S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 79

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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 79. A Cure That Isn’t a Cure (1)
The Elixir Master recognized the Mandrake and showed interest.
“A Mandrake? And not just any ordinary one. A thousand years old, perhaps?”
“A ten-thousand-year-old Mandrake, sir.”
“Ten thousand years? Ha ha! Don’t feed me such nonsense, you fool. I’ve been consuming Elixirs instead of mother’s milk since birth. There’s no such thing as a ten-thousand-year-old Mandrake in this world.”
“Then shall we make a wager? If this is indeed a ten-thousand-year-old Mandrake, you’ll craft an Elixir from it.”
“…Since you’ve come knowing who I am, there’s no need for introductions. Follow me.”
“Then I’ll impose upon you, Kang In-yong.”
Kang In-yong, the Elixir Master.
He was the master of South Korea’s finest Elixir practitioners. Without question, none could surpass him in the art of Elixir crafting.
Following him, I entered the building marked as the Apothecary.
“Hmm.”
“What, can’t you enter?”
The scent emanating from the Apothecary was not mere olfactory stimulation.
It carried Mana within it. My vision swam, and cramps seized my limbs.
I immediately invoked Ming Jing Zhi Shui to resist the medicinal vapor.
“Impressive, for a beginner.”
“Have you switched your profession from Elixir Master to poison maker?”
“Kekeke, don’t you know the saying—medicine and poison are separated by a single leaf?”
He gestured me toward a small table and chair in one corner of the Apothecary, bidding me sit.
“The fact that you found this place knowing who I am means you must have connections with the Hunter Association’s director or the Association’s chairman.”
“I can’t deny that.”
Chae Mujin chose not to contradict him. It seemed advantageous to let him believe it.
“Wait.”
Clattering sounds came from the adjacent room. Soon Kang In-yong returned with a cup of tea.
“I’m not so callous as to offer a guest nothing but cold courtesy.”
“Thank you.”
The tea he offered carried a soft, savory fragrance.
Warm to a pleasant temperature, I reached for the first sip when Chae Mujin set the cup down.
“Your hospitality is overwhelming, sir.”
Chae Mujin abruptly fixed Kang In-yong with a piercing stare as he spoke.
Kang In-yong replied with an untroubled expression.
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s poisoned.”
“Ho, how did you know?”
The tea Kang In-yong had served contained poison. What kind, Chae Mujin couldn’t say.
But it was certainly no light toxin that induced mere numbness.
“I haven’t heard favorable reports of your character.”
“Tch, sweating at my age is tiresome.”
Kang In-yong began preparing for combat as naturally as breathing.
Yet Chae Mujin spoke calmly.
“Why don’t you tell me your reason for this?”
Chae Mujin genuinely didn’t know why Kang In-yong was doing this.
All he knew were exactly three things.
Kang In-yong was South Korea’s finest Elixir Master. Yet one day he suddenly retired and secluded himself, and this place was where he’d withdrawn to.
So Chae Mujin had no inkling why Kang In-yong suddenly wanted to poison him or why he wanted to fight.
“You’re an amusing fellow. You claim to know about me, yet now you wear the face of one who knows nothing.”
“You’re South Korea’s finest Elixir Master, and you retired due to some matter. That’s all I know.”
“Amusing, or rather suspicious? Only the Hunter Association’s director or the Association’s chairman would know I’m here, so are you telling me they explained only this much?”
“I said I knew those two people; I never said I obtained information from them.”
“So you’re telling me you found me without getting information from either of those two?”
Kang In-yong spreads his legs apart. At such a simple gesture, Chae Mujin’s breath caught. It was as though a massive serpent coiled around him.
He was not only South Korea’s finest Elixir Master but also an A-rank Hunter exceeding Level 300.
He was an opponent Chae Mujin couldn’t defeat at his current level.
“Does it matter where I obtained my information?”
…….
“I have a ten-thousand-year-old Mandrake here. Please craft an Elixir from it. That is all I ask.”
There wasn’t a single percent of deception in Chae Mujin’s words.
Kang In-yong, knowing this, found himself at a loss.
“Tsk.”
The killing intent that had compressed his entire body dissipated. Chae Mujin gasped for breath.
“I’ll believe you. That you came without malice, and that the Mandrake is indeed ten thousand years old. So leave the Mandrake here.”
“……?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not simply stealing it. I’ll give you a Superior Elixir of my own making. Enough to fill your pockets.”
A Superior Elixir surpassed even the Bi Jeong Mu Dan that Cheon Mu-jong had given during the official Hunter exam. He was offering not one, but an entire pouch of them.
Without seeing how many fit inside, Chae Mujin had no desire to look.
“No. It must be an Elixir made from this Mandrake.”
“I need that Mandrake too. Since I’d prefer not to kill you if possible, cooperate with me.”
“How can someone so greedy have abandoned the world?”
At that, Kang In-yong’s expression twisted savagely. Yet Chae Mujin met those eyes unflinchingly, and the two of them stared at each other in silence for a long time.
Instinctively, Kang In-yong understood: Chae Mujin would never back down, and should he try to take the Mandrake by force, the boy would fight to the death rather than yield.
Moreover, he didn’t seem as though he could be killed easily. In the end, Kang In-yong broke his gaze and spoke.
“I’ll tell you why I retired and why I’m here now.”
* * *
Chae Mujin and Kang In-yong shared a common trait: they both despised lengthy explanations.
Thanks to this, Kang In-yong explained with admirable brevity.
“My granddaughter fell under a Curse. Ten years ago I retired to cure it, but to this day, no one has been able to treat it. I myself barely keep her alive using Elixirs.”
