Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Insulin (8)
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‘No, this isn’t it.’
No matter how flustered the dark elves’ behavior was, Suhyun had no need to get swept up in it. He just had to act according to the reason he’d come here.
“Sorry, but I came to tell you to stop bothering her anymore. Shaina’s left your side and is working with us now. I don’t think you have any reason to say anything more about it.”
“W-what?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Shaina, say something!”
“No, I... I think Suhyun’s right...”
“What?! Do you think that makes any sense?!”
“Uh... well...”
Shaina’s eyes began spinning in circles. She was plunged into utter confusion by the uproar from her family all around her. She glanced at Suhyun, then slipped behind him.
“I don’t have the right to speak!”
“?!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, you see, there are circumstances... Anyway, I have to do what Suhyun says!”
With those words, Shaina signaled Suhyun with her eyes.
‘Sorry! I’m counting on you!’
‘This damn girl...’
Suhyun sighed inwardly. Fine, he’d already taken on the villain role—what did one more thing matter?
“You heard her? That’s how it is. So give it up. If you want to save your family, make a new kid or go rescue one right now.”
“We won’t let you go, you bastard! Where do you get off trying to take our precious child?”
“If you’re leaving, make a kid first and then go!”
The dark elves rose from their seats and charged at Suhyun. When he dodged, one who tripped grabbed his ankle and clung on.
“Have you all gone collectively insane? Let go!”
In the end, it was an hour later that Suhyun finally made it outside. Emerging, he felt more mental exhaustion than after fighting an ogre. They were Shaina’s family, after all—he couldn’t just beat them senseless.
“Sorry, really sorry.”
“...Let’s never speak of this again.”
* * *
The matter with Shaina was just a laughable mishap that could be brushed off. Suhyun had more serious business ahead.
“Passage rights, guides for future expeditions, and on top of that...”
“What, did we walk into a department store?”
“You know what a department store is? Fascinating.”
“I’m of an age where I know a bit about human cities. More importantly, aren’t you being a bit too greedy?”
“Greedy? My comrades are still laid out from poison, you know?”
In fact, the Uncle Jo Company members were lying in the campsite. On Suhyun’s orders, forcibly. Since he’d retrieved them the moment the poison activated, the damage was minimal, but Suhyun had commanded them to stay down as a show of force.
-How long do we have to keep this up?
-I don’t know. Shut up and lie still.
-I feel kinda weird, though. It’s itchy, like something inside...
-Gasp. You too? Me too.
-Everyone, quiet!
“So we’re sending a healer, like we said...”
“No thanks. How can I trust that?”
Selina gave up trying to persuade him and sighed. She wasn’t demanding anything Suhyun couldn’t accept, but that made it trickier somehow. It was like she was determined to squeeze every last bit out of him within his limits.
“And I’d like access to the reagent storage room too.”
“What?! How do you even know about that?!”
“I have my ways. It wasn’t Shaina who told me, so don’t make baseless suspicions.”
“The reagent storage isn’t something to handle lightly...”
“It’s all consumables anyway. We can take what we need anytime. If the ogre were still around, we’d have used them on it.”
She couldn’t argue with that. If Suhyun hadn’t killed the ogre, half the storage would’ve been used up, and half of what remained would’ve been lost in transit.
“What do you want from in there?”
“I want full access to use whatever I please.”
“What?!”
Even Selina was shocked by this. Using everything in storage however he wanted?
“You don’t even know what’s in there! Planning to take it all out? If that’s the case...”
“There are plenty of things in storage that’d spoil if taken outside. No intention of taking anything out.”
“Then what are you planning?”
“No plans to tell you. Anyway, will you allow it?”
“...Fine.”
* * *
“Above all, there are some seriously dangerous things inside, so don’t touch anything recklessly. Use only what you need. If something goes wrong, we’re not taking responsibility, so if anything seems off, get out immediately.”
“Don’t worry.”
“And what’s that?”
Selina eyed the pill in Suhyun’s hand with curiosity.
“Digestive aid.”
“?”
“Be right back.”
The dark elves handled the reagent storage with extreme caution. Given how sensitive the items were, that was only natural.
The entrance to the underground was beneath a building in the center of the village. To prevent reagent degradation, no fires were allowed inside. Suhyun donned night-vision goggles and descended.
A dry smell mixed with dust and faint humidity stung his nose. Suhyun surveyed the reagent storage and sighed. Selina had warned of lethally poisonous items to scare him, but that was no issue for him. With his poison technique complete, poisons didn’t affect him.
The problem was he had to ingest them as-is because of it.
‘I was planning to numb my tongue with paralytic poison...’
Blaming his own body, Suhyun opened the cases and began pulling out ingredients one by one. He didn’t even bother opening the magic book to check anymore. What he needed now were diverse superpowers. He planned to acquire as many as possible and experiment with combinations.
Things were fine so far, but he didn’t know when he’d need stronger firepower. Telekinesis and poison technique felt a tad insufficient for that—poison offered sustained damage, but lacked the piercing power of raw force.
