Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guest (2)
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By the time the tteokbokki Miss So-jeong had made was digesting in my stomach, I finished sucking on one of the drake hearts and headed to the guest room.
"I've slept for over 24 hours, so it should be about time to wake up."
Click. I opened the door and peered inside, but the girl was still lying in bed, sleeping soundly.
At this point, it wasn't just sleep deprivation—maybe she had narcolepsy or something. I wondered if I should've taken her to the hospital. Worried, I approached to check her condition.
"Hmm... At least she looks better on the outside?"
The dark circles under her eyes, like a panda's, were gone, and her complexion had a healthy glow.
I was thinking of letting her sleep more when her body twitched.
"Mm..."
She rubbed her eyes with a bit of sleep-talk.
"Huuuuaah~"
She stretched both arms up high and arched her back. Then, with a series of cracks from her neck, she looked around groggily with half-open eyes.
"Where... is this?"
Scratching her messy beige hair like a bird's nest, she turned her head—until her gaze landed on me.
In an instant, her eyes widened like full moons.
"Ah... A-ah...!"
She scrambled up from the bed and bowed her head deeply.
"P-please, Divine One! Grant me your grace!"
A cracked, raspy voice burst from her parched throat.
It was laced with a fanaticism bordering on madness—honestly, it was downright scary.
"Uh... first, let's start with some explanations... No, wait. Drink some water first and then we'll talk?"
"Ah, s-sorry!"
Her throat looked rough, so I grabbed two bottles of sports drink from the fridge and handed them over.
She chugged one right there on the spot, and only then did her voice return to normal.
"Th-thank you..."
"That's better. Can you explain what's going on now?"
"Y-yes! I'm Yeon Geum-hee!"
Yeon Geum-hee. I had her name now, but still no clue about the situation.
"So, why are you suddenly calling me a god and kneeling like that?"
At my question, Yeon Geum-hee's eyes gleamed with fanatic zeal again. She carefully pulled a small ampoule from inside her lab coat.
Inside the ampoule swirled a golden liquid that glowed on its own.
"It's because of this!"
She held it right in front of my eyes and continued, her voice trembling with excitement.
"A few days ago, by chance... no, by fate, I was given a task. To analyze a single scale."
A scale. Probably the one I'd given Jang Hee-yoon during my health checkup.
"I took it to my personal lab and analyzed it. And I realized... it was a substance impossible to explain with modern science!"
Yeon Geum-hee's voice grew louder.
"That tiny scale was rewriting the laws of the entire world. Conducting mana with 100% efficiency, generating its own energy, altering material properties...!"
Ecstasy washed over her face.
"A-and from just a fraction of it, I made this liquid: 'Golden Elixir'! If we can keep producing this, humanity will advance not one step, but ten!"
Her hand trembled as she clutched the ampoule, gazing up at me like a devotee before their cult leader.
"So please, become my god! Become humanity's god...! The scales! Just a few scales, please...!"
Listening to her, there was something I couldn't wrap my head around.
"So, what exactly are you planning to do with that Golden Elixir?"
She said it was for humanity, so I was considering giving some as charity, but I needed to know what for first.
"Wh-what? Of course I've planned it out! F-first, I'll show it to the academy to gain authority, win the Nobel Prize, then get more funding to replicate the elixir, heh heh, huhu, and I'll become the god of a new world! Humanity will all be reborn in ideal forms! So please, the scales...!"
Her explanation made the decision easy.
"No thanks."
"Wh-what?!"
"Think about it. I don't even know how you found me, or if it's safe, and it's all just benefiting you anyway."
"Th-this is for humanity!"
Miss So-jeong must have heard the commotion, because she came into the room.
"Ah, Miss So-jeong. Perfect timing. I have a question."
"...Yes. What is it?"
"What the heck is this girl?"
To me, she didn't seem like a special Awakened—just a special kind of crazy.
"Yeon Geum-hee. Age 14. Awakened with A+-grade ability 'All Things Transmutation'."
"Fourteen? She's just a kid..."
Yeah, that explained the 'god of a new world' nonsense. Full-on middle school syndrome.
