The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King - Chapter 7

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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 7: Baek’s Drug Shop

Gurye, Free City had fairly well-established urban infrastructure, but there were some things lacking.

The most representative example was hospitals.

There weren’t many hospitals.

Because there weren’t many doctors.

Even if it wasn’t Gurye, they could make money through medical practice in safe cities, so why would they bother coming to this dangerous place?

Most of the doctors here were either incompetent or had fled after causing medical accidents, so hospitals were unreliable.

Instead, drug shops and pharmacies were scattered throughout the city.

In Gurye, it was acceptable for pharmacists to write prescriptions.

So business was quite good.

It was much more rational to buy proven effective medicine than to go to unreliable hospitals.

Early in the morning, Kim Tae-ju went to a medium-sized drug shop with a decent reputation in the city.

The pharmacy’s name was Baek’s Drug Shop.

The owner there was Baek Hong-pyo, a man in his 50s with gray hair showing here and there.

“Welcome. What can I get you? Instant hemostatic agent? Mana recovery potion? General antidote… or maybe painkillers or stimulants?”

Usually, the principle was to sell medicines approved by the Empire’s Food and Drug Administration, but the City Autonomous Committee of the free city also issued separate permits.

Clinical trials?

Very simple.

If the effects were good, what couldn’t they sell?

They even sold drugs.

“I didn’t come to buy, but to sell.”

“…What?”

Baek Hong-pyo’s expression turned sour.

There were quite a few people like this.

Coming with strange medicines from somewhere, claiming they were effective or good spiritual medicines for the body.

“I’m not interested, so please leave. From what I can see, you haven’t been here long since coming from outside. If you want to make money, go to the labor market…”

Kim Tae-ju took out three small 10ml test tubes from his chest and placed them on the counter.

Thunk!

“Mutant three-striped mosquito antidote.”

“I’m not buying, so just go. Whether it’s an antidote or spiritual medicine… Huh! What, what did you say? Mosquito?”

“The method of use is oral consumption, you can drink it in advance. The effect lasts up to 10 hours.”

“Mo, mosquito antidote? Haha, a perfectly sane gentleman! If you’re going to scam, you should choose your targets…”

“Test it and contact me if you’re interested.”

Kim Tae-ju also placed a note with his phone number.

“The deadline is until midnight tonight. If I don’t hear from you after that, I’ll take it to another pharmacy.”

Kim Tae-ju walked out of Baek’s Drug Shop just like that.

Baek Hong-pyo was dumbfounded.

Three test tubes placed on the counter.

‘Mutant three-striped mosquito antidote?’

Where did this nonsense come from?

The most difficult medicines to make in the world were antidotes.

This shop also sold antidotes.

Broad-spectrum general antidotes.

However, they didn’t neutralize poison but suppressed it for a certain time, buying time to receive proper treatment at a hospital.

Of course, there were medicines that completely neutralized specific poisons.

Targeted antidotes were naturally very expensive.

Moreover, how many poisonous plants, venomous insects, and toxic magical beasts inhabited Jirisan?

Currently, there were more poisons that couldn’t be neutralized than those that could.

“Good grief! This is ridiculous.”

It was early morning and the employees hadn’t come to work yet, so he was watching the store alone.

A mosquito antidote that even the top pharmaceutical companies of the Samhan Empire couldn’t produce, and he brought it so confidently?

For magical beast hunting parties, mutant three-striped mosquitoes were very troublesome pests.

When bitten, they interfered with and scattered mana concentration.

One or two bites didn’t matter, but continuous bites became serious enough to force hunters to give up and return mid-hunt.

What good would taking mana recovery potions do?

The generated mana would just scatter too.

It would naturally disappear over time, but you’d have to wait a full day, or even two days in severe cases.

Fortunately, there were no mutant three-striped mosquitoes in Gurye City.

Mosquitoes were also magical beasts.

Unless something special happened, Jirisan’s magical beasts didn’t leave their territories.

Of course, if a magical beast wave occurred, that would be a different story.

‘What if this really is a mosquito poison antidote?’

Baek Hong-pyo quietly picked up one of the test tubes.

He took out a drug identification kit from under the counter and dropped a few drops of the liquid from the bottle.

If there were any harmful components to the human body, the kit’s test strip would turn red.

But.

‘The color stays the same.’

A result showing it was safe to consume.

Baek Hong-pyo took the test tube again and entered the Manufacturing Room.

Inside the Manufacturing Room was a steel cage containing one ‘Long-tailed Saekkitokki’.

An animal so weak it was positioned at the very bottom of the ecosystem.

Not all animals and plants turned into monsters due to mana mutation.

Long-tailed Saekkitokki had mutated in a slightly different direction.

