Alchemy

Ascenders in black suits stepped out of the limousine one after another.

The Seolhwa Clan badges pinned to their chests lent their presence an air of quiet majesty.

"H-hey, why aren't you getting out of the way? What are you doing?"

As they approached us, Kim Hak-seon thrust a trembling hand toward me, his face drained of color.

Just before that hand could touch me—

"We have come to escort Ascender Kim Hajun, sir."

The members of the Seolhwa Clan bowed their heads toward me in unison.

"Uh, wha……?"

At the sight, Kim Hak-seon's jaw dropped so far it looked like it might tear.

Yikes, a fly's about to fly into that mouth.

I flashed a smirk at the man standing there with his mouth agape.

"Forget the business card. If you've got nothing more to say, I'll be going? I'm a bit busy."

"Oh? R-right. Didn't re—realize you were busy. S-see you around."

Kim Hak-seon's reaction was an unfamiliar experience for me.

The eyes that had always carried that faint, condescending glint were completely transformed now.

Eyes cowed into submission.

A strange sense of superiority bubbled up from somewhere deep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inside me.

Ah. So this is why people want to become Ascenders—and why they keep climbing even higher.

It was the moment I understood a primal human instinct.

"Right this way, sir."

The Seolhwa Clan's limousine sped off with me inside.

The interior was so cozy and luxurious that I couldn't help but marvel.

There's not even a hint of vibration.

It was hard to tell whether my back was resting against a bed or a car seat.

So this is what the Ascenders of the upper world enjoy every day.

I felt like I'd sampled a fragment of another world.

What's more, the Seolhwa Clan's limousine sailed straight through the security checkpoint that began at District B without so much as a pause.

"We have arrived."

Where I stepped out was a dazzling skyscraper of a building.

Wow.

I recognized it at a glance.

Heriton The One, in District S.

To think the day would come when I'd set foot in a place I'd only ever seen on the internet.

This was one of the most luxurious buildings in all of South Korea.

"Welcome to Heriton The One."

As I entered, the building's staff bowed at the waist to greet me.

Seriously, the treatment was so extravagant I felt like I'd been made a noble.

Before becoming an Ascender, this was an experience I couldn't have even dreamed of.

Someday……

I swear I'll make the day come when I walk through places like this as casually as if it were my own home.

The place I was guided to was the very top floor of the building.

A restaurant with a sweeping view of the entire city below.

"Hajun! You made it!"

Han Gain was waiting by a window-side table.

"I did. Hello."

"We just saw each other, didn't we? And here we are again."

"That we did."

Seeing her welcome me so warmly seemed to melt my tension away.

This woman has a real talent for putting people at ease once you get to know her.

"I hope the trip wasn't too much trouble."

"Haha, trouble? Thanks to the car you sent, I got here in total comfort. It was so cozy I nearly fell asleep on the way."

"Pfft. It was that good, huh?"

"Yes. Ridiculously comfortable. I might actually have to buy one myself someday?"

That part was genuine. One ride, and I was hooked.

"If you'd like, we could give you one."

Excuse me?

It was hard to dismiss as a joke—not when I could see the sincerity in Han Gain's eyes.

"Haha. I'll take the offer at its word, thank you."

"Pii! I mean it. Just say the word if you ever need one."

"Right. I will. Haha."

Ah. I see what this is.

Is this their roundabout way of flirting me into their clan? A kind of recruitment charm offensive?

No wonder they're one of the Five Great Clans—their flirting technique is on another level.

I came to my own conclusion and nodded along. Once I framed her behavior as an extension of the recruitment pitch, everything she did suddenly made perfect sense.

"How would you like to order?"

From the menu Han Gain handed me, I picked whatever was listed at the very top.

Honestly, I had no clue what any of it was, and asking her to explain would have been embarrassing anyway.

But apparently that's what separates a high-end restaurant from the rest—the top course I'd chosen more or less at random turned out to be absolutely delicious.

An enjoyable meal passed by, and at the tea that followed, Han Gain brought out what I had asked for.

Except what she produced was nothing like what I'd been expecting.

"This is what you requested, Hajun."

A ring box, placed on the table.

What? Why is she pulling out a ring box?

I asked for alchemy ingredients, didn't I?

"Open it."

Han Gain said it with a bright, fresh smile.

As if in a trance, I opened the ring box.

'……!'

And immediately, my eyes went wide as saucers.

It couldn't be helped.

Inside the box sat a ring that, even at a glance, practically shouted, I am a high-grade artifact, peasant.

"What is this?"

"It's the reward I mentioned before. Take a closer look. I did my best to prepare it, though I'm not sure it'll be to your taste."

At her words, I lifted the ring from the box and examined it before my eyes. Information blossomed into view.

"……!"

Good lord!

A sub-space ring?

And you're giving this to me?

My hands instinctively assumed a far more respectful posture.

Even at the 1-Star rank, an artifact with an embedded sub-space was worth whatever the buyer would pay.

A 1-Star sub-space alone offered a space of roughly ten pyeong—or thirty-three square meters—to use as I pleased.

It hadn't earned its Legendary rank for nothing.

"The ring's sub-space is stocked full of the herbs and potions you asked for."

Sure enough, when I checked the sub-space ring, it was packed to the brim with the alchemy ingredients I'd requested, along with mana potions and health potions.

This is insane.

If I converted all this into money, how much would it even come to?

Enough, at the very least, to move me two whole tiers up from the District F slums I currently lived in.

"Though—this is such an expensive item that I'm honestly not sure I should be accepting it."

"Please, take it without a second thought. After all, my life isn't worth even this much."

As she said it, Han Gain flashed a smile of brilliant white teeth.

That smile, brimming with confidence, struck me as somehow truly beautiful.

The more I look at her, the more she seems like a catch.

