WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 142
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The next morning.
After mixing rice into my sister's usual soybean paste stew and eating it, I checked the news.
A variety of stories caught my eye again today.
[Hunter Kim Taeseok's right arm fully restored. Both sensory and motor functions normal.]
[Blue Dot: “I personally manufactured a complete recovery potion.” Interest focused on Extreme Lunatic Hell Pharmaceuticals.]
[Europe and Russia continue ceasefire along the front. Troop withdrawals without peace negotiations.]
[Major powers summon top-ranked Hunters in succession. Specific reasons undisclosed.]
[Reports of abnormalities on the Tower's High Floors continue... Tower climber management agencies in each country begin investigation.]
[Liberation force Hunters expand activities in Chinese-occupied territory... Clashes with stationed Chinese forces.]
[London Convention regular meeting scheduled. Heads of state from each country expected to attend in person.]
“There sure is a lot of new news today.”
It was another lively, chaotic day on Planet Earth.
The world was noisy in all sorts of ways.
Europe and Russia, which had been at war, had suddenly stopped fighting each other.
The Tower was experiencing abnormalities.
The major powers were making suspicious moves.
The Chinks were being plagued by liberation force Hunters.
And a major event for the Western bloc, the London Convention, was approaching.
But none of those articles had anything to do with me.
My eyes were focused only on a few articles.
[Hunter Kim Taeseok's right arm fully restored. Both sensory and motor functions normal.]
[Blue Dot: “I personally manufactured a complete recovery potion.”... Interest focused on Extreme Lunatic Hell Pharmaceuticals.]
“Hmm. The ordinary people are watching this exalted self's actions closely today as well!”
The fact that I had healed Hunter Kim Taeseok's arm and manufactured a complete recovery potion had made the news!
It put me in a good mood.
At some point, the attention I got from Hunter Gallery alone had stopped being enough for me.
I was becoming a world-class attention seeker beyond Hunter Gallery!
Anyway, I had studied enough about the state of the world.
Now it was time to look somewhere else.
I closed the news section and logged into the HunterNet Raid Team board.
Then I saw a post.
[It's fucking amazing how convenient having both hands is ㄷㄷ]
[Kim Taeseok (42)]
“Huh? Taeseok ahjussi made a post.”
It seemed Kim Taeseok had posted about getting his arm back.
I clicked on it and read the post.
[Post Title: It's fucking amazing how convenient having both hands is ㄷㄷ]
[Author: Kim Taeseok (42)]
Thanks to Jiho, I got my arm back yesterday.
No, now that I've got it back, I can really feel it...
How the hell did I live with one arm? LOL
I can tie my own shoelaces?
I don't make typos when I type on my phone?
Wow, this works.
Amazing...
Anyway, Jiho, thank you so much.
I'm living very comfortably thanks to you.
Thank you for fixing my arm!!!
...
It was a post from Hunter Kim Taeseok expressing his gratitude to me.
Feeling proud, I brushed beneath my nose.
He was this grateful.
All the hardship of making that Elixir and bringing it to him had been worth it!
I scrolled down and read the comments.
└Han Giyun (27): Wow, Taeseok-hyung doesn't have typos anymore LOL. Grats, grats.
└└Kim Taeseok (42): Typing with two fingers makes me twice as fast. So this is the benefit of being normal.
└Lee Junho (28): Congratulations, hyung. So after you recover properly, are you returning to Hunter work?
└└Kim Taeseok (42): Hmm... No. I think I'm going to quit being a Hunter.
└└Lee Junho (28): Huh, why, hyung? Don't tell me you still haven't recovered...
└└Kim Taeseok (42): No, it's not that. My arm is back, but whenever I think about entering the Tower, I can't breathe. I was in there for so long that I even dream about being trapped there again... I think I developed something like trauma. So I'm thinking of retiring soon. I should spend time with my family now.
└└Lee Junho (28): Ah... You've worked so hard all this time, hyung. Get plenty of rest. After going through something like that, it makes sense to consider retirement. ㅠㅠ
...
“...Hmm.”
It seemed Hunter Kim Taeseok was considering retirement.
Because of trauma, no less.
I could heal his arm.
But I could not heal his trauma.
Still, it made sense.
Even someone mentally strong would have suffered after drifting through the Tower for around two months with one arm gone.
It must have been difficult and painful.
Of course he would not want to go back in.
I could not bring myself to tell him to return to the Tower.
He had already suffered enough.
