The Power Elixir Commission
She kept fidgeting, stealing glances at me as if she couldn’t make up her mind.
“Is something wrong?”
“...Um, well...”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“It is impossible for me to accept a custom order for an elixir that enhances the demonic energy of Demonic Humans.”
“Pardon?”
“If I were caught making something like that, I would rot in prison for the rest of my life. So I cannot make that for you! I’m truly sorry.”
“...?”
“However, if you would entrust me with any other request, I will pour my heart and soul into creating it. So please, if you could commission something else, I would be most grateful!”
It seemed she had completely misunderstood. She thought I was the kind of person who would ask for illegal elixirs. Well, I couldn’t exactly blame her for jumping to that conclusion.
Not a single bottle of her elixirs had ever sold. That meant no one knew how effective her potions actually were. Yet here I was, suddenly handing an unverified elixir maker thirty million won to craft something for me. It was only natural she would assume I was after something illegal.
“No, it’s not illegal.”
“R-really?”
She stared at me with wide, rabbit-like eyes.
“Really. Why don’t you take a look at the elixir recipe I’m about to show you? Or do I really look that untrustworthy?”
I scratched my cheek as I spoke.
“Ah! I’ve been terribly rude. I’m sorry.”
She bowed her head deeply.
I knew of one elixir that only she could create. It was the Power Elixir.
Back when I was deep into the game, I had asked every famous elixir maker rumored to be exceptional, but they had all failed. This particular elixir could only be made by her.
Simply drinking it would temporarily skyrocket all of your stats. For me right now, it would provide a stat increase of about six. My current physical stats were all set at one. In other words, drinking this potion would raise each stat from one to seven.
Moreover, the stats boosted by the elixir would gradually decrease over time, unlike your base stats—six to five, five to four, four to three, three to two, two to one, then zero. Once it hit zero, you’d be left with only your original stat of one.
When you considered that the elixirs made by the elixir makers in District 5 only raised all stats by two or three at most, this was an incredible boost.
Originally, this elixir would be discovered three years from now inside a labyrinth dungeon. After that, countless elixir makers would attempt to recreate it, only to fail. She alone would succeed. From then on, the waiting list to commission an elixir from her would grow so long that you’d have to wait at least a year.
“The potion recipe is simple. You need the root of a World Tree, the heart of a goblin, and the tears of an elf...”
I recited the ingredients I remembered from the game.
“Then you boil the World Tree root and add a single drop of elf tears...”
At first, she looked skeptical that an ordinary person who knew nothing about elixirs could possibly know a recipe. But gradually, her expression grew stiff.
“...H-how do you know this recipe?”
Her face was one of pure astonishment.
“Excuse me?”
“This is a truly revolutionary potion crafting method that hasn’t even been reported to the academic society yet… It’s on the level of Galileo proposing heliocentrism. It could completely change the entire paradigm of the elixir world...”
“Really? Is it that amazing?”
I played dumb.
“Of course it is. According to this combination, drinking this elixir would dramatically maximize a person’s physical abilities. This is a genuine revolution. And the reason it’s revolutionary is...”
She began chattering away at me, clearly fascinated by her new discovery. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand a single word she was saying.
“Do you see now? This is just that incredible. It’s truly a revolution! A revolution!”
She looked overjoyed, as if she had completely forgotten about her own difficult circumstances.
“Yeah… it really is amazing.”
I gave her an appropriate amount of encouragement.
By the time her rambling finally wound down, she was the one who spoke first.
“However… the problem with this elixir is that it can only be produced in extremely small quantities. At most, I could make ten per month.”
That was right. The biggest drawback of the Power Elixir was its tiny production volume.
“Yes, that’s correct. How long would I have to wait to receive just one bottle?”
“I’ll need to conduct quite a bit of research first, so about five days should be enough!”
“Oh, and please announce to the academic society that you researched and created this elixir yourself.”
“...What!? Excuse me?”
She stammered. It made sense. After all, I was the one who had given her the recipe, yet I was telling her to present it as her own work at the academic conference. Of course she would be flustered.
But it had to be her who made the announcement. If she presented this elixir to the academic world, she would instantly gain tremendous prestige. Orders would come flooding in, and she would find herself sitting on a mountain of money.
“I can’t make elixirs myself anyway. It would be better if an elixir maker like you made good use of it.”
“...Even so, that’s...”
