The Return Of The Greatest Strengthener

Chapter 1
Seoul, 2044
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, a country that was one of the wealthiest in the world, once symbolized prosperity.
But now, the city’s once-glorious landscape had vanished in an instant.
Famous buildings were all destroyed, the roads were partially torn apart, and the ground was covered in the bodies of humans and monsters.
Han Yoo-jin, watching all this through blurry vision, gave a bitter laugh.
“Ah, damn. It’s all over.”
Cough!
Blood splattered from his mouth.
He wiped the blood from his lips and drank a potion he had kept for emergencies.
[You have used a +9 Healing Potion.]
[Healing effect is reduced.]
[Healing effect is greatly diminished.]
Even though he drank a potion comparable to an Elixir, the wounds were too severe to heal properly.
This was a potion that had been enhanced with soul-consuming power, yet it barely had any effect.
“Ugh—damn.”
Yeah. He had expected this death would come someday.
And this city was no different.
He never really thought of protecting the city.
He had been working with the mindset of just making sure people survived.
‘After all, my job is an enhancer. I can make others stronger, but protecting people directly is beyond my ability.’
But the real problem was not just the city being destroyed—it was that everyone had died.
And the worst part was that the cause wasn’t the final boss or mid-bosses like “monsters.”
“You, what the hell are you?”
Without fixing his crooked smile, Han Yoo-jin glared at the figure standing out, even through his blurry vision.
It glowed.
Yes, the word “glowed” fits perfectly.
Golden armour and a sword, paired with yellow hair and white skin—he looked every bit like the “hero” he was.
‘Park Seung-cheol.’
Park Seung-cheol was a Korean-American, the best S-rank Hunter, and a promising future star.
Despite being a latecomer, he quickly caught up with and surpassed the earlier contenders.
Eventually, he even single-handedly defeated the right hand of the final boss.
He was called the “Messiah” who would save the world.
But Han Yoo-jin could no longer see him in a good light.
This city’s destruction, his own impending death—everything was because of him.
“Did we treat you so unfairly all this time? I don’t think so.”
If anything, they had treated him well.
He had even gone so far as to risk his own soul-enhancing abilities to help strengthen all sorts of things.
Many of his teammates had died for him.
But in the end, this was the result.
“If you have any conscience, you’ll drop that spear.”
The masterpiece Han Yoo-jin had created.
The [+9 Longinus Spear] had pierced Park Seung-cheol’s abdomen.
Thud, thwok—
Park Seung-cheol, looking down at the spear dripping with red blood, stared silently at Han Yoo-jin.
Without saying a word, his gaze fixed on him. Han Yoo-jin gritted his teeth.
“Heh. What the hell are you?”
“You won’t die with just one hit.”
Finally, the tightly shut mouth opened.
Park Seung-cheol tilted his head and looked down at the spear.
“Isn’t this thing, like, badly enhanced?”
“Shut up… Can’t you see the Elixir isn’t working right now?”
“That’s not an Elixir.”
Thud!
Park Seung-cheol tossed a potion in front of Han Yoo-jin.
“Try it. We need to check if it works.”
“F*** off.”
Han Yoo-jin raised his middle finger. What he wanted wasn’t just any Elixir.
“Answer me. Why the hell did you suddenly ruin the world after claiming you were saving it?”
“Pathetic.”
“You were supposed to save the world, right? Did you send that goal down the drain with today’s sh*t?”
“My goal has always been the same.”
At Han Yoo-jin’s words, Park Seung-cheol looked past the destroyed buildings.
Beyond them, a vast and open horizon stretched, leading up to the mountains.
The sunset, filled with more a sense of danger than warmth, bathed the horizon.
“Seeing the end.”
“So what—”
“They say those who see the end have all their wishes granted.
But—”
He smirked.
Park Seung-cheol had never been one to show much emotion.
People often wondered if it was due to some effect of his powers or if he had a natural lack of expression.
But it wasn’t just that.
He wasn’t as innocent as he appeared, not devoid of desire.
