Hunter Gallery

Meanwhile, the developer herself hadn't given so much as a passing thought to how well her medicines were being received.

"Hmmmm—"

"In exchange, help me organize everything I ordered today before you go."

She had just decided to grant priority reservation rights with owner privileges to Uncle Balan, the Orc merchant from the Empire beyond the Gate who was always hunting for that special Korean affection.

He nodded.

"Got it. Buy one patch and I'll throw in a freebie for ya."

"Ah, I'll take one of each potion too. One Red Potion, one Blue Potion. That work?"

"Yeees."

Of course, if the Hunter customers outside ever found out, they might throw a fit — but this was also an expression of gratitude toward Uncle Balan, who delivered bulk supplies in person and had given her the following advice when she'd been mindlessly brewing medicines without a second thought.

"So you're saying your workshop is this packed either because some big Gate opened somewhere, or because every other workshop's reservations are full? Doesn't that just mean you don't really know either?"

"...W-well, maybe—"

"Sia. Looking around inside, it seems like you've been brewing nonstop day and night just 'cause the orders are high. A merchant — at least anyone who sells things — needs to properly understand why their products are selling."

With his green, muscular arms crossed, Uncle was speaking with genuine seriousness this time. Only after hearing his words did she realize she'd been far too casual about why her shop was so busy.

…Well, of course I was curious about the reason too.

But when you spent all day in a small body brewing four medicines at once, by nightfall — or whenever free time appeared — you'd collapse into sleep. There simply hadn't been any physical spare capacity to look into it. And then Uncle dropped a simple, brilliant answer!

"Why not just ask the customers?"

"Ah."

That method!

…Am I actually an idiot?

"Tsk. Those bags under your eyes — what do they call it, a polar bear with freckles? Never mind. I've gotten my freebies, so I'll dig around a bit for you."

"Waaah, Uncle, you're the best!"

"In exchange, just two more packs of patches—"

"......"

"…One pack?"

…Anyway. After that, Uncle arranged the goods at every designated spot, helped organize even the refrigerator behind the pharmacy counter, and left in a hurry.

Trolls were large magical beasts, so their blood came in large quantities — but he didn't keep much on hand for freshness reasons. To fulfill the additional order volume, he'd have to return to the Empire and put in requests with the mercenaries.

And so, in the space Uncle Balan left behind, her pharmacy no longer had anything resembling a normal pharmacy's customer service area.

"Ten cauldrons…!"

She'd stored the troll blood and the additionally ordered herbs in the refrigerator after clearing out the Mentholatum, but there still wasn't enough space. So she'd shoved the counter desk and footrest all the way against the wall and lined up the newly purchased impurity-filtering columns in a long row.

And so another week of making medicine.

By setting up five additional cauldrons each for Red Medicine and Blue Medicine, drinking Blue Medicine whenever her mana ran low, and even setting a dehumidifier alarm so she could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boil them day and night at the absolute minimum time — this was the result.

She'd started making the Menstrual Cramp Medicine at a leisurely pace, but later on, even after limiting quantity to one per person, the number of orders exploded. Its experience gain rate was the fastest of all. It would probably hit max within a few days too.

Anyway, she diligently made medicine again today. Being cooped up indoors ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all day — using mana, sleeping, waking up, using mana, packaging medicine — should have been exhausting,

"Eheheh."

But when you were this mentally happy, you didn't feel the physical strain at all.

What had put her in this high state was the reason her pharmacy was so busy — which Uncle Balan had sent her that very afternoon a week ago.

"Heongal is going crazy…?"

Ding.

At first, reading that, she'd assumed they were trash-talking her again. Well — of course. The Hunter Gallery was that place. The very bad internet site that had branded her a fifty-nine-year-old Chinese scammer selling drugs and refused to hear her explanation!

She'd even filmed a video because the false accusation was so unfair, so of course she'd thought about it. It's just that the video got cut off mid-way and she needed to re-film it — but with so many orders and not enough sleep, she'd put it off.

Uncle Sangjin was fine, with no injuries, so even if he'd written a review it would have been about the patch. And while the patch order volume was high, it seemed unrelated to the situation where Red Potion orders were overwhelmingly dominant.

"What is this…?"

So even as she pulled the blanket over her head and logged on, she never expected the gallery to be in this kind of uproar.

…

She didn't go online often, so she couldn't understand half of what they were saying — but the familiar names she recognized immediately.

Red Medicine and Yongyong Patch.

The names she herself had given her own medicines!

"…Did I put something weird in the patch?"

She blinked hard for a moment, slapped her cheeks a few times, and briefly doubted her own eyesight — but a little later she pulled free of the mental assault and could properly start figuring out the cause.

