Chapter 138: Volume 16 Chapter 2

ACT 2 Investigation

“Phew……!”

Ark who had come outside took deep breaths and made himself calm down. It was just for a moment, but Ark had thought the middle aged lady was his mother in the ICU and his chest pounded. He wanted to shake off the unpleasant feeling. Once Nursing was finished, he didn’t’ hesitate to step outside. Tarun who exited later approached Ark and said.

“Really thank you a lot. In recent times, her symptoms have been so severe that painkiller don’t work but the crisis was overcome this time thanks to you. If Margaret…… Ah, that is the name of Ronnie’s mother. Anyway, I don’t know what Ronnie would do if something serious happens to Margaret.”

“…… What disease does Magaret have?”

“I don’t know.”

Tarun sighed and replied.

“In fact I’m a pharmacist. Well, I didn’t receive formal training but I gained second hand knowledge after listening to the residents of Ciel.”

Tarun murmured and started talking.

“You can probably understand just by seeing this place but the residents can’t afford expensive medicines from Ciel. Fortunately, we’ve been able to treat most sicknesses so far. But a year ago? Suddenly residents here acquired the same mysterious disease as Magaret and the medicine have no effect on that disease.”

“There are more people who caught the disease?”

“Yes, strangely the Ciel residents don’t have a problem. Only the residents here have become ill by that mysterious disease.The strange thing is, children with weak immunity are fine and only the adults are affected. Magaret especially has really serious symptoms. Therefore Ronnie…….”

Tarun looked at the shack with sadness and explained. His father had passed away a long time ago so it was just Ronnie and his mother. Of course it wasn’t an abundant life. If it was abundant then they wouldn’t live in the slums. However, his mother worked hard so Ronnie still lived happily. Then one day his mother caught an unidentified illness. And Ronnie’s tough life began.

“Since then, Ronnie started trying to work in Ciel to make money for Magaret’s medicine. But there isn’t that much work in Ciel for a slum dweller. In my case, I was just lucky to run some chores for a pharmacist.”

However, Ronnie was 10 years old at the time and there wasn’t that much he could do. Because he was young, he couldn’t work carrying goods as sometimes he was couldn’t be unscrupulous merchants who would work him to exhaustion without compensation. But it was the attitudes of the Ciel residents that was the harder. When a boy from the slums was seen snooping around town, he would often be cursed and sometimes beaten up by boys the same age.

“If it was just that then it would be okay. The Ciel residents hate for the slum residents worsened recently. It really is sad that they think that way about their neighbours.”

“Huh? Why is that?”

“Like I said, Margaret’s illness began a year ago. Then other slum residents started showing the same symptoms. So they think that Magaret spread the illness to the residents. They don’t want an infectious disease to be spread.”

Ark remembered the first time he met Ronnie. At the time, Ronnie had wounds all over. He hadn’t thought it important at the time but now he got a general picture after Tarun’s words. Ronnie’s wounds had been caused by the Ciel residents because he was from the slums and was the son of the person spreading the infectious disease.

“Are you certain it is infectious?”

“I’m positive. Although why did the sickness spread to the residents of the slums while Ronnie and I who are closest to Magaret are fine?”

Tarun spoke in a firm tone and sighed.

“Nevertheless, Ronnie didn’t make any excuses and just endured the curses and beating silently. He probably thought he would be driven off if he showed signs of rebellion. That young child.”

Even with all the bullying, Ronnie just continued going in and out of Ciel to earn money. When money was gathered, he visited Tarun and they bought various medicinal herbs. There was not enough money to buy expensive medicines so he asked Tarun to create the medicine. However, none of the herbs helped Magaret at all. She got seizures almost every day and only painkillers can relieve her pain. But today even the painkillers stopped working.

“The painkillers is also medicine. If used a lot then tolerance will build up. The crisis is over this time thanks to you but in the future it will be a serious problem.  It seems like Magaret no longer has the stamina to hold on. If she has one or two more seizures then it’ll probably be over…….”

Tarun couldn’t stop sighing at the thought.

‘Such a thing?’

