Chapter 19
A week has passed since I returned from the undeveloped district.
All the miscellaneous items placed in the old studio have been removed.
If it’s narrow, it’s narrow, if it’s wide, in the middle of a spacious studio.
A bright red cloth with a luxurious pattern was placed on it.
A combination of hieroglyphs symbolizing Stania Pharmaceutical Group and red color meaning elixir.
This means only one thing.
Finally, Lennok succeeded in getting his hands on the elixir, Stemonia, through an auction at an auction.
A competitor caught up with him just before the day, so he ended up spending all his money, but Lennok got his hands on the elixir anyway.
It was an old-fashioned packaging, as if it had been ironed out by the elderly, but Lennok didn’t care at all.
I open the wrapping paper with trembling hands and take out the case hidden inside very carefully.
When the lid of the dark brown wooden box coated with gold leaf was carefully opened, a strong scent wafted up from inside.
It’s wrapped in white paper, so you can’t see it properly, but you can already feel the magical energy.
“Whoa…!”
All preparations to take the elixir perfectly have already been completed.
He strengthened the barriers around the one-room to two or three, and even put a separate word to Jenny in preparation for an emergency.
A blanket was spread out in the middle of the room, and twenty bottles of mineral water were bought and placed nearby.
As you do not know what will happen with taking the drug, you have even prepared to contact the nearby fire brigade with the touch of a button.
As such, what Lennok was about to do now was no different from a great adventure in his life.
‘There’s a high possibility that there won’t be much progress if I think calmly.’
No matter how elixir is traded at a price that easily exceeds 100 million cells, it is essentially a drug made for the purpose of improving the health of the user.
It was good not to expect that Lennok would be able to get rid of the penalty that he is currently hanging on from the root.
‘Rather, it could have side effects.’
Injecting too much energy can have a negative effect.
That’s why Lennok’s current physical condition is empty.
But nonetheless, it was something that had to be addressed at some point.
Is it possible to improve Lennok’s penalty with an elixir commonly used in this world?
And if it is possible, how much effect will it have.
It is absolutely necessary to be prepared to take on more risks in the future and wander the back alleys of the city.
It’s been a long time since I’ve already decided and convinced myself.
All that was left was to check.
I removed the white paper and pulled out a small plastic cylinder inside.
A bright blue circular ring, reflected through the transparent glass wall, was floating inside the glass bottle.
Lennok took out the elixir with trembling hands and slowly put it into his mouth.
gulp.
The texture, which seemed hard on the outside, melted like cream the moment it touched the tongue and disappeared inside the throat in an instant.
“……”
From now on, it is an unknown territory that Lennok knows nothing about.
I looked for a few reviews posted on the network by people who took the elixir, but there is a huge difference from experiencing it myself.
heart beats like crazy
The undiluted elixir flowing down the throat burns hot, making it clear where Lennok’s esophagus is.
The moment when the heat that flowed all the way through my stomach without stopping went over to the top.
Lennox’s body began to heat up.
Fire!
“ha…!”
He let out a rough breath from the heat rising up in his stomach in an instant.
This is dangerous. The effect of the drug was significantly stronger than expected in advance.
It must have been because Lenok’s body was too weak compared to the energy of the elixir, but now there was nothing he could do about it.
This is a fact that you can’t really know until you experience it yourself.
I had no choice but to grit my teeth and fully digest the elixir.
Suddenly, I thought of Kiyeon from Martial Arts, but Lenok wasn’t a warrior with a strong body, nor was he capable of dealing with energy like internal air.
If I keep going like this, I won’t be able to hold on for long and I’m going to pass out.
And that was the worst situation for Lennok, who couldn’t control his condition.
‘Magic power… Damn it…’
I didn’t want to do something like this, but I couldn’t help it.
Lennog gritted his teeth, raised his mana, and began to ram it into his own body.
Woooo!!
Due to the penalty of mana addiction, he strictly refrained from pouring mana directly into his body, but it was more urgent to hold on without fainting right now.
If the fever soared without knowing the end in a state of unconsciousness, even mice could die without even knowing it.
Lennok had no intention of ending his miserable life in this studio.
As soon as you start to strengthen your whole body with magical power and directly control the biological reactions of your whole body, your body will start to stabilize.
After this work was over, he would have to suffer from severe pain for about two weeks due to mana addiction, but first he had to stabilize his body.
As I strengthened my physical abilities and raised my resistance with magic, it became much easier to endure than before.
Rather than feeling that the heat had weakened, it felt as if the limit of tolerance had suddenly risen.
In that state, Lennok slowly lay down on the blanket that had been spread out beforehand.
