[Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy - Epic Rank - Alchemist Only]

The great alchemist, Ramus Tucker was a leading alchemist that had once dominated an era. He was affiliated with the republic’s military. He was once heralded as the number one alchemist in biocompatibility and potion compatibility. It is widely known that for some reason, he was executed one day. After his death, the alchemy knowledge he left behind has become ubiquitous to this day. Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy is one of the most completed books about alchemy because it contains the research he left behind including a variety of alchemy knowledge not listed in basic alchemy knowledge. This is a basic job with an unknown epic-ranked alchemy knowledge as a reward. Magic and intelligence stats will be increased by one point.]

‘Epic rank?’

After seeing the item in front of me, ignoring the opinion of the black mage parrot wasn’t unreasonable at all.

Honestly, the job wouldn’t increase my stats that much because it only increased my magic and intelligence stats by one point, but considering that the item was epic-ranked, it probably contained a lot more knowledge than I could imagine.

As Kim Hyun-Sung stated earlier, the status window would never lie and if that book was labeled as an epic-ranked item, then I was sure that it contained knowledge that was equal to its rank.

“What do you think?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

“...”

I was a bit surprised by how that item suddenly appeared and when I looked at him, I think he noticed that he made a mistake. He was only human though, so it was natural for him to make mistakes, but it seemed like he fell for Park Deok-Gu’s unintentional provocation.

Of course, I couldn’t deny the fact that there was a strange conviction in his voice when he shouted his heart out, but Kim Hyun-Sung seemed a bit adorable today.

“How did you manage to get this?” I asked.

“This book was inside the chest that I found last time. I thought I wouldn’t be able to find any use for it, but now, the timing is just perfect…” he replied.

“I still think that you look better as a black mage…” Park Deok-Gu commented.

“It’s an epic-ranked item. I can’t read this book since I’m not an alchemist, but I’m sure that it’ll exceed your expectations. If you consider the fact that it’s ranked right under legendary…I’m sure that becoming an alchemist should be the right way. On top of that, I don’t like having an item that has no use,” he said.

“Still…the black mage…hyung-nim…” Park Deok-Gu mumbled.

Even in this situation, he kept mumbling black mage.

Kim Hyun-Sung’s excuse was ridiculous.

There was a good chance that the rings he gave us and the bracelet he gifted Park Deok-Gu weren’t items that you could find in a place like this. Saying that a treasure chest suddenly popped up was a bit far-fetched. Even if he told me that he coincidentally got it after yielding it to others 100 times, it wasn’t convincing enough for me to say that this book truly existed in a place like this.

‘So he is finally being bold?’

But after seeing Kim Hyun-Sung’s face, I guess he decided to pretend not to acknowledge the absurdity of his excuse.

I wasn’t sure if his entire inventory was filled with rare items or if he was using some sort of shop that wasn’t open to us just yet, but I assumed that the leather bag he was carrying with him contained items beyond my imagination. If his inventory was filled with rare items, then I could understand his mistake, but if it was the latter, then it meant that he fell for Park Deok-Gu’s provocation and purchased that item from that secret shop outright. Nevertheless, it was definitely an uncommon item.

I thought that thinking more about this was useless, so I immediately nodded. “I was tempted by the black mage job, but I think alchemist is the better choice for me.”

Kim Hyun-Sung’s face brightened up. “You made a good choice,” he said.

“Thank you.”

[You have changed your job to Alchemist. You have acquired basic alchemy knowledge.]

[Checking Player Lee Ki-Young’s status window and stats.]

[Name - Lee Ki-Young]

[Title - None. Please work harder.]

