The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King - Chapter 6

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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 6: The Poison Master’s Specialty is Making Antidotes

Gurye, a free city with a population of 2 million.

The downtown area was bustling with tall buildings erected everywhere, and whether in terms of population or development scale, it was incomparably larger than Paju where Tae-ju had lived.

However, Gurye had to bear the burden of monster waves that could erupt at any time.

The Jirisan Wilderness had an exceptionally high density of monsters compared to other regions.

Unlike other areas, monster waves would break out frequently without warning.

Public authority was weak, so security wasn’t very good either, and all sorts of human dregs overflowed the place.

Debtors who had fled after accumulating debt, debt collectors who had chased after debtors, criminals who had fled to avoid wanted notices, gamblers trying to strike it big, merchants doing business with all of these people…

Still, it was a neighborhood where people could live.

A City Autonomous Committee had been formed to supplement the lacking security, and commercial activities were active, so there was a foundation in place where one could live prosperously with hard work.

20% of the monster byproducts produced in the Samhan Empire came from the single free city of Gurye.

This meant there were many types of monsters and their numbers were tremendous.

Starting with dozens of Orc Villages, there were blade-toothed martens, storm weasels, poison-clawed wildcats, red-furred wolves, giant moon bears, steel-feathered eagle owls…

For the Empire, they were burdensome threat factors.

To block the Jirisan monster waves, Imperial Monster Defense Legions were stationed in Sancheong City, Hamyang City, and Namwon City to the north of Jirisan respectively.

However, defense alone wasn’t the answer.

The number of monsters had to be continuously reduced.

For this reason, the Imperial Royal Family designated Gurye in the southern region of Jirisan as a free city.

They attracted people by providing tax exemptions limited to hunting byproduct sales, allowing gambling and prostitution, and minimizing public authority.

Many civilian awakeners who weren’t affiliated with the military flocked there.

They could raise their system grades through monster hunting and earn money by collecting byproducts.

What Tae-ju needed to do to establish himself in Gurye Free City.

Hunting?

It wasn’t time yet.

With only 1-star level Honweonmusangdokryeongong, it would be dangerous if he encountered strong monsters.

Also, could he face monsters with poison alone?

He needed hidden weapons too.

Poison and hidden weapons.

The synergy those two showed.

Only together would they become perfect.

However, hidden weapons cost a lot of money.

Due to their nature, they had to be custom-made.

Then?

He had to earn money first.

Currently, he was penniless.

He couldn’t even dream of purchasing or crafting hidden weapons.

He needed to secure lodging, eat meals, and get a smartphone…

He had thrown away his original one.

It was old, and he was thinking of changing his number anyway.

Also, he intended to throw away the small lingering attachment he had to his father.

For sleeping, he could rough it in parks or train stations, but the problem was hunger.

Could a person survive on poison alone?

So he started as a hunting supporter.

A supporter—basically a porter.

Usually porters were ordinary Mana Adapters.

Mana Compatibles were also supporters, but they were combat support personnel, not porters.

He decided to work as a porter for the time being.

Combat support personnel were too conspicuous.

Perhaps he was stronger than a Beginner, no, even a Regular.

While at it, he could also get a feel for the atmosphere of Gurye and the Jirisan Wilderness.

If he waited at the labor market at the entrance of Jirisan Wilderness in the dim dawn…

“Three porters for the blade-toothed marten area!”

“Me, me!”

“Here! Me, me…”

“118 times porter experience, I’m a veteran.”

People seeking work raised their hands eagerly.

However, workers had their own standards too.

“Try lifting this.”

“This little backpack is nothing… Ugh! Wh-why is it so h-heavy?”

“Tsk tsk, you’re not even a Rejecter, and you can’t lift this? Go build up more strength.”

You needed the stamina to carry a large backpack and walk around for at least 8 hours to work as a porter.

Naturally, Tae-ju passed.

So he participated in a Jirisan Wilderness monster raid as a porter for a daily wage of 200,000 won.

A typical Raid Assault Team consisted of 15 members.

Among them, 3 were porters, 7 were combat support personnel composed of Mana Compatibles, and 5 were awakeners.

Those carrying swords, spears, bows, and firearms were Mana Compatibles and awakeners, while those carrying backpacks were Mana Adapters—the porters.

Among them, if there was a tattoo about half the size of a palm on their face, especially on the side, they were system awakeners.

The shapes and sizes of awakener tattoos were varied.

So there were also bastards who drew fake tattoos to commit fraud.

The main byproducts the raid team obtained from hunting were energy crystals in monster heads, hide, teeth, claws, and organs like liver or gallbladder.