It was simply that—
His desires were overflowing.
“Why should I share that?”
To hide it, he had kept his words to a minimum until now.
From the very start, it had all been for this moment.
Han Yoo-jin’s face hardened.
“You don’t mean—”
The suspicion turned into certainty.
“Did you kill all our teammates?”
“…”
“Heh. Every time two of them died, you were the only one who survived. It wasn’t that you couldn’t save them, you wanted them to die, didn’t you?”
“I had no choice for my reward.”
“F**ing bullsht—”
“You’re the same. You’re dangerous.”
Park Seung-cheol looked at the Longinus Spear.
“This spear that pierces everything, you enhanced it. The armour I’m wearing right now, you also made it.”
“Yeah, it’s +9++++, of course.”
“You’re dangerous. So, you’re going to die here.”
Whoosh! Park Seung-cheol turned and walked away.
“You’ll remain the greatest sucker of all the enhancers.”
Boom!
His body was engulfed in a white pillar and disappeared.
The distant horizon, once still, began to ripple and change.
[The Last Challenger has entered the Final Dungeon.]
[If the Final Boss is defeated, the challenger’s wish will be granted.]
[Failure will cause the world to perish.]
The Last Challenger, the Final Challenge.
Park Seung-cheol would probably win.
With all those powerful items and skills, there was no reason he shouldn’t.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
Was it when I trusted that bastard?
Seeing his insane talent and abilities, thinking he had a “born” nature far beyond mine, and pushing him forward?
‘Investment failure.’
Yeah. The failure of that investment had a huge impact.
Of course, the root problem had always been there.
‘First, the possession was wrong.’
When was it? Maybe about five years ago.
Han Yoo-jin had been possessed into this world, a virtual reality game.
A virtual reality game, New Episode, set in a modern hunter world.
It had an open ending, but most of them were bad endings, making it a “failed game.”
To see the happy ending, you had to retry many times and create a good character.
The lucky part was that Yoo-jin had experienced seeing happy endings a few times.
But the unfortunate part was:
“F***, if you’re going to do this, at least give me a better character.”
He had been possessed into a poorly made character, an “Enhancer,” leaving behind his carefully crafted character.
An Enhancer had almost no physical strength.
What it could do was just enhance other characters’ weapons and items.
Yoo-jin’s job was to enhance anything, but every time he did, he had to use his soul.
“Even with just a little growth, I could have used area-wide enhancements and stuff.”
But the cost was his soul, meaning his lifespan would shorten.
So, he carefully chose people to invest in and pushed Park Seung-cheol, who was known as the Messiah with talent and personality.
He thought Seung-cheol could match up to a playable character.
But in the end, things turned out this way.
“Investment failure. A huge flop. No, at this rate, I might as well be delisted?”
Was he going to die like this?
To return to the real world, he needed a clear reward.
The clear reward would grant a wish.
“…Even though I feel like crap, I can’t just die like this.”
Han Yoo-jin opened his status window.
[Status Window]
Name: Han Yoo-jin
Class: Soul Enhancer
Traits: Absolute Probability (and 59 more)
Unique Skills: Soul Enhancement, Probability Manipulation…
Unable to check due to lack of remaining soul.

Only 10% of your soul remains! If you use it all, you will die!
Soul Enhancer.
It was a good class for supporting characters, but the cost was too high.
Why?
Because it consumed the “soul” when enhancing things.
The class had great abilities, but its sustainability was incredibly low.
“Anyway, my remaining lifespan is barely 5 years.”
He decided to spend it all.
On what?
[Would you like to enhance your class?]
On his class.
He hadn’t done this before, because he couldn’t predict the results, and the soul consumption was massive.
“I’ll enhance it.”
He had no time to worry about it anymore.
[Enhancing class.]
[The trait ‘Absolute Probability’ is activated.] [Enhancement successful.]
[Soul consumed.]
Flash!
For a moment, Yoo-jin’s vision turned completely white.
