Chapter 29
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: A New Resident of the Garden
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‘What… What’s delicious?’
Manager Kim stared at the clam, horrified.
Just looking at it, you could tell it was overflowing with demonic energy. The thought of eating it was unimaginable.
The same went for the red moss. It was valuable when refined into medicine, but it was by no means edible.
‘Is this some kind of joke young people tell these days? How should I respond?’
He couldn't risk ruining the deal by misreading the room. Manager Kim forced a smile and nodded.
"Hahaha, of course. I've heard it's incredibly good for your health. I've heard the rumors. The one that's so delicious, you wouldn't even notice if the person next to you dropped dead while eating it… yes. The clam."
*Is this right?* He felt embarrassed. Ashamed. Even as confusion swirled from his own words, Manager Kim steeled himself.
"So, um, sir. Would you perhaps consider selling these items to us?”
He knew the man would probably take them to Gold City. He knew there was little chance he'd sell them here, but he had to ask.
“Name your price, and we'll do our best to meet it.”
“Your best?”
“Yes, our very best! If not the clam or the moss, then the black pearl… no, even just a few beads from the bracelet would be fine. If you sell them to us, we will ensure you're satisfied with the price.”
*Just sell me one, please.* Manager Kim's voice was filled with desperation.
At this point, it was no longer about just meeting a quota. Seeing such high-grade materials for the first time in his life made the alchemist's blood in Manager Kim's veins boil.
Cheon Doun found Manager Kim's reaction interesting. Out of curiosity, he scanned the man's body with his mana.
‘His stats are quite impressive. His class is Alchemy. Looks like his abilities are in synthesis and appraisal… With a mana hall trained to this extent, he must be an A+ rank Awakened.’
He had, after all, risen to the rank of manager at the Gold City branch. He had no combat abilities, but as an alchemist, his skills were top-tier.
Cheon Doun smiled, not having expected to meet such a talent in the slums.
“I heard it's hard for high-ranking users to emerge in the alchemy class. You're quite something.”
“Pardon?”
“I didn't expect to see someone so talented in the slums.”
Money held no value for Cheon Doun. If something could be obtained at any time, it was no different from a pebble on the side of the road.
To him, Manager Kim's abilities seemed far more valuable than money.
“Forget the money. How about you make me whatever potions I need, whenever I want? That's more appealing.”
“Whatever potions you need? What do you mean…”
“The term is ten years. There will be many ingredients you can't find on the market, so I'll provide them. I'm only buying your synthesis ability. How about it?”
Stunned by the unexpected offer, Manager Kim's mouth fell open. He looked back and forth between the clam on the counter and Cheon Doun.
The truth was, private sales of items like these didn't happen because no one had the means to pay for them.
And yet, here one was, a private deal. The payment wasn't money, but his own ability.
It was a joyous thing to have one's skills acknowledged.
This was especially true when his ability was placed on equal footing with an item of immeasurable value.
Manager Kim's heart pounded so hard it was difficult to breathe. He was so bewildered that he couldn't find his voice.
"You don't want to?"
"N-No! It's just...!"
Just as he was about to answer, the lobby door opened and a middle-aged man walked in. The moment Manager Kim saw him, his expression hardened.
“Executive Director No, what are you doing here…”
His superior, who had a habit of snatching his achievements back when they were in Gold City.
Executive Director No approached Cheon Doun with an affable smile. Two executive assistants carrying hard-shell briefcases followed him inside.
“Good day. My name is No Gijeong, from the Gold City branch.”
Executive Director No offered Cheon Doun his business card.
When he didn't take it, the director's eyebrow twitched, but he quickly composed himself and continued speaking.
“I rushed over as soon as I heard from headquarters. Ah, my assistants here are flight-type Awakened. It was quite chilly flying all the way from Gold City. Haha.”
Executive Director No gestured to the assistants standing behind him.
The assistants placed four rectangular briefcases on the table.
*Click.* The cases opened with a crisp sound. Manager Kim couldn't bear to watch any longer and lowered his head.
‘Son of a bitch.’
Contacting headquarters to secure the funds had been a mistake. Not anticipating that Executive Director No would catch wind of it had been a mistake.
