Chapter 52
The outside world was gradually taking on a festive atmosphere.
“I never thought we'd be able to get medicine...”
“Now... as long as we disinfect things properly, we won't have to worry about infection...”
“There really... really is hope...!”
People said the world was celebrating because pharmacy vending machines had appeared, but that was only true for those who could afford to pay mana stones.
Even in the Capital Area, there were still lower-level Awakeners who could barely afford even an insect block for one meal a day.
No.
Rather, this was a world where they were the majority. And that was only natural.
To people who could barely fill their stomachs that day, the medicines inside the vending machines were still completely out of reach.
“Ugh... ugh....”
“Sua! Press down hard!! Keep the blood from coming out!!”
In a back alley of some slum.
A boy covered in rags hugged his trembling younger sister, swallowing his suppressed sobs.
His younger sister's calf had been deeply torn by a sharp piece of debris when she fell while fleeing from a mutant moments earlier, and her brother knew it.
If she kept bleeding like this, his sister would die from excessive blood loss.
He had to stop the bleeding somehow.
“P-Please! Lend me just one mana stone!!! O-Or at least... some hemostatic medicine or bandages, please...! I'll even work as a slave!!!”
The boy begged the passing Stalkers, banging his head against the ground, but.
“......”
“Tsk tsk.”
Everyone merely shook their heads with bitter expressions and walked past.
Helping someone for free had become a concept rarely seen anymore.
It was then.
“Um... try giving her this.”
A woman wearing a worn, patched-together hood pulled low crouched in front of the boy.
What she abruptly held out was a small glass bottle sloshing with red liquid.
“W-What is this...”
“It's just medicine that heals wounds. She only needs to gulp it down.”
Doubt and hesitation were luxuries. His sister's condition was perilous by the minute.
The boy accepted the glass bottle with trembling hands and carefully poured it into his sister's mouth.
And the next moment.
Pop-!
“Huh...?”
Smoke rose from the horrible wound covering her calf, and the deep gash began to heal as its edges knitted together.
“U-Uaaaaah... Gasp...!”
Soon, the bleeding stopped completely, and the wound disappeared.
“Th-That can't be...”
The boy stared blankly back and forth between his sister's perfectly healed leg and the empty glass bottle before offering his thanks.
“Th-Thank you! Thank you!!! My benefactor!!”
“It's only something I should do.”
“A-At least tell me your name...!”
“I'm Si-yeon—Lee Si-yeon.”
“Ms. Si-yeon!! My name is Chan-woo!!! Park Chan-woo!”
Chan-woo. Chan-woo.
“I'll definitely repay this kindness! Thank you!!!”
As the boy's words of thanks faded into the distance, Si-yeon pulled back her hood and shouted.
“Doing good deeds is fun!”
The purpose behind using the mana stones she earned by selling potions to guild members was clear.
She would make more potions and distribute them to the marginalized and weak who could not benefit from the System's blessings.
“That's right... There are so many people in the world suffering like this...”
There were countless people in the world worse off than she was, the youngest member of the guild.
And that was only natural.
“Because the world has ended...”
Turning one's head just a little revealed a horrible scene.
On one side of a neglected, badly cracked asphalt road, corpses had been piled up and abandoned haphazardly.
The corpse pile was swarming with flies and reeking of decay, but people passing through the street simply walked past the horrible sight with numb expressions.
“...”
If they were lucky, a Stalker with some time to spare would come and burn those corpses. Otherwise, they would rot into an even more terrible state.
That was why Si-yeon made up her mind.
“I'll help everyone!”
She would sell potions to people who could afford them to earn mana stones, then use those mana stones to make more potions and help the marginalized.
“But... it's not enough...”
However, this method had its limits.
She had to make more and distribute them to more people.
“Let's find a way.”
[Saint of Pharmacology Main Quest 21: Consume 100 disinfectants and 500 mana stones (Complete!)]
[Issuing reward]
[Reward: Drug Synchronization]
[Amplifies consumed chemicals and transforms them into skills]
Thanks to the vending machines installed by the System, she was able to clear her Main Quests at an astonishing speed.
Her ability was not limited to simply crafting potions; she could also use skills related to the medicines she consumed.
Therefore, there might be another way even if it did not involve potions.
“All right! Let's go!”
Si-yeon returned to the guild barracks with a proud feeling in her chest.
“Oh my! Youngest! Where have you been all this time!!!”
