The Return Of The Greatest Strengthener

Chapter 4

Eugene had enhanced a lot of weapons.
Think about it—how many weapons would he have enhanced over five years?
Yes, using his soul was a downside, but if he only used a little at a time, he could recover by resting.
If that weren’t the case, there’s no way he could have survived those five years.
‘But… I’ve never seen anything like this before.’
Eugene looked down at the stone spear.
[+1 Basic Stone Spear]
Sharpness +30%

Durability +10%

Slightly infused with the monster’s traits

The sharpness and durability boosts were nothing special.
Even when he enhanced a wooden chopstick earlier, those same boosts appeared.
But the last line caught his attention.
[Slightly infused with the monster’s traits]
The monster’s traits? What did that even mean?
‘Usually, a message like that only shows up when you use a monster’s actual body parts to enhance a weapon…’
Like weapons made from monster bones.
But this one wasn’t like that.
It wasn’t made from a stone golem or anything.
It was just a regular stone spear.
Even the handle was just made from regular wood.
It was so roughly made, that Eugene thought he could probably make a better one himself.
‘What kind of trait got infused? Is my nose going to grow or something?’
No.
‘Guess I’ll have to test it myself.’
Eugene spun the spear in his hand and nodded.
“Alright. Let’s get started.”
Time to hunt.
He walked forward slowly, relaxed and confident.
***
Hobgoblins usually moved in groups.
No matter what, they stayed in pairs and rarely moved alone.
They also had their own way of communicating, so when an intruder or prey entered their territory, the information spread fast.
Kiririk. Kirik.
Two Hobgoblins raised their spears, staying alert.
The scout had gone missing earlier.
Then the warrior who went to find the scout also disappeared.
That meant… someone had entered their dungeon.
—Find the intruder and kill them, Kirk.
That was the order from their leader—the Hobgoblin King.
And the loyal Hobgoblins followed that order exactly.
One hobgoblin, moving low to the ground, suddenly stopped—sensing something strange.
Kirik?
But the other one was a bit slower.
It stepped on a hidden trap that Eugene had set up earlier.
Sharp wooden spikes shot up from the ground and pierced its body.
Ki… kieeeeehh…
The Hobgoblin screamed in pain, dying instantly.
Even at that moment, I felt confused.
No matter how sharp those wooden spikes were, they shouldn’t have been able to pierce a Hobgoblin that easily.
But it had gone through like stabbing tofu.
How?
“Nice. Traps still get enhanced.”
A strange voice spoke nearby.
The Hobgoblin quickly twisted its body—and then spotted a tall goblin.
…Kirik?
Hobgoblins didn’t have great eyesight.
So instead, they identified friends or enemies by smell—especially the foul stench their own bodies gave off.
Right now, the tall goblin in front of him looked different… but he smelled similar to a Hobgoblin.
More specifically, the smell was coming from the spear he was holding.
“Oh? You’re not attacking right away? So this is what that ‘trait’ is about?”
Kirik?
The tall goblin waved his spear casually in front of the Hobgoblin.
Actually, it was Eugene—he nodded as if understanding something.
***
“Got it. So this is how it works.”
***
Whoosh—stab!
The spear pierced the Hobgoblin’s neck.
The Hobgoblin looked confused as he was killed by what he thought was an ally.
Eugene shook the blood off the spear and picked up the magic stone with care.
“No wonder this thing stinks so bad—”
So that was the trait: smell.
It made Eugene smell like a Hobgoblin, tricking them into thinking he was one of them.
‘Well, it’s not like my face looks like a goblin or anything.’
Not to brag, but Eugene didn’t think he was ugly.
“These other spears…”
[Enhancement Successful]
Unfortunately, the other stone spears didn’t get the same “trait” bonus.
They just became a little sharper and more durable.
Still, Eugene kept them carefully.
He could sell them later, or use them as backup weapons.
‘Can’t do a level 2 enhancement—don’t have enough materials.’
From level 2 enhancement and up, it wasn’t just about improving strength.
It started to go beyond the weapon’s original quality—so the base weapon had to be decent too.