The first hunt he followed as a porter was stable.

Even awakeners knew their lives were precious, so they absolutely never did reckless hunting.

The work was easy.

He just carried a backpack and followed along.

A body strengthened by poison arts.

Of course, the curse of being a Mana Rejecter still continued.

“Good work. Here’s your daily wage.”

“Thank you.”

“From tomorrow, don’t come to the day labor market, just contact this number directly.”

He must have made quite a good impression.

Well, of course! He had strutted through the wilderness carrying that big backpack and even helped other tired porters.

With the money he earned, he bought food, secured a monthly room at a shabby inn for temporary lodging, and got a smartphone.

In his spare time, he practiced Honweonmusangdokryeongong.

Poisonous herbs were everywhere.

He lived as a laborer for exactly two weeks.

A fact he discovered during that time.

‘This could make money?’

He finally found it.

A way to make big money.

As well as a means to establish a foundation in Gurye.

* * *

In the Jirisan Wilderness, there was a place even awakeners avoided.

A place even monsters wouldn’t go near.

That place was the Jirisan ‘Hellish Swamp.’

Tae-ju went to the Jirisan Hellish Swamp at dawn when the sun was rising.

Bzzzz, bzzzzzz.

When he arrived near the swamp, it was already chaos.

‘Crazy. Are those all mosquitoes?’

Swarms of mosquitoes.

The swampland visible in the distance was completely black with mosquitoes.

Also known as the mutant three-striped mosquito.

They mate and lay eggs in the hellish swamp.

Their feeding activity spans the entire Jirisan Wilderness.

Another species mutated by mana.

However, their size is exactly the same as ordinary mosquitoes.

Instead, one special ability was added, which is the poison of the mutant three-striped mosquito. It tremendously torments Mana Adapters and Awakened ones.

When bitten by this mosquito, your body loses strength and you gradually become sleepy.

The more bites you receive, the worse the symptoms become.

It’s not a particularly strong poison, so you recover completely after a day or two.

But strangely, it causes no harm to Mana Conformers, ordinary people.

When bitten, it’s just itchy.

It only affects Mana Adapters and Awakened ones.

It becomes quite dangerous when they get bitten by mosquitoes during battles with magical beasts.

Just because of mere mosquitoes, combat ability drops and in severe cases, it can lead to serious injury or death.

An even bigger problem is that there’s no medicine.

And most insecticides don’t work either.

Control operations are conducted every year, but their numbers never decrease, so now they’ve practically given up.

Therefore, the only method is to avoid getting bitten as much as possible.

In other words, wearing protective clothing.

Covering the entire body so mosquitoes can’t bite

So in the Jirisan area, Awakened ones and Mana Adapters wrap their entire bodies tightly in protective clothing even in the sticky subtropical heat when going out to hunt magical beasts.

Anyone who has worn protective clothing even once knows how crazy and maddening that is.

How much hunting efficiency drops because of those tiny mosquitoes.

You want to burn those detestable creatures with fire and incinerate them all, but their numbers are just too many.

But what if you could find a means to exterminate these mosquitoes or an antidote?

‘You’d make a fortune.’

The reason Tae-ju went alone to Jirisan Hellish Swamp.

As he approached, poisonous mosquitoes rushed at him as if it were a windfall.

Eeeeeng, eeeeeeeeng!

But he didn’t chase them away.

He let the mosquitoes bite him.

‘Ah, so this is the feeling.’

After being bitten, he seemed to understand.

Why the body loses strength.

The poison essence achieved through Honweonmusangdokryeongong.

Also the experience possessed by Jeoldaedokma Danggumak, who shared the same soul as himself.

Based on those, if he inferred the type of poison…

‘As expected, it was Sangongdok.’

Sangongdok.

A toxic component that scatters bodily energy including mana.

It’s not very strong, so it would resolve itself over time, but still, many bites would cause major problems in combat.

Naturally, Tae-ju was fine even when bitten by mosquitoes.

Because his energy was poison itself.

Tae-ju circulated Honweonmusangdokryeongong while standing.

As he circulated poison energy throughout his body.

Thud thud, thud thud thud thud.

Mosquitoes falling powerlessly to the ground.

Weak poison submits to strong poison.

‘Should I try eating them?’

He waved his hand to catch a few flying mosquitoes, brought them to his mouth and chewed.

Tasting them would make it more certain.

He continued eating mosquitoes.

He also deliberately let mosquitoes bite him.

The mystery of Honweonmusangdokryeongong.

Learning and understanding the nature of experienced poisons through the body.

‘Now I know what kind of poison it is.’