“Did you go for a walk? Good for you! You need to take a walk when your head is cluttered!”
“You can make the potions slowly! Don't overdo it!”
The party leaders and veterans from other farming parties who fought mutants on the front lines had recognized the value of her potions and were treating her warmly.
“Today... I'll sell them for 120 mana stones!”
“Kiyooooo! Si-yeon's special discount event!!!”
“Thank you! Overwhelming thanks!!”
But whenever three or more humans gathered, politics was bound to emerge.
Sharp, hostile looks aimed at Si-yeon began stabbing into her from every corner of the barracks.
“Hey. Lee Si-yeon. We need to talk.”
"Ah! S-Senior! Hello—"
"People have been talking about you a lot lately."
Healers from another party who happened to be passing by approached and shoved Si-yeon's shoulder.
“You should know when to stop showing off. Just because you can make one red potion, you think you own the world?”
“Huh? N-No, Senior. I'm just...”
“And you charge your fellow guild members 150 mana stones each for it? The youngest has gone completely crazy for mana stones. The guild fed and housed you, and you have no sense of business ethics.”
“I-I'm sorry...”
"You're an outsider who got in through the prisoner quota... You should know your place."
“...”
“Look at you seducing your seniors. You're such a fox. Should I report you to the officers?”
Open jealousy and territorial bullying.
When she had no ability, they had dismissed her as a freeloader.
Once she demonstrated her ability, they tore into her for being money-hungry.
“Sigh...”
Si-yeon crouched in a corner and hugged her knees.
“Should I not have told the guild...?”
She had actually suspected things might turn out this way, but she could not help feeling hurt when it really happened.
“Are they really talking about me that much behind my back...?”
Neighhh. Neighhh.
“Maybe... I should have just helped people on my own.”
Just as she was growing utterly dejected.
A notification window suddenly appeared.
Ding-!
[You have been appointed branch manager of Starplex Pharmacy Vending Machines 1–5!]
[As a branch manager, you can manage and operate the pharmacy]
[As branch manager, you can synchronize items you own to the vending machine slots and sell them]
“...Huh?”
At the same time, a name tag shimmered into existence over her chest.
[Starplex Pharmacy Vending Machines 1–5 Branch Manager]
[-Lee Si-yeon-]
“...What?”
“You... you!!!!”
“Th-That can't be!!!!”
The bulging eyes of the senior healers, moments after they had been tearing into her, were an added bonus.
*****
At the same time, in the Gallery.
- [★Starplex★] Appointment of Pharmacy Branch Manager [63231]
The Gallery erupted into chaos along with the Shop announcement that had just been posted.
Title : What is this!! What is thiiiiiis!!!!!
(Some rough photo of red potions displayed inside a pharmacy vending machine. JPG)
Holy shit!!!! The red pot from that youngest everyone was talking about earlier!!!!
It was newly stocked in the pharmacy vending machines!!!!
Price: 100 mana stones!!! Run there right now!!!!
???!!
ㄴ What!!!?
ㄴ What is this???
ㄴ Wasn't this just a rumor going around earlier???
Why is it in the pharmacy...?
ㄴ What the hell
ㄴ No, it's real???
This heals practically any external injury if you pour it on or drink it!!!
ㄴ For real???
ㄴ Wait, it's not natural healing????
ㄴ You just drink the potion and get healed immediately...??
No, go buy it right now, you idiots!!
ㄴ Stop commenting and go buy it!!!!
ㄴ There are only 300 units per vending machine!!!
ㄴ Hurry and go buy it!!
Aaaaargh!
ㄴ The line is fucking long...!
ㄴ Fuck, please let me make it, please let me make it!!!!
ㄴ The red pot is pretty expensive, so it seems the people in front can't buy that many
Wait, there was a branch manager system!!!!
ㄴ Fuck, where did something like that come from!!!
ㄴ Aaaaargh!!!
Title : [Myth] Our youngest is Si-yeon!! Everyooone^^
Our guild's youngest healer, Si-yeon, has become a pharmacy vending-machine branch manager^^
The System officially let Si-yeon register the potions she made at the pharmacy!!!
Please make lots of use of them^^
Wait, she's the branch manager of the pharmacy?
ㄴ She became the branch manager of the System's pharmacy as Myth's representative!!!!
ㄴ Damn!! This can't be happening!!!!
ㄴ Aaaaargh!!
[God of War] Damn! Damn!!! This can't be happening!
