couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Third Virtue had deleted the database entries. However, considering that I had never seen this weapon in person, the probability of receiving the dagger was likely extremely low, similar to obtaining rare items. Woo Yeon-Hee opened the next box with a satisfied look.

“It’s Strength again, and it only increased by two.”

The tone of her voice sounded mixed, and she took a break from opening boxes for a while. There were four bronze boxes left, and she drank cold bottled water from the fridge while reflecting on her determination.

“It should be an Escape Insignia, okay?” she muttered to herself.

The next box increased her trait Empathetic Person by nine.

“Yes! I’m getting luckier!”

Woo Yeon-Hee copied my reactoin, and she was right. Her gaze shifted from the air to her chest again as she received a Reinforcement Insignia.

[Woo Yeon-Hee has handed over a Reinforcement insignia to you.]

It seemed like the System was whispering to me to reinforce the Clown’s Dagger, and Woo Yeon-Hee needed an explanation.

“A Reinforcement Insignia is used to upgrade an item, but using it doesn’t necessarily increase the class every single time.”

“It’s luck again?” she questioned.

I also described that the higher the class, the greater the probability of failure than success, and that the items would be destroyed if a reinforcement failed. I was beginning to influence her, and she sounded as pessimistic about the System as I was.

“It’s unfair that we have to rely on luck to determine rewards. Our life doesn’t depend on luck inside the dungeon. You especially risked your life multiple times, but…Anyway, a Reinforcement Insignia is a good one, right?” she asked curiously.

“Yes, it’s as rare as Escape,” I replied.

“Ah!”

Woo Yeon-Hee exhaled deeply with a mixture of joy and disappointment. She looked tired as she clasped her fingers and began stretching. She came to the conclusion that another shower was unnecessary.

“I’ll continue.”

Then, all of a sudden, she hugged me like she did in the dungeon. Her eyes were shining beyond measure with tears as she looked up at me and her voice trembled.

“I…I finally got it!”

When a man and woman shared a blanket together on the same bed, things happened naturally. Woo Yeon-Hee was breathing fast with the excitement from the box and had difficulty sleeping. When I called her name, she closed her eyes even tighter with surprise. There was a weird tension in the silence.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” I said.

“No, I…I will.” She opened her eyes then.

“It’s okay,” I replied.

I only took a pillow as the floor was heated. I needed time to suppress my instinct of the moment as my blood became uncontrollably hot and her heavy breathing tempted me. I could never sleep with Woo Yeon-Hee because the dungeons would not leave us alone. Such a relationship wouldn’t let us fight when needed and abandon each other when the situation was dire. There were quite a few idiots who died like that in the past. Love didn’t exist between them, but just the fact that they slept together restrained them. As escaping from the dungeon was an absolutely unacceptable rule, sexual relationships with another party member was prohibited. However, Woo Yeon-Hee wouldn’t understand it.

***

Even after Sense was upgraded, an Awakened wouldn’t have heightened awareness until they learned to control their perceptions. In the beginning, people had a hard time sleeping at night and became more sensitive, and this process repeated whenever Sense was raised by one class. Despite my regression, I realized that I had controlled my Sense properly as I didn’t wake up until Woo Yeon-Hee placed a blanket over me during the night.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“One o’clock,” she replied.

I pulled the curtains back to see the sunlight, so it was one p.m.

“I let you sleep because you looked tired,” she said.

“Let’s go.”

The traffic on the highway was heavy due to a sudden snowfall at night. Two hours had passed since we had our first meal at the rest area, but we were still stuck here. I changed the radio channel around the time I got bored listening to old songs. A finance channel was looking back on the IMF crisis, and I turned up the volume. Woo Yeon-Hee seemed to like it as she was also aware that the IMF crisis was a humiliation for Korea.

- There are two likely reasons why Korea required loans from the IMF, right?

- Yes, one theory is that major domestic companies caused confusion through their reckless mismanagement of debts. The other is that we were too obsessed with foreign firms and capitalists. These are the two possible reasons.