Ark had some questions ever since meeting Ronnie. He had recognized him with one glance. The reason he felt a strange sense of empathy with Ronnie wasn’t simply because of an underprivileged childhood. Ronnie hadn’t said anything but Ark intuitively sensed that they had similar situations. Ark was also the same. In order to take care of his sick mother, he had to work in front of people who looked at him with indifferent eyes. Ark knew Ronnie’s feelings better than anyone. The feeling of hopelessness which made him want to curse the whole world……Why couldn’t anyone understand? Of course he understood. He had no choice but to understand.

‘I want to help.’

That desire suddenly rose in Ark’s mind. He never wanted to help without anything in return. It had been a long time since he truly felt like this. But ‘Nursing’ wasn’t a treatment. It was possible to reduce the sick person’s pain but the skill couldn’t treat the sick. Even if Ark’s sincerity caused Miracle Nursing, the situation wouldn’t change that much. When looking at past circumstances of Miracle Nursing, it gave him the opportunity to treat the disease but not completely cure it.

‘However, if Miracle Nursing is triggered then the situation will improve. Seeing that seizure just now, Magaret can’t last long.’

Ark had a crazy idea and entered the shack before beginning to use Nursing on Magaret. When thinking back, Miracle Nursing was activated in unexpected situations while in other sick emergencies it wasn’t triggered at all.

‘I have to sincerely want to save this woman. This time I’m more earnest than others. It will be good if it is triggered in this situation. Why isn’t it working?’

Ark cursed as he couldn’t trigger Miracle Nursing.

Then something popped into Ark’s head.

‘Wait, didn’t Ronnie try all sorts of herbs on Magaret after she got sick that didn’t work? I’ve experienced this situation before!’

It was just like when he met the Galgin who had trouble with food poisoning. At that time, Miracle Nursing wasn’t activated and Lariette’s recovery magic didn’t work either. It was because the Galgin’s food poisoning was unrelated to a disease. The Galgin had received food poisoning because they ate contaminated food.

‘What if Magaret is in a similar situation? That might explain why Miracle Nursing isn’t triggered. Miracle Nursing was a skill that would trigger when taking care of the sick. Therefore it wasn’t triggered when used on the poisoned Galgin. So a cure for disease isn’t the answer.’

That reminded him, the black red dots on Magaret’s body was similar to the Galgin.

‘Now that I’m thinking about it, Nursing isn’t really useful here.’

“Ronnie, take good care of your mother. I’m going to investigate a little bit.”

Ark comforted Ronnie and left the shack. Ark had treated the Galgin’s food poisoning using a different method. The method Ark used then was to investigate the area for the source of poisoning and then produced an antidote.

‘Normal NPCs wouldn’t go around picking and eating strange ingredients like the Galgin. But they’re poor so there is a possibility of eating some strange ingredients. That is also the reason why only the residents of the slums are sick. It is impossible for the rich residents of Ciel to eat strange ingredients. I have to investigate it.’

The first place Ark visited was the river by the slums.  If something was contaminated in the area then the river would have the most significant impact. As expected, he found suspicious information when using Ingredient Identification on the river water.

-Common water from the unclean river flowing near the Ciel slums. It is able to be applied to food. * Advanced Additional Information: It seems like ordinary water but when looked at closely, the water from near the slums seems quite unclean. The unclean water is caused by serious pollution. Fortunately, there are no signs of serious pollution just yet but the descendants will need to be careful. Less than 1 year of damage will take decades for nature to recover.

‘There’s no doubt, this is the cause!’

After confirming the information about the river water, Ark picked the surrounding ingredients. Since there was no household water, environmental pollution seemed to be a real problem in New World.  And the first ones damaged by environmental pollution was the poor. Although the information window said the contamination wasn’t at a serious level yet, he didn’t know what happened to the ingredients affected by the unclean water. An ingredient might react with the pollution to cause a poison. In reality, weren’t there instances of carcinogens detected in food grown in polluted areas?

