Chapter 53
Ding-!
[Clock That Cries with 3 Seconds Left in Open Run] Sob sob sob sob sob sob sob sob sob
ㄴ [Clock That Cries with 2 Seconds Left in Open Run] Waaah waaah waaah waaah waaah waaah waaah waaah
ㄴ [Clock That Cries with 1 Second Left in Open Run] Yas yas yas yas yas yas yas
Along with the notification sounds from a series of concept-freak users posting in the Gallery.
The Gallery descended into a frenzied party.
Title: Fuck, I bought a red potion!!! I bought one!!!!
(Some random proof photo of red potions falling from midair.jpg)
Fuck, I was about to die scavenging scrap!!!!
It arrived right in front of me, so I survived!!!
I poured it over my party member whose chest had been split open, and fresh flesh grew back without a single scar!!
Wait, fuck, it gets delivered too???
ㄴ Yeah, get it delivered lol
ㄴ The potion just flies right in front of you lol
Wait, fuck, I was clicking like crazy too!!!
ㄴ I'm a newbie!!! I bought one too!!
ㄴ Newbies << These bastards aren't newbies
ㄴ For real lol
ㄴ They're living better than us lol
Kyaaaaaaak!!!
ㄴ The vending-machine line was too long, so I was going to buy one during the open run!!!
ㄴ Exactly!!!
ㄴ Aaaaaagh!!
The Gallery was covered by the joy of the victors who got their hands on potions and the wailing of users who missed out by a hair.
Of course, even amid all that chaos, there were seasoned users firmly walking their own path.
Title: While the red-potion addicts are tearing each other apart, raiding the empty house is sweet lol
(Some random proof photo of a box of Odasoo bottled water and a mountain of canned tuna.jpg)
Good grief, you idiots lol
Are you still falling for flashy new technology like red potions?
Not a chance, I immediately raided the empty house ㅇㅇ
I went straight for a full purchase of bottled water and food ㅇㅇ
You only drink potions when you're hurt, but you need to eat and drink water every day, suckers
Every open run is a mind game, fuck fuck
ㄴ Lost again
ㄴ I lost again, fuck
Lol, there are tons of Stalkers getting caught in a pincer and tearing their crotches apart, huh?
ㄴ Getting caught in a pincer, for real lol
Just pick one and click like hell; most of the time, you'll be able to buy it ㅇㅇ
ㄴ There are 300 red potions versus 2,000 Odasoo bottles, and you still missed them all? lol
ㄴ Learn to choose and focus ㅇㅇ
But that's a fact ㅇㅇ You only need a potion if you get hurt, but if you don't have water, you die
ㄴ For realㅋㅋ
ㄴ You're ten times more likely to die of thirst than from a traumatic injury
“Mmm.”
I couldn't help but applaud.
“That's what I'm talking about.”
I'd forgotten because of how overpowered tile copying was, but the real windfall always came when the inventory opened.
Title: [Unlucky Gallery Doctor] This potion, this thing... It really is something...
First of all, being able to receive rapid healing on par with a healer when no healer is around is ridiculous...
It is true that this is ridiculously advanced technology, and I bought one to examine it myself, but...
It remains unclear whether it simply treats external injuries or also has disinfecting or sterilizing effects....
If it only treats external injuries... it would be covering everything back up while leaving the pus and bacteria festering underneath...
In the end, I think we still have to worry about sepsis...
Holy shit, fuck
ㄴ That's absurd
ㄴ Just let something like that slide!!!!!
ㄴ Stop caring about medical accuracy!!
ㄴ What the fuck;; I just took a potion without even washing a scrape I got. Am I screwed??
Then cut the healed wound open again!!!!!
ㄴ How are we supposed to do that...
ㄴ For real, that's self-harm ㅠ
External injuries can be solved with potions...
ㄴ So does that mean we still need disinfectant for infections?
ㄴ But aside from healers who treat infections,
ㄴ Most healers also just restore an injury before it can get infected, so that's not technically wrong ㅇㅇ
[Unlucky Gallery Doctor] For now, I suppose the basic guideline would be to pour on disinfectant >> then drink the potion
ㄴ [Unlucky Gallery Doctor] Of course, if the situation is too urgent
ㄴ [Unlucky Gallery Doctor] Or the bleeding is too severe, it would probably be better to gulp down the potion first
ㄴ [Unlucky Gallery Doctor] The risk of infection does increase, but you have to survive the immediate crisis ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Right, you can die from blood loss in an instant ㅇㅇ
ㄴ For real, if you can't treat it, you just die immediately;;
Being able to get one when there's no healer around <<< This is the real deal
ㄴ You can think of it as having a one-use healer, for real
ㄴ A genuine ‘tool’
ㄴ Hey, there's a line between things you can say and things you can't
If your teeth have rotted and melted, will drinking a potion fix them?