- It was around this time last year when Jonathan, the financial monster, visited Korea. We can’t forget about that.

- The problem still remains in Korea. High-ranking officials from Silverman and AP Morgan were treated as envoys when they visited Korea, and we celebrated when Jeon-il Investment borrowed an additional ten billion dollars in foreign currency as if it was a national holiday. Although they have Korean names, their capital is still completely foreign based.

- On the other hand, people are cold-hearted toward domestic firms.

- That’s why domestic entrepreneurship is dying. The government says they will create the best country to start a business, but they never do. What’s the essence of a company?

- Profit.

- That’s right. Everyone has forgotten about it. The government is handing over their responsibility for social, political and cultural issues to domestic firms. This is why problems are getting more complicated and Korean business isn’t moving forward. The anti-corporate sentiment is ruining the country, but love and care towards the domestic industry should come first in order for the economy to leap again.

I thought the channel would review the national economy and discuss the future prospects, but this channel was owned by a large conglomerate.

“It feels like a different world even though I’m living here, driving back to Seoul right now and looking at the beautiful snow. But, how are you dealing with this sense of incompatibility? Oh, right…you said you treat it like your job, right?” she asked.

“I’m changing the channel,” I said.

“Okay.”

 - Global Credit Rating Agencies have placed a surprising value on the Korean Won by raising it from BB+, the unqualified status to invest, to A-, which indicates that Korea can now invest despite many disqualified or bankrupt companies. The agency stated that Korea has the potential to become a creditor power due to its current account surplus and usable reserves of eighty billion dollars.

In fact, Korea’s foreign exchange crisis was ending, and it had resolved itself on August 23rd, 2001 in the past. However, this would be expedited to the first half of next year, 2000, no matter what. I just hoped it would not affect my future investments to a great extent.

***

The time on the highway was slow, and Night Eyes automatically turned itself on because of the darkness of a winter night.

[You have canceled Night Eyes.]

I could finally enjoy the mood of the night. However, I could tell that Woo Yeon-Hee still had the skill on as her eyes still had a reddish hue of the Night Eyes. The effects were invisible in the dungeon due to darkness, but they were noticeable here on Earth. She glanced at me.

“Sleep a bit. We’re going to be driving for two more hours at least…”

However, I was already pulling out the Clown’s Dagger. I currently possessed the B-class Ruler’s Ring, E-class Medal of Restraint, E-class Earring of Vitality, F-class Blind’s Ring, F-class Badge of the Sensitive, and F-class Clown’s Dagger. I could apply a Reinforcement Insignia to only three F-class items. It was better to use on the Badge of the Sensitive than the Blind’s Ring as it increased Sense, but after all, it was the best to strengthen the Clown’s Dagger like the Third Virtue did.

I had my own ritual in that I only reinforced items at night. I had made an A-class weapon to an S on a night like this.

“The System gives a bonus if I upgrade this to E, so wish me luck,” I said.

“It will happen because we’re fortunate,” she answered optimistically.

Woo Yeon-Hee might have recalled the Escape Insignia on her chest, which meant we could have a real shot at this. It was better to set the target from the beginning and retreat when needed rather than using the Escape Insignia for exploration purposes. Then, the System activated itself.

[You have used the insignia ‘Reinforcement.’]

[Would you like to reinforce the Clown’s Dagger?]

[Target: The Clown’s Dagger]

“Start”

A copper light quickly wrapped around the entire dagger, and I gripped it tight. If this failed, I would be holding nothing.

[Congratulations. You have succeeded.]

The dagger was still in my hand.

Yes!

[The item has increased by one class. Change: F → E]

[The effects of the item have changed. Change: Very low probability → Low probability]

[Congratulations! A gold box will be rewarded for being the second Awakened to succeed in reinforcing an item.]

[Your Agility has increased by 57.]

[Congratulations! Your Agility has increased by one class. Change: F → E]

[You have completed the achievement ‘Trailblazer.’]

[You have gained the trait ‘Forerunner’ as a reward for being the second Awakened to get this achievement.]