Building the Cultivation Facility, Part 3

A short while later, my parents returned home.

"Hyunwoo, we're home."

"How have you been?"

That was when they spotted the purification device sitting in the living room.

"Oh, what's that over there?"

"Ah, is that it? The one you had the factory make?"

"Yes."

"Oh, let's have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a look."

The two of them walked over and inspected it.

"Hmm... It looks a bit different from the equipment at the company."

"Yes. The performance is completely different to begin with."

"It doesn't look very complicated. Can this really purify water?"

"Yes. More than enough."

I gave my parents a brief introduction to the device.

"This is where the wastewater goes in, and this is where the clean water comes out. Inside, there are Class 1 anaerobic bacteria that consume the pollutants."

"Ah, so those are what purify it. But where did you get the bacteria?"

"They were already present in the wastewater. However, their numbers were too low to purify the whole batch. That's why this facility is necessary."

Beside him, my mother nodded.

"Mm, I think I get the gist of it. You mentioned it before, right? This equipment is meant to multiply the microorganisms."

"Yes. To cultivate enough of them to thoroughly purify the wastewater."

That was the exact purpose of this test facility.

The core of the technology itself lay in how intensively and in what quantities we could cultivate this microorganism, which I named Actiflo.

"To do that, we have to adjust the internal pressure and temperature to a very precise degree."

The two of them nodded in understanding.

My father pointed at the operating device and asked,

"Did you already put the wastewater in?"

"Yes. It's inside there."

I tapped the Actiflo reactor chamber.

"When will it be clean?"

"Twenty-four hours. It takes about that long for the microbial population to reach ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its peak."

In truth, a visible difference in water quality would appear after just eighteen hours, though it wouldn't be perfect yet.

"Hmm, isn't that a bit slow?"

"That's only because this is the initial cultivation. Once the culture is established, the processing time will drop to a quarter of that."

"Ah."

"And it's the same even if you use German technology."

According to public data, that was the case.

With this type of microbial cultivation, the initial startup phase was unavoidable.

However, once the culture was established, the cycle of cultivation and purification would repeat continuously, drastically reducing the time required.

"Hmm... Then how clean does the treated water get?"

"Once it's fully purified, it meets drinking water standards. You could drink it straight."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's on par with the German facilities. Grade 1."

"Grade 1! That's obviously the highest grade."

Meanwhile, my mother asked with a worried expression,

"But... if the performance is exactly the same, is there any reason for factories to choose yours over theirs?"

"You're right. That's why the most important factor is different."

"What is it?"

"The price."

According to the pricing information published by the most famous German company in the industry, their system was three times more expensive than ours.

This was because the microorganisms they cultivated consumed fewer pollutants than mine, and their cultivation process was far more complex.

Thanks to that, I could cultivate microorganisms more easily and in smaller quantities.

All of that translated directly into cost savings.

"Really? That much of a difference?"

"Wow! Then this is absolutely incredible!"

The next day.

"Alright, good job in class today, everyone. Final exams are just around the corner, so those who want to stay and study..."

The regular school day ended.

However, instead of going home, I had to stay behind at school to spend time with my friends.

I had made a promise to them earlier.

To show them how I managed to get such good grades.

Of course, there was no magical secret. It was just studying hard.

So, we gathered in a rented study room.

"Alright, let's give it our all starting today."

But before he even opened his book, Jang Junyeob groaned with a deathly pale face.

"A study group... Isn't there some other, real method besides this?"

"What could be more real than this? You study, you gain knowledge, you use that knowledge to solve problems, and your score goes up. Do you not understand that?"

"No! Who doesn't know that? I mean, there must be a trick you used. The method that suddenly boosted your scores."

"This is it."

As Jang Junyeob and I bickered, Oh Yunsung chimed in.

"Hmm... Honestly, I thought there would be some special method too. If it's just studying like this... I'm a bit disappointed."

He looked genuinely let down.

Since he was quite serious about his studies, it made sense.

It seemed I had to reveal what I had prepared a bit earlier than planned.

"Tsk, I was planning to reveal it with a flourish later, but since you guys are so serious, I guess I have no choice."

"Oh, I knew it! Tell us, quick."

"Yeah, hurry up."

The two of them stared at me with sparkling eyes.

"There are two things. First, pursuing efficiency. Second, studying smart."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I told you. There is no special trick. This is all it is."

"Hmm..."

Jang Junyeob grumbled, completely unable to grasp what I meant.

Oh Yunsung, on the other hand, looked like he was beginning to understand. After a moment of thought, he asked,

"Can you explain in more detail?"

"Yeah. It's simple. You identify the questions that are likely to appear on the exam and focus your studying on them."

