Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Business (1)
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She looked up at me for a long time with an expression of utter disbelief, then slowly raised her upper body as if she no longer had the energy to resist.
"Huu..."
The sight of her sitting on the cold floor with her buttocks smeared in slick fluids was a far cry from the bitch who'd been screaming in ecstasy just moments before. Her eyes had settled into calm. Brushing back her wet hair, she spoke in a cynical tone.
"You seem to know about Yoo Seolhyeon's secret too. Heard it from Instructor Seraphina, right?"
"Well, you could say that."
"Huu... Fine, fine. Let's skip the part where she's a girl born into the Yoo family and all that."
She let out a short sigh, as if utterly fed up.
"So what has she been up to lately? Got summoned back to the family, obviously."
"To the family?"
My questioning voice carried an edge I hadn't noticed. Lee Soo-yeon picked up on the subtle shift and continued irritably.
"You pretending not to know? It's exactly what it sounds like. A few days ago, someone from the main house showed up and took her away. Far as I know, she just went home."
Drawing her legs together as she sat, she added,
"One of two things. Either the family got pissed at her antics and dragged her back by force... or she declared war first by refusing to follow their will."
Hmm...
My brows furrowed on their own. Either way, it smelled like trouble.
I fell into thought for a moment, and she looked up at me with eyes blending fatigue and resignation.
"No way... You're not seriously thinking of charging over to the Yoo family after hearing this, are you? Some insane idea like that?"
"Why not?"
She froze at my comeback, as if floored.
"Hah? You're actually saying that? You? Think you're hot shit just 'cause you've got a big cock and can strut around here? Let's be real—you're lower than a commoner. Paradise trash."
"You've heard plenty about me."
"Hmph! It just reaches my ears whether I like it or not!"
I smirked at her and chuckled.
"Doesn't matter. I've got my own ways."
"What? What ways?"
"No reason for you to be curious..."
"There is! I'm obsessed with rumors!"
"...Whatever."
It'd be announced academy-wide soon anyway. No loss in spilling it now.
"I've taken on an official project from the Maker Sect. If I show up for that, even the Yoo family will open the gates."
"Project... You're not telling me what kind."
"Nope."
"Even then... You need something they'd actually want. Showing up empty-handed babbling about a project won't cut it."
"Yeah, I've got it."
"Eh."
As I replied, I recalled the woman who was the previous matriarch of the Yoo family—Yoo Seolhyeon's mother, Yoo Yejeong.
It was prime material too good to use right away, but if they bolted the doors, no choice.
She started to say more but ended up just working her lips silently.
"Fine... It's your call, so I won't meddle."
Instead, she slowly slid her fingers into the valley of her voluptuous, perfect cleavage. A stiff sheet of paper emerged from between the plush mounds.
"I'll hook you up with an informant I know in Nocturne Town. Useful if you need dirt on the Yoo family."
─ Hermes’ Scale ─
'Every truth has its price.'
"Informant, Hermes..."
I scowled at the familiar named NPC from the game.
She caught my low mutter. Her eyes gleamed with playful superiority—hard to believe this was the same woman sprawled in bliss moments ago.
"Hehe, impressed? My connections. You've heard of it, right? The infamous Hermes’ Scale."
More than heard.
In the game, that notorious info guild.
One pan of their scale held the world's secrets; the other, a matching fortune.
They aided the protagonist with key info, but the price was brutal.
Bloodsucking leeches. Demons stripping you soul-bare.
Why dump such a massive role on one guild?
Simple.
They handled in-game cash sinks.
How much I'd dumped on that scale for quests.
'Money-hungry devs. Microtransactions in the dumbest spots...'
Even emptying my pockets, I'd get bounced without Yoo Seolhyeon's childhood nickname.
I recalled the game's bitter memories and voiced the cold truth.
"I'm broke."
"...Huh?"
"No money."
"Why? You? You're a Maker. That project from them, right? A guy taking Maker Sect jobs has no cash? Bullshit."
Ugh. Hitting where it hurts.
