"What on earth... are you making?"
"Oh. I was just making so dicinal tonic."
"...Tonic? With cola and cider?"
Splash...!
Seong Jihan was pouring cola and cider into a large pot.
To anyone watching, it didn't look like he was making a tonic at all.
"I created a new recipe."
"Recipe...?"
"Yeah. You mix cola and cider, boil it, then add so void..."
Whoosh...
Void energy rose from Seong Jihan's body.
A purple aura entered the pot.
As the void mixed with the bubbling cola and cider mixture,
The liquid in the pot quickly turned purple.
With thick smoke rising from it, it looked almost like poison at first glance.
But.
"It's done."
Seong Jihan grinned as he looked at the ssage that appeared before him.
['Void EXP Potion' has been created.]
Mix cola and cider, boil it, then add void.
That was the recipe for the SSS grade experience potion, 'Void EXP Potion', that Seong Jihan had created.
"This is... the finished product?"
"Yeah. It's a potion that consus the void in your body to level you up."
"...The void disappears when you drink that? And it even levels you up?"
Seong Jiah looked dumbfounded at her brother's words.
Void.
Wasn't it the power of annihilation that even the World Tree Alliance had struggled to overco?
To eliminate it with that mixture of cola and cider, and even get rewarded with a level up on top of that...
"If that's true, what has the cosmic tree been doing all this ti? They've tried everything to get rid of void."
"Ah. Back then, this manufacturing thod was impossible. This is sothing I just ca up with."
"You can do that...?"
"The administrator authority has more interesting features than I thought. Especially the blue power."
Seong Jihan didn't explicitly ntion being a server administrator, instead saying he created the recipe with the blue power.
There was no need to talk about servers, which would lead to discussions about Ark and even the new humanity.
After all, there was no point in telling her they were lab rats.
"Well then, let's see."
Swish.
As Seong Jihan gestured, the liquid floated in the air.
He transferred it to a cup and took a drink.
Then,
[Void stat decreases by 30.]
[Level increases by 1.]
For each cup, void decreased by 30 and level increased by 1.
'Instant level up... that's quite effective.'
Considering that Jihan, as an administrator, needed much more experience to level up compared to regular players,
Getting a level up from just one cup was worthy of the SSS grade.
[This amount of experience gain seems deserving of EX grade... the grading seems generous.]
'It cuts 30 from the void stat. There aren't many cases where you'd cut your own stats to level up.'
While void would consu its owner if it accumulated too much, until then, it boasted destructive power surpassing any other ability.
From the perspective of regular players seeking power, they wouldn't choose to level up by cutting such a valuable stat.
'Except for cases like mine where void can be infinitely charged, most people probably wouldn't drink this potion even if they had it.'
People levelled up to increase their stats.
There was no reason to level up by cutting your abilities.
Even Seong Jiah, who was once the Witch of The Void and still had so void stat,
"How much void does it cut when you drink that?"
"30."
"30...? I better not drink it then. I want to keep so of my void stat."
After hearing that the Void EXP Potion cuts 30 void, she gave up on drinking it.
'Well, I could actually replenish sis's void if needed...'
But there was no need to show off too much until dealing with Urd.
Seong Jihan decided to save Seong Jiah's infinite level up for later.
"Alright. Then I'll drink it alone."
He started gulping down the potion he made.
When he had emptied about half the pot and raised his level by about 5,
"Oh? Uncle, what's the occasion? Are you cooking?"
Yoon Seah, who discovered Seong Jihan and Seong Jiah in the kitchen, approached with curious eyes.
Then,
"...What's that purple liquid? That smoke... isn't that void?"
"Jihan says it's a level up potion he made."
"Level up potion? Uncle, you should share things like that!"
After hearing Seong Jiah's words, she excitedly approached the pot.
"Hey. You lose 30 void for each cup you drink."
"30? Then I can drink one cup. I've been slowly growing so void anyway."
Swish.
Yoon Seah quickly grabbed a cup and ladle as she said this.
Seong Jihan looked at her with surprised eyes.
"Your void increased? Why?"
"Well... my fusion core has been growing on its own."
The fusion core, that was certainly...
'The vessel created when void followers injected void into Seah.'
Yoon Seah's vessel, where the great vessel of void mixed with stat blue.
Seong Jihan had tried to eliminate it entirely, but the fusion core kept regenerating even when void was reduced to 1, so he had no choice but to leave it.
"Tell if you feel anything strange."
"Well... Uncle, you've seed busy lately. And I can barely feel the fusion core, so I left it alone... The void stat growth only happened in the past few days."
Yoon Seah mumbled her response to Seong Jihan's pointed question.
"Hmm..."
Seong Jihan examined the fusion core inside her body.
Indeed, the fusion core that had shrunk to the size of a fingernail was now several tis larger than before.
'For void to increase on its own here... I can't figure out how it's being generated.'
Since acquiring void control authority, he had developed an instinctive sense for void.
