Chapter 12
Chapter 12 – Solo Start (3)
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Translator: HH
“I, It’s a bit shabby but…please come in . ”
The pharmacist shuffled her feet . The store was messy like a tornado had passed through it .
“It’s really shabby but…”
She wasn’t over exaggerating .
There were broken glass bottles all over the floor . Shelves were on their backs, and the books had all fallen out . The dust floating around was a bonus .
It was a wreck .
-Wow .
Bae Hu-ryeong exclaimed .
–When I was alive, I used to hear that I was untidy, but this is way above my level . Their cleanliness sure is trustworthy . Hey, do you really want to eat the elixirs this lady makes?
“Um . Are you really going to order 20,000 Gold worth items from me…?”
Bae Hu-ryeong and the pharmacist asked me at the same time, like they had planned it .
I smiled bitterly .
“If you don’t believe me, should I pay in advance?”
“Y, You don’t need to go that f…”
She waved her hand around and paused .
“…No . Actually, if it’s possible, advance payment it is . ”
Her face was completely red . She was embarrassed at herself for saying this . But this was how bad her situation was .
“Take as much as you need from my safe . I’ll tell Sangryun in advance . ”
“As much as I need…”
She blankly mumbled .
“Yes . But my wealth isn’t limitless . I’ll be grateful if you keep it under 20,000 Gold . ”
“W, What kind of medicine are you…?”
Was she scared because of the amount of money? She was happy, but also seemed anxious at the same time .
“Pardon me, but I can’t make drugs . Because of my beliefs, making drugs is really…If you came to order drugs, I, I’ll refuse…”
“Oho . ”
I thought to myself .
‘She’s someone who fits the title of Alchemy Master well . ’
There weren’t a lot of people who could refuse thousands of Gold that was right in front of them . Especially if they were about to go bankrupt . But she firmly said she wouldn’t make drugs .
This pharmacist looked weak outside but was actually quite strong inside .
“Haa . They’re definitely not drugs, so don’t worry . ”
“Ah…t, then that’s a relief . Specifically, which medicines are you looking for?”
“Mm . ”
I looked at Bae Hu-ryeong . His mouth had been shut since we entered the shop like he didn’t like something . He sighed after looking at me .
–Haa . Well, fine . She doesn’t look like a skilled child, but I’ll tell you the recipe .
He should’ve said it earlier if he was going to come out like this .
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–Listen . Bunny pig’s liver and a balloon cat’s eyes, and the shedding of a desert worm…”
“I’ll let you know from now . Bunny pig’s liver, balloon cat’s eyes, and…”
I delivered Bae Hu-ryeong’s recipe to her .
“Ah . Please wait a moment! I, I’ll write it down!”
She frantically wrote it down . There were about 23 different materials . As the recipe got longer, her face turned more serious .
–Well . This is enough for the recipe . How it’s made depends on the skills of the pharmacist .
“This is enough for the recipe . ”
“…”
She quietly looked at her notebook, biting the back of her hand .
“If these are combined…it’s something that intensifies reflexes . Not something that relaxes, but stimulates . No, I guess it’s more of an awakening . ”
–Huh?
Bae Hu-ryeong looked at the pharmacist .
The pharmacist continued to speak .
“It’s an extremely complex combination . Ah, it might just be my mistake…but you would like these to be made not with dried or frozen materials, but with the most fresh materials, right?”
–Yes, that’s true but…
I nodded my head .
“That’s correct . ”
“I knew it! Usually, there’s a minute amount of poison in the desert worm’s shedding . One of the ways to lessen this effect is to use the bunny pig’s liver, but this has to be…!
She excitedly spoke . The stuttering lady in front of me disappeared, and was replaced with a chatterbox . Yeah . There were people like this in the world .
‘Her method is wrong, but she’s a skilled person . ’
Someone who ran into the subject that they liked at full speed and achieved great results . I didn’t dislike experts like this .
