Part 2. One in a Thousand (1)
“Hello, everyone. I’m Ted.”
Semi-transparent, ghost-like things materialized around Ted.
They were viewers. They had come to watch Ted’s personal stream on Paprika TV.
[ Ted®Ppadol — Wako lololol I must’ve read your mind today lol a stream at this hour is the best, agreed~~ ]
[ KYAAAA — Ted, it’s not even your stream time yet, what’s going on? ]
[ Muneomeokja — Oh, hyung, you’re streaming? ]
They sent comments. Ted replied with a smile.
Soon, thousands of viewers filled the room.
They were Ted’s regular fans.
Real-time comments began scrolling up so fast they became difficult to read.
“Unfortunately, I have sad news today. This broadcast I’m doing now will be my last.”
As he spoke, Ted felt as though something were caught in his throat.
Paprika TV.
The place that had shown interest in Ted, a man who knew nothing but games.
Although the personal stream itself had never brought in big money.
But money aside, it was a place he had continued because he cherished the human attention they gave him. That was why Ted streamed every single day, even now that he had earned as much as he could make.
And so, over the past three weeks. Longing for human connection, he had grown deeply attached to the viewers and to Paprika TV.
But now, he had to leave that place behind.
Because soon, Ted would cease to exist.
His heart was heavy.
“Please don’t ask why. Anyway, from now on, please watch my last broadcast content. With this, I’m retiring.”
[ Ted®Keolleo — Why would you do a last content thing ㅠㅠㅠㅠ ]
[ GatMinjae — No way, for real? Real?ㅠ ]
[ Ted®Myangi — rlly? crazyㅠㅠㅠ retired?ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ ]
Ted had a personality devoid of playfulness.
He was the type to project a serious and careful image in all things.
The viewers knew his words were definitely not a joke, and the chat window grew tearful.
“I’m sorry….”
Ted let out a sigh and managed his expression.
Now, when he had to let go of all lingering attachment.
The end had to be clean, not lukewarm.
“For my last content, I’ll be enhancing a Unique weapon. Today, I’ll show you the enhancement
[ Ted®Royal — ?????? ]
[ Dark Prince — You’re doing Soul Engraving? ]
The chat window, which had been a sea of tears, fell into chaos in an instant.
Soul Engraving.
It was the pinnacle of equipment enhancements, raising every option by a whopping 20%.
But because it raised stats by 20%, the risk was enormous.
The success rate for
And on failure, the equipment destruction rate was 100%.
Ted had tried it exactly once while playing the game.
Nine years ago. When he had reached around level 100, he had enhanced the first rare musket he had ever obtained.
But the result was obvious. He had tasted failure from the very beginning.
The users had all experienced attempting Soul Engraving at least once. In other words, they knew full well what Ted was trying to do right now.
“Alright then, let’s head to the forge.”
Ted made his way to a general forge in a nearby small village.
“First, shall we take a look at my gun’s stats after so long?”
< Black & White > / Unique-grade Musket / Creator: Addison
Basic Enhancement: SS-grade / Hole Over 3rd-grade / S-rank Authority Scope attached
Minimum Level Requirement: 550
Durability: 23,249 / 32,000
Attack Power: 1,481 (+152 Authority Scope)
Range: 1,429 (+551 Authority Scope)
Accuracy: 100%
Penetration: SSS
―Additional Options―
Boss Attack Damage: +20%
Skill Attack Damage: +30%
Defense Ignore: 20%
All Stats: +120
―Additional Slot (1 Slot)―
A status window he had checked hundreds of times.
Saying it was the last time felt strange.
Its lore was that of the ninth gun created by Addison, the greatest musket artisan in the continent’s history—a long rifle forged by melting fragments of Heaven’s Gate in the fires of Hell.
Its appearance featured vintage-style platinum decorations embroidered over black metal.
Its value was approximately 1 billion won in cash.
On this Unique-grade weapon, of which there were only about eighty in Korea, he had stacked every possible enhancement that bore no risk of damage.