Even while the country had been on the verge of collapse, he stayed until the end and wore himself down for it.
At this point, he deserved more than enough rest.
I left a casual comment.
└Baek Jiho (41): Ahjussi, you've worked hard all this time. Get plenty of rest now. Leave King Korea to this exalted self, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Patriotic Admiral Yi Hunter, and retire!
└└Kim Taeseok (42): Yeah. Since you're here, I can rest with peace of mind. Anyway, thank you. For saving me and for fixing my arm.
└└Baek Jiho (41): But what are you gonna do after retirement, ahjussi? If you have nothing to do, wanna be our company's ambassador or something? I think having your face in commercials would be insanely good publicity.
└└Baek Jiho (41): Ahjussi, you there?
└└Baek Jiho (41): What, did you go AFK?
I had left a kind comment telling him to rest well.
But there was no new reply.
Had he gone to take another nap?
Anyway!
I slipped my phone into my pocket and muttered.
“Should I go look at office buildings now?”
Today was the day I would look at office buildings.
The day my Extreme Lunatic Hell Group would finally get a proper home.
* * *
My sister and I busily prepared to go out.
“Noona, aren't you ready yet?”
“Wait a little. I haven't finished my makeup.”
“Ah, Noona, you don't need to hide your wrinkles. I gave you a Reverse-Aging Potion and made your skin like a baby's. Just go out without makeup.”
“If I look too young at a place where trillions of won are changing hands, I'll be easy prey for scammers. Wait. I'm finished.”
My sister was carefully disguising herself in front of her vanity.
And while she did that...
“Hmm. This building looks cool! If the words Extreme Lunatic Hell were hanging from the top, it would look incredibly stylish. That building is the tallest, so sipping wine in its top-floor chairman's office while looking down on the ordinary people below would be satisfying. And this building...”
I browsed the buildings I could purchase on my laptop.
My heart swelled.
I was finally going to own a skyscraper!
Whenever I saw the various buildings on the laptop screen, I could not help imagining it.
An electronic sign reading Extreme Lunatic Hell Group displayed at the top of a building.
This exalted self sipping wine in a high-rise chairman's office.
Looking down on the ordinary people below with a relaxed smile.
Khh-!
At last, I could fulfill my dream!
While I was eagerly digging through the listings and looking over buildings, I suddenly heard a voice.
“You are thinking of moving your alchemy workshop.”
“Huh?”
I turned to see that the voice had come from Daesik, the black jar sitting on the living room table.
For reference, the living room table was Daesik's assigned seat.
Since Daesik had no body and got bored, I had put the jar there so it could at least watch TV.
I nodded.
“Yeah, that's right. I'm thinking of getting a company building soon. This exalted self is the Extreme Lunatic Hell Alchemist and the Heaven-Defying Alchemist. I can't stay buried in a basement forever!”
I would get a large, proper workshop!
Then I would mass-produce potions and sell them at high prices!
Sell tons of potions, make a fortune, then overtake Elon Mengsk!
That was this exalted self's grand plan.
Then Daesik spoke.
“Take me with you too.”
“You? Why? Do you want some fresh air?”
Well, being holed up in a room all day and watching TV would make anyone restless.
Daesik probably wanted to see the outside.
Daesik refuted that assumption.
“Fool. You must carefully inspect the land where you intend to establish a workshop. An alchemy workshop cannot be built just anywhere. The mana veins in that area, the flow of mana, and magical harmony with the surrounding environment are important.”
“...?”
What was this guy suddenly talking about?
Daesik continued explaining.
“Alchemy is, by nature, like sailing on land. Just as you can reach your destination without laboriously rowing if you use the ocean currents and wind, you can perform alchemy with less effort and greater quality by using the mana veins of the earth and the flow of mana in the atmosphere. That is why wizards and alchemists have searched every mountain and field since ancient times.”
“So... there are locations that are magically better?”
“Yes. It is an extremely important factor. No alchemist would thoughtlessly build a workshop in a basement as you did. How much mana do you intend to consume to make a single potion? I did not have time to inspect it then, but your basement workshop did not even have a single alchemical formation or mana-gathering formation.”
“But isn't it fine without them? I made an Elixir.”
“That is precisely why you are insane! How did you make an Elixir without even the assistance of formations...?! The mana consumption must have been enormous... How much mana did you use then?”
“Hmm. About enough for a thousand Fireballs?”
When I made the Elixir, I used enough mana for a thousand Fireballs.
Each individual step did not require much mana.