[Age - 25]

[Nature - Cautious strategist]

[Job - Alchemist]

[Job Effect - Acquired basic magic knowledge]

[Stats]

[Strength - 11/ Below average growth limit]

[Agility - 11 / Below average growth limit]

[Stamina - 15/below average growth limit]

[Intelligence - 29/Above epic growth limit]

[Endurance - 12/Below average growth limit]

[Luck - 25/Above epic growth limit]

[Magic - 08/Below average growth limit]

[Gear]

[Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy - Epic Rank - Exclusive to Alchemists]

[Magic Shield Ring - Rare Rank]

[Attribute - Mind’s Eye]

[Overall Review - You chose a good path. I don’t have much to say, but seeing you do your best is breaking my heart. Yes. Really. I also see an item you’re not worthy of having. I really hope you have the knowledge to understand Ramus Tucker’s alchemy. I’ll feel bad for the epic-ranked item because it’ll be nothing more than casting pearls before swine.]

When my body shone in blue light for a moment, I knew right then that my job had changed.

In an instant, basic knowledge about alchemy started pouring into my head.

‘Not bad.’

It was difficult, but it wasn’t to the point that I couldn’t understand it.

When I displayed a satisfied expression, I noticed that Kim Hyun-Sung’s expression was slowly changing as he looked at me. I guess his evaluation of me had increased. I was sure that I went from being a useful administrator to an alchemist that had to be trained well.

‘It’s good news.’

It meant that my value had increased.

“Congratulations, Mr. Ki-Young,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Ugh…it’s unfortunate, but if that’s your choice hyung-nim…” Park Deok-Gu said in disappointment.

“Congratulations, oppa,” Jung Ha-Yan said.

“Thank you and I want to thank Deok-Gu and Ha-Yan as well. I’ll put your gift to good use, Mr. Hyung-Sung. I have only been receiving things from you,” I said.

I was especially thankful towards Park Deok-Gu.

“It’s fine. If you get stronger, then it means that our entire party got stronger, so it’s only natural for me to give it to you. I’m actually really happy that I was able to help you,” he said.

“I’ll live up to your expectations,” I told him.

It was obvious, but since this is what I chose, I had to live up to his expectations no matter what. Since Kim Hyun-Sung was helping me grow, I needed to show results so that he would continue to invest in me. Simply put, I was a stock now.

Kim Hyun-Sung invested in a stock called Lee Ki-Young, so I was sure that he was expecting the upper limit price to jump. Even if I hit rock bottom, I don’t think he would abandon me, but it was obvious that his investment amount will decrease a lot. In order to make him continue to invest in me, I needed to continuously show him my growth.

“There’s no need to do that, haha. Let’s rest here for today. Seeing as how we haven’t found a decent place after walking this far, I think the underground doesn’t have a place we can camp,” Kim Hyun-Sung suggested.

“Okay, let’s do that. Deok-Gu,” I called out.

“Then, I’ll go and clean up the area nearby,” he said.

I nodded.

It was no different from being homeless, but cleaning the immediate vicinity where we were going to stay at temporarily was the right thing to do.

There wasn’t much and as usual, it only took a moment for us to make our beds.

I lightly nodded at the thought that this tutorial was coming to an end soon.

Even though we haven’t completed the survival quest yet, Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t seem nervous about it, so I guess it was okay to think that we were at the last stage of taking control of this dungeon.

Whether we had to find the entrance or get rid of the owner of this dungeon, I was sure that this party will get through it without any issues.

When I glanced over, I saw the party members. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Jung Ha-Yan dozing off and Park Deok-Gu already snoring. Despite knowing that I needed to sleep in order to be prepared for tomorrow, I didn’t sleep, no, to be exact I couldn’t sleep.

‘Alchemy.’

It was because I had to somewhat organize my newly acquired knowledge.

There weren’t any skills that I could use right now because in order to perform alchemy, I needed a lot of equipment. This place also didn’t have a catalyst that allowed me to use alchemy magic. However, studying ahead was the right thing to do since organizing the basic alchemy knowledge would take some time. Because of this, I decided not to open Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy yet.

“You weren’t sleeping?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

“I couldn't sleep,” I replied.

I needed to level myself up in order to survive. Not only did I have to train myself, but it was fair to say that the idea that one should never settle in one place gave me this passion.

