82
I took a break after achieving both Amelia and my civilian rescue targets, even though we caught 10 fewer ground rabbits.
Amelia was anxious, but she just sat by the campfire, leisurely sipping on her coffee.
With only 10 minutes left until the end of class.
Of course, there was a reason why I was taking this break.
Hajinwoo was not someone who was satisfied with just fulfilling surface-level goals.
Rescue 8 civilians.
Hunt 30 ground rabbits.
Thinking about why the goals were divided into two, it was easy for Hajinwoo to find the answer he wanted.
“There are 30 students taking the special class on catching maus.”
To rescue 8 civilians per 30 students, a total of 240 students were needed.
However, there were only 40 assistant instructors mobilized as civilians.
Even if there were many students who achieved the goals, they could not exceed 5 in total.
The students, who were frustrated by the significantly insufficient numbers, hurriedly began looking for assistant instructors.
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But what about the ground rabbits?
“The more rushed you are, the harder it becomes to catch them.”
To catch them, one had to approach cautiously, suppressing any signs of movement.
The students who were in a rush to find assistant instructors could not catch them.
That’s why I took a leisurely break.
While ground rabbits were sensitive and constantly on the run, on the contrary, they had a tendency to form a “herd” when they felt safe.
And the time they felt safe was when all the students had left the forest.
In other words, right before the end of class.
That was the time for hunting.
If one did not target this time frame and carried out civilian rescues and ground rabbit hunting simultaneously…
“Both of them are failing.”
The assistants had set up a disguised field in advance, so you had to search with eyes wide open to find it.
It wasn’t at a level where you could find it even while distracting the Ground Rabbit.
And if you moved carelessly like that, the Ground Rabbit would hide.
What Hajinwoo demanded was an eye that could discern such conditions.
Of course, if you were like Amelia, who could detect human magic power and block footsteps, you could achieve the goal in no time without such conditions.
In fact, just like that, Amelia found the assistants one by one as if she had set an appointment time with them.
However, I moved according to the content of the class because I didn’t know what trouble would come if I just filled the quota with deceitful abilities.
It was a bonus to catch all the assembled Ground Rabbits.
Clap clap clap!
Hajinwoo’s applause rang out.
“You’ve caught the Ground Rabbit group. Even rescued the civilians properly.”
Hajinwoo raised his head, looking at the net where the Ground Rabbits were clustered.
“Well, no need for a three-ball check. Ihaesol, Amelia. Joint first place.”
Gradually, the rankings of the remaining students began to be determined.
Seeing that Amelia, who saw that they hadn’t caught many Ground Rabbits, asked me with a surprised look.
“Did you know from the beginning that you would be so relaxed like this?”
“Yeah. It’s obvious. If you try to catch two rabbits, you’ll end up missing both.”
As I nodded, Amelia pursed her lips.
“But why didn’t you tell me? You made me worry for nothing.”
“Well…”
Unable to continue, Amelia narrowed her eyes.
“Well, what is it?”
“You should have known without me telling you. Smart Amelia wouldn’t miss something like this. Right?”
As I looked at her with a smirk, Amelia looked flustered.
“Well, I should have known. But still, it would have been nice if you had told me.”
Amelia’s expression softened at the praise of being smart, despite timidly protesting. It was easy to understand her character, and I chuckled.
“The reasons are different, though.”
Time kept passing, while Amelia, who couldn’t take her eyes off me as I casually sipped coffee, had no intention of catching the Ground Rabbits.
Even so, there was something about me that made her unable to let go, just staring at me with a puzzled expression, leaving no room for boredom.
“I might develop a weird hobby at this rate.”
It seemed like I might have already developed it, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. Then Amelia cautiously spoke up.
“Um, but…”
“What?”
As I looked at her in confusion, Amelia pointed to my shoulder with a hesitant expression.
“How long are you going to keep doing this?”
“Oh.”
Only then did I straighten up, which I had been leaning on Amelia. Since my muscles were sore, I had relied on Amelia from the moment I started dragging the net with the Ground Rabbits.
Although she looked slender, being a superhuman, her stamina was higher than mine.
The regenerative power of a phoenix or a potion-like ability made me think it could heal muscle pain, but doing so would not be a good long-term choice as it might stimulate self-healing power. It was better to just let tired muscles rest beyond their limits.
“Hoo.”
Amelia, who seemed relieved as if she had come back to life, let out a small sigh.
“Anyway, thanks to you, we got first place again.”
“True.”
Although it was thanks to me that we got first place, Amelia had a tendency to overestimate me.
Even without confidence, she would make a face as if she had caught one “line” in baseless delusion that she would get first place on her own, which made it difficult to speak up as it was actually the opposite. It’s better to just let her continue in her delusion.
