Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Jelly
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"Sigh..."
I'd been letting out sighs ever since stepping out of the car. I really hadn't wanted to come all the way out here.
Leaving the house always requires a huge resolve. Especially when the destination is Yeon Geum-hee's workshop.
She'd been hounding me for days.
Stuff like, "I've created a masterpiece," or "This is revolutionary," or "The Divine One will surely be pleased," throwing out all sorts of hype without ever showing me the actual result.
I wondered just how amazing it must be to get her so worked up, but part of me worried she might've whipped up something weird and called me over to harvest my bodily fluids or whatever.
'At least I prepared some scales as a reward.'
If it turned out well, I figured I'd give her three.
"Go on ahead. I'll park and catch up right away."
Yoo So-jeong smoothly turned the wheel like it was second nature, and I headed toward the rundown commercial building housing Yeon Geum-hee's workshop.
This neighborhood had particularly tangled alleys. I'd checked the map beforehand, but the labyrinthine backstreets, rarely trodden by people, carried an eerie chill.
The moment I rounded a corner, someone approaching from the opposite direction suddenly appeared right in front of me.
Thud!
"Ow?!"
My forehead smacked straight into their chest. They must've been walking fast—I nearly toppled over.
I staggered back, and so did they, coming to a halt.
That instant.
Whoosh—!
A sinister surge of mana swept over my body. But before I could even feel alarmed, it vanished as if it had never been there.
The man in the hoodie before me raised his arms in brief confusion, then lowered them.
"...Sorry."
A clumsy Korean accent, laced with a subtle Chinese tonal inflection. That's how the man apologized.
"Ah, no, my fault too—I wasn't watching where I was going—huh?"
I looked up to apologize, blinking, and in that split second, he was gone from my sight.
In less than a second? How could a person vanish that fast? My dynamic vision wasn't bad.
'An Awakened?'
Given the mana I'd sensed, probably.
Some Awakened with stealth abilities couldn't control them well, leading to collisions or misunderstandings. Likely one of those cases.
'But stealth that strong—enough to hide from my eyes—should make them famous, right?'
I stood there tilting my head in confusion when Yoo So-jeong, done parking, approached.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, I just bumped into some guy."
Yoo So-jeong's eyes narrowed. She quickly scanned the surroundings.
"...I didn't see anyone else around here."
"Huh? Really?"
Her expression hardened. She touched the in-ear piece on one ear and whispered.
"Code yellow. Requesting search."
Several hidden agents popped out and began sweeping the area.
"Eh, it's probably nothing. If it were dangerous, they'd have attacked already, right?"
"...Better to stay cautious just in case. Let's head inside first."
I brushed off the uneasy feeling and opened the weathered door.
Creeeak—
The rusty hinges screamed.
The moment I stepped in, a familiar chemical scent hit me, followed by a crash of things toppling over.
Crash-clang-bang!
"Divine Oooone!"
It was Yeon Geum-hee.
With disheveled hair and a grimy lab coat, she slid across the floor on her knees, stopping right before me.
"Y-You've arrived! To grace this humble abode and visit a lowly wretch like me in person...!"
"...Get up first."
I backed away, shielding myself with my arms and wings. Yeon Geum-hee sprang up at my words and grinned creepily.
I'd thought I'd gotten used to it over phone calls, but hearing "Divine One" right to my face was still tough.
Why was she making such a fuss anyway?
"Cut the 'Divine One' stuff too. So, what's this big achievement?"
"Heh heh heh... D-Don't be shocked. This way."
With a grave expression, she opened the door to the basement.
Dim, flickering lights; unidentified materials scattered everywhere; bubbling flasks; blackboards crammed with complex equations...
A textbook mad scientist's lab.
Yeon Geum-hee led us to a corner of the basement. The table there had been shoved into place haphazardly amid the clutter.
And atop it lay something covered with a white cloth.
"This is it... the fruit of my ceaseless research, day and night."
She grasped the cloth with trembling hands.
