Elixir's Trial

Leo and Mila immediately returned to the outpost and divided the eyes of the captured contaminated being. 

The total number of contaminated objects Mila dealt with after breaking through Maoren's blockade was nineteen. 

The math was perfect when Leo got 12 pairs and Mila got 7 pairs, excluding the one that Mila ate in excitement along the way. 

"… … … " 

Her mouth stuck out, but she was not given a chance to protest, as it was her own fault. 

Still, he didn't seem too dissatisfied, as he had earned 7 million cells in such a short period of time. 

Leo, for his part, was satisfied with the money he had earned from this expedition. 

If you include the eyeballs of the polluted creatures I collected before meeting Mila, there are 19 pairs in total. 

If converted into money, this is a huge sum equivalent to 19 million cells. 

It was slightly short of the 20 million cells that we had targeted, but it was enough to raise this much money a day ahead of schedule. 

"Thank you for your hard work." 

Leok, who had received the reward for the subjugation at the outpost, smiled and greeted Mila first. 

As a result, it's a good thing that we were able to capture a lot of pollutants from the ruins at once. 

In the end, nothing really went according to her plan, but it didn't really matter. 

Mila also smiled and took the hand he extended. 

"Yeah. The magic you showed me today was really cool. Come visit our office sometime." 

"….Why?" 

"Dylan keeps talking about you, so the boss is curious. We've been doing pretty well lately and we've been getting a lot of good jobs, so if you need a job with a good paycheck, come by." 

"… … … " 

She let it pass by as if she had said it without thinking much about it, but Leo never forgot it and kept it in his memory. 

Of course, the types of requests you get when you work alone and when you work with an office are different. 

When you move alone, it becomes difficult to participate in joint requests that require group work. 

In order to spread your legs here and there, it might not be a bad idea to become friendly with mercenaries like the Antares office. 

But Leo just smiled without showing any of those feelings. 

"Okay. I'll think about it later." 

Because it wasn't something I had to worry about right away. 

After sending Mila away, who was planning to hang out more near the undeveloped area, Leok walked back into the city. 

As soon as I reached an area where phone coverage was restored, I sat down in a nearby alley and took out my cell phone. 

After biting a cigarette, he immediately goes to the auction and places a bid without hesitation. 

The overpay is more than 5 million cells in general cigars. However, since there aren't many people interested in elixirs that are put up for auction in the first place, the competition isn't fierce. 

"ha….." 

Leo leaned back against the dirty cement wall, exhaling smoke with a sigh. 

For now, I took a breather with this. 

If no one bids a higher amount within three days, you can deposit the money into the auction and that's it. 

You can watch the situation and if a competitor appears, you can bid a higher amount with the remaining amount. 

It was the best he could do on his own. 

"It'll be a little better once I'm properly registered on the deep web… ." 

Leo muttered absentmindedly, rubbing his face with the hand holding the cigarette. 

How great would it be if you could get precious elixirs and relics as a reward for completing quests instead of having to go out and find them first? 

Leo is ready to take some risks for it, even if it means disrupting his current lifestyle. 

All that remained was to experiment with the effects directly. 

# 

It's been a week since I returned from the undeveloped area. 

All the clutter that had been lying around in the old one-room apartment has been cleared away. 

In the middle of a one-room apartment, whether narrow or wide. 

A bright red wrapping cloth with a luxurious pattern was laid out. 

A combination of the hieroglyph symbolizing the Stania Pharmaceutical Group and the color red, which signifies elixir. 

This means only one thing. 

Finally, Leo succeeded in obtaining the elixir Stemonia through an auction. 

Leo ended up using up all the money he had when his competitor caught up with him the day before, but he eventually got his hands on the elixir. 

The packaging looked old-fashioned, as if it were a nutritious meal for the elderly, but Leo didn't care at all. 

With trembling hands, I open the packaging and very carefully take out the case hidden inside. 

As I carefully opened the lid of the deep brown wooden box coated with gold leaf, a strong fragrance rose from inside. 

It's wrapped in pure white paper so you can't really see its shape, but you can already feel its spiritual energy. 

"Hoo…!" 

All preparations to take the elixir perfectly have already been completed. 

I doubled and tripled the barrier around the one-room apartment, and even gave Jenny a separate warning just in case. 

In the middle of the room, a blanket was spread out and twenty bottles of water were bought and placed nearby. 

We've even prepared to contact the nearest fire department with the push of a button, as we never know what might happen if you take it. 

What Leo was about to do was no less than a great adventure in his life. 

'If you think about it calmly, there's a high chance that there won't be much progress.' 

Even if it is a medicinal elixir that is easily traded at over 100 million cells, it is essentially a medicine created for the purpose of improving the health of the person taking it. 

It would be best not to expect that Leo would be able to eliminate the penalties that were hanging around right now. 

'Rather, there may be side effects.' 

Excessive energy injection can have negative effects. 

Leo's current physical condition is extremely empty. 

But still, it was something that had to be addressed at some point. 

Is it possible to improve Leo's penalty with a potion that is common in this world? 

And if it were possible, how effective would it be? 

It is absolutely necessary to be prepared to take on more risks and roam the back alleys of the city in the future. 

I've already decided and I've been convinced for a long time. 