Suhyun started shoving them in indiscriminately.
Salty, sweet, sour, bitter, bitter, bitter...
‘Is everything here bitter?’
Some were poisonous. He felt his poison technique automatically absorbing the toxins. After several breaks and devouring everything in sight, Suhyun sensed something off.
“Uh...”
His poison technique protected him from all poisons, letting him eat without issue. But his condition was strange. His vision was blurring.
“No... way...”
His sight grew hazier, and then a scene appeared.
Suhyun stood atop a mountain peak. The surrounding slopes were so sheer it was hard to imagine climbing up. Below stretched the vast landscape of Cameron Planet.
A voice echoed in his mind.
-The things I thought would be the final achievements of my life...
A dragon soared into the sky. A massive red body. Reptilian, yet eyes brimming with otherworldly majesty. It glared at Suhyun and opened its maw. Flames flickered inside.
Dragon breath.
-Were merely the beginning of my future.
Flames engulfed Suhyun, and he snapped out of the illusion.
“What the...!”
His body was drenched in sweat. He’d never experienced anything like this.
‘An illusion...’
Of course, he knew dark elves were adept at illusions for divination and such. He’d even used their herbs to awaken Kang In-gyu.
But those were poison-based, ineffective on him. And this illusion was too vivid.
After a short rest, Suhyun slowly resumed, eating the rest.
* * *
“You okay? You look pale. Don’t tell me you got poisoned...”
“I’m fine, stop worrying.”
Suhyun steadied his churning stomach with deep breaths. There were results. Devouring everything had granted him several superpowers—ones requiring full condition fulfillment, showing just how many reagents there were.
‘Ignition, freezing, lightning arrow, energy shot...’
All standard, common superpowers. The kind he could find users for easily in Pyongyang. That’s why he hadn’t bothered acquiring them before.
But now was different. If nullification pierced superpower combos, it could deal even greater damage to other monsters.
“By the way, are there illusion-inducing ones in there...?”
“Of course. With how much is stored.”
“What do illusions usually show?”
“Can’t pinpoint it. Too varied. Past events, fears, desires...”
“No, not desires.”
Suhyun had no desire to see a dragon. Selina smiled faintly at his expression.
“Looks like you saw an illusion. Told you not to handle them carelessly.”
She didn’t know he’d eaten everything. Suhyun wiped sweat from his brow.
“I heard a voice.”
“Happens sometimes. Family voices, gods, spirits...”
“No, it was my voice.”
“Your voice?”
Selina, walking ahead, turned back.
“Why? Not supposed to hear my own?”
“Usually, you don’t hear your own voice in illusions. Hearing it means hearing yourself speak in the illusion, but illusions don’t have you speaking yourself. Others do—things you fear or desire. Why would it be your own voice?”
“Then what was my voice doing there?”
“No idea. Maybe it wasn’t an illusion, but a glimpse of the future?”
“...That’s even worse.”
“What’d it say?”
“Nothing important.”
A future of taking a dragon breath head-on? Better an illusion. Anyway, he’d gotten what he wanted—no reason to stay.
“Next time, manage your people better when I’m not around. If we’re attacked in your absence, I might respond more violently.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Truth was, it’d ended bloodlessly because Suhyun could cure poison and subdue them. Any other team would’ve attacked immediately.
Humans couldn’t tell how many dark elves were involved. Trying to just subdue them risked backlash, so outright assault made sense.
With the biggest issue—the dark elves—resolved, the mercenaries had no reservations. They scoured every corner of Insulin, investigating thoroughly. Occasional monsters became Suhyun’s test subjects.
‘I’ll experiment with superpower combinations in advance. Can’t debut them on the real threats.’
Normally, boosting a flame-creation and control superpower, combined with telekinesis, became a mighty flame lance.
Crunch!
The lance pierced the monster’s torso, surroundings erupting in flames. After testing combos, Suhyun reached conclusions.
‘Elemental types are pointless unless matched to monster weaknesses. For piercing, mix energy types with telekinesis...’
Even he got chills from the penetration power. No need for weapons alongside telekinesis anymore.
A satisfying expedition. Blue Bear 1 Team and dark elves lingered unresolved, but no urgency.
‘Time will sort it.’
They weren’t one-off encounters anyway. Suhyun headed to Pyongyang thinking that.
“Did you at least say goodbye to your family?”
“Just to Grandma...”
Shaina shook her head, looking fed up.
“Really sorry for the hassle. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“No trouble if we don’t come back.”
“And don’t tell anyone else? Especially not Rui Lil.”
“Got it. Don’t worry.”
Rui Lil would tease endlessly if she knew what Suhyun and Shaina had been through. He could picture it.
“Welcome back, Kim Suhyun.”
“Thank you.”
“Ah, one moment.”
“?”
At Pyongyang’s checkpoint, after a quick inspection, Suhyun turned curiously as the staff called him.
“The Development Planning Department Director said to have you come see him as soon as you arrive.”
“Got it.”