‘There might be a special hidden element in the ingredients that is activated by the contamination. If I find the right ingredient and use the drug extraction properties of Food Worshipper then I can make a simple antidote. But if I want to use the Food Worshipper technique then the survival pot is necessary……’

Ark looked at the ingredients with an unbearable expression. Currently Ark had left the pot with the Magic Institute. Even if he wanted to treat the residents of the slums, he couldn’t possible abandon his immortality pill that would be completed in 40 hours. However, 40 hours in real time was 120 hours for an NPC. That was five days. If Magaret had another seizure then he couldn’t guarantee she would live.

‘Ah, that’s right!’

Ark was worried for a while before he thought of a method. Tarun was a pharmacist for the slums. Even if he didn’t know about the contaminated river water, he was still a pharmacist. He should be equipped with appliances to handle herbs. When Ark returned to the slums, Tarun immediately gave permission. His character was straightforward.

“If you can cure the residents then I will help however possible.”

“Thank you, then please assist me.”

Ark arranged the medicinal herbs at Tarun’s house and started actively working. Unlike the automatic function of his survival pot, he had to manually use Tarun’s tools but he was somehow able to examine the ingredients.

-The ingredients do not match!

“Damn!”

However, the task was not as easy as he thought. Although he tried to extract various elements from the plants, none of them matched with the river water.

“Maybe there are other ingredients around?”

“Let’s see? That seems like all the tolerable ones…..”

Tarun scratched his head and replied. Of course, there might be some ingredients Tarun didn’t know about. However, if most of the slum residents were poisoned then it would have to be a common ingredient. If there was no other ingredients……

‘Wait, Magaret was the first one to show symptoms 1 year ago. If the ingredients were the cause of the disease then shouldn’t it have been around then? The surrounding ecosystem can’t just change in 1 year.

Ark suddenly had a thought and asked Tarun.

“Was there anything that changed around 1 year ago?”

“Something that changed? Again, I can’t think of anything big.”

“Anything is fine.”

“Ah, I think the ‘Seirun Workshop’ started in Ciel at that time.”

“Seirun Workshop?”

“Yes. The Seirun Workshop is the biggest alchemy workshop in Ciel.  It is among the top 5 in Bristania. Various potions that are supplied throughout the country is made in Ciel.”

Ark’s eyes flashed at Tarun’s words. ‘Job Then Ronnie’s mother caught the disease after her job was over!’ It was something he hadn’t considered. If it wasn’t a problem with the ingredients in the slums then it might be something they passed on the way to work. And it is the place where various herbs and alchemy potions are handled! So Ark’s investigation reached a turning point thanks to Tarun’s information.

—————————————————————————————————

-These advanced recovery potions are created using a special technique that combines 10 different herbs. And the Seirun workshop has made a special high density product. It is an essential item that can treat any injuries received in a battle. Once used, it will instantly recover +650 health. However, it will have no effect on abnormal states such as poison or disease.

“Hmm…..”

Ark shook a bottle containing a deep red liquid. After receiving the information from Tarun, he visited the Seirun workshop and bought a potion. The different areas in New World had specialty products. Then so-called brand name items existed. Simply speaking, iron goods created by dwarves were traded more often. That was because they were specialists with iron so their products had better performance. The NPCs who had mastered techniques would produce items that were brand named. Just like in reality, the branded goods were slightly more expensive but the performance was good.  And the city of Ciel in the magic kingdom of Bristania was known for producing brand name potions. While Seirun’s potions had a similar price to others, it recovered 100~150 more health than the other potion so it was considerably famous in Bristania. They also significantly reduced the labour costs by hiring residents of the slums.

‘Then the people who went to the Seirun workshop became ill?’

It was doubtful. However, there might be a problem among the herbs in the potion. Even if there were no problems with the herb, he couldn’t be relieved. Since the herbs might be a fairly unique ingredient, sometimes combining the ingredients will cause toxicity. In fact, thieves often used ‘Poison Manufacturing’ to mix herbs together to make poisons. However, it was already a liquid mixture so there was no recognisable ingredients.

‘As expected, is it impossible to investigate the ingredients in the potions?’

When buying the potion, Ark had politely asked for the herb combinations. That was the reason why he bought the potion. However, it was a brand name item so the herbal formulation was top secret. They wouldn’t teach it just because he asked. Therefore Ark was misunderstood as an industrial spy and kicked out.