All that remained was to confirm. 

He removed the white paper and took out the small plastic cylinder inside. 

A single blue circular ring was floating inside the bottle, visible beyond the transparent glass wall. 

Leo took out the elixir with trembling hands and slowly put it in his mouth. 

Gulp. 

The texture that felt hard at first glance melted like cream the moment it touched my tongue and disappeared into my throat in an instant. 

"… … … ." 

From now on, it is an unknown territory that Leo knows nothing about. 

I looked up some reviews posted online by people who took the elixir, but it's bound to be very different from experiencing it firsthand. 

My heart is pounding like crazy. 

The hot liquid of the elixir that flowed down his throat made Leo feel his esophagus clearly. 

The moment the heat that had been flowing continuously through my stomach rose. 

Leo's body began to heat up. 

Wow! 

"ha…!" 

I let out a ragged breath as the heat rose up from my stomach in an instant. 

This is dangerous. The effects of the drug were significantly stronger than expected. 

It may be because Leo's body was too weak compared to the elixir's energy, but there was nothing he could do about it now. 

This is something that you simply cannot know without experiencing it yourself. 

I had no choice but to grit my teeth and fully digest the elixir. 

Suddenly, the story of Chyeon from a martial arts novel came to mind, but Leok was not a warrior with a strong body, nor was he able to control energy like internal energy. 

If this keeps up, I feel like I won't be able to hold out much longer and I'll faint. 

And that was the worst possible situation for Leo, who couldn't control his own condition. 

'Magic… . Damn it… .' 

I don't usually want to do something like this, but I can't help it. 

Leo gritted his teeth and began to draw out his magical power and strike at his own body. 

Woohoo!! 

Because of the penalty of mana addiction, I was strictly refraining from directly pouring magic power into my body, but right now, it was more urgent to hold out without passing out. 

If the fever keeps rising without end while you are unconscious, you could die without anyone knowing. 

Leo had no intention of ending his miserable life in this one-room apartment. 

As soon as you begin to strengthen your entire body with magical power and directly control the biological reactions of your entire body, your body begins to stabilize. 

After this task was completed, I would suffer from excruciating pain due to mana addiction for at least two weeks, but my first priority was to stabilize my body. 

By directly strengthening my physical abilities with magic power and raising my endurance, it became much easier to endure than before. 

Rather than feeling less feverish, it feels like the limit of my endurance has increased. 

Leo laid his body down slowly on the blanket he had spread out in advance. 

"Phew… .Phew…." 

Take deep, calm breaths and somehow calm your heart rate. 

Sweat was already pouring out like rain from all over my body due to the excessive heat. 

It is difficult to know at the moment whether the situation is improving or getting worse. 

Leo had no knowledge of this kind of thing, and he had little time to learn it. 

The only credible evidence is that there are several cases where older people with poor health took stemonia and did not get any worse. 

That was the minimum safety net Leo could count on. 

Boom, boom! 

When I felt like I was sweating too much, I opened the water bottle and poured it into my mouth. 

The water that I couldn't hold in my mouth flowed out, but I didn't care. That wasn't important right now. 

Just stay conscious and hold on until the heat inside your body disappears. 

Replenish the remaining moisture with prepared drinking water. 

Leo tried to keep himself sane while constantly turning his magic. 

Time keeps passing. 

It was more than half a day and an entire night before the heat that had been constantly welling up in my body subsided. 

"… … … ." 

I never thought I'd be up all night like this again. 

Leo sighed, looking out the window at the dawn with bloodshot eyes. 

The main characters in the story would take an elixir and pass out, only to wake up much stronger, but Leok would be in a state where it wouldn't be strange if he went straight to the underworld. 

The blanket I had prepared in advance was soaked with sweat and overflowing, and only after I had emptied all, but two bottles of water did the elixir finally take effect. 

It doesn't seem like my body got any lighter or anything after taking the elixir. 

However, it was clear that his condition did not get that bad even after staying up all night. 

"Ugh…." 

Leok, who struggled to get up with a groan, looked down at the blanket he was lying on without saying a word. 

I thought that taking the elixir might not have any outward effects, but I was wrong. 

Because Leok's blanket had already become irreparably damaged by all the waste he had shed along with his sweat. 

"… This doesn't work." 

Leok shook his head as he looked at the quilt that was far beyond the level of yellowing. 

Even if you suck it up and use it, it is at a level where you cannot guarantee that it will come back. 

It seemed much better to just buy a new comforter. 

Rather, it is surprising that so much waste has accumulated in one's body. 

"Hmm..." 

Before putting away the duvet, Leo crouched down and dabbed his sweat on the duvet and sniffed it. 

It's a bit unsettling, but I did it because I had an idea. 

This is because the colour of the waste that soaked the blanket was not an ordinary colour. 

If stemonia really has the properties Leo thinks it does… ... 

"Also." 

Leo nodded, noticing a faint smell of cigarette smoke mixed in with the pitch-black waste. 

That's for sure. 

Leo had just taken the elixir and was smoking tobacco to get rid of the toxins that had built up in his body. 

Delegation 

Of course, this one time won't erase all the side effects of smoking cigarettes, but it's good news that the harmful effects of inhaling drugs can be eliminated in this way.