Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Rift
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As the reservation sale time approached, the post refresh rate on the domestic Hunter Gallery noticeably slowed. The hunters' attention had shifted from the gallery to the sales page.
All of this stemmed from a single post uploaded last night.
[General] ★ Normal Operations Guild doing potions? Reservation sales starting? [623]
The news that Normal Operations Guild was officially taking potion reservations had massive repercussions on its own. But the real bombshell came next.
Defying everyone's expectations, the sales page even had low-cost potions prepared for low-rank hunters.
"Please... just one bottle, please...!"
In a corner of a PC bang, D-rank hunter Mr. Kim wailed as he hammered the refresh button.
His arm still throbbed from the injury he'd sustained in a gate. He'd already spent hundreds of thousands of won on hospital bills, but the pain lingered.
At this rate, he wouldn't be able to join the raid scheduled for this week. The mysterious potion that promised to heal injuries was his only remaining hope.
11:59:59.
Tens of thousands of fingers froze over their mice. And then...
12:00:00.
Ding.
[Unable to connect to page]
The server exploded.
"Ah, fuck!!"
Similar curses erupted in unison from PC bangs, hunter lounges, and guild offices across the nation. The endlessly spinning loading icon was more than enough to test the hunters' patience.
How much time passed like that?
"It's through!"
With someone's shout, the sales page finally came into view.
Silence.
No one could accept the scene before their eyes.
The gallery bursting into flames was the natural progression.
[General] What the hell? You guys getting in?
[General] No way, don't lie
Succeeded, kyaaaaah!
My arm literally wouldn't move properly, thought I was fucked, but now there's hope
Please deliver fast
You actually succeeded at that
Block this guy
Fuck, die
Cheers and screams mixed together, turning the gallery into utter chaos. Amid the flood of posts flying up nonstop, one summary post by a user grabbed everyone's attention.
[Title: Roughly summarized the potions on the reservation sales page]
[Author: Anon]
Signature: Complete recovery of physical injuries excluding limb loss / 200 million won / Quantity: 2 bottles
Elite: Treatment for crushing fractures and organ ruptures, nerve damage repair / 100 million won / Quantity: 4 bottles
Advanced: Bone fusion, muscle/ligament tear recovery, shock prevention & hemostasis / 20 million won / Quantity: 50 bottles
Standard: Rapid suturing, sprain/strain treatment, pain & swelling removal / 2.5 million won / Quantity: 400 bottles
Basic: Wound care, pain relief / 300,000 won / Quantity: 2000 bottles
Sold out in seconds, server crashed lol
Healers gonna have to quit the business lol
Signature for 200 million? Considering what A-rank healers charge, it's a steal?
— HuntNoob1(42.35): Steal my ass, what makes you trust unverified crap?
— ToughShield: Scrub?
— ZappyZap: Healer simp vanishing lol
— HuntNoob2(106.102): Your jobs are on the line, make hay while the sun shines
Server crashed and sold out in under a minute? Wtf
Scalpers with macros?
There was a purchase limit per person
Just got overwhelmed by pure Korean hunter volume I guess
Release more stock
What are you doing looking at this, I couldn't buy any
— HouseGoldfish: I got some lol
Fuck you
Naturally, there were overwhelmingly more people who failed to buy than those who succeeded.
The few who managed to purchase were showered in curses, and bored onlookers piled on by mocking the unsuccessful ones.
[General] What the mods doing? Not blocking the flexers???
The gallery was engulfed in massive flames once more.
- Pweee.
The slime looked up at me with pitiful eyes. Still, there was no helping it.
You're a monster, I'm human.
"...Sorry..."
Squelch.
- Pwiiiiaaak—!
As the sterilized dagger lightly sliced into the blue jelly, the slime let out a wretched scream. I was just checking the wound and about to collect a potion sample with the dropper.
"Sta...rted...?"