Vigorous reproductive ability.

All they did after eating was that.

If a pair of Saekkitokki settled in a specific area, they would increase to 100 in just two weeks.

But their survival ability was the lowest.

They’d die even from a light touch.

They were creatures that would faint just from eating painkillers.

So Long-tailed Saekkitokki were widely used for animal testing.

Baek Hong-pyo poured the test tube into the water bowl inside the cage.

The Saekkitokki drank the water, slurp slurp.

After waiting about an hour.

‘It’s fine.’

Even the Saekkitokki, which would collapse weakly from drinking just a little water mixed with disinfectant, was okay.

Finally, he dropped the liquid from the bottom of the test tube onto his palm and tasted it lightly with the tip of his tongue.

‘Is this just plain water?’

No reaction occurred.

If you’re going to scam, you should do it convincingly. At least add some fragrance or something. This is just plain water.

That’s when it happened.

“Boss Baek! You opened early this morning?”

A customer entered the store.

“Welcome, Pro Park Jin-su. Going hunting again today, I see.”

‘Pro’ was an honorific mainly used for Awakened individuals.

“What’s the point of playing around? I need to work diligently. Just give me two bottles of mana recovery potion.”

“Understood. Here…”

Park Jin-su was a Regular-grade Awakened.

His nickname was ‘drug addict’ because he relied so heavily on medicines.

The test tube on the counter caught Park Jin-su’s eye.

“Boss Baek, what’s this medicine?”

“Ah! Don’t worry about this. Some crazy bastard brought it claiming it was a mutant three-striped mosquito antidote, but it’s completely just plain water.”

“Huh? Wow! That’s some serious bullshit.”

“Right?”

Park Jin-su stared blankly at the reagent bottle.

How great would it be if this were a real antidote.

Those damn mosquito bastards.

If only those guys weren’t around, hunting efficiency would double.

Park Jin-su casually picked up one of the reagent bottles.

Then Baek Hong-pyo said with a laugh.

“I even tried feeding that to a test rabbit, but it was perfectly fine. That’s a creature that usually reacts to any medicine, you know.”

“So that’s why you’re saying it’s plain water?”

“I tried it myself too. It had no taste at all.”

“Hmm.”

Pro Park Jin-su pondered thoughtfully.

“I’m thirsty anyway, would it be okay if I tried drinking this?”

“Ahem, just drink some water from the purifier over there.”

“Should I pay you for it?”

“Come on, do you think I’m doing this out of greed for money?”

“So you’re saying it’s free?”

“I was going to throw it away anyway.”

As soon as Baek Hong-pyo finished speaking, Park Jin-su opened the reagent bottle cap and gulped it down immediately.

“Oh my! You drank it? Really, if you keep taking medicine so carelessly like that…”…”

“It’s fine. You said the test rabbit was perfectly fine too.”

“That’s true, but.”

Baek Hong-pyo took out a medicine bottle from the shelf and gave it to Park Jin-su.

“Take this bottle of comprehensive antidote with you. Just in case something goes wrong later.”

“Hahaha! Nice. I drink a cup of plain water and get a comprehensive antidote too.”

Park Jin-su said while gathering the comprehensive antidote and mana recovery potion.

“Boss Baek, take care. I’ll come back and give you feedback after the hunt.”

“Pro Park, don’t trust the medicine and make sure to wear your insect-proof suit.”

“Yes! Have a great day.”

Baek Hong-pyo had no expectations whatsoever about the medicine.

Honestly, how could he believe it?

The mutant three-striped mosquito antidote is exactly the kind of medicine that countless pharmaceutical companies have tried and failed to develop.

After Park Jin-su left, Baek Hong-pyo threw the remaining reagent bottle into the trash can.

“Boss, I’m here.”

“Me too.”

“Yes, it’s a good morning. Come on in, everyone.”

The employees had arrived for work.

Baek Hong-pyo greeted them with a warm smile like a father.

Customers also began arriving one by one.

He completely forgot about things like mosquito poison antidotes.

* * *

Park Jin-su honestly didn’t believe in mosquito antidotes either.

He just drank it impulsively because they said even the test rabbit was fine.

So he put on a thick insect-proof suit and went out hunting.

He wrapped his entire body tightly.

The Jirisan mutant three-striped mosquitoes are also magical beasts, so their blood-sucking proboscis is quite strong.

They’re even long too.

So insect-proof suits made of weak materials get pierced right away.

If there’s even one small hole, mosquito stingers get in through there.

The large magical beast species living here have also evolved because of these mosquitoes.

They either have long fur that can defend against mosquito proboscis, or thick hide.

A way to block mosquitoes?

It’s possible if you’re an awakened person of junior expert level or higher.

