The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King (Novel) - Chapter 22 - Hunting the Giant Asiatic Black Bear (1)

Chapter 22 – Hunting the Giant Asiatic Black Bear (1)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The building Tae-ju had bought was currently undergoing large-scale construction.

Now that he had founded a company, it needed at least a proper headquarters.

Another building was also going up on the extra vacant lot that had come with the purchase.

That place was to be used as a pharmaceutical production plant.

For that reason, the site was always noisy.

Baek Seoyeon was using the completed underground shelter as a temporary office.

“Suncheol! It’s your noona. Are you still working as a hunting supporter these days? Where, Geochang? Then come over to Gurye right away. Let’s work together. As for what kind of work…”

“Mijeong, is the salon doing well? Haa, this unni is exhausted. We’re way too short on people. I’ll match you at double the salary you’re getting at the salon, so… huh? You’re coming right now?”

“Hello? Younggil? …What? You got fired from the company? You’re loafing around? No, who failed to recognize our Younggil? Come to noona at once!”

She called around here and there, hiring people.

When Tae-ju asked why she was not hiring people properly through open recruitment,

“I’m not some cynic, but this is Gurye, you know. It’s a town where all sorts of strange people gather… so it can’t be helped. We have no choice but to hire mainly people we already know.”

That made sense.

Of course there would be good people too, but it would not be easy at all to sort them out in Gurye.

President Baek Hongpyo too was busy running Baeks Drug Shop, no, Taehong Drug Shop.

“Yes! First place!”

“How many are you selling today? If possible, I’ve got to stock up a lot.”

“President Baek! You can’t lower the shutter anymore.”

“If some punk starts trouble, tell me first, please.”

“Me too! I’ll run over first. But when is the Spore Poison antidote coming?”

In the meantime, the pharmaceutical company sales reps who had taken the medicine on their own came back again and said,

“President Baek! You’ve opened again. How much medicine shall we put in? Business is going so well, so we’ve prepared about double the quantity from before. Shall I stock the shelves for you?”

They spoke brightly and smoothly, smiling.

As if they had not taken the medicine away before.

The brazenness in their faces was unbelievably thick.

But Baek Hongpyo had no intention of accepting them.

“Please leave.”

“Pardon?”

“We’re not taking your company’s medicine.”

“Wh-what do you mean…?”

“Medicine from other pharmaceutical companies will be coming in. At least at our pharmacy, there won’t be any day when your company’s medicine is sold.”

Taehong Drug Shop, number one in sales.

Not only antidotes, but also the pharmacy that sold the most and the fastest of other medicines.

But now he was saying he would not take their goods.

The pharmaceutical company sales rep clung to Baek Hongpyo with a flustered expression.

“N-no! If you do this all of a sudden… it’s unfair. I only did what I was told.”

“Why are you acting like this, talking about orders? Wasn’t it your manager who decided it? I have eyes and ears too.”

“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. It won’t happen again. Please accept them.”

But Baek Hongpyo was resolute.

“Get out!”

The bank branch manager who had demanded early repayment of the loan also came, asking to reopen their business relationship.

“Ahem, this was my oversight. Jo Hunseok was threatening me so much…”

“I see.”

“As an apology, I’ve brought a special benefit. We’ll raise the deposit interest rate by another 0.5% from before…”

“Branch Manager.”

“Yes, President Baek, please speak.”

“There won’t be any more dealings with your bank from now on. Don’t waste your time and go look elsewhere.”

They had demanded early repayment of the loan, and if he just let that pass, that would make him a complete fool.

Maybe it would have been different if he had normally been a decent man.

But that bank branch manager had always been someone who looked down on others with a high-handed attitude.

“I-I told you. It wasn’t my intention, Jo Hunseok…”

“The moment you notified us of early repayment, our relationship was already over.”

“N-no! P-please, just once…”

Taehong Bio had become the number one company boasting the highest sales in Gurye.

Soon it would suck in Gurye’s money like a vacuum cleaner.

But they had chosen wrong.

‘If they had any shame at all, they should not have come looking for us.’

On the other hand, the rival bank that had reaped an unexpected gain by attracting Taehong Bio’s funds was currently in a festive mood.

Troops from the Jirisan Demonic Beast Defense Corps had also arrived.

Tae-ju went out to receive them.

“Demolisher! Major Do Min-su and nineteen others report that we have been detached for Taehong Bio’s security assignment.”

“…Ah, welcome. But it’s under construction right now, so there isn’t any place for you to stay.”

“That’s all right. We brought field encampment equipment. We’ll pitch tents and live in them.”

How was he supposed to apologize for this?

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

“I’ll make you roe deer bone broth soup later.”

“…Pardon? R-really?”

Anyone would go crazy for hot gukbap.

It was not as if Tae-ju had just been loafing around either.

Using the materials that had come over from the military, he began making antidotes.

Since there were people helping with preparing the ingredients, it was relatively quick, but the final compounding was Tae-ju’s responsibility.

