“It seems that you like Yiwon a lot.”
“Huh!?”
Lee Chae Hui seemed to get flustered at Jiho’s light words.
Why was she so flustered? Did he say something weird? If one of her conditions for joining the guild was a 1:1 fan meeting with Joo Yiwon, she probably likes Yiwon quite a bit.
“No, it’s just that he was like a celebrity….”
“Hm, that’s true. Still, isn’t it nice to be in the same guild with someone you once admired?”
“Y-yes… Guildmaster-nim is nice from afar, but as a guildmaster, he su….”
Lee Chae Hui paused and bit her lips.
“Su-super, but as one of his subordinates, he’s a little… strict.”
“Ah, I see.”
Even if the person is someone you once admired, there’s bound to be differences when up close. Especially since Joo Yiwon is famous for demanding perfection when it comes to work.
Besides that time Yiwon abandoned the Australian dungeon raid when Jiho was attacked by a monster, Yiwon boasts a nearly 100% performance rate.
Though part of that is thanks to Joo Yiwon himself, that performance is only possible with Chungram’s guildmembers’ perfect support.
While Yiwon might be a respected guildmaster, since the work isn’t easy, the guildmembers probably have mixed feelings about him.
Feeling as though he accidentally asked an uncomfortable question, Jiho closed his mouth and showed a gentle smile. Seeing this, Chae Hui grinned.
“Ah, that’s right. Since you are here, I will brew an elixir for you!”
An elixir?
Among the types of potions that a high-ranking alchemist can make, the one with the most exceptional effect is the elixir. Obviously as such, the price of an elixir starts at 100 million. It’s not something he should be receiving from an underage guildmember on their first meeting.
“Ah, Guildmaster-nim told me that he would bring Hunter Shin Jiho here one day for this elixir! You do not have to worry.”
“No, I don’t really need…”
“Excuse me, but you really do not have to worry. Guildmaster-nim has already gathered a bunch of ingredients to make an elixir for Hunter Shin Jiho-nim. All I need to do is brew it.”
Ingredients that Joo Yiwon gathered? Just hearing that makes Jiho feel worried. Based on the way Yiwon crushed an S-rank mana stone just to do a bit of gathering last time, it’s clear that even the most trivial ingredient will be worth more than a standard piece of B-rank equipment.
“I am fi…”
“Please do not refuse. It will not take long! And it will be good for your body too. I can brew it, right? Right?”
Chae Hui is acting a little too persistent to say that this is just part of her job.
“Why are you so excited to make this elixir? Does this not just add to your workload?”
“You see, if I succeed in brewing this, I will receive a bonus. I will also receive a reward for fulfilling my end of an independent contract with Guildmaster-nim.”
Jiho was suspecting that Chae Hui had been threatened or something, but the reason was surprisingly productive. Lee Chae Hui aimed desperate eyes at Jiho.
“If I receive this bonus, I can buy my mom a new car….”
“…”
Jiho went speechless at Chae Hui’s piteous gaze.
Joo Yiwon, that sneaky bastard. He told her his weakness.
Jiho couldn’t bring himself to reject a 19-year-old’s pleading eyes burning hot with the desire to complete a filial act to her parents.
“Alright.”
“Yay!”
Seemingly proud of herself for successfully attacking Jiho’s weak spot, Chae Hui’s face instantly lit up.
“Actually, I already replaced my dad’s car with one made of dungeon materials because he drives to and from work every day. I put my mom off since she always walks, but I can replace hers too now!”
“…How nice.”
Although Jiho smiled, he could feel cold sweat form, unable to fathom how much money Joo Yiwon promised Chae Hui just for brewing a single elixir.
Well, it’s not like it’s his money, and Yiwon’s rich too. If Yiwon is wasting his own money, what can Jiho do? Jiho decided to give up on thinking any further.
“Then before I make the elixir, I will first check your condition.”
Chae Hui’s light attitude disappeared. She approached Jiho seriously.
The fact that Lee Chae Hui was scouted by Chungram despite her young age means that her skills are that much valuable.
Status
| Name | Lee Chae Hui |
| Occupation | Chungram’s Young Alchemist |
| Rank | A |
| Title | The Infamous Apothecary |
| HP | 243 |
| MP | 821 |
| STR | 221 |
| AGI | 255 |
| Skill | Researching Apothecary ( A ) Potion-Brewer ( A ) Production ( A ) Let Me Analyze the Subject ( A ) Lucky Miracle ( B ) Fly, Potion ( B ) |
All of Lee Chae Hui’s skills are related to potions. Skills that either make potions or support the production of potions.
Though she is not well-known yet because, as she is still a student, she cannot work full-time, once she graduates from high school, Lee Chae Hui’s name will spread far as an alchemist.
‘It’d be nice to have an alchemist like this in our guild.’
Crafters are split into two groups: blacksmiths who make large items and alchemists who make consumable items.
