Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Health Store
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Hae-rin was startled.
Health Store.
She felt a warm resonance from that unfamiliar term.
It seemed like a shop that dealt in elixirs and such to aid one's health.
‘He hasn’t forgotten that my father is unwell.’
Perhaps because her own father was bedridden as well.
Jae-hyeok fully understood the feelings of a child with a sick father.
The more she learned, the more she thought he was a thoughtful son.
“Health Store… Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
Hae-rin’s heart, frozen cold for so long, warmed and began to thaw a little.
“That way…?”
Jae-hyeok turned on the navigation and took the lead.
After all, this was about picking out a gift for a friend’s father.
He was serious about it.
He had spent ages scouring the internet and communities to find the highest-rated health store nearby with the best repurchase rate.
“Here it is.”
Behind the flashy downtown area.
After entering the alley and rounding a few corners, the two arrived at their destination and marveled.
Beyond a modest wall rose an impressive sight.
Several traditional hanok buildings stood on a plot spanning hundreds of pyeong.
“Health Brew Tonic Shop…”
A dragon clutching a yeouiju.
Jae-hyeok confirmed the shop’s name on the unique signboard and sighed in relief.
Was this really a health store?
The scale was so grand it threw him off, but seeing the sign confirmed they had arrived at the right place.
“Welcome.”
As they passed through the gate, a woman in elegant hanbok greeted them.
She was a middle-aged woman who exuded a solemn air despite her smile.
“Students from Lion’s Castle, I presume? It’s an honor to meet the future heroes who will safeguard our nation.”
Spotting Jae-hyeok and Hae-rin’s uniforms, the middle-aged woman’s demeanor grew even more courteous.
Hae-rin shrank back a little.
The scale, the etiquette.
The health store seemed like a highly formal place.
Jae-hyeok, who was her age yet already frequented spots like this, seemed incredible.
‘Jae-hyeok must have visited places like this a lot since he was little, as befits a young lord.’
Hae-rin was also the daughter of Guardian Guild, one of the five great guilds.
Normally, she should have experienced and learned all sorts of things from a young age.
But Guardian’s sub-master had wanted her ignorant.
Pretending to care, acting like a parent, he had confined her in the birdcage of a home and raised her to his tastes.
No wonder she had only learned of health stores today.
‘What kind of health store is this?’
In truth, Jae-hyeok was even more shocked than Park Hae-rin.
The health stores in his memory were hole-in-the-wall shops scraping by in neighborhood strip malls(?).
He remembered clearly because whenever Butler Hwang went to pick up herbs or fish, he would video call to show Jae-hyeok around.
‘He shared memories I didn’t know about, telling me it was where Father ordered snake wine.’
Butler Hwang was a truly kind and considerate man.
For Jae-hyeok, who had lost his mother at age six, Butler Hwang best matched his image of ‘mom.’
He did have the fatal flaw of ruined taste buds that made his cooking inedible, but…
“…Not every mom in the world is good at cooking.”
The thought slipped out as words.
He had been too deep in thought.
“Hee-hee, leaving your parents for dorm life must feel lonely, right?”
Hae-rin was busy looking around.
Only the woman in hanbok vaguely caught Jae-hyeok’s mutter.
She latched onto the word ‘mom’ and shed her stern expression for a kindly smile.
“I have a son about your age. Treat me like a mom and tell this auntie what you’re looking for. I’ll take good care of you.”
“……”
Jae-hyeok scratched his cheek.
He had once seen a kid from another class teased for accidentally calling their teacher ‘mom,’ and now he felt just like that boy.
“Sorry if I got too sentimental and made you uncomfortable.”
“…No. It’s not uncomfortable.”
Jae-hyeok shook his head politely.
Civilians, adults, moms.
Faced with all three keywords in one person, even he had to play the gentle lamb.
“Hee-hee, what are you looking for? If you don’t have something specific, we have plenty of recommendations. Potions blended with herbs like angelica or licorice, elixirs infused with ginseng or reishi mushrooms. They’re our Health Brew Tonic Shop’s bestsellers.”
“Do they actually work?”
Jae-hyeok tilted his head.
Hae-rin, who had been admiring the displayed goods, perked up her ears and drew closer.
Potions and elixirs needed to be crafted from Gate-sourced recipes to exhibit proper effects.
And they mixed in herbal medicine?
Doubts arose that the efficacy might drop rather than improve.
“Normally, no.”
The middle-aged woman answered honestly.
With a confident smile.
“But our Health Brew Tonic Shop has Korea’s top pharmacist. A full B-Rank Player, no less. They use skills to modify potion and elixir recipes and boost their effects.”
“Ah…!”
Hae-rin understood.
The world had countless skills.
As numerous as stars in the universe.
