Chapter 14

IAmLegend) You think Elixirs can just be churned out like some cheap potion?

Immediately afterward, ‘IAmLegend’ poured out messages almost like he was rapping.

IAmLegend) It requires considerable effort, skill, and time, and most importantly, with the ingredients I currently have on hand, I can only make exactly one over the next 30 years

IAmLegend) The herbs and mature Mandrakes used to concoct Elixirs have almost gone extinct even in Pantheon now

IAmLegend) So why should I go through all that effort and sacrifice for someone I’ve never even met before? I’d rather put it in the shop and earn GP lol

In short, even with the time and skill, the ingredient shortage meant he could only produce one more.

But if I could bring him Mana Crystals, wouldn’t that mean he wouldn’t lose out either?

Me) I’ll bring you plenty, so after you make the Elixir, you can use the leftover Mana Crystals to deal with the Curse of Oblivion

IAmLegend) Ah, the Curse of Oblivion?

IAmLegend) I don’t really care if I just keep living while forgetting everything, though?

“What?”

Fuck, what kind of reaction is that?

You don’t want your memories back?

IAmLegend) The world I lived in was a garbage apocalypse with not even a speck of hope

IAmLegend) Being born and raised in a world like that, I don’t have a single good memory. All I have are shitty memories of constantly getting beaten down, injured, and stabbed in the back

IAmLegend) So the Curse of Oblivion isn’t a curse to me, it’s a blessing. My trauma disappears on its own just by sitting around breathing? Yeah, fucking awesome~ lol

“You’re not easy, bastard.”

He was the type who considered oblivion a blessing because every moment of his life had been miserable.

With a guy like this, the strategy of tempting him with Mana Crystals like SaviorOfTheEmpire and IMadeExcalibur wouldn’t work.

‘I need another method.’

This guy said something earlier.

That he was the only one in Pantheon who could make handmade Elixirs.

Whether that was true or bullshit, right now, this bastard was the only person I could ask to concoct an Elixir.

Since this was a trade, I needed something that could somehow satisfy this guy’s needs...

What could that be?

‘Wait. This is a gallery.’

What is a gallery?

A community where people vomit out every trivial story about themselves that nobody asked for or cared about.

In other words, if I looked through the posts this guy had dumped into the gallery...

I might find a clue to what he wanted!

Putting aside ‘IAmLegend’s’ attitude, there wasn’t much left of the five-minute time limit.

I hurriedly searched the gallery for a list of his posts.

[I think I fucked up while making a potion;;] (3)

[Goddammit thought it was water and drank ghoul extract] (6)

[Made a salad with Pixie Flowers and it’s fucking insanely delicious lol] (15)

[For fuck’s sake stop asking me how to cure baldness you bastards] (36)

“Is the gallery this guy’s diary?”

I expected as much, but 99% of his posts were pointless shitposts with no useful substance.

Just as I was starting to grind my teeth because I couldn’t find any worthwhile clues.

[Ahh― Have you guys ever heard of “mint chocolate”?]

I found one title that gave me a feeling.

I immediately checked the post.

=====

[Title: Ahh― Have you guys ever heard of “mint chocolate”?]

Author: IAmLegend

It’s a dessert made by mixing an herb called mint with chocolate, and I still think about it sometimes...

Pantheon has stuff kind of like chocolate, but nothing even remotely like mint, so there’s no way to make it T_T

If I could taste it one more time, I’d have no regrets... withdrawal symptoms are killing me yeah

Mint chocolate <​<​<​ genuinely the GOAT food

=====

-What does it taste like?

└IAmLegend) At first you get this cool, refreshing aroma, then the sweet and bitter chocolate lands the finishing blow

└Then can’t you just eat toothpaste and chocolate together?

└IAmLegend) You think that would work, you fucker?

-NinthCircleArchmage) But didn’t you say you came from a dimension where the end had arrived? I suppose even then, you still had herbs and chocolate.

└IAmLegend) Chocolate is highly preservable emergency food in the first place, and hardly anyone ate mint chocolate so there was plenty left over lol

-NinthCircleArchmage) Perhaps there was... a reason there was so much left...?

└IAmLegend) Take that back

“No wonder... I thought his personality was seriously twisted, turns out he’s a mint-chocolate fan.”

From the way he talked, this bastard seemed to come from somewhere like a parallel-universe Earth different from mine.

Well, that wasn’t important right now. I needed to hurry.

I told him to wait a moment, then sprinted to the convenience store in front of my house.

Then I bought mint-chocolate ice cream.

The entire process took less than a minute.

IAmLegend) Hey how long do I have to wait? I’m bored to death

IAmLegend) There’s only a minute left anyway. I’m just gonna go take a nap

The moment I registered the mint-chocolate ice cream in the trade window.

IAmLegend)???? How did you get this??