Hearing that, Oh Yunsung looked disappointed again.

"That's too obvious..."

"Sure. It's a basic method. But..."

I placed a notebook I had brought with me onto the desk.

Thud.

"It's a different story when you do it like this."

I opened the notebook, revealing my analysis of past English exam questions.

"Look. This is a notebook where I organized the questions that appear on the CSAT every year. For example, this question tests past participle grammar. This other question applies the same grammar rule. Questions like this are asked every single year. And..."

When you look closely at these patterns, certain data points emerge.

Certain types of questions are guaranteed to appear.

Looking at past exams, the patterns were glaringly obvious.

Of course, this was only possible because I possessed memories of my past life.

"If you just grasp these patterns and study accordingly, you can easily get a decent baseline score."

"Hmm..."

"It's not just English. Math, Korean, and all the other subjects are the same. Want to see?"

With that, I began teaching them the tricks of studying.

I even showed them the notebooks where I had summarized the other subjects.

Preparing all of this was quite a chore for me, too.

But I did it because I stood to gain something from it.

Namely, Karma.

Even now, just by sharing these methods, my Karma was steadily ticking upward.

......

Once we got into the actual study sessions, I would probably be able to gather quite a lot of Karma.

I'll put it to good use. Hehehe.

After finishing the study session, I returned home.

Beep, beep, beep, beep. Click.

The lights inside were on. Judging by the shoes at the entrance, both of my parents were home.

"I'm home."

"You're back?"

"Good work today."

I immediately walked over to the test equipment set up in the corner.

My father, who was just coming out of his room, saw me and walked over. My mother also emerged from the kitchen.

"Oh, yes, let's look at that first. I've been curious all day."

"Me too! I'm dying to know."

"You haven't looked at it yet?"

"Of course not. We didn't want to mess anything up by accident. Besides, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet."

"Ah! But the effects should already be visible to some extent."

The twenty-four hours I mentioned yesterday was the time required for Actiflo to reach its maximum cultivation density.

Even though that much time hadn't passed, the microbial population would have grown sufficiently. The little guys should have devoured a significant portion of the pollutants in the wastewater.

Which means the color of the water should have already changed.

It would likely be distinguishable even to the naked eye.

To verify this, I needed to drain the wastewater I had poured in yesterday.

I'll need a container to catch the water.

I fetched a white ceramic bowl from the kitchen. The white background would make it easier to judge the color of the water.

"Mom, I'm going to use this."

"Go ahead."

With that, everything was ready.

Will the water really be purified?

I was actually curious myself.

Although I had built it using knowledge obtained from the Divine Library, I couldn't be absolutely certain until I saw the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠results.

However...

Based on everything I had studied beforehand, the science behind this knowledge was sound.

It was entirely feasible.

Of course, I still needed to prove it by actually building and testing it like this.

Now, let's find out.

I opened the outlet valve of the reactor.

Click.

Despite my confidence, I felt a slight twinge of anxiety.

What if the pitch-black water I poured in yesterday came out exactly the same?

What if that pungent, nose-scrunching stench still lingered?

But then...

Trickle, trickle.

Almost perfectly transparent, crystal-clear water began to flow from the outlet.

There was absolutely no trace of the foul odor from before.

"Oh!"

"This is...!"

It was pure water.

Incredibly clear and clean.

The water dripped into the prepared bowl.

Plip, plop.

Seeing this, my parents gasped in admiration.

"Wow! This looks just like bottled water! It's actual, normal water!"

"I know! It's completely clean!"

Once the bowl was nearly full, I shut the valve. My father picked up the filled bowl and inspected it from all angles.

"Oh... No matter how I look at it, it's just pure water. So, this is a success, right?"

"Yes. It is."

Yes, it was a success.

If the device hadn't successfully cultivated the microorganisms, the water could never have been purified to this degree.

Now, all we had to do was scale up the size of this system and install it.

To do that, we needed to convince the management of the factory where my father worked.

And to do that...

There was one more thing I had to do first.

That was...

"You said we could drink this, right?"

"Ah, technically yes, but not just yet."

"Huh? Is there something else?"

"Yes. We need to officially verify if it's safe to drink."

Even if it looked perfectly fine on the outside, the reality could be different.

To be precise, it needed to be tested.

"Huh? Where?"

"It turns out the municipal Waterworks Headquarters offers a water quality testing service."

Although it would cost a bit of money and time.

Getting an official report from them would give us much more credibility.

That would make it far easier to convince my father's company.

"Oh! I see! Then we absolutely should!"

"Tomorrow is Saturday. Will they be open?"

"Yes, we should be fine if we go in the morning."