SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 12

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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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Chapter 12. The Beginning of Monopoly (3)
4
“P-please forgive the mess… do come in.”
The Pharmacist ushered me inside, hesitant and apologetic.
The shop looked as though a storm had swept through it—everything in disarray.
“I’m terribly sorry about the state of things…….”
She wasn’t exaggerating.
Glass vials lay shattered across the floor. Bookshelves had toppled, scattering their contents everywhere. Dust hung suspended in the air like an unwelcome garnish.
It was an absolute disaster.
-Wow.
Bae Hu-ryeong let out an admiring whistle.
-When I was alive, people used to say I was terrible about keeping things organized. But this young woman puts me to shame. Her housekeeping standards are truly impressive. Say, you really want to drink an Elixir made by this girl?
“Um, you’re really going to commission a 20,000 Gold order from me……?”
It was uncanny—Bae Hu-ryeong and the Pharmacist asked the question in perfect unison.
I let out a wry smile.
“Would it help if I paid you in advance?”
“Th-there’s no need to go that far…….”
The Pharmacist began waving her hand in quick denial, then stopped abruptly.
“…No, actually. If it’s possible, then yes—advance payment, please.”
Her entire face had flushed crimson. The very act of making such a request seemed to mortify her. It was clear—her financial situation was dire enough that she could barely afford basic courtesy. I had the answer I needed about her circumstances.
“Take whatever funds you need from my Vault. I’ll inform Sang-ryeon beforehand.”
“Whatever I need…….”
The Pharmacist murmured the words absently, as if in a daze.
“Of course, my resources aren’t infinite either. If you could keep the budget within the 20,000 Gold limit, I’d be grateful.”
“Wh-what sort of medicine are you commissioning……?”
Perhaps startled by the enormous budget, the Pharmacist’s expression wavered between delight and uncertainty.
“Forgive me, but I can’t manufacture narcotics. I won’t make them—it goes against my personal principles. If that’s what you came here to commission, then I… I’ll have to refuse…….”
“Hmm.”
I nodded to myself.
‘She’s clumsy, but she has the makings of someone who’ll become a city lord someday.’
There weren’t many people who could refuse such sums of Gold flowing before their eyes. Especially not someone whose shop had just been destroyed. Yet she had refused—flatly and without hesitation—to manufacture drugs.
This Pharmacist seemed weak on the surface, but her pride ran deep.
“Ha. Rest assured, it’s nothing of the sort.”
“Ah… w-well, that’s a relief. But what exactly are you commissioning?”
“Well.”
I glanced over at Bae Hu-ryeong. Since entering the shop, she’d been pursing her lips, visibly displeased about something. Only after I caught her eye did she finally release a sigh.
-Fine. Just fine. She doesn’t look particularly talented, but I’ll recite the recipe for you.
It was about time.
-Listen carefully. Rabbit-Pig Liver, Balloon Cat Eye, Desert Earthworm Shell…….
“I’ll tell you now. Rabbit-Pig Liver, Balloon Cat Eye, and…….”
I continued, listing the ingredients for the Elixir in sequence, following Bae Hu-ryeong’s recitation.
“W-wait, please! I need to write this down!”
The Pharmacist scrambled to jot down the recipe. Twenty-three ingredients in total. As the list grew longer, her expression grew more concentrated, more serious.
-That should cover the ingredients. How you manufacture it depends entirely on the Pharmacist’s skill.
“That’s all for the ingredients.”
…….
The Pharmacist fell silent, staring down at her notes. She gnawed at her fingernails as she read.
“If these combine like this… it’s a formula for maximizing reflexes. Not for relaxation, but for tension. Or perhaps at this concentration, ‘awakening’ is the better word.”
-Huh?
Bae Hu-ryeong turned to look at the Pharmacist.
Regardless, the Pharmacist continued muttering to herself.
“It’s a highly sophisticated combination. Though I might be mistaken just from looking at the ingredients… you’re not drying or refining them separately, are you? You’re brewing them all at once in their freshest state?”
-Well, yes, that’s the idea…….
I nodded in confirmation.
“That’s right.”
“Exactly! Desert Earthworm Shell normally contains trace amounts of toxin, you see. One way to neutralize it is by administering Rabbit-Pig Liver, and depending on how you administer it, the effects can……!”
The Pharmacist launched into an animated explanation. The stammering, hesitant girl from moments before had vanished entirely—in her place stood a veritable chatterbox.
Yes. There were people like this in the world.
‘Lacking in composure, but genuinely talented.’
The type who threw themselves entirely into their passion and eventually accomplished something remarkable. I didn’t dislike such specialists.
“Can you have it ready in a few days?”
“Ah.”
