Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 43

Lenok and Mila returned to the outpost immediately and divided the eyeballs of the contaminated creatures they had caught.

The total number of contaminated creatures Mila had dealt with, bypassing Maoren’s checks, was nineteen.

After excluding the one Mila had excitedly blown away, Lenok received 12 pairs and Mila 7 pairs, making the calculation perfect.

“………”

Her lips pouted, but since it was her own fault, she couldn’t argue.

Still, she didn’t seem too dissatisfied, having earned 7 million cells in that short time.

Lenok, for his part, was satisfied with the money he had earned from this subjugation.

Including the eyeballs of the contaminated creatures he had collected before meeting Mila, he had 19 pairs in total.

Converted into money, this was a huge sum of 19 million cells.

It was slightly short of the target of 20 million cells, but it was enough, having pulled in this much money even after moving the schedule forward by a day.

“Good work.”

Lenok, who had received the payment for the subjugation at the outpost, smiled and greeted Mila first.

After all, it was a good thing that they were able to catch so many contaminated creatures at once in the ruins.

In the end, nothing went exactly according to her plan, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Mila also smiled and took the hand he offered.

“Yeah. The magic you showed today was amazing too. You should come visit our office sometime.”

“…Why would I?”

“Dylan keeps talking about you, so the boss is curious. We’re doing pretty well these days, and we’re getting a lot of good jobs, so if you need a well-paying job, come help us out.”

“………”

She said it casually, not expecting much, but Lenok didn’t forget her words and kept them in mind.

Certainly, the types of requests when working alone and when working with an office are different.

When moving alone, it becomes difficult to participate in joint requests that require teamwork.

To have a wider reach, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to become friendly with mercenaries like the Antares Office.

However, Lenok didn’t reveal any of those feelings and just chuckled.

“Okay. I’ll think about it later.”

It wasn’t something he needed to worry about right now.

After sending off Mila, who was planning to hang around near the undeveloped district, Lenok headed back into the city.

As soon as he reached an area where the phone signal was properly restored, he sat down in a nearby alley and took out his phone.

He put a cigarette in his mouth and immediately searched for the auction, placing a bid without hesitation.

It was an overpay of at least five million cells from the usual market price. But since there weren’t many people interested in the elixirs that were put up for auction in the first place, the competition wasn’t too fierce.

“Haa…..”

Lenok sighed and exhaled smoke, leaning his back against the dirty cement wall.

For now, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

If no one bid a higher amount within three days, then he could pay the amount at the auction and be done with it.

While watching the situation, if a competitor appeared, he could bid a higher amount with the remaining money.

That was the best he could do on his own.

“It’ll be better after it’s properly registered on the deep web….”

Lenok mumbled blankly, rubbing his face with the hand holding the cigarette.

How nice would it be if he could get rare elixirs or artifacts as a reward for requests instead of having to search for them himself?

For that, Lenok was prepared to take some risks, even if it meant disrupting his current life.

All that was left was to test its effects directly.

#

A week had passed since he returned from the undeveloped district.

The miscellaneous items that had been in the old studio apartment were all cleared away.

In the middle of the studio, which was small yet spacious.

A bright red cloth with luxurious patterns was placed.

The combination of the hieroglyphs symbolizing the Stania Pharmaceutical Group and the red color signifying an elixir.

This meant only one thing.

Lenok had finally succeeded in obtaining the elixir Stemmonia through an auction.

A competitor had caught up just a day before, so he ended up using all the money he had, but in any case, Lenok had finally obtained the elixir.

It was packaged in a classic style, as if it were an old person’s health tonic, but Lenok didn’t care at all.

With trembling hands, he tore open the packaging and carefully took out the case hidden inside.

He carefully opened the lid of the dark brown wooden box coated with gold leaf, and a strong fragrance wafted up from inside.

It was wrapped in pure white paper, so its appearance wasn’t clearly visible, but it already seemed to have a divine aura.

“Hoo…!”

All preparations for taking the elixir were complete.

He had reinforced the barrier around the studio apartment in two or three layers and had even given Jenny a heads-up just in case.

He had spread out a blanket in the middle of the room and had bought twenty bottles of mineral water and placed them nearby.

Since he didn’t know what might happen when he took it, he had even prepared to contact the nearby fire department with the push of a button.

That was how significant what Lenok was about to do was in his life.

‘Thinking calmly, there’s a high chance that there won’t be much progress.’

Even if it was an elixir that was traded at a price easily exceeding 100 million cells, it was essentially a medicine made to improve the user’s health.

It was best not to expect that it would eliminate the penalties that Lenok was currently burdened with from the root.

‘There might even be side effects.’

If excessive energy was injected, it could have adverse effects.

That was how depleted Lenok’s current physical condition was.

But even so, it was something that he had to address someday.

Whether it was possible to improve Lenok’s penalties with the elixirs that were commonly used in this world.

And if it was possible, how much of an effect would it have?

It was absolutely necessary to prepare himself to take on more risks and wander the back alleys of the city.

He had already decided and had been convinced for a long time.

All that was left was to confirm it.