The Primordial Everchanging Poison Spirit Art, having reached four stars.

He could now mix poison qi more delicately and quickly, refine it, and produce high-quality base liquid.

But the process was complicated and difficult.

Unlike the mosquito venom antidote, which neutralized relatively weak poison, the Spore Poison Camel Roe Deer antidote had to neutralize an extreme poison.

Also, due to the nature of spore poison, he had to make a medicine to apply as well, in order to protect skin exposed to the outside.

In other words, a topical medicine and an oral medicine formed one set.

The price would be that much more expensive too.

This too would have enormous demand.

For the sake of hunting roe deer?

No, rather than that, if you lived in Gurye, it was something everyone should keep at least one set of on hand in preparation for a wave, and besides, were Spore Poison Camel Roe Deer found only in Jirisan?

‘Reduce the process as much as possible.’

Following Tae-ju’s instructions, people could finely prepare the ingredients, and machines could handle boiling, steaming, and grinding.

He would have the prepared ingredients mixed according to quantity, and then only Tae-ju would do the final compounding,

and like that he was bringing in machines and building a factory.

It took quite a lot of money and time.

‘At this rate, more money is going out than coming in.’

Until the equipment was in place, he decided the Spore Poison antidotes to be supplied to the military would be made by hand.

‘Should I reluctantly add one more medicine?’

This time, not an antidote but a spirit medicine.

Not a necessity, but a spirit medicine with quite a lot of demand.

You could call it a kind of luxury medicine.

The power of Awakeners, or compatibles, after all came from mana.

Medicine in which mana was densely condensed helped compatibles awaken, and even Awakeners took spirit medicine to raise their rank.

Then what materials were needed to make spirit medicine?

Where could one find things with mana densely condensed in them?

Naturally, the core material was the energy crystal that came from the bodies of demonic beasts.

Energy crystals were also called mana crystals.

Ordinary crystals were common enough, but to be used as material for spirit medicine, the crystal of an ‘elite’ demonic beast was absolutely necessary.

But elite demonic beasts were hard to catch.

Leaving aside their strength, there were not that many of them.

What was more, they were very clever and did not readily appear before humans.

And say you got lucky and caught an elite demonic beast.

Did a crystal come out without fail?

The chance of getting an elite mana crystal was much lower than with ordinary demonic beasts.

That was why spirit medicine was rare and expensive.

‘But there are more than enough substitutes.’

If one compared Earth and the martial world of Jianghu, Jianghu lagged behind in science and technology, but there was one field where it far surpassed Earth.

That was precisely the method of handling qi.

It had only been three hundred years since Earth’s humanity encountered mana, a formless energy.

But Jianghu had handled a formless energy similar to mana, called internal energy, for thousands of years.

The crystallization of that knowledge was currently stored in Tae-ju’s head.

‘This is worth trying.’

To make lesser spirit medicine, there was no need to go as far as an elite crystal.

Because he intended to make spirit medicine using the martial world’s pill-refining methods.

What was there in Jirisan right now that could serve as material for spirit medicine?

There was one thing.

‘The gallbladder of a Giant Asiatic Black Bear.’

It was sufficient as a medicinal material for spirit medicine.

Depending on the size of the gallbladder, it could produce roughly six to eight spirit medicines.

He also remembered catching spirit bears in the martial world.

The Snow Mountain White Bear that lived in the territory of the North Sea Ice Palace.

He had even made spirit medicine with the white bear’s gallbladder.

‘If the gallbladders of the black bear and the white bear are similar, I have to handle it properly at the start.’

That was the hardest part.

If he got it wrong, all the medicinal effect would vanish and only an empty shell would remain.

That was the reason people still could not make good use of the Giant Asiatic Black Bear’s gallbladder.

‘Then first I have to kill it…’

It seemed four stars of the Primordial Everchanging Poison Spirit Art would not be enough.

He had to at least reach five stars, which could be called the realm of peak mastery.

In the end, the answer was to build up strength.

There was nothing for it but to honestly and steadily accumulate poison qi.

‘I won’t even have enough time to sleep.’

Let’s go for five stars.

Then he could easily kill the black bear or Lee Jeonghak.

A Master?

Honestly, it was nothing special.

The standard for a Master was simple.

The difference was whether one could use Mana Blade or not.

Mana Blade.

Compressing formless mana and overlaying it on a sword.

That was why it had the power to chop clean through even something as hard as titanium.

In the martial world too, there existed something called Sword Aura.

At a glance, it looked similar.

But the fundamental difference between the two.

Mana Blade, learned through the system, and Sword Aura, which one could only learn after gaining enlightenment through harsh training and real combat and ascending to the realm of Transcendent Mastery.

Which was stronger?

‘Hmm, though the enlightenment I obtained wasn’t exactly difficult either…’

Still, wasn’t it the same soul for Tang Gun-ak and Kim Tae-ju?

