Chapter 59
I had finished making my second bet and was anxiously watching the Gallery.
“Ugggggh...”
Fuck. This was twice as nerve-racking as making 35x-leveraged crypto day trades.
No, 35x was even scarier.
Should I look at the Gallery now? No. There won't be any updates yet.
“Look now?”
No. Let's wait a little longer.
“Ah, fuck it!”
Let's just look! They must have made something, at least.
“Come on!!!”
And when I opened the Gallery, the post that appeared before me said:
“Huh?”
It was something even I had never expected.
Title : Our maknae!!! Si-yeon!!!! She just accomplished a historic feat!!!!!!!!!
Do you know what Si-yeon discovered!!!!
It's a vaccine!! Our Si-yeon!!! She invented a preventive vaccine!!!!!!
It's over!!! The suffering is over!!
Huh?
ㄴ ???!!!
ㄴ What???!
ㄴ Huh??
Preventive vac?cine
ㄴ She made a vaccine?
No way, Si-yeon made that???
ㄴ No, fuck, that's on a completely different level from a red potion.
ㄴ Stop bullshitting;;
“Huh?”
I wondered if I had seen it wrong.
“A vaccine?”
Huh? What am I looking at?
Fuck, where would something like that even come from...?
ㄴ Don't joke around...
It's not time to joke!!!!
ㄴ Fuck, are you fucking with us?
ㄴ We're still fighting all over the Capital Area.
ㄴ For real, this isn't the time to joke around.
ㄴ I was just smashing a Walker's head in.
ㄴ You trolling bastard!!!!
[Head Mod] A vaccine....?
ㄴ Head Mod!! That bastard's trolling!!!
ㄴ Ban him!!!!!
ㄴ [Head Mod] Wait... how is that possible?
ㄴ T-The Head Mod...
He saw the command and didn't say anything...?
How shocking that discovery was.
Most users, even the Head Mod, couldn't believe it.
I was no different.
“A vaccine? That vaccine?”
No, I had intentionally power-leveled Si-yeon like crazy, aiming for something like this.
But an absurdly overpowered drug I hadn't even imagined had popped out.
It's real!!! You idiots!!! It's real!! The genuine article!!!
ㄴ They say anyone who takes this vaccine won't be infected by lesser mutants anymore!!!
ㄴ Lesser mutants???
ㄴ You mean Runners and Walkers?
ㄴ Seems like it...?
ㄴ You won't get infected by Walkers??
It's over!! We can calm this situation down!!! Finally!!!!
ㄴ This bastard's legit....
ㄴ They even made a post identifying themselves as Myth...
ㄴ They're really legit...?
Fuck... Then can't we just give it to ordinary people now??
ㄴ You mean ordinary people can gain infection resistance...?
ㄴ Don't bullshit us...
ㄴ Fuck, how is that even possible....
But at least the user didn't seem to be lying.
And when I saw it, I shouted too.
“Oh, is it the finale!!!!!”
Yeah, you fucking useless God-System bastard. How does it feel to reach the end after only two patches?
“The apocalypse is ending service as of today.”
How does it feel to get an early ending?
"Jomsaem, did you hear that?! It's a vaccine! A vaccine!!"
Grrr-!
Fuck, is it over!!!!
ㄴ Wooooooo!!!!
ㄴ This is insane!!
ㄴ A preventive vaccine!! A preventive vaccine!!!!!!!!!
ㄴ Give it to the ordinary people!!!
Can we protect our families...?
ㄴ Then my little brother too... can I stop worrying as much...?
Sorry to say this, but register it in the pharmacy vending machine quickly!!!
ㄴ They said Si-yeon is a branch manager!!!
ㄴ I'll break through the wave... and carry mana stones to the vending machine ㅇㅇ
ㄴ We have to go, we absolutely have to..
Most of the waves inside the safe zones right now are made up of Runners or Walkers...
ㄴ If there really is a preventive vaccine...
ㄴ We might really be able to ignore them and walk past...
ㄴ It's possible.
Thus the users began cheering.
“Yeah. It really works.”
If Si-yeon registered it at the pharmacy, the vaccine would appear on my pharmacy tiles too, and then all I'd have to do was provide free delivery.
But then.
“Huh?”
The user who had been shouting joyfully until just moments ago posted another comment, and the Gallery's mood went to shit again.