Potion compatibility, basic knowledge about homunculus, alchemy catalyst, and correlation with magic were all difficult topics.

I noticed Kim Hyun-Sung staring at me, but I didn’t care because I actually wanted him to stare at me longer.

‘I’m working hard, Mr. Investor.’

Showing this side of me was beneficial because when I saw Kim Hyun-Sung nod with satisfaction, I became even more satisfied.

When I noticed that a little bit of time had passed, it was already morning and even though I didn’t sleep at all, I didn’t regret it.

The party members slowly started getting up and while having different conversations, we started to walk. The others looked more relaxed than gloomy.

While walking, Kim Hyun-Sung would make jokes here and there and Park Deok-Gu would laugh at them as if he was trying to drown out the dungeon with laughter. Kim Hyun-Sung looked a bit relaxed, and I was sure that the others felt the same thing as him.

‘I guess there’s no boss in this dungeon.’

Probably not.

We were wary of our surroundings, but we weren’t wearing our battle-ready faces.

Kim Hyun-Sung seemed a bit carefree, but he was also worried about the things that could happen in the future, but if I were to explain exactly what he was thinking, he was probably thinking that this was only the beginning.

‘This is only the beginning.’

It wasn’t over.

We got lost easily at first, but with Kim Hyun-Sung leading the party, we continued to try and escape this hell together. We would fight from time to time, but the fights never escalated to the point that we felt nervous.

After walking for a while, we found an entrance that was a bit different from this place.

“You know, a monster may jump out from there,” Park Deok-Gu said.

“We’ll enter after we prepare for battle,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Dude, I’ll take the lead,” Park Deok-Gu said.

“I leave it up to you,” Kim Hyun-Sung told him.

When the large door opened, I heard a familiar voice.

[Activating Rare Rank required quest.]

[Rare Rank Quest - Control (0/1)]

When we looked around as soon as the door opened, we didn’t see any monsters. The location looked like some kind of temple. There was a strange magic circle in the center and on the other side, there was another door. Park Deok-Gu quickly ran towards it and tried to push it open, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“I guess the door won’t open,” he said.

“I’m sure there’s a condition to open it. I’m sure escaping this place is what they mean by control,” I said.

Then I noticed that the situation had changed a bit.

Unlike me, Park Deok-Gu and Jung Ha-Yan who were a bit hesitant, Kim Hyun-Sung slowly raised his hand as if he was really used to it. When he slowly channeled his mana into the magic circle that was in the center, the circle lit up. Seeing everyone stare at it absent-mindedly was kind of funny.

“It was…magic.”

There wasn’t some great quiz that was needed for control. Magic itself was the medium that existed far from where we lived and that was the answer to the quiz.

[You have completed the rare rank required quest.]

[Rare Rank Quest - Control (1/1)]

[Rare Rank Quest - Survival (1/1)]

“Hyung-nim,” Park Deok-Gu called out.

“I know,” I said.

Seeing Kim Hyun-Sung clench his fist made him look as if he achieved something. He wasn’t the type to show his emotions, but he looked like he was in a really good mood. He looked like he was crying, but that wasn’t the case. I was sure that I was right because unlike his shoulders that were shaking intermittently, his face looked as if he felt an enormous amount of accomplishment.

“It’s pretty,” Jung Ha-Yan said.

“You’re right,” I said.

Considering the ending that happened at a lousy place, I saw something beautiful.

The lights that emanated from the ground shot up to the high ceiling and the lights that were on the ceiling filled this entire place. Seeing the door on the other side slowly opening, I knew that we were finally about to escape from this damn place.

The sunlight that was shining down from within the door was totally different from the artificial light in this place.

‘Sunlight.’

What I saw wasn’t a landscape, but people who were holding armors and weapons. A woman that looked like the leader of the group quietly approached us.

“Congratulations on your safe return from the tutorial. My name is Lee Sang-Hee and I’m the person in charge of this tutorial dungeon.”

We survived and we finally came to our senses at this moment.