The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 15

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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 15
Woo Min-chul led them Underground.
It had originally been a parking garage, but after he’d acquired the entire building, he’d converted it into a research laboratory.
“Why is that one following us?”
Woo Min-chul’s gaze shifted from Seong-un to Jang Byung-jun, who stood with arms crossed behind them, surveying the surroundings.
“He’s the money.”
A hundred billion won—an astronomical sum.
And that man was the source of it.
The aura radiating from him was far from ordinary.
He’d have to be a climber with at least fifteen floors cleared, if not more.
Hand over the Elixir, pocket the hundred billion, and walk away—that was the plan.
Woo Min-chul retrieved a glass vial containing purple liquid from supplies kept in the laboratory and handed it to Seong-un.
“This is it.”
So this was Velos’ Tears.
Velos’ Tears had earned its name because it was crafted by combining toxins extracted from two sources: Bella, a venomous serpent, and Rosto, a toad that harbored deadly venom.
‘Still incomplete, though.’
Seong-un was aware that Velos’ Tears remained unfinished.
‘From what I remember, it won’t be complete until Climbing actually begins.’
The reason it had remained incomplete for so long was that Woo Min-chul’s recipe was imperfect.
‘Illipia’s Aura.’
Illipia’s Aura carried the power of healing.
Healing added to a toxin-based Elixir? It defied all logic.
Paradoxically, Illipia’s Aura—bearing the power of healing—reacted with Rosto’s deadly venom, doubling its toxicity while stripping away its healing properties.
In two years, this would become common knowledge, but at this present moment, it remained undiscovered.
“Are you certain about this?”
After examining the Elixir, Seong-un tilted his head.
“Certain about what.”
“Is it truly one hundred percent complete? It doesn’t seem like it.”
Clever bastard.
How did some green kid, barely old enough to bleed, figure this out?
In situations like this, you had to play it strong.
The one with the real need here wasn’t him—it was this youngster.
“If you don’t like it, give it back!”
“Very well.”
Contrary to expectations, Seong-un nodded without hesitation.
“What?”
It was Woo Min-chul who found himself caught off guard.
“I don’t purchase Elixirs whose effects haven’t been verified.”
“Are you saying the Elixir I made is flawed?”
“I’ll provide the materials.”
“What?”
“I’ve come here trusting in your Alchemy, grandfather. With the right materials, you can finish it, can’t you? Isn’t that so?”
“Well, I suppose…”
Woo Min-chul found himself nodding without quite realizing it.
“So it wasn’t finished after all.”
As if he’d known all along, Seong-un let out a soft laugh.
Only then did Woo Min-chul recognize his own misstep, his face flushing with heat.
“Ahem, so you’re saying you’ll provide the materials?”
“Yes. In exchange, please reduce the price to two billion won.”
“What?!”
From the initial hundred billion, down to twenty billion—an eighty billion won reduction?
Trimming ten or twenty billion made some sense, but eighty billion was a blunt, open blow.
As Woo Min-chul bristled, ready to raise his voice in protest, Seong-un extended his index finger and added a condition.
“And going forward, I’ll provide any materials you need at discounted rates.”
“Discounted rates?”
“Yes. I can arrange to supply them at half price.”
Though all this funding ultimately flowed from the Association, an amount of this scale meant next to nothing at that institutional level.
“Is that a genuine offer?”
Woo Min-chul’s eyes widened with unbridled interest.
Beyond Velos’ Tears, there were dozens of other Elixirs he still hadn’t completed.
Trial and error was necessary, but the root cause of my stalled progress was sourcing materials.
If the material shortage could be resolved and the price cut in half, I’d have the resources to experiment with other Elixirs as well.
It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
“Yes. But please let me take the completed Elixir first. I’ll pay the proper price for it.”
Woo Min-chul’s Alchemy was genuine.
Just as in my previous life, if his Elixirs were added to the mix, I could accelerate my Climbing pace considerably.
“Fine. Let’s do it that way.”
The deal was sealed.