A dazed sound leaked from Yuna's mouth as she stared at the laptop screen.
"...Why?"
"Can't get in?"
The sales page had gone completely white.
Yuna hit refresh a few times, then furrowed her brow and called the guild.
After a short call, she set down her smartphone with a hollow expression.
"...Wha, what'd they say...?"
"Sold out right at the start, server crashed."
I stopped what I was doing and turned my head.
"...?"
"Said it took less than a second?"
Yuna let out a disbelieving chuckle.
"Anyway, total sell-out. After taxes and cuts, about 3.4 billion won. I'll settle up once it's confirmed."
"......"
3.4 billion was shocking enough, but the fact that the stock I'd produced over several sleepless days vanished in just one second was even more staggering.
'Production volume. Need to increase it.'
There were plenty of ways. It was just that my skills weren't up to it yet. For now, making more potions was the best I could do.
"Sigh."
The road ahead is long. I shook my head and turned back to the slime before me.
- Pweeeuh...
I dropped a single droplet of red liquid from the dropper onto the slime's wound. With a sizzling sound like jelly melting, the wound began healing rapidly.
As I watched blankly, a fundamental question suddenly occurred to me.
"Y-Yuna... but... is it okay to just... s-sell this stuff...?"
"Huh?"
"...Like some kind of... p-permit or whatever...?"
"What permit?"
"...F-FDA...?"
"Ah."
Yuna nodded lightly as if finally understanding my question. She closed the laptop and turned toward me.
"They don't have the ability to analyze mana. Even if they took your potions, the best they could do is conclude they're unidentified protein solutions."
"...So, we can sell however we want... and n-no one says anything...?"
"Yeah. Anything involving gate materials falls under Hunter Association jurisdiction. But the Association doesn't have the bandwidth for that. Managing hunters and gates is already overwhelming for an organization not even two years old. Hell, even healers treat without licenses right now."
Yuna snorted at my concern, as if it wasn't even worth worrying about.
"Does it work? Is it worth using even with potential side effects? That's all that matters to hunters—certification marks be damned."
"......"
"That's why you're filming videos right now, isn't it?"
A black sedan glided through the city streets.
A-rank healer Im Cheol-woo stared boredly out the window from his leather seat. The neon-streaked night view failed to stir any emotion in him.
"Healer-nim. Merging with Pacheon Guild in 10 minutes. Main tank pierced through the spine during A-rank gate raid. Their offered fee is 1 billion won."
"That the last one today?"
"Yes."
Not a bad way to end the day. Simple job, fair pay.
Im Cheol-woo was smiling in satisfaction when—
Beep.
A short alert chimed from his secretary's tablet. His face paled instantly upon checking the screen.
"S-Sir... Healer-nim..."
"What?"
"Contact from Pacheon Guild... just now."
The secretary stammered, sweating profusely.
"Due to unavoidable internal circumstances... they're canceling the request. Penalty fee per regulations..."
"...What?"
Im Cheol-woo's brow twitched faintly.
Internal circumstances with a tank whose spine was shattered? Call him over just to send him back with pocket change penalty?
The absurdity didn't compute. Irritation welled up.
"Find out what those 'internal circumstances' are. Right now."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
As the secretary frantically made calls, Im Cheol-woo expressionlessly picked up his own smartphone.
A nagging unease. He first checked the private chat among healers. Maybe an S-rank healer higher up than him had intervened.
His scrolling eyes halted on one conversation.
Absolute chaos right now because of potions made by this Rabbitfoot guy
Drink it and injuries heal
Isn't that straight-up cheating? How can it work that well
Your guild sold some too, apparently guilds are eyeing it guild-wide. Pacheon got one too
'...Pacheon?'
Im Cheol-woo's finger paused.
His request. Pacheon Guild. Mysterious potion.
In that instant, every puzzle piece in his head clicked together.
"Turn the car around."
His voice was ice-cold.
"Right now."