Chapter 7

“What is it this time?”

“Ah, you’re here. I was about to head back if you didn’t show, but you came just in time.”

“What do you want?”

“Well, I was hoping I could get my hands on some herbs.”

“Hmph, selling them is easy enough.”

As he said that, the old man glanced sideways for a moment, and Jaeha spoke with a smile.

“Is there something you’d like in return?”

“What, that thing you’re good at. Do that.”

“Are there still that many herbs whose effects you don’t know?”

“That’s right. Do you think dungeon herbs come in ones and twos?”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Let’s go inside first. What are you doing out here looking all pathetic.”

With that, the old man opened the building’s door and went inside. Jaeha followed him into the building. Inside, all sorts of herbs were piled up everywhere. Dried frogs, liquor with snakes in it — all kinds of strange things were packed in there.

“Go sit over there and wait.”

The old man pointed to a table off to the side, and Jaeha nodded and walked over.

Then he sat down and, while waiting for the old man, scanned the herbs scattered all around him.

Thanks to Divine Physician Hua Tuo’s Secret Art, Jaeha had gained extensive knowledge of herbs, so it wasn’t hard for him to guess what each one was and what effects it had. Jaeha turned his head as the old man approached.

“Here. All you have to do is figure these out.”

The old man handed over a wooden basket, and the basket was packed full of various herbs.

“Looks like more than last time.”

“Fifteen kinds in total.”

“I see.”

“So what herbs do you want? Name them. I’ll go find them for you.”

“Yes. Give me a moment. I’ll write them down. It’s not just one or two things.”

“Go ahead.”

The old man brought over paper and a pen and gave them to Jaeha, who wrote down the herbs he needed and handed the list over. Then, as the old man disappeared to fetch the herbs, Jaeha began writing out the effects of the herbs as well.

That task didn’t take long to finish. Jaeha checked over what he’d written to make sure there were no mistakes, then waited for the old man to return.

“What, you’re already done?”

“Yes.”

“Hmph. Alright. Guess I’ll have to read it. I brought everything you wrote down. The quantities weren’t listed, so I grabbed extra — look it over and tell me if you need more.”

“Yes.”

Jaeha nodded and scanned the basket the old man handed him. After confirming everything was in there in good amounts, he raised his head. Then he spoke to the old man, who was slowly reading through the notes Jaeha had written.

“Come to think of it, we never exchanged names. I’m Na Jaeha.”

“Is that so?”

“Are you not going to tell me your name, sir?”

“Hah, it’s been years since I stopped bothering to remember a name.”

“Still, I can’t just keep calling you ‘sir’ forever.”

“The others call me Herb Gramps. You do the same.”

“Yes. I will.”

“But.”

“Yes?”

“Since you brought it up, I’ve got something I’m curious about too. Let me ask.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“That thing that went up on the Auction House a few days ago — you made it, didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

“That thing called Hua Tuo’s elixir. It was you who made it, right.”

“……Denying it probably won’t do me much good. How did you know?”

“Tsk tsk. You don’t know this because you’re new, but I’ve got some recognition in this business. And with that comes a lot of ears.”

“So based on the circumstances, there was no one else but me.”

“Right. You were the only one who bought herbs during that period. And on top of that, that kind of item had never appeared before except for potions, so I figured it had to be you.”

“I put it up on the Auction House for the anonymity, even knowing it might not sell — guess that wasn’t so effective after all.”

“I’d say it’s more that you got unlucky. Out of all the countries in the world, you just had to run into me in this tiny one.”

“Well, I suppose you could see it that way.”

Jaeha replied with a smile. The old man looked at him again and spoke.

“Tell me honestly. Do you actually know exactly what that thing does?”

“Not in full detail. I just know it restores lost vitality — what’s also called innate true energy.”

“Hmph. Anything else?”

“No. That’s it.”

“Can you make more?”

“If I have the materials.”

“Oh ho. So you’re thinking of making them to sell?”

At the old man’s words, Jaeha began to ponder for a moment.

Chapter 6

“It’s true that I came here to make money, but……”

“What, now that I know your secret, you’re getting hesitant?”

“It’s not like that’s not part of it…… but more than that, it’s just that I don’t have anything to rely on.”

“So you’re saying you can’t trust me.”

“Well, you could see it that way.”

“You slippery bastard.”

At Jaeha’s words, the old man stood up from his seat and spoke.

“You sold them for 15 million won each, right?”

“Yes.”

“If you sell them to me, I’ll make sure you get 100 million per pill.”

“So you’re saying you’ll sell them for at least double that?”

“……”

The old man gave no particular response to Jaeha’s words.

“How about 7:3?”

“Fine. Will that do?”

“Aside from the herbs needed to make the pills, I’d appreciate it if you could also provide some herbs for my personal use. If you’d like, you can deduct the cost of those herbs from the money you’d pay me.”

“If there’s anything you need, send me a list.”

“I will. What’s your contact info?”

“Here.”

With that, he pulled a business card from his breast pocket and handed it over. Jaeha took it, nodded, and spoke.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

And so Jaeha headed home.

* * *

Back at home, Jaeha gathered the herbs in reasonable amounts and prepared, then began bundling them together to make pills. While making the pills, he searched for and watched various videos. However, no proper skills came up.

