Chereads / The Monster Who Levels Up / Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: A Goblin’s Kindness (3)

Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: A Goblin’s Kindness (3)

A week after the unexpected meeting with Kim Yu-Rin.

First, from the fang she gave to him as a present, Sae-Jin was

able to create 4 batches of potions. One potion for strengthening

the constitution of its drinker, and the other three, healing and

regenerative effects. He'd stashed the former for himself when

he went out on a hunt, but the rest, he decided to sell them off.

He was already getting fed up with this living-in-a-cave

lifestyle, plus with the Energy Manipulation Stat now at 8,

which made it possible to maintain the Human Form for at least

80 minutes every day, Sae-Jin decided it was high time he

bought a house near the Gangwon Province. Of course, as

expected of a place called the "Paradise for the Monster-related

industry", the exorbitant land price here was second only to the

capital city, Seoul, ensuring that even if he started working to

his bones starting now, it'd still take a long, long while before

he could afford one. (Lit said "A Mecca for the Monster-related

industry. Changed for obvious reasons.)

Whatever the case may have been, currently Sae-Jin was

standing in front of a building called an "Alchemy House" that

reeked of a bitter aroma of the herbs and was filled with the

bubbling sounds of chemicals boiling in their pots.

While there were less than three Alchemy Houses existing in

any given large metropolis, these exceedingly rare organizations

where the only place where the administration of the verification

process, which assigned the grades as well as handled the

distribution of the potions created by the alchemists could be

done. But, even though it was true they were hard to find, for

someone like Sae-Jin who literally lived inside the borders of

Gangwon Province, seeking out one of these so-called homes of

an alchemist proved to be rather simple, with their continued

survival intrinsically linked to that of the Monsters' existences.

(Had to change quite a lot in this paragraph. This author sure

loves to torment me with indecipherable Spaghetti soup of

words...)

"Hmm..."

Even though he wore the robe supposedly favored by

alchemists, and had the hood pulled right up to match the outer

appearance, Sae-Jin's actions of curiously surveying the

surroundings easily revealed his status as a complete noob at

these sort of things.

"Is there something I can assist you with, perhaps?"

An employee came in closer and politely inquired after

noticing him meandering.

"...I'm here to sell some potions I've created. But I haven't

sold one before, nor have I any prior fame. Is it still possible?"

(전력lit. battle records. I mean, wut)

"Ah, yes, of course. Would you follow me this way, please?"

Didn't matter what territory or nation, the number of

alchemists were always much lower than of magicians, and

consequently, they were treated as one of the most valuable

human resources out there. And, even though there was this

whiff of a newbie coming off of Sae-Jin, his word and posture

were undoubtedly that of a real alchemist, so the male employee

made sure to remain courteous while guiding him.

Sae-Jin promptly found and sat down on the nearest office

chair, and nervously waited as he kept an eye on the watch but

soon enough, the male employee sat on the opposite side with a

document of some kind.

"This is the application form. The verification process will

commence after you write down the name of the potion and its

effects here. When the product's been verified to be free of any

side effects and its medicinal efficacy ascertained a grade will

be assigned according to its medicinal strengths, and

afterward, the potion can be sold on the market."

Potions brewed by the skilled hands of alchemists enjoyed a

far greater demand than the supply could ever meet. Those

commonly available 'emergency potions' sold in Monster

Stores, mass-manufactured with 10th grade Mana Stones,

couldn't even begin to compare in performance and overall

quality.

And the popularity enjoyed by the potions brewed by a well-

a known alchemist was such that potential buyers had to reserve

their share very much in advance in order to purchase one.

Strangely enough, it wasn't the alchemist's name that

garnered the attention, but the potions themselves instead. It

was because alchemists loved anonymity and believed hiding

one's true identity from the public was a matter of professional

virtue, so the only avenue available to truly flaunt their abilities

was through their potioncraft.

It was a given, then, the alchemists painstakingly chose

suitable names for their creations and didn't hesitate to pour

every fiber of their beings and every ounce of their talents into

bettering the potions they made.

Of course, the rumor on the street was, that for those famed

alchemists who had already achieved great acclaim and were

well known throughout the world, they could afford to just deal

directly with the Masters of the Knights Orders and the CEOs of

the corporate worlds.

"If you wish to keep your identity hidden, please check that

the box labeled Anonymous over here."

Sae-Jin unhurriedly jotted the words down on the application

form. For the potion's effects.... healing and regeneration.

All of a sudden, the body of the male employee trembled

noticeably from the shock as he took a sideways glance at the

contents Sae-Jin was writing down.