Title : Uh... Guys, but...
Um... we can't make the vaccine right now...
Huh?
ㄴ ?!
ㄴ Guys?
ㄴ Huh?
What the fuck are you talking about? Register it in the pharmacy!!!!
ㄴ You said you discovered a preventive vaccine!!!!
ㄴ We did discover it...
ㄴ They say they only discovered the blueprint...
ㄴ Huh?
ㄴ Huh???
To complete the blueprint... we need specialized prescription drugs... like severe immunotherapy drugs or anticancer drugs...
ㄴ We don't have the materials to make even the one original....
ㄴ No, fuck?
ㄴ Where the hell would we find something like that right now?
For real, aren't things like that not even in the pharmacy vending machines?
ㄴ Where would a vending machine have that shit ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ The medicine vending machines only have the most basic medicines;;
ㄴ You can only get that kind of stuff with a prescription from a university hospital or tertiary hospital's in-house pharmacyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Fucking hell...
That's right.
We had obtained the vaccine blueprint, but producing the original required some ultra-high-end drugs.
“Fuck.”
This world really sucks. Seriously.
And... even if someone had them, would they give them up...?
ㄴ For real, that's the issue.
ㄴ Even if someone has them, who would give them away....?
They're all medicines you can't get anymore after the apocalypse.
ㄴ There must be people hoarding them...?
ㄴ There are Stalkers with chronic illnesses...
ㄴ There are, but... those medicines are their lifelines... would they give them up?
ㄴ Exactly.
I do have diabetes medication... but I've rationed it down to three pills... I can't give these away.
ㄴ I have antipsychotics... but I'd be fucked if I gave these away...
ㄴ I can't give mine away either; I can't get any more now...
ㄴ Me neither...
No wonder. There was no way an absurdly overpowered drug like a vaccine preventing mutation could be obtained so easily.
“If we just had that... we could really calm this situation down!”
We couldn't bring back the dead, but at least we could move forward.
It was too early to give up.
“What? What was that about high-end drugs? Fuck?”
Did I have anything like that?
First, my second-floor pharmacy was empty, all the way down to the warehouse.
Because I'd delivered every last thing to Si-yeon.
And in the first place, rare prescription drugs like that weren't things you'd find lying around on the shelves or in the warehouse of an ordinary large pharmacy.
Then what?
“The Medical Center!!”
The section I'd gotten by cheesing my way through the entire second floor, but hadn't been able to copy outside because I lacked mana stones.
I'd seen it packed with the latest medical equipment and testing devices, so there might be special drugs like that left in a large hospital's dispensary or vault.
“Let's go search it!”
Just as I kicked off from my spot and ran, another comment appeared on the Gallery.
No...
ㄴ Huh?
ㄴ There's no need to do that,...
ㄴ ?
ㄴ What do you mean?
We got them...
ㄴ What?
ㄴ Explain in detail, you bastard!! Don't joke around!!
We got them!!! The prescription drugs!!!!!!!
ㄴ How...?
ㄴ ??
ㄴ ????
It was a comment saying they had obtained the prescription drugs.
“H-How...?”
Even I didn't know why, so like the other users, I was just as clueless, piling on question marks.
****
Orange Zone, Myth Guild's temporary camp.
Behind the defensive line, silence had settled, and despair lingered, making the joy that had swept through moments earlier seem meaningless.
The zombie wave itself had been dealt with thanks to the aura Si-yeon emitted.
But the reason they were hanging their heads now was different.
“There’s a vaccine blueprint... so why can't we make it!!!”
A senior healer cried out, and complaints erupted here and there.
“Anticancer drugs? Immunosuppressants for autoimmune diseases? Prescription drugs? Are you kidding me?!”
“Fuck... Where are we supposed to find those right now!!”
“Unless we raid a large hospital's in-house pharmacy, there's no way that shit is here right now!”
The guild members sat down clutching their heads. Even Yoon Seo-jin let out a hollow laugh and dropped the sword to the ground.
A preventive vaccine.
It was undoubtedly an innovative invention that could not only resolve this crisis but perhaps bring hope to the entire Capital Area.
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 232: Craft the first original preventive vaccine for lesser mutant infection!]
[Required Materials]
- Prescription medication (0/1)
- Immunosuppressant for severe autoimmune disease (0/1)
But what good was a blueprint when they had none of the materials needed to make it?