“In how many days can you have it ready?”
“Ah . ”
The conversation that seemed like it had no end got cut off . She blinked like she came to attention . It was like she had fallen into her own little world when she was speaking .
“S, Sorry! I saw a pretty combination like this for the first time in a while and…!”
“It’s alright . So how long will it take?”
“If the money is enough…I, I can have it ready in 4 days . I would usually be able to get it to you faster, but I have to get new tools…”
4 days .
“I can wait that long . ”
Before I regressed, it took about 1 year to be able to get medicine from this person . 4 days was nothing compared to that .
–Hey . I still can’t approve .
Bae Hu-ryeong continued to complain when we left the store .
-There’s a lot of people who only know how to speak like experts . Those kinds of people end up being drug dealers . Ugh . We’re gonna waste money!
“So where did you learn that recipe?”
-It’s a combination I made myself . The best elixir that I made after drinking countless poisons myself . It’s a precious elixir that you can’t drink in your world even if you want to!
I grinned .
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“The pharmacist said it was an extremely high-level combination . ”
-…
“She’s able to tell the true worth just with a glance, so just trust her . Even if she looks like that right now, she is going to be in the highest position of Alchemy Castle 10 years later . ”
Bae Hu-ryeong shut his mouth .
-You just cursed me in your mind, huh?
“This ghost is trying to hurt an innocent person now . ”
I pretended not to know what he was talking about . He was uselessly too quick for his own good .
4 days quickly passed .
During that time, the pharmacist continued to take away money from my safe . Someone came from Sangryung to ask if it was really alright, but I told them to let her be . Even if it cost a lot of money, if it was for medicine made by the Lord of Alchemy Castle, it was nothing .
–Zombie . Wanna bet?
“Geez, what this time . ”
-That lady’s gonna run away with the money . I guarantee it . I don’t know about anything else, but my eyes can tell what kind of person someone is . That lady looks like a thief from birth . Quickly, commit suicide . Zombie! Kill yourself 4 times and return to 4 days ago!
Clearly, the ghost couldn’t read people .
On lunchtime of the 4th day .
The pharmacist came to my room carrying the elixirs herself .
“S, Sorry . I wanted to give it to you faster, but it took longer than I thought…”
“It’s fine . You said you would make it in 4 days anyway . That’s good . ”
The pharmacist bought 3 boxes of elixirs .
If I drank it 3 times per day, it would last for 30 days .
If we went to the store Bae Hu-ryeong wanted to go to, we would only get 2 days worth . This was an increase by 15 times .
‘And the effects are probably better . ’
This was how you should spend money .
I subconsciously smiled .
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“I, I know it’s weird asking this now . But why did you leave such an expensive order to me?”
She twisted her fingers .
“O, Of course, I’m confident in myself . Looking at the recipe, I think there’s only about 2 people in Babylon who can make this…But, people only treat me like a freak . ”
“Hm . ”
The reason why I left it to this person .
It was because this person was the genius of the century . The guild master of the Alchemy Castle . I had calculated to have some connection to the person who would grow to be the master of a large clan someday .
However .
‘That’s not all . ’
Before I regressed to 4000 days before .
When the Flame Emperor had set fire to the slums . At the time, someone had arrived before anyone else to control the fire even though she was one of the highest rankers . Helping the people, Lord of Alchemy Castle had muttered .
-That Flame Emperor, I don’t like him .
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-He gives me bad vibes or something…talking about someone’s back here isn’t nice,but I still think Saintess could meet someone better .
Someone who had seen Flame Emperor’s real self .
‘She probably just guessed it with her senses without any evidence . ’
Even if that was the case, she had the outstanding ability of reading people .
She was skilled, nice enough to run immediately to help people in danger, and could read psychopaths . Wouldn’t it be a waste not to be close with this kind of person?
I opened my mouth .
“Because you seem nice . ”
“What?”