All my earnings? Chump change from black-market mana stones ground out by my clone.
The last chunk went to Doris Finch's workshop with that game-info 'elixir recipe.'
'Hold on...'
Didn't Doris say something?
A submerged memory surfaced like mist—the letter's contents.
──────────
That ridiculous recipe you brought actually worked~! Keeheeheehee!
Of course, the effect's bottom of the bottom-tier, dust-level~
As promised, here's the result made with your materials, enclosed~
I'm dying to know about your weird recipe~!
So come back to my workshop soon! That's an order~!
- The great alchemist, Doris Finch -
──────────
Ah, right.
She'd sent that.
Forgot.
Yeah, that method. Substitute recipe!
A faint smile tugged my lips.
"Looks like I've got a way to scrape some cash."
"Huh? Really?"
Her eyes lit up with curiosity.
"Then use it well. That card ain't free."
"Nah, skipping that."
"Eh?"
My options: hire informant for Yoo family dirt, or knock legit.
But scrape cash now for that? Especially dumping fortunes on pricey informants? Peak stupidity.
Hard lesson from the game.
'Better spend on looking sharp, like Ira always nagged. Way more efficient.'
Perfectly tailored black suit. Subtle gleam from wristwatch. Neat hair. Done.
Saves dough, quick, simple.
Time to launch the business.
Life means money sinks everywhere.
Especially for me, with 'foresight' on this world's future—twice the leaks as anyone else.
Trail the protagonist into unknown rifts? Gear-up costs. Later, if I aim to rule the underworld? Bribes galore.
No way a basic mana stone factory with clones covers it.
'I mined stones myself, busted ass for one mana elixir. That's the cash it nets.'
Honestly, stones barely mattered for the elixir.
Ingredient costs mostly; real MVP was my 'substitute elixir' recipe.
As mentioned, substitutes were dev-made newbie bait: trash-tier high-grade dupes.
Gag in swapping premium monster bits with junk.
'Doris lost her shit over it. Means it's worth more than I figured.'
Worst case, suit money.
Clutching worn parchments, I revisited Nocturne Town's alchemy district.
Contents: two genius recipes blaspheming alchemy.
'Giant’s Might' and 'Instant Regen' substitutes.
Giant’s Might: rock golem heart core, hydra serum.
Instant Regen: phoenix feather, moonlight stone essence.
Substitutes? Dried boar balls, orc whiskers. Lizard tail dust, slime goo.
'Ira flipped yesterday.'
Blank-faced Ira scanned my recipe and froze—like a glitched machine.
"...Impossible."
Deadpan, no distress—just stating facts.
"Logical leaps too far. Elixirs from monster junk? No alchemy expert, but sure of one thing. This mocks the craft, Master."
I just shrugged.
One call to Maker Sect: materials delivered in under an hour.
That easy.
Rank boar nuts reeking gamey, sticky slime blobs.
I demoed the process before her eyes. She sighed, dumped the trash into the mortar, ground, mixed, simmered.
No arcane glow. Just murky sludge bubbling.
But faint mana pulse rose clear from the murk.
Ira's face shifted—first time.
Poker mask cracked; pupils jittered like bad data.
"Er, ror...?"
She eyed the crude vials, then me. Creaky mechanical voice.
"Data recalc. Not just substitutes. Astonishing, Master. As suspected—genius across fields."
Smart kids always freak.
What possessed those dev psychos to nuke alchemy balance like that?
Yesterday's awe in Ira's optics—burdensome.
I shook my head lightly.
'Anyway.'
Today's not peddling scraps for peanuts.
Laying new order's groundwork—a contract.
First legwork for my org, guild 'Arbiter'.
'Steady contract ups revenue. Life gets plush.'
Hopeful, I marched to Doris Finch's workshop.
Steps slammed to halt.
No familiar racket, potion stink—just dead silence.
View blocked: glaring yellow barricade tape crisscrossing the door.
Hunter Association Jurisdiction Area
"......"
The door bore a hefty Hunter Association seal; windows once belching weird smokes were boarded solid.
"What the hell is this."