The guy who had been about to end the conversation on his own took the bait.

IAmLegend) Don’t tell me this is... mint chocolate? I’m not seeing things, right?

Me) Yeah

IAmLegend) Holy fuck, how did you get this? There shouldn’t be any mint colonies in Pantheon?

Me) Maybe there are, maybe there aren’t

IAmLegend) Stop screwing around and tell me already. There’s less than a minute left

I could feel the desperation in his tone.

I could practically imagine his face beyond the chat window, pupils trembling as he shouted.

Now then, who has the upper hand?

Me) Why should I tell someone who won’t even make me one Elixir?

Me) Actually, I wasn’t planning to tell you or give it to you anyway lol

Me) I just wanted to brag that I can get as much mint-chocolate ice cream as I want, the stuff you love

IAmLegend) Ah fuck

From here on, it was simply a tug-of-war.

Either one side toppled over, or someone got so fed up with the dirty tactics that they let go of the rope.

And the path ‘IAmLegend’ chose was...

IAmLegend) Fine. Fine, fuck. I’ll make you an Elixir. I’ll make it, okay? So can’t you give me that...?

Toppling over.

Me) Now we’re finally getting somewhere haha. Once the Elixir is finished, we’ll trade then

IAmLegend) Damn lol I thought I’d never get to eat it again after coming to Pantheon lol

Me) You said the only ingredient I need to bring is Mana Crystal, right? How much do you need?

IAmLegend) 10kg of the highest-purity ones. Around that much should be enough to make one bottle of Elixir

Let’s see.

Didn’t one Mana Crystal weigh around 1kg?

Then that meant I needed roughly ten or eleven Mana Crystals.

And not the stale Mana Crystals already circulating on the market, but top-quality Mana Crystals freshly obtained from Gates, like the one I gave SaviorOfTheEmpire.

‘I have to get them. What else can I do?’

I ended the conversation by telling him I’d see him next time.

Still, just how obsessed with mint chocolate was he to change his attitude that quickly?

As someone with normal taste buds, I couldn’t understand it.

Anyway.

To obtain the 10kg of high-purity Mana Crystals that guy asked for, even a simple calculation meant I’d need to clear more than ten Gates.

And as quickly as possible.

The longer I delayed, the more the purity of the Mana Crystals would drop.

‘Normally, just reserving ten Gates would already be a problem...’

If this were me from a little while ago, I would have been stumped from the start, wondering how the hell I could secure ten Gates.

But things were different now.

Because I had gained a reliable helper who could solve this problem.

I called the director’s hotline.

The signal barely rang a few times.

[Yes. Player.]

“Ah, hello. Director? This is sudden, but I have a favor I’d like to ask through the management bureau.”

[If it is a request from you, Player, we should grant it. Please tell me.]

“Um, could I start reserving Gates from tomorrow?”

Whether it worked or not, I threw it out there first.

“About ten of them.”

[...]

Silence flowed through the receiver.

Well, I guess it was ridiculous.

I suddenly called him out of nowhere and asked him to get me not one or two Gates, but ten.

Hmm. Or.

Maybe he was troubled because they were all fully booked?

[...Player.]

“Yes?”

[I may have... misunderstood you, Player.]

“Excuse me?”

Huh?

What misunderstanding?

Just as I became puzzled, the director shouted in a voice thick with emotion.

[I never dared to realize that you were not only skilled, Player, but also a patriot with a sense of duty!]

...

I think this man has gotten some strange misunderstanding into his head?

_______________

About five minutes earlier.

The office of the Director of the Player Management Bureau.

[Republic of Korea Contribution, November 2026]

[58.321%]

“Hmm...”

Kim Hyeonuk groaned while looking at the holographic window displaying the national Contribution.

58%.

Thanks to Player Park Junbeom eliminating a Contaminated Gate early that morning, the Contribution had risen by a full 10%.

But Kim Hyeonuk still looked dejected.

Why?

‘In any case, I suppose we have to give up on filling this month’s entire Contribution quota.’

There were 11 days left until the end of December.

No, midnight was almost here, so realistically, there were only ten days remaining.

No matter how much he thought about it, filling the remaining 42% Contribution within ten days seemed far out of reach.

‘...Would there be a chance if Player Lee Hanseong succeeds in his clear?’

Lee Hanseong, the S-rank Player with the highest level in the country.

He was currently clearing a Gate summoned in the Cheongju area together with his guild members.

According to what he had heard, it had the highest required entry level among all the Gates that appeared this month.

Naturally, that also meant the increase in Contribution upon a successful clear would be greater.

Of course, there was no way to know from the outside whether the raid was progressing smoothly.

‘It’s been a week since Player Lee Hanseong began the raid... It is about time for a result to appear.’

If Lee Hanseong succeeded?

The Contribution would rise considerably.

...Around 15%?

