Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt
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“Ugh, morning already!”
James Ron, the doctor in charge of Sector 7's hospital at Foundation headquarters, stretched as he gazed up at the three dimensional suns rising in the sky. With the end of his Friday night shift in sight, his mind was filled with thoughts of rushing home, taking a shower, having a light drink, and getting some solid sleep.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“You all did great too. Compared to that time not long ago, this was manageable, right?”
“Haha, compared to back then, this is paradise.”
The medical staff, including James, recalled the long dark period when the Foundation had nearly collapsed.
“The fires never went out even once. Day and night were both bright because of it.”
“Burns, amputations, curses, mental contamination, even walking corpses—they poured in like a flood.”
“That was the first time I ever got injected with the special awakening agent to keep working.”
“Ah, same here. I'd only heard rumors about it, but I never thought it could let you go a whole month without sleep. If they commercialized it, they'd make a fortune. Why don't they?”
“Has the Foundation ever had money troubles? Even now, they've got more than they know what to do with.”
With thirty minutes left until clock-out, the newbie who'd joined two weeks ago spoke up.
“It's so quiet around here.”
“…….”
Eyes turned sharply toward the newbie who'd uttered the emergency room taboo: “It's so quiet around here.” Realizing too late, the newbie pointed awkwardly toward the emergency room entrance with a sheepish grin.
“Come on, that's all superstition. See? No one's...”
“Emergency patient!”
Before the words could finish, the emergency room doors flew open.
“Check vitals! Trauma and symptoms!?”
“Grrrraaah!!!”
“Heart rate 250! Brain waves unstable! Mostly bruises and abrasions for trauma! Heavy foam in the airways! Suction! Suction!”
“No! No! Brake! Brake! Aaaah!”
“Ugh, the patient's convulsing! Hold him down!”
Everyone rushed in to restrain the patient. James checked his info.
‘Kim Dong-wook, C-Grade Agent. Safety Class: 20 missions. Danger Class: 14 missions. Apocalypse Class: 1 mission. Total: 35 entity-related missions completed.’
A veteran. After sucking the foam from his mouth with the machine, they barely managed to insert a breathing tube into his airway.
“Brain waves still unstable!?”
“Yes! Looks like severe post-traumatic stress disorder!”
“Damn it, what the hell did a veteran like this go through!?”
No doubt he'd crossed the line between life and death multiple times and been tormented by some horrific entity no human mind should encounter.
“Accel! Accel not working! Ruuun! Grrraaah! Steering wheel! Kneel! Please! Aaaah! Crawl! Craaaawl! Blub!”
“Sedatives!”
“Administering! No response!”
“Double it!”
“Doubled! Still no response!”
“Ooh! Lord! Forgive my arrogance and bring peace to this world, sever the legs of that wicked spawn so he can never drive again...”
“Brain waves still unstable!?”
“Yes! It's getting worse!”
James made his diagnosis.
“We can't rule out mental contamination.”
“Then...”
“He would've gotten the perception alteration vaccine. He's an agent, after all. That blocks most mental contamination, so if he's like this... there's only one option we can take.”
He declared solemnly.
“Bring the memory erasure drug. We'll wipe his memories until he stabilizes.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Hospital lobby, smoking room.
Lee Seung-hoon waited there, smoking a cigarette, for Kim Dong-wook.
“Um, are you okay?”
“Yes, I'm fine.”
“You should get some treatment...”
“I'm waiting for someone. I'll get it done after things wrap up.”
A few people approached him, noting his torn clothes and scattered bruises and abrasions, but he politely declined.
“Are you Kim Dong-wook's guardian?”
“Yes.”
After about thirty minutes, James came out looking for Lee Seung-hoon.
“Oh dear, the guardian's injured too. You should get treated right away.”
“More than me...”
“The patient has stabilized. This way, please.”
While receiving treatment from James, Lee Seung-hoon asked.
“How's Kim Dong-wook?”
“He just got the memory erasure drug and is sleeping it off. We successfully removed the mental contamination after deleting 24 hours of memories, so no need to worry.”
After treatment, he led Lee Seung-hoon to Kim Dong-wook.
“Your partner is safe now.”
Seeing Kim Dong-wook sleeping peacefully, Lee Seung-hoon left the hospital.
“Thank you, guardian—no, Agent.”
As he departed, James saluted.
“Thanks to all of you fighting on the front lines for world peace, humanity has survived this long.”
“…….”
Lee Seung-hoon nodded and left. His footsteps stopped in front of a door inside a certain building. After a deep breath, he turned the handle.
“……Hoo.”
Beyond the door lay a massive city.
No—a city that used to be. He smiled bitterly as he gazed at it.
“Why did it end up like this?”
Skyscrapers crumbling amid flames, smoke turning the sky ashen, intermittent explosions rumbling through the atmosphere.
“Ah.”
Then the flash erupted, followed by the mushroom cloud blooming in its wake.
“There it is.”
Lee Seung-hoon, who'd come to retrieve the vehicle, spotted it soaring above the mushroom cloud into the sky.
“All that absorbed energy detonated at once. Metals that absorb energy create mushroom clouds when they reach saturation.”
He quietly closed the door.
“No radiation, so that's a relief, but...”
He'd gained one realization from this incident.
“If I get the chance, I should ask for an entity that makes you good at driving.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Here are the items you requested.”
The day after the horrific driving training ended, he finally obtained the entity he'd wanted.
