Chapter 16
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Mad Alchemist
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Earth Korea Management Team.
Park Ju-ho and his colleague were so absorbed watching the user's play that they could barely think straight.
"Wow He cleared all that in just two weeks."
"Total monster. That guy."
They'd been annoyed at first when he suddenly started on the village quests, but as time went on, their expressions shifted.
The Origin Village quests were 95 pure grind.
The village was originally designed to indirectly guide players to the training halls, where they'd pick up basic skills, level up, and head to their job change quests.
But this user had gone the opposite route, diving straight into the village quests and grinding them out without a single break.
Quests that would generously take two monthshe'd wiped them clean in two weeks.
"You two, enough gawking. Get back to work!"
Oh Jin-su, the team leader, reined them in.
"Sorry. We'll get right on it."
At his bark, Park Ju-ho and his colleague finally shut down the monitoring program and returned to their tasks.
Even he had been glued to the user's play during the Krasha hunt, but watching the village quests afterward had dampened his interest a bit.
He'd climbed to this position by learning a fair amount about New World along the way.
'Those village quests just hand out one symbolic title and call it a day.'
Ever since a handful of YouTubers had verified it, no one bothered anymore.
He'd been intrigued at first by the user's eccentric behavior, but seeing him tackle the village questswhich offered more hassle than rewardmade him think it was probably just a ridiculous stroke of luck piling up.
'Really just luck?'
On the other hand, he couldn't shake the feeling that there might be something to it this time too.
Psssh
The capsule hatch slid open, and Jeong Hoon stepped out.
He'd compressed quests that should have taken two months into two weeks flat.
Proof that he'd pushed nonstop.
If it had been something fulfilling, finebut it was all grunt work, so the mental strain was inevitable.
"Huu."
He bought a drink for a quick breather and sank into a chair.
One more stop at the alchemist's house, and he could start the next quest.
He was sipping and plotting his next moves when someone dropped into the seat across from him.
Capsule room owner Lee Hyun-woo.
"Taking a break?"
He was casual with Ha-jin since they were close, but this was his first time laying eyes on Jeong Hoon at the capsule room.
So he held back on the informal tone with him.
"Yeah."
Jeong Hoon nodded.
"Know this is your first break in two weeks?"
How could he not.
For the village quests, Jeong Hoon had slashed his sleep to a measly two hours, pouring every other minuteminus travelinto them.
Dark circles ringed his eyes, and he was so wiped that his head hitting a pillow would knock him out cold.
"I'm good. Just a short rest, then back in."
He'd come this farmight as well lock in the alchemist quest before crashing.
"Her."
Lee Hyun-woo was speechless at Jeong Hoon's grit.
'Ha-jin that guy's been hiding a beast like this as a friend.'
He'd thought appearing on that kid genius show as a teen was impressive enough, but now he saw the real marvel was that mental fortitude.
Even for someone hooked on New World, sinking over 21 hours a day was no joke.
Virtual reality and the real world were worlds apart.
The more time in the capsule, the more mental damage piled up, leading to rapid fatigue.
Most users topped out at eight hours.
Hardcore addicts pushed past 12, but even they couldn't sustain it beyond a week.
Their brains started screaming.
Yet Jeong Hoon was dumping in nearly 21 hours.
For a straight two weeks, without a single day off.
'He must be exhaustedhow's he holding up?'
Anyone could see Jeong Hoon's face was wrecked.
One poke, and he'd crumple unconscious.
"I'll head back to the capsule now."
"Huh? Already?"
Barely five minutes of rest?
"Yeah. Kinda busy."
With that, Jeong Hoon climbed back in.
"Ease up a bit, man."
Lee Hyun-woo set a fatigue recovery potion by the capsule and stepped out for a smoke.
A small building tucked away a short distance from Origin Village.
Players called it the Alchemist's House.
Newbie question!
-I'm a lv17 all-rounder! Wandered the village and found the building where the alchemist liveswhat's this place for?
Just ignore it
Zero rewards lol
Totally pointless. Doesn't even give a basic quest lol scary
Don't go in for no reason. Alchemist flips out and slaps you with a debuff lmao
Oh yeah lmao some YouTuber grinding village quests barged in and ate a 6-hour debuff: -50 exp gain, -20 all stats lmao
A lunatic alchemist who slapped debuffs on any reckless visitor.
No surprise there.
To even unlock his quest, you needed every Origin Village quest clearedplus possession of a Vicious Poison Krasha's Inner Core.
"Hey, player."
As Jeong Hoon exited the swordsmanship training hall, one user grabbed him.
Male, early 20s by the look.
Player Information
-Nickname: Aren
-Level: 32
-Job: Junior Warrior (1st Advancement)
A warrior fresh off his first job change.
"Did you call me?"
"Yeah! I'm Aren, the comprehensive gaming YouTuber!"
Comprehensive gaming YouTuber.
The kind who streamed all sorts of games, chatting with viewers.
Why was one approaching him?
"What's up?"
"Nothing major, but I saw you roaming the village clearing questsis there a reason?"
"You broadcasting?"
"Nah. Still getting the hang of New World, so I'm grinding hard even off-stream."
No smart lens active, so probably not lying.
"Just needed to."
"Needed to?"
"Yeah. Had to."
Jeong Hoon gave short answers and walked off.
