IRHGZA 26

 Chapter 26

A special item shop for the sudden quest has opened.

• “We’ve prepared potions for unconscious Sam. The potions will take effect even if poured while he’s unconscious.”

Open period: Until the quest is completed.

<Items for sale>

• Health Boost Potion: Increases health when consumed. 1/500 gold

• Mana Boost Potion: Increases mana when consumed. 1/700 gold

Wow, such a helpful explanation. Surely not every item description is this detailed, right?

• IV Potion Better Than a Meal: Increases stamina for patients who cannot eat because they’re unconscious. 1/2000 gold

• Healing Salve: Apply to wounds to recover twice as fast as normal. 1/600 gold

Nana’s jaw dropped at the item list before her.

Hahaha. Look at these scammers. How is the IV Potion four times more expensive than the Health Potion? It’s exactly what we need now, and they’re blatantly gouging!

She should have realized this when the sale profits from the harvest started rolling in. They padded prices to skim money at the right moment. The scammers known as “the operators”!

For a moment, Nana considered going with her initial idea—pouring cold water on Sam to wake him and feeding him porridge—but Sam’s life gauge weighed on her conscience.

He was already near death. Using an untested home remedy and risking lowering the gauge could ruin the 1,000,000 gold reward… or worse, the guilt of having reduced Sam’s life gauge would hurt.

Better to spend some gold and be sure. With a tearful resolve, Nana opened her wallet. After all, completing the quest would net her 1,000,000 gold. This level of investment was acceptable… just this once.

<Purchased 1 IV Potion Better Than a Meal.>

As soon as the potion entered her inventory, Nana unscrewed the cap and poured it into Sam’s mouth. Despite being unconscious, Sam swallowed it perfectly. The 2,000-gold investment had been worth it.

<Current Life Gauge of Sam: ■■□□□□□□□□
Status: The potion gives a sense of fullness. Stamina begins to rise. Slowly recovering from malnutrition.
Gauge is based on health. As stamina increases, health rises slightly.

The note that the gauge was based on health caught Nana’s attention.

“Good, I found the clue.”

She immediately opened the shop again and added ten Health Boost Potions to her cart.

500 gold each. Cheaper than the IV Potion, but 5,000 gold in total.

As she confirmed the total, Nana’s eyes twitched slightly.

“Life first… life before money… but money is also important. Ah, I’m crying.”

Steeling herself, Nana poured the potions into Sam’s mouth.

“Alright! One down, now let’s double up!”

The game was ultimately about efficiency. Once the gauge was raised enough through potion showers, Sam could eat normally again, making the IV Potion unnecessary for now.

But—

<Current Life Gauge of Sam: ■■□□□□□□□
Status: He has already consumed three potions and is full. Giving more may cause potion poisoning. If he gets poisoned, the gauge decreases by –1. Be careful.>

“What?!”

Nana froze. Potion poisoning? She had never heard of this system!

Her knees hit the floor. Three health potions later, and the gauge hadn’t moved.

5,000 gold… my gold…

<Only three potions can be used per day. Overuse is not recommended.
Sam’s life gauge has risen about 25%.
Keep nursing him, and eventually he’ll wake. Good luck!>

The system’s cheery encouragement hit her like a final blow. The ally she’d trusted suddenly felt like an enemy.

But.

“…Fine.”

Nana clenched her teeth and slowly lifted her head.

Her eyes sparked again.

“Good. If it’s not a simple problem, I’ll solve it simply. Who am I? A Korean gamer with instinctive skills to find the fastest and most efficient route!”

At that moment—

Click—

“Employer, I’m he—”

“I’ll find the potion loophole and maximize the gauge efficiently! System, did you underestimate me?!”

Nana’s inner monologue suddenly blazed. Ishanka quietly glanced into the room, then closed the door and left.

…Talking to the god again, I see.

It wasn’t his timing to intervene. And this time, it looked serious—almost insane.

Luckily, unconscious Sam didn’t witness it. Otherwise, he might never want to open his eyes again.

Meanwhile, while Nana devoted herself (somewhat obsessively) to caring for Sam, Ishanka decided to completely rebuild the shattered house.

Of course, repairing it alone would take too long, so he employed “zombies” as labor. Though mindless, construction was nothing but concentrated manual labor.

Ishanka drew up the blueprint and showed it to Nana. She gathered the zombies and assigned tasks:

• Zombies erecting the frame.

• Zombies hammering nails.

• Zombies transporting and stacking bricks.

• Zombies plastering walls.

Though the decaying, growling zombies seemed ill-suited for labor, they worked tirelessly day and night, never needing food or rest, as long as Nana didn’t revoke her commands.

Thanks to them, the house would likely be completed faster than expected.

When Ishanka returned from final touches, he didn’t forget to glare at the SSS-ranked milk cow, who always sat there nonchalantly—the one who had caused the initial collapse. The cow glared back.

Well, tough luck. If you’re jealous, become SSS-ranked too. Life’s hard. I just want to bury my face in a warm haystack—jealous even among humans.

If Ishanka could read the cow’s mind, he’d probably have slaughtered it for a beef feast—but even in his current form, animal thoughts remained unknowable. Lucky for the cow.

As Ishanka opened the door, a strange-colored smoke wafted out, accompanied by Nana’s eerie laughter.

“Heh heh heh. Even the system couldn’t have guessed this.”

You thought I’d spend money on potions obediently? Who asked you?!

“…What’s that weird-colored drink?”

“Oh, Ish…? This is… a health mix potion! It raises stamina and health in one shot!”

One sip, and Sam might as well ascend to godhood.

Thankfully, Ishanka wasn’t the type to verbalize every thought.

Surprisingly, Nana was right. While caring for Sam, she had experimented with mixing the potions she bought from the shop to find the fastest combination to fill Sam’s life gauge.

“If you mix the Health Boost Potion and the IV Potion, I thought it’d double the effect, but it wasn’t that simple. They served similar purposes, so 1+1 didn’t equal 2—it was just 1 mixed with 1. Like adding water to water. But when I added an intermediary liquid to the mix, 1+1 became 4!”

“What’s this intermediary liquid?”

“None other than… Manager Kim’s milk!”

“…Who’s Manager Kim?”

“The cow in the barn. Named Kim because its eyes look like that annoying Manager Kim.”

Regardless of who Kim was, it was clear Nana hated him. And apparently she also hated the ugly cow.

The potion in her hand looked bizarre in color, but its effects were incredible.

If the IV Potion and Health Boost Potion were given separately, it would take two days to increase half a gauge—but with this potion, two units filled at once.

However, because the gauge increased so quickly, it had to be given with a one-day interval to avoid potion poisoning.

Even so, Sam’s life gauge had risen to five in just four days. Nana poured the freshly made, strange—no, health mix potion—into Sam’s mouth.

<Current Life Gauge of Sam: ■■■■■■■□□□
Sam’s life gauge has reached 7. He will regain consciousness.>

Sam’s eyelashes fluttered, and his gem-like green eyes slowly opened. He looked around groggily as he awoke.

“Are you awake?”

“This place…”

“Not our home… temporary shelter. The house is under construction.”

“…No wonder it smells like manure.”

“Is that all you could say as soon as you woke up?”

Should she smack him? Nana remembered why she had always bickered with him, despite him being the idol of the My Sweet Farm players.

“The bed is hard, my back hurts. But… thanks for saving me. The basement or here, it’s pretty much the same anyway.”

His sharp, obnoxious tone—always picking out the nastiest words—was why the nickname “Grumpy Kitten” was given by players, though to Nana, he was just a rude, bratty kid.