How many times had his achievements been stolen like this? His eyes grew red with misery. He gritted his teeth as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was snatched away right before his eyes.
"This is the down payment. I've called a limousine, so let's be on our way.”
“On our way where?”
“To headquarters, of course. A man of your stature shouldn't be dealing with a slum branch like this, don't you agree? Haha. It's only natural for our future VVIP."
Executive Director No spoke with exaggerated excitement.
"Here, here. Please accept this down payment for now. The equipment here is outdated, so the measurements were likely inaccurate. Why don't you come to headquarters for a re-evaluation and make a deal you won't regret at the best possible price.”
It was an offer no one would refuse. Executive Director No's face was brimming with that confidence. Cheon Doun stared at him quietly.
'I don't like him.'
He didn't like how he'd suddenly interrupted his deal with Manager Kim, but more than anything, Executive Director No's face grated on his nerves.
“You look familiar.”
“Pardon?”
“You look just like him. The mole next to your nose, too. Is your grandfather's name perhaps No Bokdeok?”
“Huh? How did you know? Were you an acquaintance of my grandfather?”
*Even better.* He'd use this connection to make him a regular client. Executive Director No beamed, but Cheon Doun did not.
The researcher who used to threaten to push the children into the Gate.
The man with the mole on his face. His blood relative was standing right in front of him.
“You even act the same.”
“Pardon?”
“That No Bokdeok fellow's specialty was stealing his colleagues' achievements. He was good at latching onto talented people and sucking them dry. Seeing you do the same thing, I guess blood really is thicker than water.”
Executive Director No's expression twitched. Even Manager Kim, who had been staring glumly at the floor, looked up in surprise.
Executive Director No forced a smile and said.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding. My grandfather was not that kind of person. He was a scholar who conducted his research independently, without affiliation. He was a wonderful man who donated to orphanages his entire life.”
Cheon Doun laughed at the rebuttal. The man had worked at an illegal research facility that used humans as test subjects. He couldn't possibly have told his family the truth.
“So he killed kids behind the scenes and donated in public to ease his guilt?”
“What? What are you… What have you been talking about this whole time! There's a limit to slandering the dead.”
“The dead? So he's already gone. I thought he'd live a long life since he was an Awakened. Ah, maybe not. He started getting frail after I pushed him out the window. Maybe he didn't live that long after all.”
“Wh-what…”
“I was originally going to push him into a Gate. But thanks to my roommate, I had to use my return stone elsewhere. So I just pushed him out the window instead.”
Cheon Doun said, reminiscing.
The man was already dead and gone. He had no intention of taking revenge on his clueless relative.
But seeing him act in the exact same way made him want to mess with him a little.
“How dare you be so rude upon our first meeting! Apologize for what you said about my grandfather!”
Executive Director No shouted, releasing his aura.
He was a man who had climbed to the rank of executive director at the Gold City branch. While not a combat-type Awakened, he was confident he wouldn't lose to just anyone.
‘So much for a good relationship. This is for the best. I was getting annoyed having to bow and scrape to some young punk. I'll just overpower him and then sweet-talk him.’
Executive Director No strode toward Cheon Doun. He moved his mana, intending to crush Cheon Doun with it.
The pressure, like gravity multiplied dozens of times, would force him flat on the floor.
In truth, Cheon Doun's rude attitude wasn't that bothersome.
In a world that had once collapsed, in the Hunter industry where power was everything, there were far cruder and ruder people than Cheon Doun.
Compared to them, Cheon Doun's demeanor was practically gentlemanly.
So he could overlook the rudeness, but the fact that he was young and rich rubbed him the wrong way. He didn't like his handsome face either.
As these personal feelings piled up, Executive Director No felt a desire to knock the arrogant young man down a peg.
“My grandfather was a recipient of the Peace Prize! I will not stand for you insulting such an upstanding man!”
“Then don't.”
*Thump.* Executive Director No and his two assistants fell flat on their faces like frogs. The immense mana pressing down from above made it hard to even breathe.
‘Wh-what is this…!’
The very thing he had tried to do was turned back on him. His jaw dropped at the sheer volume of mana, incomparable to his own.
“You shouldn't use your power to crush people.”
*You're doing it right now!* He wanted to scream, but the pressure was too great to make a sound.
