Chapter 3 · 13 min

Chapter 3

There's no reason not to come

Seo I-hyeon roughly washed up and left the house.

Today was Saturday, the day he had agreed to do the pharmaceutical company side gig with Jeong Sang-cheol.

Three days had passed since the samgyeopsal restaurant incident. Nothing had happened in the meantime.

As if that incident had been a lie.

Still, he hadn't let his guard down yet. Seo I-hyeon really didn't want to get involved with people like that.

Seo I-hyeon headed to the meeting place with Jeong Sang-cheol.

It was a subway station about a 30-minute walk from here.

Today's travel would be by subway. The name of the pharmaceutical company they had to go to was Myeongjin Pharmaceutical. Honestly, he had never heard of it.

Still, he couldn't go knowing nothing, so he decided to search a few times on the way.

Seo I-hyeon took out his smartphone while walking. And searched for Myeongjin Pharmaceutical.

It was a pharmaceutical company under the Myeongjin Group, but the Myeongjin Group itself wasn't a particularly great chaebol, so the name was a bit unfamiliar.

Moreover, Myeongjin Pharmaceutical was a very small scale even within the Myeongjin Group. There were almost no drugs they actually sold.

'If it's like this, is there even a reason to operate it?'

He searched for what drugs Myeongjin Pharmaceutical sold, and most were nutritional supplements. Common ones. Things like vitamins, omega, zinc.

There was nothing that could be called a drug.

'Can something like this even be called a pharmaceutical company?'

Taking the opportunity, he also searched for the Myeongjin Group.

There were more affiliates than expected, but they were all companies Seo I-hyeon didn't know.

Companies with names that seemed plausibly made by mixing in foreign languages popped up one after another.

Soon Seo I-hyeon put the phone in his pocket. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't tell. Well, there was no need to know.

Walking like that, before he knew it he arrived at the subway station.

Jeong Sang-cheol, who had been standing at the station entrance, spotted Seo I-hyeon and vigorously waved his hand held high.

"Hyung-nim! Over here! Hyung-nim!"

Seo I-hyeon frowned. Why is that guy making such a loud fuss?

The attention of the people around suddenly turned that way.

Seo I-hyeon slightly lowered his head and hurried his steps.

As Seo I-hyeon approached, Jeong Sang-cheol smiled brightly and said.

"Come on, let's go. I'll escort you very comfortably."

Anyway, he had to walk on his own feet and the travel was by subway, so what was he talking about escorting comfortably.

Seo I-hyeon thought that and chuckled. Still, that side of Jeong Sang-cheol wasn't so bad.

Well, even if he sometimes made people uncomfortable.

The two took the subway and traveled for quite a while.

Myeongjin Pharmaceutical was on the Incheon side.

They used an entire 10-story building near the subway station.

Seo I-hyeon tilted his head as soon as he saw the building.

According to the search earlier, they didn't have any decent drugs for sale, just selling a few common nutritional supplements—was there a reason to use an entire building this big?

If it was a proper company using an entire building like this, the number of employees working inside would be at least hundreds, so how could they maintain that by selling just a few nutritional supplements.

Seo I-hyeon glanced toward Jeong Sang-cheol.

Still smiling brightly. He probably hadn't even thought about such things. No, he probably hadn't even looked up what kind of company Myeongjin Pharmaceutical was in the first place.

"Hyung-nim, this way."

Jeong Sang-cheol led the way into the building.

Seo I-hyeon followed and slowly looked around. The first floor was an ordinary company lobby.

The lobby was packed with people.

"I don't see any older people."

At Seo I-hyeon's words, Jeong Sang-cheol nodded.

"Yes. From what I heard, people in their 20s are the most, then 30s. Teens come sometimes too, but they're very rare. I don't know if they accepted them or not."

Seo I-hyeon nodded. But inwardly he thought it was a bit strange.

In fact, he had roughly looked into clinical trial side gigs too. Well, just asking the internet or AI.

But even from a rough look, clinical trial side gigs themselves weren't ordinary work.

They required considerable tests, a lot of blood draws, and took a long time.

But the test they said they did here was just taking one pill and waiting one hour, and that was it.

'Does this make sense?'

Putting 300,000 won into just that? Without something else, how could that be possible?

Seo I-hyeon glanced around the lobby.

'Almost a hundred people?'

A hundred people. That's a lot too.

While he was briefly looking around like that, a man in a suit who looked like an employee appeared.

"Alright, we'll move. Those who are here for the first time today, come this way. Ah, those who came through introduction, stay with the person who recommended you."

Seo I-hyeon was about to go toward the employee but stopped.

A somewhat peculiar distinction. If you introduce, do they give some kind of bonus?

With that thought, he looked at Jeong Sang-cheol beside him, and he shook his head.

"There's nothing like that, hyung-nim."

"Nothing like that?"

"Like an introduction fee. Just because you introduce doesn't mean they give extra or anything. I just purely introduced you."

Seo I-hyeon stared blankly at Jeong Sang-cheol saying that and thought.

'Is my expression easy to read?'

Jeong Sang-cheol said as if he had been waiting.