But Yoon Seah's fusion core was completely baffling.
Even though stat blue was his ability, and he had perfect understanding of void, why couldn't he figure this out?
'I'll have to summon the Black Administrator later and interrogate him about this.'
After all, it was the Black Administrator who had wanted Yoon Seah so badly in the first place.
He needed to find out why an AI was so obsessed with her.
Of course, right now the Black Administrator was busy keeping tabs on Urd, so it wasn't the ti to ask.
'I'll summon him as soon as he has so free ti.'
Having made that decision, Seong Jihan spoke to Yoon Seah.
"How much void do you have now?"
"35..."
"Then try drinking two cups of that."
"Can, can I? But won't that cut 60 void?"
"That's how the simple math works out."
But just like how the fusion core didn't break even when void was reduced to 1 last ti,
Seong Jihan guessed that so void would remain even after drinking two cups of the potion this ti.
And,
"Ugh... why does this taste like this? Shouldn't it be sweet if it's mixed cola and cider?"
"Good dicine is usually bitter."
"This is a bit too much though..."
Yoon Seah, who had frowned at first after drinking the Void EXP Potion,
"Whoa...? What, what is this... my level increased by 30?"
Soon widened her eyes in surprise.
Then,
Gulp. Gulp.
Forgetting her complaints about the taste, she quickly drank another cup of the potion.
"This ti it went up by 4... I guess it's 1 level per 1 void?"
"Yeah. And it looks like you always keep at least 1 void."
"Right. There was no change when I drank half a cup."
This ti she scooped half a cup more from the pot, and nodded when she saw no level change.
"You should drink that whenever your void accumulates for a while. I'll keep it in the fridge."
"Oh, then am I drinking your share too? That seems a bit unfair."
"I can always make more. Just mix cola and cider 1:1, then add void and it's done."
"...Wow. Is that really how you make it? Then I could make it too, right?"
"Yeah. But you need to add 100 void to the pot to activate it."
After hearing the potion recipe from Seong Jihan, Yoon Seah nodded.
"No wonder the thod seed too simple... I guess I can't make it. Where would I get 100 void from?"
"There was 100 void in that pot? Jihan... how much void do you have?"
"Well... a decent amount, I guess?"
In reality, he was at 9999, but Seong Jihan answered calmly.
"Then I'll need to make more. Seah, could you buy so more drinks?"
"Ah, sure. But... does the brand matter for both drinks? Can I buy zero-calorie versions?"
Was she worried about calories?
Seong Jihan smirked at Yoon Seah ntioning zero-calorie drinks.
"It shouldn't matter. Adding 100 void to the pot is the most important part."
"I see. Then I'll buy various kinds~"
As Yoon Seah left, shortly after,
Beep. Beep.
Yoon Seah returned with a large bag full of drinks, and Sophia, carrying far fewer bottles, entered the house.
"You two ca together?"
"Ah, I t Sophia at the mart, and she said she had sothing to talk about, so we ca together."
"Sothing to talk about?"
As Seong Jihan looked at Sophia in response,
"Jihan. I, I heard that voice again."
"The voice? You don't an about the sword, do you?"
"Yes. They say the sword has returned to its original place!"
She inford him that the Infinite Sword had withdrawn from Ark's southern sector.
* * *
The next day.
At the top floor of the Tower.
"While I was absorbed in the sword, many things happened..."
Dongbang Sak stroked his beard as he listened to Seong Jihan recount recent events.
"That aside, since the Infinite Sword has withdrawn from the southern sector... are you planning to re-enter Ark soon?"
"Not right away, but I'm thinking of going once preparations are complete."
"Preparations... What kind of preparations do you have in mind?"
"I need to raise my stat blue and white light as much as possible before going. I've been drinking potions all day today too."
The Void EXP Potion.
It was a valuable item that drastically shortened the leveling process he had been struggling with until now, but,
'...I should have made the recipe more palatable.'
Seong Jihan was completely sick of it after drinking it day and night.
He had co to visit Dongbang Sak at the Tower partly for a change of pace from drinking the potion.
"Well, I think I'll go within a week. Actually, I'm starting to feel like white light growth is reaching its limit."
"White light?"
"Yes. It would have already reached its limit if I hadn't received the skin graft from the Black Administrator's hand."
His current stat white light of 250.
The power of light had grown rapidly after receiving the hand skin graft, but was now starting to feel limited.
'It seems like 300 might be the cap for white light...'
To gain more white light from here, he might need to implant artificial organs like Id had shown.
'I should check out the dical bay when I have ti in Ark.'
As Seong Jihan was thinking this,
"A week, you say... Then, could you perhaps summon there?"
"Summon... you?"
"That's right."
Saying this, Dongbang Sak took out his Taiji Sword.
He flicked it with his finger.
Then,
The light at the tip of the sword disappeared, and that part beca transparent.
"I've managed to imitate the Infinite Sword a bit... but I can't do more. If I could see it with my own eyes, I think I could develop it further."
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