Brewing Power in the Potion Factory
Han Ji-woo's Inventory was steadily piling up with MSG.
Toryong could fetch him items from underground five times a day. Thanks to that, Ji-woo acquired five microbial capsules every day, combining them with sugarcane to produce MSG.
He was tempted by the various ores buried underground, but they weren't urgent, so he prioritized improving their quality of life for now.
The day after Palas Laporte came to the Hidden Space for some sweet, honey-like rest.
Ji-woo's group was busy from morning with farm work.
Pao was diligently plowing the soil with the new garlic he'd brought yesterday to create a garlic field. But then Chunsik, who had been watching, came rushing over and started flipping the earth like a mole with his front paws—what a sight!
It wasn't a haphazard dig; the soil was perfectly sifted, as if tilled with a hoe.
Thrilled by Chunsik's performance, Pao lit up. With the pup picking out the perfect spots, all he had to do was shape them into beds—workload slashed!
Now it was time to plant the garlic in the new field! Normally, this was Pao and Lucy's synchronized routine, but today Ferrofero stepped up.
The reason? Everyone knew it.
"I can't let dirt get on Her Highness's paws, no sirree!"
Ferrofero poked holes in the soil up front, and Pao followed, planting the cloves. While everyone was hustling, what was the plump one doing? Picking ripe veggies and fruits diligently and offering them to Ji-woo.
Of course.
Crunch! Crunch! Gulp!
About one in ten ended up in his own mouth.
Meanwhile, bored Lucy had slipped into the lake and hunted back a haul of fish and crayfish.
Ji-woo collected eggs from the chicken coop and milked the female mad cow in the barn.
By then, Pao—farm chores done—teamed up with Ferrofero again to tend the three livestock pens.
He flipped the barn floor covered in dry dungeon weeds, refilled feed and water. The salt block in the corner had shrunk to plum-size, so he grabbed a fresh chunk from the Salt Mine.
He did the same for the pigsty and chicken coop: turned the bedding, topped off food.
As morning tasks wrapped up, Ji-woo took Chunsik into the cavern deep in the Salt Mine.
Mana grass grew in wild abundance there.
"Whoa, what a breeding rate?"
Just days after his first visit, the population had doubled.
Ji-woo plucked a stalk at his feet and held it to Chunsik's nose. The pup sniffed.
Sniff sniff~
"Chunsik, bring me as many of these exact grasses as you can."
Myaaong!
Barking excitedly, Chunsik bounded around like it was playtime, ripping up mana grass in his jaws and flinging them back to Ji-woo. His movements were so nimble, a pile of fifty formed in no time.
"Okay~! That's plenty. Come here, Chunsik!"
Myaaong myaaong!
Panting with his long tongue lolling, Chunsik leaped into Ji-woo's arms and lavished his face with licks.
"Heh heh~ Good boy, good boy. You're so smart, our Chunsik."
With mana grass harvested, the day's chores were truly done.
Ji-woo was about to combine monster loot from mini-dungeon runs with mana grass for potions when a thought struck.
'Can mana grass combine with itself?'
If curious, test it now. He placed two mana grasses in the crafting window.
Mana Grass x10
→ Advanced Mana Grass (Synthesis Possible)
But no dice—synthesis impossible. Tried five: same. Ten: change!
Mana Grass x10
→ Advanced Mana Grass (Synthesis Possible)
"Oh!"
Ji-woo hit synthesize pronto.
The resulting Advanced Mana Grass looked identical to regular but shimmered with faint blue.
◈ A rare variant found occasionally among mana grass. Process with monster loot for special potions.
◈ Consuming restores 150 MP.
"Hm... not impressive?"
Sacrificing ten regular stalks for triple MP recovery—nothing else. Bad trade.
Back to plan: Used mana grass for 40 mid-grade potions.
But curiosity struck again.
'Potions with potions?'
He placed two different ones in crafting.
Mid-grade Attack Boost Potion x1 + Mid-grade Defense Boost Potion x1
→ Mid-grade Offense-Defense Boost Potion (Synthesis Possible)
"Oh!"
It worked. New potion info:
◈ Boosts ATK and DEF stats by 20 for 30 minutes.