What? He was going to Soul Engrave that gun? And in a general forge, at that?
The stream chat began to explode.
[ Ted®Gochu — Hey, you crazy bastard! Calm down;; looks like you’re quitting the game, but there’s no reason to throw your money away before you quit! ]
[ Jajiseu — No, real? For real? Why are you doing thisㅠㅠ don’t do it, reallyㅠ that’s a Unique of which there are only 80 in Koreaㅠㅠㅠ ]
[ Nadohamjwoera — It’s such a waste, Ted-nim…… rather, please give it to meㅠㅠㅠ ]
[ Yahwang Sekgwinam — Hulhul. But lol this’ll be fun… lol at least go to a good forge with better odds; you might succeed! ]
Ted bit his lip as he watched the comments popping up in real time.
‘I might succeed?’
There was no way he would succeed.
Because he was a man who fundamentally didn’t have even a speck of luck.
Holding such absurd hope was a luxury in itself.
‘It’s not a waste. I have plenty of money.’
One billion? It was a lot of money, but if it could help him shake off the self who would lose sleep to regret and feel sorrow remembering Ted, it was worth the investment.
“Personally, there’s nothing I can do for our viewers, so I want to leave you with just one lesson. A lesson that you shouldn’t gamble…. Now then, let’s begin.”
Ignoring the ceaselessly popping comments, Ted held out the weapon and money to the blacksmith.
And at that moment.
An unexpected event befell Ted.
“Hrm? Oho! The enhancement is a success. Congratulations, stranger!”
A warm light spread from the musket that had passed through the blacksmith NPC’s hands. Soon, the man held out the +1 Soul Engraved musket to Ted.
‘???’
+1 / Unique-grade Musket / Creator: Addison
Basic Enhancement: SS-grade / Hole Over 3rd-grade / S-rank Authority Scope attached
Minimum Level Requirement: 550
Durability: 23,249 / 35,200
Attack Power: 1,777 (+152 Authority Scope)
Range: 1,429 (+551 Authority Scope)
Accuracy: 100%
Penetration: SSS
―Additional Options―
Boss Attack Damage: +24%
Skill Attack Damage: +36%
Defense Ignore: 24%
All Stats: +144
―Additional Skill―
Ted clicked his tongue as he looked at the options, each raised by 20%.
‘Did I really succeed?’
* * *
Most people say the probability of Soul Engraving is around 10%.
But in fact, it is not exactly 10%.
A few years ago. There was a time when users, furious over continuous enhancement failures, demanded that the game company disclose the probabilities.
The success probability for Soul Engraving disclosed by the game company was 5–15%.
But the users were not satisfied with such information and conducted experiments to produce statistics.
A novice, incompetent blacksmith: 5.8%.
An excellent blacksmith had a success rate of up to 15.3%.
The blacksmith NPC before his eyes was a low-level repetitive-action NPC.
Ted’s success was likely achieved by breaking through a low probability of slightly less than 10%.
[ TedeuJjingdaiseuki — Ooh, wow, nice luck. ]
The viewers watching the broadcast had all tried Soul Engraving at least once.
That was why they realistically understood what 10% meant.
[ Ted®Raegon — Ooh lololol ]
[ SicheongjauiSin — Holy shit, I’m jealous, Unique +1!! ]
[ YeokdaegeupSicheongja — Krrr~~~ grats on hitting that 10%! ]
Soon, favorable reactions came one after another in the chat. They were rejoicing in Ted’s victory through low odds as if it were their own victory.
They laughed and chattered, simply excited.
Until Ted made his next move.
[ Kim Ribi — Hul, you’re enhancing again? Huh? ]
[ Kantokkitokkiya — You stupid bastard dd hey you, it’ll blow up! This guy doesn’t know how scary a 10% chance is;;; ]
― Kantokkitokkiya has been muted for 30 minutes.
[ RASAM — Hul ????? You’re doing Soul Engraving again? ]
“Soul Engraving. Please do it again.”
Ted had once again thrust the musket toward the blacksmith NPC.