Lee Sol
Lee Sol
It was too late to be called morning, yet far too early to be called noon.
Trying to pick a time that would be as least rude as possible resulted in heading out at this hour.
Doyoon had put some effort into dressing up in a neat casual suit, heading to the apartment complex Lee Sol had specified.
Even from afar, the apartment building towered high into the sky, making it obvious at a glance that it was a residence for the high society.
As he carefully tried to pass through the front gate of the apartment complex, a security guard blocked his path.
"Excuse me. What business brings you here today?"
His tone was polite, but his gaze was sharp.
"I came here at Lee Sol-ssi's invitation. If you tell her 'Zero-Calorie', she'll know."
"Please wait a moment."
The guard pulled a walkie-talkie out from his vest pocket and started calling someone.
Doyoon relaxed his tense nerves.
Since Lee Sol had invited him, she must have contacted the security office in advance.
"I'm sorry, but they say there is no visitor scheduled under that name today."
'Hmm?'
"What? Um, that can't be."
She told him to come after a week, yet she didn't even mention it to the security office?
"S-Surely there's been some misunderstanding. Did she not say an alchemist might come visit?"
"No. Lee Sol-ssi hasn't even contacted the security office recently."
'Wait, she was the one who summoned me.'
Doyoon felt utterly flabbergasted.
The suspicious guard whispered something into his walkie-talkie again.
As Doyoon was breaking out in a cold sweat, contemplating what to do, the guard spoke up.
"Hm? Ah, is that so? Understood. Excuse me, guest. I just got in touch with Lee Sol-ssi, and she says she does have a visitor."
Doyoon let out a sigh of relief.
"Is that so? Thank goodness."
"You may head inside, then."
The guard offered a salute and waited until Doyoon passed by.
He had barely made it inside, but he couldn't help thinking that he had almost made a wasted trip just now.
It was well-known that Lee Sol was eccentric, but to think she wouldn't even give advance notice about a visitor coming to an apartment with such heavy security!
Doyoon sighed as he located the building Lee Sol lived in and entered the main entrance hall.
The thought occurred to him, What if the passcode is wrong too?, but fortunately, the passcode was correct.
He rode the elevator up and stood in front of the unit number he had been given.
He took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.
"Is anyone home?"
However, there was no answer from inside.
He pressed the doorbell again and called out, "Hello?", but there was still no answer.
'Why isn't there any answer?'
Didn't the security guard just contact her?
Then, he suddenly remembered the fact that Lee Sol had given him the entrance passcode.
'Did she give me the passcode knowing it would end up like this?'
Doyoon nervously typed the passcode into the digital door lock.
The door opened smoothly.
Swallowing hard, Doyoon stepped inside, only to knit his brows at the scene before him.
Contrary to the clean white walls and luxurious hardwood floors, clothes were strewn about everywhere.
On the living room coffee table lay empty beverage cans and used pizza boxes.
'Oops.'
Doyoon hastily averted his eyes.
As he entered the living room, he caught sight of underwear scattered on the sofa, causing his face to burn with embarrassment.
'I heard Lee Sol finds everything annoying and bothersome, but...'
To think it was to this extent.
The image of Lee Sol giving interviews with a languid expression crossed his mind once again.
Hesitating and pondering whether he should just sit on the floor somewhere, Doyoon suddenly realized he could hear the sound of someone breathing from somewhere nearby.
It sounded like it was coming from the inner room.
Cautiously approaching and peeking inside through the open door, he saw a woman sleeping while hugging a pillow.
With long black hair falling down her back and a fair-skinned face, she looked identical to Lee Sol's face that he had seen on YouTube.
No, she was far more beautiful in person.
It felt almost like looking at a doll.
In stark contrast to her oversized long shirt, her short dolphin shorts accentuated her thighs, forcing Doyoon to consciously avert his eyes.
'Wait, what time is it now, and she's still sleeping?'
It was far past the hour a normal person would wake up, rapidly approaching noon.
Wait, didn't the guard say he just contacted Lee Sol a moment ago?
Did she briefly wake up back then and fall right back asleep?
Flustered, Doyoon gave a slight clearing of his throat with a "Heum-heum" to wake Lee Sol up.
But Lee Sol still didn't wake up.
He tried calling out, "Excuse me," but the only response was the sound of Lee Sol breathing rhythmically.
In the end, he shouted out loudly, "Lee Sol-ssi!", but it was in vain.
'How can someone be such a heavy sleeper?'
He had heard she slept a lot, but to think it was this bad.
Eventually, Doyoon entered the room and gently shook Lee Sol's shoulder.