Because mosquito proboscis can’t pierce their skin.

But are experts that common?

Most civilian awakened people active in the Jirisan Wilderness are mostly user, beginner, or regular grade.

“Fuck! Sweat is flowing like a waterfall.”

Today is particularly hot and humid.

On days like this, mosquitoes are especially active.

“Ugh, Pro Park! Let’s just hunt casually today and go back.”

“Right. It’s too hot.”

“We’re going to get cooked to death while hunting magical beasts.”

Park Jin-su, a regular-grade awakened person and raid team leader, comforted his team members.

“Let’s catch just one more and get out of here.”

“…Tsk, fine. We need to make money.”

What they were hunting was blade-tooth martens.

Despite being martens, they’re the size of calves.

They’re quite easy magical beasts as long as you don’t get bitten.

The tank blocks the snout with a shield while the dealers stab the flanks or belly with blades, and that’s it.

Park Jin-su was an experienced tank.

But on hot and humid days, concentration inevitably drops.

Then you make mistakes you wouldn’t normally make.

“Grrrowl!”

He struck the head of the charging blade-tooth marten with his shield, but.

Thwack!

Perhaps lacking strength, the marten deflected the shield attack to the side and bit Park Jin-su’s chest with its teeth.

Crunch!

“Ugh!”

Being a tank, his body was solid and he wore sturdy armor.

However, the problem was the insect-proof suit.

They dealt with the marten quickly enough, but…

“Kek!”

Riiip!

The insect-proof suit ended up being torn lengthwise.

“Damn it!”

His body instantly felt cool as air flowed through.

But the insect-proof suit was ruined.

Moreover, to make matters worse, adding insult to injury.

The marten’s death scream attracted attention, and three other martens appeared all at once.

“Pro Kim, Pro Jang, take one each. Aptitude users provide combat support too.”

Team members rushed forward.

“Get it!”

“Cut the ankles.”

“What are you doing? Support team, spray them with guns too!”

Thus began a chaotic battle.

It was hectic.

He didn’t even care whether the insect-proof suit was torn or not.

When forming the raid team, he had only brought three awakened people.

1 beginner and 2 users.

So facing a pack of martens all at once was too much.

Still, Park Jin-su didn’t back down.

He was a Regular grade, after all.

Thunk!

“Kyang!”

After a fierce struggle, killing one gave him some breathing room.

“Finish this quickly!”

Crack!

“Kik!”

“Kiiiiing….”

He managed to kill all 3.

But right then!

“Kyaooo!”

“Krrrk!”

2 more martens appeared.

“…Huu, damn it!”

There was no choice.

He had to catch them.

The battle resumed without a moment to breathe.

But the insect-proof suits the raid team members were wearing had become like rags.

The mosquitoes wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

The team members couldn’t avoid mosquito bites while focusing on combat.

Park Jin-su was the same.

He couldn’t even count how many times he’d been bitten.

‘This is dangerous.’

The movements of the raid team’s awakeners and adapters were noticeably slowing down.

They were probably being affected by mosquito poison.

‘At this rate….’

There would definitely be casualties.

Park Jin-su gripped his shield and sword with all his might.

As the team’s leader, he had to fulfill his duty.

Even if it meant his own death.

Park Jin-su went wild like a madman.

Striking with his shield, slashing and stabbing with his sword….

But this was strange.

‘…What? I’m not losing strength.’

He’d definitely been bitten by mosquitoes.

Even now, several mosquitoes were sitting on his exposed forearm.

Mosquito poison should be entering his system, so why was he fine?

‘Could this be….’

Was it actually working?

That mosquito antidote he drank at Baek’s Drug Shop?

What else could it be?

Even now, the team’s awakeners and adapters were sweating profusely, constantly gulping down ineffective mana recovery potions.

But only he was completely fine.

An endless flow of mana power.

‘…Let’s finish this first and see.’

The sword in Park Jin-su’s hand shone brilliantly with mana energy.

* * *

And that evening.

“Boss Baek, Boss Baek!”

“Huh? Pro Park.”

“The, the mosquito poison antidote.”

“Antidote… Aha! That thing from this morning? But why…?”

“Don’t you have more of this? How much does it cost? I’ll buy it all.”

“Wh, what did you say?”

That means?

“Did it work?”

“Incredibly well. I got bitten by mosquitoes dozens of times but was perfectly fine! It didn’t even itch. This is really an amazing medicine. Where did you get this incredible drug….”

“Uh, uh, uh.”

Baek Hong-pyo’s eyes shook mercilessly.

It worked?

‘Really?’

Baek Hong-pyo hurriedly searched through the trash can.

Fortunately, it was still there.

Let me check for myself.

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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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