"The miraculous birth of the Divine One's exalted byproducts fused with the pinnacle of modern alchemy!"
Swish!
The cloth came off.
"...?"
I blinked at the revealed sight.
On the table sat beakers of various sizes, each filled with translucent substances in vivid colors.
Red, blue, purple...
Jelly-like goo that seemed to faintly glow.
"What is this?"
At my question, Yeon Geum-hee cleared her throat and began explaining with a serious face.
"A-All right, let me explain! It's based on high-purity mana essence extracted from mana hearts. To that, I added pectin from the rare dungeon-grown stone bamboo plant for gelling, mana-hardening gelatin to stabilize the form, and used the Divine One's scale powder as a catalyst to rearrange the molecular structure."
Her words sped up.
"I induced solid particles dispersed in the liquid mana solution to form a three-dimensional lattice, trapping ultra-concentrated mana liquid inside. This suppresses mana volatility to under 0.01%, skyrockets bodily absorption rates, and ensures thermodynamic stability so it doesn't degrade at room temperature... and..."
"Stop."
I raised a hand to cut her off.
Listening to that any longer would make my head spin. I never heard stuff like that even in college.
"Explain simply. Sum it up in one line."
Yeon Geum-hee looked disappointed but replied.
"Um... In simple terms, mana heart jelly."
"...Jelly?"
"Yes! Jelly!"
She picked up one beaker and offered it to me.
A wobbly red lump.
"Th-The viscosity varies slightly with additives and catalysts, so the texture differs a bit—like from pudding to caramel, say."
I brought the beaker to my nose. A fruity aroma mingled with a sweet scent wafted up.
I tentatively poked it with a finger, and the soft jelly jiggled elastically with the motion.
This was...
"...Looks delicious."
My mouth watered uncontrollably.
Dragon instincts clearly signaled: this was good for my body and insanely tasty.
"Try it! I even varied the flavors by type. That's strawberry-flavored Flame Wyvern Jelly! The flavor's added separately, of course..."
I tilted the beaker to my lips and took a small bite of the jelly.
Nom nom...
"...!"
My eyes flew wide.
Chewing the soft, moist jelly unleashed a burst of sweetness, filling my mouth with tangy-sweet strawberry and pure mana flowing in.
A joy entirely different from the hard, potent raw crystals!
"How is it? What do you think, Divine One?!"
Yeon Geum-hee watched my reaction with eager eyes.
I slurped down the rest from the beaker, licked the residue from my lips, and gave a thumbs-up.
"Pass."
[Consumed Baby Dragon Heart Fragment.]
[The duration of the debuff 'Frail Wyrmling' has been shortened by one week.]
And the performance was incredible. Made from a wyvern mana heart, yet it shaved off a full week.
"I did iiiit!!"
Yeon Geum-hee cheered, jumping up and down in place.
"A-And that's not all! Anyone Awakened can consume it, and I'm considering tonic editions or tube dispensers. Plus, I can make individual solid jelly pieces!"
This girl was a genius, no doubt. That Nobel Prize talk from when we first met wasn't exaggeration!
The "anyone Awakened" part nagged a bit, but good products drawing crowds was inevitable.
'Not like anyone can snatch them from me if I buy them all out.'
Few could outbid my overwhelming funds. Top-tier Hunters, maybe?
"Good job. Here's your scales."
I rummaged in my bag for the ziplock and handed them over. But the count was off.
'Huh? I definitely packed three.'
Oddly, there were only two inside. Must've miscounted.
"Th-Thank yooou!"
Ignoring that, Yeon Geum-hee looked half in tears... wait, actually crying? Anyway, she lunged at me.
Boing!
Yeon Geum-hee leaped toward me.
"W-Wait a sec."
Her enhanced physical prowess enabled a jump twice that of a normal person's. And with that leap, she soared airborne straight at me.
No time to dodge—the impact rushed in.
Splat!
Then, a weird sound echoed from the top of my head.
Crack!
Something snapped clean in two.