[Dragon Breath Potion - Legendary Rank]

[A legendary-ranked potion made by Lee Ki-Young, the Dragon Alchemist. Infuse mana, and two seconds later, Dialugia’s magic will release in all directions, creating an explosion with a shockwave.]

The strange-looking glass bottle I was holding looked nicer than I thought and even the deformed shape made it look even more special. Naturally, I was in a really good mood because it was a tool that could make up for my lack of power, and it could also be used to protect myself. However, the two-second activation time was a huge penalty. The penalty made it feel like it wasn’t suitable to use against other players, but despite that, I was undeniably happy. Having another option besides magic was an advantage for me.

My stats were lacking for me to deserve one of the Eight Seats, but if I continued to improve this potion, then my arsenal might just make me as strong as an archmage. When I gently held the dazzling potion in my arms and cleaned it, I heard a voice. It was Dialugia who had returned to her human form.

“It’s amazing. I never… I never imagined you’d actually make one…”

She was really surprised when she first saw it, but I guess it was more interesting seeing it up close. I couldn’t help but smile because the fact that she was surprised meant my potion was a success.

‘This is the power of alchemy.’

“Didn’t I tell you? This is the product of science, magic, and alchemy. Of course, I still need to make a lot of improvements, and even though it’s still in its early stages, I’m going to keep making improvements,” I said.

“I don’t understand… I don’t understand how this is possible. But, it’s not that powerful…” Dialugia remarked.

“I thought this wasn’t that bad… ahem. Anyway, the principle is simple because I modeled it after your organs. Some of your cells are mixed in this glass bottle. It’s not perfect, but it’s safe to say that this is a deteriorated version of your organs. The only difference is that the size was scaled down a lot, and what’s flowing through this organ is purified blood, not mana,” I explained.

“...”

“Honestly, I don’t even know how this organ is able to release magic waves, but that’s not what’s important. The important thing is that the organs inside you are able to release magic waves and that I can copy it,” I added.

“Is that possible?” Dialugia asked.

“Basically, there’s mana within your blood, and I’m going to drop a dose of blood into this glass model just like how you send mana into your organs. After that, the engraved magic circle will guide the blood into creating energy that will activate this organ. Activating it takes two seconds…” I explained.

“I see,” she mumbled.

“Also…”

Whiiiiiirl!

Boooooooooom!!

When I threw the potion with all my might, I saw it create a large magic wave. I wasn’t sure if Dialugia’s mana had influenced it, but it looked pretty legit when it exploded in black. It wouldn’t have looked as cool if it exploded like a normal glass bottle would. When thinking about the cost of that glass bottle, it was a bit unfortunate that it broke, but it didn’t really matter since it was a test item.

“No matter how many times I look at it, it’s really interesting,” Dialugia commented.

“I agree. Anyway, you don’t have to participate in the experiment for the time being. I have already gathered the data I needed, so the rest is up to me,” I told her.

“Didn’t you already succeed in creating what you wanted?” she asked.

“I’m almost at the final stages. Actually, it’s safe to say that it’s almost complete, but… with my current stats, I don’t have the confidence to create something better,” I answered.

The serum that would turn Park Deok-Gu into Captain Lindel was almost done. It had been difficult to create two items at once, but Jung Ha-Yan, who was playing with Smartie right now, had been really helpful because I also had to dabble in magic to increase the success rate. The potion was already complete, but I questioned whether it was fine to leave the potion as it was. However, there wasn’t much I could do regarding the limitation my stats had placed on me—improving the potion to this extent was my limit.

[Enhancement Serum - Legendary Rank]

[A legendary-ranked potion made by Lee Ki-Young, the Dragon Alchemist. Created after turning Dialugia’s blood into a catalyst, this potion forcefully increases the user’s physical abilities permanently. Only players with stamina and endurance points above 70 can use it. The success rate isn’t high. Failure can result in death, so please use with caution.]

This green liquid looked ominous, and it was simmering violently even though there was no heat. It required the user’s stamina to be above 70 points because there were risks involved in using it. I made the serum, but injecting this into Park Deok-Gu still wouldn’t be safe. The human body would reject the dragon’s scale, and to overcome that rejection, the user’s stamina and endurance had to be at least 70 points. Of course, the surgeon’s will and the help of magic would increase the success rate, but the highest success rate was still under sixty-two percent.

People may ask if it couldn’t be used on people like Kim Hyun-Sung or Cha Hee-Ra, but that wasn’t the case. This potion was useless to people on their level, and I wasn’t dumb enough to inject Captain Lindel’s serum into the Hulk or Thor. Basically, this was custom-made and was modified for Park Deok-Gu’s body. However, the enhancement procedure itself was risky, so the success rate remained under sixty-two percent.

“It’s definitely… dangerous,” I said.

“Do you think so?” Dialugia asked.

“Yes. Other monsters reject our blood as well. Doing this kind of work with another race in the first place is a pretty dangerous idea,” I replied.

“Ugh…’

“If it fails, the user’s body may explode…” I added.

