“Na-me takes medicine every day, is something wrong with her health?”
Ji-hye kindly helped me wash the flask.
Scrub, scrub as the completely oxidized residue washes away with the soapy water.
“It’s not a big deal. As long as I don’t forget to take my potions every day, I’m fine.”
“What happens if you forget?”
“Umm… I get a bit angrier?”
Pfft “What does that mean? Are you turning into the Hulk or something?”
“Thanks for helping. I’ll buy you a crepe on the way home after school.”
“Crepe? Out of the blue? But I don’t think there’s anywhere nearby that sells crepes.”
“Then what about fish-shaped bread?”
“It’s March, do they still sell those?”
“Alright, how about Pokémon bread?”
“Sounds good!”
It’s surprising that Pokémon is still trending.
In fact, even in the multiplayer game-dominated virtual reality, it still manages to stay in the top 10 rankings every time.
Praising the greatness of the IP once more, we moved towards the classroom.
Eek!
At the end of the hallway, an ear-piercing scream drew everyone’s attention instantly.
Students chatting in the hallway all turned their heads in unison.
“I think that’s from our class? Let’s hurry!”
The classroom was in complete chaos.
The children were gathered in a circle, so we couldn’t see what was happening.
As everyone was anxiously shuffling their feet, Han Seori noticed us and ran over.
“What’s going on?”
“Na-me! What should we do? Seo Yu-na seems to have sneakily taken the medicine you take… She’s been coughing non-stop and looks like she’s dying…! Her face is super red!”
“What?!”
I immediately approached Yu-na to assess the situation.
Shattered pieces of the flask were scattered across the floor.
Potion residue, once vibrant, had turned black and spilled all over the classroom floor.
‘She really got into trouble this time!’
I quickly cleared the fragments aside so Yu-na wouldn’t cut herself while thrashing around.
“You’ll hurt yourself if you touch it with bare hands…!”
As Seori said, Yu-na was gasping for breath, repeatedly coughing dryly.
Honestly, it would have been better if she just threw up right on the spot, but she seemed to be writhing in agony instead.
It was clear she chugged the potion the moment she opened the lid.
The reason I could get my potion, a treatment for a rare disease, for a mere 10,000 or 20,000 won a bottle was that…
This was not a “treatment.”
It was merely a “suppressant.”
Potion.
Not Potion, but PORTION.
More precisely, it was Powerplant Outcomes with Residue Transmutation into Overcharged Nebulosity.
It was created by compressing the “residue” produced as waste at the mana-refining power plant into an overcharged “nebula state.”
It’s impossible to explain this any simpler, but if I had to compare it to something, it’d be like radioactive waste.
Originally, it’s pointless byproduct forcibly given marketability, hence the ridiculous pricing for a “medicine” for a rare disease.
Typically, mana doesn’t directly harm humans like radiation does, but consuming potions in nebula state can lead to serious consequences, as seen.
Of course, if it oxidizes upon exposure to air, its effects diminish significantly, so the quicker it’s consumed, the better.
In short, it’s a trade-off between treatment efficacy and pain.
As the saying goes, bitter medicine is good for health.
For me, since I drink it regularly, I can chug it without any issues, but Yu-na is probably suffering a lot.
Anyway, that’s not the important part right now. First, I needed to calm this reckless girl down.
Cough… cough!
“Seo Yu-na, can you hear me?”
“Uugh…”
“I’m going to put my finger in your mouth from now on. You mustn’t bite it, okay?”
Since Yu-na was awkwardly lying sideways, I had trouble getting into position.
I brushed her sweaty hair aside to see her face better.
It seemed Yu-na noticed I was nearby.
That meant she understood somewhat what I was saying.
If she really bit me, I’d smack her cheek.
“Ugh… Ah… It hurts… cough…”
“…”
“Sorry…”
Plop
Before she could say anything else that might hurt, I quickly inserted my finger.
A warm sensation traveled through my left index finger.
Unintentionally, I felt the smoothness of Yu-na’s gums on my fingertips.
Was her second front tooth already missing? The permanent tooth shyly poked my finger.
How is it that I’m giving my finger to a child who’s just starting to lose her teeth?
I really need to start living wisely.
“Hang in there. You’ll be alright.”
Seeing her condition, it seemed I had to hurry.
With my other hand, I quickly sketched a makeshift magic circle on the ground.
[3-Circle: Local Anesthesia]
[4-Circle Reversal: Irreversible Reduction Reaction]
The trachea is a very delicate area when it comes to anesthesia.
Since it’s a crucial organ related to breathing, it should be treated carefully with surface anesthesia.
I created a local anesthesia magic circle inspired by the lidocaine and prilocaine components found in Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics cream.
Then, to remove the residues remaining in her trachea, I cast a reduction reaction magic circle to condense the residues back into the nebula state.
Since it might hurt a bit in the process, local anesthesia seemed like the right choice.
“Ugh!”
As the magic circle activated, Yu-na shut her eyes tight.
It was clear she was trying hard not to bite my finger, but her tongue kept dancing around it, tickling me.
When I pulled my finger out later, would it be drenched in drool?
For Yu-na’s honor, I should ideally extract it as discreetly as possible.
It wasn’t long before the reversing magic circle lost its light and disappeared.
Yu-na’s complexion changed rapidly.
Her strawberry-red face turned pale as she received the local anesthesia spell, which worried me, but thankfully it was resolved.
“Teacher, over here!”
“Yu-na, are you okay?!”
Just then, Yoon Si-hoo brought the homeroom teacher along.
Hearing that Seo Yu-na had collapsed after taking a strange medicine, Teacher Jackie rushed into the classroom.
“Hey Na-me! Don’t take your hand off Yu-na!”
Si-hoo shouted.
“What are you doing…?”
Teacher Jackie and I exchanged bewildered glances.
The anesthesia spell is… oh, it’s done now.
I laid down Yu-na, who had fainted, and quickly pulled my finger out of her mouth.
The condensed residues had a naturally high viscosity, which sadly resulted in a regrettable situation where they mixed with my saliva.
Why is this regrettable, you ask?
Because the saliva connecting Yu-na and my index finger was forming a thin, long parabola. The color was a light gray, neither black nor white.
“Na-me, what’s this…?”
When the teacher pointed at my hand, I felt embarrassed and hurriedly wiped the residue off.
Swipe
I figured it was better not to wipe it on my clothes, so I did it with my mouth.
“…?!!”
The teacher was equally flustered.
Na-me replied with an awkward voice.
“I helped Yu-na a bit. If she rests, she’ll be fine.”
“Healing? What do you mean by that…?”
Just as the homeroom teacher was about to ask something, the central broadcast echoed through the classroom.
[Huff, puff. Ahem. 2nd Grade A Class Na-me, 2nd Grade A Class Na-me, please report to the administration office on the 1st floor immediately. Once again, 2nd Grade A Class Na-me, please report to the administration office on the 1st floor immediately.]
