Chereads / The Monster Who Levels Up / Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: A Genius of Alchemy (1)

Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: A Genius of Alchemy (1)

"A Goblin's Kindness? What kind of a name is that?"

Yu Sae-Jung frowned a little as she spoke. It was just too

weird a name to place her full trust in.

"You think so too?"

The credibility was everything to a potion, and so, it would be

named accordingly to reflect the assigned grades and its

medicinal effects. Take the reputable, widely recognised

"Drent" series of potions for example; for the shallow exterior

wounds such as cuts and bruises, there was the potion called

"Drent's Emergency Treatment" for the job, but if you were

looking to cure something more substantial, say, like a serious

disease, then there was the upper Mid grade potion named "The

Miracle of Drent."

On a side note, the Drent was the name of the legendary Tree

of Life from the Elven myths that could supposedly revive even

a dead person with an elixir concocted with only a single leaf.

But, there was this insurmountable gap between the

credibility and that of a "Goblin". Instead, it'd be hundred times

more correct to argue that there was a deep mistrust and

hostility between the two. Despite all that, the alchemist still

chose to stick with "Goblin" as the name of his potion....

"I was thinking the same thing initially, but when I heard the

explanations, it all kind of makes sense. I mean, Goblins'

abilities to make potions are something else, right? Seriously,

there are idiots crazy enough to raid a village of Goblins

specialising in medical concoction, never minding all that

poisonous gases and hazardous material just for a chance to

pilfer some potions, you know. And I hear it's been registered in

the registry of the Naming Series already. I guess there is a lot of

expectation riding on this potion."

A "Naming Series" was a type of a registered brand

trademark.

When the anonymity is valued to such degree in the world of

alchemy, the only avenue left to determine the credibility and

the apparent effects of a potion was through its name – it could

be confusing to the potential customers if another alchemist

came up with a different potion but named it similarly, not to

mention create distrust towards the makers of the potions

themselves, so this trademark scheme was vigorously upheld as

one of the absolute laws in the alchemists' society.

"Really? So the effects have been confirmed for real?"

"Obviously. Come on, honestly, would our Chairman and the

Order Master try to buy something that's shady? And also..."

Park Hyun-Oh stopped his words, quickly scanned the

surroundings, and suddenly leaned his face closer to Yu Sae-

Jung's ear to whisper the rest of his sentence.

"The Manager, the Dark Elf Hazeline, already has given her

affirmative, so you don't have to worry."

There was no real need to whisper in this single person

"VVVIP" hospital room, but well, he was treating her as a

royalty here so it was only natural for him to act this way.

The actual reason why the alchemists thought of anonymity

as a virtue was that currently, almost half of all active

alchemists were from the race of the Dark Elf. They were the

type of people that hated exposing their outer appearances and

always concealed their bodies with thick robes.

Many people assumed that the Dark Elves were incredibly

beautiful since they were called Elves and all, but as they hated

bright places with lots of humans with mad zeal, the number of

witnesses who had seen a Dark Elf's real appearance was

extremely low, as well as no records to speak of, either.

Heck, there was even a sinister rumour floating around,

which was now accepted by some circles as truth; in it the

person who uploaded a very first picture of a Dark Elf online

was hunted down and murdered by the very same Elf.

"Hazeline – she did? Then, it should be alright. So, when is

the product expected to definitely come in?"

"Huh? Well, she did say it won't be too long.... Wait, let me

quickly pop out and make the call, and ask her."

*

"Please wait for just a bit longer. Soon it'll be... here, surely?"

"...Hazeli.. – no, Manager Hazeline, what is the meaning of

your sentence at the end? Feels like you're deliberately trying to

obfuscate..."

"....You're mistaken."

"...Fuhu. Manager Hazeline. Our little Miss is a Knight of only

17 years young. She should be out there training and enjoying

her life, not confined to a sick bed and doing nothing..."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. Just as I have told you before,

please just wait for a bit longer!"

The Dark Elf Hazeline ended the call in irritation and chucked

the mobile phone on the desk. It was easy to tell that she was

not in a particularly good mood, judging from her exaggerated

heavy breathing, deeply shut eyes and fast massaging of her

temples.

"Aieek... Just when is that guy coming here? Didn't he say

he got the completed potions already?"

Her ultra sharp eyes were immediately directed towards the

waiting Alchemy House employee. The poor guy was already in

a state of high stress before and now, he was sweating profusely

as he barely managed to open his mouth.

"Ah, yes, I'm not really... He did mention that he had three

completed potions in his possession... We did call him on the

phone number he wrote down but so far there were no

answers..."

"Haa.... D**n it all, this is pissing me off!! Seriously, I swear

these human idiots must think that potions are hammered out

in a single day! The reason for all this shortage of potions is

because the alchemists are sick and tired of all this bloody

nagging by the thoughtless sons of idiots!! But instead of fixing

the error of their ways, these sons of bi*ches.... Awooo, this

f*cking sh*t!!" (I've TL'ed this part as faithfully as possible, so,

yep, she's got a mouth on her, this one.)