ㄴ If you pour a potion over a rotten tooth, wouldn't the inside stay messed up while the gums grow over it?
ㄴ Just imagining it is fucking horrifying lol
ㄴ Even Guan Yu would scream at that ㅇㅇ
The blue potion has appeared now too
ㄴ Are white potions not coming out anymore?
ㄴ Where did the elixirs go? Ah lol
ㄴ Si-yeon, you can do it!!!!
It wasn't only the potions registered by the branch manager that sold well.
Once everyone heard that disinfectant was still necessary, the existing bottled water, food, and basic medicines all sold out without a trace.
Conclusion: Just buy the disinfectant + potion set from the pharmacy vending machine ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Just buy both, seriously lol
ㄴ lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Fuck, look at this monetization structure lol
ㄴ It's just sucking mana stones right out of us lol
ㄴ System-nim... please have mercy on my wallet... please..
Of course, there were also Stalkers saying that mana stones were starting to become a burden.
Mana stones are really running short now...
ㄴ But isn't that because you guys just stockpile them instead of going out to scavenge scrap?
ㄴ Gasp
ㄴ How'd you know?
Fuck, stop sitting around at home with everything you've bought and go scavenge scrap!!!
ㄴ Now that life is bearable, go do some work!!!!!
ㄴ You shut-in Stalker bastards lol
ㄴ For real lol
It seemed like a problem that could be solved if they simply worked hard.
“That's right... That's riiiiight!!!”
This is capitalism. This is business!!!!
“Fuck, everything's going so smoothly!!”
Guys, a bright future awaits us now!!!
****
And so, with the dopamine festival in full swing.
Just as everyone was going wild over potions.
There were people who had not prioritized buying potions, disinfectant, antibiotics, or eczema ointment.
Those people were women.
In this ruined world where law and morality had collapsed, the hardships women faced were too horrifying to fully describe.
On the outskirts of the Orange Zone, in front of a pharmacy vending machine.
“...”
Speedrun, Cha Do-hee, stood quietly in line with her cap pulled low over her eyes.
The female survivors ahead of and behind her were notably waiting their turns at regular intervals.
There was no cutting in line or raising of voices. Only a heavy silence and a very strange sense of solidarity hung in the air.
Eventually, when it was Cha Do-hee's turn, she looked through the vending machine's glass wall.
On the bottom row of the shelves displaying various medicines.
It was packed with neatly arranged packs of sanitary pads and painkillers for menstrual cramps, organized by size.
Clatter- Thunk.
After paying the mana stones and pulling out both items, Do-hee hurriedly shoved them deep into her bag.
‘I never thought the System would take care of something like this too...’
Do-hee quietly opened the complaint-submission window.
“...I've learned another new side of you...”
****
Meanwhile, I was looking at the quest window.
[Building Master Main Quest 8: Have 400,000 mana stones (Complete!)]
I was so distracted by the branch-manager and potion issues that I hadn't noticed. So there was a quest like this.
[Online Shop Total Sales: +194,000 mana stones]
[Mana Stones Currently Held: 437,000] (*Includes 240,000 mana stones in accumulated daily offline revenue)
With the online Shop's open-run sellout and the offline vending-machine revenue added together, I had comfortably exceeded the target of 400,000.
Thanks to that, the quest had been cleared immediately as soon as its completion condition was met.
[Reward will be issued!]
[New Feature Unlocked: Paid Refill]
“Paid refill...?”
What the hell was this now.
[Paid Refill]
[By paying a massive quantity of mana stones, instantly refills the depleted stock of a tile designated by the Awakener to 100% without waiting]
[*The amount of mana stones required for a refill is individually determined by the System according to the tile's purpose, size, and the value of its merchandise]
“Oh?”
This is fucking overpowered, isn't it?
If I just refilled the stock every time it ran out and sold it, I'd be duplicating mana stones.
“Why the fuck didn't you unlock this sooner!!!!!”
You clueless bastard of a System!
People are struggling and gasping for breath outside!!!
The refill cycle for tiles I owned was 72 hours, so this had always been a source of frustration for me too.
“But it says I have to spend a massive quantity of mana stones.”
That made me really nervous.
First, should I test how much it costs to refill the four slots in the most popular pharmacy tile?
[Would you like to instantly refill the stock of the Second-Floor Large Pharmacy Tile [4 Slots]?]
[Cost: 400,000 mana stones]
“Huh?”
Wait, fuck, 400,000 mana stones?
So that's 100,000 mana stones per slot?
Fuck. That's a terrible deal.
[Would you like to refill the stock of External Copied Tile Pharmacy No. 1 [4 Slots]?]
[Cost: 400,000 mana stones]
Since the pharmacy copied outside is also classified as having four slots, the refill cost is the same.
