By Zephyria 
“Uh, no? I don’t think Ga-eun Noona was there at the time. Eun-ho Hyung, right?”
“If my memory serves, Noona was looking for land to farm with the nun.”
“I see.”
He accepted the answer without much contradiction. People forget things that happened yesterday; it was only natural that even Tae-un might misremember something from twenty-one years ago.
To stop Lee Han-gyeol’s endless chatter, Yang Eun-ho and the head of the research department brought over the frozen case containing the magic stones. When the case was opened, several types of magic stones were visible, still stained with flesh and blood.
“Are you refining them using the power of faith from the start?”
Magic is required to refine magic stones. However, as far as Lee Han-gyeol could see, there was no preparation on the table to draw a magic circle. Even the baby crow, which had once performed the astonishing feat of holding a pen with its foot to draw a magic circle, was merely perched quietly on top of Kim Si-baek’s head.
“Hmm, to extract maximum efficiency for making medicine, refining with the power of faith is more effective than magic. Furthermore, on Earth—that is, if you refine them with magic, the damage is severe.”
As far as Kim Si-baek knew, the average damage rate on Earth was currently around 90 percent. In contrast, when he refined them with divine power, the damage was around 50 percent.
The crowd was greatly surprised to hear this. The head of the research department, in particular, forgot all propriety and asked impulsively.
“Does that even make sense? No, it’s not that I don’t believe you!”
“Refining with the power of faith has characteristics different from magic. However, the one I serve is the God of Death and Beauty, who has little to do with the creation of magic stones, so the efficiency is actually lower.”
All divine lineages began from the first gods who opened the world, Heegu and Changje. Since the source of the gods is the same, there is a general effect even if it is not the area they preside over. Because Biyendwe presided over death, he had a foot in the door regarding the refinement of magic stones from magical beasts that had met their end.
[The God of Death and Beauty is feeling smug, thinking your god can exploit niches in various fields.]
“Ah…”
The head of the research department, who had been burning with curiosity, suddenly became calm. Unlike her, who tried to hide an expression of distaste as if looking at a severe cultist, Yang Eun-ho was confused. The more he experienced it, the more he got the strange feeling that this wasn’t a concept or a cult, but the real deal.
Regardless of the two, Lee Han-gyeol—who had established the absolute premise that ‘Believing in Tae-un = Believing in Kim Si-baek’—recovered quickly.
Having decided not to think about whatever Kim Si-baek did, Lee Han-gyeol asked.
“Hyung-nim, are you refining them now?”
“Yes, I will begin.”
The magic stones he had requested were all collected from poisonous magical beasts. To refine them with magic, one would have to draw and set up a magic circle first, but Kim Si-baek did not do so. Light began to gather in his open palms, as if enveloping the edges of the gathered magic stones.
“…!”
The three people, who had been watching without much thought, half-doubting and suspecting they were being tricked by a fraud, widened their eyes simultaneously. The magic stones, enveloped in the clusters of light in his hands, floated into the air and melted completely. The head of the research department, in particular, gaped open her mouth, looking back and forth between the video recording on her phone and the sight before her eyes.
The light clumped in Kim Si-baek’s palms, enveloping the magic stones, grew brighter, yet it was not dazzling. Rather, there was a strange sensation that the eyes watching the light felt comfortable.
It wasn’t clear what was happening to the magic stones inside the bright light. However, there was a definite change. Things that looked like black ash began to fall slowly. The head of the research department, who had been keeping her lips tightly shut for fear of interfering, finally couldn’t hold back.
“What is that falling right now?!”
“It is the residue of the magical beast.”
The blood and flesh of the magical beast, which had been messily smeared on the surface of the magic stones, were being purified. While the three of them were gulping nervously, the magic stones finally dropped from within the light with a series of clacks.
“Uh, what?!”
The fallen magic stones had lost their color and become opaquely blurred. It was as if the essence inside had been completely stripped away.
Common sense dictated that magic stones retain their form even after refinement. It was only natural that Lee Han-gyeol, a mage, and the head of the research department were more surprised than Yang Eun-ho by this result that defied common sense.
Kim Si-baek transferred the cluster of light in his hand, from which all unnecessary magic stone material had been removed, into a prepared glass bottle. The light, which seeped into the glass bottle like a concentrated liquid, slowly settled.
“It will take a little time, but the work is all finished.”
