A Remedy Beyond Common Sense
My first theory class ended in absolute triumph.
Calling it a theory class was a bit of a stretch, really — better to just call it a lesson the likes of which the world had never seen.
You have imparted knowledge that never existed in this world!
As a reward, 10,000P and 10,000G have been granted.
"Ooh."
Less than I'd expected, but still. Not a bad haul.
I was about to leave the classroom when the cadets latched onto me like limpets.
"Instructor, what's the next class?!"
"Can't we just skip break and go straight into the next lesson?"
"Please! We'll do anything you tell us!"
"Do theory instead of practicals, Instructor!"
Every last one of them was begging for another class — and I mean every last one. Even Na Eun-sol, who'd spent the whole time radiating aloof disdain, was in on it.
"I also want the next class to be…"
Must've been a pretty useful hour, then.
"Worry not. The next class is theory as well."
"Ooh! Hell yeah!"
"We love you, Instructor!"
"Listen to the end of a Korean sentence. Theory it may be, but…"
I let the silence hang for a beat, then finished.
"It is not mine. It is Professor Baek Seung-tae's. Have you already forgotten today's schedule?"
The room went dead quiet.
Then the cadets erupted like they were staging a coup.
"N-No!"
"Don't go!"
Cadets or not, they were superhumans. The moment those enhanced muscles clamped down on me, a spike of searing pain shot through my body.
"Hey, hey. Let go. Who do you think you're grabbing?"
"If you leave, what about the kids who didn't get to drink the elixir?"
"Exactly! For the sake of the other cadets, you have to prepare the next class right now!"
They were talking like this was somehow my fault. They'd volunteered to leave on their own — nobody had shoved them out the door.
"First, let go of me so we can talk."
"No! You're not leaving!"
"Getting our hopes up and then running off like this is so unfair…"
I really didn't want to go this far.
I let out a long sigh and rummaged through my coat. A moment later, two more elixirs — identical to the ones from earlier — sat in my hand.
"Take them. Deliver these to the ones who missed the lesson. That will be all."
Every eye locked onto the elixirs. I seized the opening and barely managed to bolt from the classroom.
I kneaded the places they'd grabbed.
"Haa…"
Nothing broken, thankfully.
A pang of regret snagged in my chest.
"My elixirs…"
I'd been planning to put those leftovers to good use myself. A shame.
Still, I could always make more.
I gave them two bottles. Cha Hyun-woo should at least get a taste.
Not a bad call.
Ah — this wasn't the time to be fretting over that.
There was something far more worrying right now.
The mana elixirs.
By tomorrow, word would have spread through the entire school. After that, the whole country — maybe even the world — could feel the shockwave.
It was a golden chance to seize the public eye, but the risks that came with it were just as enormous.
Time to lean on my backer a little.
The profits from developing a mana elixir would be staggering. To swallow those gains without any trouble, I needed his help.
"A master and disciple can lean on each other from time to time, I suppose."
I'd leave the cleanup to Ma Seong-yong and pocket the benefits from the shadows. Call me selfish if you want. My own survival came first.
With a faint twinge of conscience, I headed for the faculty materials room to return the tools I'd used in class.
When I arrived, a familiar back of a head caught my eye.
"Huh?"
A woman with deep red hair tied in a ponytail. Even from behind, I had a pretty good idea who it was.
What's Son Ga-yeong doing here?
Idle curiosity pulled me closer on its own.
She was mid-conversation with a man I vaguely recognized.
"I'm sorry for always putting you through this trouble, Professor Baek."
"Oh, please. Don't give it a second thought. Just focus on treating your sister."
So that man really was a professor.
Given the surname Baek, he had to be Professor Baek Seung-tae — the one scheduled to teach Class A next.
"I'll be going, then. I'll be imposing on you again next time."
Son Ga-yeong bowed her head and ended the conversation. Then, as if she'd sensed my presence, she turned straight toward me.
"Instructor Cheon?"
"Ah — yes."
"What brings you here?"
"I came to put these away."
I lifted the experimental tools in my hands a little.
"Oh, so you ran a theory class? That's unexpected."
"I did. But Instructor Son — what's that black envelope you're holding?"
Asking so bluntly was rude, no question. I just wasn't in a position to care about manners.
Tch, what was it again…?
Looking at that black envelope stirred a half-formed memory that scrambled my thoughts. Son Ga-yeong had some kind of situation, and whatever was inside that envelope was connected to it.
"This?"
She didn't seem the least bit suspicious.
"I guess you'd call it a treatment… or an antidote? Something like that."
