The Price of Survival

“I, for my part…… I can only say that the information remained in my mind somehow. I am sorry. Because I lost my memories…….”

Seol Ah-heon spoke while trembling.

Honestly, even to him, it sounded like a completely unbelievable excuse. He couldn’t blame Baek Geon-ha if he suspected him of being a spy sent by someone else.

As expected, the smile vanished from Baek Geon-ha’s face. The handsome man’s countenance, which had been devoid of even a sliver of warmth, was now chillingly cold.

“It’s the truth. Please, I beg you to believe me, Young Cult Leader! I will swear it upon my life!”

“What use is something like that?”

“B-but…… I also know the manufacturing method for the Soul-Snow Divine Pill…….”

He felt pathetic for offering a negotiation card that had already been blocked. But he had no other choice.

“As you said yourself, Young Cult Leader, I am a man you can kill at any time. Please, keep this breath you’ve spared for a little longer. If you do, you will come to know my value.”

It was a blank check. In reality, what benefit would it be to Baek Geon-ha to keep him alive? But he had to survive somehow.

The screams that had echoed in the Thunder Jail came to mind. It felt as if they were shouting, ‘You’re next.’ But Seol Ah-heon could not meet such an end.

“If you only spare me, I will do anything! Please, have mercy……!”

He tried to persuade, pleaded, and eventually begged as if spitting blood. It was no exaggeration to say he was writhing in his desire to live.

Perhaps that was why? Baek Geon-ha did not kill Seol Ah-heon. Instead, he simply looked down at him with an expression that suggested he wanted to get rid of him right then and there.

“…….”

His eyes were like those of a butcher inspecting whether the meat hanging in the shop was fresh or rotting.

That gaze seemed to pierce through Seol Ah-heon to his very core.

Finally, Baek Geon-ha opened his mouth.

“Tell me the manufacturing method for the Soul-Snow Divine Pill.”

“Yes? ……Ah, yes!”

Was he being given a chance?

Seol Ah-heon rolled his eyes rapidly. If this was a chance to live, it was fortunate, but it could also be a trap. He might be killed after his information was stolen.

‘Can I try to negotiate? Ask to be spared in exchange for the recipe…….’

He had only hesitated for a moment, but Baek Geon-ha, unable to wait even that long, muttered indifferently.

“Do you have a choice?”

“…….”

That was true. He was in a position where he had to follow Baek Geon-ha’s will anyway.

“N-no. That, well, so…….”

Seol Ah-heon quickly opened his mouth. But perhaps because he was nervous, his tangled tongue wouldn’t easily loosen. His complexion grew paler by the second.

“Go wash yourself first. You’re so filthy I can’t look at you anymore.”

Baek Geon-ha waved his hand as if shooing away an annoying fly. It was humiliating, but the joy of being alive was far greater.

“I shall obey your command, Young Cult Leader.”

Seol Ah-heon bowed repeatedly and backed away. He was following the etiquette he had seen in media—be it a drama or a movie.

“……Ah!”

However, people are bound to make mistakes when they do things they aren’t used to. Someone grabbed Seol Ah-heon by the back of the neck just as he tripped. He avoided falling in an unsightly way, but his heart sank.

“Th-thank you…….”

“Follow me.”

The demon who had guided him here replied curtly. Seol Ah-heon moved his feet, practically being dragged along.

**************************************

The place the demon took him was a bathhouse.

It was a remarkably ordinary-looking place, like a local public bath. Seol Ah-heon took off his clothes, feeling dazed.

‘Well, the Demonic Cult is a place where people live, so of course there would be a bathhouse…….’

The bath water was cold. It seemed this aspect was different from modern-day South Korea.

Seol Ah-heon bathed thoroughly, even while shivering from the cold. If he didn’t wash clean, Baek Geon-ha would find fault with him.

He had to look neat, no matter what. He couldn’t look like a ‘rat just fished out of a sewer.’

Sniff.

Seol Ah-heon brought his arms, which he had been scrubbing vigorously, up to his face and wrinkled his nose. There was no smell at all.

However, he couldn’t be sure. His nose might just be used to it, and he might still be stinking. It wouldn’t be strange if the musty smell of the jail had permeated him after being locked up for so long.

‘That kind of smell doesn’t easily go away even if you wash with body wash.’

And he was currently washing with plain water. For a moment, Seol Ah-heon looked down at the bath water.

“…….”

His face was reflected on the calm surface. It was a stranger’s face. But.

‘It somehow looks strangely like me…….’

Round eyes with faint, double eyelids. A distinct nose and lip line.

It wasn’t exactly the same as Seol Ah-heon’s original face, but anyone would think they were brothers.

‘Does the similarity go beyond just the name?’

He hoped he wouldn’t share his fate, too.

Sighing, Seol Ah-heon finished washing his arms. The reflection on the surface rippled with his movement.

****************************************

A while later.

Having finished his bath, Seol Ah-heon stepped out of the bathhouse, hesitating. With no clean clothes to change into, he had put his original clothes back on.

‘I hope I don’t smell…….’

Seol Ah-heon looked down at his clothes anxiously. They were filthy. It would be strange if clothes he had run, rolled, and even gotten blood on were spotless.