I didn’t really want to see Park Deok-Gu’s body getting blown up because when I visited him to collect data about his body, he was still swinging his sword. In some ways, what I was doing was no different from creating a chimera, and considering the fact that all chimeras had some kind of side-effect, I didn’t really want to recommend it. However…

‘I have a feeling it’ll work…’

For some reason, I was confident, but this was different from me being overconfident in my abilities. To be precise, I had a feeling that the success rate of this experiment was going to be very high because of a transcendent being.

‘That being doesn’t want Park Deok-Gu to die.’

It could just be my imagination, but that was how I felt, and considering the fact that they meddled with my Mind’s Eye, it was possible that they would meddle with this experiment as well.

‘I can keep increasing the success rate.’

Park Deok-Gu himself may agree to do this. No matter how hard I thought about this, it would still be up to him to decide whether he would do this or not. Considering that he could get kicked out of Kim Hyun-Sung’s party, it was probably best to call him here and officially evaluate the different circumstances with him.

‘I’ll do that.’

I wanted to surprise him, but it was difficult to increase the success rate without a test subject, so it was the right decision for him to participate.

“Ha-Yan,” I called out.

“Yes, Oppa?” she answered.

“Can you bring Deok-Gu here?” I asked.

“Okay!”

Jung Ha-Yan ran out after hearing my request, and Dialugia looked at me strangely.

“Are you really doing it?” she asked.

“I have to do it until I can improve the serum. Since I had customized it for him, I’m sure I can increase the success rate just a little bit if he’s here,” I replied.

“How—”

“First, I need to see how his blood will reject the serum, and then I’ll create another potion that’ll counterbalance the effect of the Enhancement Serum. Injecting that potion first before the serum should increase the success rate. I have to thoroughly examine him as well,” I answered, interrupting her.

“It’s difficult to understand exactly what you’re saying, but… I think I get it,” she mumbled.

“It’s kind of sad that I can’t do a clinical trial, but anyway, I’m planning on approaching this more cautiously,” I told her.

“Hmm… can I help you with anything?” Dialugia asked.

“I may need your help. Injecting your mana into him should decrease the effects of his blood rejecting the serum,” I answered.

I continued talking to Dialugia, and I was surprised that she seemed interested in alchemy.

‘Maybe I’ll make her train with the rookies that are going to join soon.’

However, that useless thought only lasted for a moment. Even though Park Deok-Gu was having problems, helping Dialugia obtain social skills was another task I had to figure out. In conclusion, I did get this laboratory, but I didn’t want to have another dumb experience like what happened with Dialugia borrowing money to build the nest. If it weren’t for Lee Ji-Hye’s help, I would have fully experienced the terror of the loan industry.

After spending some time with Dialugia, I started hearing Jung Ha-Yan’s voice. I guess she was talking with Park Deok-Gu because she was pretty loud. Naturally, I started fidgeting with the Enhancement Serum because I had prepared it as a gift.

‘It’s not a surprise anymore, but I should at least show him this.’

I understood better than anyone how he felt, knowing that he was talentless, so I was excited to see how he would react once he saw this serum because he was desperate.

When I turned my attention to where their voices were coming from, I saw Park Deok-Gu and Jung Ha-Yan. Before I could greet him, he waved and spoke first. He sounded happy because it had been a while since we had seen each other.

“Hyung-nim!”

“Deok-Gu.”

“How have you been? Doing experiments is fine, but you should show your face around the guild some time. The administrative team at the guild is a mess right now. I guess they have a lot of preparation to do related to the tutorial dungeon,” Park Deok-Gu said.

“There’s something I had to make, so I’ve been busy recently,” I informed him.

“I heard it from Ha-Yan noonim. I heard you made something incredible…”

He smiled as if he was in a good mood, and seeing the sweat on his face showed that he had been training right before coming here. Based on what he said, I was worried that Jung Ha-Yan had told him about the serum, but I immediately realized he was talking about the Dragon Breath Potion because he started talking once again.

“Didn’t you call me here because you wanted to show me the Dragon Breath potion or something? Kgh… I knew you were going to show it to me first! Ha-Yan noonim has already been spreading rumors to everyone in the guild.”

“Haha. I actually made something new besides that,” I told him.

“Really?” he asked.

“That’s right,” I answered.

Naturally, my heart started pounding. Seeing him running toward me with that innocent look on his face made me think that he wasn’t expecting a present from me. When I quietly showed him the Enhancement Serum, he looked like he wanted an explanation amidst his surprise.

“Read it,” I suggested.

“This?” he asked.

His face was quickly filled with excitement when he checked the potion through his status window. He looked like he was curious, and since I was sure that I had partially won him over, I explained…

“I still need to make improvements, but I have custom-made it for you, so I don’t think there’ll be much of a problem. From now on, I think it’ll be best if you spend your time here,” I suggested.

“Oh…”

“There are a few problems, so I can’t inject it right now… and I need to evaluate the different circumstances. Oh, don’t worry about the penalty too much. The max success rate will be above eighty percent, and the reason why I called you here…”

“Did you call me here for this?” he asked.

“Yeah. You seemed like you’ve been going through a lot lately,” I replied.

“...”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

His reaction was slightly different from what I had imagined. When I questioned if there was something he was dissatisfied with, I felt Park Deok-Gu slowly pushing my hand away.

“I don’t want it, hyung-nim,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“I told you, I’m not going to accept it,” he repeated.

‘This pig…’

For the first time, I saw the pig glaring at me.