But I had continuously poured in mana, mixed it, and adjusted the ingredients, using mana this way and that.
By the time I finished, I had consumed enough mana for a thousand Fireballs.
At the time, I thought it was natural to need a lot of mana because I was making something as amazing as an Elixir.
But apparently, I had simply forced it through with brute strength.
Daesik quietly cursed.
“You are insane. You used that much mana without a care? Was it not a waste? That amount would take a high-level wizard several months to gather.”
“I recover it quickly when I enter the Tower, so I used it without thinking.”
“...This Tower of yours. I do not understand how it functions. I cannot believe that I am a being from within the Tower, nor can I believe that humans travel through several worlds and gradually become stronger. What exactly am I...?”
Daesik's voice sank gloomily.
The mention of the Tower had caused an identity crisis.
It was like a scientist discovering that they were a brain in a vat.
Anyway, judging by Daesik's explanation, the location of an alchemy workshop needed to be chosen carefully in many ways.
I had thought that as long as it was tall, cool, and had good transportation access, that would be enough.
But it was not.
I had to consider magical location stuff too.
I had to become the Extreme Lunatic Hell feng shui master.
Anyway.
I made my decision.
“Noona!”
“What?”
When I shouted loudly, my sister threw open the door and walked out of her room.
She had full makeup on.
I spoke to her.
“Noona. I'm taking Daesik with us when we go look at company buildings.”
“...Daesik? The jar? Why?”
“Noona, don't you know how important feng shui is when buying a building? Daesik knows feng shui well, so I'm going to get advice from this guy.”
“?”
The purchase of the Extreme Lunatic Hell headquarters had begun!
* * *
Afterward, we went to look at buildings.
For reference, we took a taxi.
That was because we had not gotten Kkikki II yet.
When I said I would buy her a car, my sister told me she would think about it and let me know if there was one she wanted later.
What kind of car was she planning to buy, anyway?
In any case, we arrived at the first candidate building.
I nodded.
“What a magnificent building. A grand structure suited to this exalted self's dignity!”
“Jiho, I'll go inspect the facilities with the representative. In the meantime, you...”
“I'll check this building's feng shui, Noona.”
I tapped the jar tucked under my arm.
“Aagh, urgh!”
Daesik groaned.
The groans of that old thing disgusted me, so I stopped tapping it.
Anyway, while my sister inspected the building and checked the surrounding location and facilities, it was time for me to inspect its magical foundation.
I asked Daesik.
“Daesik. How is this place? Take a look.”
“Examine the mana of the earth, especially the flow of its mana veins. Do not simply check how much mana there is. Check which direction it flows and how active it is as well.”
“Aren't you looking?”
“Can you still say that after looking at my current state? Just explain what you sense.”
Ah, right.
This guy was currently nothing more than a talking jar.
Daesik could not use magic, so I had to inspect it myself.
I gripped my staff and extended my senses toward the floor.
“I just have to check those mana vein things, right? Does this work?”
“Hummmmm...”
I extended my spiritual senses underground.
My consciousness, which normally only swept through the air, burrowed into the earth.
Then I sensed the Blue Motes underground through my spiritual perception.
Normally, I would have simply thought, There is mana here, and moved on.
But when I consciously examined them, they were each moving slowly, little by little.
After looking, I told Daesik.
“They're flowing from left to right. But it seems like they scatter a little in the middle?”
“Where do they gather again after scattering?”
“Nowhere in particular? They just spread in every direction.”
“Tch. It will take a great deal of work just to hold the flow together. It is not suitable for a workshop. Let us look elsewhere.”
The first candidate had been rejected.
The building itself was grand and cool, and relatively new.
But the mana underground was disappointingly poor.
While I was examining the mana veins, my sister, who had been looking around the building, came over.
“Jiho, how is this place?”
“Rejected. They say the energy scatters here.”
“...What does that mean?”
“It means that, in feng shui terms, gathered energy scatters in every direction, creating a formation where wealth leaks out everywhere!”
As I said that, the representative flinched.
What was with that person?
Then the jar babbled.
“I never said anything about wealth leaking out everywhere.”
“We're looking at mana veins underground. Doesn't that mean this is feng shui?”
“...”
Anyway, the first building was rejected!
It looked stylish, but there was a problem underground.
Then we went to the second building.
The second building was the complete opposite of the first.
“...This building looks incredibly old.”
It was old enough to look worn down, and perhaps because the facilities, including the elevators, had not been maintained properly, one or two of them were out of order.
