Chapter 43: The Serum Heist

“Alright~ let’s spread it out, shall we?”

Exitra even used Silph to disperse the antidote like a mist across the entire territory.

At first, he considered sprinkling the antidote like rain, but that way it wouldn’t reach people inside buildings.

So he chose mist instead.

This way, it would be able to reach people even indoors.

“Wow, it’s a red mist.”

“It actually looks kind of pretty.”

“Ooooh, that’s smart. Yeah, this way it spreads really fast.”

“Seriously, watching Ex-hyung makes me think Spirit Mages are broken, but when I try it myself… tears…”

“Cough… cough…”

Alfredo’s condition was improving.

His complexion was returning to normal.

The detoxification using the serum was working perfectly.

“Ugh…”

“Gasp!”

“I… I suddenly feel fine!”

“Huah! I’m alive!”

The misted antidote was neutralizing the Death Worm’s poison, and people were starting to recover.

People who just moments ago looked like they were on the verge of death suddenly shot up from the ground.

“Ahahaha! I’m alive!”

“Wow, I thought I was done for!!”

“I lived! I’m really alive!!”

Exitra looked over at Alfredo.

“Ugh…”

Alfredo slowly opened his eyes.

“This is…”

He could feel that the poison had been purged from his body.

His whole body felt light and refreshed—almost like he had been reborn.

“Hey there, you back with us?”

“Hyung… nim…?”

Alfredo suddenly became aware of his situation.

In his final moments, the poison had left him dazed, and all he could think about was getting out the information he knew—everything else had slipped from his mind.

But now that he had regained his senses… his position was strange.

“W-What is this?! Why am I in your arms?!”

“Huh? What do you mean? Don’t you remember? At the end, you came over to me and just slipped~ right into my arms.”

“What?!”

Alfredo’s face turned bright red.

Of all people, being in Exitra’s arms was unbearably embarrassing.

“Tsk!!”

He quickly pulled himself free from Exitra’s embrace.

“T-This was an accident! I was disoriented from the poison! Forget it ever happened!”

“Come on, how could I forget? Normally, you’re so prickly, but you came to me so naturally~”

When Exitra said that with a grin, Alfredo clenched his teeth.

A wave of crushing shame swept over him.

“And you have no idea how cute it was, you going ‘Hyung… hyung…’”

“I-I said that?!”

“No, sadly, you didn’t.”

“Urgh…”

“But the way you trembled was adorable.”

“Damn it!!”

Alfredo spun around and stormed back toward the lord’s castle.

“What a cute guy.”

— [Today’s little brother was the cutest in history!]

— [My adorable SSS-grade little brother~]

“Hehehe, I clipped the sickly-little-brother moment today.”

“Oooo! Post that on the fan café! That’s permanent collection material!!”

The chat was in an uproar.

‘Wait, there’s actually a little brother fan café??’

Alfredo’s fan café.

That hadn’t existed before his regression.

He’d have to check it out sometime when he had the chance.

***

A short while later, a message appeared.

[Sudden Quest: “The Spreading Poison” has been cleared.]

[You have gained 10 points.]

[Achievement Unlocked: “Heir Who Cares for His Territory.”]

[Achievement Unlocked: “Beloved by My People.”]

[Achievement Unlocked: “No Need for the Easy Road.”]

[Territory dissatisfaction has decreased by 10.]

[Territory satisfaction has increased by 10.]

The quest was completed at the same time the achievements were unlocked.

It seemed the change in satisfaction and dissatisfaction was part of the reward.

“Ooo, satisfaction went up.”

“What happens if satisfaction goes up?”

“If satisfaction’s low and dissatisfaction’s high, people will eventually desert the territory.”

“Runaway citizens!!!”

“Lololol”

“But how are you planning to catch two rabbits at once?”

“Ah, there’s something I’ve been wanting to try.”

“Something you want to try?”

“Yeah, an experiment of sorts… I want to see what happens.”

Exitra raised his hand, and a serum appeared in it.

Checking it, he saw only 20 minutes remained before the serum would permanently lose its potency.

“Before that, just a moment.”

He opened his status window.

The 10 points from the quest were all invested into Spirit Power.

Closing the window, he immediately moved on to the next step.

“Let’s try this.”

He pulled out a bottle—one that contained the Death Worm’s poison.

“What happens if I put this in here?”

“Wouldn’t it detoxify?”

“Serum is an antidote, so yeah, it should neutralize it.”

“If you mix poison and antidote, doesn’t it just cancel out?”

“Probably, yeah. That’s why I want to see what happens.”

Exitra poured the serum into the bottle.

Then he sealed the lid.

And something unexpected happened.

[Achievement Unlocked: “How to Preserve Serum.”]

[Achievement Unlocked: “Remarkable Spirit of Challenge.”]

[Achievement Unlocked: “How Did You Even Find This Recipe?”]

He had unlocked achievements he’d never seen before.

The viewers were baffled.

“Uh… what kind of achievement is that?”

“What just happened?”

“I’ve never seen those before in my life.”

“Let’s take a look.”

Exitra inspected the bottle with the serum inside.

[Death Worm Serum Storage Bottle]

[Description: The Death Worm’s serum loses its effectiveness one hour after use.

However, if combined with the Death Worm’s venom, it can be preserved for up to two months.

Once the serum is taken out, it can no longer be preserved in the same way.]

