WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Episode 89

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The morning after escaping the 12th floor for the first time.

After showering, I went straight to work in the Rabbit Room and found Yuki there.

"Good morning, Benefactor!"

"Good morning."

The rabbits were automatically cared for, but machines couldn't handle everything.

Hiring people would cause security problems, and whenever we were in the Tower, Go Jiho would stop by to look after them.

Yuki and I checked the machines, brushed the rabbits, then ate breakfast.

The reason Yuki was so naturally in my living room was that we'd decided to keep one of her clones at my house permanently.

The clone had a time limit, but when its summoning time was about to run out, she could switch places with it, summon it again, then switch places again.

It was training, in its own way.

At least I'd managed to protect my bedroom.

I was already being bugged anyway, so maybe it didn't make much difference.

Ring!

After breakfast, I got into the elevator and received a call from Kim Yuna.

It was unusual for something to come up the day after our escape.

Honestly, the next day should be for resting, if only because of the muscle soreness.

I could move around because my Regeneration was level 10, so it wasn't as bad for me.

"Hello?"

[Boss, are you coming to work today?]

"Yeah. Not right away... I'm going to look around with Yuki for a bit, then meet Orca this afternoon to talk."

There was plenty I wanted to ask about, including the mushrooms we'd acquired during the expedition and the plant farm.

Kim Yuna sounded relieved as she ended the call.

[Alright. Working hard on your day off, huh? Let me know if you need help!]

"Okay..."

It was probably because of the Elixir of Immortality.

Both Kim Yuna and Han Juwon seemed very interested in it.

We wandered around shops near my house and killed time before going to see Orca.

Ding-dong!

She greeted us looking rather disheveled in her nice apartment in the heart of the city.

I'd contacted her beforehand, and she still looked like this?

"Oh, you're here... I barely have time to watch dramas. You went to the 12th floor, right? What do you need?"

Her stretched-out T-shirt showed just how well she'd adapted to life on Earth.

Top-class hunters really did have exceptional adaptability.

I decided to look around her home first.

"Let's talk inside. We didn't bring a housewarming gift, though."

"Sure... The greenhouse is this way."

She'd turned one large room in her apartment entirely into a greenhouse.

She was growing the Alchemy materials I'd ordered, among other things.

It was an advanced facility equipped with state-of-the-art hydroponic systems.

For the record, it was top-of-the-line equipment with no concern at all for energy efficiency.

Anyone who saw it would think she was growing drugs at home.

Though these products had a far higher unit price than any drug.

"Don't bugs get in?"

"How could plants exist without bugs... They listen to me, so there's nothing to worry about."

"How's the productivity?"

"There was some trial and error at first, but it got better after I installed a few more Dimensional Energy Reactors."

Wouldn't this one room cost more than every other floor in the apartment building combined?

Since she was growing such high-quality plants, managing this single room seemed to be her limit.

Or maybe she was lying because she wanted to slack off.

She wasn't a slave I'd captured, just someone helping during her vacation, so I didn't press her.

"Look. They're growing well, right? This is Tears Grass. And over there are Night Moonflower and Cat's Tears."

The basic Alchemy ingredients were growing nicely.

She said they would be ready to ship in about a week.

"It's different when a Druid grows them personally."

"Flattery won't increase production."

"Then take a look at this."

When I showed her the Restorative Spore Mushroom, her eyes trembled slightly.

"You brought back even this on your first expedition? Impressive."

"It can't be cultivated, right?"

"Right. Mushrooms from the 12th floor can't be cultivated artificially. The Restorative Spore Mushroom is especially difficult."

Orca spoke with complete confidence.

This mushroom was an ingredient for the Elixir of Immortality.

There was no way nobody had tried it before.

"Is it because of the mana density?"

"It's the water. The water in the underground lake on the 12th floor is special. That's why the mushrooms can't reproduce outside the underground area."

"Ah."

It wasn't as if we could bring back a huge amount of water.

Even if we did, it probably wouldn't mean much.

The environment would be different, so it would spoil quickly.

Then Yuki tilted her head and asked.