ㄴ [Ironclad] Aaaaargh!! She's the branch manager of a facility operated by the System!!!
ㄴ [Gaboong-i] Break the formation!!!!
Wow, but things like this exist too...
ㄴ For real, there really was something like a branch manager;;
ㄴ The announcement says the System even pays them a salary in mana stones;;
ㄴ Fuck, it's true
But Seo-jin wasn't invited, right?
ㄴ [Myth] ...
ㄴ [Myth] Please show our youngest lots of love...
ㄴ The youngest is currently the System's pharmacy branch manager
ㄴ And the Guild Master isn't even a member?
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋ
Why did the System specifically choose Myth's youngest...?
ㄴ That's what I'm saying...
ㄴ No, there are plenty of famous Stalkers too!!
Choose me instead!!
ㄴ At least hold an open recruitment!! Why not!!!
Wow, who is Si-yeon-nim?
ㄴ For real, please tell us her Gallery username
ㄴ I'm damn curious ㅇㅇ
I was lying in the tent I had set up in the Gardening Garden, watching all of this.
“Kya!! Look at it becoming a hot topic right away.”
Actually, I had agonized over it before choosing a branch manager.
“This... being able to register and trade items is really important.”
Of course, I had racked my dim-witted brain and thought it over in my own way every time, but this time I had thought even harder.
- [Selling] Heavy hide for sale ㅇㅇ (offers first)
ㄴ I want to make clothes with it, how about 45 mana stones?
ㄴ Need just the hide for armor padding, 50 mana stones, deal?
ㄴ I'm not selling for less than 70 mana stones, you beggars
ㄴ You fucking bastard, I'm not buying ㅡㅡ
- [Buying] Buying a flashlight or power bank ㅇㅇ (2,500 mana stones loaded and ready)
ㄴ Wow, look at those mana stones;;
ㄴ For real, a big spender
ㄴ I have a self-charging battery in good condition. I'll let it go for 450 mana stones. Anyone up for a direct deal? ㅇㄷ?
ㄴ Let's go to the walking path near Migeum Station
- [Crafting/Selling] Bone sword with good options made from Blotter bones for sale ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Oh, the options rolled well;; Can you enchant it with Spitter acid too??
ㄴ Bring the acid and I'll apply the effect for 30 mana stones ㅇㅇ
ㄴ When will I ever get to wield a weapon with options like that
Looking through the Gallery, I saw people excavating and selling zombie by-products and valuable electronic equipment they had scavenged.
There were also quite a lot of listings for items sold by crafting-type Awakeners.
That was only natural.
Before I appeared, the Gallery had been overflowing with posts like these.
So if I could give this equipment the privilege of my free, endlessly replenished stock, it would obviously be a huge help.
“Hmm, then should I just give it to a trustworthy Head Mod or... Speedrun?”
That was why I considered entrusting it not to the Stalkers, but to the Head Mod or Speedrun, who were imperfect but could contact me directly and had proven their combat abilities.
“No... the potion is irreplaceable right now.”
Hadn't I opened this pharmacy tile in the first place to increase people's chances of survival?
There was currently nothing that would help people's survival more than that potion while also earning me mana stones.
“And combat ability isn't necessary.”
[Branch Manager] The skill description said the branch manager had to reside in the area and take responsibility for security, but that was effectively a meaningless option.
After all, my [Blueprint Copying] tiles automatically rejected unauthorized entities and even purified contamination on their own, so they required no management anyway.
Title : We shouldn't control them... right???
Fuck, you're all finally reading the room and behaving yourselves, right???
[Ironclad]....
ㄴ [God of War] ....
ㄴ [Ironclad] We're staying in line properly^^
ㄴ [God of War] So are we^^^
All right, all right, let's behave, kids.
ㄴ These bastards got beaten up and finally learned their lesson lol
Now that even the potions have been registered.
ㄴ If this pharmacy disappears, there really will be a riot
ㄴ For real, we'd be completely fucked then lol
ㄴ Seriously, we'd be heading into mutually assured destruction then lol
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋ
The users were scared that the vending machines might disappear, so they were keeping order on their own; in other words, there was no need for anyone with overwhelming force.
There was, of course, one unexpected issue.
[Search the real name or affiliation of the Awakener to appoint as branch manager, or search their Gallery username]
When it told me to appoint a branch manager, I entered the name that had been going around in the Gallery discussion.
“Lee Si-yeon.”