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

A single circular blue pill, visible through the transparent glass wall, was floating inside the glass bottle.

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

Gulp.

The texture, which seemed hard on the outside, melted like cream the moment it touched his tongue and disappeared into his throat instantly.

“………”

From now on, it was an unknown territory that Lenok knew nothing about.

He had looked up a few reviews that people who had taken the elixir had posted online, but there was bound to be a huge difference from experiencing it directly.

His heart was beating like crazy.

The elixir essence that had flowed down his throat burned hotly, making Lenok clearly feel where his esophagus was.

The heat that had been flowing through his stomach without stopping, the moment it passed over his stomach.

Lenok’s body began to heat up.

Whoosh!

“Haa…!”

He let out a rough breath at the heat that had surged up from his stomach instantly.

This was dangerous. The effect of the medicine was significantly stronger than he had anticipated.

It was probably because Lenok’s body was too weak compared to the energy of the elixir, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

This was something that he could never have known without experiencing it directly.

He had no choice but to grit his teeth and fully digest the elixir.

The martial arts novels that he had read came to mind, but Lenok was neither a strong martial artist nor could he handle internal energy like inner strength [a concept in martial arts novels referring to the energy within the body].

At this rate, he would probably pass out before long.

And that was the worst situation for Lenok, who couldn’t control his own condition.

‘Mana… Damn it…’

He didn’t want to do this kind of thing if he could help it, but he had no choice.

Lenok gritted his teeth and pulled up his mana, slamming it directly into his own body.

Woo-oong!!

Because of the mana poisoning penalty, he had been strictly refraining from pouring mana directly into his own body, but it was more urgent to stay conscious and endure right now.

If he lost consciousness and the heat continued to rise without end, he could die without anyone knowing.

Lenok had no intention of ending his miserable life in this studio apartment.

As he strengthened his whole body with mana and began to directly control his body’s biological reactions, his body soon began to stabilize.

After this process was over, he would have to suffer from severe pain for at least two weeks due to mana poisoning, but stabilizing his body was the priority.

As he directly enhanced his physical abilities and increased his resistance with mana, it became much easier to endure than before.

It wasn’t that the heat had weakened, but rather that the limit of his resistance that he could endure had increased significantly.

In that state, Lenok slowly laid his body down on the blanket he had spread out in advance.

“Hoo….Hoo…..”

He calmed his heart rate by breathing calmly.

His whole body was already sweating profusely due to the excessive heat.

It was difficult to tell right now whether his condition was improving or getting worse.

Lenok had no knowledge in this area, and he hadn’t had enough time to learn it.

The only reliable basis he had was the various cases where even older and less healthy people had taken Stemmonia and hadn’t gotten worse.

That was the minimum safety net that Lenok could rely on.

Thump, thump!

When he felt like he had sweated too much, he opened a bottle of mineral water and poured it directly into his mouth.

The water that he couldn’t fully contain dripped down his mouth, but he didn’t care. That wasn’t important right now.

He would stay conscious and endure until the heat in his body disappeared.

He would replenish the lack of moisture with the mineral water he had prepared in advance.

While constantly circulating his mana, Lenok tried hard to keep himself alert.

Time continued to pass.

The heat that had been constantly rising from his body subsided long after half a day had passed and he had stayed up all night.

“………”

He never thought he would end up staying up all night again like this.

Lenok sighed as he looked out the window at the dawn with bloodshot eyes.

The main characters in stories would eat an elixir, pass out, and wake up much stronger, but if Lenok did that, it wouldn’t be strange if he went straight to the afterlife.

The blanket he had prepared in advance was soaked with sweat, and only after emptying all but two of the prepared water bottles did the effects of the elixir finally subside.

It didn’t seem like his body had become lighter after taking the elixir.

However, it was clear that his condition hadn’t gotten worse even after staying up all night.

“Ugh….”

Lenok groaned and struggled to get up, silently looking down at the blanket he had been lying on.

He had thought that there might not be any visible effects from taking the elixir, but that was a mistake.

His blanket had already gone beyond the point of no return due to all the waste products that Lenok had released along with his sweat.

“….I can’t use this.”

Lenok shook his head as he looked at the blanket cover that had gone far beyond the level of being yellowed.

Even if he washed it and used it, there was no guarantee that it would return to its original state.

It seemed much better to just buy a new blanket cover.

It was surprising that so much waste had accumulated in his body.

“Hmm…”

Before removing the blanket cover, Lenok squatted down and took a sample of his sweat from the blanket and smelled it.

It was unpleasant, but it was something he did because he had a hunch.

The color of the waste that had soaked the blanket was not ordinary.

If Stemmonia really had the kind of effect that Lenok thought it did…..

“As expected.”

Lenok nodded as he confirmed that there was a faint smell of cigarettes mixed in with the black waste.

It was certain.

Just now, Lenok had gotten rid of the pollutants that had accumulated in his body from smoking cigarettes while taking the elixir.

Of course, this one time wouldn’t erase all the side effects of the cigarettes he had smoked, but the fact that he could resolve the harm of inhaling the medicine in this way was a positive thing.