When Sae-Jin glared at him questioningly, the employee

scratched the back of his neck and sheepishly made an excuse.

"Ah, my apologies. It's because regeneration is quite a rare

effect... to clarify, did you mean regenerative recovery of the

wounds, instead? Usually, a potion will be graded lower Mid-tier

even if the regenerative effects prove to be minor. And on top of

that, there is also a healing effect as well... Hahaha. As long as

there are no side effects, this potion will be graded as High,

surely? Many Knights Orders and hospitals were getting

concerned at the shortage of High-grade items lately... so this is

great news."

Sae-Jin lightly smirked at the employee. He knew there

wouldn't be any side effects with the potion. Since a word like

perfection was not nearly enough to describe the skills of an

Elite Goblin is capable of combining the ingredients and the

powder of the Sabre-tooth Tiger's fang down to a nanogram

accuracy.

"I've completed the form."

"Ah, thank you. Just in case, have you brought along a sample

of the potion?"

The employee asked Sae-Jin as he handed over the form.

"Well, rather than what you'd call a sample, I've got the

finished product here with me."

Sae-Jin produced a glass bottle containing the potion from the

robe's pocket. A clear blue light emitted from the liquid inside

and the small area around the bottle glowed softly as a result.

"..."

In that moment, the male employee became completely

speechless. After a lengthy deliberation brought on by the

indescribable beauty of the potion, the only thing he could do

was to swallow back his saliva, hard.

There was just no way a novice alchemist could concoct a

medicine that had both the effects of healing and regeneration.

But there could be no doubt as to what this clear blue liquid

emitting the brilliant glow was. Even without testing, even

without assigning it a grade, this could only be the "Healing and

Regeneration" potion.

".... This.... Please, wait a moment."

The male employee quickly recognized it as an item he was

not qualified to handle. A value of a potion with healing effects

was higher than other varieties of potions. Obviously, people

with jobs fighting back the tides of Monsters, Hunters and

Knights, as well as the civilians occupying regular positions,

would have found such potions quite a necessity.

"Sorry, but I don't have much time."

Unfortunately, he just couldn't afford to delay any longer, so

Sae-Jin stood up to leave. Seeing this, the employee went into a

full-on panic mode and he quickly grabbed Sae-Jin's shoulders

and made him sit back down.

"Wait, wait, wait a moment, please!!! Just one moment!! The

Manager will..."

The employee was desperate in his plea. In reality, the

Alchemy Houses were actually high-stress organizations dyed in

the colors of cutthroat competition and the pursuit of the

robust bottom lines.

To be in a better position to receive the "financial assistance",

the twenty-odd Alchemy Houses spread throughout the country

were engaged in a bloody war of results, and the matter of

which potion came out of which House located in which

province played the most important role in achieving the best

results. In the situation where a quality potion came up for sale,

then the House would occupy a more favorable position when

the inevitable petty squabbles should break out between the

Knights Orders and various other institutions that wanted the

potion for themselves.

That was why the employee was adamant about keeping Sae-

Jin here, but he was firm with his reply.

"You don't need more than a few drops for the verification

purposes, so I shall leave behind three. There shouldn't be a

problem for me to return at a later date after the testing process

is finished."

"Ye, yes, that is true, but... Wait, the stamp. Did you already

stamp your jijangs on the form?" (A jijangs is literally a finger

stamp. Can't think of an English equivalent and it's not really

leaving a fingerprint, so....)

The alchemists wishing to stay anonymous were specially

managed through their jijangs. So, while most employees didn't

know if the name nor the face of an alchemist, they could still

tell which potions were brewed by that particular person.

"Yes, I did. I saw the blue-colored number 30437 spreading

out on the form."

That number meant that his application was 30437th for this

particular Alchemy House. Seeing that there were less than 1000

variety of potions on the market, there was no real need to ask

just how many aspiring alchemists out there had to taste despair

during the grading and verification processes.

"Yes... in that case... please promise me to come and visit us

later on!! That you'll return to us!!"

The employee bowed down and shouted out aloud. It was loud

enough to reverberate around the interior and caused the

surrounding gazes to focus here, but to those familiar with how

the Alchemy Houses operated behind the scenes, it was only at

the level of yet another day at work.

"Ah, yes. Well, do you have a preparatory bottle for the

samples at hand?"

At his words, the employee hurriedly moved to find a sample

bottle and Sae-Jin left the Alchemy House after leaving behind

precisely three drops worth of his potion inside of that tiny little

glass bottle.

*

The downtown of the city was filled with all sorts of sounds.

Conversations from the passing traffic of people tumbled

around one another, mixed with the various noises of the city –

Sae-Jin found it hard to adjust after getting used to the stillness

of the mountains.