Of the two, alchemists are needed entities for guilds that specialize in raids. The reason is because a lot of consumable items like potions are needed to raid dungeons. Not only is it difficult to purchase these items every time a guild needs to enter a dungeon, but it’s also quite expensive as well.
Even though No Name recruited an alchemist, they’re not on the same level as Lee Chae Hui. On top of that, because there is only one in No Name, Jiho can’t leave all of the potions in the guild to them.
‘We still need to recruit more guildmembers.’
Jiho doesn’t hope for an alchemist as good as Lee Chae Hui. Whether they’re high-ranked or low-ranked, they just need to recruit more.
And while Jiho was thinking this, Chae Hui finished using her skill on Jiho. She let out a troubled sigh, a complicated expression on her face.
“Oh my gosh. How….”
Lee Chae Hui’s pupils shook nervously.
“What is it?”
“Yo-your body is trash.”
“…”
Jiho froze from such a direct choice of words. Surprised by herself, Lee Chae Hui corrected herself.
“I-I’m sorry. I did not mean trash… anyways, what I mean is that your body is in really bad shape. But why is your body in such a terrible state?”
“Mine?”
“Yes. How are you walking around?”
“It is not that bad.”
“My grandfather who turns 82 this year is healthier than this.”
What an exaggeration.
Youngsters tend to over-exaggerate. Of course, the difference in age between Jiho and Chae Hui is only 5 years, yet to Jiho, Chae Hui, who lets words slip and can’t hide her emotions, feels a lot younger than himself.
Chae Hui had a grave expression on her face from the exaggerated severity of the situation. She mumbled something before pulling her terminal out. Then, she started to furiously write something down. After writing, Chae Hui set her terminal down in satisfaction until she remembered that Jiho was still there and blinked.
“It will not take long to brew it, but according to this recipe, it will take a couple of hours to extract and boil the ingredients. I will have the elixir delivered to you.”
“Do you mind if I watch you make it?”
“Ah, of course.”
“…Are you sure it is fine?”
Jiho had thrown that question out expecting to be rejected, but Chae Hui nodded easily.
“Yep. Since this is a custom order with custom ingredients. It cannot be made twice, so it does not matter if the recipe is leaked. And besides, you probably won’t understand it even if you see it. All of the ingredients have been processed already.”
Chae Hui led the way into her personal lab. The fact that she has a personal lab despite technically being just an intern shows how important of an alchemist Chae Hui is.
Chae Hui took out her equipment without hesitation before pulling a chest out of a safe that had been strictly locked by her mana pattern. The chest, too, was locked as well.
“The ingredient… must be extremely valuable.”
“No.”
Chae Hui chuckled slightly awkwardly, shaking her head.
“This is just because Guildmaster-nim gave it to me…. I only stored it carefully so that I do not lose it.”
Saying that, Chae Hui opened the chest. Inside, the processed mana stone and medicinal herbs were laid neatly. From the mana stone that was cut into a round circle, to the herbs that were either dried or turned to powder, had a normal person seen them, they wouldn’t have been able to tell what the ingredients were.
But this is Shin Jiho.
Jiho opened his system window and checked the statuses of the ingredients in the chest.
Information
| Crystal of the Mother Ocean | |
| Rank | SS |
| Description | The nucleus of S-rank dungeon’s boss monster, [Blue Mermaid Queen], which has been cut and polished to have only the purest and cleanest of energies. Ocean Attribute. |
| Creator | Kwon Yena |
This… isn’t just valuable, it’s probably the only one in the entire world. The nucleus of an S-rank dungeon’s boss monster that was perfectly processed to become an SS-rank crystal.
“Isn’t this too valuable?”
“Valuable? This is just an… A-rank stone, haha.”
Lee Chae Hui awkwardly lied. She was definitely ordered by Joo Yiwon about this too.
After all, Lee Chae Hui is only doing what she was ordered to do; what can she do?
Because Jiho can’t tell her about being able to see a system window, all he could do is watch.
All of the ingredients going into the elixir were S-ranks. There were a couple of B-rank ingredients, perhaps to balance out the elixir, but all of those were of the highest quality as well.
That crystal alone is probably worth over 10 billion gold.
Half-resigned, Jiho continued checking the items through his system window for a bit before eventually giving up.
Chae Hui told Jiho that it looked like it would take longer than expected and that she would bring it to him next time. Jiho waved before getting off of work.
Actually, he wanted to return to No Name Guild and finish the rest of his work, but he was caught by the curious Chungram guildmembers….
Though he spent a lot of time answering their questions, it was pretty fun. Since it was so chaotic, however, Jiho didn’t have the energy to do any more work.
After returning home, Jiho listened to Park Geon Ho’s report.
Although Park Geon Ho saw the cat multiple times, it ran away so quickly that he decided to focus on mapping its radius of movement instead. With Ipeulis Guild, there was no real development yet.
As for Jiho’s last request about Yang Hojin….
– He is so clean that it is suspicious.
“Clean?”
