Kim Hyeon-soo's Time of Suffering

BANG!!!

Kim Hyeon-soo slammed his fist down on the desk.

"What the fuck!!! What even is this 100x potion? Where the hell did it come from out of nowhere?!!!"

No answer came back to his incomprehensible screaming.

He should ask his secretary what had been posted on the anonymous forums.

"There are rumors circulating that Lee Arin made it...."

"I've already seen all the braindead speculation floating around the Hunter forums. I don't need you repeating it."

"I— I'm sorry, sir."

That was the only answer there was, really. Lee Arin had been the first name that came to Kim Hyeon-soo's mind as well.

But he knew it was realistically impossible.

"This would require high-grade Life Fruit, Life Herb, and Amplification Powder across the board. Even an alchemist of my caliber couldn't produce it without that level of ingredients. It could have come in from overseas."

There was no need to look for the answer in Lee Arin alone, after all. The Hunter Auction House was a system accessible from all over the world.

"China, India, the US — those places have massive populations to draw from."

High-grade ingredients unavailable in Korea were usually imported that way. Sometimes paying extra rather than going without was simply the smarter choice, even at a crippling loss.

The problem was that to buy or sell on another country's server instead of the global integrated market, an additional 20% fee was tacked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on. Worse, opening a channel on another country's server carried a 10% fee instead of 3%.

Source those expensive ingredients, brew the potions, travel to another country's server, pay 10% to open the channel and 30% in sales fees, and keep only 60%?

Did that make any sense at all? That was why his blood boiled even harder.

"What? How much have we been bleeding until now? You pig-dog bastards. We sold you potions below cost while running a deficit, and this is how you talk?"

It felt unjust. If they were actually gouging people, fine — but Taeseong Pharmaceuticals' quarterly losses on potions only grew by the day, to the point where even Kim Hyeon-soo, a direct descendant, had to watch his grandfather's mood.

They were holding out on the merit of a monopoly market alone, promising to raise prices eventually — and now this had to blow up on top of everything. No wonder he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt suffocated.

"I could throw S-rank Life Fruit, A-rank Life Herb, A-rank Amplification Powder, and premium materials at the wall and crank out potions like that too. So what? Factoring in costs and fees, selling at 5,000 would still be a loss. Would those pauper bastards even glance at it?"

Truthfully, that was exactly why Taeseong had been able to monopolize the potion market in the first place. The profit margins simply didn't add up. If even Taeseong, with its monopoly, was bleeding red — who in their right mind would charge in with massive capital trying to compete? Win or lose, all you'd walk away with was a deficit.

Which only made him more curious.

"What the hell are these bastards?"

The suspicion gnawed at him — the 100x potions were selling at prices that made no sense even by rough calculation. But soon his rage subsided.

"It won't last. Anyone who thinks this will shake Taeseong is an idiot."

Taeseong was buying up nearly all the Life Fruit coming out of the auction house, domestic market included. Even if one or two exceptional fruits traded hands separately, the amount of potion they could yield was limited. For these things to be sold on a regular basis, the seller would have to be swallowing losses worse than Taeseong itself. No way that could go on for long.

So when another hundred 100x potions went up shortly after, he could watch with an easy mind.

"A notice, too? Guess this is their swan song."

Let public opinion waver, let them eat some criticism for a bit — the buyers would come crawling back soon enough.

Kim Hyeon-soo was, in a sense, an elite — someone who handled frontline operations himself, at least when it came to potion production. And by his judgment, potions like these absolutely could not last.

"If Lee Arin can't do it, no foreign outfit is going to come suckle at Korea's teat either."

After all, from his perspective — having effectively unseated the alchemist who had been deeply entrenched as Korea's number one — he had every reason to be confident.

"Unless they're self-producing everything from Life Fruit to Life Herb, it's impossible."

He cooled his temper and sipped his now-cold tea. But that tranquility shattered once again the moment the third batch of potions went up.

"...."

His conviction was still holding down the creeping unease — but barely. Anything capable of rattling your composure was, from a businessman's standpoint, a bad sign.

"Ah, fuck. Today's mood is absolute shit."

He was already in a foul mood over the Rift Dungeon incident, and getting dragged through the mud on the forums in the middle of the night left him thoroughly aggrieved.

"That bitch Ryu Hyeju. Without me she can't even use her power properly, and she's acting this high and mighty? Let's see who wins."

The smoldering ember of his rage over the nonexistent 100x potion transferred itself onto a new target.

Originally, he had planned to take things slow and gradually tighten the leash with the potions. But this disgusting little incident that had blown up overnight killed any desire to be gentle.

That aloof, ice-cold expression. The contempt and condescension written all over it.

For Kim Hyeon-soo — born the grandson of Taeseong Pharmaceuticals, who had never once received such a look since becoming an alchemist — it was an insatiable hunger for conquest.

"Ugh, aaaaah!!"

If only he had Lee Arin. If only Ryu Hyeju would meekly accept her medicine and come to him. He wouldn't have had to suffer through this shit-tier mood twice in one day.