‘But if it’s not the river water and plants around the slums then this must be it. Is there any way to check the ingredients in here?’

Ark shook the potion and thought until a fact he forgotten popped into his head.

‘Wait? That reminds me that there are a lot of transporters here. And the potions sold by the Seirun workshop was the centre of Ciel’s industry.  So there should be a lot of goods transported to and from the Seirun workshop.’

So Ark visited the Twilight tavern where transporters frequented a lot.

“That is correct. We deliver goods there and the finished products created by the Seirun workshop.”

The old man Ark previously helped nodded and replied. Ark showed great joy and asked.

“Can you tell me what type of ingredients you delivered to Seirun?”

“That’s a bit…..”

The old man scratched his head with hesitation.

The Seirun workshop supplied various potions to the entire southern area of Bristania. In order to maintain that type of market, it was necessary to defend the recipe. There were a lot of regulations that forbade the transporters and regular customers from mentioning it. However, Ark now had their full trust.

“Please just a little bit. I absolutely don’t have any bad intentions.”

“I know you’re not a bad person. But my company takes care of all the transportation around here. Rather than directly purchasing things and delivering them, Seirun just moves things around the head office. The boxes are already sealed up so I don’t know the contents. Besides, if they ever know that I let such information loose then I’ll be fired. I also have a wife and children.”

“Indeed…..”

Ark nodded his head although his gaze lingered on the old man. Then the old man made an inconvenient expression and sighed before muttering under his breath.

“Phew, it really is difficult…… Even if I don’t tell you, there is a method to figure it out……”

“Huh? What is that?”

“If you think it over then there is a way. Didn’t you accept my request before? Yesterday I was transporting something and received a surprise attack from kobolds, making me lose some luggage. I need to find it.  It is materials urgently requested by the Seirun workshop so they are pressuring me.

“I’m sorry, but this time…..”

Ark was about to answer when he suddenly raised his head. Then the old man smiled and winked. Now Ark could understand the old man’s intentions. The lost luggage was supposed to be delivered to Seirun workshop. In other words, it contained the information Ark wanted to know. Of course, the items were related to the quest so Ark wouldn’t be able to handle it freely. When receiving a quest, there was some kind of contract that didn’t allow the related items to be sold at a store or consumed. But Ark didn’t intend to consume or sell it.  In other words, he could confirm the contents of the box.

“Since the box was handled by monsters, you can’t be held responsible even if the box was opened.”

“Thank you!”

“I should be thanking you for answering my requests…..”

Ark grasped the old man’s hand who just laughed and shook his head. This was the first time Ark was grateful to the Jackson’s Hero title. Since coming to Ciel for two days, he had done the luggage quest at least 20 times so he had a high degree of intimacy with the NPC. In addition, there was the problem of what would happen if the old man was caught be the Seirun workshop. Without a high amount of intimacy, he wouldn’t have given him that hint. Thanks to the special effect of Jackson’s Hero, he received a 30% bonus in intimacy with all NPCs instead of fame. Because of that special effect, Ark managed to get a hint from the old man after only two days. Anyway, Ark accepted the quest and headed to the monster’s territory. After retrieving the luggage, he checked the contents.

‘…… Was my guess wrong?’

However, disappointment showed on Ark’s face when he checked the contents. Inside the box were ordinary herbs.

‘No, I still don’t understand properly. Sometimes the herb formulation can vary according to the ingredients.’

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He purchased the contents in Ciel and tested them at Tarun’s house, but he was unable to find anything that would cause sickness. However, there was no doubt that it played a role. Ark was introduced to other old men and completed different transporter quests. It was to investigate the herbs delivered from other areas. However, that was nothing different.

‘Does Magaret’s sickness have nothing to do with the Seirun workshop? I’m back to the starting point.’

Ark had fallen into a maze and once again headed into the slums. Suddenly, a middle aged person wearing flashy clothes approached from one side.

“Hey. Are you Ark?”

“Yes, that’s right……”

He stopped moving and the middle aged man happily approached.

“Ah, as expected. I’ve heard the rumours.”

“Rumours?”