She typed her pharmacy's keyword — drugs — into the search bar.

After scrolling for a long while and searching for several hours, she finally grasped the flow of events!

It had all started with Uncle Sangjin's review post from the first day Hunters began gathering.

Amazingly, it said her Red Potion had produced effects on par with a high-grade red potion and saved someone who'd nearly died! On top of that, word got out that Hunters Han Yena and Han Mina had visited the pharmacy, drawing a bit of a crowd — and then interest exploded when those two came in person to pick up their ordered stock.

She'd also given the first batch to the guild and sold some to people who'd reserved on day one. Since those reservation-holders had all come after seeing Heongal, some of them posted reviews there — and the result had completely taken over the gallery!

In other words, the drug controversy had died out without her even needing to upload a video, and her medicines were being loved by everyone with effects far beyond what she'd imagined!!!

The feeling when she realized that—

"Hehe, uh, heheheh."

The skin inside her chest went all tingly, the corners of her mouth kept lifting on their own, and the whole world felt bright and spinning — just like when she used to ride the carousel at the amusement park with Mom and Dad!

She couldn't keep her body still no matter what.

"Kyaaaaaaagh—"

Not from embarrassment — from pure joy. She hugged her comfort plushie and blanket-kicked,

Thwack thwack

and punched the air.

Creeeak.

"Hah…!"

Then she bumped lightly into the desk and forced herself to settle down. If she actually knocked something over, it would be a full-scale disaster.

…Anyway.

That was why, even a week later, she was still this happy. Humans, after all, were animals that lived not on food but on spiritual fulfillment. Even if the body was a bit worn out, as long as the spirit was happy, that was enough. Why — wasn't there a saying about a hungry Socrates being better than a well-fed pig?

Mm. So what she was saying was—

Look around look around

"Today too… ahem, maybe I'll just pop in for a bit?"

Checking Heongal in the middle of work was an absolutely essential routine for doing the job well. It was definitely not slacking off!

Tap — her finger slyly pressed the Heongal app she'd left open and, purely by coincidence, entered the Concept-Recommended board.

"Heeheehee."

Today, too, the Concept-Recommended board was completely occupied by posts related ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to her. She clicked into them one by one, in order.

Click.

"Euheeheehee—"

The gravelly male voice that came out when she played the recording made laughter burst out of her uncontrollably. It was so funny tears almost came out.

"Hehehee, euheheheong—"

It was so hilarious she had no choice but to hit recommend. And she had to leave a comment too. She clicked anonymous nickname and wrote:

She left the comment!

And so she enjoyed Heongal for a long while. She carefully read every single post on today's Concept-Recommended board, then searched with keywords like 'Drug Pharmacy,' 'pharmacy,' 'drugs,' 'Red Medicine,' 'patch,' 'Yongyong,' and more.

Ah! I should search Gallery Owner too! I still don't know what it means, but…

"Heheheung~"

She was deep in gallery-diving for quite some time when—

Beep-beep-beep—

She suddenly checked the time at the sound of the ringing alarm. And then she panicked.

Huh? Where did my time… go?

Well — first of all, the "stir the Blue Medicine" alarm had gone off, so she was stirring — but at this rate she wouldn't even get three hours of sleep tonight!

She needed to grow taller!

Rumble!

Height was a truly critical matter. Her attending physician, an Elf doctor, had looked at her — who hadn't grown even 0.1 cm during her growth period — and said it seemed her growth had been locked because of her deactivated class.

Which meant, conversely, that now that her class was activated, the possibility of growing had opened up! And she was still nineteen — an age when even ordinary people still grew — so it was absolute golden time.

That was why she'd somehow managed to protect her sleep between ten and two… and yet she'd let this precious window slip away.

"Huuuuiing…"

She covered her face with both hands and despaired.

…But something was strange.

"……?"

Why, with her eyes covered, was something blinking?

She opened her eyes and looked at the blinking light. The blinking grew larger. It was her class window.

Ah — this was a thing!

She smacked her forehead. As a result of diligently making so many medicines, a locked skill had been unlocked. She'd definitely remembered it — but the gallery had just been too fun.

Anyway, with this—!

"Aging!"

She immediately used the skill on the cauldron of Blue Medicine she'd been stirring.

Inside the cauldron, the blue-glowing contents gradually deepened. When it was deep enough, she stirred once more. When it deepened a bit further, she stirred again. And so, ten minutes.

"Medicine Appraisal!"

Poof!

The Blue Medicine was finished instantly!

"Yessss!"

She thrust both arms high toward the ceiling and cheered with pure joy.

Starting tomorrow, she'd be able to spend even longer on the gallery — how could she not be delighted!