Baek's Drugstore
Baek's Drugstore
Gurye Free City was well-equipped with urban infrastructure, but it still had its shortages.
The most glaring one was hospitals.
There simply weren't many.
Because there weren't many doctors.
Why would any doctor earning good money from safe cities performing medical procedures bother coming to a dangerous place like this?
Most of the doctors here were either incompetent or fugitives who'd botched procedures and fled. As a result, the hospitals weren't trustworthy.
Instead, drugstores and pharmacies dotted the city.
In Gurye, pharmacists could even issue prescriptions.
Business was booming, naturally.
It was far more sensible to buy proven-effective medicine than risk an unreliable hospital.
Taeju headed early in the morning to a mid-sized drugstore in the city that had a decent reputation.
The pharmacy was called Baek's Drugstore.
Its owner was Baek Hongpyo, a man in his fifties with patches of white hair.
"Welcome. What can I get for you? Instant hemostatic? Mana recovery potion? Comprehensive antidote? ...Or maybe painkillers or an awakener stimulant?"
Drugstores were supposed to sell only Imperial Food and Drug Administration-approved meds, but the Free City autonomy committee issued separate permits.
Clinical trials? Minimal at best.
If it worked well, what couldn't they sell?
They even sold narcotics.
"I'm not here to buy. I'm here to sell."
"...Pardon?"
Baek Hongpyo looked dubious.
This wasn't the first time.
People showed up peddling weird pills, claiming miracle cures or body-boosting elixirs.
"Not interested, so please leave. You look like you just arrived from outside. If you want to make money, head to the labor market and—"
Taeju pulled three 10ml vials from his pocket and set them on the counter.
Thud!
"Antidote for variant three-striped mosquitoes."
"I'm not buying, so just go. Antidote or elixir or... Huh? What did you say? Mosquitoes?"
"Oral ingestion. You can take it in advance. Effects last up to ten hours."
"A mosquito antidote? Ha! Look at this guy. If you're gonna scam, pick a better target..."
"Test it out. Call if you're interested."
Taeju left a note with his phone number alongside.
"Deadline's midnight tonight. No word by then, and I'll take it to another pharmacy."
With that, Taeju walked out of Baek's Drugstore.
Baek Hongpyo was baffled.
Three vials on the counter.
'Variant three-striped mosquito antidote?'
What nonsense.
Antidotes were among the hardest medicines to make.
His store sold them too.
Comprehensive broad-spectrum antidotes.
But they didn't neutralize poison—they just suppressed it long enough to reach a hospital for proper treatment.
Sure, targeted antidotes existed for specific poisons.
They were exorbitantly expensive, of course.
And the toxic plants, insects, and beasts in Jirisan? There were dozens.
Far more poisons they couldn't detox than ones they could.
"Unbelievable."
It was early morning, so no staff yet—he was minding the store alone.
Even the empire's top pharmaceutical companies couldn't produce a mosquito antidote, and this guy waltzes in bold as brass?
Variant three-striped mosquitoes were a massive nuisance for monster raid teams.
Their bites disrupted mana concentration and dispersal.
A bite or two was fine, but sustained attacks forced teams to abandon hunts midway.
Mana recovery potions? Useless—the newly generated mana just scattered too.
It wore off eventually, but that meant wasting a full day—or two in bad cases.
Luckily, Gurye City had no three-striped mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes were monsters too.
Barring special circumstances, Jirisan monsters stayed in their territories.
Monster waves were another story, of course.
'But if this really is a mosquito poison antidote...?'
Baek Hongpyo discreetly picked up one vial.
He fetched a drug identification kit from under the counter and dropped a few drops of the liquid onto the test strip.
Harmful to humans? It'd turn red.
But...
'Color's unchanged.'
Safe to ingest.
Baek Hongpyo took the vial into the back lab.
A steel cage held a long-tailed skunk rabbit.
At the bottom of the food chain—frail as could be.
Not every plant or animal mutated into monsters from mana.
The skunk rabbit had evolved differently: hyper-fertility.
All they did was eat and breed.
One pair could balloon to a hundred in a fortnight.
But survival? Zero.
A mere bump could kill them.
Even basic painkillers knocked them out.
Hence their popularity in animal testing.
Baek Hongpyo poured some from the vial into the cage's water bowl.
The skunk rabbit lapped it up.
An hour later...
'Perfectly fine.'
Even diluted antiseptic water wilted them, but this? Nothing.
Finally, he dripped some onto his palm and touched it to his tongue.
'Just plain water?'
No reaction whatsoever.
To scam properly, at least add flavoring. This was straight water.
That's when...
"Boss! You opened early today?"
A customer entered.
"Welcome. Park Jinsu, pro. Out hunting again today?"
"Pro" was a title mostly for awakeners.
"Gotta keep moving to earn. Two mana recovery potions, please."
"Right away..."
Park Jinsu was a Regular-rank awakener.
His nickname? Pillhead—reliant on meds.
His eyes caught the vials on the counter.
"Boss, what's this med?"
"Oh! Ignore it. Some nutjob brought it claiming it's a variant three-striped mosquito antidote. Total water."
"Huh? What a bold lie."
"Right?"
Park Jinsu stared at the vial.
How great would a real antidote be?
Those damn mosquitoes.
No them, and hunt efficiency would double.