I cut off what threatened to become an endless conversation. The Pharmacist blinked, as if snapping back to herself. She’d gotten lost in her own world while talking.
“I’m so, so sorry! I haven’t seen such an elegant formula in ages, and I just couldn’t help myself……!”
“It’s fine. So how many days will you need?”
“If the funds are sufficient… I, I can prepare it within four days. Normally I could do it faster, but I need to acquire new equipment and tools as well…….”
Four days.
“That’s perfectly acceptable to me.”
Before I regressed, getting even a single dose from this woman took a minimum of a year.
Four days hardly seemed like waiting at all by comparison.
-I still don’t approve, you know.
Even after we’d settled the details and left the shop, Bae Hu-ryeong kept grumbling.
-There are plenty of fools who talk a good game but have no real skill. Those are exactly the types who end up peddling potions. Ugh. Throwing good money away, that’s what this is!
“Where did you learn that formula?”
-I crafted that combination myself. After tasting every poison and toxin known to existence, I finally created it—the greatest and finest Elixir there is. In your world, it’s a treasure you couldn’t obtain even if you begged for it!
I laughed softly.
“The Pharmacist just praised it as an exceptionally refined formula.”
-…….
“She could recognize the true value of it just from a single glance. Trust her on this. Believe it or not, within ten years she’ll be the highest-ranking person in Yeongeumseong.”
Bae Hu-ryeong clamped his mouth shut. With his already fierce expression now sealed tight, he looked exactly like a monstrous toad.
-You just insulted me in your head, didn’t you? Huh?
“Now this ghost wants to strangle the living.”
I played innocent.
His intuition was unnecessarily sharp, that was for sure.
5
Four days passed quickly.
In that time, the Pharmacist made steady withdrawals from my Vault. Someone from Sang-ryeon came to ask if I was truly certain, but I told them to leave it be.
No matter how much Gold was spent, obtaining an Elixir from the renowned master of Yeongeumseong was practically priceless.
-Hey Zombie, want to make a bet?
“What is it this time?”
-That lady’s going to take the money and run. I’m sure of it. I may not be good at much else, but I’ve got an eye for people. She’s got the makings of a master thief written all over her! Go ahead and kill yourself—Kim Zombie! Die four times and rewind four days!
Of course, a ghost had no real ability to judge character.
By noon on the fourth day.
The Pharmacist arrived at my lodgings with the Elixir carefully wrapped and bundled.
“I’m, I’m sorry. I wanted to deliver this as soon as possible, but it took longer than expected with all the combinations…….”
“No, you promised to have it ready within four days, so this is exactly as agreed.”
The Elixir the Pharmacist had prepared came in three boxes total.
Taking it three times daily, that came to a full thirty days’ worth.
If I’d used the shop Bae Hu-ryeong knew about, I would have managed only two days’ supply at best. This represented a fifteen-fold increase in efficiency.
‘And the potency will be superior as well.’
This was how money ought to be spent.
A smile bloomed at the corners of my mouth without my meaning for it to.
“Um…….”
“Yes?”
“I, it feels strange to ask this now, but… why did you entrust such an expensive commission to a nameless pharmacist like me?”
The Pharmacist fidgeted with her fingers.
“O, of course I have confidence in my skills. Just looking at the formula you commissioned, I believe there are only two people in Babylon capable of truly understanding and crafting it properly……. But people only treat me as an eccentric…….”
“Hmm.”
The reason I entrusted her with making the Elixir.
It was undoubtedly because the Pharmacist before me was a genius of rare caliber. The Guild Master of Yeongeumseong—someone destined to grow into the head of a major Guild. I wanted to establish a connection with her ahead of time.
But.
‘That wasn’t the only reason.’
Before I regressed, crossing four thousand days.
It was when Yeom Je set fire to the Slum District. In that moment, despite being a top-tier Ranker, she arrived at the scene faster than anyone else and took command of the firefighting efforts.
While helping people, the master of Yeongeumseong murmured this.
-I don’t like that man Yeom Je.
-It makes me uncomfortable, somehow…. It’s not proper to gossip in a place like this, but I think the Saint should find someone better.
A person who had seen through Yeom Je’s true nature.
‘Perhaps she’d merely guessed based on pure intuition, with no evidence whatsoever.’
Even so, this Pharmacist possessed remarkable discernment.
Strong skills, kind enough to rush to the scene of trouble, and perceptive enough to spot a psychopath. Wouldn’t it be foolish not to stay on good terms with someone like that?
I opened my mouth.
“You just seemed like a good person.”
“Pardon?”
“You seemed kind, so I helped. I mean, you probably would’ve made it big on your own anyway. But since good Hunters like us should be the ones succeeding, shouldn’t we help each other out and do better together later?”
