Chapter 27
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Something a Pharmacist Would Like
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Yu Beom led them to a rocky area just past the sandy beach.
The waves here were a deep, dark blue.
A sign of deep water. Towering rocks, like natural lookouts, dotted the sea in every direction.
“Follow me.”
Yu Beom began to leap across the scattered rocks jutting out of the water, using them as stepping stones.
The gaps between the rocks were several meters wide. A single misstep meant being swept away by the crashing waves.
It was a treacherous path no ordinary person would dare to cross, but Cheon Doun and Kim Nari followed without batting an eye.
The rock they reached towered high like a lookout post. It was a wide, flat expanse—too small to be an island, yet too large to be called a mere boulder.
“This is an interesting place.”
Cheon Doun remarked, looking around the rock formation. Unlike the others, this one was lush with vegetation, almost like a miniature jungle.
An arched wooden frame covered the entire rock, and climbing vines had scaled it to form a natural roof.
“Pretty nice, right? My sister and I made it.”
They had sought out a place where Hunters wouldn't venture and eventually settled here.
Initially, it was just a barren rock like all the others. They had carved into it and filled the hollow with soil from the jungle.
They planted grass, built the arched frame, and then grew vines over it to shield them from the sun. Little by little, they had cultivated it into its current form.
“A home perfectly suited to you and your sister's nature.”
Cheon Doun said with admiration. With their avian cells, the siblings had no fondness for enclosed homes with solid walls.
Aside from the arched roof, it was open on both sides, much like a bird’s nest. It was, in every sense, the perfect home for them.
“Kim Nari. Why don't you and Guu go look around for a bit?”
“Got it.”
With an excited look on her face, Kim Nari scooped up Guu and ran around the edge of the rock.
She scrambled down the rock face to where the waves lapped at the stone, then sat on a ledge, dipping her feet in the water and playing.
“What are you smiling at? Is she your daughter or something?”
“Of course not. Anyway, where's your sister?”
“This way.”
Yu Beom led him to the right side of the arch-covered space, which was divided into two sections.
Inside was a bed hollowed out like a bird’s nest.
It was a downy bed made from the soft underfur of a large monster. A woman who appeared to be in her twenties lay sleeping in the center.
“She won't wake up, even if you try. Like I told you, she ate a fruit with a sleeping poison and does nothing but sleep.”
“Then when does she wake up?”
“Usually around midnight. She stays awake for two or three hours, then eats another one of those fruits and goes back to sleep.”
She was essentially sleeping her way to her death. Cheon Doun scanned her body with his mana.
“Looking at it like this, it seems she made a good choice.”
“A good choice?”
“Yeah. The sleeping poison has put her body into a state of suspended animation. It's slowing the progression of the demonic energy.”
Without it, she might have died long ago.
The choice she made to avoid showing her transforming body to her brother was ironically extending her life.
Cheon Doun looked her over again.
Like Yu Beom, she wore loose-fitting clothes that would allow her to extend her wings easily.
Their distinctive attire gave the siblings the air of ancient Egyptians.
The only oddity was that his sister wore a monster’s skull over her head like a helmet.
It completely obscured her face.
“Why is she wearing that?”
“Her face has changed... drastically. I think she's self-conscious.”
“How did it change?”
Yu Beom pointed to his own eyes.
“Bird's eyes.”
“Is that all?”
“She has four of them. And they're big. Her vision is probably far better than mine.”
Four round bird’s eyes set in a human face. In some ways, it was an even more grotesque sight than Yu Beom's fully transformed head.
“Feathers are sprouting all over her body, too. Ever since the demonic energy started running wild, she hasn't been able to revert to her human form.”
“That's fine. The Mandragora will fix all that, so we'll deal with it later.”
Yu Beom chuckled at Cheon Doun's nonchalant tone. He was grateful for how lightly he spoke of their grim reality.
Looking at him made the crisis feel like a minor incident. It almost felt like things really would turn out fine.
“So how do we prepare the Mandragora? Boil it into a tea?”
“No, I heard it requires a special formula to be used as medicine. Someone with an awakening in alchemy or crafting should be able to prepare it.”
“Then you'll need this.”
Yu Beom brought over a small, woven straw basket. It was filled to the brim with blue stones.
“Why are there so many return stones?”
“Try living inside a Gate for fifty years. You come across a lot of gear that Hunters leave behind.”
Yu Beom looked at the return stones in the basket.
He’d never regretted escaping the institute through the Gate. It had granted them the freedom to live as they pleased, after all.
But that didn't stop the longing to set foot in his homeland again.
Collecting the return stones, knowing they could never use them, was a testament to the siblings’ unfulfillable homesickness.
“You two still have the tracking and detonation spells carved into your bodies, right?”
Yu Beom nodded. Decades had already passed since they left the institute.
There was no one left to track them anymore. The location-tracking spell had become meaningless, but the detonation spell was another story.
It was a spell designed to detonate if they didn't return to the lab within three days of leaving.
The spell was still active, and by crossing into the Gate, its countdown had been temporarily paused.
If they left the Gate, those decades of paused time would be applied all at once. The instant they took a single step outside, their hearts would explode.
Decades had passed since their escape, but the siblings had only managed to grasp a fractured piece of freedom.
“I'm counting on you. Please go in my place and find the recipe.”
“I was planning to do that anyway.”
Cheon Doun took a few return stones from the basket and slipped them into his pocket. Yu Beom watched, fascinated.
