Chapter 14

Two days after successfully resolving the matter that came from the Cremgal Mercenary Office, Drey handed over the blood sample taken from the man's corpse to Renock through Jenny.

Jenny, who was passing over the styrofoam box, had a look of disgust on her face due to the acrid smell of blood, but Renock received the box calmly, not falling for her amateurish act.

For a woman who had the guts to open a bar in the middle of Sector 49, it was a laughable notion that she would be upset by the smell of blood.

Although he had to buy an additional small refrigerator to store the blood, it wasn't a significant expense.

While he couldn't analyze the blood mixed with dark magic immediately, he thought that once he became more magically mature, he might be able to uncover the principles behind its strange doping ability.

"By the way, how did you find working with the Cremgal Office this time?"

In response to Jenny's question, Renock answered nonchalantly.

"There was nothing special. Compared to the experience of meeting Croken, it was quite smooth. I did deal with a Scavenger officer, but it wasn't that difficult."

"Wasn't he a retired soldier? If he was a Scavenger officer from Sector 51, you would know the level."

She chuckled and muttered, holding a long cigar in her mouth.

"But not all Scavengers are weak or incompetent. Just so you know, quite a few people have been caught off guard and taken out after working with them a few times and letting their guard down."

"Are you saying the core leadership is different?"

"Even among branch managers, there's a significant variation. If you get entangled with the Scavenger branch managers from Sector 20, you should be careful. There's a reason they can gather all sorts of scum and create such a large organization."

Renock didn't respond but made an effort to remember her words.

Until now, the Scavengers he had encountered were nothing more than simple thugs or robbers, but if she said so, it was reasonable to assume they had more depth than what met the eye.

She exhaled smoke and grinned at Renock's indifferent expression.

"Do you know that this job has become quite well-known in the underworld? Everyone was interested because it's been a long time since the Scavengers tried something like this."

"So?"

"There are more and more clients looking for a magician who can summon lightning. It's very exciting for freelancers like us."

"Hmm..."

That was indeed a good thing. Specific requests for him would likely offer better treatment and higher rewards compared to general ones.

"So I've been working hard for our magician."

Jenny said this and then brought a file folder from behind the bar, handing it to Renock.

"I've collected all the requests that came in over the past week specifically for you. Take it and read through it to pick one you like."

"Just for me?"

The thickness of the papers in his hand seemed to exceed a dozen pages.

"It's proof that there are many people desperate for a skilled magician. Honestly, I'm surprised. Not many of my clients receive such a flood of specific requests."

Jenny looked at Renock with greedy eyes.

"So let's keep working together. I'll only take a small commission."

"Haha."

Renock laughed dryly but didn't respond, and Jenny didn't press further.

After standing up with the file folder, he nodded, and she added,

"Oh, and those requests. They all have overlapping deadlines, so if you choose one, you'll have to reject the others. You should give a quick answer so the clients can find someone else if needed. It's a matter of consideration."

"Understood."

Renock returned home immediately, threw the file folder and the styrofoam box containing the blood into a corner of his room, and headed to the bathroom.

He was about to vomit all the alcohol he had consumed at Jenny's bar. Since he realized that doing this could reduce the side effects when taking medicine, he often tried it.

Although he couldn't avoid feeling nauseous, for Renock, lying in bed sick for a whole day was even more of a loss.

After flushing the toilet and washing his face, he stood in front of the kitchen.

He sliced and grilled the meat he had thawed earlier, washed the vegetables simply, and stir-fried them with the sauce he bought from the supermarket.

Sizzle!

He took out the leftover rice from the rice cooker and had a simple meal with some side dishes.

The important thing was not to eat a lot but to make an effort to consume a variety of nutrients.

He slowly and consciously chewed the contents of his mouth, digesting and swallowing them.

Given his weak body and poor innate digestive ability, Renock always put in a lot of effort when consuming anything.

After finishing his meal, he did the dishes and stretched.

It was important to take care of himself before the bad habit of doing dishes to eat took over.

Renock put the vitamin supplements he had ordered two weeks ago into the small refrigerator he had bought in advance. It was natural to take precautions with the blood that had been touched by dark magic, using a small-scale boundary magic.

Sitting upright in a corner of the room, he finally picked up the file folder Jenny had given him and started flipping through the documents inside.

There were requests from mercenary offices like Cremgal, personal protection requests, and even unusual requests like cooperation for laboratory experiments. Many requests also came from companies, similar to the last one.

Renock paused and burst into a hollow laugh.

"Hehe... These guys must be pretty desperate."

There was a request from the Scavengers themselves, wanting to hire him.

It seemed that the Scavenger branch manager from Sector 38 had noticed his performance.

The request was so blatant, openly stating that they wouldn't mind him interfering with their operations, that Renock couldn't help but be surprised.