As the steam of her fury reached the proverbial top of the

head, she rolled her fist tightly before slamming it down on the

desk.

– Tuong...

Quite unlike all the explosive anger she had displayed just

now, the resulting sound was rather adorably small; the door to

her office flew open right at the exact same time.

"He, he's here, Manager Hazeline!! That alchemist from

before, he has arrived!!"

At the hurried yell of the employee, Hazeline's eyes went

round, her body shooting right up from the seat.

***

There were two types of alchemists out there. The first was

the commonly known types that did the Transmutation and the

Reconfiguration, while the second of the lot spent their entire

lives trying to understand the mysterious liquid called potions.

(Some anally retentive experts would call these two alchemists

with separate terms, the former retaining the alchemist

moniker while the latter, potion crafter.) (TL: This bit is by the

author, not me.)

Even though their main skill sets used for their craft were

different, the alchemists all still possessed one habit that was

the same. And that common habit was, their preference towards

the darkness.

"...Do you find the coffee to your liking?"

In this dark but surprisingly un-gloomy room, where even the

sunlight failed to reach, the only thing brightening the place

was Hazeline's dazzling smile.

"Yes."

Sae-Jin, to the best of his abilities, played it cool and lowered

the cup nonchalantly, but he found it rather torturous to look at

the face of the Elf in front of him. That was because, she was

one of the most stunning women in the world, as befitting the

"race of beautiful people", the Elf.

The shiny alabaster skin that didn't seem a right fit for a Dark

Elf. With an indigo-coloured straight, long hair, and the finely

crafted, beautifully harmonious facial features where there

simply wasn't adequate enough a word to describe how

gorgeous she was.

"Now that the introductions are done, should we get straight

to the main topic, Sir Alchemist?"

Hazeline the Dark Elf had revealed her face, her name and her

race openly to Sae-Jin.

He had to wonder whether she was mistaking him as one of

her own race, as her open demeanor was quite a departure from

all the rumours he had heard before. Easily reading into his

confusion, she quickly moved to clarify her position, saying that

she was trying to show some courtesy towards him.

"It's fine. We're talking about the potion I've brewed, yes?

I'm also well aware of how good my potion is. It is my life's

greatest achievement, after all."

Even though he spoke with such confidence, he knew very

well that he was sprouting bullsh*t right now.

The Elite Goblin's knowledge base was full of compounding

methods that easily exceeded the methods of top alchemists,

and on top of this, Sae-Jin possessed the top ingredient, the

fangs of a Sabre-tooth Tiger, so instead of a life's greatest

achievement, he just needed around 7 days to brew this potion.

And that 7 days were actually for fermenting the contents

which was an unavoidable process in making this potion, so...

"Of course, we are also well aware of the difficulties. In order

to create a potion this effective, you must have struggled and

toiled hard for many years. As a fellow alchemist, I understand

it all too well."

Sae-Jin nearly spat out the coffee percolating in his mouth

after seeing how grave she sounded and how serious her face

looked. He still somehow managed to maintain his poker face,

wiping his lips as if to get rid of hot coffee and nodded his head.

"It's good that you understand."

"Indeed. Since it's such a good potion... A few customers,

having heard of the news, are wishing to purchase the goods

even before it's on sale. And these here are the letters sincerely

requesting you to sell it to them."

Hazeline pushed forward five stiff papers towards him. On

them, there were instantly recognisable names of Knights

Orders, big corporations and famous wealthy individual written

in large fonts.

'How many zeroes are there... $360K, $440K, S623K...???'

And the numbers written below each name was the kind of

amount Sae-Jin wouldn't even dream of seeing in his lifetime.

"These are the legally approved sales commissions. There's a

policy allowing an alchemist to deal directly with private

individuals or entities provided the amount of product sold is

less than half of your current stock. Of course, the government

takes the cut in the tune of 48% as sales tax but since the

potential customers add something a little extra on top of the

market price when buying the product, in the end, it just

doesn't matter at all."

"Sounds good."

When Sae-Jin nodded his head in satisfaction, Hazeline who

was observing his reactions carefully continued with her words.

"The thing is, though.... in order to secure commissions like

this, not only the efficacy of a potion but the role of the

Alchemy House is also very important, so we would be obligated

to take a certain percentage as well. If a House with no

connections receive goods like this, they would just put it up for

sale in the markets without thinking too deeply about other

matters. That is why..."

Hazeline slowly swallowed her saliva. Even though this was a

normally accepted part of the Alchemy Houses' modus

operandi, she was feeling nervous at the moment because of the

incredible potion this person had brought in.

"In a sales commission like this, the House usually takes about

half of the agreed amount.... We are prepared to lower that to

40%, no, make that 35%, specially for you. Any lower, then,

even other Alchemy Houses will find it difficult to match. If you

don't believe me, you can ask others. It's a pre-tax deductio..."

"Fine. It's all good."