Of course, I wasn’t giving it away for free. No matter how many customers she had lining up, I would make it a condition that she prioritize the elixirs I commissioned.
Cha Jiyun — Are you finished talking?
Reply — Yes. I’m done.
The moment I sent the text, the cafe door opened with a cheerful chime.
“Over here.”
I waved in her direction.
Cha Jiyun sat down across from me and took a sip of her coffee.
At that exact moment—
Bang—
A loud commotion erupted from the cafe entrance.
****
Cha Jiyun and I both turned to look.
It was the guy who had smashed the elixir maker’s potion earlier. He looked at Cha Jiyun and grinned wickedly.
“Dad, it’s that bitch. Her.”
He strode toward Cha Jiyun with his father in tow, full of arrogance. Soon, father and son stood right in front of her.
“You dared to insult my son?”
“Dad, she called me vulgar.”
“You insulted my son? Do you even know who we are?”
The overweight man spoke to Cha Jiyun.
“....I’m not interested.”
“Just by looking at you, I can tell you’re some pathetic corporate heir who only hangs around the first tier. Know your place.”
The son pulled out a membership card from his pocket. It was stamped with permission to enter up to District 3.
“A company that only gets a membership card good enough to wander around District 1 must be nothing special. Do you know who we are? We’re the ‘Gihan’ Semiconductor that’s been making waves in the semiconductor industry lately. That’s my father’s company.”
At those words, the father puffed out his chest.
She let out a small laugh.
“.....”
The Samhwa Group was competing for first place in the domestic semiconductor market. If they were truly that famous, the name should have reached her ears as a company to watch. But she had never once heard of ‘Gihan’ Semiconductor.
“Did you just laugh? Tell me the name of the company your father runs. We’ll crush it completely.”
The son wore a triumphant expression.
“...Are you sure you’ll be able to handle the consequences of saying such things later?”
“Yeah. Anyone who only has a District 1 access pass must be from some pathetic small business. Hurry up and spill it. Where are you from?”
She spoke in an extremely cold voice.
“....If I tell you, will you really be able to handle it?”
“Puhahaha— Dad, look at her. She’s actually hilarious.”
“........”
“Miss, it seems you don’t realize how serious this situation is. If I make up my mind, I can destroy a company like yours in an instant. Do you understand?”
The son shrugged as he looked at his father.
“If you apologize properly, I’ll let it go. Get on your knees.”
Cha Jiyun let out a sigh. Just talking to these flies was exhausting.
Without a word, she took out her access pass. As the son and father looked at it, their faces gradually hardened.
“...W-what? Access up to the fifth tier? This isn’t fake, is it?”
The son began backing away. Then he looked at the company name written on the pass.
“...What!? What? It says Samhwa Group?”
Not only the son’s face, but the father’s as well, stiffened in an instant. The person wandering around the first tier just happened to be the daughter of the Samhwa Group? This was nothing short of a disaster.
“I simply scolded your son because he was acting rudely in front of the elixir maker. Shall we take this all the way?”
The father’s face went blank with despair. There was no way they could win. No matter how much fame Gihan Semiconductor had gained recently, compared to the Samhwa Group—which ranked in the top ten of the business world—they were nothing more than a grain of sand. They would be thoroughly crushed.
“If you ever come to harass this elixir maker again, I will not stand by and watch. This elixir maker is one of our group’s people, after all.”
“We’re truly sorry!”
Leaving those words behind, the father and son fled in a hurry.
The elixir maker bowed deeply to Cha Jiyun.
“Thank you so much. Thanks to you, I was able to get through that safely.”
“...It’s nothing. I was simply displeased watching it happen.”
“But at the end, you said I was one of the Samhwa Group’s people. Why would you go that far?”
“....As for that.”
Cha Jiyun glanced at me. She hadn’t originally planned to say that much. But I must have looked like this elixir maker was quite important to me. That was probably why the words had slipped out before she could stop herself.
“...It’s because I’ve received some help from that person.”
Cha Jiyun pointed at me as she spoke.
“Ah...”
The elixir maker looked at me.
“....Then it seems the thanks should be directed toward him instead.”
The elixir maker walked over to me.
Cha Jiyun narrowed her eyes as she stared at me. She couldn’t understand it at all. Why had I chosen this elixir maker from the first tier over one from the fifth tier? Hmm...? No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out. He really was a very peculiar person.