Chapter 260
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 260
Chapter Title: Second Sister's Kiss and Dire Warning
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"Ack! You scared me. Sis, you're not usually like this. You're always so calm and cool-headed. Why the sudden personality change?"
"Who cares about that right now? You can make healing potions or something... How? How the hell can you do that? How could you keep this from me?"
"...What, what do you mean?"
"...If you knew how to make healing potions, you should've told your sis right away. ...Come here. I'll give you a kiss. ...Even a real kiss. I love you. I really love you, my little bro. Sniff, to think my brother can make healing potions... I'm so touched... So damn touched."
"Uh..."
"Was this how Jobs felt when he discovered Wozniak, who made the Apple I? Now the entire Korean market for healing potions is ours, bro. We're gonna be filthy rich!"
-Mwah, smooch. Smoooch!
My second sister suddenly latched onto me, showering me with a storm of kisses.
I was a bit startled by the sudden clinginess, but she had this cool, collected image normally—though her actual looks were stunningly pretty and cute—so it didn't feel bad. If anything, it felt great.
A surprise kiss from my second sister, who's goddess-level gorgeous like all the women in our family?
Doesn't that piss you off out of nowhere?
'Hell no, I love it.'
A ridiculously hot babe with a body optimized for baby-making clinging to me like this?
'Love it, love it. Do it more. Every day.'
No dude with a dick could hate this.
'Ah, is it 'cause her tits are so huge? Her massive, soft, squishy jugs rubbing against me... Fucking awesome... Real talk... Gotta get her to titty-fuck me later no matter what.'
My second sister pressed against me, saying she'd kiss me, and leaned in with her lips pursed.
But she was a virgin with a bad case of man-hating syndrome—everyone but me hated—so she'd probably never even kissed anyone before.
It was super clumsy, just pressing her lips against mine for a long, drawn-out smooch.
Maybe something she'd picked up somewhere, she even sucked a little...? That was her limit.
But her saliva had this sweet fruity scent and taste. What the hell? Had she eaten something sugary?
"...Pwah! ...I-is this what a kiss is like? Hmm, I think I saw on TV that you have to move your tongue or something..."
"Yeah, exactly. You gotta move your tongue like this, like this. What was that? That was just a long peck."
"...W-well, it was my first time, okay? I don't know what I'm doing. But it was kinda sweet and nice... Hehe. Anyway, time to claim my reward for the kiss. I get the blue scroll, the red one, and all the healing potions, right? Thanks, bro! Heehee. Love you."
"Wait, Sis. Hold on. You gotta hear the explanation first before taking them. And that blue scroll... well, I was thinking of selling it maybe..."
"What's this?"
"That? It's a portal scroll. Use it, and it creates a round-trip portal to whatever place you think of as 'home.' You know what a portal is, right? A two-way passageway. Use it outside, go home, come back, and it disappears. Meanwhile, anyone you consider an ally can keep using it. Pretty badass, huh?"
"......"
My second sister's face suddenly turned to stone, hardening like rock.
The moment her expression froze solid, I realized the playful vibe from just seconds ago was gone.
It was a shift scary enough to make me call out to her with a slightly trembling voice.
"Sis?"
My second sister went dead serious in an instant, grabbed my collar, and said very gravely,
"......Th-this is off-limits for sale. Listen up, you... From now on, pay close attention to what I'm saying. ...No one in this world can know you made this. Just you and me, got it? Until I say it's okay—until we take it to our graves—no one else finds out. Got it? Do you understand?!"
"...Y-yeah. Got it..."
"The world can never know you can make something like this. The second it gets out, your life is in danger. You get what I'm saying? Unless you wanna end up locked away cranking out scrolls like some canned factory slave, listen to your sis. Understand? Answer me! This is something we can't control."
"......"