"This is good."
One potion hits both ATK and DEF—super efficient.
"Wait... then!"
Combined mid-grade HP, ATK, DEF, AGI boosts:
◈ Boosts HP, ATK, DEF, AGI stats by 20 for 30 minutes.
"Incredible. Chunsik! More mana grass!"
Myaaong!
Mid-grade loot overflowed anyway—time to run a real potion factory.
* * *
Ultimately, Ji-woo churned out 100 Mid-grade Basic Stat Boost Potions.
Then another thought: "What if same potions combine?"
Tested stacking them one by one. At five:
Mid-grade Basic Stat Boost Potion x5
→ High-grade Basic Stat Boost Potion (Synthesis Possible)
"Let's go!"
Pumped, Ji-woo smashed synthesize. High-grade without high-grade loot! Overjoyed, he checked info:
◈ Boosts HP, ATK, DEF, AGI stats by 50 for 1 hour.
"Ooooh!"
Mind-blowing. He dumped all 95 remaining mids into crafting at once—yielding 20 highs.
Pocketed three, listed 17 in Dungeon Shop for 1 Dungeon Coin each.
"High-grade effects rock, but mass production's inefficient."
Muttering at the display, he sent Chunsik for more mana grass, made another 100 mid-grades, listed those too at 1 coin.
"This should hold strong."
Dusting hands, he exited the Salt Mine to pets feasting on fruits and fish.
"Aigoo, you must've been starving."
He always fed them breakfast on schedule—but potions distracted him today. Good they fended for themselves.
Pao alone savored salt-grilled fish over coals. Gourmet tastes from steady home cooking.
"Alright, let's wrap morning duties."
With that, Ji-woo activated his skill.
Growth Acceleration!
Mystical energy burst from him, enveloping all life in Hidden Space.
Happy messages followed.
Black Hatchling Seibier has grown larger.
Seibier's base stats all increase by 200.
Acquired unique skill Polymorph.
Polymorph
Transform into any desired form.
"Ooooh!"
All stats +200! Royal Jelly doubled growth gains for this bonanza. Plus Polymorph.
Ji-woo eyed the plump one. Twice as big, leaner, more draconic and mature.
Dashing to the lake, it checked itself... then.
"...What?"
Shrank back to pre-growth chubby baby form.
"Degenerated? No way."
Realization hit.
"Ah, Polymorph?"
No natural regression—had to be. Loved the baby look.
Gazing at his reflection, he purred happily.
Kyurruk~ Kyurruk~
"You're one weird kid."
Then another grew.
Logaku Tribe Chunsik has grown larger.
Chunsik's base stats all increase by 100.
"Ooh, Chunsik too?"
Amazed, Ji-woo looked over. Amid feasting pets, Chunsik—fresh from the mine—had doubled-plus in size. Snout protruded more, eyes sharper. Fluffy fur thickened to majestic coat—cuteness gone, dignity in.
"Chunsik... you look awkward all grown up?"
Hearing his name mid-meal, Chunsik glanced back, tail wagging mildly—but no bounding licks like before. Eyed owner briefly, no orders, back to fish.
"Wait, personality changed too? So cool now."
Ji-woo struggled with sudden shift. Playful pup turned aloof—kinda hurtful.
Other pets awkward too. Lucy eyed warily first.
Nyaaoong!
Whap!
Bonked his nose. Chunsik just glanced, like 'Fair enough', resumed eating.
Ji-woo plopped down.
"Feels like my kid ran away, came back grown."
* * *
Noonish, Palas finally woke.
"Sleep well?"
"Slept like a rock. Haha."
Embarrassed, oblivious Palas chuckled. Above his head, remaining time ticked:
-00:00:12
"Ah."
Ten seconds, back to his dungeon—probably. Issue: Ji-woo hadn't told him.
But Palas said the unexpected.
"Han Ji-woo, thank you. Thanks to you, I could spend peaceful time here—and finally accept it."
"...Pardon?"
"That I died before coming here."
Countdown ended. Palas vanished in radiant light and beaming smile.
And.
Palas Laporte's satisfaction has reached 10.
As promised, the system's shocking reward was incoming for Ji-woo.