Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 11
11. Life at the Front Lines of Experience
Outlets had begun appearing throughout the main hall. It was a clear change from before.
I lifted my head to check, and sure enough, electric lights hung from the ceiling as well, complete with their switches.
‘There was a Generator in the construction list.’
I’d wondered what I’d use the electricity for, but thankfully it seemed to be going toward reasonably sensible places.
‘At this rate, I could do away with my rented place entirely.’
Spirit Village had the main hall to handle lodging, and now electricity had arrived. As for food and clothes, I could buy them at Boru or stock supplies there—all necessities were covered.
‘There’s no reason to keep paying rent and management fees on that place.’
Life in the Tower World was quite comfortable. It was thanks to the Grand Lord’s Boru skill providing room and board, and Byeol Muri’s Inter-realm Net skill solving the internet.
The fact that Boru’s upper levels contained not only a guild house but residential spaces like studio and two-bedroom apartments, which were apparently in high demand, proved this point.
‘The rent is just astronomically expensive—nobody but Awakened Ones could manage it.’
But I didn’t need to pay that rent. Even better, the S-rank hero Byeol Muri was so magnificent that internet access was possible even from the Spirit Special District, which lay quite far from Boru.
‘And Boru itself is within the Cart-accessible Range. Safe and comfortable, no question about it.’
Cart-accessible Range meant “a range where you could haul carts to and from Boru.” I’d just made that term up.
After brief consideration, I made my decision.
‘I’ll move before the next rent is due.’
Still, I had to get my money’s worth out of the rent I’d already paid.
* * *
At the same moment, hundreds of kilometers away, in the Wasteland.
The Holy Guild’s third temporary external outpost. Tentatively called “Gloria Cavern.”
Scattered throughout the cavern, one kilometer into its depths, were numerous Awakened Ones and Porters.
They were part of the Holy Guild’s large-scale Expedition—an Expedition tasked with gathering and collecting various materials scattered throughout the Wasteland.
“Damn it all!”
One of the Expedition members snapped with irritation and hurled his pickaxe to the ground.
“How much longer do we have to stay in this godforsaken place?!”
The man’s body was caked with grime.
Only the trickles of sweat running down his face provided the one meager stream of water to wash any of it away.
“This damned wind, this damned weather, this damned food!”
Thump!
The man kicked at his protective gear, which lay folded to one side. As the acrid stench of sweat-soaked armor filled the air, everyone nearby immediately covered their noses.
“Outside, that cursed Withering Wind forces us to wear these miserable clothes, and to avoid it, we have to come down this deep into a steam room! And even during breaks, we can’t get decent rest, let alone use the internet!”
The man’s shout echoed through the cavern.
The others, too exhausted to be angry, simply grimaced.
“Hard biscuits and excessively salty jerky—that’s all they give us? And what, they limit our daily water ration? Is this any way to treat people? But the Hunters who do nothing get carbonated drinks? And the Holy Maiden herself barely lifts a finger except when moving, just gets her fill while the rest of us suffer…!”
“Hey, rookie.”
Eventually, another Expedition member who’d had enough called out to him. But even he lacked the energy to offer gentle advice.
“Stop whining and shut it. You’re not the only one struggling here.”
“Whining? Did you just call me a whiner?”
“Then yeah, you’re whining. We’ve got people here who just turned a toddler—their phones have been dead for ages, and all they do is touch their pictures. You’re complaining about heat. That’s whining, isn’t it?”
“Damn it! How is that my concern? If they miss their brats so much, they shouldn’t have come here in the first place!”
“Fine. Looks like reasoning won’t work. You need a beating.”
Crack!
Sparks flew in the eyes of both Expedition members.
* * *
Just dozens of meters from where the Expedition members’ fight had broken out.
The Expedition’s supplies lay piled high in a broad cavern chamber.
“We’ve already drunk half the water.”
“Yes. The cavern’s temperature is higher than expected. And with the humidity, the workers’ water consumption is very high.”