……
“We can’t just let psychos run wild and succeed. It’s infuriating. Let’s both do our best, sir.”
I spoke my honest thoughts without a single lie. I didn’t have the confidence to be any more candid than that. Now it was up to him how he’d take it.
The Pharmacist gazed at my face intently, then spoke.
“…Yes, that’s right. First you have to succeed if you want to change the world at all.”
There was something resolute in her tone.
“Thank you, sir! I’ll do my best just like you said!”
The Pharmacist clenched her fist.
“If you ever need anything else, please reach out anytime! I’ll always prioritize your requests!”
“Then I’m grateful for that.”
We shook hands with warm smiles and parted ways.
Unfortunately, my smile didn’t last long.
-Huh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone actually call himself a good Hunter straight from his own mouth. And someone who accepts that as if it’s obvious? First time seeing that too. Are you two insane? Tsk-tsk-tsk. You’re not in your right mind.
“…I know what I said was embarrassing, so let’s just focus on training.”
The next day.
We headed to the Hunting Ground. I’d packed my backpack generously with a sleeping bag and Elixir.
The main difference from usual was that we’d come to the 3rd Floor Hunting Ground instead of the 2nd Floor.
Monsters still too demanding for a small-timer like me—goblin packs, orcs, that sort of thing—wandered about here and there.
I gazed at them from a distance and asked.
“What now?”
-Drink the Elixir first.
I nodded.
Without a shred of hesitation, I drank the Elixir I’d brought in a thermos, gulp after gulp.
“Mm.”
The taste itself was ordinary.
With a lemon flavor and even honey added, it was actually rather pleasant.
I’d imagined something like ginseng extract, and I was relieved—
“Uhhgh……!”
Thump.
My heart pounded harder than usual.
At first I thought I was mistaken, but I wasn’t. Cold sweat streamed down my spine in an instant. The strange thing was… I began to perceive each individual droplet of sweat running down my back with startling clarity.
‘What is this?’
Thump.
It wasn’t just the sweat. The feel of air wrapping around my fingers. The pressure. The sensation of the ground beneath my feet. A single blink seemed to stretch out for what felt like thirty seconds—so slow, so dragging.
“This… is……”
-The Elixir’s effect.
While everything slowed to a crawl, only Bae Hu-ryeong’s voice remained exactly as it always was.
-It makes the time it takes to perceive phenomena extremely slow. Think of it as helping you stretch time endlessly. Loath as I am to admit it, that girl’s skill at making potions was impressive.
It was horrifying.
Each strand of hair, hundreds of thousands of individual hairs, felt palpably, vividly rough. I could even feel the blood vessels in my eyeballs squirming. Had I not known better, I would’ve mistaken the Elixir for poison.
-Can’t you feel it?
“Wh… w-what… are you…?”
-What’s stirring in your heart.
Thump.
There was something. No—something was flowing. That something was not blood.
It was far softer than blood, far finer than blood vessels. Yet something unmistakably flowed through my entire body. That current coursed slowly through my heart, spreading.
Something I had never felt distinctly once in my entire life.
-That’s your Aura.
Bae Hu-ryeong spoke.
-Every Hunter who enters the Tower carries Aura in their body. You just go through daily life without realizing it. How consciously you can use this Aura—in short, how freely you can draw it out and wield it—that’s what determines victory.
Bae Hu-ryeong laughed.
The laughter echoed in my mind for over twenty seconds. Bae Hu-ryeong’s actual laugh must have been only a fleeting instant, yet somehow my consciousness stretched it into twenty seconds.
The exhaustion threatened to drag me under if I let my guard slip for even a moment.
-Normally in this state you’d meditate quietly alone or sit in lotus position to slowly grow accustomed to the flow of Aura.
And yet.
Something massive was closing in on me.
-But that’ll take forever, won’t it?
Thud.
Footsteps.
The footsteps echoed as long and drawn-out as the laughter had. I managed to lift my head and look straight ahead—a hulking orc was bearing down on me.
-If you lack talent like you do, your body pays the price.
Damn it.
-Now then! If you don’t want to get hurt, draw on your Aura and use it, Kim Zombie! You need practical combat training—no two ways about it. You’re going to die anyway, so what’s a little broken body?
“This… ear… fiend… I… swear…!”
-Huh? Can’t even use an Aura—no wonder nobody can understand you.
Bae Hu-ryeong burst into laughter again.
-Suffering? If you hate it so much, go ahead and kill yourself. Oh, but then your Kill Count goes up from four thousand again. Then Marcus would probably get real nice to you too, yeah?
Ah.
My partner was truly a rotten bastard.
SSS-Rank Hunter Must Die to Live (Serialized)
Author │ Shin No-ah
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Daelung Post Tower 1st, Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin No-ah 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this provision may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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