“The rumours have spread between the transporters delivering to our Seirun workshop.”

“The workshop….. You mean Seirun workshop?”

“You already know? Then this talk will be quick.  In fact, I am Agathe the owner of the Seirun workshop in Ciel. There is so much trouble with the surrounding monsters that deliveries are often behind schedule. But over the last few days, I’ve heard that you’ve found all the goods for the transporters.  In addition, unlike other foreigners you completed the task in one hour.”

Agathe made a friendly expression and moved closer.

“The transporters praised you so much that I specially came to you for a special favour. In fact, there has been a slightly unbearable problem. Shortly before they arrived, some workers were attacked near Rocky Mountain and had their luggage stolen. That luggage is more expensive than the others……”

Agathe coughed and said.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ve been a little annoyed. Anyway, I need those ingredients immediately. Can you find it for me? If you bring it back this evening then I’ll double, no triple what the transporters promised.”

Ark had a sudden flash at Agate’s words.

‘Luggage transported directly….. Oh my god, why didn’t I think of it until now?’

If the manufacturing process was a secret then would the Seirun workshop entrust the important herbs to transporters? If Ark was the owner then he would only entrust the common ingredients to the transporters for the sake of security. Just as he was thinking this, Agathe added in a low voice.

“But don’t even think about opening the luggage. These days there are many people eager to plagiarize our techniques. Just now some guy tried to question the Seirun workshop. The items were stolen just 2 hours ago so it is impossible for the sealed iron box to be opened yet. If I find any evidence that the box is open then you’ll be formally accused.  Do you understand?”

‘This guy is the owner of the workshop? Why do I smell something fishy coming from his words?’

Ark thought that as he saw Agathe’s unpleasant face. Anyway, a quest information window appeared after Agathe’s threat.

-A request from Agathe, owner of the Seirun workshop. Agathe, the owner of the famous Seirun workshop in Ciel has an important quest for you. While the most important ingredient for Seirun’s brand potion, it was attacked and stolen by monsters. After hearing about your fame among the transporters, Agathe has commissioned you to regain the goods. If you recover the goods then you will receive three times the normal reward given by transporters. However, if there are any traces of the luggage being damaged they there quest will be failed and you will have a hostile relationship with its workshop. Difficulty level: C Quest restriction: Completed more than 25 transport related quests.

‘This is an opportunity!’

Ark’s eyes sparkled as he checked the contents of the quest. It was the herb important to the Seirun workshop! If the mysterious disease affected the residents of the slum was related to the Seirun workshop then there was a 90% chance it was this herb. This belief hardened even more after seeing Agathe’s attitude.

“Please leave it to me!”

There was a faint smile on Ark’s mouth as he grasped Agathe’s hand.

—————————————————————————————————

Kuaaaaak!

The knife blade fell down weakly as the monster collapsed. It was a white monkey inhabiting the cave near the Rocky Mountains called the Etin. In contrast with the monsters he normally dealt with, this one was level 250. Ciel normally had level 200 users so this would be a difficult opponent for them. But Ark was level 366 so he cut down the Etin and searched the cave. A small box was visible near a group of Etin. The angel stamped on the side of the box was the trademark of the Seirun workshop.

-You have found the quest item ‘Seirun’s lost luggage.’ * Quest completion: 10/10

“Okay, with this it’s finished.”

Ark looked at the iron box and laughed. However, he had to think a bit before finishing the quest.

‘If my guess if right, there is a high chance the substance in the box is related to Magaret’s disease. But if my guess is wrong……’

The quest from the Seirun workshop would be considered failed if the luggage was opened. Well, Ark didn’t really care about failing the quest. Agathe promised triple the normal rewards, which was 1 gold and 80 silver and 30 extra fame. It wasn’t to the extent that Ark would hesitate.

‘It will be a problem if my relationship with the Seirun workshop becomes hostile.’

Although Agathe threatened him, Ark was the one taking care of the Etins. He could just say the Etins had already plundered the baggage. Since he was the only witness, who could prove that Ark did the crime? However, the Seirun workshop had a lot of influence in the southern region of Bristania. Even if he was acquitted, there was no guarantee what his hostile relationship with the Seirun workshop would cause. Were Magaret and the residents of the slums worth the risk? So he worried about taking back the luggage and just waited. But close just closed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head.

