Chapter 6

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 6

Chapter Title: The Potion Hurts Too Much

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Was it because the hormones surging through me had suddenly stopped?

Pain radiated through my entire body. At times like this, a heal was the way to go...

'Wait, what the hell am I doing?'

I barely managed to stop myself. I'd almost self-harmed in the heat of the moment.

Finally snapping out of it, I slowly looked around.

Fires flickered here and there throughout the camp.

The monster corpses had already vanished, but the traces of battle remained intact.

"Ugh, insane."

The final wave had more than ten monsters, yet we'd won handily.

It was thanks to my enhanced physical abilities from the level correction effect and the pain liquid. Without them, we definitely would've struggled.

Come to think of it, levels really were OP, huh?

Right on cue, rewards popped up to celebrate the clear.

"Oh? Hit level 10."

A new skill had unlocked at the five-level interval: Regeneration.

From the name, it seemed like a technique to restore missing body parts.

But no—reading the description, it was a skill that healed debuff statuses.

"Functional impairment-type abnormal statuses?"

Like poison or paralysis?

This might be way more important than I thought.

I'd have to look into it once I got out.

"Cha Yeonwoo."

As I exited floor 3, someone called my name.

A woman with wavy hair cascading down, dressed in casual office attire. It was Management Bureau staffer Yoo Soyeon.

'What’s she doing here?'

"Looks like you cleared floor 3 too."

"What’s up?"

"Ease up on the frown. It's starting to hurt my feelings."

Maybe it was the aftereffects of battle, but I'd been instinctively wary of her.

Why had she come looking for me again, though?

"Got a moment?"

"No."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"..."

There was no way a woman this pretty would seek me out without an agenda.

Probably work-related. I kept my guard up like a fortress and marched straight ahead.

She hurried after me.

"Hey, wait up."

I picked up the pace.

"Seems like there's a misunderstanding. It's not like that."

She stuck to me like a shadow, doggedly chasing my heels.

"Seriously, why are you avoiding me?"

I didn't break stride and walked even faster.

"Say something!"

"I already made it clear I wasn't interested last time."

"It's not about that. Just... stop for a sec."

Her breathing grew labored, her words slurring.

But she kept up surprisingly well. This woman was more tenacious than I'd thought. She might follow me all the way home at this rate.

I stopped dead and turned to face her.

"Whew... I'm beat."

I'd only walked a bit faster, but she looked winded.

What, her stamina that bad? Were all Management Bureau staff like this?

Anyway, time to shut this down for good. Tell her to leave me alone.

I wanted to end the conversation right there, but eyes were on us. Worst case, it'd end up plastered on Hunter Net again.

"Let's move somewhere quiet."

After ordering drinks, we settled in a corner booth at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the cafe.

It happened to be the same spot where I'd chatted with Ryu Seolhwa before.

Yoo Soyeon took a sip and spoke.

"First, let's clear up the facts. We already have your solo play data."

"Then why ask for more data?"

"We don't have any from healers yet. Anyway, that's not why I wanted to see you."

'They have solo data? Well, even as a healer, it'd be weird if they didn't have mine...'

The Tower was structured to be brutally tough solo.

Monsters came in groups from the lower floors.

So people formed parties for safety.

But that slowed growth.

XP got split.

Skill levels lagged, making party play practically mandatory later on.

Plus, the higher you climbed, the bigger the level gap with monsters.

Solo data was valuable reference material in that sense.

But now it sounded like they didn't need it anymore.

Meaning something more important had come up. What could it be?

"Anyway, sorry about last time."

She apologized out of nowhere.

Why the sudden apology? Making me nervous.

She was probably setting the mood before dropping something serious.

"So, what's it this time?"

"You made some unusual potions."

What? Ryu Seolhwa was into them, and now Yoo Soyeon too?

What secret did my potions hold?

"How up to speed are you on Tower progress, Yeonwoo?"

"You asking because you think I know? It's only been four days since I started climbing."

"Ah, sorry. You climb solo so well, I assumed... my bad."

She flinched in a way that screamed airhead.

Unlike her poised first impression, chasing me down so desperately showed a ditzy side.

"We're stuck at the wall of floor 40. Everyone's struggling with the gate boss."

Come to think of it, Snow Flower Guild had wiped there too.

Why bring this up? No way my potion was the key to conquering it! Ta-da! Yeah right, absurd.

"That floor's boss is known for crowd control skills with freeze and sleep patterns. Hitting them in sequence wipes parties."

"What’s that got to do with potions?"

"I think your potions could be the hint to conquering it."

Eh? For real? They're just super painful healing potions.

And it's freeze and sleep. How would they even help?

She seemed convinced my potions held the key, but I couldn't wrap my head around it.

"Of course, it's just a hypothesis for now. That's why I have a proposal."

"Request last time, proposal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now?"

"Truth is, it's my personal opinion. Hasn't been officially approved yet..."

Personal opinion?

Well, it'd only been listed on the exchange a short time, and only a few made. However she got them, this woman jumping the gun was weird.

But it piqued my curiosity. Had to ask.

"So, what do you want?"

"I'll smooth over Tower entry without registration. You seem to hate data exposure. In return, make the potions I specify. We'll pay, of course."

Oh, tempting. Registration was my biggest headache.

Ryu Seolhwa probably got my info through those channels too.

Specified potions? I could only make one kind.

"At level 25, healers unlock their signature skill, Regeneration. I'd like Regeneration potions."

"Already unlocked that."

"Pardon? What did you just say?"

Back home, I let out a sigh of relief.

Felt like Yoo Soyeon might still be chasing me.

It started with my offhand comment about unlocking Regeneration.

She froze in shock, then bombarded me with questions.

I'd answered without thinking, but it must've been big news.

Sensing I'd slipped up, I wrapped up the talk in a rush and bolted, but she was clingier than expected.

The way she stuck to me... took forever to shake her off.

"...Like pesticide. Drink it and die."

Anyway, Regeneration seemed like a high-tier skill.

I quickly logged into Hunter Net to gather info.

Poison · Bleeding · Paralysis · Burns · Frostbite · Corruption · Nerve Damage.

Functional impairment statuses were more varied than I'd thought.

"So it heals these continuously."

Some posts called it one of a healer's signature skills.

But "heal" stuck out.

I didn't need to test it to know. This one would hurt bad too.

Why'd I unlock it at level 10, though?

Then a post mentioning my name caught my eye.

"Goddess my ass, and why am I trash? These idiots!"

Someone must've witnessed our scuffle outside the cafe.

To bystanders, it looked plenty suspicious.

Her grabbing my arm, me shaking her off. Running, getting caught, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tangling up. Sigh, how'd it come to this?

I sighed and went to close Hunter Net when a notification blinked.

What now?

From an anonymous user. But the content was weird.

Ah, the tanker who said he'd buy yesterday?

This was escalating. How big could one potion blow up?

Better halt sales for now.

If Yoo Soyeon's theory was right, they'd be insanely valuable.

That explained Ryu Seolhwa's interest too.

Head was spinning.

Anyway, potion stuff later.

First, check the rest of the rewards.

18 magic stones—18 million won.

But at this rate, scraping up the balance would be tough.

And no item drop this time.

I knew they didn't drop every time, but still disappointing.

At least I got an achievement item, so I'd settle for that.

"Oh? Was just needing safety goggles."

Every time with the sprayer, stuff splashed in my eyes. Annoying.

And perfect timing for an item like this.

Plus, it gives mixing ratios? I had tons to experiment with anyway. Perfect.