* * *
‘Remarkable.’
Jang Byung-jun’s brief assessment, watching the entire exchange from a distance.
For someone who’d only just finished Climbing the first floor, his conduct was almost unbelievable.
‘How does he even know about such things?’
An Elixir that boosted resistance to poison.
It seemed he intended to use it when tackling the second floor’s Boss.
If the effect was as remarkable as it appeared, the difficulty of clearing the second floor would drop significantly.
Could he be about to record another astounding result?
“Seong-un.”
Jang Byung-jun approached him and called out in a low voice.
“Yes. How do I know all this, you’re wondering?”
He’d already guessed what was on my mind.
After a brief moment of consideration, Jang Byung-jun nodded slowly.
“Yes. To be honest, I’m curious.”
“It’s information gathered from bumping into various situations while trying to survive.”
“……I see.”
Jang Byung-jun nodded.
The explanation was somewhat vague, but he chose not to press further.
“About the finances—are they manageable?”
Materials alone had consumed 2.5 billion Won.
Moreover, I’d just promised to pay another 2 billion on the spot.
And that wasn’t all.
For the materials Woo Min-chul requested, I’d agreed to supply them at half the current market price—a loss the Association would have to absorb entirely.
Yet Jang Byung-jun answered as though it were nothing.
“Of course. We’re investing in you, Seong-un. This is nothing.”
Seong-un let out a soft laugh.
‘His words have weight to them.’
From the Tutorial through the first floor.
Having proven myself convincingly, the Association could afford to invest boldly in the tens of billions.
If I’d posted mediocre results on the first floor, such boldness would never have emerged.
All the more reason to exploit this opportunity fully.
“Make note of this.”
Seong-un turned his gaze to Han Geon-u, who stood beside him looking somewhat out of place.
“What? What should I note?”
“What do you think I brought you here for?”
Han Geon-u’s only contribution so far had been retrieving materials from the Association and passing them to Woo Min-chul.
“Uh… sourcing materials?”
He racked his brain for an answer, and fortunately, it was correct.
“Right. From now on, your job is to bring whatever materials he needs.”
“Then when do I get to Climb……?”
“The Association will help with that.”
“Really?”
Han Geon-u’s face lit up as he looked back at Jang Byung-jun.
“……If it’s what Seong-un asks, then yes.”
Frankly, it wasn’t ideal, but he could justify investing in Han Geon-u for my sake.
It was a satisfying answer.
If I was to make proper use of Han Geon-u, he needed to grow to some degree.
“Master, did you call for me?”
Woo Min-chul’s disciple came down into the Underground research chamber at his summons.
“Hmm?”
I recognized the disciple at once.
‘Crosswalk.’
A man in his twenties who’d bumped shoulders with him at the crosswalk in front of the Association.
That man was standing right in front of him now.
‘Ah, so it was Lee Sang-hyun.’
Woo Min-chul’s apprentice.
The alchemist Lee Sang-hyun.
Back then, he’d taken the full brunt of time’s cruel wind—half his face had melted from the side effects of an experiment, he’d lost all his hair, and rapid aging had set in, making him appear to be in his early to mid-fifties.
That was why he hadn’t immediately recognized the unblemished face of Lee Sang-hyun.
“Come now, introduce yourselves. This gentleman will be our VIP customer.”
Woo Min-chul made the introductions.
Primary client Seong-un.
The money source Jang Byung-jun.
The tag-along Han Geon-u.
He’d whispered to them that aside from the money source, the primary client held the reins, so they’d better make a good impression on Seong-un—but because of his heightened senses, Seong-un heard every word.
“Hello. I’m, well, I apologize for the trouble last time.”
At his repeated apology, Seong-un smiled faintly.
“If you’re truly sorry, I’d appreciate your excellent work going forward.”
Building a cooperative relationship with Lee Sang-hyun wouldn’t hurt.
The Elixirs completed in his hands would be invaluable for Climbing the Tower.
“I’ll do my very best!”
Lee Sang-hyun answered with the crisp discipline of a soldier.