[Real Name: Lee Si-yeon]
[Affiliation: Myth Guild Farming Party 2]
“Hmm.”
It could search like this and even look up someone's identity.
“But isn't this the right thing to do?”
What if I didn't know the identity of my own employee? Of course I should know it.
“Come to think of it, wasn't the Healer Union's name also Lee Si-yeon?”
Was it a case of two people sharing the same name?
I immediately opened the deputy-admin chatroom.
- [Head Mod] : Branch manager... Why didn't you appoint me... I could manage a pharmacy well too...
- [Speedrun] : KRAAAAGHSystemyoumustrespectmeappointmeasbranchmanagerofBranch2rightnow
- [Healer Union] : The System must improve the treatment of all healers!!!!!
Everyone was upset that they had not become branch managers.
“...Let's meet another time when a good opportunity comes up.”
I had spent a lot this time because of the tile copying, and I needed to earn mana stones to restore even more infrastructure in the future.
“What? Wasn't it?”
But Healer Union was also merely howling.
At that moment, a one-on-one personal message arrived from Healer Union.
- [Healer Union] : NEET... NEET... Are you asleep?
- [Troll NEET] : Nope
- [Healer Union] : I have something to tell you... It's a secret, though...
- [Troll NEET] : Secret fact: it's not a secret ㅇㅇ
- [Healer Union] : No!! It really is a secret!!!
“What could it be about?”
We had suddenly become secret friends.
- [Healer Union] : This time... after the vending machines were installed, I got some medicine... and made a potion...
- [Troll NEET] : ?! How is that possible?
- [Healer Union] : This is my ability. If I consume pre-apocalypse medicine, I can create new items or use related magic!!
“Oh?”
That's an insanely good ability, isn't it?
“Look at that potential.”
- [Healer Union] : What I made this time is called a red pot. If you drink it, wounds heal! Almost like a heal!!
- [Healer Union] : Maybe the System... recognized it!! It appointed me branch manager of the pharmacy tile!!!!!
“What!”
Fuck, this really was Lee Si-yeon!!!
What were the odds of this coincidence?
I should congratulate her first. It was good news.
- [Troll NEET] : Kya, congrats
- [Healer Union] : There were seniors who looked down on me! Now they can't say a thing lol
- [Healer Union] : It was so hard ㅠㅠㅠ
- [Troll NEET] : They say spring comes after a long wait, and this is it...
- [Healer Union] : Exactly ㅠㅠ They say you catch the ox thief after the rain ㅠㅠㅠ Anyway, you have to survive first ㅠㅠ
After exchanging some mindless banter, we surprisingly clicked pretty well.
“She's fun.”
- [Healer Union] : ...But... you can't tell anyone else... that Lee Si-yeon is Healer Union...
- [Troll NEET] : ? Wouldn't it be good to reveal it? You'd be treated better, and you're a deputy admin ㅇㅇ
- [Healer Union] : It's... the Guild Master's dignity is involved... It would get awkward in many ways...
- [Healer Union] : I think that's just how social life is... ㅠㅠ
- [Troll NEET] : ㅇㅎ;;
- [Healer Union] : You won't tell, right...? Please!! I'm begging you!!! ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
“Hmm. Is that so?”
I hadn't experienced much social life, so I didn't really understand.
“Well, I suppose that can happen.”
I was keeping my own identity hidden, after all, so it wasn't impossible to understand.
“It would get troublesome in a lot of ways. This.”
And the Gallery was fundamentally a place to vent and unload one's emotions, and this Survivors Gallery was being put to excellent use for that purpose.
She probably didn't want either side to find out about the other, whether in real life or on the Gallery.
- [Troll NEET] : Why would I tell anyone about that? ㅇㅇ
- [Healer Union] : Gasp...!! Thank you!!! I'm touched...
- [Healer Union] : I didn't know you could say things like that...
- [Healer Union] : Anyway, I earned 15,000 mana stones just in commissions from selling potions!!!! I'm really rich!!!!
- [Healer Union] : Ah!! And the System also pays me a separate salary of 20,000 mana stones!!
“She earned 15,000 mana stones.”
The branch manager takes 10% of the revenue, and I take 90%.
There were 300 red pots registered at each pharmacy tile. Across all five pharmacy branches, that made a total of 1,500 red pots.
If they all sold?
