Color returned to Kyung Yoon-seul’s face at the smell of the steaming Sanggye-tang.
The overwhelming taste of the Sanggye-tang she had tasted last time came back to her vividly.
“Shall I give you a glass of liquor as well? I’m planning to discuss today’s deal, and I’ve prepared a comfortable place for you to stay in case it gets late.”
“Oh, really? Then I would be grateful.”
Kyung Yoon-seul smiled and accepted Sang-woong’s thoughtful consideration.
Sang-woong brought out a golden liquid contained in a transparent glass bottle, which was distinctly different from mass-produced products.
Kyung Yoon-seul’s eyes were captivated by the brilliantly shining golden liquor.
“Is… is this by any chance a home-brewed liquor?”
“Yes, it is a liquor brewed in a special way by very incredible people, so both the taste and its effects on the body are excellent. It’s not something that can be easily obtained normally, and it’s a liquor I specially serve only to truly precious guests.”
The liquor Sang-woong prepared was Elf Liquor, made by Elves containing the energy of the World Tree.
The liquor made by Elves, who have a deep bond with nature, was as mysterious as their alchemy.
By preserving pure natural ingredients such as fruits, flowers, and various plants as much as possible, the Elf Liquor fully contained the taste and scent of nature.
Even Sang-woong himself could not help but be filled with admiration for its taste and efficacy when he first tasted it.
However, in fact, that wasn’t what was important to Kyung Yoon-seul right now.
Sang-woong’s words that it was ‘a liquor specially served only to truly precious guests’ echoed in her ears, making Kyung Yoon-seul’s cheeks flush slightly.
As a member of a chaebol family, she had experienced countless flatteries and lies, but receiving such special treatment from a sincere and great figure like Sang-woong was always sweet and brought a pleasant fluttering sensation.
Sang-woong poured the Elf Liquor into Kyung Yoon-seul’s glass.
The moment the golden liquid flowed smoothly into the transparent glass, an amazing fragrance that she had never smelled before spread gently throughout the restaurant.
“Wow… the smell. It’s really… so good?”
An exclamation burst out of Kyung Yoon-seul’s mouth involuntarily.
It was a clarity she had felt for the first time.
The refreshing scent, like a fresh breeze blowing from the deepest part of the forest, made her feel as if even her soul was becoming clear.
Following that, the sweetness of various well-ripened fruits that had soaked up plenty of sunlight spread out.
The last thing felt was a diverse and enchanting floral scent reminiscent of a wildflower festival.
It was a feast of scents as if hundreds of millions of nameless flowers had bloomed and blended together.
She could hardly believe that such a complex, deep, and living fragrance could come from a single glass of liquor even as she smelled it.
Kyung Yoon-seul could not easily lift the glass to drink the liquor.
The overwhelming fragrance even made her think whether she was worthy enough to drink this precious liquor.
Although she prided herself on having experienced countless foods that were more expensive and better than others, this liquor evoked a sense of awe that made her not even dare to drink it.
Sang-woong looked at her reaction and wore a gentle smile, as if he had expected it.
His own reaction when he first encountered Elf Liquor had been even more intense, certainly not less.
“Hurry and try it.”
At Sang-woong’s gentle words, Kyung Yoon-seul snapped out of it.
With trembling hands, she lifted the glass containing the Elf Liquor and carefully brought it to her lips.
Gulp .
After a heavy silence echoed with the first swallow.
“Wow
An exclamation like a seizure burst out.
“Th-this. This is.
The fragrance that brushed against her lips as soon as they touched was merely a preview.
The moment the liquor touched her tongue, the emotion of the scent she felt at the tip of her nose was amplified tens, no, hundreds of times, and swept through her mouth like a giant typhoon.
Clarity, sweetness, radiance, and a mysterious taste that could not be described in words mixed together, feeling as if they were powerfully awakening every single taste cell.
It felt as if she was drinking living nature as a whole.
“W-what kind of liquor is this?! My goodness… how can it be… how can it be this delicious?!”
Kyung Yoon-seul looked at Sang-woong with eyes of wonder at the intense admiration that came out naturally.
“Hahaha, but don’t drink too much. While the taste is smooth, the alcohol content is surprisingly high. You’ll get drunk before you know it.”
Sang-woong warned jokingly, but Kyung Yoon-seul was already pouring more liquor into her glass as if completely possessed by the Elf Liquor.
“Have some Sanggye-tang as well. This liquor tastes incredibly good when eaten with Sanggye-tang.”
At Sang-woong’s suggestion, Kyung Yoon-seul tasted the warm Sanggye-tang broth and the soft chicken meat along with the liquor.
Haa…
This was a taste on another dimension.
The refreshing, brilliant, and mysterious scent and taste of the Elf Liquor overlapped amazingly and exquisitely over the thick, deep, and savory taste of the Sanggye-tang.
This was…… a heavenly harmony that she had never tasted anywhere else, and thus could not even dare to imagine!
As the mixture of warmth and coolness, familiarity and mystery bombarded her tongue, Kyung Yoon-seul could not come to her senses.
“Wow…… Mr. Sang-woong.. I really didn’t know this would… go so well with Sanggye-tang…”
Kyung Yoon-seul repeated her shock and admiration as she emptied her glass and poured another one without realizing it.
As she drank more, a pleasant intoxication rose, but at the same time, her mind felt clearer than ever before.
It felt as if the old fatigue and stress that had been weighing her down since some point were melting away like snow.
“Shall we talk about business first?”
Sang-woong brought up the main topic before Kyung Yoon-seul became completely drunk on the sweet and mysterious liquor.
As his story began, Kyung Yoon-seul put down the glass she was about to drink and focused intensely.