"Lee Sol-ssi? Lee Sol-ssi? Please wake up."
She still didn't wake up, so when he shook her a bit harder, Lee Sol finally opened her eyes.
As she looked up at Doyoon with drowsy eyes, Doyoon grew tense.
He reasoned that anyone would panic if a total male stranger was standing before them when they opened their eyes.
And after staring at Doyoon for a long while, Lee Sol closed her eyes again.
He wondered if she was contemplating something, but seeing her resume her rhythmic breathing, Doyoon realized that the woman before his eyes had fallen back asleep.
'What kind of woman is this?'
Completely flabbergasted, Doyoon gave her shoulder another firm shake.
Only then did Lee Sol rub her eyes and sit up.
Staring blankly at Doyoon through her messy hair, Lee Sol opened her mouth.
"Water."
Unbelievable.
Astonished as he was, Doyoon obediently fetched a glass of water from the kitchen and brought it to Lee Sol.
Even so, his counterpart was a Ranker.
He had to leave as good an impression as possible.
Drinking the water and staring blankly at Doyoon once more, Lee Sol suddenly spoke up.
"By the way, who are you?"
"You're only asking that now?"
In front of the dumbfounded Doyoon, Lee Sol let out an "Ah," her expression indicating she remembered something.
"Are you the Zero-Calorie Alchemist?"
"Yes. That's right. Didn't you tell me to meet you a week ago?"
Lee Sol nodded.
"Sit over there."
Lee Sol pointed at the vanity table in a corner of the room.
Doyoon pulled out the chair and sat in front of the bed.
"You said you needed mana potions?"
"That's right."
"Excuse me, but aren't you a magician who uses powerful magic that consumes massive amounts of mana, Lee Sol-ssi? Don't you have plenty of mana?"
Lee Sol casually cast spells that others struggled to use even once.
Which meant her mana pool was on a whole another level in the first place.
However, Lee Sol shook her head.
"It's because I use powerful magic that I need more mana potions. Since it consumes that much more mana."
Doyoon nodded.
Since she used spells as powerful as her extraordinary mana capacity, it was understandable that even with a large pool, her mana drained quickly.
Yet, for that very reason, there was something that didn't make sense.
"But with magic like that, Low-Grade Mana Potions wouldn't be enough to sustain it."
An ordinary person would consume almost all their Capacity just by drinking a single Low-Grade Mana Potion.
As a Ranker, Lee Sol's Capacity would be far superior to other Awakened, so she might be able to drink two.
"Rather than drinking two Low-Grade Mana Potions, it would be better to drink one Medium-Grade Mana Potion."
It would consume more Capacity than a single Low-Grade Mana Potion, but the effect of one Medium-Grade Mana Potion was better than two Low-Grade ones.
However, Lee Sol shook her head.
"Even Medium-Grade Mana Potions aren't enough to handle the mana consumption of the magic I use."
"Medium-Grade too?"
If even Medium-Grade Mana Potions—which average Awakened struggled to drink even one of—were not enough, just how insanely powerful was the magic she was slinging around?
He couldn't help but click his tongue in awe internally.
"More importantly, I'd like you to show me first."
After saying that, Lee Sol quietly closed her eyes.
Doyoon adjusted his posture.
What was she asking him to show that she was taking her sweet time building suspense?
A moment passed.
Amidst the tense atmosphere, Lee Sol was once again letting out rhythmic breathing sounds.
"Uh, excuse me? Lee Sol-ssi?"
She was literally just sleeping again?!
Feeling completely dumbfounded, he woke Lee Sol up again.
Lee Sol opened her eyes, looked blankly at Doyoon, and spoke once more.
"Show me first. You crafting a potion."
Doyoon nodded.
Revealing that he was the Zero-Calorie Alchemist was one thing, but whether he could truly craft potions that consumed zero Capacity was a separate matter.
Rumors had circulated on the Awakened Gallery about buying potions that consumed zero Capacity, but since she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, it was only natural to verify first.
Doyoon focused his mind.
[Crafting 1 Zero-Calorie Low-Grade Mana Potion.]
A glass bottle filled with blue potion materialized before his eyes.
As he built up proficiency by crafting Low-Grade Recovery Potions over the past week, the recipe for Low-Grade Mana Potions had unlocked.
This was his first time crafting a Low-Grade Mana Potion.
"Here it is."
Doyoon handed the potion over to Lee Sol.
Taking the potion with sluggish movements, Lee Sol's eyes widened.
And understandably so.
[Zero-Calorie Low-Grade Mana Potion]
Restores a small amount of mana.
Capacity Consumption: 0
Because up until now, she had never seen a potion that consumed zero Capacity.