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Bang Eunji’s personality was exactly like a cat’s. Just like a cat play-hunting, she would rush to bite at a hand just waving in her field of view.
I returned to my senses and stopped playing around when her [Gun Blade] dug halfway into the sofa’s back.
When I beckoned for us to stop, Bang Eunji’s persistent attack stopped as well, but her eyes belied her desire to stab me once more. Rather than hating me, it seemed that her personality would not allow her to not return any hits and wrongdoings.
Fortunately, Jung Garam had formidable physical ability, so I was able to narrowly–by a hair’s margin–avoid her hands. In return, Bang Eunji’s eyes became slitted, showcasing her rising annoyance.
Choi Kyung-sik, watching us, yawned and asked, “Haaah…Must you guys only play by yourself?”
“Bang Eunji won’t stop.” I said, as if reporting my troubles, but Choi Kyung-sik didn’t seem to be very interested in my hardships. Seeing a gap, Bang Eunji once again lept towards me; in order to stop these shenanigans, I deliberately didn’t dodge.
However, instead of stabbing me with her blade, she actually bit my hand with her teeth–like a cat. Thanks to Jung Garam’s endurance, it didn’t hurt. When I saw the girl, with hand in mouth, roll her eyes and cheeks reddened–clearly feeling victorious, my tension ebbed away.
‘She’s totally a kid…’
“I must say, your hands are totally chapped, Jung Garam-kun!”
“……”
Meanwhile, Bang Eunji, drunk with victory, spoke pompously; instead of responding, I flicked her on her forehead. Immediately, she punched me. It was worth getting hit though, I felt like my body was being drained of anxiety…
‘If it were the real Jung Garam, these two would really have fought the entire day…’
Garam-ie probably wouldn’t let his hand get bitten like I did. He probably would have fought his hardest…
It was only then I understood how Bang Eunji could enter and leave Garam’s house without hesitation. The two really matched well. They were similarly immature, and the relationship was well maintained because they were so similar.
However, Choi Kyung-sik was still hard to comprehend. Why was he squashed among these animal-instinct humans? He didn’t look like someone with much physical ability; he may be bloodied if Jung Garam were to mistakenly swing his hand…
Of course, that was considering Jung Garam’s impressive physical standards. Therefore, I became even more curious about how the two grew close. For some reason, I thought the keyword for this [Vengeful Ghost Memory] was contained within this contradiction as well…
“Where are…you…going today?” 1 I asked while looking down at the top of the Alchemist’s head. After all, I have to confront the unknown. These words were bolstered by the confidence I had gained after I wasn’t discovered by Seo Dawon earlier.
As expected, Choi Kyung-sik did not find my question awkward. He answered, while looking up at me, “Guildmaster-nim told me to level up until the [Second Company] raid. Haah…”
His sighing face somehow reminded me of my past self.
Recalling how I had to work diligently in the Dungeons to meet minimum summoning levels, I suddenly felt a familiarity with Choi Kyung-sik… Choi Kyung-sik, similar to me, must have been at a low level.
“How many level-ups do you need?”
“I’m in the late 4000s, so he told me to change that first digit.”
Familiarity canceled…
However, perhaps he gleaned something else from my sour expression, Choi Kyungsik cleared his throat, a little ashamed. “I worked hard to raise my manufacturing level! I just didn’t have time to enter dungeons because I’ve been so busy designing custom potions for all of you…”
“This time as well, Choi Kyung-sik-kun will be carried on our backs again.” Bang Eunji answered before I could respond to Choi Kyung-sik’s words. She coyly wiped saliva from her chin with a haughty expression.
“Whoo… Instead, Ta-da! Let’s use this once: It’s my specially manufactured combat potion.” Choi Kyungsik smiled and opened his inventory without getting angry at Bang Eunji’s retort.
Less than a second after Choi Kyung-sik signed with his fingers, two flasks with red fog–rising like dry ice mist–were placed between the Alchemist’s fingers. He handed one to me and Bang Eunji respectively.