The transportation access was poor as well.
Thanks to that, the listing price was much lower than the first building's.
Still, it did not have much prestige.
But...
“Daesik. The mana vein here runs straight, then gathers in the middle like a bottleneck. What do you think?”
“If what you say is true, it is a naturally occurring mana bottleneck. It is an excellent location. If you establish a workshop here, high-efficiency alchemy will be possible without much difficulty.”
“Oh. Really?”
Contrary to its appearance, the mana veins seemed quite good.
Holding up the jar, I spoke to my sister.
“Noona! Let's choose this place! It looks old, poorly managed, and shabby, but according to feng shui, wealth gets bottlenecked here, so it's an excellent spot where we can gather lots of money!”
“...!”
The representative looked at me with astonishment, admiration in their eyes.
What was with that person?
Did I somehow really get it right?
But at my words, my sister shook her head.
“No. This place isn't good.”
“Why? You don't trust our Extreme Lunatic Hell feng shui master, Daesik? Are you looking down on Daesik because it's a bodiless jar? Daesik will be hurt.”
“...That's not what I mean. It would be too inconvenient to move research equipment and cargo around here.”
The transportation was inconvenient, the facilities were old and needed repairs in more than one or two places, and the layout was inefficient.
It would not be bad as an ordinary office building.
But it was unsuitable as a space for someone like me, who would bring in large quantities of various materials and mass-produce potions.
In the end, I gave up with tears in my eyes.
I would probably make no small amount of potions, so I could not decide based solely on the mana veins underground.
Anyway, we continued like that.
We went around looking at various buildings.
And each time, Daesik or my sister raised objections.
“This place is a mana void. The land is no better than garbage, so you must never build a workshop here. Your mana would be drained instead.”
“The mana vein flow itself is plentiful, but it is too dispersed. It looks like it would take considerable effort to gather it together. If there are absolutely no other candidates, this is a place to consider only at the end.”
“This is insane. There is black mana within the mana veins? Well, with a natural environment this desolate, the mana veins were bound to become contaminated even without artificial intervention. Your world was already destroying itself without someone like me.”
“What are you talking about, you guy who tried to eat a continent?”
Daesik, the feng shui master, explained each place after I examined the mana veins and told Daesik what I sensed.
Then there was my sister, who, true to her trading-company background, held the representative in place and interrogated them about each building's value.
“Have there been any major repairs to the exterior walls or heating and cooling facilities recently?”
“What about the elevators? There is a separate freight elevator, right? Ah... there isn't?”
“How much electrical capacity is there? We are also considering research facilities, so we may use more electricity than a standard office.”
“When do the companies currently occupying the building have contracts until? We may use the whole building.”
“How many parking spaces did you say there were?”...
Anyway, choosing a building was harder than I had expected.
If I liked the exterior, the mana veins were bad.
If the mana veins were good, the facilities were bad.
If the facilities were good, the mana veins were bad.
After inspecting five or six buildings in a row, I gradually grew tired.
‘Ah... Choosing a building isn't easy.’
It had been a long time since I came out of my room and ran all over the place.
I felt drained.
Well, buying a building could not be easy.
I was spending an enormous sum that could reach trillions of won.
There were that many things to consider and inspect.
It could not compare to looking for a one-room apartment to live alone in.
How long had we been going around like that?
“Now, this is the seventh building.”
At last, we inspected the seventh building.
This one was an all-glass building with six basement floors and thirty-eight floors above ground.
At first, every building had looked grand and cool in its own way.
But after seeing so many, they all started feeling similar.
Buildings had less character than I expected.
Anyway.
“Jiho, you're going to the basement, right? Go take a look. I'll inspect the facilities here.”
“Okay.”
My sister left with the representative.
I trudged toward the basement.
Daesik spoke.
“Start by examining the basement.”
“I was going to, even if you didn't say anything, punk.”
After visiting a few buildings, we had naturally divided the work.
My sister inspected the facilities while I headed to the basement.
Since we were examining different things, there was no need for us to stay together.
Anyway, I arrived at the building's basement.
It contained electrical facilities, a machine room, storage rooms, a freight elevator, a security office, and similar spaces.
As I walked along, I gripped my staff and examined beneath the floor.
I immediately released my spiritual perception and detected the mana underground.
Then...
“...Huh?”
I could not help tilting my head.
The flow was clearly different from the mana veins I had seen before.
I grabbed Daesik and asked.
“Daesik, Daesik. The mana flow here is kind of strange. Is this normal?”