And then, after a while:
[Soul Enhancer (Enhanced)]
[Now, you can enhance everything using mana. This is similar to when using your soul!]
[You have successfully enhanced your class for the first time.]
“…What the f***.”
So this is what happens when I enhance it?
Yoo-jin couldn’t help but laugh.
It wasn’t that the result was bad, but quite the opposite.
‘Is this really this good?’
It was so much better than he expected.
Instead of soul or essence, it was “mana.”
Mana could be replenished endlessly, unlike the soul, which was a limited resource.
With just a mana recovery potion, he could enhance items infinitely.
The one downside of his class had disappeared.
“Ha, hahahaha.”
This is insane.
Why did I only enhance it now?
[You have successfully achieved a great accomplishment.]
[Your remaining lifespan is one day!]
“Ha. What good is it now that my abilities have changed?”
Yeah, what’s the point in regretting it now?
His soul was almost gone, but now he didn’t feel any fear about enhancing things.
He had so much mana that it was overflowing, with nowhere else to use it.
With this much mana, he could enhance anything—even the entire destroyed city.
‘With this, I can probably land a blow on that bastard…’
Just then.
Rumble!
The ground and sky suddenly shook.
It was one of two things.
Either the dungeon was going out of control, or the dungeon boss had been defeated.
Yoo-jin thought it was the latter.
“Did they get it?”
That was faster than expected.
Rumble!
The ground shook again.
Yoo-jin, impulsive, felt a sense of fear.
…Could it be?
[The results of the raid are being calculated.]
[Challenger: Park Seung-Cheol no longer living]
[Result: Failure.]
“…What the f***, failure?!”
Yoo-jin stood up from his seat, not even feeling the pain from his wounds.
The message that popped up in front of him was so absurd that he couldn’t believe it.
What? A failure?
With all those items? After the betrayal?
“This dumbass!”
Bang!
Yoo-jin slammed his hand into the ground, his hand trembling with anger.
Failure? Of all things, failure?
“Not even a mutual destruction? This idiot really—”
If I were Park Seung-cheol?
No, if I had possessed a character like Park Seung-cheol?
I could have easily taken down the final boss.
Is it really that hard?
‘No, with the abilities I have now, I should be able to easily defeat it!’
Yoo-jin glared at the sky with bloodshot eyes.
Not long ago, the sky was full of dark clouds, but now it was turning black, and an enormous, strange “Demon King” appeared, radiating an unsettling aura.
[Demon King has descended.]
An otherworldly being born to destroy this world.
A monster that becomes ‘invincible’ as soon as it exits the dungeon!
“Stupid bastard.”
Once that monster appeared in this world, it was over.
The Demon King stared at Yoo-jin.
[%*@!ㅃ%!]
[You die instantly.]
Yoo-jin’s vision turned blood-red.
But he didn’t die immediately.
Thanks to his enhanced class, his soul didn’t shatter right away; he managed to hang on for a moment.
[Death is negated.]
[First achievement.]
[…?]
When he didn’t die instantly, the Demon King’s will seemed confused.
Yoo-jin coughed up blood. He wouldn’t last long like this—
But before he went…
“Stupid bastard.”
Yoo-jin looked at Park Seung-cheol, now crushed in the Demon King’s hand, and raised his middle finger.
“Eat this.”
[Enhancing the middle finger.]
The middle finger glowed brightly.
At the same time, Park Seung-school’s spear also glowed one more time—
Crash!
The Demon King’s hand slammed down on Yoo-jin.
[Survived for over 10 seconds against the Demon King!]
[Successfully landed a blow on the Demon King with your enhanced middle finger.]
[You have achieved a great accomplishment.]
[First person to achieve two great accomplishments.]
[Bad Ending: Price of Incompetence.]
Before his consciousness fully faded…
[You have successfully encountered more than one ending.]
[Searching for a suitable candidate…]
[Successfully found a suitable candidate.]
[Starting the second playthrough.]
‘…What is this?’
Before he could even understand the sudden message properly…
[Good luck.]
Yoo-jin’s consciousness faded away.