As soon as he announced the end, the head of the research department hurriedly measured the concentration of the magic stones. And she was even more surprised by the result of 0 percent. It meant that everything had been extracted without a single residue.
“So, you mean you moved everything you cut down to 50 percent into that glass bottle?”
“Yes. Oh, and I left this one intentionally so you could measure the concentration.”
Kim Si-baek handed over the only magic stone among the opaque ones that had not lost its color. The measurement result was 50 percent.
‘This is the power of faith…’
Even the head of the research department, who had been the most skeptical, felt her heart begin to beat for the cult.
“Hyung-nim! The color is changing! No, is it being revealed?”
Lee Han-gyeol, who had been staring at the glass bottle, exclaimed. Before they knew it, the light in the glass bottle gradually faded and disappeared completely before everyone’s eyes. What remained in the glass bottle was a pitch-black liquid.
Once the excitement of witnessing a groundbreaking refinement method subsided, the liquid properly entered their sight.
“…”
It wasn’t just a pitch-black liquid; it was sticky, as if something viscous had clumped together, and bubbles seemed to pop and boil. In short, it was a bizarre liquid that looked as if it had risen from the gates of hell. Even rubbing their eyes and looking again, it didn’t look like an antidote. Rather, it was closer to a poison.
Yang Eun-ho asked tentatively.
“Exactly what kind of efficacy does this reagent have?”
“It is a poison.”
“…”
“You could call it the principle of using poison to treat poison.”
To put it in a metaphor, it meant that to treat a person poisoned by pufferfish toxin, they had collected and extracted toxins from pit vipers, poisonous toads, poisonous spiders, and so on, to create a new poison.
“Um, so this poison… must be ingested?”
“That is correct.”
“By any chance, the taste is…”
“It tastes like concentrated poison.”
“…”
Yang Eun-ho firmly resolved that he must never be poisoned again when hunting magical beasts in the future.
Saying that the (poison) medicine must be drunk immediately to be effective, Kim Si-baek returned to the penthouse right away. Yang Eun-ho and Lee Han-gyeol followed, curious about Tae-un’s reaction.
“Can I drink it now?”
And Tae-un, surprisingly—truly surprisingly—took the glass bottle without any sign of hesitation and downed the poison in one gulp. There was no change in his expression, as if he were drinking plain water rather than poison.
Kim Si-baek, who had brought a whole bunch of candies, chocolates, and caramels to cleanse the palate, was the one who was surprised. This was an extreme reagent that often led people to vomit or even run away, claiming they would rather die poisoned.
“Are you okay?”
“Mmm.”
Tae-un, who closed his eyes and remained still as if gauging his condition, opened his three-hundred eyes suggestively.
“Hyung…”
“Yes, yes. Tell me anything.”
“My body is hot…”
“…”
Slap.
Hearing the affectionate sound of a forearm being smacked, Yang Eun-ho and Lee Han-gyeol had a similar thought: To have the leisure to talk nonsense after drinking poison, what truly is love?
Tae-un, having taken the medicine, said he needed to rest and lay down, covering himself with a blanket. Because of this, no one saw him barely catching his breath, his complexion turning even paler than before he drank the medicine.
He must not be caught by Kim Si-baek. With that single determination, Tae-un grit his teeth.
✽ ✽ ✽
Na Jeong-woo was burning with passion.
He had been released after his innocence was proven when it was revealed he had been used like a puppet, but what an immense humiliation this was.
‘I will definitely catch that bastard with my own hands!’
Furthermore, contrary to his overflowing confidence that he would soon be promoted to S-class, it was revealed that he wasn’t even at the top of A-class. It meant his operation of magical power was that lacking.
Having firmly set the goals of catching the real culprit and expanding his method of operating magical power enough to unlock Awakened-specific handcuffs by himself, Na Jeong-woo’s eyes blazed. Seeing that he had lost his mind, Pi Min-hyeong even gave him a vacation, saying, “I’ll let you rest, so do whatever you want. But it’s unpaid.”
Na Jeong-woo, who had temporarily stepped away from the attack squad’s field hunting, searched near the company building every day with the sole intention of flushing out the culprit.
‘Once I get a lead on his tail, I’ll just…’
As Na Jeong-woo scanned the surroundings thoroughly with a murderous gaze, intending to tear the culprit apart, something unusual caught his eye.
Across the road, a foreigner wearing sunglasses was hurriedly disappearing between buildings.