The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King - Chapter 163

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 163: I Am Human

The media and internet communities were buzzing with talk about soul connections and other worlds.

【According to anonymous sources, Chairman Kim Tae-ju’s soul connection target is likely an alchemist.】

【Poison and medicine, and even hellish metals – everything is explained.】

【Some have different opinions though – if it’s an alchemist, how do you explain the combat prowess?】

【If they’re good at making poison and skilled in ranged projectile attacks, perhaps an assassin or killer?】

Discussions about the identity of the other world were also actively taking place.

The multiverse theory gained the most support.

└ You can think of it as a multiverse. Each world had the same starting point but gradually diverged in different directions.

└ Earth developed science, while the other world developed magic and martial arts, right?

└ Well, Earth also had witches and knights in medieval Europe.

└ Same with Gangho Murim. There were Daoist sects like Shaolin Temple, assassins like the Hyeong family, and martial artists like the chivalrous warriors of the Muk family.

└ What about shamans and sorcerers? When you think about it, that’s magic too.

Then why did Earth abandon magic and martial arts to develop scientific civilization?

└ Isn’t it the difference between having mana or not?

└ Worlds with mana or intangible qi developed magic and martial arts, while worlds without it chose science, right?

└ Right. Earth changed like this after the mana invasion 300 years ago too.

└ That makes sense. After mana appeared, kung fu and taekwondo also transformed into lethal martial arts, and people who gather qi through danjeon breathing emerged.

└ Even system awakening is like that – the combination of science and magic? That’s exactly it.

Meanwhile.

Vincent Moretti was in the African Sahara Grasslands.

The mastermind behind this revelation, the culprit of the great Moscow explosion, and someone whose soul was also connected to a grand magitech engineer.

Sahara.

What was once a vast desert had now transformed into grasslands with green grass sprouting here and there due to climate change.

But this place was a notoriously monster-infested area.

In fact, all of Africa could be considered as such.

For a very long time, underground bunkers had been built in areas with relatively fewer monsters.

Slowly and secretly, so that Emperor Caesar wouldn’t notice.

There wasn’t a single human inside the bunker.

Only golems.

Humanoid cyborg golems, construction work types, combat types, reconnaissance types…

His kindred soul.

These were golems created using the experience and knowledge of Jacques Deluane, the grand magitech engineer from another world.

He was still soul-connected with Jacques even now.

The most recent connection was six months ago.

Probably another connection would be established soon.

‘How exciting.’

The day when he would share experimental results and discuss them with Jacques Deluane was not far off.

The single experiment conducted on Alex Caesar wasn’t enough.

Several more experiments were needed.

The key was how to control dimensional gates.

Distance was important.

Keep soul connectors far apart from each other.

To do that, gates had to be opened at desired locations.

But what if it failed?

For example, if the same souls merged in the middle of a city?

‘Well, it can’t be helped.’

Even if people died from explosions, he wouldn’t bat an eye at such trivial matters.

The only thing important to Vincent was exploring the principles and laws of the multiverse.

Jacques Deluane was the same.

Through reckless experimentation, he had driven his own world to destruction.

Was destruction a big deal?

What could be more important than the pursuit of truth?

‘A suitable test subject…’

Currently, global media was only talking about soul connectors.

Suspected individuals were emerging one after another.

How grateful that they were finding them automatically without him having to do anything?

There was one being he was almost certain about.

Kim Tae-ju of Samhan Empire TJ Bio.

‘The risk is high… approaching him is also problematic.’

A possessor of extraordinary abilities.

A threatening existence as well.

He created MRC, a treatment for mana rejection syndrome, built ships that could cross seas with alchemically-made metals, and was known to have considerable combat prowess.

Actually, when you think about it, all soul connectors were like that. Not one of them was ordinary.

Was there any need to be afraid?

Kim Tae-ju was just another test subject.

And a top priority test subject at that.

‘Let’s start with Kim Tae-ju.’

He planned to approach using a classic method.

Disguise an improved dimensional gate generator as a magical artifact and deliver it to him.

“Daniel.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll need to go to the Samhan Empire. Go there and meet Kim Tae-ju.”

“Specific behavioral patterns are required.”

“I’ll program situational algorithms and input them.”

“Yes.”

Kim Tae-ju had no choice but to fall for it.

Whether he activated the dimensional gate himself or Daniel activated it for him.

‘The experiment will proceed no matter what.’

Bang! If it exploded, so be it.

That would actually be better.

It would mean eliminating a threatening existence.