[Registered Product: Lesser Health Potion]
[Unit Price: 100 mana stones / Quantity: 1,500 (300 per branch)
[Total Product Revenue: +150,000 mana stones]
[> Branch Manager's Net Profit (10%): +15,000 mana stones]
[> Head Office Platform Fee (90%): +135,000 mana stones]
“What a fucking exploitative corporation...”
I'm taking an absurd amount.
“This is right, though.”
An exploitative head office is a time-honored tradition. And there was something disappointing about it too.
“To think she decided to sell it for 100 mana stones... Tsk.”
The price of an item added to the inventory was set by the branch manager, not the System, so I couldn't interfere.
Of course, as the head office, I wanted her to sell it for more.
“This is fine too.”
If it was too expensive, people might not be able to buy it, so I decided to let it go.
[Daily Consolidated Head Office Ledger]
[Basic Restroom and Pharmacy Vending Machine Revenue: +277,000 mana stones]
[Head Office Commission Revenue from Consigned Goods: +135,000 mana stones]
[Starplex Main Branch Maintenance Cost (69 tiles): -69,000 mana stones]
[External Copied Tile Maintenance Cost (20 Restroom Tiles): -40,000 mana stones]
[External Copied Tile Maintenance Cost (20 Pharmacy Tiles): -40,000 mana stones]
[Daily Branch Manager Base Salary Payment: -20,000 mana stones]
[Estimated Total Daily Net Profit: +243,000 mana stones]
“Fuck yeah.”
Looking at the settlement window, I couldn't help but marvel.
“So that's why everyone keeps saying subcontracting."
[Appoint Branch Manager (Lv.1 → Lv.2)]
[Mana Stones Required for Upgrade: 500,000 mana stones]
“Five hundred thousand mana stones?”
The inflation in skill-level-up costs was getting more insane by the day.
Of course, an overpowered skill like Appoint Branch Manager offered equally certain returns, so I supposed it made sense.
I hadn't invested any principal, and I only had to collect all the commissions.
“And it would only take a few days to earn it.”
Besides, I didn't seem to need another branch manager for the time being.
- [Healer Union] : Ah... I told you I earned too many mana stones, didn't I...
- [Healer Union] : Sorry... I didn't realize how it looked ㅜ
- [Troll NEET] : It's fine;; It's good if you earn a lot;;
- [Healer Union] : And I earned mana stones and cleared another quest!!! The new potion I made this time is a mana potion!! A blue potion!!
- [Healer Union] : I'll register this one in the vending machines tomorrow too!! Hehe!!
Wait. She developed a mana potion too?
“My talented employee is insane.”
Damn. Just how high was this girl's potential?
- [Healer Union] : And... Troll NEET, thanks for not telling anyone else...
- [Troll NEET] : It's nothing ㅇㅇ
- [Healer Union] : If we ever get a chance to meet, this big sis will buy you something delicious!!!! And I'll give you potions for free too!!!
- [Troll NEET] : Thanks;;
After Healer Union disappeared, one question began circling in my head.
“Wait a second... Can I sell this in the online Shop too...?”
-Starplex-
[Comprehensive First-Aid Kit (Disinfectant, Antibiotics, Painkillers, Bandage Set)]
[Price: 100 mana stones]
[Stock: 20 / 20]
[Disinfectant 50 ml)]
[Price: 50 mana stones]
[Stock: 200 / 200]
[Time until Shop opens: 1 hour 12 seconds]
My online Shop, which included food, was about to open soon.
It would obviously be better if I could sell the potions Healer Union had registered online too.
I dug through the skill description.
[Shop Owner's Privilege]
[Synchronizes data added by the branch manager with the head office system]
[*Items added by the branch manager are automatically mass-produced at the main branch]
“!!!!!”
Fuck, it worked after all!
I immediately ran to the pharmacy and flung open the glass door.
“Ooh... ooh!!!!!”
On the pharmacy counter, red and blue glass bottles had been arranged in neat rows.
And the number was a whopping.
“One, ten, a hundred... three hundred?”
What the fuck!!!!
“It really registers....?”
I spent mana stones to open a Shop slot, then tried registering the red potion.
-Starplex-
[Lesser Health Potion]
[Price: 100 mana stones]
[Stock: 300/300]
[Lesser Mana Recovery Potion]
[Price: 100 mana stones]
[Stock: 300/300]
[Time until Shop opens: 1 hour]
After checking the result, I muttered.
“I hired an employee way too well.”
It was a pretty bleak world, huh?
“This is what life is.”
I'll return the world to the way it was.