“Haa... Haa...”
Even Si-yeon, sitting on the floor, could only shed tears while struggling under her debuffs.
“Does anyone...! Does anyone have prescription drugs...?”
“Even if they did, would they come forward... Guild Master...”
“They're medicines we can no longer obtain... None of the guild members will step forward.”
“It would be the same for anyone... Their own life comes first.”
Yoon Seo-jin looked around at the guild members, asking if anyone had prescription drugs, but no one stepped forward.
“Do we have to go to the Red Zone...”
"Now? In this state?? We'd just die like dogs..."
Just as they were about to give up on solving the situation, left with nothing but a cruel taste of hope.
“Um... benefactor.”
A boy stepped forward from the crowd, trembling.
“...You?”
“I-I'm Chan-woo! I don't know if you remember me...”
He was Chan-woo, the boy who had treated his little sister's leg with the red potion Si-yeon had given him before.
“C-Could this be used as a material too...?”
Chan-woo carefully took something wrapped in newspaper from inside his clothes and held it out.
“Before the apocalypse... I took one a week... because my atopic dermatitis was really severe...”
“Uh...?”
“I got a lot from a university hospital before the apocalypse... There are only two left now, though...”
As the boy carefully unfolded the newspaper, an oval pill sealed in aluminum packaging appeared.
The words Rinvoq Extended-Release Tablet were written on the outside of the package.
“They said you absolutely needed this, Benefactor....”
“But... then what about you...?”
“You’re our benefactor.”
Chan-woo wiped away his tears and grinned.
“You can make medicine that will save all of us, can't you?”
“...No...”
“This is enough for me.”
The boy's voice held no hesitation.
The boy's young voice slowly brought all the ordinary people who had been huddled there to their feet.
Rustle.
“Miss... Look at this too.”
A middle-aged man who had been lying in a corner with an injured arm took something from his backpack and held it out.
It was a clear plastic pill bottle.
“It was my wife's leukemia medicine. The zombies took her first... but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away... This works, right...?”
“This is my mom's diabetes medicine, an insulin pen... She's gone now, so... I carried it all the way here... Sob...”
“This is rheumatoid arthritis medicine. Will it help? It must be expired...”
And so, the ordinary people who had until now only trembled behind the Awakeners, hiding behind them like dead weight, began walking forward one by one.
“I kept this Tentin to give my daughter when I found her...! If I haven't found her by now, I never will, I reckon. Miss, chew this at least and get your strength back!!”
“These are thyroid pills I got before the apocalypse!! I'll give them to you.”
“I don't have medicine, only mana stones! I lucked into finding two! Will these do?”
“Take my mana stones too!!”
“Saint! Please take my medicine too!!!”
All at once.
From the children's candy offered by a wrinkled grandmother to the emergency medicines each person had treasured.
To some, they were worthless trash.
But to them, they were precious medicines: keepsakes of lost family members to some, and the last lifeline they possessed to others.
The ordinary people who had been treated as burdens until now were handing Si-yeon everything they had.
“Saint... thank you...”
“Saint. It's okay, don't cry.”
“We saw how hard you've been working. We're sorry...”
“We were powerless... It's all our fault.”
“I'm sorry for being a burden... Thank you...”
“Miss... I'm sorry, this old man is sorry.”
They saw it clearly.
They saw Si-yeon being chosen by the System.
They saw her refuse to give up until the end to protect everyone, burning up her own body in sacrifice.
After that sacrifice, she had made a miraculous discovery.
She had performed a miracle.
“Sob... Huuuuuugh...!”
Without even having time to wipe away her tears, Si-yeon carefully gathered the medicines people had offered in both hands.
“It'll work...”
Then she spoke in a voice filled with conviction.
“No, I'll make it work...”
Crack-! Crunch!
As she stuffed the medicines into her mouth.
Ding-!
A message appeared.
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 232: Craft the first original preventive vaccine for lesser mutant infection! (Complete!)]
[Reward granted!]
[500 Lesser Mutant Infection Prevention Vaccines awarded]
[Effect: Prevents mutation into lesser mutants. Anyone who takes this vaccine will no longer be infected by lesser mutants.]
Glowing white medicine poured from thin air down to Si-yeon's feet.
“Ah...! Aah!!”
“It's real...!!!”