But even among this jumble of sounds, there was this one

voice that attracted his ears especially so.

– Knight Kim Yu-Rin, there are only 2 weeks left until your

Highest Tier Knight ascension ceremony... How are you feeling

right now?

The sound was coming from a wrist-mounted hologram TV

displayed in the electronics store, the projection showing an

interview performed by a reporter with Kim Yu-Rin.

– Not too bad.

– ....Yes? Ah, haha. Ahahahaha. Is that so? Of course...

Hahaha. It wouldn't be bad at all, hahaha!!

The reporter could only just about diffuse the tricky situation

the uncomfortably short answer brought on with several

awkward laughter.

Sae-Jin smirked lightly as he watched. He knew why she acted

that way, after all – something about the phobia of being in

front of cameras or something like that.

– So, so then... let's proceed to the next question. Ah, yes,

after being voted No. 1 as the most beautiful Knight by the male

counterparts, can you please tell us how you feel....

The reporter forgot the rest of his question momentarily after

he got properly sucked in by the infinitely clear gazes of Yu-Rin

staring at his face. It might have been an ordinary gaze in truth,

but her beautiful face made it seem much more extraordinary

than it really was.

– Obviously, it's not bad, as well, no? Ah, no, wait, that's...

what was it again...?

The reporter finally managed to open his mouth and spouted

nonsense for a second or two, before his professional mentality

brought his game face back on and he quickly changed to

another question.

– Ah, that's right. Can Miss Yu-Rin enlighten us to what your

ideal man entails? It's just that, several hotly trending male

Knights have all chosen Miss Yu-Rin as their ideal partner, you

see.

– .... An ideal man..?

– Yes, yes.

Yu-Rin thought deeply for a moment, before breaking out in a

grin.

It was short but stunningly beautiful enough to dye not only

the projection but the entire grey street surrounding the store

with brightness. The reporter was lost for words again, while

Yu-Rin replied with that dazzling smile still on her face.

– I prefer a man that's like a Goblin.

– .... Yes? What do you mean by that...?

– Except that he'd have to be intelligent and kind. In other

words, a Goblin that's both kind and skilled.

– Ah...

The reporter ended up interpreting her words that sounded

unrealistic as something like 'no ideal man for me out there, or

such.

– Yes- yes, of course. Thank you for your candid replies. As

expected of the youngest ever Highest Tier Knight, the qualities

for your ideal partner are indeed very unique.

But Sae-Jin was different. He stood there staring at the image

of Kim Yu-Rin for a long while with a huge smile on his face,

before entering the shop properly.

"Welcome~."

"Ah, yeah, how much for that wrist hologram TV? Oh, wait,

will it work even deep inside a cave up in the mountains?"

*

While the employees of the Alchemy Houses were mostly the

"specialists" who gave up walking the paths of alchemy mid-

way, the roles of Managers could only be filled by the actual

alchemists. An alchemist had to register a minimum of three

potions in the bestseller list in order to either open up an

Alchemy House or to sit in the apprentice position of a Master.

The Dark Elf alchemist Hazeline, who rose to the Alchemy

House Manager's seat at a young age of 31, was currently making

an unreadable expression on her face as she examined the

sample potion left behind by the mysterious visitor earlier

today.

"...Hey, why am I even looking at this? Hell, this doesn't even

need to get verified, either. At the very least, it's a mid-grade.

And at most, a High grade. It's been a while since I saw a potion

this bright and clear. And like a schmuck, you sent away the guy

who brewed this by saying that you needed to test it?!"

"My apologies... I have no excuses."

"Oh well, at least, with him leaving the sample behind here,

the possibility of us doing business together is rather high, so no

need to apologize. Anyhow, what's it called?"

"Ah, that is... it's a little strange."

The male employee hesitantly checked the application form

Sae-Jin wrote, but in the end, stutteringly read aloud what was

written on the paper.

"A Goblin's Kindness. That's the name of the potion."

________________________________________________________________

(So, a confession time. The author keeps saying High, Mid,

Low and stuff like that while describing the tiers/rankings of

the Knights and Hunters, potions, and Monsters, but hasn't

really provided a context to go with them so far. I did a quick

Google and lo and behold, the word 고위 기사 used to describe

what Kim Yu-Rin's ranking was, which literally means

Highest/Superior Knight actually was the Korean TLed term

for the Protoss High Templar from the Starcraft games. Y'know,

that one Koreans all go mad over. So, uh.... should I rename all

of the Knight rankings to that of the Protoss system? What about

that of the Hunters? And Monsters? Hmm...)