"Yes. Hyung-nim's expression is easy to read. I thought you were speaking with your face."

Seo I-hyeon quietly turned his head. He should practice managing his expression a bit. If he wanted to lead a normal social life from now on.

The male employee took the newly arrived people in a rush to the elevator. There was also an employee inside the elevator who loaded people according to the number and dropped them off on the designated floor.

In other words, it was a role to prevent people from going to other floors carelessly.

"It's the 9th floor."

Checking the floor where the elevator stopped, it was the 9th floor.

"Yes. They said on the 9th floor they do consultations, fill out questionnaires, wait, and do everything."

"It seems they prepared an office space according to today's schedule."

"But it was too well set up for that. It seemed like a place made for that purpose from the start. Well, that's just my guess."

Seo I-hyeon glanced at Jeong Sang-cheol. If Jeong Sang-cheol judged it that way, the possibility was high. In Seo I-hyeon's view, Jeong Sang-cheol was quick-witted and had a pretty good eye.

While waiting like that, another employee approached.

"Alright, you all just follow me."

There were about thirty people left here, and the employee didn't go straight to the 9th floor but took them to a place prepared in one corner of the 1st floor.

It was a place with temporary partitions installed. The partitions divided about ten spaces.

The employee put Seo I-hyeon and Jeong Sang-cheol who introduced him into the same space.

There was also an employee inside the partition. A female employee dressed in a suit.

There was one table and several chairs, and Jeong Sang-cheol and Seo I-hyeon sat in suitable seats.

The employee was holding a tablet, and as soon as she saw Seo I-hyeon and Jeong Sang-cheol, she asked.

"Which of you is here for the first time?"

When Seo I-hyeon slightly raised his hand, the employee's gaze turned to Jeong Sang-cheol.

"Could you tell me your name?"

"Jeong Sang-cheol."

The employee tapped the tablet. Then her eyes widened.

"Today is already the sixth time?"

Jeong Sang-cheol answered with a strange expression mixed with awkwardness, embarrassment, and pride.

"Yes. It just turned out that way. Haha."

"Amazing! There weren't any discomforts in the meantime?"

"Other than a bit of abdominal pain at first and a bit of headache the time before last, it was fine."

The employee's eyes flashed for a moment. Seo I-hyeon clearly confirmed that.

"Then, last time there were no abnormalities either?"

"Yes. I was fine."

Seo I-hyeon felt a subtle sense of incongruity in this conversation too. As if it was natural to be in pain.

The employee diligently tapped the tablet and then turned her gaze to Seo I-hyeon.

"Alright, then we'll start by registering the newly arrived person."

The registration procedure was simple. Entering name and resident registration number, and entering the bank account number to deposit the compensation, and that was it.

"It's done. We'll give you the medicine now so take it here, and you know the waiting room?"

Jeong Sang-cheol quickly nodded.

"Yes. I know."

The employee smiled faintly and brought one of the boxes stacked behind and opened the lid.

It was a box the size of a palm, and inside, ordinary-looking small pills were placed in an orderly manner. No, they were neatly stuck side by side on a soft sponge laid on the bottom of the box.

The employee took out two of them and handed them each to Jeong Sang-cheol and Seo I-hyeon.

There was also a water purifier inside the partition, and the employee personally poured water into paper cups and placed them on the table in front of each.

Jeong Sang-cheol swallowed the medicine first with a gulp.

Seo I-hyeon watched that for a moment and then carefully examined the medicine in his hand. But there was nothing he could tell. Well, finding out something just by looking at this itself didn't make sense.

Seo I-hyeon looked at the medicine for a moment and then looked at the employee.

"Why is that?"

At the employee's question, Seo I-hyeon said.

"Does it hurt if I take this?"

The employee answered with a businesslike smile.

"Not necessarily, and there's a slight, very slight possibility."

"I don't like being in pain."

Saying something like this after coming this far was a bit lame, but Seo I-hyeon was sincere. Because he really hated being in pain.

"The probability of pain is extremely low, and even if pain comes, it's not that great. It's light enough that even a child would pass through smiling, so you don't need to worry."

Seo I-hyeon confirmed twice more after that. Only after a slight irritation appeared in the employee's eyes did he put the medicine in his mouth.

The moment the medicine entered his body, he realized something was strange.

This medicine was no ordinary medicine. Seo I-hyeon looked at the employee sitting in front.

The employee paid no particular attention and said to the two.

"Alright, now you can go to the waiting room."

The two went outside.

The entire way to the elevator, Seo I-hyeon focused on the situation happening inside his body.

This medicine was a medicine that touched mana. He was so dull that he hadn't realized it in advance. Seo I-hyeon's gaze briefly touched Jeong Sang-cheol and then fell.

Jeong Sang-cheol seemed quite sensitive to mana, so couldn't he have felt nothing upon seeing this?

Anyway, for now he decided to focus on the medicine without other thoughts.

The medicine that had fully dissolved inside his body emitted peculiar mana. The amount of mana itself was extremely minute, but the effect was quite powerful.