"As a merchant, the last thing you wanna do is piss off the powers that be. And power comes from force. Even I, a total outsider to military stuff, can see how massive a military game-changer this portal scroll is the second I look at it—what do you think the experts would say? Tell absolutely no one. Ever. Got it? My dear little bro, ignore everything else, but listen to me on this. Okay?"
"...Got it, Sis."
"Absolutely no one can know."
"...Not even family? Family should be fine, right...?"
"No! No one for the time being. ...Not until I've built up more power. Same for you. ...Actually, no—even if I grow as strong as I can, we'll never realistically outmatch superpowers like the US or China. Not now, not ever. I'm going crazy just knowing this myself. Family knowing would be even worse. Not 'cause I don't trust them—secrets just leak more the more people who know them."
"Got it."
"And... what if someone slips up or gets forced into spilling it somehow? You know what I mean? There are mental attacks and shit these days, anyway—no. Humans can blurt things out without meaning to. So don't tell family either. Just you and me. We take this secret to the grave."
"Yeah. Got it, Sis."
"Whew... My little bro... Haa... You've gained way too much power."
My second sister let out a deep sigh and rubbed her forehead like her head hurt.
She glanced at the small amount of healing potion I had and muttered,
"Honestly, even just being able to make healing potions... it'd shock the hell out of Korea. There's only a handful of legit alchemists worldwide who can produce them right now... If the government finds out, you'd be top priority protection. You know how much this healing potion costs? Did Seung-hye tell you? The price of super-diluted ones."
"Yeah, I know. Crazy expensive."
"This is the pure stuff, right?"
"Yeah."
"...About 50ml? Tiny amount. Smaller than a yogurt bottle. Still, at current market rates, it'd go for around 5 billion won."
"Current rate is 100 million per ml?"
"Yeah. A liter—1,000ml—is pushing 1,000 billion won. Prices fluctuate daily, but yeah, roughly 100 million per ml now. You saw Seung-hye getting that super-diluted version in an IV? That's how everyone uses it these days."
"I see."
"Nobody uses the pure stuff. Unless you're a real billionaire. ...Still, sell as much as you can while prices are high. Humans always mass-produce whatever they crave, no matter the cost. Same here. Cash in big while it's expensive."
"Makes sense? You think healing potion prices will drop over time?"
"Obviously, bro. Humanity's always gotten what it wants, no matter the resources, sweat, blood, effort, or time. They wanted to fly, so they did. Wanted to go to the moon, so they went. ...You know why pepper's so cheap now? Back in the day, people risked their lives for it—more valuable than gold by weight."
"...Dunno? They figured out how to farm it?"
"...Is pepper a fish? 'Farm' it? ...Sigh, anyway, similar deal. Europeans succeeded in growing it in nearby Africa, not some far-off East. Tanked the price, and all the spice traders went bankrupt."
"Huh, gotcha."
According to my second sister, healing potions would eventually drop in price too.
Just like insanely expensive pepper back then.
Her take was that humanity's obsession—which sparked the whole Age of Exploration shitshow over spices—had now shifted to healing potions, so they'd meet the same fate soon enough.
I figured she was right.
'Humans can't resist shit they desperately want or crave. Sex hits both. Wanna fuck, wanna eat that girl. Boom, affairs, murders. Sex-related motives are top reason for killings...'
What humans want turns into money, and money draws people.
Right now, hunters barely cared if other monsters popped up, but announce trolls—the raw material for healing potions—and every hunter in the country swarms for a shot at that blood and instant riches.
Say goblins or orcs show up in Seoul's Sangam-dong? Most hunters go "Whatever." But a troll in Marado, south of Jeju? They're chartering planes, helos, boats to kill it and snag the blood.
Why? 'Cause it makes bank.
"I see healing potions heading the same way eventually. ...Maybe you'll even kick it off. Usher in the era of cheap potions. Supply and demand—more supply, lower price. ...So, bro, how much can you make in a day?"
How much per day?
I thought it over and told my second sister,
"As much as I want."