He pulled at the hem of his clothes, hoping the wrinkles would smooth out. But doing that didn’t make his appearance any neater. Giving up, Seol Ah-heon followed the demon.

Perhaps because he was more at ease, he could finally see the scenery around him.

‘Incredible…….’

Peaks towered behind the magnificent pavilions. They were incredibly high, and the terrain was so steep that one would fall to their death if they slipped.

It was completely different from the neighborhood hills he had seen all his life. It made him realize anew that this was a different world.

“I greet the Fifth Young Master of the Divine Cult.”

“I greet the Fifth Young Master of the Divine Cult……!”

He stood before Baek Geon-ha once again. Following the demon’s lead, he performed the etiquette awkwardly while darting his eyes around.

He hadn’t realized it earlier because he was in such a state of panic, but the room was incredibly lavish.

From the delicately shaped lattice windows to the antique furniture. Even Seol Ah-heon, who had no eye for such things, could tell how valuable they were.

‘He looks truly wealthy.’

He surely was. And it wasn’t just about money. He was a Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult who possessed an abundance of artifacts.

Just as he was swallowing his genuine admiration, a cold shout fell.

“Why are you still filthy?”

A look of contempt flashed across Baek Geon-ha’s face. Even Mu Il-young, standing guard behind him, looked displeased.

“I apologize…….”

Seol Ah-heon just bowed his head. What excuse could he offer? It was a fact that he was filthy.

“Hah.”

Baek Geon-ha didn’t hide his annoyance and waved one hand.

“Just spit out the recipe.”

“Yes. First, the necessary ingredients are…….”

Seol Ah-heon quickly opened his mouth. This was an opportunity he couldn’t miss.

‘I’m sorry, Bing So-yu…….’

Actually, he didn’t feel that sorry. He wasn’t a real disciple of the Young-ha Sect anyway, so what kind of profound loyalty could he have?

“……is how I learned it.”

He laid out the manufacturing method he had learned from Bing So-yu in detail. He prided himself on the fact that there were no errors, as he had memorized it with great focus and reviewed it in his head whenever he had a spare moment in jail.

Tap, tap.

Baek Geon-ha muttered as he tapped his index finger.

“The Child Ginseng, the Heavenly Silkworm, and the heart of a hundred-year-old venomous snake can be easily obtained within the Cult. The honey from Mount Wudang is a bit of a hassle, but not difficult. The problem is, as expected, the Myriad-Year Ice Essence…….”

Listening to his mutterings, Seol Ah-heon realized anew how difficult it was to make the Soul-Snow Divine Pill.

‘Where in the world are you going to find the Myriad-Year Ice Essence.’

In martial arts novels, it was usually obtained from the North Sea Ice Palace, and even then, the protagonist usually obtained it only after suffering tremendously. In gaming terms, it was an SSR-grade hidden item.

And the other ingredients weren’t common, either. Baek Geon-ha said they were easy to obtain, but normal people would struggle even to see the Child Ginseng and Heavenly Silkworm.

‘And a hundred-year-old venomous snake, at that. Isn’t that at least a semi-spirit beast?’

Honestly, just consuming all these ingredients separately would probably be spiritual enough. There was a risk of failure during the process of making the Soul-Snow Divine Pill.

If, due to a moment of carelessness, he lost all those ingredients—especially the Myriad-Year Ice Essence—Seol Ah-heon felt like he would shed tears. Shedding tears would be lucky; he would surely bleed.

Seol Ah-heon watched Baek Geon-ha’s mood anxiously. What conclusion would he come to?

‘If it were me, I would have just given up.’

Spiritual elixirs? Of course, they are great. He knew about the martial artists’ obsession with elixirs from reading various martial arts novels.

But that’s only if the elixir exists; if it doesn’t, why obsess over it?

‘I don’t know if I can call it a substitute, but he should go after the person who stole his elixir and ran…… wait, he shouldn’t do that.’

Aaaack, Seol Ah-heon screamed internally. He was just a commoner, yet he thought this; he wondered what the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult must be thinking.

But unexpectedly, the order that came out of Baek Geon-ha’s mouth was something else.

“Mu Il-young. Prepare.”

“As you command.”

No detailed explanation was needed. Mu Il-young left the room to prepare for a secret mission.

Unlike him, Seol Ah-heon could hardly guess Baek Geon-ha’s inner thoughts.

‘Prepare? Prepare what? ……Don’t tell me he’s going to prepare the ingredients?’

Was he really going to make the Soul-Snow Divine Pill?

It wasn’t his place to say, having influenced Baek Geon-ha, but it was madness. No, rather than calling it madness, it was just terrible cost-effectiveness.

In an RPG game, it would be like attempting to upgrade a weapon to +9. When the probability of reaching +9 is barely 5 percent.

It would be unparalleled if it succeeded, but if it failed, he would lose all the resources and time invested in the weapon upgrade.

‘This…… is definitely madness.’

It wasn’t just poor cost-effectiveness. In a real game, at least the success rate of the upgrade would be disclosed; there was no such thing for elixir manufacturing.