“What is the flow like?”
“The Blue Motes... I mean, the mana seems to wrap around the building several times. Like a whirlpool.”
“...”
The jar was silent for a moment.
Then Daesik spoke quietly.
“What about above? Examine the flow of mana in the atmosphere above the ground as well.”
I turned my attention to the air around me.
Perhaps because it was underground, the air was stale and musty.
Blue Motes floated and drifted through it.
Normally, it would have been a sight I passed over without much thought.
But now that I knew the underground flow, I saw something different.
Blue Motes faintly rose from the floor.
They mixed gently with the motes in the air and slowly moved in a kind of convection current.
Blue Motes rose from below, formed a flow that circled the basement once, then were absorbed back into the underground current and disappeared.
I explained it to Daesik.
“The flow above is similar. Mana comes up from below, mixes with the mana around it, circles around, then goes back down.”
“...Where does the flow stop? Were there no places where mana scattered outside?”
“Not at all? The mana just circles this basement once, then gets absorbed into the mana veins again and flows away.”
“Huh...!”
Daesik let out an exclamation of admiration.
This was the guy who had clicked his tongue and found fault with every place until now.
Could this be a good location?
Daesik muttered quietly.
“You have found... quite a precious place.”
“Oh.”
It seemed this place was magically quite good.
Daesik continued explaining.
“The flows of earth and air are interlocked. The mana that flows out does not scatter immediately. It stays here, then circulates again. To shape a flow suitable for a workshop, one must lay formations and adjust them for a long time. But here, the foundation has already been created.”
“So it is a naturally formed alchemy workshop?”
“That is correct. In a place like this, you can reduce the effort needed to establish formations and save the power needed to maintain them. If you use the flow well, it will be a considerable... no, tremendous help for complex refinement.”
I had found a natural alchemy workshop!
“In my era, mage towers would have gone to war over a single patch of land like this. It is remarkable that a place like this remained in land where mana is so thin.”
“Wow. Is it really that good?”
I inspected the surroundings again.
This space looked like an ordinary basement.
But Blue Motes drifted beneath and around it.
It was something I would have passed by without noticing if I had only looked at the building.
Naturally, the listing could not have mentioned something like this.
It probably just said that the basement was spacious and the facilities were good.
But I could even see the mana veins beneath the building.
It was a premium listing that only this exalted self, the Extreme Lunatic Hell feng shui master, could recognize!
I could not wait any longer...!
“Noona!”
I hurried back upstairs and met my sister.
She was looking through documents with the representative and examining various details.
I immediately spoke.
“Noona! They say this place is an insanely amazing feng shui location! Let's buy it right away!”
When I said that, the representative nodded repeatedly as though agreeing.
What was with that person since earlier?
They looked at me with eyes full of strange respect.
It felt like they genuinely thought I was an incredible feng shui master.
Then my sister asked.
“It is good for building a workshop?”
“Yeah. It is extremely good. Noona, let's buy this building! Looking for a better listing than this would be meaningless.”
“...The building conditions here are decent too. But we need to negotiate the purchase price and schedule further.”
“You handle that, Noona. Anyway, I absolutely have to get this place!”
My heart swelled.
I was someone who had made an Elixir by putting a single pot on bare ground.
If someone like me got a proper workshop in such an incredible location...
What kind of potions could I make?
“In this place, I might even be able to create a true heaven-defying elixir!”
I held the jar high.
I had finally found it.
A place where this exalted self, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Alchemist and Heaven-Defying Alchemist, could fully display my abilities!
“Daesik, what if a heavenly tribulation strikes while I make an elixir here later? A ridiculously amazing potion will be born, one so incredible that heaven becomes jealous!”
“Why would lightning strike when making medicine?”
“Defying heaven always comes with trials! That is the elixir refinement of immortals!”
“I do not know what elixir refinement is, but what you do is alchemy. Get a grip.”
I imagined it for a moment.
A radiant medicinal aura rising in the middle of Seoul.
Dark clouds and lightning gathering above it!
And an alchemical pill bearing elixir markings resting in my hand!
Immortal-cultivation novels had been fun lately.
Anyway.
I was happy because it seemed I had found a proper home.
“Hehe. Do you think a mere heavenly tribulation can stop my refinement!”
“Jiho, this building still belongs to someone else. Please be quiet.”
“...”
Hmm.
That was true.
I put the jar down for now.
Then I turned to the representative and asked.
“Excuse me. Are this building's lightning rods sturdy?”
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