Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Alchemist
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On the workbench sat the materials Yuna had gathered, neatly arranged.
Frost Herbs shimmering with a blue glow, Iron Skin Seeds with metallic surfaces, and...
- Splurt
The slime mucus, freshly spat out in real time.
"Hoo."
I took a light breath and stared at the glass vial in front of me.
The goal of this alchemy session: a sample infused with the Ash Moss Wolf's curse.
"Ugh."
A chilling aura seeped through the vial. I examined the flow of mana within it closely, and it didn't differ much from typical mana poison.
'No wonder everyone thinks it's just poison.'
The Korean Healers' Union's trap. A regeneration-interference curse.
No recipe. In the end, I had to find the answer myself.
"Alright."
I settled in front of the workbench and mentally reviewed the plan I'd scribbled on the paper.
'First... the target's for the drug...'
I needed to expose the curse's mana wavelength first. With the Alchemy Gallery open beside me, I searched for needed info as I slowly moved my hands.
I poured the slime mucus into a beaker and placed it on the hot plate.
Temperature... not too hot?
Soon enough, the surface of the mucus began to ripple lightly.
Ssssh—
Now. Right on cue, I carefully dropped one drop of the curse sample from a pipette onto the mucus surface.
"......"
Then I brought my finger gently to the beaker.
The subtle shift in temperature at my fingertip.
'Now.'
I raised my finger in the air and drew a simple pattern.
A grayish haze began to rise in a circle from where the sample had landed on the mucus.
"...Got it."
It was the curse's mana wavelength.
Now, time to construct the exact opposite pattern to suppress it with force.
The gray energy was hot. The potion I made had to instantly unleash freezing cold the moment it detected that wavelength.
I gripped a Frost Herb tightly toward the haze in the beaker.
One drop, two drops...
The moment exactly five icy drops fell, I quickly pulled my hand back. Any more would be too much.
Tap tap tap.
I rapped the outer wall of the beaker three times with my fingertip and murmured lowly.
"...Settle down."
Pop!
The gray haze shrank back violently, as if suppressed by the blue chill.
'Next... the bullet.'
Simply suppressing the power wasn't enough. I needed something like a bullet to shatter the curse's very structure.
I tossed three Iron Skin Seeds into the center of the beaker.
"...Shatter and sever."
I drew the wedge pattern twice over, and a sharp crack! rang out from inside the beaker.
The seed shells shattered into thousands of tiny grains.
Almost there.
Now I just had to imprint the constructed mana pattern onto the bullet.
"Hoo..."
I caught my breath and turned off the hot plate.
In the instant the temperature plummeted, I fully felt the flow of change and gripped the Moonlight Stone rod.
I gave a subtle twist to my wrist holding the rod, drawing a very small circle.
'Counterclockwise... seven times... clockwise once...?'
As I moved, discordant mana began mixing and clashing inside the beaker.
Amid the violent reaction, I whispered quietly.
"...Overlap and interlock."
At the same time, I dropped exactly one drop of prepared saltwater.
Sizzle—!
The gray energy drawing circles coiled inward and extinguished.
A sharp metallic scent hit my nose.
"...Done."
Tiny clumps had gathered on the liquid surface. I pressed the rod firmly to sink them below.
Finally, I lightly sprinkled saltwater over the surface, sealing it like a membrane.
Click.
With the sound of the beaker lid closing, the long process ended.
The cloudy liquid soon turned into a pale jade-green fluid, as if it had never been otherwise.
"Ha..."
My whole body felt drained.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed right there, but my eyes stayed glued to the small glass vial before me.
I smiled faintly at the completed potion.
"It worked."
A solution brewed without a recipe, purely by my own method.
The afternoon of the verification broadcast.
I crammed myself into the back seat of the car Yuna was driving, staring blankly at the scenery flashing by outside the window.
As the broadcast station drew nearer, crowds lining the streets grew noticeably thicker.
