The Choi Family Pharmacy
Once upon a time.
In Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do, there was a family that had run a pharmacy for generations in a village where reeds grew in abundance.
Never turn away from the pain of the weak and the sick.
The pharmacy performed countless acts of kindness and became a renowned household in the region.
Yet heaven was merciless, and this family suffered an attack from a villain organization.
From the near-total annihilation, only one survivor remained—a boy whose left leg had been severed.
When the boy opened his eyes in the hospital, he declared his revenge.
He would find them no matter what and avenge his family.
But for a boy left with nothing but a ruined pharmacy and one leg, revenge was a distant dream.
In the end, the boy laid hands on forbidden knowledge that no physician should ever touch.
『Poison and medicine are two sides of the same coin—originally one and the same.』
Thirty years later, police raiding a smuggling ship discovered thirty-two corpses.
Blood streamed from every orifice, all four limbs twisted, two hundred six bones shattered beyond recognition, joints melted away.
They had died in agony worse than death itself. Later it was revealed that the corpses belonged to the villain organization that had led the Gwangyang massacre.
— From the story of Choi Family Pharmacy
* * *
Was it because of the GM’s complex game mechanics?
The GM community was always alive with discussion.
This had been quite the hot topic back then.
Does Korea have a proper poison school?
If so, what is the strongest poison in Korea?
Poison. A substance that harms or kills living beings.
In GM, the Korean faction was the weakest of the three East Asian countries when it came to poisons.
Thinking about it, Korea never had a plausible poison sect.
China had the ever-popular Sichuan Tang Clan from wuxia novels, Japan had the ninja group Koga-ryu, but Korea?
There was simply nothing that came to mind.
Korean users found this deeply frustrating.
Who were they? The people who would die of joy if someone posted a single line like “XX is shocked! XX is horrified!” That was the nation of nationalistic fervor.
With one united heart, Korean users demanded that the GM developers create a poison sect worthy of representing their country.
They didn’t even ask for the best! Just something humanly decent to represent the nation!
Was it because they were sick of Crazy Korean’s spicy flavor, or because they felt wronged?
The famously tight-lipped developers gave an extremely unusual response to the request.
To cut to the chase, the developers succeeded. The moment the answer came out, the noisy Korean users fell silent.
[ already have. ]
They already have one? That’s what it meant?
The community exploded.
From that day on, users searched with fire in their eyes for the poison sect the developers had mentioned.
But it wasn’t easy. If it had been hidden so poorly that anyone who knew it existed could find it, it would have been discovered long ago.
Exhausted users turned to their last resort—finding “that person.”
The great teacher of GM users, the legendary veteran.
Teacher Lee would surely give them the answer.
And their expectations were met.
Lee Shin did not betray them.
[ It’s the Choi Family Pharmacy. ]
A strange pharmacy that sells poison under the title of a pharmacy.
If its medicine was simply excellent, then its poison was the best in Korea—perhaps even among the most unique and powerful in the world.
But this pharmacy did not open its doors to just anyone.
[ Promote your guild to League 2 and complete villain extermination quests to obtain the quest item “Poison Monster’s Secret Records.” That map marks the location of Choi Family Pharmacy. ]
Simple to say, but it took at least a month. In the worst case, half a year.
Even then, it wasn’t over.
Choi Family Pharmacy was a hidden piece that offered no transactions, no dialogue, not even dialogue options unless certain conditions were met.
[ Among epic items, look for ones with the description “One-Legged Poison Monster.” I won’t say the exact number, but once you find them all, the options will appear.
Be careful. There are five stars. If you press the wrong one without thinking, you’re done for. ]
Five choices. Only one chance.
Press the wrong one and your connection to Choi Family Pharmacy ends right there.
The password left by the Poison Monster to open the door to Korea’s representative pharmacy and poison sect.
[ Poison and medicine are two sides of the same coin…… ]
·
·
“……originally one and the same.”
At Lee Shin’s words, the woman sitting before him was greatly shaken.
“How do you know that password……?”
She wore a black mourning robe one might see at a funeral home. Her head was completely covered by a bamboo hat, and her right arm bore a mourning band.
The identity of this extraordinary woman was the great-granddaughter of the “One-Legged Poison Monster,” who had taken revenge, atoned for her murders by disappearing from history, and the current head of Choi Family Pharmacy.
The place Lee Shin had arrived at to obtain poison for Lee Hye-jung was none other than Choi Family Pharmacy.
“The more I hear it, the better it sounds. ‘Two sides of the same coin—originally one and the same.’ It feels like a phrase that pierces through the world.”
“If you won’t answer my question, I won’t speak either.”
“I heard it from the late Poison Monster elder. He asked me to take good care of you.”
“Nonsense! How could you possibly know my great-grandfather—”
“Ah! Right, I should say this too. Three years of mourning is foolish. What era do you think this is?”
“You—!”
The steps to unlock the hidden piece Choi Family Pharmacy were largely three.
1. Obtain the “Poison Monster’s Secret Records” through villain extermination quests and find the location.
2. Collect thirteen epic items containing the word “Poison Monster” in their descriptions.
3. Choose the correct answer from the five options that appear.
Only when all these conditions were met would one be treated as the “Poison Monster’s successor” and receive full cooperation from Choi Family Pharmacy.
But let’s think differently.
Would the veteran Lee Shin, who had seen this “poison and medicine blah blah” password dozens or hundreds of times, not know it?
Of course he knew it.