No matter how amazingly delicious the liquor and Sanggye-tang were, business talks with Sang-woong were more important and a higher priority than anything else.
She could not miss this incredible opportunity.
She had no intention of being disheveled or making a scene in front of Sang-woong.
“I have succeeded in improving the efficacy of the potion this time.”
At Sang-woong’s first words, Kyung Yoon-seul’s eyes grew as large as ping-pong balls.
“Pardon? Efficacy improvement?! Does that mean… you mean the efficacy of the Detoxification Potion…… has gotten even better!”
Kyung Yoon-seul asked back as if it were hard to believe.
Even now, Sang-woong’s Detoxification Potion was considered the best, and it was getting even better?
This was something she had never even imagined.
“Yes. As a result of drinking and checking it myself, the efficacy of reducing contamination levels was a whopping 1.5 times higher than the existing Detoxification Potion. It will show a much more overwhelming effect than before even for high-grade Hunters with serious contamination levels.”
Sang-woong spoke calmly, but the weight of those words hit Kyung Yoon-seul with the impact of a nuclear bomb.
1.5 times! This wasn’t a level where the efficacy had just improved a little.
If the existing Detoxification Potion was an innovation, it was no exaggeration to say that this new Detoxification Potion had the power to completely change the paradigm of the potion world.
Naturally, contamination levels were bound to be higher for high-grade Hunters who had high activity levels and fought strong monsters frequently.
One might think that managing contamination levels would be easy since there are Detoxification Potions, but as Detoxification Potions were a type of medicine, resistance was bound to develop.
Therefore, Hunters had to cross-use different types of Detoxification Potions at certain intervals, but they could not completely prevent resistance.
However, there was exactly one exception.
It was the Detoxification Potion made by Sang-woong.
This potion, made from Earth-Grown Shiitake Mushrooms grown in clean soil and air, had already been proven to have no resistance.
Then, there was an overwhelmingly high probability that this new potion from Sang-woong, with 1.5 times higher efficacy, would also have no resistance.
If even resistance did not develop with this level of efficacy, this would not be a mere potion but an enormous strategic weapon in itself.
If there was an external Hunter a guild absolutely wanted to recruit, they would be able to bring them into the guild much more easily using this Detoxification Potion.
There was no more attractive proposal than this for Hunters whose activities were restricted due to serious contamination levels.
Besides that, there were countless ways to utilize this innovative Detoxification Potion.
“To propose the trade of such an incredible Detoxification Potion… to me… to me first!
Kyung Yoon-seul’s heart swelled at Sang-woong’s deep trust.
If numerous guilds and giant corporations learned of the existence of this new Detoxification Potion, it was certain that they would try to get their hands on it by any means necessary.
Yet, he intended to start that journey with her.
It was a moment where she once again felt how importantly Sang-woong regarded and trusted her.
“Since the infrastructure of the Taeseong Guild will likely be much more advantageous for experimenting with the exact efficacy of this new Detoxification Potion, please inform me of the experimental results in detail via email just like last time.”
Sang-woong spoke calmly and composedly about the next step.
“Of course! Do not worry, Mr. Sang-woong! I will write a report every single day and send it to you without fail!”
Kyung Yoon-seul spoke with emphasis as if making an oath.
“Haha, you don’t need to go that far. You can just let me know the important results like you do now.”
Sang-woong laughed comfortably.
Kyung Yoon-seul suddenly praised herself inwardly for her past self, who had not been blinded by immediate profit and had transparently reported all information to Sang-woong when she first realized the unknown hidden value of this Detoxification Potion.
If she had hidden the truth out of a moment’s greed back then, this incredible opportunity that she could not even imagine would have belonged to someone else.
Feeling the power of trust once again, Kyung Yoon-seul vowed to continue transparent management in the future.
“And didn’t I give you a Healing Potion once before?”
After crushing the black market organization that targeted the Detoxification Potion recipe, Sang-woong had asked Kyung Yoon-seul to handle the cleanup, and in return, he had given her a Healing Potion of miraculous efficacy.
“Ah, yes! Of course! Even then, with that Healing Potion… the Taeseong Guild really received a lot of help! We were able to succeed in a dangerous Dungeon closing operation without a single casualty! Thank you again from the bottom of my heart!”
Kyung Yoon-seul bowed her head politely and expressed her gratitude, recalling the memory of the Taeseong Guild overcoming a crisis thanks to that Healing Potion.
The efficacy of that potion was miraculous without exaggeration.
“No, I didn’t bring it up to receive thanks. Production of that Healing Potion is now possible.”
Sang-woong said bluntly.
“Wh-wh-wh-what?!”
Kyung Yoon-seul jumped up from her seat involuntarily and let out a sound close to a scream.
The innovation of the Detoxification Potion was also enormous, but the Healing Potion was a matter of a different dimension!
If the Detoxification Potion earned time and opportunity for Hunter activities, the Healing Potion had the power to return a dying Hunter back to life right away.
In fact, the biggest reason Hunters lost their lives in Dungeons was when they suffered serious injuries.
There were countless cases where they died from excessive bleeding or serious injuries even before they could be transported out of the Dungeon.
However, the problem changes if there is a Healing Potion.
Of course, a Healing Potion could not perfectly treat a wound.
However, if it could buy time to get out of the Dungeon and go to the hospital, it could increase the survival rate of Hunters.
As such, the Healing Potion was most important for the survival of Hunters, and especially, the value of a high-efficacy Healing Potion was beyond what money could measure. This was because it bought even more time.
Just as the Taeseong Guild had succeeded in a dangerous Dungeon closure without casualties with the Healing Potion Sang-woong had gifted, if the Taeseong Guild could steadily receive a supply of this Healing Potion……. Climbing to the position of the best guild in the country would not be a dream!
No, it would become reality, not a dream!