Skills to enhance potion and elixir effects were only natural.
The shop’s massive scale and bustling customers made sense now.
No wonder business was booming.
She felt convinced the products here had superior effects.
“Do you have any antidotes by chance?”
Hae-rin showed great interest.
“An antidote to cure someone poisoned by Black Tortoise venom.”
“Black Tortoise venom…?”
The middle-aged woman’s expression turned serious.
“Well… You’d need to consult the pharmacist directly. But what’s your relationship to the patient…?”
“Wait.”
It was the moment Hae-rin opened her mouth to reply.
“These potions—are they really for sale?”
Jae-hyeok eyed the colorful array on the display shelves.
“Of course they’re for sale.”
“Yeah?”
Jae-hyeok picked one up and popped the lid.
A thick herbal scent instantly filled the room, startling the woman.
“You can’t just open the lid like that. The efficacy might degrade.”
“Don’t worry. Elixirs maybe, but no potion loses efficacy from a quick lid pop.”
“These potions are as precious as elixirs…”
“Shh.”
Jae-hyeok was a potion connoisseur.
Reagent Jae-gye had supplied him with thousands for free.
Mostly low-grade, sure, but that didn’t mean his eye for potions was lacking.
Few had used ultra-high-grade potions—ones you couldn’t buy for a billion won—like he had.
“Good thing the efficacy hasn’t dropped.”
Sniff sniff.
After pressing his nose to the bottle and inhaling a few times, Jae-hyeok chuckled.
“But it hasn’t increased either.”
“…?”
Both the middle-aged woman and Hae-rin doubted their ears.
Potions required personal testing to know their true effects.
Color and scent might hint at grade, but gauging exact efficacy was impossible by common sense.
Yet Jae-hyeok was judging it from smell alone.
“So the people repurchasing this believe it aids health beyond wound recovery? Well, with this herbal stench, I get their mindset. Efficacy is influenced by the user’s psychology too, so it’s hard to call this markup a scam.”
“Keep spouting such nonsense and…”
“Your shop owner has great business sense.”
Jae-hyeok proposed to the woman, now flushing beyond embarrassment.
“Want to buy potions from me? Cheap, in bulk. But only via community points, not cash.”
“…?”
What was this sudden turn?
The student who came as a customer was bizarrely proposing a deal, leaving the middle-aged woman dumbfounded.
“…Wasn’t this about picking a gift for your dad?”
Hae-rin was deeply shocked.
Her large eyes twitched violently.
Jae-hyeok felt the need to reassure her first.
“Let’s get one bottle of snake wine for now.”
“Snake…? Wine…?”
Hae-rin’s eyes shook even more wildly.
The middle-aged woman couldn’t hide her bewilderment either.
“Why would a student want snake wine…?”
They clearly looked underage.
It was then.
“Snake wine’s illegal, kid.”
An old man with a pipe in his mouth clicked his tongue as he approached.
“Pharmacist sir.”
The middle-aged woman hastily bowed,
“If you need snake wine that bad, convince the FDA first. Who knows? Go berserk like a Yaksha and they might pretend to listen.”
The pharmacist eyed Jae-hyeok’s face with keen interest.
“Seeing you in the flesh for the first time, not through a phone screen. Nice to meet you, Kang Jae-hyeok.”
“Ah!”
Jae-hyeok belatedly recognized the old man’s face.
The health store owner Butler Hwang had often handed the phone to during video calls from the neighborhood shop.
It was the man before him.
“…You’ve come up in the world?”
“Brat, I was always great. That little shop Butler Hwang used was just a workshop your dad set up for brewing his meds.”
The old man guffawed, removed his pipe, and patted Jae-hyeok’s shoulder.
“When I heard you enrolled at Lion’s Castle, I figured we’d meet soon, but sooner than expected.”
“……”
Butler Hwang, National Treasure White Night, Professor Lee So-young, Master Song, the pharmacist before him…
Father had left behind quite the legacy in the form of connections.
As Jae-hyeok realized and felt moved, the old man extended a wrinkled hand.
“First, pay off your dad’s debt.”
***
At the same time, at the health store entrance.
“Those kids have refined tastes.”
A middle-aged man with a 5:5 parted hairstyle adjusted his glasses and double-checked the signboard.
His appearance wasn’t particularly striking.
Just a neat-suited everyman.
Yet people shied away from approaching him.
Customers heading to the health store hesitated at the entrance, backed off, and milled about nearby.
An A-Rank Player.
Even they instinctively sensed danger from the man contracted with a demon, oozing ominous mana.
“Time to meet that sworn brother of Jo Seong-hyeon.”
Sweeping back his hair, the man crossed the threshold.
A ticket for a flight to Japan peeked from his coat pocket.