Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Drink the Poison Pretending to Be Medicine
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“Do I... have to eat all of this?”
Lee Yoo-hyun, who had logged out to regroup and returned, frowned as he peered into the massive cauldron.
The cauldron was filled to the brim with a dark, murky potion. Even though the bottom wasn’t scorched, it bubbled vigorously, producing foam.
“Yeah. Not a single drop of broth left behind.”
Lee Yoo-hyun sniffed at the rising liquid from the cauldron.
“Urk.”
He immediately clamped his mouth shut and dry-heaved, his face turning pale blue.
It was quite the sight.
“What’s with the retching?”
“......”
Dun covered his mouth lightly with his hand and snickered behind it.
[C-Grade Quest: Drink the Poison Pretending to Be Medicine]
Content: Drink all the medicine Dun gave you within two days. If you vomit, you must eat it back up for the quest to complete.
Reward: Agility +200 for 5 days, average improvement in physical abilities, mental fortitude enhancement
Penalty on Failure: Soul Contract Penalty
“!!!”
Lee Yoo-hyun’s eyes widened as he stared at the reward details. He rubbed them in disbelief, checking again.
“What the heck did you make?”
“No idea, even for me. I just followed the book.”
It was his first time making potions, so he’d been a bit anxious, but it seemed to have turned out pretty well. Probably thanks to his high stats. He couldn’t control the taste or quantity like Rihaoel did, but the effect appeared successful enough.
“If you pump up your stats that much, your level rises super fast in that timeframe. To match them with the standard.”
“But why only agility?”
“You’ve got an escape skill, right? Figured I’d level that up a bit. And, well, if a crafter gets caught because they’re slow while hunting with their creations, what’s the point?”
“Right.”
And if you were using a hunter capsule, it was best to eat good food in-game as much as possible.
You couldn’t directly apply in-game food to your real body, but it analyzed the nutrients and processed them in the capsule, injecting them as a liquid for the user.
If your real body was weak and life was at risk, strengthening it even a little this way was a good idea.
Lee Yoo-hyun’s eyes sparkled at Dun’s words. He hadn’t expected Dun to think that far ahead, and a deep wave of gratitude welled up. Hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“Really, thank you...”
“Shut it, it’s nothing. Cut that look.”
Dun cut off Lee Yoo-hyun and spoke. If the guy got all emotional like that, it’d make Dun feel embarrassed about his plan to turn him into an item-farming factory.
“Eat up quick. After you’re done, I need to use that cauldron to make my own potion and drink it.”
Dun stroked the back of the slime, which had been sleeping since eating the flower.
“What kind of potion?”
“Stamina one. I’ve got crap stamina.”
It was like running a high-spec game on a potato PC. Unless he toned down his power to what his body could handle or improved his physique, he’d just keep wheezing.
“Why don’t you drink this one with me? I can make another cauldron.”
“What?”
Lee Yoo-hyun’s face, which had been wavering over whether to drink it, suddenly lit up.
“Don’t hold back. I’ll whip it up quick. It wasn’t that hard.”
“No, wait a sec.”
“Just hold on a bit. If making stamina potion is a hassle, I’ll do it. Just give me the recipe.”
“Why are you so hyped up?”
Lee Yoo-hyun vanished at top speed, returned with a newly molded cauldron, and dumped in the herbs Dun had set aside for himself.
He needed to grind the herbs, but after pondering how, he used his crafting skill to make a suitable item for grinding them.
But the item’s performance was subpar, so he ended up grinding them manually with vigor.
Lee Yoo-hyun snatched the book from Dun, flipped to the marked page, and started making it exactly as instructed.
While Dun spaced out for a bit, Lee Yoo-hyun had already produced something.
[You have acquired the skill [Potion Crafting].]
[You have created an F-Grade Stamina Potion!]
[Due to the title ‘Golden Hand’ bonus, it upgrades to C-Grade.]
Lee Yoo-hyun glanced at the messages on his screen and grinned.
“Wow. Should I switch to potion crafting? I seem pretty talented.”
With one of the special stats, the ‘Luck Stat,’ anything he made turned out great. His crafting success rate was sky-high.