– When I am tracking someone hiding their identity, they sometimes come out too clean. My skill tends to catch even information that I don’t need, so I usually have to sort through it all. There is nothing like that with him. He is so clean that it smells fishy.
Yang Hojin?
Jiho, who had started the investigation with a light heart, became serious. Of course, this is just a guess for now.
Thinking that he shouldn’t come to a conclusion too fast, Jiho asked Park Geon Ho to continue investigating Yang Hojin before ending the call.
“Hm….”
Now that he had finished his work and is all alone, Jiho felt a little empty.
Jiho considered going back to the company to take care of more work, but it was hard to get up after he had already laid his body down on the sofa. Jiho stayed there idly.
Then, despite having kept away from it, Jiho went into the internet and began to check all of the comments on communities and news articles.
After about an hour of looking through all of the different rumors.
| Title: JooYiwonstatementup |
The poster was so rushed that they even forgot to add spaces in between the words. Jiho clicked on the post at lightning speed.
The post took him to an article with Joo Yiwon’s statement.
That he and Lee Ha Yeon are not in any relationship, and that all he did was support her when she stumbled. Reading through the statement, Jiho’s hands tightened when he got to the last sentence.
| The only person I like is Shin Jiho. I’m not interested in anyone besides him. |
The nerve…. Jiho threw his terminal down on the sofa dejectedly before sighing and going back to the news section on the internet, refreshing it repeatedly.
As soon as Joo Yiwon’s statement went up, articles began to spring up like bamboo after a rainy day.
| Joo Yiwon, denies dating scandal “The person I like is Shin Jiho” |
| Joo Yiwon, Lee Ha Yeon is just an acquaintance… I only met her to advise her |
| Joo Yiwon and Shin Jiho’s relationship? “Model good brothers” |
| Joo Yiwon and Shin Jiho joking around. “We are really close.” |
| Shin Jiho visited Chungram. The reason? |
| Joo Yiwon protecting Lee Ha Yeon, “Reliable boyfriend material” |
| Actress troubled by monster, looking for a hunter to lean on… the start of love? |
Beneath the article of Joo Yiwon denying a relationship with Lee Hayeon, there were still articles putting them together.
According to Joo Yiwon and Lee Ha Yeon’s statements, Lee Ha Yeon had recently gone to find Joo Yiwon, an acquaintance, for help after she was troubled by her frequent exposures to fissures and monsters.
“Dating scandal, my butt.”
Even though he said it like this, Jiho, too, couldn’t deny that their statements sounded clumsy.
She went to find Chungram’s guildmaster for something like that? She can easily find a bodyguard from a guild that specializes in that sort of thing if she’s afraid of monsters.
In short, it’s like using a butcher’s knife for cows on a chicken. No, considering Joo Yiwon’s power, it’s closer to using a fighter plane to launch missiles down on a single chicken.
“Ridiculous….”
Is this a so-called explanation?
Feeling strangely annoyed, Jiho threw his terminal away and buried his head into one of the cushions on the sofa.
While he was huffing into the cushion, Jiho heard the door open.
There’s only one person who would enter this house.
Jiho stayed still like nothing happened, but unconsciously, all of his attention had shifted in that direction.
The sound of someone taking their shoes off. A short breath, and then the sound of slow footsteps approaching him. The sofa, which is big enough to fit two people lying down, sank from another person’s weight.
And finally, a familiar scent that Jiho hasn’t been able to smell in a while tickled his nose.
“Honey. I’m home.”
Yiwon whispered lowly as he stretched his hand out to Jiho’s waist. However, he didn’t just stop at holding Jiho’s waist; Jiho sat up in fright when he felt Yiwon slip his hand under Jiho’s loose shirt and touch his bare waist.
“Are you crazy? Why’d you come here? Go see your girlfriend.”
Jiho aimed an angry glare at Yiwon. But, even though the Yiwon he saw had a smile on his face, something was… different. Despite his efforts to hide it under a peaceful guise, Yiwon’s eyes revealed a hint of displeasure when he looked at Jiho.
“You know that I only have you, Honey.”
“Bold words for someone who gets into scandals every day.”
“But Honey got into a scandal too.”
Joo Yiwon depressingly mumbled. Besides, “What? Me?” there was nothing else that Jiho could say.
That’s because this is the first time he’s heard of a scandal involving himself. If a scandal had broken out, he would’ve heard about it from Jang Hyo Joo already.
“No, the one who was in a scandal is you, why are you trying to shift the blame on me? Ha! What a funny bastard. I’ve never gotten into a scandal before, okay?”
Yiwon glared at Jiho, who was spilling a torrent of words from how dumbfounded he was. Yiwon pulled his terminal out. Then, he pushed a post in front of Jiho’s eyes.
“Look.”
“…”
It was a picture from a few days ago, when that fissure had opened in the alleyway by No Name Guild. A picture of Kim Tae Yong holding Shin Jiho to evacuate him.
LaZ Bird Corner
Yiwon’s back! I had fun with my footnotes….
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