“I helped you because you seemed nice . Well, you probably would’ve made it big even if I didn’t help you . But shouldn’t kind hunters like us help each other to grow?”
“…”
“We can’t let psychopaths be the only ones to succeed . That’s unfair . Store owner-nim and I should work harder . ”
I said exactly what I felt without telling any lies . I couldn’t be more honest than this . Now, it depended on how the other person accepted my words . She stared at my face and spoke .
“…I see . Yes . Since we have to succeed first to change the world . ”
It was a determined tone .
“Thank you, customer-nim! As you said, I’ll work harder too!”
Her fist was clenched .
“If you have anything more to order, contact me! I’ll always prioritize your orders!”
“I’ll be grateful for that . ”
We both smiled at each other and turned away .
Unfortunately, my smile didn’t last for long .
-Hoho . I haven’t seen a hunter who called himself nice in a while . And I’ve never seen someone accept it like that . Hey, are you guys crazy? Tsk tsk tsk . You’re not in your right mind .
“…I know I said something embarrassing so let’s just start training . ”
The next day .
We headed towards the hunting ground . I took a sleeping bag and plenty of elixirs in my backpack .
If there was something different than normal, it was that I was on the 3rd floor hunting ground and not the 2nd floor .
There were lots of monsters that were still too much for me to deal with . Orcs and goblin hordes hovered around . I looked at them from far away .
“What do I do from now?”
-Drink your elixir first .
I nodded my head .
I gulped down the elixir that was the tumbler I brought without any hesitation .
“Mm . ”
The taste itself was normal .
It tasted good, like honey and lemon were added to it .
The moment I thought it was a relief that it tasted good .
“Hm… . ?!”
Thump .
My heart beat faster than normal .
At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but I wasn’t . Sweat dripped down my back . The most interesting fact was that…I could feel each and every drop of sweat on my back clearly .
‘What is this?’
Thump .
It wasn’t just the sweat . The touch of the air on my fingers and the feeling of the ground I was stepping on . When I blinked it felt like 30 seconds .
“This…is…”
-Effects of the elixir .
Only Bae Hu-ryeong’s voice felt the same amongst everything that felt different .
-It slows down what you feel . It’s easy if you think that it extends your time . I don’t want to admit it, but that lady is pretty good at making elixirs .
It was horrible .
I could feel each strand of hair moving on my body . I could even feel the veins in my ears twitching . If I didn’t know, I would think that I drank poison, and not an elixir .
-Can’t you feel it?
“What…are…you… . talking…about?”
-The thing moving in your heart .
Thump .
There was something there . No, something was flowing . And it wasn’t blood .
It was softer and more frail than blood . But it definitely flowed in my entire body . It was slowly spreading from my heart . Something that I had never felt before .
-That’s Auror .
Bae Hu-ryeong spoke .
-All hunters in the Tower have Auror in their bodies . They just live not knowing it . How much you’re able to feel this Auror and control it is what determines victory .
Bae Hu-ryeong laughed .
The laughter lasted for 20 seconds . It was probably only a short second, but somehow, it felt like 20 seconds to me .
I felt tired, like I would fall over if I just let go .
-Usually, you get used to this feeling by quietly training by yourself .
Inside of it . Something big approached .
-But that’ll take too long .
Boom .
Footsteps .
Even the footsteps seemed long to me . When I lifted my head to see, a big orc was heading towards me .
-A talentless body like you has to suffer a bit .
This damned .
-Alright! If you don’t want to be hurt, use your Auror, Kim Zombie! You have to train with real things! You’re not gonna kick the bucket anyway, so what if you get a little hurt .
“This…ghost…really…!”
-Hm? I can’t hear what you’re saying because you’re a loser who can’t even use Auror .
He burst into laughter again .
–Are you in anguish? Kill yourself if you don’t like it . Oh, then your kill count increases from 4000 . Then grandpops Marcus will hunt you over and over again, huh?
Ah .
My partner was really a bad bastard .