"Spread negative press about the 100x potions. They won't be releasing more volume from here anyway. The prices are bound to go up."

"Understood, sir."

Kim Hyeon-soo, seething with venom, was not about to sit still either.

It felt like needles stabbing through his entire body. Then like being beaten all over with a stick. His mind swam in a haze, and his senses refused to obey him.

This was the starting point that had made Ryu Hyeju an S-rank hunter — and, at the same time, the special effect that marked the doorway to her own personal hell.

Her skill itself was the A-rank Frenzy, and at first she had been nothing more than an ordinary hunter. She fought bare-fisted, activating Frenzy to trade blows with monsters on raw stats — a perfectly standard close-quarters damage dealer. Her stats were solid, but since she'd spread her investment evenly for close combat, it was hard to stand out beyond the level of a decent B-rank hunter.

Then, at Frenzy Level 30, she'd had the luck to acquire the S-rank special effect Innate True Qi — and her life changed completely.

Everyone congratulated her. Hyeju herself had been overjoyed when she first got it. Growing as a hunter meant putting even one more step of distance between yourself and death, after all.

But the moment she experienced that 2%-chance special effect in action, she understood immediately: it was not purely a blessing.

With great power comes great responsibility. The price attached to triggering an absurd +50% to all stats at a comparatively high 2% rate was not an aftereffect anyone could simply endure.

"...Hnngh."

Years had passed, and she still hadn't adapted. If she could at least activate it at will, she could restrain herself as much as possible — but Innate True Qi proc'd mid-combat as she landed hits, entirely beyond her control.

She had tried every painkiller on the market. She had gone from alchemist to alchemist, begging for a solution. Then, three years ago, a single potion from Kim Hyeon-soo had brought her hell to a halt.

It wasn't complete liberation. It was mitigation — a potion that dulled an aftereffect so brutal she'd often thought death would be preferable down to a level she could barely withstand. But even that was, to her, a cure.

Every battle piled up hit counts, and with enough strikes, even 2% triggered easily. For Hyeju, who had come to fear leveling up itself, she couldn't refuse the hand Kim Hyeon-soo extended.

At first, it was fine. He provided it as a favor and refused payment. In exchange, he said his guild was growing, and that if she came to work at Taeseong, he'd supply the painkiller potion steadily. And so she worked at Taeseong.

That was around when it began — a year ago, when he started winding the chains around her.

"Do you know how much it costs to make this? No one but me could even brew it."

"Thank you."

Every time he handed over the potion, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kim Hyeon-soo made a show of his generosity — and slowly, his true colors began to surface.

"Want to grab dinner after we're done? Go on a date with me, and I'll give you the potion."

"...I have somewhere to be."

"Shame. Well, can't be helped."

That true face grew uglier by the day, until now he was using the potion to pressure her outright.

"Who does one date hurt? I'm just asking you to have a meal, go on a date. Do you have any idea how much money I've sunk into you by now? Do you even know what it costs to make a single one of these?"

Those words, delivered while she writhed under an aftereffect that made even walking an ordeal, had shaken even an S-rank hunter like Ryu Hyeju. But she had endured. Better to hurt herself to death than give in.

Today was one of those days.

The Rift Dungeon. An accident that could have spiraled into a catastrophe with over five hundred civilians trapped inside. Knowing it would force Innate True Qi to proc no matter what, Kim Hyeon-soo had brought her along — and this time, apparently decided he was done playing, he'd left without even giving her the potion.

Then a man appeared before her, wracked with agony, and held something out.

The man who had charged boldly through the pack of mini ogres that everyone else had been scrambling to avoid.

"Try it. You've got nothing to lose, right?"

What on earth did he take her for?

Watching the man walk away with unhurried ease, Hyeju kept her guard up — and yet a smile touched her lips.

She thought of the potions Kim Hyeon-soo handed her, the man who flaunted his lecherous designs on her so shamelessly while playing his little games. What might have been in them, all this time she'd been drinking?

The thought struck her like a lightning bolt: if he ever decided to get nasty, she could be at his mercy, her own will be damned.

So she poured it into her mouth.

"...!"

The moment she chewed and swallowed, her body grew light. The pain vanished, and she felt as if nothing had happened at all — as if the whole thing had been a bad dream.

Years of agony. The aftereffect that lingered until Innate True Qi recovered — a minimum of twenty-four hours' torment — gone.

As if in a trance, Hyeju's steps carried her out of the dungeon in search of the man from moments before.

"...Ah."

But he was gone. All that remained were the words he'd said before leaving.

"If you need more, check the 100x Channel. That's where I got mine, too."

"...The 100x Channel."

She shot a look of loathing at Kim Hyeon-soo in the distance, wearing his victor's smile as he encouraged his guild's hunters, and began to walk.

Hyeju's fingers hovered over the Hunter Auction House search bar, typing something and deleting it over and over — until, at last, she withdrew her hand.