Jenny must have known about this and deliberately didn't tell him. She was quite playful, as he had noticed while working with her.

"Let's see. I'll skip this one, and this one too..."

He filtered out requests with too tight a deadline and put the mercenary office requests on hold. He also removed the personal requests from unknown individuals.

The corporate requests were relatively straightforward.

Renock didn't think working with a gang was entirely negative, but trust was an issue. He planned to avoid working with dangerous organizations until he had the strength to earn their trust through force.

After filtering through the requests with strict conditions, only one request caught Renock's eye.

It had the longest remaining deadline among the gathered requests and the conditions were not too strict. The compensation wasn't particularly high, but there was a keyword that caught Renock's attention.

"Pharmaceutical company..."

Unfamiliar customer

Pharmaceutical company.

A word that strongly piqued the interest of Renock, who had recently become very interested in medicine.

He immediately turned on his phone and connected to the internet.

There was a site he had started visiting more frequently recently, despite only occasionally checking the news before.

Auction, the official online auction site operated by the city government.

In this city's largest network market, where it's faster to count the items not for sale, it's common to find all sorts of rare treasures and artifacts of unknown origin.

Occasionally, consumable elixirs that maintain the vitality and health of the user also appear here.

Among them, Renock had his eye on 'Stemonia,' a first-class manufactured elixir by the Stania Pharmaceutical Group, priced at around 100 million cells.

It was said to achieve the most efficient enhancement of vitality by combining regeneration magic, qi techniques, and primitive rituals in various ways.

While it was relatively mass-produced among elixirs and focused on boosting physical strength and maintaining vitality, it was still a rare item in such a public auction.

Renock was in no position to be picky.

He needed to not only improve his living standards by earning money but also strive for a better life.

He had been saving money by cutting expenses here and there, all for this moment.

"Next job... no, at least two jobs."

To secure a bid on Stemonia at the auction, 100 million cells wouldn't be enough.

Renock planned to use a significant portion of his savings this time to confirm one important fact.

Could he improve his frail body solely through the effects of the elixir?

If this question remained unresolved, Renock couldn't move forward.

He needed hope.

Even if it wasn't a time-series unique magic, the hope that such elixirs could alleviate the penalties in his body.

Unique magic, artifacts, elixirs.

Among these, the elixirs were the most accessible and could be obtained with capital, at least for Renock.

Even if he didn't see a significant effect immediately, it was crucial to confirm whether similar elixirs could bring positive effects to Renock.

Even if it meant using a considerable portion of the money he had saved up.

Suppressing his rising excitement, Renock calmly flipped through the pages.

"Amunak Pharmaceutical Company..."

It wasn't a well-known giant like Stania, but rather a venture company founded in the 30s sector. However, the fact that they manufactured medicine was important.

While he couldn't expect to gain anything special from a single job, it would be good to learn more about the industry.

It might even provide a hint to solve the problem of his sleep medication, which was gradually losing its effectiveness.

"I'm a bit hesitant to switch to a stronger sleep medication..."

If he took more than the recommended dose of cheap sleep medication, he might never wake up again. So, for now, he had to endure.

He decided.

His next client would be Amunak Pharmaceutical Company.

After making up his mind, Renock skimmed through the job description, but it only mentioned a pharmaceutical company's secret project related to new drug development.

It seemed that the political authorities in that sector were clashing over the expected benefits of this new drug development, but the specific details were not written, making it difficult to understand.

He would contact Jenny and meet the client later. It was time to sleep.

Renock took a cup of water and a sleep medication, turned off the lights, and immediately lay down. Although he had been neglecting it due to his intense focus on magic research, he tried to maintain a regular sleep schedule whenever possible.

He picked up his phone to pass the time before the cheap sleep medication took effect.

Sometimes, lying here and looking at the display made him feel like nothing had changed.

Just like back then, when he could burrow under the covers and giggle while looking at his phone without a care in the world.

What had changed was that he no longer searched for sports or entertainment news.

Scandals involving athletes and singers he didn't know no longer held any interest for him.

Renock tapped on the [Breaking News] at the top of the news section.

[Philegnom Autonomous Region's delegation to visit Balkan. Scheduled for two months from now... A response team will be assembled to discuss the specific agenda.]

[City Government. Despite maintaining a stance of no compromise, will they change their attitude this time?]

[Arionate production process remains stagnant despite corporate promises.]

Autonomous Region... A word that seemed familiar yet awkward. It wasn't something he often heard on Earth.

While the details were hard to grasp, it seemed that a significant meeting would take place in Balkan two months from now, based on the tone of the news headlines.

Was this news significant enough for Renock to pay attention to? He wanted to think about it, but sleep overtook him in an instant.

He put down his phone and fell asleep like a log.