“A miscalculation, then. Let’s dismantle some of the spare tents and fashion water-collection systems.”
The Expedition leader, the Holy Maiden, moved among the supplies, checking the inventory list of what remained.
“We’re also running quite low on fuel.”
“The projected excavation site turned out to be deeper than initially planned.”
“So we need to keep torches lit for longer stretches?”
“Yes. No matter how minimally we light the way, being underground means we still need to see our feet.”
The Holy Maiden paused, glancing around the dim chamber.
Hunters stood stationed throughout the cavern and near its entrance, guarding the supplies.
“Isn’t there someone among them who possesses a light-emitting skill?”
“There is, but if we send them to the excavation site, it will throw off our security rotation schedule.”
Security rotation schedule.
Duty to protect the Holy Maiden, who possessed no skills beyond Holy Proclamation, and to guard the expedition’s stores that filled the cavern.
At those words, the Holy Maiden released a small sigh.
‘What a shame.’
It truly was a shame.
If only the Hunters who protected this cavern didn’t exist, the stores would be more than sufficient.
Hunters and Porters—the units by which their worth was measured differed from the start. Naturally, so did the treatment they received.
What that meant was simple: one Hunter consumed the supplies of at least five Porters.
‘If only that expense could be spared, we could afford better treatment for the Porters.’
But the Holy Maiden knew the truth.
That such a thing was impossible.
Without Hunters, would they fall prey to Monsters? No—her Holy Proclamation skill alone was sufficient to drive them back.
The real problem, oddly enough, stemmed from the very Porters whom the Holy Maiden so carefully watched over and wished to provide for.
Without security guards, theft would emerge among them. One by one they would steal, until everyone became a thief.
If stores dwindled, expeditions would inevitably fail. In the worst case, miscounted provisions meant death from starvation on the return journey.
So Hunters and rotating security shifts had to exist.
‘Which comes first—work of value, or workers of value?’
For the Holy Maiden, it was a truly difficult question.
If she paid them more, would they stop coveting the stores? Or would they simply use that money to hoard more supplies?
Of course, such thoughts were meaningless.
The Guild’s finance department would reject any such proposal the moment she raised it.
‘At least this expedition has been quite successful. That’s some consolation.’
Creak.
The Holy Maiden opened one of the crates. It was filled with materials gathered over the past several days—herbs that would become the raw ingredients for potions.
Caverns yielded more than just ore. Herbs too grew within them, plants that had evolved to thrive only underground, away from the Withering Wind.
The Holy Maiden gazed down at the Recovery Herbs that filled half the crate with satisfaction.
Beneath the faint lamp light, the herbs flaunted their living green, and soon they would become lifelines for the wounded and sources of gold for the Guild and the Porters.
But the Holy Maiden’s joy would not last long.
“Holy Maiden! A fight has broken out among the Porters!”
At the Guild member’s report, the Holy Maiden sighed and rose from her seat.
* * *
I examined the two Recovery Herbs in my hand, turning them over alternately.
One had grown in my herb garden; the other was a commercially distributed Recovery Herb I’d purchased through Tower Market.
‘I never had much connection to herbs, so I didn’t really know….’
I’ve climbed the Tower only as a Porter. I’ve occasionally seen the Potions used by Hunters, but this is my first time actually laying eyes on the raw herb itself.
Yet even I could see the difference between these two herbs was staggering.
‘They’re not even in the same league.’
Size, length, luster, fragrance—none of it compared. If the Spirit Special District herb were ginseng, the Wasteland herb would be balloon flower.
Such was the gap between a herb that had barely managed to spread its roots in some nameless Wasteland cavern and one nurtured in a proper field, soaked in sunlight, water, and the care of spirits.
‘At this quality, I could probably sell them for far more than the conventional herbs.’
While I mulled this over, Toho-gi approached, carrying several herb bundles.
[Chirp!]
