An Unexpected Intruder

This was back when I, the human Lee Jian, had just awakened as a genius mage.

In other words, it was about a year ago.

I’d only recently finished my military service and awakened, so I was full of rosy dreams for the future.

Of course, not long after that, I was diagnosed with the shitty condition known as mana depletion syndrome, and my path to life as an Awakened was cut off.

Still, it was all right. Even if I could no longer enter the Tower, I still had a path forward back then. Maybe not a bright future, but at least a decent one was waiting for me.

After all, the world was going completely insane at the time.

‘Was it called Overdrive?’

A miraculous drug that temporarily boosted an Awakened person’s abilities explosively just by taking it. Basically, a mana stimulant.

I’d thought about trying it myself, but gave up because it was so expensive. At the same time, its viciously addictive nature meant it was soon banned.

Anyway, it was still teetering on the edge between legal and illegal back then, so analyzing its ingredients, making copycat drugs, and selling them was practically a money-printing glitch...