The S-Class Awakener, Code Name: Plague Doctor
"Welcome!" the sales assistant in the clothing store greeted warmly.
John looked around. The store wasn't crowded. He nodded at the sales assistant and started browsing on his own.
Faced with a wall full of various masks, John was hit by a bout of indecision.
It would be best to choose one that matched the image of a poison master.
And it had to look imposing, the kind that could send shivers down an enemy's spine.
Soon, a particular mask caught John's eye.
It was a medieval plague doctor's mask. During the time when the plague ravaged the European continent, doctors wore thick linen robes, hats, and bird-beak-like gas masks to prevent infection.
Medical knowledge wasn't advanced back then, and the cause of illnesses was unknown. People believed invisible demons were tormenting the sick.
The eerie attire of the plague doctors, akin to that of the Grim Reaper, was partly intended to scare off these demons.
John picked up the mask.
It was made of black leather, with a crow-like elongated beak at the front and goggle-like black lenses over the eyes. The mask could be firmly tied around the head with four leather straps.
The craftsmanship was exquisite. The leather was genuine and felt substantial in hand, with every stitch meticulously done.
"This mask is a perfect match!" John was very satisfied, but his smile twitched when he saw the price tag.
$3,800, indeed a bit pricey.
When John was reborn, buying those snakes and lab equipment had nearly depleted his savings.
Being an orphan with a heavy academic load, he didn't have much time for part-time jobs. He could only earn some money during holidays, most of which went towards tuition fees.
John took out his phone and opened his banking app to check his account balance.
[At 7:23 PM yesterday, your savings account received a total of $3,000,000.00 from the Star City Treasury. Your current balance is $3,000,214.00]
It took a moment for John to process the long string of numbers on his phone.
This was the payment for the awakening crystal he sold to Andre yesterday. The $3 million had been transferred last night.
He had been too tired yesterday, crashing in the dorm and completely forgetting about it...
John didn't expect to wake up and become a millionaire with financial freedom. He now feels that $3,800 is not expensive at all.
"Waiter, please pack up these masks for me."
John, holding the plague doctor mask, picked out a few different ones too, to avoid being traced back for buying masks here.
"Of course, sir. Please have a seat and enjoy a cup of tea. I'll have them wrapped up for you right away."
...
Twenty minutes later, John left the mall with bags in hand.
He went to a blind spot in the underground parking lot and stored the recently purchased clothes and masks into his system backpack.
Then, he took a cab back to school, heading straight for the potion's storeroom.
In the academic building, John arrived at the door to the potion storeroom, which was locked with an iron gate requiring a card swipe for entry.
John swiped his student card, trying to gain access.
"Highest authority, access granted."
The gate's mechanism sounded, and the iron gate unlocked with a click, allowing John to push the door open and enter.
John couldn't help but marvel, "Wow, the principal really operates efficiently, doesn't he?"
Soon after, John had opened the door to the potion storeroom, which had been converted from several large classrooms, resembling a potion supermarket.
Rows of neatly arranged shelves held potions that could be stored at room temperature.
Those needing refrigeration were kept inside a cold storage room.
John picked up a product list and quickly searched for useful poisons, soon selecting a few suitable ones.
Among them were ricin, tetrodotoxin, and batrachotoxin.
He also chose some chemical reagents like mercury, sulfuric acid, and white phosphorus, which are used in chemical experiments and are also toxic. John loaded up on these, as their toxicities were even greater.
John was on a shopping spree, aiming to enhance his original toxic body and accumulate original poison. The school was estimated to have suffered heavy losses because of this.
Quickly, John packed the collected poisons into his system backpack.
He planned to find a safe place later and consume them all at once, anticipating a significant upgrade.
John left the school and returned to his rental house.
He didn't go to the dormitory. As the items he took from the school's storeroom were highly toxic, and it would be troublesome if others accidentally ingested them and got poisoned.
Taking out the poisons from his system backpack, John laid them all out on the table.
Then, like a gourmet, he began tasting them one by one.
[Ding, congratulations on obtaining ricin]
[Ding, congratulations on obtaining tetrodotoxin]
[Ding, congratulations on obtaining batrachotoxin]
...
Soon, John had consumed all six types of poisons he had taken from the storeroom.
He drank two large bottles of the highly toxic sulfuric acid and mercury, and consumed about five kilograms of white phosphorus.
With the enhancement of [S-Class Toxicity Resistance], consuming these highly toxic substances barely produced any symptoms.
Moreover, once ingested, these substances would be quickly absorbed and refined by the [Original Toxic Body], gradually transforming into [Original Poison] without causing any feeling of fullness.
After consuming all the poisons, John closed his eyes and carefully felt the changes inside his body.
The [Original Poison] near his heart did indeed increase a bit, but the total amount was still pitifully small, about four or five drops.
However, these few drops of poison contained the powerful potency of various toxins. Even a single drop into a river would render it devoid of life for years upstream and downstream.
John sighed helplessly, "Well, refining the original poison really burns through money..."
Some of the poisons were extremely expensive, comparable to liquid gold.
He roughly estimated that the poisons he had just consumed would have cost over a million dollars to purchase.
In just a few minutes, he had eaten through that amount, and only a few drops of [Original Poison] were refined. He wondered if the school would go bankrupt because of him.
After consuming the poisons, John began to formulate his combat plan for the coming days.
Andre had just sent him the information about the two otherworldly gates through a messaging app.
John briefly checked the information. The remaining two gates were the C-level "Gale Werewolf Tribe" and the B-level "Poisonous Forest."
The Gale Werewolf Tribe was roughly on the same level as a Goblin's Nest, relatively simple, and could be handed over to Victoria.
However, the B-level "Poisonous Forest" was significantly more challenging. John vaguely remembered that this gate had resulted in numerous losses among the awakened ones.
It was also one of the five most challenging gates that first appeared in Star City.
Not only was there a dense poisonous miasma that rapidly drained the stamina of the awakened ones, but the natural, primitive forest and marshes were also home to many poisonous monsters that ordinary awakened ones couldn't handle.
But for John, it was practically heaven.
John knew that collecting poisons from the human world alone wouldn't suffice.
The poisons from those monsters were often more sinister and dangerous, offering him a significant boost.
Soon, John had his battle plan ready.
It wasn't particularly complicated. John just needed to think about the order of operations, feeling that prioritizing the Poisonous Forest would yield greater benefits.
After thinking it over, John called Andre to briefly share his thoughts.
He also informed him about the need to conceal his identity, explaining the situation clearly, and received Andre's agreement.
On the call, Andre asked, "John, just to confirm one more time. You want to have a dual identity within the guild, one being a student at Star Medical University, a C-level potion maker named John. The other identity is an S-level awakened one, a poison master?"
John answered, "That's right."
Andre confirmed again, "Then what should we call your S-level identity? Have you thought of a code name or something?"
Looking at the raven mask laid out on the table, John said with a light laugh, "S-level awakened one, a professional poison master, code-named—Death Plague Doctor."