Dun had planned to make and consume it slowly, but when Lee Yoo-hyun smirked slyly and offered the thick pink sludge, his stomach churned.
“Not drinking it.”
“Huh? Didn’t you say you would?”
“Nope, changed my mind.”
“Why? Let’s suffer together. You looked like it was tough making it, so I did it for you.”
“......”
Dun gripped the cauldron and blanked out for a moment.
Ah... He’d have to eat it anyway if he wanted Lee Yoo-hyun as a combat partner.
But he didn’t like the sight of that beaming smile while handing over the stamina potion under the guise of sharing the suffering.
Letting out a deep sigh, Dun told Lee Yoo-hyun to grab the cauldron.
“One, two, three—smash face in.”
“Okay!”
One, two, three.
“Uwaaaack!”
* * *
Dun, who already had a weak stomach, spat out the stamina potion the moment it touched his tongue.
Lee Yoo-hyun, desperate to grow stronger, buried his face in the cauldron and gulped down the dog-food-like contents with fervor.
“T-This... scary guy.”
In just five hours, Lee Yoo-hyun had already emptied half the cauldron. Not a single vomit. Probably forcing it down because of the message saying he’d have to eat it back up if he did. He’d had a few close calls but powered through.
[Agility has increased. Basic physical abilities partially rise.]
[Agility has increased. Basic physical abilities partially rise.]
[Agility has increased. Basic physical abilities partially rise.]
Lee Yoo-hyun kept shoving the green potion into his mouth.
“Tasty?”
When Dun asked because he was eating so intently, Lee Yoo-hyun shook his head vigorously.
His cheeks were puffed out, and tears welled in his eyes.
Sniffle.
It seemed so nasty that his mucus production was in overdrive; he kept sniffling.
[Tasty...]
The awakened slime climbed onto the wooden sword used for making Lee Yoo-hyun’s potion and licked off the residue.
The liquid-loving slime apparently found this revolting stuff quite delicious. Last time, it had rejected leftover soup when he’d snuck it to it behind Rihaoel’s back—slimes sure had unique tastes.
Dun took a stroll around the hunting grounds while waiting for Lee Yoo-hyun to finish the quest. He’d given two days to eat it slowly and rest, but Lee Yoo-hyun polished it off in one day.
The “not a drop left” bit had been a joke, but he’d truly left it spotless.
Having completed the quest, Lee Yoo-hyun spotted Dun returning from his walk and shot his hand up high, waving wildly.
“Dun!”
Lee Yoo-hyun waved his hand at about 20 times per second. It was clearly waving, but so fast it looked like severe tremors or a seizure.
“!!!!!”
Suddenly, Lee Yoo-hyun grabbed his arm and collapsed while waving.
“What? What’s wrong.”
“Cramp...”
Hunter game capsules had high body synchronization, so even everyday pains like this came along. Back in the all-nighter era, you could toggle pain on and off, but in Lee Yoo-hyun’s time, that wasn’t possible.
His body couldn’t keep up with his abilities, triggering the pain.
“But now that my stats are up, what do I do?”
Afraid he might move too fast, Lee Yoo-hyun asked while plastered to the ground.
He was breathing rapidly, so his back heaved up and down at high speed.
Lee Yoo-hyun now had to adapt to this new sense of speed. If he could control and adjust his power properly, he might retain some stats after five days even without blowing them all away. Along with massive level-ups.
“Adapting to the speed is your next quest.”
“Adapt to this speed?”
“Yep.”
He gave a short reply while looking down at Lee Yoo-hyun stuck to the ground.
Lee Yoo-hyun’s eyes darted around rapidly as he thought quietly, then he spoke up.
“Wanna race? I think I can win now.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“Yeah, might help a bit?”
Lee Yoo-hyun, looking oddly excited, stood up and took position.
He couldn’t even control bending his waist slightly, his body trembling, but soon he kicked off the ground and bolted.
“Uwaaaah!!!”
“......”
Unable to control his speed, Lee Yoo-hyun vanished into the distance.
Knew it. Gotta take it easy at first—what kinda race is this right off the bat?