[Combat Potion – RED 1.9 Ver
Type: Potion
Level Restriction: None (Qualification Limit: Must own a combat skill grade S or higher)
Special Skill: The combat skill’s operational capacity is improved one hour after drinking.
Produced by Choi Kyung-sik of ‘Red Lotus.’
*Buff List
Strength/Magic + 100%
Skill Damage +200%
Skill Cooldown time decrease +10%
Ignore Monster Defense -33%
Ignore Target Resistance -100%
Monster Control +3.4%
Boss Monster Control +5.8%]
“Wow…” When I read the potion’s effect, my admiration poured out all on its own.
I couldn’t believe just drinking this thing could give such large buffs… Couldn’t this be comparable to a Priest or a Bard? Even non-Alchemist Users knew that the manufacturing difficulty of a combat potion rises sharply just by attaching one or two buffs during production.
‘But, to have seven buffs…’
In addition, almost all the elements weren’t useless add-ons and would increase combat power. a User could generate more than twice their usual power just by drinking this.
However, Choi Kyung-sik, who had been enjoying my admiration, suddenly grumbled, “Isn’t it good? Amazing? But, our Guild master is so greedy…Do you know what he said to me?”
“What did he say….?”
“He told me to continue to improve it so that we could go inside the Dungeon without a Priest. He wanted to increase its duration by more than half a day and double the combat buff add-ons to 13 or 15. Honestly, if he wanted that I told him that I could make various different types of potions, but he scoffed, saying ‘Are you going to drink two liters of potions before a battle begins…?’” Choi Kyung-sik kept on griping, like a disgruntled engineer.
I was shocked by what he said.
‘…To be rid of the need for Priests with just one Potion?’
If Red lotus had survived after [Tower of Command]…Would it really have been possible to make such a potion?
Usually, it was difficult to develop potions recipes (its ingredients and ratios); once the recipe was completed, mass production was easy. Production was one of the aspects that truly felt game-like, ignoring laws of physics.
In reality, factories, manpower, and a large amount of time were needed to commercialize certain industrial products. However, alchemists would be able to input ingredients and press the [Production] button to print thousands or ten thousands at a time.
‘He’s already completed about 50% of that goal…’
If this potion had been finalized, Red Lotus would truly have developed into an unrivaled guild. Dungeoneering party formations could be radically changed.
At the moment, no matter what Dungeon, Priests or Bards were essential. They were worth more than other classes because of their buffs. However, if this [Combat Potion] were to debut… It would become an invention that could shake the basic tenets of User society.
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‘The ranking for ‘noble’ classes could change…’ 2
As precious and valuable classes, many buffers would abuse their power. They’d often tease, “Don’t like? Should’ve been a Bard” or “Hate it? Should’ve been a Priest.”
Even if other Users sarcastically remark, ‘Are you some heavenly being?’, reality hadn’t changed. After all, Priests and Bards were irreplaceable in parties. All Users knew that.
As a result, this conflict between buffers and general Users began to deepen. For example, a low-level beginner Priest was twice as valuable as a skillful second-year Warrior.
One’s life would become difficult if they piss off a Bard or Priest, so, even if those buffers were being bossy, ordinary Users had no choice but to shut up and endure. Even if they could no longer stay patient and wrote a smear article, they would do so with a sub-account and not their original ID.
Now, Users had gotten used to such discriminatory treatment; though they knew it was unfair, this injustice became established as a way of life…
‘Then, if Choi Kyungsik is revived, won’t Bae Jaemin be impacted indirectly?’
If Choi Kyung-sik were to be revived and finalize the [Battle Potion], just that would indirectly deal a large blow to Bae Jaemin’s class. Furthermore, this [potion] may make its user stronger; even if the servants couldn’t use this Potion, its quality would be enough for the General User’s market.
At that moment, I remembered how Seo Dawon had earned me tens of billions of won in a short time in the past. I excitedly looked at the Alchemist.
Footnotes
Choi Lee-kyung is struggling to speak informally. Noble, used here, is to denote which classes are considered royalty among the Users