‘And level 3 has a chance of failure.’
He figured he should keep building up his mana first.
Right now, the weapon wasn’t strong enough—but later, he might run into a lack of mana instead.
Even as a weapon enhancer, Eugene couldn’t repair weapons.
Not unless he learned alchemy or blacksmithing in the future.
‘I need to save everything I can.’
Eugene slung all the spears onto his back.
In the distance, he saw Hobgoblins walking around on alert, looking for enemies.
Originally, he planned to take them down one by one using traps—
‘But if I carry this spear… they’ll think I’m one of them.’
A clever plan popped into his head.
“There! The enemy is over there!”
Kiehl!
Eugene pointed beyond a cliff.
The loyal Hobgoblins, hearing their ‘comrade,’ charged forward without doubt.
Kii… kieeehh?
Crash! Rumble!
The Hobgoblins ran straight off the cliff and fell down.
None of them had trained to survive falls or had the strength to handle that kind of drop.
Stab! Stab, stab!
They landed right into the traps below—and died instantly.
[You have defeated a Hobgoblin.]
[You have defeated a Hobgoblin.]
…
…
[Amazing achievement! You killed multiple Hobgoblins without directly fighting them!]
[You received 1 bonus stat point.]
“Nice.”
Eugene spun his spear around, satisfied.
There were way too many Hobgoblins before—he thought it would take forever to kill them all.

‘Didn’t expect the spear to be this useful.’
During his first playthrough, he probably wouldn’t have tried this.
Back then, he had to be very careful with every enhancement.
But now?
‘I’m only using mana. No reason to hold back.’
Stab!
Eugene finished off one Hobgoblin that had somehow survived the fall and was crawling away.
Then he felt a sharp, hostile gaze aimed at him.
“They’ve figured it out. I can’t fool them anymore.”
Even so, more than half the Hobgoblins were already dead.
Only about 30 of them remained.
Kiri. Kirik!
The Hobgoblins were finally starting to realize Eugene was the enemy.
He hadn’t wiped them all out, which was a bit disappointing, but still—a pretty good result.
Then—
Step, step.
Heavy footsteps echoed.
The Hobgoblins flinched and stepped aside, forming a path.
“Oh? The big guy’s here.”
Eugene raised an eyebrow.
Dungeon bosses usually didn’t show up easily.
But this one must be seriously angry to come out himself.
Step!
A skinny goblin walked out from between the Hobgoblins.
A Shaman Hobgoblin.
Unlike normal ones, this type used magic and often appeared as hidden or mid-bosses, not the final boss.
They were smart—and could control other monsters.
Grrrrr…
A giant tiger-like beast stood beside the Shaman, protecting him.
Its eyes were blank as if it had been hypnotized.
It growled low at Eugene.
“KIRIIII!”
The Shaman screamed in anger, pointing at the bodies of the dead Hobgoblins.
Like he was shouting, “Why did you kill your own kind?!”
“Why?”
Eugene smiled and replied.
“Because if I kill you all by myself… I get a special trait.”
The condition to earn this levelling trait was both hard and simple:
You had to clear a dungeon full of monsters stronger than you, alone.
Even a little help from someone else would make you ineligible.
‘Honestly, this trait was made for playable characters.’
In this world, it was hard to grow past your starting power level.
But if even the main characters couldn’t get stronger, the game would be boring—so they added this system.
Past Eugene never got the trait.
He was too weak back then to meet the condition—and he needed to give the trait to one of the main characters.
This time, he had no plans to do that.
“KIRIIIIIIII!”
The Shaman looked like he was yelling, “You’re insane!”
Eugene tilted his head.
“Me? Crazy? Nah. I think I’m perfectly sane.”
At least Eugene wasn’t the type to kill his teammates just to take all the rewards before finishing a dungeon.
But the Shaman didn’t know that.
So he raised his staff.
It was made of twisted branches, and at the top, there was a skull.
“KIRIIII…!”
Boom!
The Shaman slammed the staff onto the ground.
The tiger monster growled slowly. From the staff, dark energy spread out, covering the nearby Hobgoblins.
‘A group buff?’
[A hidden boss has appeared.]
[Hidden Boss: Shaman Hobgoblin]
[All Hobgoblins enter a wild state.]
[All their stats go up by 10%!]
KIEEEEEEH!
The Hobgoblins, now covered in black energy, screamed wildly.
Their skin, once dusty yellow, turned pitch black. Their eyes glowed with a dark light.
“Ki… kihikihi…”
The Shaman laughed creepily.
‘He powered up all the monsters…’
“You powered them all up?” Eugene asked.
The Shaman, thinking Eugene was shocked, proudly nodded.
“This is it?” Eugene said with a smirk.
“Kiri?”
The Shaman realized—Eugene wasn’t shocked.
He was mocking him.
Eugene laughed, raised one hand, and pointed.
“You really think that’s something to brag about?”
In one hand, Eugene held a spear.
In the other, he held another spear. From both hands, magical light began to glow.
“This is what real strengthening looks like.”
[Using skill: Soul Enhancement]
[4 Mana consumed]
Wooooosh!
Bright light wrapped around the spear, making it glow intensely.
But Eugene didn’t stop there.
“Body Enhancement.”
…!
Now, Eugene’s whole body was glowing too.
[You are now in a mana exhaustion state!]
Eugene’s mana ran out almost instantly.
He quickly drank a mana potion and refilled his energy.
He knew the aftereffects would be rough—mana exhaustion and muscle pain—but he had no choice.
Right now, his physical strength wasn’t enough on its own.
[Your skill level in ‘Soul Enhancement’ is low.] [Your body is under heavy strain.]
[Maximum duration: 3 minutes]
“Three minutes of power… That’s enough.”
One… two… three…
As Eugene finished counting in his head, he launched forward.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
In a flash, spears pierced the heads of nearby Hobgoblins.
Even though the Hobgoblins were in wild mode and had increased stats, their intelligence had dropped.
KICK!
The moment they sensed confusion from the “friendly-smelling” spear, Eugene struck with full force—and they died.
He had thrown them off the cliff earlier just for efficiency, not because he lacked strength.
And now, the sight of Hobgoblins being easily slaughtered played out clearly in the Shaman’s eyes.
ROOOAR!
The tiger monster roared loudly.
Before it could charge in, a spear came flying.
It had to dodge quickly to avoid being hit.
The Shaman grew even more nervous seeing that even the tiger couldn’t do anything.
‘What is this human…?’
ROAR—THUD!
Just as the tiger opened its mouth to roar again—a spear flew straight in and stabbed into its mouth.
One spear for every Hobgoblin.