“Whoa…Whoa…”
I calmly took a deep breath and somehow calmed down my heart rate.
Sweat was already pouring out of his body from the excessive heat.
It is difficult to know right now whether this situation is improving or getting worse.
This kind of knowledge didn’t exist for Lennok, and he didn’t have enough time to learn it.
The only credible evidence is that there are several cases where older people and people with poor health took Stemonia and did not get worse.
That was the least safety device Lennok could count on.
Big boom!
When I felt like I was sweating too much, I opened the water bottle and poured it into my mouth.
The water that couldn’t contain it all flowed down my mouth, but I didn’t care. Because it wasn’t that important right now.
Keep calm and hold on until the heat in your body disappears.
Replenish the lack of water with bottled water prepared in advance.
Constantly turning his mana, Lennok tried to keep himself awake.
Time goes on.
It was after well over half a day and a full night that the heat that had been constantly welling up in his body had subsided.
“……”
I never thought I would stay up all night like this again.
Lennox sighed as he gazed out the window at dawn with bloodshot eyes.
The main characters in the story would faint after taking the elixir and wake up much stronger, but it is not strange for Lenok to leave for the nether road after doing so.
The efficacy of the elixir wore off only after the blanket prepared in advance was wet with sweat and overflowing, and only two bottles of mineral water were emptied.
Taking the elixir doesn’t seem to make my body lighter.
It was clear, however, that his condition had not deteriorated that much even after he had slept through the night.
“Ouch…”
Lennok, who struggled to get up with a pained sound, looked down at the blanket on which he was lying.
While taking the elixir, I thought that there might not be any apparent effect, but I was mistaken.
Because Lennok’s blanket had already been irretrievably gone with all the waste he had shed with his sweat.
“…I can’t use this.”
Lennok shook his head as he stared at the blanket that was far beyond the level of yellowing.
Even if you suck it up and use it, you can’t guarantee that it will come back.
It seemed much better to buy a new duvet cover.
Rather, it was surprising that so many wastes were accumulated in his body.
“Hmm…”
Lennok crouched down to sniff his own sweat on the duvet before putting it away.
It’s embarrassing, but I did it because I had a guess.
It was because the color of the waste that soaked the blanket was not an ordinary color.
If Stemonia really has the kind of efficacy Lennok thinks…
“As expected.”
Lennok nodded, confirming that the black waste was mixed with a faint smell of tobacco.
It is certainly.
Just now, while taking the elixir, Lennok had brushed off the pollutants that had accumulated in his body from smoking tobacco.
Delegation
Of course, just this one session won’t erase all the side effects of smoking cigarettes, but the fact that you can get rid of the harmful effects of inhaling medicine in this way was a good thing.
‘In the process of discharging waste products from the body, it also removes the pollutants accumulated in the body…. This alone is worth the money.’
It is a drug that mixes strong stimulants and various types of drugs, so it will not be easy to erase the harm as the effect is strong, but the thing named elixir is definitely different.
At least, they have secured a means to remove the waste products accumulated while smoking tobacco.
Quickly throw away the blankets and clean the studio.
Opening the windows of the still-smelling room to ventilate it, Lennok sat back against the wall and began to examine himself slowly.
‘Let’s see…..’
There is no academic or skill in handling the body, but it is not difficult to see roughly what areas have been improved.
As long as there are not one or two penalties that bother Lennox’s body, if they become even a little lighter, you will feel it right away.
‘First of all, mana addiction is… much better.’
In the process of digesting the elixir, he prepared for mana addiction and tried to strengthen his body with magic. Surprisingly, he did not feel any pain other than a slight throb.
Originally, right after stopping the magical power enhancement, the entire body should have been drained of energy along with the pain like being stabbed with a needle.
It was desirable to assume that the poisoning symptoms were relieved in the process of taking the elixir, seeing that no sign was felt even though it had been a long time since the magical power was stopped.
‘Other penalties haven’t made much progress.’
I don’t feel anything like energy flowing through my whole body, or feeling that my swaying body is firmly centered, and suddenly something lacking is filled.
At this level, he didn’t even have to think about [Jae In Park Myung].
I don’t even expect that the lifespan penalty can be solved with a mere health-boosting elixir.
Unable to hold back his itchy mouth, he finally bit the tobacco into his mouth.
It was hard to stop even though I knew it was foolish since I had discharged it as waste at best.
He put the flame he had lit on the tip of his finger to the end of the tobacco, and was lost in thought.
‘In the end, is this enough to relieve mana addiction and, at best, insomnia?’
It’s not even that the penalty is completely gone.
He was not affected by mana addiction only at the time of taking the elixir, and when he started strengthening his body with magical power again, he would be tormented by excruciating pain.