“You were trying to steal it because a ten-thousand-year-old Mandrake might cure it?”
“I’m not certain. But there’s a possibility.”
“Would you allow me to examine your granddaughter?”
“Did you hear me with your ears plugged? No one has been able to cure it—that means even the Sword Saint and the Association’s chairman have given up. Yet you think you can treat her?”
“I didn’t say I could cure her. I only said I’d examine her.”
“Do you think my granddaughter is some doll for your viewing pleasure?!”
Kang In-yong’s rage was genuine. The Apothecary trembled as though it might collapse.
It wasn’t mere anger. It was despair. One could feel in his very bones how deeply he cherished and loved his granddaughter.
‘I’ve experienced something similar myself.’
Though it was in a past life, Chae Mujin had known a comparable pain, so no matter how harshly Kang In-yong raged or attacked, he felt no resentment.
“You yourself said the probability of curing it with a Mandrake is nearly zero but worth attempting. The probability that a stranger you’ve just met can cure her isn’t that different from what you’re willing to try.”
“That mouth of yours, I should just—!”
Kang In-yong raised his hand as if to strike. Chae Mujin dodged exaggeratedly and spoke.
“Wait, you’re about to hit someone who might possibly cure your granddaughter?”
“Can you cure her?”
“I won’t know until I try.”
“…If you discover nothing, you won’t be leaving here unscathed.”
“I have no intention of going home empty-handed either.”
Thus Chae Mujin followed Kang In-yong into the Bedroom, where his granddaughter lay.
He’d assumed she would be around middle-school age, but he was wrong. She appeared to be at least nineteen.
The girl lying on the bed seemed peaceful, sleeping soundly.
Her skin was fair, and her hair gleamed. One could tell Kang In-yong had been caring for her diligently every single day.
“To perform a Pulse Diagnosis, I’ll need to touch her wrist.”
“I’ve already done a Pulse Diagnosis thousands of times, so what will change if you do it?”
“It will differ. Not a matter of skill, but of approach.”
“…Insufferable man.”
With permission granted, Chae Mujin gently grasped her wrist. Then he froze.
“Ugh—!”
Her delicate arm bore an enormous weight.
Not from actual physical mass, but from an unprecedented force dormant within her body.
“What is this? A power that’s neither Mana nor Internal Energy, yet sits so firmly rooted in her body.”
“You have some skill, then. But in the end, you don’t know the cause either.”
“Touching her wrist alone won’t suffice. I’ll place my hand on her chest.”
“You bastard, you’re saying you’ll touch my granddaughter’s body?!”
This time, even Chae Mujin wouldn’t let that remark pass.
“That’s an insult to every physician.”
“Huk, but still, another man touching my granddaughter—”
“What era are you living in?”
“Grrrrr—!”
Kang In-yong was holding back tremendously—held in check by nothing but the glimmer of hope that Chae Mujin might actually find a solution.
Blood trickled from the corner of his clenched mouth. He finally turned away sharply.
“Be quick!”
“Yes.”
I placed my palm on her chest. Her faint heartbeat was palpable.
‘Her body isn’t dead, then.’
Countless physicians must have examined her already. Still, I channeled my Internal Energy into her body.
‘It won’t go in. There’s no space for Internal Energy to enter.’
It was like pouring water onto rock. With my eyes closed and drawing upon every experience from my past life, I could find no parallel case.
It wasn’t without reason that Kang In-yong said everyone had failed.
The Sword Saint’s failure, the Association chairman’s failure—it amounted to a death sentence. No one in this world could cure her.
No matter what Chae Mujin tried, he couldn’t discern the cause. How could he treat something when he didn’t know its origin?
‘There isn’t no method, but it’s not something I can do.’
In this world, there exists a Skill to extract souls and swap bodies.
The problem was that the person possessing it was an S-rank Hunter, not even a Korean one. And there was another, far more critical issue: they were a villain.
‘Finding them, securing their cooperation—it would be hopelessly difficult.’
I clenched my eyes shut.
‘In the end, there’s nothing I can do. Or rather, there’s one thing.’
Give the ten-thousand-year-old Mandrake to Kang In-yong. Have him attempt to use it on her treatment.
‘There’s no other way.’
I’d been no help in treating his granddaughter—why would he willingly craft the Mandrake into an Elixir for me?
Better to give him the Mandrake and exchange it for a Superior Elixir instead.
It was the only method I could offer her, the only way to honor her.
The moment I resolved to withdraw my hand and call for Kang In-yong, the system window materialized.
My sincere resolve to sacrifice the Mandrake for her sake—the system immediately recognized this determination and converted it into a Debt Value.
[Collection Target Updated.]
Collection Target: Kang Chae-a
Debt Value: 0→1,900
[Collection List]
Traits:
‣Mana Overload (F)―1,000 [Collectable]
‣Five Elements Overload (D)―3,000 [Not Collectable]
‣Divine Descent Overload (C)―10,000 [Not Collectable]
‣Sacred Overload (B)―30,000 [Not Collectable]
‣Telekinesis Overload (A)―100,000 [Not Collectable]
‣Transcendence Overload (S)―10,000,000 [Not Collectable]
Skills:
‣Dragon Body Descent (S)―10,000,000 [Not Collectable]
The system window filled my entire vision.
Chae Mujin’s eyes widened beyond measure. The reason no one had ever identified her Curse was because it wasn’t a Curse at all.
Who could have imagined that the Trait known as “The More the Better” had become the very poison that was killing her?
Chae Mujin understood instinctively: he must Confiscate the Mana Overload. Doing so would surely save her.
Understanding became action in an instant.
“Confiscate.”

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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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