Sae-Jin nodded his head, having no other opinion regarding

this matter. Whether it was a Dark Elf, a regular Elf or a High

Elf, he had not heard of instances where Elves defrauded the

other party, and on top of that, the stuff she said matched with

what he found online.

For obvious reasons, relying only on the information gathered

on internet for something of this much importance would be

foolish and undeniably pathetic. But that kind of thought was

applicable only if when one didn't know of the Dark Elves' and

alchemists' natures.

They all pursued anonymity. Once that was secured, these

people communicated and acted more lively than before. And

let's not forget, the Internet was the perfect place to

communicate anonymously.

Stories of half the alchemists being gaming addicts didn't just

come to life out of nowhere, after all.

"...Eh?"

When the conclusion came so easily, Hazeline couldn't help

but stare dumbfoundedly. But like a pro, she quickly regained

her wits, and before Sae-Jin could potentially change his mind,

moved to put the finishing touch to the deal.

"If, if that's the case, then all you have to do is to stamp your

jijang on the sales request form with the highest amount

written on it!! The corporation Saebyukdahl is offering the

highest amount with $623 thousand US... Ah, wait, where did

the stamping ink disappear to?!"

As she raised a royal ruckus while fetching the ink pad, Sae-

Jin watched her and floated a mysterious smile. It was a deeply

satisfying sight to behold, to see another person losing their

marbles over him, something a socially underprivileged like

him wouldn't get to experience under normal circumstances.

"Here it is!!"

When Hazeline hurriedly handed over the ink pad, Sae-Jin

leisurely studied the contents of the form once more before

stamping his jijang on it.

"Whew... Oh, by any chance, do you have the finished

products with you at the moment? You did mention that you

have three bottles back then, yes? We need the minimum of 2.

The law says we must put the half of the stock on the open

market, so the other can be sold through the sales commission."

"Oh... Well, I have brought all of them here with me."

Hazeline's eyes shone as she stared at the sight of Sae-Jin

rummaging through his bag.

"A total of 4 bottles. All with the same medicinal effects."

"Oh, Ohhh!!"

Finally. The 4 bottles of potion emitting the exact same

brilliant light as the samples revealed themselves to the world,

and on Hazeline's face an uncontrollable, wild grin broke loose.

But remembering her stations as the Manager of the Alchemy

House, she quickly erased the ungainly smile right off her face.

...Of course, by then it was already too late, though.

"It's perfect. All 4 of them. What a relief~~"

She couldn't prevent her sentence stretching out at the end

from the unbridled happiness, however.

Hazeline picked up one of the bottles, then she shook it,

smelled it, studied it from several angles before putting it down,

nodding her head in satisfaction afterwards.

"We don't need to test them. Oh yes. They are perfect.

Perfect...."

She then asked Sae-Jin very cautiously while staring at one

part of him that wasn't covered up by his robe – his lips.

"Weeell, there is something I'm slightly curious about. Just

from where... did you study this level of alchemy? If it were any

other normal alchemist, they would usually send in incomplete

potions as examples to get a verdict on.... It's your first time and

the product itself is beyond reproach, so even though I know

I'm out of line, I still wish to inquire you."

"Hmm..."

At her inquiry, Sae-Jin briefly showed hesitation but he

already had thought of a suitable story before coming here so he

told her that.

"My master once taught me this. If there was even a fragment

of doubt existing in your thoughts, then you are in the wrong,

so throw away all useless ideas and devote yourself completely

to the craft until you reach the true pinnacle. I am just following

this teaching to the letter."

Alchemists and Wizards valued their master and apprentice

relationship far, far greatly than any other professions out there

in comparison, and because of this fact Hazeline nodded her

head as if she was convinced.

"You have a truly wonderful master. I'm sure he's feeling

quite proud of you as we speak. After all, his apprentice has

become a great alchemist in his own right."

"Ah.... Yes. It's just that, it's regretful that he had to pass

away before seeing me succeed."

Although he knew she wouldn't ask him for the master's

name, but Sae-Jin still felt anxiousness creeping in up his legs,

so to make sure, he hammered in the final nail in the coffin.

Plus, technically speaking, he wasn't telling a totally c**k and

bull story anyways.

He did have a "master" that passed on all the knowledge and

technique, after all.

....Even though he bit that guy to death.

"Oh, how unfortunate."

Hazeline, who didn't know the actual truth, bitterly accepted

his version of the story and showed a heavy, sorrowful

expression.

"Well then, if that is all. I'm running short on time."

In the blink of an eye, 30 minutes flew past, so unable to dilly

dally any longer, Sae-Jin stood up first to leave. Hazeline

followed him and also stood up, and reached out with her hand

for a shake while carrying a content smile.

"For you Sir Alchemist who chose us, we'll definitely make

the Goblin series known as the best potion brand in the world.

You can place you trust in us. I'm planning to hold a press

conference right after this meeting is done. Nowadays, playing

up the mass media is an important marketing strategy, you

know."

"Ahaha. Well, thank you."

Sae-Jin faced her gorgeous smile and shook her hand firmly.