Then why, in the game, did one always have to collect the Poison Monster’s items to use Choi Family Pharmacy?
Because if you didn’t collect them, the options themselves wouldn’t appear! You couldn’t click anything!
But this was reality, and in reality, one could speak the password even without options.
Why?
‘Because I have a mouth. Because I can speak!’
That was it.
What Lee Shin was doing now exploited a loophole in the system.
Similar to how he had used information to help hunters grow.
Of course, skipping the process came with some wariness, but Lee Shin believed.
Would this character, stubborn enough to observe three years of mourning in this era……
‘Really ignore the dying wish of the great-grandfather she respects so much?’
The answer was no.
As always, Lee Shin’s faith was rewarded.
“……Very well. I’ll believe you for now.”
“Haha, you won’t regret—”
“For now! I said for now! I’ll be watching you from now on!”
Of all people, it had to be someone like this……
The woman quietly grumbled and reached out to extinguish the incense. Then she offered dandelion tea to Lee Shin.
“It’s an incense made from paralysis powder. It slowly paralyzes the body. Drinking this dandelion tea will detoxify it quickly. If you were offended, I apologize. The world is a dangerous place.”
“Ooh……!! So this is how it progresses!!”
“Hey! I’m talking right now!”
“S-sorry. It’s a hidden piece, so I got excited.”
“Haah, what are you even saying.”
The woman decided that for the sake of her own mental health, she needed to get rid of this lunatic successor (technically still under suspicion).
“So what exactly do you need?”
“I need beginner-level poison.”
“Understood. Come back in three hours.”
Who would use it? How would it be made?
The order ended without a single common question.
It was absurdly simple, but Lee Shin didn’t doubt her.
When it came to poison, if that woman said so, then it was so.
Just as the spectacular process seemed about to end with ridiculous simplicity, the deal nearly concluded.
If Chae Dong-ha, who had been waiting outside, hadn’t burst through the door in a panic.
“M-Master! It’s terrible! The potion factory says they’re breaking the contract!”
Chae Dong-ha wailed at the shocking news, tears welling in his eyes.
Yet the man called Master, Lee Shin, remained calm.
In fact, he smiled as he looked at the woman.
“You heard that, right?”
“W-what?”
“I need potions too.”
“……You’re something else.”
She really wished he would just leave already.
Though hidden behind the bamboo hat, her voice was filled with exhaustion.
* * *
After securing both the poison for Lee Hye-jung and the potion contract, they were on the highway returning to Busan.
The potion story that had been postponed was now addressed.
“Did you find out?”
“There’s nothing to find out. The factory unilaterally notified us of contract termination.”
What was the most important consumable in a raid?
If you grabbed any passing hunter and asked, all of them would give the same answer.
Potion.
From basic potions like health recovery and mana recovery potions,
to special potions like detoxification potions, poisoning potions, awakening potions, and buff potions.
These essential consumables had become indispensable for improving performance and ensuring party safety in raids.
Perhaps that was why potion supply was treated as a very important matter in guilds.
Could they really buy potions needed at a minimum of three hundred bottles per raid from retail every time?
Once the league started, they would raid at least once a week, and if the schedule tightened, up to twice a week?
Plus, as mentioned earlier, there weren’t just one or two types of potions, and special gates required potions unique to them.
To solve these problems, guilds came up with a method: supply contracts with potion factories.
“I’m saying this now, but if Master hadn’t made a deal with this pharmacy, it would have been hell.”
“Hehe, we almost went into the sixth-round raid the day after tomorrow empty-handed.”
“Just thinking about it makes me break into a cold sweat.”
Chae Dong-ha’s reaction was by no means excessive.
That was how serious potion supply was for a guild.
“What did they say the reason was? If they’re breaking a perfectly fine contract, there must be a reason.”
“They said it was personal privacy.”
“Huh? Privacy?? They actually said that?”
Even Lee Shin, who rarely lost his smile even at shocking news, looked genuinely dumbfounded.
“I doubted my own ears when I first heard it. A contract isn’t a blind date—what does privacy have to do with it?”
“Hmm, this is too abnormal. What about the penalty? The penalty isn’t small.”
“The Guild Leader already contacted me. He just confirmed the penalty payment.”
This was not a normal situation by any means.
Just as the contract was important to the guild, the potion trade carried significant weight for the factory as well.
At the very least, it wasn’t something to be terminated so carelessly.
‘Besides, this is Busan.’
In this small market, reputation was quite important. Yet they were throwing away their reputation while paying a huge penalty? And to a client they’d had a contract with for twenty years?
Sniff sniff, something smelled fishy. The damp, dirty stench of conspiracy.
‘Who could it be?’
There were two things to check.
First, the penalty paid in a lump sum.
Second, who would benefit most if Mir Guild fell.
“Ah……!”
So that was it.
Lee Shin’s serious expression melted away into a mischievous grin.
Lee Shin looked at the woman in the driver’s seat through the rearview mirror. She met his eyes, as if she had been aware too.
A silent exchange of glances.
‘Right?’
‘It seems so.’
The answer: family infighting.
“We must really be doing well.”
“Suddenly—what do you mean?”
“Our dear cousins seem to be starting to notice us.”
He didn’t know exactly who, but they must have been quite desperate to resort to such an uncharacteristic dogfight.
But too bad for them.
They picked the wrong opponent. They woke up the mad dog of this world.
‘You started this fight. Try surviving with nothing but spite and grit.’
Lee Shin’s eyes reflected in the car window gleamed dangerously.