“Wow, it worked.”

— [Whoa, how did you do that?]

— [Ehhhhh?]

— [Blink blink… I’m watching, but I don’t understand.]

— [That’s when you have to look with your mind’s eye—but only after shaving your head.]

— [Yeah, no thanks. I’d rather not see it. Hahaha.]

Exitra smirked slightly.

Information about preserving the Regressed Death Worm’s serum had been made public before.

‘I figured I could use that trick if I ever had to store venom in a bottle.’

“Well? This works, right?”

— [But where did you even find that??]

“I had a hunch. The serum works as an antidote, but only when you add antidote herbs.”

— [Ahhhhhhh~~!]

— [So that was the loophole?]

— [So when you drew out that red liquid earlier and added antidote herbs… you were setting this up?!]

The viewers seemed to catch on to the situation.

When Exitra first used the serum to create the red liquid, he had deliberately set some aside, keeping the serum separate and mixing the antidote herbs only with the red liquid.

Thanks to that, the serum never touched the antidote herbs, so it didn’t become an antidote.

Since the serum originally coexisted with the Death Worm, he wondered what would happen if he stored it together with the venom.

— [Hm, yeah, makes sense.]

— [So you can exploit that loophole, huh?]

— [The freedom in this game is insane—this is totally a god-tier game.]

“Alright then~”

Exitra looked at the bottle containing the serum and smirked.

“How much do you think this will sell for? I’m really looking forward to it.”

— [Whoa, that’s an evil smile.]

— [Can a human’s smile really look that wicked…?]

— [That’s the most diabolical smile I’ve seen this year.]

— [E-Earl of Britten! R-Run! Satan is coming!!]

— [Demonic Smile—Evil enough to make even Satan slap his knee in approval.]

“Hahahahaha~ Well then, shall we get back to work?”

***

In the Heir of a Fallen House forum, there was a lot of material being posted.

Among them was the ‘Free Board,’ where people could casually chat about anything.

A new post had appeared there.

Its title read: [Who is the unluckiest streamer?]

The title alone was enough to draw a lot of attention and views.

The content was simple: ‘Among the streamers playing Heir of a Fallen House, who do you think is the unluckiest?’

Below, countless comments poured in.

— [Honestly, I think Dogry is more unlucky.]

— [Yeah, didn’t he bet on something and end up shaving his head?]

— [I watched the head-shaving live, it was hilarious hahaha.]

— [And I heard he lost another bet and had to do a full-body waxing too.]

— [That’s not just unlucky, that’s a gambling problem.]

— [What does that have to do with Heir of a Fallen House?]

— [Oh, some streamer was playing the game and made a bet over it, which led to him shaving his head and waxing his whole body…]

Most people seemed to agree that Dogry was the unluckiest streamer.

But then, a new post appeared.

— [Here lies the truly unlucky streamer.]

Inside was a short description along with an edited video.

‘After watching this, can you still say Dogry is the unluckiest? See for yourself and decide.’

Those who watched the video reacted strongly.

Whoa! This is insane!

How can someone be this unlucky???

The territory’s in the worst possible state. Like, seriously…

First, he gets a dehydration quest, then a Giant Black Mountain Goat attack…

And on top of that, merchants and architects get kidnapped by bandits… this is nuts.

— [Then after rescuing them from the bandits, a torrential downpour hits.]

— [A Goblin Shaman starts doing some weird ritual.]

— [Just when he’s about to die, a Goblin Warrior revives because of a flag trigger, hahaha.]

— [That flag was brutal.]

— [And finally, the whole territory gets poisoned, hahaha. This guy’s life is pure chaos.]

— [It’s like a full set of misfortunes.]

— [Yeah, Exitra’s clearly the unluckiest streamer.]

— [Public opinion shifted quickly.]

At first, people thought Dogry—who shaved his head and waxed his body—was the most unfortunate.

But that was self-inflicted, and while pitiful, it didn’t compare to Exitra.

Dogry was a lightweight compared to him.

— [How can one person be hit with so much bad luck in a row?]

— [This is basically the work of the God of Broadcasting.]

— [No, this is divine discrimination! When the gods made Exitra, they accidentally poured the entire jar of misfortune into him!]

People started saying that the God of Broadcasting had blessed Exitra with endless disasters.

And honestly, they weren’t wrong.

Having constant mishaps meant endless potential for content.

— [If it were me, I’d have quit after the Giant Black Mountain Goat.]

— [There’s actually a strategy guide for it now—the weak point’s under its belly. Exitra discovered it.]

— [Amazing, amazing…]

— [How can someone be this unlucky… seriously…]

— [It’s terrifying. Should I start skipping through his streams out of fear?]

The discussion gradually reached a consensus: Exitra was the unluckiest streamer.

Someone even started a poll.

[Who is the unluckiest streamer?]

[Exitra]

[Dogry]

[Retrin]

Many streamers’ names were listed, but Exitra quickly began to dominate the votes.

In the end, over 5,000 people participated, with around 4,000 voting for Exitra.

Even though he hadn’t been playing Heir of a Fallen House for long, what he had shown so far was enough to completely outclass everyone else.

And so, he claimed the number one spot as the most unlucky streamer.

Exitra had no idea that somewhere out there, he was being crowned the king of misfortune.

It wouldn’t be long before he found out.