"But Orca, you haven't eaten the mushrooms, yet you're immortal too. Have you been secretly smuggling them?"

Orca's expression was quite a sight.

"... I'm an Elf."

"Ah, right."

"You people really are..."

Sometimes, I wondered if we were too free of prejudice toward other races.

Should we be more discriminatory?

While I was at it, I asked more about the mushrooms.

I could roughly guess the recipe, but I needed to properly understand the ingredients' properties.

"How does this slow aging?"

"Restorative Spore Mushroom. Just like the name suggests, it promotes cellular regeneration and slows aging to practically zero."

An unexpectedly professional explanation came right out.

Even if she was a hunter drowning in gambling debts, a Druid was still a Druid.

"It regenerates cells that normally can't regenerate and restores the body's immune system to normal, so you don't need to worry about cancer cells either."

"Oh... That's convenient. This is what the Hunter Lords are taking too, right?"

"That's right. An elixir made from this."

I moved on to a more serious question.

"Then around what age would it be ideal to start taking it?"

"I heard your Human race reaches peak physical ability around twenty-eight. Starting then would be best."

Hmm. It was just the right time for me, while Yuki would need to wait a little longer.

Kim Yuna was cutting it pretty close too.

Well... there was nothing we could do about people who were already late.

They could only start taking it regularly from now on.

I'd learned everything I needed to know about the Restorative Spore Mushroom.

I showed her another piece of loot.

As an exceptionally skilled Druid, Orca could mass-produce natural materials to some extent.

"What about this?"

"Let's see... Frozen Mana Crystal? Why?"

Pure confusion and doubt crossed Orca's face.

While Yuki carefully kept her expression under control beside me, I asked again.

"I picked it up underground on the 12th floor, so I was wondering if it had any use."

"It's just a Mana Potion ingredient. It's worth less than 500 gold. Small and light, but it's just decent miscellaneous loot. The kind you pick up if you have space left, I guess?"

I'd suspected as much when the undead on the 12th floor didn't pick it up.

Did she really not know?

The true value of this miscellaneous item?

"Ah, I see. Thanks. Please take good care of those plants, and don't skip your gambling addiction counseling."

"Ugh... Ngh."

She saw us off while openly showing how much she disliked that.

Only then did Yuki speak in front of me.

"Benefactor..."

"Shh."

"Okay."

Frozen Mana Crystal was a key ingredient in the Basic Skill Enhancement Elixir.

And yet it was being treated as junk loot.

'Well, I only discovered that recipe by chance too...'

The recipe was almost identical to the Heavenly Elixir recipe. Had nobody found it yet?

That might actually be why.

The other ingredients weren't exactly common either.

Besides, I'd used All-Creation Cauldron, a transcended skill, to make it. I had no idea what would happen in an ordinary alchemy cauldron.

There had been a similar-quality cauldron on the 8th floor...

But the map layouts on the 10th floor and below seemed different for each race.

'The Goblin Merchants recognized the Basic Skill Enhancement Elixir at a glance... Was that only because it was a finished product?'

I'd need to investigate further.

I should check the item list at the Dimensional Shop.

We headed straight to the Association.

I found Go Jiho slacking off for once.

"Jiho!"

"You're here? You returned yesterday, so why don't you rest a little? Go on a date with Yuki too."

"Yuna kept pestering me. Oh, do you need an Elixir of Immortality too, Jiho? I more or less figured out the recipe."

Go Jiho checked his surroundings, then sharply lowered his voice.

"What? Kang Hyun, why are you saying that like you're handing out juice?"

He quickly led us into an empty meeting room.

"What exactly is it?"

"I think I'll need to make it through Alchemy first, but it should last around one or two months."

"It can keep extending your lifespan..."

Go Jiho's expression turned serious.

"The higher-ups will go insane if they find out. If it could be mass-produced..."

"I don't think it can be mass-produced."

"At least that's a relief."

Then Yuki spoke.

"Wouldn't this make other people more willing to listen to the boss? If we offered it to politicians as a product..."

Well, that was true.