‘It’s not a problem where I can discuss the value.’

He couldn’t give up after thinking about Ronnie.

‘Yes. I’ve already started it. Come, I’ll finish it!’

There was no reason to think about a bad result. If the herb from the Seirun workshop caused the illness then it could cure the residents. If he was wrong and his relationship with the workshop became hostile then he would just have to work to improve it. Who knows? Maybe the Seirun workshop will just decrease their promised additional compensation?

‘Yes, quests in New World don’t just have one ending. If I open the box then I’ll fail the quest but I might be able to receive additional rewards from a different branched quest!’

Kwakwang!

Ark drove his sword into the box. The solid iron box was crushed immediately and the contents flowed out. As he guessed, most of the goods were herbs. Ark confirmed the list of herbs. When he used Ingredient Identification on the quest item, all he could confirm was the name. After confirming the ingredients, he bought the ingredients in Ciel and investigated.

‘My guess is correct!’

After buying the list of ingredients in Ciel, he was able to investigate the ingredients and finally found the element causing the sickness. However, he became even more confused after reading through the information.

‘Eh, wait? This is clearly the cause. But this…..?’

—————————————————————————————————

“Ah, Ark hyung!”

He heard Ronnie’s voice as soon as he entered the slums. But Ronnie’s expression didn’t look normal. Ronnie’s pale face had tears streaming down it as he clung to Ark.

“Ark hyung, my mother…… Mother…..”

“What’s going on? What’s wrong with your mother?”

“She had a seizure. It’s more severe than yesterday. Tarun ajusshi says there is no chance now……”

“Damn, while I was out…..!”

Ark grasped Ronnie’s hand and hurried into the shack. When he entered through the door, he shrank back from the horrible scream. Magaret was having terrible spasms. From afar, he could see that the whole body was twisted and heated like a fireball. However, Ark was more worried about the black red spots on her body.

‘As expected, all Nursing did yesterday was ease Magaret’s pain. The unknown sickness is continuing to worsen.  And I know from reading the ingredients information that it was most dangerous when the spots turned fully red. In this state, she won’t be able to hold on for ten minutes before being unable to breath.’

“Have courage! If you endure just a little bit then you can win against the disease! No, you’ll definitely win. I’ll do anything to help you live happily with Ronnie again!”

Ark used Nursing continuously but her seizure didn’t stop. The unknown sickness had reached the worse stage then even Nursing didn’t have an effect.

“Ahh, Ronnie…… Ronnie…..!”

“Mother, Mother!”

‘Nursing already doesn’t work!’

Ronnie’s cries of distress echoed in his ear and he clenched his teeth firmly. If Nursing didn’t work then there was only one way left. He had to make a pill before she loses her willpower completely. Ark turned his body and ran to the table. While sweeping everything off the table, he shouted towards Tarun.

“Please bring all your alchemy tools!”

“What? You’re going to make the cure now?”

“There is no time to explain! Just do as I say!”

Ark growled at Tarun. Then Tarun turned hesitantly around ran out.

“Ronnie, there’s no time. Go to the magic ingredients store right now and buy me these herbs!”

“But my mother……”

“I said there is no time!”

Ark wrote down the list of materials from the Seirun box and handed it over before shouting.  Of course, Ark had a bunch of materials from the boxes he recovered. However, it was a quest material so he couldn’t use it. So he was going to buy the same ingredients separately. Ronnie shed tears at the yell and ran away.

‘It is surprisingly simple to make the medicine to treat this sickness. It is different to my thoughts of food poisoning. It’s simply poisoning. Of course, the disease has developed beyond simple poisoning after being neglected for so long. But if I have the ingredients then I can use the Food Worshipper’s Herbal Decoction to make the cure. The problem is whether Magaret can hold out until then.’

Ark continuously used Nursing on Margaret. Magaret was in the final stages of the disease so Nursing only had a 1/10 chance of working. Whether in reality or the game, Nursing didn’t work properly because Magaret had suffered for so long that she had given up from weariness. But Ark knew. Even if they were tired with pain, all mothers in existence would be motivated by the magic words.