That was why Tae-ju was someone who had already achieved enlightenment.

He merely lacked the internal energy needed to manifest aura.

‘Later, if I reach seven stars of the Primordial Everchanging Poison Spirit Art and coat hidden weapons with aura?’

Just thinking about it was thrilling.

However,

‘Sigh, it’s still far off.’

Let’s think about that after at least reaching five stars.

* * *

The Nogodan Guild vigilante force was outside the castle, but Lee Jeonghak’s residence was inside the castle.

Inside a room in his house, Lee Jeonghak was buried under a thick blanket, sweating profusely while his whole body trembled violently.

“Uuugh… d-drrrk, drrk.”

Even his teeth were chattering.

All of this was because of that damned poison.

The extreme poison smeared on the leaf-shaped dagger Kim Tae-ju had thrown.

But it had only grazed him lightly.

By common sense, no matter how strong the poison, if only a small amount was injected, the effect should be weak.

He had gone to the hospital and received emergency treatment, and even after sending someone to a pharmacy to buy a universal antidote and pouring it down his throat, the poison qi would not calm down.

He really had been a bastard who was good at making antidotes.

Then he must also have been an expert on poison.

He should have been cautious, and then cautious again.

‘Damn it!’

At this rate, he might never get back up again.

There were not many methods he could choose to overcome this crisis.

First, lower his pride, go to Kim Tae-ju, and ask him for an antidote.

But that was out of the question from the start.

He would rather die than beg that bastard.

And he was afraid of what kind of condition Kim Tae-ju might set.

Second, ask around for Awakeners with healing skills and detoxification skills and invite them to Gurye.

But it was hard even to find them, and even if he did find them, it was doubtful whether they would come all the way to Gurye.

Third, take spirit medicine and forcibly extinguish the poison with the power of mana.

This was the only way.

And the most realistic one.

In truth, spirit medicine was very expensive.

Moreover, to drive out the poison, he needed at least a high-grade spirit medicine.

So he sent Vice Guildmaster Park Jeongtae to New Seoul Mirinae Pharmaceuticals, one of the top three in the Samhan Empire.

No one could know.

Only Park Jeongtae knew that he was bedridden.

Knock, knock.

With the sound of knocking, the door opened.

Vice Guildmaster Park Jeongtae entered the room carrying a bag.

“I got the spirit medicine.”

“How much did they say?”

“Ten billion.”

“…Haa. All right. You’ve worked hard. Go and get some rest.”

In an instant, his cash balance had been cut in half.

Well, it would not matter if he sold a few pieces of real estate.

Lee Jeonghak opened the bag.

As befitted an expensive medicine, Mirinae Pharmaceuticals’ spirit medicine was wrapped in gold foil.

There was even a serial number and a certificate of authenticity.

It said it had been manufactured from an elite mana crystal obtained by killing an ‘Elite Golden-Horned Deer’ demonic beast on Myohyang Mountain on such-and-such year, month, and day.

He could get one more cheaply than this, but if he did that, he might buy a counterfeit.

It was expensive, but a major corporation’s product was safer.

‘With this, I’ll be able to drive out the poison.’

Now that he had reached Master, spirit medicine no longer helped him raise his rank.

Even if he took spirit medicine, the amount of mana that accumulated was extremely slight.

An explosive effect caused by mana condensation would flare up for a moment, and most of it would escape without being stored in the body.

You could say there was a limit to the size of the vessel that held mana.

But he believed it would help use that momentary explosive power of mana to extinguish the poison qi or expel it from the body.

Lee Jeonghak believed that.

So without hesitation, he took the medicine from the bag and put it into his mouth.

Gulp!

The spirit medicine made from an elite mana crystal entered his body.

And a moment later.

Uuuuuuuung!

An enormous amount of mana poured out explosively.

Now he only had to drive it out.

Lee Jeonghak activated the mana circulation art he had learned through a skill.

Mana rode the bloodstream and spread to every corner of his body.

In the process, the poison qi began to lose strength and dissipate.

‘It’s working!’

Sticky impurities flowed out of his pores.

His mind became clear.

Vitality overflowed through him.

‘As expected, choosing genuine spirit medicine was the right…’

It was then.

‘Huh?’

What was happening?

The mana that had erupted explosively died down in an instant.

At the same time, the situation reversed.

The poison qi, which had been driven back by the mana, suddenly gained strength and began devouring the mana.

‘W-what in the world?’

It was not unfamiliar.

If one had been an Awakener active in Gurye, it was a phenomenon everyone had experienced at least once.

‘…Mutated Three-Striped Mosquito venom?’

It was similar.

But much stronger than that.

When mosquito venom scattered mana apart, the other poisons would devour the mana that had lost its strength after being scattered.

“Y-you fucking…”

His complexion darkened again.

The spirit medicine had driven some of the poison out, but the remaining poison had only grown stronger.

“Cough, cough.”

Lee Jeonghak’s eyes were bleak.