It seemed the herb garden’s historic first harvest was complete.
“You did wonderfully. You really are Spirit Village’s finest worker, Toho-gi.”
With genuine delight, I pulled five Crackers from my pocket and distributed them to Toho-gi.
[Chirp-chirp-chirp!]
Toho-gi hugged the Crackers joyfully and scurried off to store them in his snack cache.
[La-la-la~.]
In the herb garden, Suho-gi was undertaking a new planting. Seeds saved from the harvest would be sown today.
I set out a Cider for Suho-gi to enjoy once she finished, then sank deeper into my chair.
The newly purchased Beach Chair.
“The weather’s perfect.”
Warm sunlight from the high sky, fluffy clouds that tempered it just right, a gentle breeze from the windmill, and Suho-gi’s song.
I put on the sunglasses I’d prepared and sucked at a Cola through a straw.
“Ahh, this is living.”
It’s wonderful.
No—wonderful isn’t the word.
I’m savoring life at 200% right now.
I hold a simple wish in my heart: that this joy and contentment continue forever.
* * *
On the first floor of Boru stands a vast shopping district.
In terms of sheer scale, it rivaled the largest amusement parks in South Korea—a sprawling shopping district spanning over three hundred thousand square meters.
This arcade, or mall as some called it, contained multiple sections and streets, but the one I sought today was Alchemist Street.
– Potion Café! The one from YouTube!
– Direct results for hair loss! Hair Potion now in stock!
– New Tower Sardine Potion release—perfect for students and men!
– Buy-one-get-one promotion on Student Focus Elixir.
So many advertising slogans plastered across the storefronts that they nearly obscured the shop signs themselves.
I passed through shop after shop—each one fixated on capturing tourists rather than Hunters—until I reached the district where the real workshops stood.
– Recovery Potions in Stock!
– Shop of Grade A Alchemist Kang Yeon-geum
– IAI Certified Storefront
– Supplier to the Yeongeum Guild
It was at this last workshop that I stopped.
The Yeongeum Guild was the largest alchemist guild in South Korea. Any shop that supplied to them would surely recognize the true value of my herbs.
“Is anyone here?”
The moment I stepped inside, a pungent reek of herbs hit me full in the face. I’d found the right place.
Shuffle-shuffle.
An old man with a fussy demeanor came shuffling out from the back of the workshop. He adjusted his glasses and looked me up and down before speaking.
“What is it? A solo Hunter? We don’t do small sales here.”
“I’m not here to buy. I’m here to sell.”
I said this while setting the black vinyl bag I’d been holding onto the counter.
The old man reflexively peeked inside the bag and moved to hand it back to me with a dismissive gesture.
“I’m sorry, but I already have an Expedition I trade with, u-u-ugh???”
Then he grabbed the bag back and thrust his nose inside, peering intently at its contents.
“What in the world is this?”
With trembling hands, the old man extracted a single Recovery Herb from the bag.
It had taken four days to grow in the Spirit Special District, and it was fresh—just harvested by Toho-gi moments before.
“A Recovery Herb like this exists?”
At his tone of wonder, the spirits hidden beneath my hood shivered.
“The condition is acceptable, yes?”
“Acceptable? This is far beyond acceptable! It’s as if someone dosed this herb with steroids!”
The old man’s eyes had begun to gleam with naked desire.
The hunger of an alchemist for superior material—and for the masterpiece it might become.
“I’ll double the price. Sell me everything!”
The moment I saw that look, I understood.
The balance had shifted. I had become the superior party.
“No. Double is too low.”
If the other side craves what you have with desperation, the natural response is to raise your price accordingly.
“I want four times the base price.”
“What?! Are you insane? Two and a half times! That’s my final offer!”
“Four times.”
“This is maddening. Three times!”
“Four times.”
“Damn it all. Fine, four times!”
“Okay, thank you!”
Remember this, always.
When buying goods that have no fixed price, never let your true feelings show.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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