Test subjects weren’t limited to just him.

Success was only a matter of time.

A project he had been working on for over 150 years.

Such a long time he had waited.

He had persistently survived.

Because he couldn’t experiment if he died.

He wasn’t an Awakened Guard.

Despite being soul-connected, he was no different from an ordinary person.

Awakened Guards trained their souls and bodies with the power of mana and systems, mages with circles and classes, and knights with the power of aura.

For that reason, they lived longer than others.

They easily lived 200 or 300 years.

However, grand magitech engineers were neither this nor that.

A profession completely unrelated to physical training.

Just ordinary people.

But how had he lived for 150 years?

Simple.

Replace the aging body.

Artificial hearts, kidneys, liver, lungs, eyes, eardrums made through enchant magic engineering and golem technology… even whole brain neural implants.

Almost completely replaced.

Still ongoing even now.

So sometimes I think about this.

Am I human, or am I a humanoid golem that’s the culmination of super-magical engineering?

‘…Of course I’m human.’

Long ago.

The famous words of philosopher Descartes.

I think, therefore I am.

It’s because I’m human that I can think, isn’t it?

“I am human.”

Vincent Moretti believed this without a doubt.

* * *

Tae-ju left the Imperial Palace and returned to Gurye.

With the reporters and YouTube streamers having withdrawn, he could finally breathe.

Let’s return to basics and focus on the main business.

Soul connection or whatever, wasn’t he fundamentally a medicine seller?

Meeting with Baek Seo-yeon.

“I want to try another doping potion experiment.”

“Should I gather the TJ Guild members?”

“No, they’re unsuitable as test subjects…”

Because they had consumed Seondo and Immortal liquor, it was impossible to determine what side effects would occur from doping.

And during the experiment, he had been absent dealing with the European war, so he couldn’t observe or make diagnoses.

“We’ll go with a public experiment, targeting Awakened and candidates.”

“What about the Awakened grades?”

“Including candidates, 20 people per grade. It would be nice to have Masters too, but… it doesn’t matter if we don’t.”

“Yes.”

To find out how severe the exhaustion side effects from potential explosion are for each awakening grade.

Tae-ju had also significantly improved the doping potion compared to before.

He increased the ratio of Cheon-gye flowers and reduced the chemical components.

If the first developed medicine had a 5-minute duration effect with 60 minutes needed for side effect recovery, this new medicine had a 10-minute duration effect with 40 minutes needed for side effect recovery.

Perhaps doping potions were more urgent than hair growth medicine.

Monster raids are dangerous.

Even when planned safely.

The most dangerous moment during raid hunting is when encountering an elite monster.

Of course, if you formed a special team from the start to hunt elite monsters, that would be different…

Even if you say ‘We’ll only hunt regular monsters’ or ‘We won’t even approach elite monster territories,’ unexpected situations always exist.

Because elite monster territories aren’t fixed.

An elite driven out by territorial disputes might establish itself in a new area, or a strengthened elite might expand its territory.

What raid teams carry to overcome such dangerous moments is precisely doping potions.

The main purpose is for escape.

To get away from elite monster danger using temporarily enhanced physical abilities.

But what if the escape fails?

You’re helplessly dead.

The most representative side effect is the exhaustion phenomenon.

Thus, a notice was posted at the main TJ Pharmacy store in Gurye.

– Recruiting subjects for raid doping potion clinical trials.

– Organizer: TJ Bio Pharmaceuticals.

– Target: 20 people each by grade, including candidates.

– Date: Year 2323, Month 00, Day 00.

– Location: Jirisan Monster Concentration Area.

– Payment: 5 million won.

Recruitment was completed in less than 5 minutes after the notice was posted.

Inquiry calls flooded in asking to recruit more people.

Somehow finding out, nearby military bases also expressed their intention to participate without compensation.

Who made the medicine?

Wasn’t it the famous Chairman Kim Tae-ju?

The raid doping potion experiment proceeded very smoothly from the very start.

* * *

Infernal Realm of the Scorching Abyss.

Drek Karaks was in the middle of refining dark iron in a hot lava pit.

No matter how immortal he was, enduring the burning pain that felt like his whole body would melt was no easy task.

He hadn’t given up yet.

He already knew this was the Infernal Realm of another world.

But even here, the soul connection between him and the Demon King had been established.

So there was a high probability it would happen again.

Perhaps in the next connection, Demon King Baphomet might tell him how to escape this place.

Until then, he absolutely had to grit his teeth and endure.