'It's a medicine that stimulates talent related to mana. A bit crudely.'

It was a medicine that gave various mana stimulations. He understood why Jeong Sang-cheol had felt pain.

That pain itself was a sense related to mana.

'By the way, this medicine is amazing?'

A medicine that stimulates mana in so many ways. And even the size is small.

That means this small pill contains mana refined in various ways.

Fixing mana in medicine is no ordinary matter either, but making refined mana in so many ways gather without interfering with or hindering each other was a truly difficult thing.

The base mana is all the same, but depending on how it's refined, the nature itself becomes completely different.

For example, the aura used by knights is also a result of refining mana.

Also, the power handled by mages is a result of refining mana.

But what happens if that aura and the mage's power meet?

They repel.

In the process, explosions can occur, repulsive force can be generated, they can cancel out and disappear, and various other reactions can occur.

Even though derived from the same mana, it's like that.

So how difficult would it be to gather mana refined in so many ways without them repelling each other.

They mass-produced that without a care.

'Myeongjin Pharmaceutical, was it?'

They are ones he should be careful of if he doesn't want to get involved from now on.

While thinking that, before he knew it he had arrived on the 9th floor, and following Jeong Sang-cheol, he entered a place called the waiting room.

The waiting room used half of the 9th floor entirely, with dark navy carpet laid on the floor, and sofas and massage chairs where one could rest comfortably were visible here and there.

Seo I-hyeon and Jeong Sang-cheol went to a place where two single sofas were side by side and sat down.

"Hyung-nim, are you okay?"

Seo I-hyeon nodded. He didn't know if it was fortunate or not, but there was no way Seo I-hyeon would suffer just because of a bit of mana.

The mana that came out of the pill had already disappeared. It had naturally mixed with Seo I-hyeon's mana and been purified.

In other words, it was a situation similar to pouring a cup of water into the sea.

There were quite a few people inside the waiting room. The facilities were so good that everyone looked comfortable.

It wasn't that they just had to sit still; as long as they didn't leave the waiting room, they could move around freely. They even prepared simple snacks and tea.

"Shall I get some snacks?"

Jeong Sang-cheol said that and stood up and brought snacks before Seo I-hyeon could even answer.

There was a small side table between the sofas where snacks or cups could be placed.

Jeong Sang-cheol said while chewing a piece of snack.

"But when you do the side gig here, it is a bit strange."

Seo I-hyeon looked at Jeong Sang-cheol. Because he wondered if he was about to talk about mana.

"You come out once a month on the weekend, take the medicine, rest for an hour, and leave, right? Even if they just covered the transportation, it would be worth doing to kill time, right? But they give a full 300,000 won, how good is that."

Seo I-hyeon nodded. It was certainly a side gig that was a shame to miss. To the point that once a month was regrettable.

"But strangely, there are tons of people who come once and stop. What on earth are those people thinking?"

"Right."

That was certainly a bit strange. Was the company filtering them out? Contacting them not to come?

"The date is fixed, you know? Later when it ends, they tell you exactly when the next time is. You just have to come out then, but they don't come."

"Isn't it that the company sends them back?"

"I've never seen them directly send anyone back. Honestly, even if the company contacts them not to come, they could pretend to be crazy and come once, right? Well, it doesn't seem like they make such contacts, but anyway. But I haven't seen people like that either."

Having said that much, Jeong Sang-cheol chuckled and shook his head.

"Well, my nose is three inches long, so it's useless interest."

Jeong Sang-cheol looked at Seo I-hyeon with sparkling eyes.

"So how about you, hyung-nim?"

"What?"

"Will you come here again next month?"

Seo I-hyeon thought for a moment. It was a bit unpleasant. These guys handle mana. They are people from a different world from him.

But is there a reason not to come?

The medicine does no harm to Seo I-hyeon at all. It can't affect him in any way. It doesn't hurt either.

While thinking that, Seo I-hyeon didn't feel that it was strange or feel a sense of incongruity.

He didn't know it himself, but after contacting the hidden world at the samgyeopsal restaurant, his thought process was naturally flowing that way.

"You said today is the sixth time?"

"Yes. Of course I'll come next time too."

Seo I-hyeon nodded. Right now Seo I-hyeon had no particular thoughts.

From the beginning, since he was in the other world, Seo I-hyeon had almost never been in a difficult situation.

The only problem was the witch, but the witch was just a disaster, and no matter what attitude Seo I-hyeon took, the result that came back was the same, so it was out of the question.

Therefore, even when deciding things like this, he only thought about the experiential aspect and money.

"Of course I have to come too. I can't miss a sweet side gig like this."

Jeong Sang-cheol grinned.

"I knew you would. Then a drink today too?"

"Let's just eat lunch. On weekends we should rest a bit."

"Eh, we can have a drink as a side while eating lunch."

"Well, then do that."

At Seo I-hyeon's permission, Jeong Sang-cheol smiled hehe, wondering what was so good.

'This isn't bad either.'

Seo I-hyeon thought he had gotten a bit closer to the ordinary world.

As time passes, he would be able to forget everything about the other world.

Probably.