He couldn’t help but laugh.
Was there any Player who could look at results like these and not smile?
He could say with certainty—none.
Riding the montum, Su-ho scanned through the rest of his items.
Then three materials caught his eye:
Dragon’s Fang (S)
Claw of the Monster Lion (S)
Hide of the Monster Lion (S)
“Mhm.”
His brows narrowed.
The Dragon’s Fang had been taken from the Tower Dragon, while the monster lion parts had co from clearing the first of Hercules’ Twelve Labors.
‘The claw will probably be classified as bone, so it’ll likely be processed back into a material item, and the hide will obviously lt away.’
So the hide was out.
That left the Dragon’s Fang and the Monster Lion’s Claw.
He checked their details.
[ Dragon’s Fang ]
Grade: S
# Fang of a great dragon.
# Those pierced by it are afflicted with the curse “Unhealable (S).”
[ Claw of the Monster Lion ]
Grade: S
# Claw of the monster lion that reigned as the king of the Iron Valley.
# Incredibly hard and sharp—nothing can resist its cut.
Su-ho’s gaze sharpened.
Compared to the clear curse effect on the Dragon’s Fang, the Monster Lion’s Claw had a vague description.
Based on his experience with the furnace, the Dragon’s Fang would likely produce a definite result, while the claw felt like a gamble.
Which made the choice simple.
‘I’m not breaking into my safe savings for a quick gamble.’
Unless the situation was exceptional, gambling was never the right move.
And he wasn’t about to lt the Dragon’s Fang either.
It wasn’t a middling material—used as-is, it was excellent.
‘If I’m lting sothing in the furnace, it should be a piece of equipnt whenever possible.’
With that, Su-ho canceled the furnace operation.
There was nothing else to lt.
Stowing it away, he checked the ti, then pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Yeah, it’s . What’s the status of the current incoming materials?”
After ending the call, he started dialing elsewhere—
He still had plenty of ti.
Much later, deliveries began arriving at Su-ho’s ho.
They ca in unmarked boxes, brought in as always by Union staff waiting outside his Cheongdam residence.
When the last box was carried into the living room, Su-ho opened one.
Inside was a familiar insect.
A fully grown Bloodsucker Caterpillar.
And that wasn’t all—
Other boxes were filled with the remaining ingredients for Gi Seung-hwan: shards of the Apothecary’s Vessel, and fragnts from the Artisan’s Sculpture, neatly sorted.
‘Why waste ti resting? Might as well raise my skill ranks whenever I have a chance.’
Gi Seung-hwan was absurd as an item—
just consuming it could skyrocket a skill’s EXP and make upgrading its rank trivial.
The only reason it had been banned so quickly was because its ingredient sourcing was... less than humane.
But Su-ho didn’t care.
He hadn’t harvested it from innocent people—it was made from the vital essence of criminal Players.
Punishnt in Korea was far too lenient.
Even in this age of cataclysm, where people died daily, capital punishnt was still prohibited—
a holdover from the old civilian legal system.
Not that he intended to waste ti reforming a broken system.
His only goal was the eradication of Gates.
Rejoining the Grand Hunter Association and becoming a civil servant again had nothing to do with patriotism or political ambition—it was purely for efficiency in closing Gates.
As usual, Su-ho activated the [Low-grade Combination Recipe].
The combination pot appeared, and he placed the ingredients inside.
[ You have placed a fully grown Bloodsucker Caterpillar into the combination pot. ]
[ You have placed shards of the Apothecary’s Vessel into the combination pot. ]
[ You have placed fragnts of the Artisan’s Sculpture into the combination pot. ]
Just as he was about to trigger the recipe, a thought occurred.
‘If the formula’s the sa, couldn’t I just use Synthesis instead of Combination?’
He’d never considered it before—combination was safer.
But now, thanks to morize, he had access to Interdiate Synthesis without needing to ask anyone else and risk leaking the recipe.
He decided to test it.
[ Interdiate Synthesis activated. ]
[ Synthesizing: Fully grown Bloodsucker Caterpillar, Apothecary’s Vessel shards, Artisan’s Sculpture fragnts. ]
System prompts—and then:
[ Synthesis successful. ]
[ Acquired: Gi Seung-hwan (S) ]
As expected, synthesis worked perfectly.