It came back to me.
Son Ga-yeong's little sister, Son Da-eun, was in critical condition. Among the already rare superhumans, there was an even rarer affliction — a condition that struck only the most unusual cases.
Mana Overload Disease: caused when a superhuman's body fails to fully absorb the excess mana within it. Calling it a disease felt almost inadequate, but the result was the same — it robbed a person of one of their sensory organs.
Son Da-eun had it. Son Ga-yeong was doing everything she could to cure her, and it was all for nothing. In the end, Da-eun would lose her sight, and Ga-yeong would fall into despair.
Hmm… should I step in?
Of course I knew how to cure it. But if I jumped in carelessly and punched a hole in the original plot… just imagining it was enough to make me shudder. And yet I couldn't just walk past and pretend I hadn't seen anything.
I spoke to Son Ga-yeong with the air of a man who'd made up his mind.
"Mana Overload Disease, is it."
"Pardon?"
"Is your sister in serious condition?"
"H-How did you…?"
She recoiled as if I'd struck a nerve, then — for reasons I couldn't quite place — seemed to form some kind of assumption about me and gave a small nod.
"Ah, well… it is Instructor Cheon, after all."
She'd decided to just accept it. I pressed on.
"Allow me to share one fact with you. Those medicines are of no help whatsoever."
"R-Really?"
I'd said it with zero evidence, and yet she was taking my word as absolute truth. That attitude took a weight off my shoulders.
"Yes. I know a great deal about elixirs. On this matter, I am certain."
"Ah…"
As if the world itself had split in two, despair settled over Son Ga-yeong's face. Then she pinned her hopes on me.
"Isn't there any way? At this rate, our Da-eun will…"
"It is not entirely without a method. I can prepare a treatment—"
"Just a moment, Instructor Son."
Professor Baek Seung-tae cut in without warning. His eyes were thick with suspicion.
"Instructor Cheon Hae-beom. I say this out of an abundance of caution — do you understand what Mana Overload Disease actually is?"
Not precisely. But I know the cure.
"The cause of this condition has been identified, but a fundamental treatment still does not exist. It is an incurable disease. We have no way of knowing what side effects your methods might produce — I cannot simply stand by and allow it."
"Ah, right… when you put it that way…"
"Hmm…"
How do I even argue this?
Without the knowledge to back me up, I had nothing to say. So I simply wandered the materials room in silence, gathering the ingredients I needed for the treatment.
Evening Primrose, a branch from an Apollia Forest tree, and…
I collected everything and set to work.
"What exactly are you doing right now? I just told you — Evening Primrose is a poisonous herb. Are you trying to kill someone?"
"A poisonous herb can, on occasion, serve as medicine. A branch that has absorbed the vital essence of the Apollia Forest can transform that poison into a remedy."
"What kind of nonsense is that? I have never heard such a thing in my life."
"I am the first to do it. Of course you haven't."
"…Good grief. How reckless. What was that man thinking, hiring…"
I tuned out Professor Baek Seung-tae's muttering and threw myself into brewing the cure.
First, the branch.
I dropped the Apollia Forest tree branch into boiling purified water. The vital essence sealed within the wood would dissolve into the water; after that, I'd add the Evening Primrose and boil it again. Done.
Before long, the water came to a full boil. Just as planned, I added the Evening Primrose and crushed it with a small mortar.
— Thud. Thud.
With every crushing sound, Professor Baek Seung-tae's face curdled further. Son Ga-yeong simply stood there with her mouth hanging open, as if witnessing something she'd never seen before.
"Hah… one more minute of boiling should do it."
"What on earth are you making? My common sense cannot even begin to picture it."
"Then your common sense is simply lacking."
"Wh-What did you just say?"
While we talked, the time ran out. I poured the finished remedy into several flasks and held them out to Son Ga-yeong.
"Take these. Have her drink one bottle a day for a full week."
"Uh… uh…"
"If her symptoms appear to improve, gradually reduce the dosage. Overconsumption could invite other side effects."
"But Evening Primrose is a poisonous herb…"
So she doesn't trust me either.
Just as I had before, I popped the stopper and downed one in a single shot.
"Have you lost your mind?! You'll die!"
"Hah—!"
"Instructor Son, hurry and—"
"Do not overreact. I am not dying."
I opened my mouth wide to prove I'd swallowed it. The two of them stared at me as if they'd just encountered an alien.
"That settles the question of whether it is harmless to the human body. Now we need only confirm that it also works as a treatment."
"…What on earth is this…"