'I wanna go home.'
Honestly, I hadn't wanted to come. But Yuna didn't know much about alchemy.
In a live broadcast where who-knows-what variables might pop up, it was only natural for me to tag along.
Screech—
The car stopped in a quiet corner of the station's parking lot.
Yuna's gaze fixed on the entrance beyond the lot. It was already swarming with reporters and onlookers.
"...This isn't gonna work."
"Y-Yeah..."
The original plan was to head to the waiting room together. But breaking through that crowd looked impossible.
"Getting in's out of the question. You might just end up on everyone's front page for no reason. What do you wanna do?"
"...I-I'll just stay here."
I pulled my hood lower and took out two small glass vials from my pocket.
One was the pale jade-green curse-dissolving potion, the other a red recovery potion base.
"Th-This one first... then the red one next..."
"Got it. Dissolve the curse, then recover right away. I remember the order."
She nodded, taking the vials like it was routine. With shaking hands, I handed over the micro in-ear piece and camera last.
"P-Put this in... and just do exactly what I s-say... just in case..."
"Okay. Now it's solid."
Yuna grinned, slipping the in-ear naturally behind her ear. Her relaxed attitude eased my tension a bit too.
"Alright, I'll be off. Watch close."
Leaving me in the car, she strode toward the station without hesitation.
With trembling hands, I powered on the tablet PC and connected the small camera.
Soon, Yuna's field of view appeared vividly on the screen.
The studio stage bathed in dazzling lights.
Countless cameras and audience gazes focused on Choi Yuna standing center stage.
And opposite her sat Im Cheol-woo, the Korean Healers' Union rep, with an arrogant, leisurely expression.
He grabbed the mic first and spoke.
"As per Choi Yuna's request, we've brought a patient even an A-rank healer would struggle to heal instantly."
At Im Cheol-woo's gesture, a patient on a medical bed was wheeled onto the stage.
The patient's condition was horrific. Their body was savagely torn, wounds discolored gray with necrosis setting in. Low gasps erupted around the studio.
Im Cheol-woo savored the reaction, continuing with a satisfied smile.
"This hunter was ambushed by a pack of Ash Moss Wolves in a C-rank gate. As you can see, not only is their body torn, but the monsters' mana poison coats the wounds, eating away at them."
His voice dripped with arrogant certainty of his opponent's failure.
"Of course, even if this verification fails by some fluke, the Korean Healers' Union promises to heal the patient immediately. We got their consent on that condition alone. So everyone, relax and watch the end of this reckless challenge."
Utter confidence that the board was stacked entirely in their favor.
As Im Cheol-woo's words ended, all eyes turned to Choi Yuna. Eyes eager to see her despairing face or lame excuses.
But Choi Yuna didn't twitch.
Into her ear came a low, calm voice through the tiny in-ear piece.
- Start.
At that signal, Choi Yuna grabbed the mic.
Before Im Cheol-woo's smug smile could fade, her voice rang clearly through the entire studio.
"You skipped something important in your explanation."
Confusion flashed across Im Cheol-woo's face.
"...Pardon?"
Choi Yuna smiled coldly at him.
"Mana poison, you said? Why not call it exactly what it is?"
Her voice sharpened like ice.
"This isn't just poison. It's a curse."
In an instant, every sound in the studio stopped dead, like a lie.
"What nonsense... A curse from lowly beasts like that? Absurd."
Im Cheol-woo brushed it off casually, but Choi Yuna ignored him lightly.
She pulled out the pale jade-green potion. Under the bright lights, the liquid inside gleamed mysteriously.
She held it up to the camera, declaring boldly for all to hear.
"But it doesn't matter."
A confident voice, unlike her usual self, flowed through her in-ear.
- A potion to lift a curse this minor is,
"A potion to lift a curse this minor is,"
- a piece of cake to make.
"a piece of cake to make."
The silent studio flipped completely at those words.