At my firm expression, despair flooded Yeon Geum-hee's face. She stared blankly at the floor for a moment, then crawled unsteadily toward Yu So-jeong.
"S-So-jeong unnie! Please, I beg you! For old times' sake, convince him! Yeah?"
Yeon Geum-hee clutched at Yu So-jeong's pant leg and pleaded. Old times' sake? Did they have some history?
Curious about their connection, I glanced at Yu So-jeong, but she quickly rolled her eyes away from me.
"I have no memory of sharing any bond with Awakened Yeon Geum-hee."
What the hell was their deal, seriously.
Annoyed for no reason, I pried Yeon Geum-hee's hand off Yu So-jeong.
"Alright, time to head home? I'm a busy guy."
I'd brought her here thinking we might bond as similar Awakened, but if this was her reason, it wouldn't work out.
I licked the drake heart in my hand as I spoke.
"I wouldn't help with something that doesn't benefit me anyway."
"Th-that... Humanity's progress is your progress! If I commercialize this for real, you'll be the god who saved all of humanity!"
I could see her desperately racking her brain, but she wasn't landing on a good answer.
As she tore at her hair and rolled on the floor, her eyes suddenly locked onto my hand—specifically, the drake heart I held.
"Ah! Th-that mana heart! I can make it even more amazing!"
"More amazing how?"
"Y-yes! It's full of impurities right now! With my ability, I can remove the impurities and add catalysts to boost purity and amplify the mana!"
Boost purity and amplify mana? That caught my interest.
Baby dragon mana hearts taste stronger and more premium the fewer impurities they have and the more potent the mana. I'd learned that from experience.
If she could really filter impurities and amp up the mana like she said?
I could eat wyvern mana hearts just as deliciously as drake ones! Plus, the debuff removal effect would probably get stronger too.
Slurp.
I sucked in the drool from my imagination and wiped my mouth. This was worth a shot.
If she succeeded in making mana hearts tastier? I'd get better snacks just for some scales.
If she failed? I'd just lose one wyvern mana heart.
This deal was heavily in my favor.
"...Fine. I'll give you one chance."
"A ch-chance?!"
Her face lit up.
"Prove your skills with this. If you succeed, I'll consider what you want."
I pulled out the murkiest, smallest damaged wyvern mana heart from the box full of them and tossed it at her feet.
Yeon Geum-hee scrambled across the floor like a crab and snatched it up.
"Th-thank you! I'll prove it for sure! Divine One!"
The moment she took the mana heart, her eyes changed—like an athlete gearing up for the game.
"W-wait a sec. Need a flat surface... Ah, there we go."
She wiped down the living room table with her hand and placed the mana heart on it.
"Beginning now."
She started drawing a magic circle with powder from her pocket. Intricate patterns and runes spiraled out from the center in bizarre forms.
Then she conjured a tiny mana blade, nicked her index finger, and dripped the blood into the circle's heart.
After that came a flurry of complex steps: mixing reagents, fetching a cup of water, soaking the wyvern mana heart...
The whole process was shockingly swift.
Only after 10 minutes did Yeon Geum-hee catch her breath. Sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Hoo, hoo... It's... ready now."
Visually, nothing seemed to have changed. No mana surge or anything. But her expression was dead serious.
Yeon Geum-hee closed her eyes and clasped her hands. Faint mana gathered at her fingertips.
"Transmute!"
With a short shout, she pressed both hands to the magic circle.
Fwaaah!
The circle flashed briefly with weak blue light.
The wyvern mana heart in the cup wasn't its old murky turquoise anymore—it gleamed with clear, transparent sapphire hues.
"Hm..."
Honestly, it didn't look that different. Just a shinier rock?
But Yeon Geum-hee grinned confidently.
"Heh heh heh... Th-this is definitely different."
Seeing is believing. Time to test it.
I carefully lifted the mana heart from the cup. The texture felt about the same: smooth, firm, with a slight warmth.
'Yeah, nothing special.'
Disappointment was creeping in when an unexpected aroma hit my nose.
"Oh...?!"
No trace of the cheap candy smell wyverns usually had. Just a crisp, refreshing scent like a fizzy drink.
If the smell was this good, the taste must be...
I brought the mana heart to my lips as if entranced.