It was only possible because Eugene had taken the time to collect them all earlier.
Then, the Shaman noticed something:
Eugene’s mana was dropping fast.
Even the Shaman knew that mana was the source of a human or goblin’s power.
If it hit zero, Eugene would collapse from exhaustion.
If I can just hold out a little longer—I can win!
That’s the hope the Shaman clung to…
“Whew.”
Eugene landed on the ground and pulled out a blue potion from his pocket.
The Shaman quickly pointed his staff at him.
“KIEEEEEK!”
No matter how strong Eugene was, there was no way he could enhance a potion too…
Normally, enhancement only worked on one thing at a time—like the body or a weapon.
Even a dumb goblin knew that much.
But Eugene was no ordinary enhancer.
“Enhance.”
[+1 Enhanced Mana Potion]
The blue mana potion began to glow with power.
Eugene drank it and moved again.
[Trait gained: ‘Hobgoblin Slayer’]
[Skill gained: ‘Rapid Attack’]
Clink!
Eugene had killed all the Hobgoblins.
Now only the Shaman was left.
He broke the Shaman’s staff and pointed his third spear—(it was the third one he used since the others broke)—right at the Shaman’s neck.
“Goodbye.”
“Ki-KIRIIEEE!”
Before the Shaman could shout anything, the spear pierced his head.
And finally, the message Eugene had been waiting for appeared.
[You have defeated all monsters in the dungeon alone.]
[You gained 4 stat points.]
[You received a reward.]
[Trait gained: ‘Level Up’]