Now he needed to find a way to neutralize it.

Treating poison with poison.

Poison is treated with poison.

‘I need to find a poison that can detoxify…’

There was no need to go deep inside.

Judging from Jeoldaedokma’s experience, there was a high possibility that antidotes would be found together where poison existed.

He pulled up poisonous plants around the hellish swamp to taste them.

Though not what he was looking for, he put useful poisonous plants into his backpack.

‘The Jirisan Wilderness really is…’

Heaven.

Poisonous plants that cause poisoning just by touching them are scattered everywhere.

How much would Jeoldaedokma Danggumak drool if he knew this fact.

Tae-ju continued exploring while chewing poisonous plants.

He couldn’t eat too much.

It could burden his body.

Slowly, just a little, just enough to taste.

‘This isn’t it.’

He needed to find something with properties opposite to the mutant three-striped mosquito poison.

‘This isn’t it either.’

Poison and medicine differ by a hair’s breadth.

Poison can become medicine, and medicine can become poison.

The reason why the Sacheon Tang Sect of Gangho was also famous as a medical family.

‘This one’s not bad.’

He finally discovered it.

Blue spotted mushroom.

A poisonous mushroom containing poison that coagulates mana and blocks mana roads

Mosquito poison scatters mana, blue spotted mushroom coagulates mana, their properties are different.

‘Found one.’

This alone wasn’t enough.

Tae-ju continued searching centered around the swamp.

This was a safe place because of the mosquitoes.

There were almost no magical beasts or people.

He collected dozens of plant species.

Among them were not only poisonous plants but also medicinal herbs.

Essential plants for changing the nature of poison.

‘I’ll have to take them back and experiment.’

Just thinking about all the various poisonous plants in his backpack made him feel proud.

To change poison into medicinal properties, processing is essential. Remove useless toxicity and reduce poison energy to minimize irritation.

But what would happen if you just ate them?

What would happen indeed.

You’d be poisoned by multiple poison energies at once and die.

The reason why medicines have vastly different effects even with the same ingredients and components lies precisely in the processing.

If processing goes wrong, medicine becomes poison.

That’s why even with advanced science and technology, creating new drugs is extremely difficult.

But who is he?

The Jeoldaedokma who mastered Honweonmusangdokryeongong, which allows him to understand the nature of poisons and transform their properties.

There is an obstacle though.

His poison arts are too low-level to create an antidote.

Merely 1st level Honweonmusangdokryeongong.

‘I need to reach 3rd level as quickly as possible.’

It won’t take long.

Since he’s walked this path before.

And after time passed and passed.

Finally!

‘3rd level.’

It took exactly one month to reach this point.

Porter by day, training by night.

Even though poisonous herbs that form the foundation of poison arts are abundant, his achievement is incredibly fast.

It’s not strange.

Tae-ju shares the same soul as Danggumak, the grand master of poison arts and Jeoldaedokma, possessing all his experience and knowledge.

Honweonmusangdokryeongong 3rd level.

The size of his poison essence has more than doubled and become denser.

The number of martial arts he can deploy has also increased.

Most importantly, he can create an antidote for the mutant three-striped mosquito poison.

He’s secured quite a lot of poisonous herbs that serve as ingredients for the antidote.

Enough to fill his lodging room completely.

He tasted all of them and analyzed their properties.

Now he ground some herbs into powder, wrapped others in cloth to extract their juice, and simply cut the rest, placing each in separate containers before dividing the portions into the large bathtub in the bathroom and adding water.

Tae-ju put his hand in the bathtub water and circulated Honweonmusangdokryeongong.

Using his poison essence to absorb the toxic energy, making its nature gentle before releasing it, then absorbing and releasing again.

An extremely delicate process.

That’s why the 3rd level mastery of Honweonmusangdokryeongong is essential.

Tae-ju’s body is like an experimental table in a pharmaceutical company’s research lab.

First, he extracts the mutant three-striped mosquito poison from the poison essence in his dantian.

Simultaneously, he draws out the refined essence of various poisons including the blue-spotted mushroom, mixing them together to observe their reactions.

Discarding some, using others, determining the mixing ratios.

More of this poison, just a little of that poison.

The knowledge about poisons that Jeoldaedokma possessed.

Of course, there are differences between the poison components of Gangho and Earth.

But since the mosquito poison has the properties of dispersing energy poison, he knows well how to neutralize it.

For two straight days, he didn’t go to work, abstained from food and drink, and continued the neutralization process.

Finally, he created it.

An antidote for the mutant three-striped mosquito poison with all side effects eliminated.

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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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