Aren was something of a big-name YouTuber.
He'd started as a Uran specialistformer pro gamer in the FPS 'Uran.'
Pairing that with his IQ77 result had gone mega-viral by sheer luck, ballooning him to 180,000 subscribers.
But with Uran's service shutdown announced recently, he'd pivoted hard to general gaming.
"What's up with Origin Village quests?"
He was a late bloomer in New World.
Growing via early viewer tips, he'd heard village quests were a total time sink.
"But maybe not?"
He'd felt pure sincerity in that martial artist's eyes just now.
No one with eyes like that lies!
"Alright. I'll give it a shot!"
Origin Village quests were straightforward grindfests.
Aren boldly hit up the community, declaring he'd complete every last one.
Comments rolled in quick.
Bro, cut the crap and level up.
Clear all Origin Village quests and you get one useless title. Didn't watch the welcome vids?
This dude never watches vids Hates reading so always asks us lmao
Ex-Uran pro acting like this
lmao didn't know he was braindead? Forgot IQ77? lmao
Chilldude bro pure muscle memory pro. Always 3rd cuz tactics were trash lmao
These punks!
Gotta show 'em.
He'd secretly grind out the Origin Village quests and prove them dead wrong.
The Alchemist's House.
Barricades blocked the entrance like a big "keep out."
Jeong Hoon laid a hand on one.
Resisting poison.
He knew it was coated in poison but touched it on purpose.
More resistance stacks meant faster levels for Immune to Poison.
Creak.
He shoved the barricade aside, clearing a path.
Jeong Hoon slipped through into the building.
A stench hit him like he had no idea when the last cleaning was.
Trash strewn everywhere on the floorprobably the source.
Impossible to cross without stepping in it.
Crunch. Squish. Crunch.
Jeong Hoon trudged through without a care.
He reached the lab.
Creak.
A push, and the door swung open easy.
A man hunched over research in a chair.
NPC Information
-Nickname: Bleo
-Level: 30
-Job: Alchemist (Poison)
The building's ownerthis guy in his 40s was NPC alchemist Bleo.
Bald as an egg, not a hair in sight.
"You dare barge in here?"
Bleo looked up as Jeong Hoon entered the lab.
Pale face and lifeless green eyes sent chills down the spine.
'Works like a charm.'
Jeong Hoon smirked inwardly.
He'd dropped by the Alchemist's House out of curiosity once before.
Back then, wariness filled those eyesnow, not a trace.
"Got something to show you."
He pulled the Krasha's Inner Core from inventory and set it on the table.
A red question mark blinked over Bleo's head.
Sign of an unlockable hidden quest.
Hidden Quest: Alchemist Bleo
-Restrictions: Obtain "Contributor to Origin Village" title Possess Krasha's Inner Core
-Reward: Poison Attack
-Description: Help Alchemist Bleo develop his antidote.
An antidote development assist quest.
'You guys snagged it? Fine, I'll spill. This was back when I ran as a poisoner.'
The betrayer who'd once been a comrade.
Poisoner Min Jin-ho.
The guya poisoner himselfhad approached lv60s who'd taken down Vicious Poison Krasha, shelled out big bucks for their cores, then hit up Bleo after clearing every Origin Village quest.
Of course, he'd mentioned needing all that just to trigger the hidden quest.
"That?!"
Alchemist Bleo shot to his feet.
The expected reaction.
The Krasha's Inner Core was the missing piece for his research.
"Krasha's Inner Core. You need this, right?"
"Gulp."
Bleo swallowed hard and nodded.
"Hmm, not sure. Your attitude's."
"Aigoo! Sorry for the messsit, please!"
Bleo dusted off an empty chair with his hand.
Polite speech now.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
Jeong Hoon took the seat.
"I saw how you helped the villagers. Been ages since I met a generous outsider like you."
Bleo loathed people to the extreme.
So naturally, he despised the foreigners flooding the village.
That was why prying a quest from him was such a pain.
"How'd you know I helped?"
"Ahem Can't leave for research, so I get outside news via Ppero."
Ppero was Bleo's pet raven.
No chit-chat involvedhe'd rigged an artifact on it to indirectly glimpse the world outside.
The village quests were prerequisite to erode that wariness.
"So, what do I do to help your research?"
"Hmm Mind if I extract the poison from this core first?"
"Go for it."
As long as the reward panned out.
"Thank you!"
His project: hair loss cure.
Ten years in, it lacked just one ingredient.
Krasha's Inner Core.
Tough level aside, no one knew its hideoutuntil now.
Bleo dumped the core into a special pot bubbling furiously.
Separating poison parts from medicinal ones by melting it down.
No rookie moveshe deftly extracted poison into three cylinders of purple liquid.
Some sat inert, others bubbled and vaporized.
Finally, the med part went into a yellow-cylinder in the corner.
It glowed briefly, shifting to pale green.
"Done! It's complete!"
Bleo whooped.
The final pieceKrasha's Inner Corehad sealed the experiment.
'Sure about that?'
This quest demanded every village quest plus the core.
No way it wrapped this easy.
Bubble bubble.
The pale green liquid started boiling over.
"Whawhat?!"
Bleo panicked at the antidote's vaporization.
Boom!
The cylinder blew, and the gas swallowed everything around.