He casually picked one up.
Baek Hongpyo chuckled.
"Fed it to a skunk rabbit too—fine as can be. Even regular meds affect those guys."
"So it's just water?"
"Tasted it myself. Flavorless."
"Hmm."
Park Jinsu pondered.
"Throat's dry anyway. Mind if I try it?"
"Uh, drink from the purifier."
"Pay you for it?"
"Hey, you think I'm that greedy?"
"Freebie, then?"
"Gonna toss it."
Park Jinsu uncapped and gulped it down.
"Hey! You drank it? Geez, eating random meds like that..."
"It's fine. Skunk rabbit was okay."
"True, but..."
Baek Hongpyo grabbed a comprehensive antidote from the shelf.
"Take this too. Just in case something goes wrong later."
"Haha! Free water gets me a bonus antidote."
Park Jinsu pocketed the antidote and mana potions.
"Thanks, boss. Feedback after the hunt."
"Park pro, don't rely on pills—wear your bug suit."
"Will do! Hit it big!"
Baek Hongpyo had zero expectations for the "med."
How could he?
Countless pharma giants had failed at a three-striped mosquito antidote.
After Park Jinsu left, Baek Hongpyo chucked the remaining vial in the trash.
"Boss, I'm here."
"Me too."
"Good morning, kids. Come on in."
Staff arrived.
Baek Hongpyo greeted them with a fatherly smile.
Customers trickled in.
The mosquito antidote? Forgotten.
Park Jinsu didn't believe in the mosquito antidote either.
Just impulse after hearing the skunk rabbit was fine.
So he suited up in thick bug armor for the hunt.
Wrapped head to toe.
Three-striped mosquitoes were monsters—their proboscises pierced fiercely, elongated too.
Weak fabric tore instantly.
One pinhole, and in it went.
Even large local monsters had evolved countermeasures: long fur, thick hides.
Ways to block mosquitoes?
Junior Expert or higher awakeners could manage.
Proboscis couldn't pierce their skin.
But were Experts common?
Most civilian awakeners in Jirisan's jungles were Users, Beginners, Regulars.
"Fuck! Sweating like a waterfall."
Today was brutally hot and humid.
Days like this, mosquitoes went berserk.
"Whew, Park pro! Let's half-ass it and head back."
"Yeah. Too damn hot."
"Gonna steam to death mid-hunt."
Park Jinsu, Regular-rank awakener and raid leader, rallied his team.
"One more kill, then bail."
"...Tch, fine. Need the cash."
They hunted blade-tooth martens.
Calf-sized weasels.
Easy if you avoided bites.
Tank blocked the jaws with a shield; dealers stabbed flanks and bellies.
Park Jinsu was a seasoned tank.
But heat and humidity sapped focus.
Leading to uncharacteristic mistakes.
Grrr!
He bashed the charging marten's head with his shield.
Thwack!
Too weak—it glanced off, and fangs sank into his chest.
Crunch!
"Urk!"
Tank build, sturdy armor.
But the bug suit...
He dispatched the marten quickly, but...
Kek!
Riiip!
The suit tore longways.
"Damn it!"
Air hit—sudden coolness.
But suit ruined.
And worse: the dying screech drew three more martens.
"Kim pro, Jang pro—one each. Compatibles, support."
Team charged.
"Get it!"
"Slice the ankles!"
"What're you waiting for? Support, shoot!"
Chaotic melee.
No time to fret over the torn suit.
Only three awakeners: one Beginner, two Users.
Overwhelmed by the pack.
Still, Park Jinsu held firm.
Regular-rank, after all.
Stab!
Screech!
After brutal struggle, one down—breathing room.
"Finish fast!"
Crush!
Squeak!
Kiii...
All three dead.
Then...
Kyao!
Grrrl!
Two more martens.
"...Hoo, fuck me."
No choice.
Hunt on, no respite.
Team bug suits? Rags now.
Mosquitoes wouldn't miss.
Too focused on combat to dodge bites.
Park Jinsu too.
Couldn't count the stings.
'This is bad.'
Team's movements visibly slowing.
Mosquito poison, no doubt.
'At this rate...'
Casualties inevitable.
Park Jinsu gripped shield and sword tight.
Leader's duty.
Even if he died.
He rampaged wildly.
Bashed with shield, slashed and stabbed with sword...
But odd.
'What's this...? No fatigue.'
Bitten for sure.
Mosquitoes perched on his exposed forearm now.
Poison injecting—yet no issue?
'No way...'
Did it work?
That stuff from Baek's?
What else?
Team chugged useless mana potions, sweating buckets.
Only he was fine.
Mana flowed endlessly.
'...Kill first, check later.'
His sword gleamed with mana aura.
That evening.
"Boss! Boss!!!"
"Huh? Park pro."
"The, the mosquito antidote."
"Antidote...? Oh! Morning's stuff? But why...?"
"Got more? How much? I'll buy it all."
"What?"
Meaning...?
"It worked?"
"Incredible. Dozens of bites—no issue! Not even itchy. This is the real deal. Where'd you get this miracle...?"
"Uh... uh..."
Baek Hongpyo's eyes shook wildly.
It worked?
'For real?'
He rushed to rummage the trash.
Luckily, still there.
Time to verify himself.
End of Baek's Drugstore