“Guess I was just lucky. Not a single decent skill is showing up.”

If there had been any decent skill, he would have learned it. But no usable skills appeared at all. By the time he’d watched about two videos, he had finished all the elixirs and called Herb Gramps.

<What is it. Need something?>

“How did you know it was me?”

<Out of the people who have my number, you’re the only one who hasn’t saved it.>

“I see. Anyway, I don’t need anything else — I finished the medicine, so I’m calling to let you know. Should I bring it over?”

<You already finished it all?>

“Yes.”

<Hmph, I’ll send someone over.>

“Yes.”

After hanging up, Jaeha stretched and organized the herbs. Then, to pass the time while waiting for the person to arrive, he took a bit of rest. Before long, Jaeha’s cell phone rang.

“Oh. Seungho.”

<Rented the blacksmith shop.>

“Oh. When?”

<Three days from now. Is a full day enough?>

“Yeah. That’ll be enough.”

<Good to hear. And the price is……>

“How much?”

<Ten million won a day, with unlimited use of materials as a Condition. And that’s after I haggled it down.>

“That’s fine. I can afford that much. Got it.”

<Good to hear, then.>

“Alright. I’ll hang up?”

<Yeah.>

After hanging up, Jaeha immediately organized the elixirs and called Herb Gramps.

“It’s me.”

<What. Something happen?>

“No, nothing major. There’s just something I need to get, and I don’t know anyone around here. No one to ask for help either. Could you possibly source some items for me?”

<What items?>

“I need various byproducts from dungeons. I have a use for them.”

<That’s not hard. Mind if I ask where you’ll be using them?>

“I plan to use them personally. I’ll explain the details in due time.”

<Well, I’ll get them for you for now. What do you need?>

“For now, just Ogre Sinew and Troll blood. I’ll handle the rest myself — partly to stretch my legs and check the situation.”

<Ogre Sinew and Troll blood? What are you going to use those for?>

“Haha.”

<Fine, got it. I’ll get them for you.>

After hanging up, Jaeha smiled and spoke.

“I’ve got quite a lot of things I need, so I’d better move fast.”

And so Jaeha began moving to gather the materials he needed.

* * *

Since everything except the byproducts and materials obtained through hunting could be bought with money, Jaeha arrived at the Hunter Shop to purchase those first. Once there, he went around the shops selling materials and began buying this and that.

After roughly picking up what he needed, Jaeha stood still and started thinking.

‘The Iron Ingots — he said I could use the ones at the Blacksmith Shop, so that’s covered…… All I need left is some Coke, I guess.’

The furnace at the Blacksmith Shop would probably generate enough heat to melt iron, but that alone wasn’t quite enough.

After all, his goal was to use his skill to create something stronger.

To do that, he needed to use Coke to produce higher heat. He had plenty of other things to melt besides iron, too. He could use mana, but to melt things reliably, he needed higher temperatures.

After buying a suitable amount of Coke, Jaeha gathered everything and headed back home.

‘Ogre Sinew and Troll blood — he said he’d get those for me, so that’s covered……’

Ogre and Troll byproducts weren’t something Jaeha could obtain right now. Of course, if he had the money, he could get them through the Auction House or similar means, but there was no other way.

Moreover, Ogres and Trolls were extremely difficult monsters for Jaeha, who used a bow, to take down. They only appeared in at least C-Rank dungeons, so it wasn’t like he’d just run into them while going through dungeons.

‘There’s no need to go to a place like that and court danger while my Rank is still low.’

Still, Jaeha had decided to get what he could get on his own. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t completely neglect hunting. Jaeha was a Hunter, after all.

Besides, he needed to hunt and level up to accurately check his Total Ability. Total Ability changed in increments of 10 levels. So Jaeha, currently at level 9, still had a Total Ability of 100. Probably once he hit level 10, his Total Ability would rise based on the skills he’d acquired so far.

“Let’s go.”

After getting organized, Jaeha headed straight to a dungeon to hunt. The byproducts Jaeha needed were Orc bones and Goblin Shaman blood. So this time, Jaeha prepared to visit two dungeons.

‘Having a healing skill means I don’t need to buy potions — that’s convenient.’

And then, Jaeha’s phone rang.

<It’s me.>

The caller was Herb Gramps.

“Yes.”

<Like you said, I got all the Ogre Sinew and Troll blood.>

“That was fast.”

<And I’ve priced all the Elixirs you made for me too.>

“Is that so?”

<That Hua Tuo’s elixir thing — 150 million won per pill. The stamina tonic — 300 million each. The wound salve — 10 million won per 100 grams.>

“The stamina tonic is pricier than I expected.”

<If the effect’s solid, there’s no shortage of bastards willing to pay. You’re a man yourself, so you know. There’s always some old geezer who can’t get it up anymore and throws a fit trying to force it to stand.>

“Either way, it’s good for me.”

<So anyway. Make some more of that stamina tonic when you get the chance.>

“It already sold out?”

<Hope drives men insane. And men with money don’t hold back when it comes to that sort of thing.>

“Then send me the materials the day after tomorrow. I have some things to take care of today, tomorrow, and the day after that.”

<Got it. Just need the materials, right?>

“Yes. Just make sure to dry them properly like last time before sending them.”

<Will do.>

After hanging up, Jaeha headed straight for the dungeon.