Fortunately, his strength had almost fully recovered.

The authority as Deus Lich.

Those fools made a mistake.

Throwing him in here without even sealing his abilities?

There were supervisors watching with hawk eyes, but they were just prisoners too. At least among humans, there was no one who could beat him.

…Except for Kim Tae-ju.

‘Hehehe, stupid fools, leaving me like this, let’s see what happens.’

Suddenly!

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Someone struck the back of his head.

An impact so strong his eyes nearly popped out.

“What are you grinning about like that? You half-chewed bone bastard.”

Drek Karaks was dumbfounded.

The one who hit him wasn’t even an Immortal.

Nor was it a terrifying Infernal Realm administrator.

Just a supervisor watching over sinners.

In other words, a prisoner in the same situation as himself.

“How dare you hit the back of my head?”

“Hahaha, truly absurd. How dare? How dare?”

“I can’t stand it anymore. Die!”

Whooooom!

Deus Lich, Dreck Karax stretched his finger toward the supervisor.

Dark magic energy thickly gathered on his finger.

However.

Pow!

“Gack!”

Drek Karaks took a jaw strike at invisible speed.

He got hit?

By that carelessly swung punch?

When he got hit in the back of the head, he could say it was a surprise attack, but in a face-to-face situation…

The damage was considerable too.

Enough to briefly lose consciousness.

“D-Dark Barrier!”

A translucent dark protective shield enveloped Drek Karaks’s entire body.

It wasn’t just a simple barrier.

It was the absolute protective shield of the Deus Lich that could even block missiles or rockets.

But then?

Crack!

Clang clang clang clang!

Smash!

The administrator’s fist broke through the barrier all too easily.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Can’t tell heaven from earth? Don’t be mistaken! You’re nothing. You’re worth less than a rolling stone.”

Thwack! Thud thud!

Cheonma continuously drove his fists into Drek Karaks’s face.

He had roughly heard about this bastard’s identity from Gangrim Chasa.

A necromancer?

Connected his soul to a demon lord?

So what!

Thud thud thud thud!

Just a bastard who gained power by connecting souls.

“Do you think you’re the only one who’s done soul connection? Did you think it was that amazing?”

Cheonma was also a party to soul connection.

His soul, the same as his own, had died to Kim Tae-ju.

Well, it was what he had wanted.

“You maggot bastard, absolute being my ass, you don’t even know your place.”

Cheonma was also an absolute being of Gangho Murim.

Though it was a created body, it was one that had mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art even in Hell.

He had even overcome the disgusting side effects from the human world.

It was an even more perfected Heavenly Demon Divine Art than in Gangho.

But he couldn’t even beat a single Chasa.

How many times had he been beaten and shed tears while defying Gangrim?

That’s right.

He had cried loudly.

It was unfair and painful.

To reduce the pain, he had to bow his head and beg for forgiveness.

His pride as the Demonic Cult leader had long since disappeared.

Here, he was just one of countless sinners.

Soul connectors were ultimately human.

They could never escape their limitations.

Maybe if it were Kim Tae-ju on Earth, who received help from the Immortal Realm, Cheon-gye, and Hwangcheon-gye all at once.

Drek Karaks was beaten like a dog by Cheonma’s venting.

He couldn’t even scream anymore.

He had been beaten so much that his bone fragments were crushed.

Hyeolma clicked his tongue and sneered at the sight.

“Both the one getting beaten and the one doing the beating, neither of you is sane for sure.”

Cheonma snorted.

“If we’re talking about being crazy, Hyeolma, how many people could follow you?”

“Hehehe, I agree with that too.”

Drek Karaks had become unconscious.

Having lost interest, Cheonma threw him into the lava.

“But, Cheonma, is it true that you were also a soul connector?”

“…I didn’t want it. Some damn force made it happen forcibly.”

“Could the condition for soul connection be the degree of madness? You’re crazy, and so was that bastard.”

“…”

Thinking about it quietly, Hyeolma’s words had merit.

Just look at Danggumak…

Kim Tae-ju didn’t know, but Danggumak was definitely a madman.

He massacred countless Cult Members with his terrifying Manceon Hwau and even melted himself with poison.

It was puzzling how such a bastard could have ascended to immortality.

“Then Hyeolma, you’ll probably soul connect someday too. You’re just as crazy as me.”

“…What?”

“It’s quite possible, isn’t it?”

“Uh…”

Hyeolma trembled.

Another bastard like himself existed?

Just thinking about it gave him chills.

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