* * *
Two days had passed.
‘Curious. Not a single useless material.’
Woo Min-chul marveled repeatedly as he examined the rare materials he’d received through Han Geon-u.
They were expensive, certainly, but most of them were exactly what Woo Min-chul had been looking for.
The question was whether he could complete Velos’ Tears with these materials.
Just as the doubt began to surface, Woo Min-chul shook his head and dismissed it.
‘My pride is on the line. I have to succeed.’
If he failed to prove himself now that the stakes had grown, the embarrassment would be his alone.
Woo Min-chul deployed a skill.
First came Furt’s Detection.
Using this A-rank skill, he would explore the properties of the materials, then derive the expected result through Furt’s Combination, which was S-rank.
But there was a problem.
‘No, that’s not it.’
Each time he tested the materials against Velos’ Tears, the result never reached 100%.
Had the mixture been wrong from the start?
But Velos’ Tears had a Completion Rate of 90%.
It wasn’t a problem with the mixture itself, but a shortage of materials.
As his doubt grew deeper.
[98% (Danger)]
A projected figure of 98% appeared.
‘What? It’s closer to completion?’
Woo Min-chul’s pupils trembled like aspen leaves.
‘No, how is this possible?’
He’d left all possibilities open and attempted the combination again.
And this time, he’d only added Illipia’s Aura to the existing recipe.
The Completion Rate had risen from 90% to 98%.
Illipia’s Aura possessed the power of healing and was used in potion manufacture.
Velos’ Tears, conversely, represented destruction, damage, and deterioration.
So he’d never even hoped for this, yet how could such a result be possible?
Woo Min-chul tried combining Illipia’s Aura with another poison, just to test his hypothesis.
As expected, the result was 0%.
Two materials of different natures could never mix.
‘Fascinating. How does it only react with Velos’ poison?’
Woo Min-chul’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as he began rifling through the other materials.
Just because it had shown a reaction didn’t mean he should hastily attempt the combination.
The tag of “danger” meant that if he proceeded as-is, no one could predict what consequence would follow.
‘I need a stepping stone.’
As Woo Min-chul was sorting through the materials, his eyes suddenly lit up.
In his hand lay a pure white feather.
The White Fairy’s Wing Feather.
If he had something with balancing properties, wouldn’t he be able to mix it safely?
[100% (Safe)]
That was it.
Woo Min-chul’s mouth curved upward.
With an additional 2% added, the Completion Rate reached 100%, and the danger level vanished.
It was the moment Velos’ Tears was completed.
* * *
Two hours had passed since Woo Min-chul began his research on the Elixir.
Since the task involved completing an Elixir that was still unfinished, no one could predict when it would be done.
Han Geon-u, who had delivered the materials, declared he would sit in a chair and wait until it was completed.
“Would you like me to bring you something to drink, sir?”
Lee Sang-hyun, who had been observing from a distance, approached cautiously and asked.
“Cola. With ice.”
Han Geon-u suppressed his irritation and ordered the cola.
“Understood.”
Lee Sang-hyun left his seat to fetch the cola.
Alone now, Han Geon-u sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
“Why am I supposed to wait for the damn thing to be completed?”
Seong-un had instructed him to wait until completion, receive it, and return.
Han Geon-u was well aware that no one could know how long it took to complete a single Elixir.
Depending on the Alchemist’s capability, completion might take a month, or years, or it might remain unfinished for a lifetime—yet he was told to wait until it was done?
This was essentially telling him not to climb the tower.
“I heard the Association would provide support…… When exactly can I climb?”
As he brooded over this,
“It’s finished!”
Woo Min-chul appeared.
In his hand was a glass vial that, unlike the violet color seen earlier, now gleamed a deep red.
A Legendary Returner Devours the Tower (Serialized)
Author | Yeon Yi-yo
Publisher | Kim Joo-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 11, Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul, 401, Ace Tech Tower 8 (Guro-dong)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yeon Yi-yo 2026
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. The contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this restriction 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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