If my girlfriend had been Han Gain instead of Yeon-hee, maybe things wouldn't have ended the way they did.

The thought flashed through my mind unbidden.

Yeesh. What am I even thinking.

But I quickly shook my head hard.

Never stare up at a tree you can't climb!

…Well, of course, that was unless I really did become a high-ranking Ascender someday.

And so, quite unexpectedly, I found myself on the receiving end of an enormous gift.

With a sub-space ring in hand, the single greatest benefit was this:

No more clanking around with potions dangling off my belt everywhere I go.

Back when I first bought potions and ran my early dungeons, strapping them all along a potion belt had been a colossal hassle.

It seemed like a small thing, but to the me of right now, it was the happiest news imaginable.

"If you ever need anything else, please don't hesitate to reach out anytime. I'll always be cheering you on!"

Wow. Would you look at that character. Kind as they come.

Thanks to her encouragement, I felt oddly energized.

Alright. That was a good free meal.

This afternoon, I'm heading straight up into the Sky Tower.

Novice Alchemy Workshop

The moment I entered the Sky Tower, I made straight for the alchemy workshop.

My goal was to attempt brewing the Novice Mana Circuit Improvement elixir using the ingredients Han Gain had given me.

"Until you reach a certain level of mastery, using the Tower's alchemy workshops will yield a far higher success rate."

The reason I'd climbed all the way into the Sky Tower to find a workshop was precisely to raise my odds of success.

"The fee for the novice workshop is one silver per hour."

Whoa. Why is it this expensive?

The workshop fee was steeper than I'd expected.

One silver came to nearly one hundred thousand won.

If a novice workshop charged a hundred thousand won an hour, then how much did the intermediate, advanced, and master workshops cost?

So this is where the outrageous potion prices come from.

I was, in that moment, discovering exactly where the inflation of potions—the flagship product of alchemy—began.

In any case, I paid three silver and booked three hours.

"You'll hardly succeed on your first attempt, so book your three hours in advance. Bear in mind you may ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not succeed today ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at all—and do not rush. Take it slowly."

At Ellaon's advice, I cleared my mind and made a light first attempt at alchemy.

Today, I'd just get a feel for how it was done. That was all.

"Two kelig leaves, half an inteneer fruit, one kangdrasil root… there."

Following the recipe for the Novice Mana Circuit Improvement Elixir, I measured out each ingredient and arranged them neatly across the workshop apparatus.

I drew up my mana and activated Sage's Alchemy.

Mana flowed out from my hands, beginning to resonate with the ingredients laid before me.

From this point on, the most critical phase of the work began.

I had to control my mana with zero deviation from the recipe.

Only then would the ingredients blend in perfect proportion and ratio, unleashing their full potency.

For the first try, let's just think of it as getting a feel for it.

Truly, in that moment, I used alchemy without the slightest expectation of success.

I'd been told failure was a given, so I had assumed it would be.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

But—

FLASH!

An extraordinary light began to burst forth.

"Huh?"

"N-no?? Is that—"

"……!"

"Th-this worked on the first try?"

Staring at each other, Ellaon and I both stood there utterly speechless.

Neither I, who had cast the alchemy, nor Ellaon—the Great Sage himself—had predicted this outcome.

"B-beginner's luck, that is what this is! You simply got fortunate!"

"Ah. Right? I thought something was off. No way it's actually this easy."

Alchemy was one of the most highly prized abilities in the entire world.

So few could wield it, and it was fiendishly difficult to learn.

The fact that I'd succeeded on my very first attempt meant luck had probably played a big part.

Still… I could have sworn controlling my mana felt easier than it should have when I used Sage's Alchemy.

As I tilted my head in thought, Ellaon spoke up, his voice faintly impatient.

"Once more. Try it once more."

At his words, I set about brewing the Novice Mana Circuit Improvement elixir again.

And once again, I felt it—that sense that my mana was responding to my control with effortless ease.

"Whoa."

"I-impossible!"

In that moment, I understood.

"I might… actually have a talent for alchemy?"

The fact that I was a born genius in the field of alchemy.

"Heh heh heh."

I left the alchemy workshop in the best of moods.

After that, I kept brewing until my mana ran completely dry, and in no time at all I had managed to produce ten Novice Mana Circuit Improvement Elixirs.

If I took one every three days, that was a full month's supply.

At the thought of how much my mana growth rate would improve once I finished the whole batch, a satisfied smile crept across my face all on its own.

"Hah. Well, well. All this time I believed the mana circuit you were born with was a heavenly punishment—but now I see that in recompense, you were granted sheer genius when it comes to mana control."

He was right.

The reason I could show such absurd results in alchemy from the very first attempt was, ironically, thanks to my withered mana circuit—because of it, I'd gained a talent for mana control so refined it was almost awe-inspiring.

"With this, your potential for growth becomes truly limitless! The moment you set foot on the second floor, you'll be ready to begin preparing the Sage's Tome for its next stage of ascension. And you'll be able to obtain the clue to the second divine artifact—the Sage's Robe—far sooner than I expected!"

Whoohoo.

A second divine artifact?

The Sage's Robe?!

My eyes sparkled at the mention of yet another sacred treasure.

Now that was good news worth hearing.

Alright. If that's the case—

I need to reach the second floor as soon as possible, right?

After all, when I'd quietly scoped out people's reactions to Unknown on my way here, there had been no end of arguing over when I might finally ascend to the second floor.

Among them, I'd even spotted one supporter claiming I could make it within a single month.

Of course, beneath that comment hung the usual swarm of trolls bleating that I should take my nonsense back to the doghouse.

I'll just have to show them it was no nonsense at all.

Wondering what kind of reaction that comment section would show once I stood on the second floor in a month—no, in less than a month—

I turned my steps toward the dungeon entrance.