As we exchanged mismatched conversations, the class ended, and the students scattered in all directions.
“Amelia, let’s go to the black market.”
“Why to the black market?”
Amelia tilted her head at my words.
“Don’t you remember? We agreed to increase the potion share.”
“Oh, right away?”
“Well, since there’s something I need to finish.”
Since I had decided what new medicine to have Hanseul make, it was time to visit the alchemy store.
Increasing Amelia’s potion share was not difficult since the potion was originally mine.
After gathering the necessary items at the dorm, we headed straight to the first floor of the black market.
***
Eternity’s temporary medicines come in various types.
Medicines to regulate emotions, enhance luck, improve eyesight, and so on.
Honestly, they were only miscellaneous to me, and I couldn’t see any real use for them.
And among them, the medicine I chose was the most useless for me.
——–
▶Medicine for physical recovery.
─The user recovers a certain amount of damage inflicted on the body for 10 minutes.
[Ingredients: Lightning-struck tree sapling, floating grass, mana crystal]
[Cost: 1000 SP]
——–
There was one lightning-struck tree sapling left that I had received from Nicolai, and the mana crystal could be obtained from Hanseul’s alchemy store.
▶Medicine for physical recovery
[You have enough SP to project. Would you like to project?]
“Yes.”
[Projecting the medicine for physical recovery.]
Whoosh!
A flash of light, and a white medicine appeared in my hand.
“Hmm.”
Honestly, this was a useless medicine for me. I hadn’t projected it for my own use to begin with.
Exiting the restroom after projecting, Hanseul and Amelia were sitting facing each other on the sofa. Amelia looked extremely tired.
Having come straight after the monster hunt and exchanging contracts with Hanseul, she was definitely exhausted, even as a superhuman.
I broke off a piece of the white medicine and handed it to Amelia.
“Tired? Try eating this.”
“What is this?”
“A medicine that will get rid of your fatigue.”
“?”
Although puzzled by the mysterious white solid, Amelia, with a doubtful look, took it from me and promptly consumed it.
Even if you don’t know what it is, you should at least have some doubts about it… Should I say that the assistant is doing well. Anyway.
“…Huh, wh-what is this?”
Amelia, who was trembling all over, opened her eyes wide with a surprised expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s incredible. It feels like waking up after a good sleep? The effect is much better than a potion. What is this exactly?”
“A potion.”
“No, really… Is it magical?”
Brushing off Amelia’s astonished reaction, I looked at the status window floating above her head.
▶Amelia Romano
[Consumed a Body Recovery Potion.]
[Duration: 02:56]
[Stamina: 7/13 → 13/13]
“Hmm, not bad.”
Although my mana wasn’t restored, the natural recovery speed seemed to have increased.
Overall, it put her in the best condition.
Moreover, there was the advantage of being able to temporarily see the status window of others, which was previously unseen.
Anyway, the reason I made this body recovery potion was not for myself, but because I hoped to help the people around me move more safely.
They were guaranteed to grow, so if they got hurt somewhere and came back, I would be in trouble.
In addition, I plan to gradually make and test Intelligence and Vision Enhancement Potions.
“In that case, I should seriously start raising Han Seul’s level.”
I checked Han Seul’s information.
▶Han Seul
[Lv.3]
[Potion Reproduction Time: 68 ~ 120 hours]
[Number of Simultaneous Reproducible Potions: 1]
As expected, Han Seul’s efficiency was not that great.
It meant that it took 68 hours to reproduce a single low-grade potion.
Although the time had been reduced by 4 hours compared to before, 68 hours still felt too long.
“Seul, could you make this for me?”
Han Seul, who examined the body recovery potion I handed over, nodded.
“Yes, I think I can do it.”
“Amelia.”
“Why?”
A blunt response came back.
“Are you upset?”
“I’m not sulking. What reason do I have to sulk?”
I chuckled at the familiar complaint and asked, “Why isn’t our potion gaining popularity?”
While Han Seul’s pension was growing rapidly, the pace was far behind in terms of potion quality. Amelia quickly answered my question.
“It’s because the production volume is incomparable. Even if we make a 10-point potion, if other places churn out 8-point potions in factories, we’ll fall behind.”
Indeed, currently, Han Seul’s potions were significantly limited since they were solely crafted by Han Seul. It was challenging to even meet the quantity ordered by guilds collectively.
“But even so, if it’s at that level, we can somehow upscale to overcome it. The problem lies in the interference from existing pharmaceutical companies.”
“Interference?”
“Yes, they’ve been blocking the streets, preventing us from entering for days now.”