“The Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt and Void Pocket.”
“Thank you so much.”
“The Void Pocket has no special precautions, but please read the manual for the Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt carefully.”
“Got it.”
The person handing over the items was Sung Yu-ra.
“Oh, how was the driving training with Dong-wook?”
“Yes, it went very well. I even gained some valuable insights thanks to it.”
“Glad to hear that.”
“You haven't heard from Dong-wook?”
“Isn't an boss who contacts you on a holiday the most evil creature alive? Unless it's an entity-related emergency, I make a conscious effort not to bother with trivial matters.”
I wonder if he could even talk about it?
He'd visited the hospital this morning too, but Dong-wook was still asleep.
“Oh, there's an urgent call... Another agent will escort you out. Sorry I can't see you off.”
“No, it's fine. Take care.”
With the help of an agent he'd never met before, he returned to Earth.
“Thanks for the ride.”
On the way back, he'd picked up some bone hangover soup for breakfast and read the Void Pocket manual.
[This pocket connects to an imaginary dimension, allowing infinite storage of items. Only items smaller than the pocket's opening can be stored. The opening will not stretch even under strong force, so forcing it open is pointless.]
The pocket's opening, when stretched, was big enough for a watermelon—perfect for gold bars.
[Inserting 100% of a multicellular organism's body into this pocket will teleport it to a random location within 10m nearby. Single-celled organisms and viruses are exempt.]
Can't store living things, got it.
He went down to the basement and stored all the gold bars there.
‘So that's how it works.’
[To retrieve an item, insert your hand up to your wrist or deeper into the pocket. That is sufficient.]
Following the instructions, he shoved his hand in up to the wrist. A strange sensation bloomed in his mind, granting him the intuitive ability to retrieve stored items.
‘Feels just like using inventory in a game.’
He tested by pulling out a gold bar and putting it back.
‘This'll make transactions with All-Purpose Gold Company even smoother.’
Void Pocket experiments complete.
“Finally, this one.”
He headed back to the living room and fixed a heated gaze on the belt atop the table.
“Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt.”
The leather belt, about 5cm wide, had three compartments, each holding vials of black, gray, and white liquid.
‘Manual first.’
He immediately opened the manual.
[The Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt is a Safety Class entity. It has three compartments containing Black "Weakening Potion," Gray "Purification Potion," and White "Strengthening Potion."]
He removed the three vials and lined them up on the table.
[Weakening Potion weakens the target it drips onto.]
[Strengthening Potion strengthens the target it drips onto.]
[Purification Potion restores weakened or strengthened targets to their original state.]
[1ml—a single drop—is sufficient for effect. Additional drops yield no further change.]
[Weakening has no effect on already strengthened targets, and strengthening has no effect on weakened ones. To re-test a subject, always initialize with Purification Potion first.]
Just as I remembered.
“Not much different from the game.”
Next, the precautions.
[Effects do not work on living beings. However, weakening or strengthening can sometimes turn non-living matter into living.]
[Purification Potion has unlimited capacity. Even after dripping continuously upside down for 30 days, the visible level showed no change.]
[Weakening and Strengthening Potions each hold 10 drops. After use, return vials to the belt. They recharge to 10 drops after 30 days—no extras for unused drops.]
[Vials are designed for single-drop dispensing, so proper amounts are easy without forcing it.]
He read the next section.
[Weakening/strengthening everyday objects is harmless to the user except in cases like weapons, bombs, vehicles.]
[When using on entities, do so only in a safe location.]
Precautions for entity use.
[Some entities react to the potions; others don't. No cause identified—only direct testing distinguishes them.]
[Possible outcomes on entities:]
[1. No change.]
[2. Direct change to entity.]
[3. Direct change, but effect fades over time.]
[4. Derivative entity created.]
[No other reactions observed.]
[Testing on Danger or Apocalypse Class entities strictly prohibited.]
After reading the full manual, he fetched the tumbler from the kitchen.
“WK Special Tumbler.”
He dripped one drop of black weakening potion onto it. It absorbed instantly into the stainless steel.
“No visible change.”
What about function? He poured in zero cola from the fridge.
“......Tasteless.”
Fresh can, but zero carbonation—and it was lukewarm.
“The worst.”
A drop of purification potion restored the tepid, flat cola to normal.
“Next, strengthening potion.”
He dripped the white potion and poured more cola.
“......!?”
The moment he drank it, an unprecedented rush of refreshment swept through him.
“Ah......!”
Euphoria lifted his body as dopamine surged—not the cheap high from drugs or sex, but a purer, divine bliss one dimension higher.
“It's delicious!”
The most amazing carbonated drink of his life.
“So this is the strengthening effect......”
After an hour, he tried more cola in the tumbler.
“Whew! Even better than before?”
The WK Special Tumbler's strengthening effect seemed permanent.
‘That's why I wanted it.’
The Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt lets him weaken or strengthen specific entities like this.
‘Weakening or strengthening targets to reveal new behaviors—that alone is fascinating.’
Unfortunately, wiki info was sparse—just a few lines of test results. In-game, interaction limits made it usable on only five safe entities.
“But now it's different.”
This isn't a game anymore.
Everything in sight is fair game.
-Squawk!
“Yeah, you too.”
And isekai transfer circles, other entities, everyday objects.
“9 uses left.”
He drained the tumbler happily and gripped the vial.
“Time for some intellectual play.”