“If you give up then Ronnie will become an orphan. Do you know? What type of life an orphaned child will have? So far Ronnie had been taking care of you. But you are mistaken if you think he can live well by himself. Ronnie will be even more of an outcast if you give up……”

Ark clenched his teeth together and continued shouting.

“You are suffering from the disease! Ronnie can’t even boil warm soup! Ronnie is scraping money together just to buy painkillers for you! This is all because of his mother’s presence.  Shall I tell you the truth? If you die then Ronnie will also die. Rather, if you give up and die then Ronnie will shortly follow!”

Ark would shout similar words whenever Magaret entered a dangerous situation. Ark’s eyes flashed as Magaret responded to his words. Then he bit his lower lip and clenched his fist firmly. Tears suddenly welled in Ark’s eyes. Ark’s strength came because he remembered his mother’s existence. If he was alone then he would be filled with regret and give up without his mother’s existence. Even when his flesh and soul became tattered, as a child he instinctively felt like he had to protect his mother. God was an abstract existence. Yet his mother was comparable to a god to him as he devoted his life to her. Ark held back his tears and hugged her.

“Well done. I know. It is painful enough to die. Rather, the pain is so much that you want to die. But you have to put up with it. Please be patient and endure it. Not for your sake but for Ronnie. He is your only child! I’ll definitely make sure you get better!”

“Hah, hah, hah, hah!”

Magaret’s harsh breathing was her answer.

“Ark hyung!”

Then Ronnie ran in while breathing heavily.

Ark stood up and left her to Ronnie, running to the table. Then he began to combine various ingredients using the tools Tarun lined up. Magaret continued breathing harshly and struggled with her pain. However, Ark blocked his ears and just focused on combining the ingredients.

‘I don’t have time. If this fails then it is over!’

How much time had passed? The materials which had been separated in the experimental pipe gradually harmonized together. Then it emitted a pale light and the information window appeared.

-You have created the antidote which emits a pale light. After extracting the various poisonous elements from the herbs, you have succeeded in blending together a cure to the poison. If you use this antidote then the poison elements were be unravelled. * However, only the poison from the poisonous herb can be used to decipher an antidote.

“That’s it!”

Ark poured the antidote into a bowl and fed it to Magaret. At that moment, an amazing thing happened. The expression which showed her suffering for over 1 year eased up and the black red spots disappeared. Magaret moaned like she had just awakened from a nightmare and raised the upper part of her body.

“Uh, Mother. The spots……”

“R-Ronnie, it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Uh, Mother!”

Ronnie shed heavy tears and hugged her. Ark finally sighed and flopped to the ground.

“It’s lucky….. Now all the toxins in her body is dissolving. But please don’t force it for a while. Your body has become quite weak so you should rest for a while.”

At the same time, an information window appeared in front of Ark.

-You have healed a sick person who was dying. Thanks to the nature of Food Worshipper, a special bonus has been given. <Experience +1000, Fame +70>

‘Hah……’

Ark looked at the information window with bemusement and laughed.  That reminded him of something he had forgotten. Quests, title and hunting chaotic players. There was also another way to get fame. It was to treat sick people using Food Worshipper. In the past, he also received a considerable amount of fame when treating the Galgin.

“Y-You! What did you do? What the…..?”

Tarun’s mouth dropped as he stuttered. Ark turned around and saw Tarun’s stupid expression. Then he smiled and said.

“Guide me to the other people who caught the mysterious disease.”

Under Tarun’s guidance, Ark treated the sick residents of the slums. Now that he knew the method, treatment was very simple. He used Nursing to help the recuperate then made them eat the antidote.  After an hour had passed, Ark managed to treat over 30 sick people in the slums. Surprisingly, he received 30,000 experience and 2100 fame for treating them. That was 10 times more than Ark got in the last two days for the repeatable quests. Thanks to that, Ark managed to gain 1 level and acquire the needed fame. However, Ark didn’t go to the martial arts dojo right away.

There was still work left to do.

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