“S-Saint!!!!”
“You did it!!!!!”
They witnessed it clearly.
They witnessed a miracle that people at the very bottom could bring about together.
“...It's real... You did it...!!!”
“It worked!!!! It worked!!!”
Soon, the tent village that had been holding its breath...
“Si-yeon did it!!! She really did it!!”
"She did it!! She really did it!!!"
"We're saved!!! We're saved!!!!“
was blanketed by the explosive cheers of the people.
*****
A little later.
Immediately after Si-yeon finished her miraculous vaccine synthesis, the senior healers urgently gathered around her.
Fwoosh-!
They were pooling their remaining mana to remove the debuffs afflicting Si-yeon.
“I'm sorry, Si-yeon... I'm really sorry.”
“We were wrong. We're sorry for ignoring you...”
In the healing light they offered along with their apologies, Si-yeon, who had been catching her ragged breath, slowly opened her eyes.
“Ah...”
“Maknae, are you conscious?!”
“Whoa! Don't move!! Take good care of Maknae!!”
But the first thing Si-yeon said after recovering left everyone around her flustered.
“Ah, it's too early to celebrate...”
Guild Master Yoon Seo-jin, who had approached, nodded in agreement too.
“Maknae's right. The other guilds are probably still fighting...”
This preventive vaccine Si-yeon had made was clearly a fundamental solution capable of counteracting Patch 2.
A drug that would dramatically increase ordinary people's survivability.
But to mass-produce it, they had to make it available for everyone across the Capital Area to purchase.
“We have to register the vaccine in the vending machine... Then... everyone will be able to live... and the System will be able to sell it too...”
“There may be guilds like ours that don't have time to reach the vending machine.”
“And... before my aura's duration ends... we need to travel to as many places as possible...”
“But are you okay, Maknae? Your condition is still...”
“I-I'm okay...”
Si-yeon and Seo-jin's words left everyone deep in thought.
To make it available for everyone to purchase, they had to register it in the pharmacy vending machine.
On top of that, they might have to deliver the medicine directly to guilds in urgent situations.
They had to spread Si-yeon's aura, which melted zombies and insects, across as many places as possible.
“But... who can do that...?”
“The Yellow Zone would take... at least an hour... Even Ares, the closest, would take twenty minutes...”
The only place where the situation had been resolved was here, at the Myth Guild's camp.
“Check the Gallery first. Find out what condition the other guilds are in.”
“Understood.”
“Put together a scouting party that is still in good condition, take Si-yeon to the vending machine first, then go provide aid to the other guilds.”
It came down to speed and time.
Speed and time would determine the fate of the Capital Area.
How quickly they could register this vaccine in the vending machine and distribute it among the scattered guilds.
And how quickly they could spread Si-yeon's aura across a wider area. That was the key.
“Can we do it, Guild Master?”
“...We have to believe. We can only believe we aren't too late...”
Just as the hastily assembled scouting party of the Myth Guild was about to descend the ridge.
Thump-thump- Thump-thump-thump-!
...Huh?”
“W-What is that sound...?”
Somewhere below the ridge, the beat of an old cassette radio began echoing.
“W-What... what is it...”
“Raiders?”
Everyone's gaze focused on one spot.
Beyond the dawn's dim light and the aura Si-yeon emitted.
Thump-thump-! Thump-thump-thump-!
A woman was trudging toward them.
Thump-thump-thump-!
The woman in a crop top and leather clothes walked with a boldness beyond mere swagger.
“W-What is that...?”
“What... is she dragging along?”
Most absurd of all were the several burlap sacks she was dragging along behind her.
When one torn sack scraped along the ground and spilled its contents, Myth Guild members watching her couldn't contain their shock.
“I-Insane...!”
“Th-That's all...? B-Bugs...!”
“I-Insane, is that even possible???”
The sacks were packed full of a terrifying quantity of insect corpses.
Thump-thump-! Screeech-!
Eventually, the woman switched off the cassette and opened her mouth.
“You guuuuys... said you were wooooorried... that you'd be laaaaate...?”
Her madness-filled gaze and gestures, as though none of this was a problem, drew everyone's attention.
“The speeeeed... you laaaaaack... I have it heeeeere....”
The woman spoke with a relaxed smile, revealing her name.
“Want me to heeeeelp??”
It was Speedrun, Cha Do-hee.