In the end, in order to ram mana into the body as much as you want without side effects, you have to take a 100-million-cell elixir every time…
Unless Lennok really is rich enough to spend 100 million cells a day like water, this would be an assumption that doesn’t even need to be discussed in the first place.
‘Still, it’s not like I didn’t get anything at all.’
Lennok gathered his thoughts as he expelled all the smoke from his lungs.
It’s temporary, but it’s enough to have hope that the effect of the penalty can be offset.
This alone confirms that these terrible shackles piled up on his body are not spells that can never be shaken off.
okay. that’s all, though.
That was enough.
It’s not that there’s no way at all, just that Lennok can move more.
It is not too late to worry about the next thing.
It was only after I had sorted out all my thoughts that my body felt relaxed and drowsiness began to pour in.
After rubbing the tobacco with slow movements of my hands, I lay down on the floor as if I was slipping all the way.
Lennok fell asleep as if he were dead while being hit by the sunlight pouring in through the window.
It was indeed the first morning in a long time to pass without suffering from insomnia.
Time passed again.
As Lennok rested for a week, he realized once again how powerful the elixir he had taken was.
The efficacy of taking the elixir does not end with just one day.
He has been able to fall asleep whenever he wants and wake up whenever he wants without feeling any insomnia for nearly a week.
While taking a good night’s sleep, which could not be achieved without taking sleeping pills, it melts away all the mental stress that has been piled up unknowingly.
It was to the point where I felt like I was taking a proper break for the first time.
I picked up my phone after a long time to contact Jenny.
In order to find out the next request soon, it was necessary to put in words.
In particular, the ransom price will be higher than before because it is a request received after registering a name on the deep web.
If you’re lucky, you might be able to get the things Lennok wants as a reward, so it was only natural that he was weak.
[Too…too…..]
“……?”
Contact is not being made properly.
It’s not like you’re out of range, but the phone over there is turned off.
It was the first time Jenny’s phone had been turned off since she and I exchanged contact information.
Lennok immediately got dressed and headed to her bar.
‘…..It’s definitely strange.’
The city is too quiet to pass by.
Except for Lennok, it was hard to find anyone passing by.
Did something happen while I didn’t check the news section for a while?
I hurriedly turned on my cell phone and entered the news section, but even this was dead.
“What is this…”
Is it that something unknown has happened in this city now that traffic is not working properly?
Lennok, who raised his alertness in an instant, immediately opened the door to Jenny’s bar.
“Long time no see.”
Jordan, who was sitting at the bar washing his glass, waved.
Lennok, feeling a little relieved to see him, asked as soon as he sat down at the bar.
“What about Jenny?”
“I was summoned to the summons. Right now, he must be locked up in an unknown office.”
At Jordan’s nonchalant reply, Lennok opened his mouth again.
“What is going on in this city right now?”
I know that something so big that my cell phone is going to crash, but I have no way to get information.
Thinking that sooner or later he would definitely come up with a solution to this problem, Jordon widened his eyes in surprise at Lennok’s question.
“Why did you pass out for a week? It’s even more strange that you’re asking this now.”
“…….”
It’s not entirely wrong to say that I came here after sleeping most of my break.
While Lennok couldn’t bear to tell the truth, Jordan spoke again.
“Do you know the news about the Dominion of Philenom?”
“I know roughly.”
“Then it would be quick. An envoy from the Dominion, originally scheduled to arrive at the end of the month, sent notice of a visit only a week ago. Thanks to you, Balkan is in a very uproar right now.”
“…It’s probably not just because of that reason.”
I understand that Jenny is away because the Dominion’s delegation is due to arrive.
The call-up order issued against the brokers was like a recommendation from the city government not to do anything stupid while the delegation was in the city.
But that can’t be the reason why the city is so quiet right now.
The silence in this city of tens of millions of people clearly contained something more than that.
At Lennox’s sharp words, Jordan nodded coolly.
“okay. The reason why the city is quiet right now is not entirely because of that. A truly unimaginable magnate has expressed his intention to participate in the Dominion’s delegation.”
“You mean a giant beyond imagination?”
Although he hasn’t known Jordan very long, Lennok knows a little about his personality.
There is no exaggeration in his speech, and his words and actions are very careful.
If he, who generally likes simple expressions, says this far, it must literally mean that a great magnate from the Dominion has visited the Balkans.
Jordan’s words, which continued as expected, far exceeded Lennok’s expectations.
“The transcendental ‘Cheongyeon’, who has been confined to the lighthouse of Philenom for decades, is coming here with an envoy… This is the first time in nearly 100 years that a 9th level Ascendant has visited Balkan. He must be watching the square.”