Executive Director No's face turned pale. The gap in power was so vast he couldn't even resist, and he realized something was terribly wrong.
Someone with this much power wouldn't hold a grudge over something trivial.
He didn't know what had happened, but his grandfather must have done something to get on this man's bad side. That much was certain.
Cheon Doun turned to look at Manager Kim. He was gaping at Executive Director No and his assistants, who were pinned to the floor.
“Your answer?”
“My…?”
“The offer I made earlier. If you accept, go make the potion.”
“Ah… Ah, yes! I'll do it! Of course, I'll do it!”
Manager Kim scrambled into his workshop. There was no need to think twice. An offer from someone with that kind of power was one you had to take.
After changing into his work clothes, he took out the materials to make the potion. As he drew up his mana, an alchemy circle formed at his feet.
Manager Kim, the synthesis user. An A+ rank alchemist.
‘I'll make him the best potion possible!’
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For the first time in a long while, Manager Kim felt a surge of motivation.
***
Having exhausted all his mana to create a top-grade potion, Manager Kim sat dazedly in front of the counter.
So much had happened at once that he couldn't get his head straight.
["You, don't go anywhere else. Stay at this branch. I'll come here when I need a potion."]
After taking the potion, Cheon Doun left with those words.
They didn't sign a contract or anything of the sort. That was what made it even more frightening.
It felt like an unspoken threat—that even if he broke the agreement and disappeared, he would be found. He had a feeling that man was more than capable of it.
Manager Kim looked at the clam and moss on the counter. He still couldn't believe they were his.
He didn't have to worry about Executive Director No snatching them from him, either.
["If those items show up on the black market under someone else's name, I'll be displeased. Do you understand what I'm saying?"]
At those words, Executive Director No had left the association, his face pale. It was the first time Manager Kim had realized a languid voice could sound so terrifying.
"Manager Kim. I think that man is leaving. Don't you need to see him out?"
At the staff member's words, Manager Kim shot to his feet. He grabbed a small wooden box from a drawer and ran after Cheon Doun.
“W-Wait a moment! Sir!”
Cheon Doun, who was about to break a return stone, turned at the sound of his name.
Manager Kim, panting, held out the wooden box he'd brought.
“Please, take this!”
“How sudden. What is it?”
“You gave me something far too valuable. I felt I had to repay you in some way. Please, accept it.”
Money had no value to Cheon Doun. Manager Kim had vaguely sensed this, which was why he offered something other than money.
‘Yes, that's right. Someone with that much power has likely moved beyond the human concept of monetary value.’
His values were different from those of an ordinary person. In that case, it was better to repay him with something other than money.
"Please take it. This is probably a trivial item to you, sir… but it's the only thing I have worthy of being a thank-you gift."
"I didn't expect a thank-you gift to come with a deal. You seem like the type to live at a loss."
"A loss? My ability is not equal to that clam. I won't feel at ease unless I give you at least this.”
"Selling yourself short is a bad habit. Well, if you're giving it to me, I'll take it."
It would be rude not to accept after he insisted so much. Cheon Doun opened the box he was offered.
Inside was a shriveled root, about five centimeters long. Cheon Doun's eyes widened at the unexpected item.
“A Mandragora…?”
What was in the box was a Mandragora.
“Yes. It died over ten years ago, so it's useless as a medicinal ingredient. I came across it by chance a few years ago, and since it's so rare, I kept it as a specimen. As you know, even specimens are hard to come by.”
As he spoke, Manager Kim looked sheepish.
The man he was talking to had a real, usable Mandragora.
He began to wonder what he was even doing, giving this to such a person.
Cheon Doun examined the Mandragora. The ones in his garden had roots so plump they resembled teddy bears.
But the one in the box was different. It was barely the thickness of a pencil. Its root was so withered it was hard to believe it was the same species. The surface was cracked, as if from a drought.
‘It's still alive.’
Contrary to Manager Kim's words, the Mandragora was alive.
A state of suspended animation. A phenomenon where a being stops its own biological functions to conserve as much life force as possible.
The five-centimeter Mandragora was struggling to survive inside the small box.
Cheon Doun tried infusing it with his mana.
A concentrated demonic energy, surpassing that of the high mountain ranges, enveloped the Mandragora.