“You fucking piece of shit!!!”
As expected, the System was smart. Infinite mana-stone duplication didn't seem possible.
“Well, yeah. It would be way too overpowered otherwise.”
Besides, the refill wasn't linked across Pharmacies No. 1 through 5; it only refilled one location, so even infinitely refilling stock would lose money.
“And I doubt the kids could keep buying the refilled stock.”
I didn't know how many mana stones the Gallery users each had, but mana stones didn't just come out of the ground, so that was impossible too.
“Hmm. Is this meant for emergencies?”
For now, I would put it on hold.
But when I turned my gaze back?
[Mana Stones Currently Held: 437,000]
“Grrrgh!!!!”
I could afford to buy the entire first basement level right now. Or should I try sampling another floor?
“I'm really duplicating mana stones just by breathing.”
It was at that moment, while I was licking my lips in anticipation.
Ding!
[Speedrun (Cha Do-hee) Customer Inquiry Received]
“What? Speedy, why?”
What kind of complaint did she have this time?
But the contents were beyond anything I had expected.
[System... I don't know how you managed to make these things happen... or whether you intended them...]
[But thank you for taking care of even this. You seem like someone with a really good sense of things]
[I owe you one again...]
“For making the pharmacy?”
Hmm. Was I really that thoughtful?
“But what does she mean by taking care of even this?”
What did she mean? I couldn't understand at all.
“What are you talking about?”
[Reply sent]
[I can't understand what you mean. Please explain in detail]
“Wait! Why did this one send properly!”
I need to smash the head of this damn System translator.
*****
Meanwhile, while the protagonist was clutching the back of their neck over the translator.
In front of Orange Zone First Aid Station, Head Mod Baek Eunwol stood before a massive pharmacy vending machine.
“Ahh... I survived. I really survived...”
“Thank you... Thank you, System-nim...!”
Survivors stood there sobbing, clutching the disinfectant and ointment they had just pulled from the vending machine.
“A potion!!! A potion!!!!”
“System-nim... chose such a capable Awakener...”
“With this... we too...”
“At least we won't have to die like dogs while scavenging for scrap anymore.”
Stalkers hugged their potions with relieved expressions.
Baek Eunwol's expression as she watched them was calm and subdued.
‘Really... perhaps once again... we're moving forward... thanks to System-nim...’
Seeing the relief and hope spreading across their faces, Eunwol also felt a swell of emotion in her chest.
‘If we add potions to the basic medical supplies... perhaps this really could become a world where everyone can live well...’
But behind that emotion, a deep, indelible doubt and unease had coiled in wait.
‘But... would the Transcendent really bestow such immense mercy for no reason at all?’
Eunwol vividly remembered the horrors of the Black Zone that the System had shown her.
‘What am I missing...?’
Ever since witnessing that horrifying and grotesque scene, she had wondered whether every move the System made might be some kind of warning directed at them.
A convenience patch that had suddenly restored hygiene and now provided even modern medicines.
And on top of that, the decisive step of appointing an Awakener capable of mass-producing miraculous potions as a branch manager.
Was this simply charity for the poor survivors?
Or.
‘Is a massive disaster approaching—one that will soon make these medicines desperately necessary... and is this telling us to prepare in advance...?’
But Eunwol could not be certain that her hasty guess was correct.
With her heart feeling stifled, she quietly opened a one-on-one customer-service inquiry window.
[System-nim... System-nim... Is a disaster requiring these medicines approaching?]
[I know this may put you in a difficult position... but could you answer me?]
But Eunwol's fingers stopped in midair as she typed.
‘No... the Transcendent has already shown us through actions...’
Was it really right to keep questioning the System when she had failed to grasp its meaning?
‘Perhaps the Transcendent wants me to figure it out myself.’
It was at that very moment, after deep contemplation, that Eunwol began slowly deleting the inquiry she had typed.
Vrrrrrrrrr-!!
“Huh...?”
“What is it!”
“The sky, all of a sudden?”
The people who had been cheering in front of the vending machine began murmuring.
Eunwol jerked her head up.
The bluish sky over the Orange Zone was instantly covered by pitch-black noise and began splitting apart grotesquely.
As if the frequency of a television screen had been cut off.
Then a gigantic black hologram appeared in midair.
[Regular Patch 2 Synchronization Complete]
After a short while, merciless text began pouring from the hologram.
[Regular Patch 2 will now be synchronized in real time]
[Theme: Small Ecosystem Coordination and Addition of Vectors]
[Applicable Area: Integrated Capital Area]
“Vector coordination... addition...?”
“W-What does that mean?”
All color drained from the people's faces.
‘W-Wait a moment.’
Eunwol, too, held her breath and stared blankly up at the sentence of judgment that appeared on the next line.
[From this moment on, insects will become vectors for all mutations]