*He said he wasn’t a Chimera Hunter anymore. That means he’s no longer bound to the institute… but how did he get rid of the spells?*
The question lingered, but he didn't ask. The man surely had his own story. Yu Beom had no intention of prying into matters his guest didn't offer up first.
“No point in dragging this out. I'll go right now. Do you have anything I can use to trade with a pharmacist?”
“Something to trade?”
“They won't just hand over the recipe for a Mandragora potion. I'll need to negotiate.”
I could just take it by force, but there’s a chance they might give me a fake recipe out of spite.
A smooth transaction required something that would satisfy both parties.
“Couldn't I just pay them? What about selling these return stones?”
“That won't even come close. Mandragora itself sells for hundreds of millions on the black market. The recipe alone will cost a fortune.”
“Is that so.”
“I need something I can trade directly with the pharmacist. Something rare, if possible.”
“Something rare...”
Yu Beom thought for a moment before opening a dresser. It was a handmade piece carved from wood, much like the one in Cheon Doun's home.
He pulled out a bracelet woven from tiny, fingernail-sized pieces of ore.
“My sister made it. The stones themselves seem pretty unusual. Think it would be valuable to people on the outside?”
Cheon Doun took the bracelet and examined it. The craftsmanship was clearly amateur, making the bracelet itself look worthless.
The materials, however, were another story. The yellowish ore beads were highly transparent, looking almost like jewels.
*Yellow and transparent… This looks like that ore Guu was talking about.*
The ore he wanted to mine for the fence.
He wanted to ask where Yu Beom had found it, but now wasn't the time.
“I'll take it for now. Anything else? Something to offer as a backup in case this isn't worth much.”
“A backup, huh. Then take this too.”
The second item Yu Beom produced was a handful of dried, reddish grass. He wrapped it in a large leaf, tied it shut, and handed it over.
“What's this?”
“Dried rock moss.”
“Would something like this have any value?”
It was the red moss that occasionally washed up on the shore—a medicinal herb that, when added to high-grade potions, multiplied their healing effects dozens of times over.
Yu Beom was unaware of this. In fact, the moss’s properties had only recently been discovered, so even Cheon Doun didn't know its true value.
“I'm sure it's valuable.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Because it's delicious.”
“That's it?”
Cheon Doun looked skeptical. It might be a prized food for people who lived off the land...
...but for civilized people accustomed to all sorts of spices and flavorful dishes, it would probably be worthless.
“That's because you've never tried it. It's incredible on grilled clams.”
“Grilled clams?”
“I'll have some ready for you when you get back. You can try it then. It might even be more valuable than that bracelet.”
*Is it really that good?* Cheon Doun's curiosity was piqued by Yu Beom’s confidence.
If he was that certain, it was worth a shot at using it to bargain with the pharmacist.
“Alright. Then give me one of those clams, if you have any. Since you said they have to be eaten together, I'll try presenting it as a set.”
Yu Beom immediately left the shelter and leaped off the cliff. Pterodactyl-like wings unfurled as he dove into the sea.
Underwater, his wings acted like fins, propelling him swiftly.
A moment later, he shot straight up out of the water and landed on the cliff. Cradled in his arms was a clam the size of a human head.
“It's especially delicious when eaten with this.”
“Indeed.”
“When you're trying to convince them, emphasize the two-to-one ratio. Two parts clam, one part moss.”
“Got it.”
“When you start grilling it, the shell will open and spit out hydrochloric acid. Just avoid that, and you'll be fine.”
“Avoid the hydrochloric acid. Okay. Anything else to watch out for?”
The red moss, capable of multiplying the effects of a high-grade potion dozens of times over, was being treated like a common condiment.
“As the clam cooks, a part of it will turn black. That’s the poison sac, so make sure to remove it.”
“Remove the poison sac. And then?”
“Once it starts to cook, sprinkle the moss over the clam meat. The aroma will seep in and enrich the flavor. After about three minutes, the moss will start to crackle and pop. That's when it's ready. Just slice the clam into bite-sized pieces and enjoy.”
Gulp. Cheon Doun swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth.
*Why is my mouth watering? I'm just listening to instructions for a negotiation.* Cheon Doun eyed the clam with interest.
“Ah. Right.”
Yu Beom went back to his side of the shelter as if he’d just remembered something. He returned holding a pearl the size of an egg.
“What's that?”
“Something that came out of a clam the other day. They show up every now and then when we're grilling.”
A black pearl from the Demon World. A sinister energy seemed to crawl from its surface, making it look ominous at a glance.
To Yu Beom, it was just an ordinary stone, like finding a pebble in your rice.
“Of all the things I own… I guess this is all I have of any value.”
Yu Beom's expression darkened, as if he had nothing more to offer. Anyone else would have told him to sell the very clothes off his back.
His clothes were stitched together from the hides of six different disaster-class monsters, tanned so perfectly they were as thin and soft as cloth.
A single spare set of those clothes would have been enough to buy anything they wanted, but the thought never even crossed Cheon Doun or Yu Beom’s minds.
To them, clothes were just clothes—an everyday necessity. Their subconsciousness simply excluded them from the category of ‘rare items.’
“Well, whatever. This should be enough. Surely one of these things will be enough to catch a pharmacist's eye, right?”
Cheon Doun said, looking at the items laid out on the floor.
Three black pearls, a yellow ore bracelet, a handful of red moss, and a raw clam from the Demon World the size of a man’s head.
It was a classic case of, 'I didn't know what you'd like, so I brought everything.'