That was the estimated value based on statistics so far.

“This is driving me insane. Even if Lee Hanseong succeeds, we’ll still be nowhere close to 100%.”

Siiiiigh.

Just as a sigh seemed to rise from the very bottom of his dantian.

Bzzzt-

His phone rang.

Wondering who was calling at this hour, he saw it was Player Park Junbeom.

Kim Hyeonuk’s hand shot toward his ear like lightning.

“Yes. Player.”

[Ah, hello. Director? This is sudden, but I have a favor I’d like to ask through the management bureau.]

A favor?

Let’s hear it first.

“If it is a request from you, Player, we should grant it. Please tell me.”

[Um, could I start reserving Gates from tomorrow?]

“...!”

He had expected some kind of benefit when Junbeom said it was a favor.

A Gate reservation?

How admirable!

‘He must be exhausted from clearing a Contaminated Gate early this morning, yet he wants to enter another Gate two days in a row!’

Just as Kim Hyeonuk was already moved.

Junbeom added.

[About ten of them.]

“...”

Gasp!

Kim Hyeonuk covered his mouth like a maiden who had just received a confession of love.

Wasn’t that only natural?

Not one or two, but he said he wanted to clear a full ten Gates.

And the fact that the person making that request was Park Junbeom made it even more meaningful.

‘I misjudged him... I misjudged him terribly!’

From the moment Player Park Junbeom signed a contract with only the mandatory clauses neatly removed.

Kim Hyeonuk had long since abandoned any expectation that he would enthusiastically clear Gates.

What did refusing those duties mean?

Wouldn’t most people naturally interpret it as declaring, ‘I don’t want to run Gates’?

Because of that, figuring out how to make Park Junbeom clear Gates had been one of Kim Hyeonuk’s concerns.

Players had to clear Gates to grow stronger.

And Park Junbeom had to become stronger if he was to stand against the Evil Dragon when it eventually awakened.

‘But to think he would voluntarily declare that he’ll clear Gates... and ten of them at that!’

He had thought that regardless of his talent, Junbeom’s true nature was materialistic. It had been a misjudgment.

“...Player.”

[Yes?]

“I may have... misunderstood you, Player.”

Yes, he had been harboring a very foolish misunderstanding.

Those who took the lead in national security by clearing Gates and raising Contribution.

The world called such people this.

“I never dared to realize that you were not only skilled, Player, but also a ‘patriot’ with a sense of duty!”

[...]

A patriot.

There was no reply from the other end of the line.

They said silence meant agreement.

“Even though you are not bound by duty, you fulfill that duty of your own accord! You are truly an example every Player should follow! Thank you, Player!”

[Uh... Yes. Don’t mention it?]

“I will check your request and contact you immediately. If there are no Gates available to reserve, I’ll make Gates if I have to, so don’t worry!”

At that moment, Park Junbeom was thinking, ‘Wouldn’t creating Gates that didn’t exist make you a traitor?’

But that was an aside Kim Hyeonuk knew nothing about.

After ending the call, Kim Hyeonuk clenched his fist like someone about to escape a dark tunnel.

‘With Player Park Junbeom’s abilities, clearing ten Gates within ten days isn’t just a dream!’

And if Player Lee Hanseong also succeeded in his raid.

...It might be possible.

To achieve 100% Contribution within the current month!

He shouldn’t be certain yet, but at least a little hope had begun to sprout.

‘Still, this does make things rather regrettable.’

Although pleased, Kim Hyeonuk couldn’t hide a bitter smile.

‘If Player Park Junbeom had awakened just one month earlier, perhaps the protagonist of this year’s second-half MVP would have been different.’

Twice a year.

In other words, once every six months.

The system selected one Player who had contributed greatly to raising their nation’s Contribution.

This was called the ‘MVP.’

The exact selection criteria had not yet been clearly revealed.

But people suspected that the number of Gates cleared and the clear rankings were the key factors in selection.

And the title of ‘MVP’ wasn’t merely a medal that raised one’s prestige.

‘The system directly provides the Player with a reward.’

No one could predict what that reward would be.

But since it was given to exactly one person per country, it was certain to be something of tremendous value.

However, Park Junbeom was a Player who had awakened at the very end of the second half of the year.

He had awakened far too late to be selected as MVP.

‘Even if he clears ten Gates, he won’t be able to surpass Lee Hanseong’s record. Haha, Player Park Junbeom will have to aim for the first half of next year.’

As always, Lee Hanseong would take the position of MVP for this second half of the year.

Well, unless.

By some one-in-a-million chance.

Park Junbeom swept all ten of those Gates with S+ records...

But there was no way that would happen.

A clear ranking not of A, not even S, but S+?

And for all ten Gates?

“Come on.”

Enough with the absurd fantasies.

He should hurry up and take care of Player Park Junbeom’s request.