Most influential politicians with real power would be at least in their fifties.

At that age, they couldn't help worrying about health and longevity.

Hadn't Russia secured magical medical technology first for that very reason?

Still, I opposed distributing it to politicians.

We didn't even have enough for our own team yet.

"They might obey us, sure."

"Right?"

"But what do you think would happen if we gave them an Elixir of Immortality, then stopped?"

"Um..."

It would be natural to cut off supply if they failed to honor their deal with us.

But what if a politician lost power?

Would they quietly give up immortality and die once they'd served all their terms or their term ended?

No way.

They'd probably start a war if that was what it took to extend their lives.

Most people valued themselves above all else.

"Ah... I didn't think it through."

"Then let's keep it secret for now..."

We hadn't even completed the elixir yet, so we were getting ahead of ourselves.

We received the Association staff's records of Dimensional Shop prices and arrived at the workshop.

While I prepared the Alchemy equipment, Yuki read through them for me.

"Search for Frozen Mana Crystal first."

"Okay... I found it. Its price has remained stable for years, between 400 and 500 gold. Its price fluctuations are similar to Mana Potions."

As expected.

Frozen Mana Crystal was normally used as an ingredient for Mana Potions.

It was a completely normal market price.

At least, from the perspective of someone who didn't know the hidden recipe.

"Next, Basic Skill Enhancement Pill."

"Searching... There are very few listings, and the price is high. At its most expensive, it has sold for over 100,000 gold..."

"One hundred thousand?"

Most shop prices had crashed after the 11th floor and the Dimensional Shop opened.

Not every product was like that, though.

Products with steady demand from nearly every race, like Soul Crystals, barely changed in price.

There had barely been any Soul Crystal listings before the 11th floor opened in the first place.

Still, 100,000?

That meant it was quite a rare item.

I stepped away from the alchemy cauldron and tapped at a calculator.

I'd made Basic Skill Enhancement Pills several times.

As long as the ingredients were decent, the success rate was over 90 percent.

I'd never actually failed, but I estimated conservatively.

"What's the profit margin if we do it this way?"

"Um... 30,000 gold."

"What? The margin is only that much? The selling fee shouldn't even be 10,000 gold."

"We need to calculate your labor costs, Benefactor! Your production time is worth more than 50,000 gold."

"..."

I liked that method of calculation, but it was wrong.

I corrected it immediately and calculated again.

"Ah, there we go. The expected margin is 80,000 each..."

We might have missed something, so I needed to search the shop.

This wasn't the time to leisurely make Elixirs of Immortality.

The moment I thought that and headed for the Tower, I received a call from Orca.

Brrring!

"Hello? Did you forget to tell me something earlier?"

[Yeah. I thought I'd better tell you before it's too late, just in case.]

"What is it?"

[Watch out for a Shop Blockade. It's a common form of harassment against promising races that have recently entered the Tower. If you need anything, it's best to buy it in advance.]

"A blockade? ... Thanks, then. Enjoy your dramas!"

I hung up and entered the Tower Shop.

Kim Yuna came looking for me after hearing that elixir production had stopped, so I immediately shoved a mushroom into her mouth.

"Mmph... Y-You should've done this sooner..."

"I checked with Orca, and she said it's not particularly bad for your body."

"Do you think your aging has slowed down at all?"

Yuki asked seriously, and Kim Yuna had no idea how to answer.

"Would I already feel it? Anyway, why are you going to the shop?"

"Orca told us to stock up on things."

"Oh, really? That's surprisingly helpful advice from her."

But unlike yesterday, when I sold our loot, the Goblin Merchant looked quite serious.

"Hunter. I'm deeply sorry to have to tell you this today."

"... What? Are you going on vacation or something?"

"It's worse news than that. Restocking of products imported from other dimensions will be suspended indefinitely due to circumstances on the sellers' side. You may purchase products that are already on sale, but it seems new stock will be difficult to obtain."

It had already begun.

Had Orca heard about it somewhere else before warning us?

We immediately turned around and headed to the Association.

Footnotes:

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