Amelia furrowed her eyebrows as if displeased. I raised an eyebrow in response.
“I haven’t seen any roadblocks on my way here.”
“We’re nobles, so they don’t block us.”
Amelia and I always used a vehicle when visiting Han Seul’s store. Therefore, we didn’t pay much attention to the outside scenery. But at the thought that crossed my mind, I turned to Han Seul.
“I remember there was a checkpoint on the way here. Are they blocking us there?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Han Seul scratched his head and grinned.
“There are certain restrictions for places on the checkpoint’s blacklist, and it seems our pension has made it onto the list.”
“What the…?”
I looked puzzled.
“Where is this checkpoint located?”
“It’s the Shaoming Guild. It’s made by someone who dropped out from the top 56 guilds in China.”
“A dropout, huh?”
Even if it was just one floor, a black market could be profitable. Therefore, there were often people trying to gather money. Shaoming Guild was one of them.
“Rumors say there’s a mine involved.”
“A mine?”
“By downtown, they mean.”
Listening to the story, Amelia apologized.
“Sorry, but it’s difficult for us to get involved.”
“I understand.”
I nodded in agreement.
It was unrealistic for a major guild like Star’s Seat to meddle in such shady affairs in the back alleys. It would only provide an opportunity for attacks from hostile guilds of Star’s Seat. Letting out a sigh, I stood up. Amelia’s eyes widened.
“Are you going there yourself?”
“I’ll see how it goes.”
If a place created by someone who dropped from China’s top 56 could be managed by me, it was best to do so.
After a moment of contemplation, Amelia narrowed her eyes and stood up from her seat.
“I really can’t stop you, can I?”
“Care to join me?”
“Are you really going to meet someone in such a place alone?”
“Can’t you help?”
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“Well, I can just cover my face with a mask.”
As Amelia spoke, she took out a mask and put it on up to her eyes.
Perhaps due to her small face, it all fit inside one mask.
Observing her comical appearance for a moment, I handed all the remaining healing potions to Han Seul.
“Eat that and stay in the back. Make sure to cover your face properly.”
“What if I get hurt? Why are you giving me all this?”
“You won’t get hurt. Even if you do, you’ll recover.”
“What kind of phoenix am I? Recovering like that.”
Thwack!
“Ouch! Hey, why did you hit me?”
“If someone bothers to tell you something, at least believe it.”
Tongue in cheek, I left the living room.
Until now, I had left Han Seul to handle things on her own, but I had a change of heart.
Indeed, if I wanted to quickly level up Han Seul, I had to take matters into my own hands.
And do some trash cleaning on the side.
***
People gather at the black market.
And where people gather, money follows.
This was the case for the first floor of the black market, which was shunned, just like downtown.
Banished from a guild in China, the superhuman Jang Wi decided to prepare for a new emergency in downtown.
It all started with taking control of downtown and collecting money.
Jang Wi and the 30 guild members he brought from China were blocking the main road leading to the northern part of downtown.
Yet, there was no interfering law enforcement.
In lawless downtown, power was the law.
Jang Wi quite liked the law of this downtown.
“From now on, you all must pay taxes to the Xiao Ming Guild.”
As Jang Wi shouted through a megaphone, voices of dissent echoed from all corners.
“What kind of nonsense is this!”
“What are you doing blocking a perfectly good road!”
Jang Wi just chuckled, not bothering to respond.
No one dared to step forward to oppose, only barking like dogs from afar.
“Nevertheless, an example must be set.”
Jang Wi knew from experience.
People need fear ingrained in their brains to heed words, like animals.
“You filthy beggar…”
Bam!
The man who was fervently barking was caught by Jang Wi’s foot.
“Aargh…”
A man collapsed on the ground, blood oozing out of him.
Moaning…
A bright yellow aura coiled vividly around the feet of the man lying on the ground.
“P-please… spare me…!”
A cruel smile crept onto the lips of the figure looking down at the man gripped by fear.
But suddenly, the figure turned around, unable to ignore the murmurs around him.
Everyone was staring not at him but behind him.
Sensing an ominous feeling, the figure turned around.
Thud, thud…
The northern part of Downtown. A young boy was approaching them.
The issue was his condition.
“Those… swords?”
Seven swords were spread out around the boy.
“What’s with that madman?”
“What era does he think he’s in…”
Guild members were baffled by the appearance of a figure wielding swords straight out of a history book.
Swish!
One of the swords flew towards them.
A guild member parried it with his own sword.
And then…
Thud!
Blood and brain matter splattered in the air like paint.
With a dull sound, the guild member, his head exploding like a watermelon, fell backward.
Instant death.