‘Of course.’
Synthesis was the higher-tier skill—if combination worked, synthesis certainly would.
Still, he double-checked Gi Seung-hwan’s info.
[ Gi Seung-hwan ]
Grade: S
# A mysterious elixir that raises skill EXP levels upon consumption. Best not to know how it’s made.
# Upon consumption, massively increases EXP of the chosen skill.
Exactly the sa.
No surprises.
But as he studied the details, a thought struck him—
‘Hmph, feels like there should be a higher tier.’
In his previous life, Gi Seung-hwan had been created by a Player known as “Chungma.”
It was S-grade, incredibly powerful—so much so that keeping its existence secret was more important than upgrading it.
It had been banned almost imdiately upon release.
Most attempts since had been pale imitations.
But now—
‘I’ve got the original Gi Seung-hwan.’
And the synthesis trait, known as the Mixer’s Privilege.
The difference between combination and synthesis was whether the base material survived failure—combination destroyed all ingredients, while synthesis left the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° main one intact.
No reason to hesitate.
Chungma wouldn’t appear until the mid-cataclysm—until then, he could make as many as he wanted.
‘Let’s try it.’
Even if it failed, the loss would be minimal.
With that, Su-ho began mass-producing Gi Seung-hwan for use as synthesis fodder.
[ Interdiate Synthesis activated. ]
[ Fully grown Bloodsucker Caterpillar, Apothecary’s Vessel shards, Artisan’s Sculpture fragnts. ]
[ Synthesis successful. Acquired: Gi Seung-hwan (S) ]
Again and again, until he had a sizable stockpile.
‘Alright, let’s start with one.’
[ Interdiate Synthesis activated. ]
[ Synthesizing Gi Seung-hwan. ]
[ Synthesis failed. ]
No surprise there.
He began increasing the number—
Two, three, four, five, six...
Failures all around.
System ssages filled his vision, deleting all but the main Gi Seung-hwan each ti.
It was wasteful—but he kept going.
By the ti he reached ten at once, he hesitated.
‘Should I stop?’
But he shook his head.
He’d chosen to see this through.
Exploration was always the hardest in uncharted territory.
On the eleventh attempt—
[ Interdiate Synthesis activated. ]
[ Synthesizing Gi Seung-hwan. ]
[ Synthesis successful. ]
[ Acquired: Gi Seung-ok (S ) ]
[ Great achievent! Bonus stat points 10 awarded. ]
Success—S grade.
Eyes widening, Su-ho pulled up the details.
[ Gi Seung-ok ]
Grade: S
# A legendary elixir created by combining Gi Seung-hwan.
# Upon consumption, instantly raises the rank of a chosen skill by one level.
His lips curled upward.
At last—
The superior form of Gi Seung-hwan.
‘Eleven-to-one—that’s the recipe for the plus grade.’
If he’d quit at ten, this wouldn’t have happened.
But the joy was short-lived—
He quickly calculated the cost.
‘So... eleven Gi Seung-hwan for one Gi Seung-ok...’
Recalling how many Gi Seung-hwan it had taken to raise an A-grade skill to S, he nodded.
‘Use Gi Seung-hwan for B-to-A, Gi Seung-ok for A-to-S.’
Efficient enough.
And the bonus 10 stat points from the achievent were worth it alone.
Still, a faint dissatisfaction lingered—
‘I’d hoped for an SS-grade.’
He’d only ever seen SS once before—when he’d mastered the Formless Sword just before dying.
That feat had earned him the chance to return to the past.
Perhaps that was why the thought of pushing Gi Seung-ok to SS didn’t excite him—SS-grade achievents weren’t sothing you got from early-cataclysm item synthesis, even with a special trait.
‘Not everything cos from hard work and hope.’
It could happen—but the odds were low.
He’d hold off on testing it for now.
Then—
‘Wait... if Gi Seung-ok just raises a skill rank by one...’
Wouldn’t that apply to S-grade skills too?
There’d been no ntion of a rank cap.
The thought made him swallow dryly.
Seeing was believing.
Su-ho picked up the Gi Seung-ok.
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