Genius Regressor Makes Mythic Items

42. Foundation (4)

TL: xLordFifth
ED/PR: The reader

Was it because it was the evening rush hour?

The streets were bustling with people, including students and office workers.

“Oh my! Kim Shihyuk oppa!”

“Why am. I seeing his back there?!”

“To think Kim Jongjun would catch Kim Shihyuk…”

“Ahhh! My bet!”

And then, a collective sigh of disappointment.

While everyone showed frustration on their faces, there was one exception.

‘Even if. I told him…’

A handsome man with distinct facial features.

Kim Shimun smirked as he looked at his phone screen.

-An upset has occurred!

-Defying everyone’s expectations, athlete Kim Jongjun has won the first game against Kim Shihyuk!

-It’s not that Kim Shihyuk performed poorly but rather Kim Jongjun played exceptionally! How did he dodge Kim Shihyuk’s sword strike?

The presenters and commentators sighed in unison, voicing the shared disappointment. Listening to them through his earphones, Kim Shimun let out a sigh of relief.

‘I was slightly worried that the future might change because of the information. I gave him…’

It was an entirely unnecessary concern. This arrogantly foolish younger brother of his did not listen to him after all. Well, not that he didn’t listen at all.

‘But it seems he was somewhat mindful. He even used the Shadowless Slash.’

Shadowless Slash.

One of the trademark techniques of the Sword Saint, Kim Shihyuk, a fearsome skill that’s hard to see even when infused with aura.

It was also what earned him the nickname. ‘Sword Saint’ during the national team selection matches. In his previous life, he never used such a key technique from the first game.

‘He just used to play around with his basics.’

Though Kim Shihyuk isn’t someone who cares much for others. He knows well that his brother greatly dislikes bad manners in the arena.

And whether there was some friction or not. At the time of the Scorpio Guild’s dissolution, he was the one who had swept through them first.

‘Now that I think about it, Kim Jongjun still has that sword-red aura this time too.’

The fleeting sword-red aura that shimmered around Kim Jongjun’s body. Thanks to the immensely increased speed afterward, in his past life, Kim Shihyuk had suffered a critical hit resulting in defeat.

Of course, the same happened in this round too.

‘I didn’t realize it in my past life, but now it somehow feels familiar.’

Perhaps because he wasn’t a level 1 magic-disabled person this time around?

The sword-red aura presumed to be a buff on Kim Jongjun strangely felt familiar.

-Ah! Athlete Kim Shihyuk seems quite flustered!

-To be honest, he must have been certain. Confident that he wouldn’t lose a single game against Kim Jongjun.

-Exactly! Although Kim Jongjun is a veteran player, he’s not a ranker, is he? The gap is significant.

Along with the commentators’ remarks.

The phone screen showed the dumbstruck face of his younger brother, now regenned to the waiting room.

‘He must’ve been quite shocked.’

Not because he was defeated by Kim Jongjun, given his personality.

‘It must be the shock of losing the first game, just as. I said.’

‘Even if it’s you, Kim Shihyuk, a 3-0 sweep isn’t possible, right? You’d lose the first game at least.’

Right now, those words must be echoing in his brother’s head. He’s always been like this. Though he excelled at everything, starting with his studies, he took a while to get over the shock when something unexpected happened.

‘It was the same with that incident 10 years ago.’

10 years ago.

The incident that had gifted him with magic disability. Even amidst the vicious memory of his veins feeling like they were burning away, the frozen, bewildered face of his young brother wouldn’t fade.

Clap.

“Phew! Let’s stop with the useless thoughts. It’s all in the past now.”

Kim Shimun tapped his cheeks with both hands, shaking off the gloomy memories. “I have to start by copying money right away.”

Shimun reduced the national team selection competition to one side of the screen and opened the betting app. There really wasn’t any need to pay close attention to the rest.

‘From now on, Shihyuk will give it his all, and even if not, he can’t lose because of his Heavenly Martial Body.’

One of Kim Shihyuk’s three traits, the SSS-class trait Heavenly Martial Body (天武肢體). From martial arts to various techniques, and even traits to an extreme extent.

A crazy trait that understands and interprets the origin and form of everything related to martial arts.

On top of that, added with his brother’s superior talent, it creates a truly fantastic synergy. The most representative of that is.

‘You don’t fall for the same trick twice.’

That was one of the reasons why Kim Shihyuk, the Sword Saint from his previous life, could be called the strongest player.

‘Even Malsuk admitted it in this regard.’

Heavenly Demon Go Malsuk, one of the few beings who could stand against Kim Shihyuk along with Spear King Zhang Liqiu.

‘I’m not inferior to others when it comes to copying, but your brother has surpassed that. That guy is seriously not human.’

Even she, who was so proud, didn’t deny Kim Shihyuk, right? By now, this monstrous brother must have figured out everything about Kim Jongjun from the first match.

And just like before the regression. He will cleanly sweep the remaining matches with a three-win streak, seizing both the individual championship and MVP. And just as expected.

-Ah! Player Kim Jongjun! This time, he’s split into four!

-Overwhelming indeed. As expected of Kim Shihyuk! Kim Jongjun’s lightning-fast attack didn’t work at all!

-Right. It’s like he’s seen it all before. Ah… is this how a giant from the first generation falls?! Seamlessly finishing two matches in a row, Kim Shihyuk was wrapping up the last match cleanly. Shimun felt proud of his brother’s achievements.

“Let’s see.”

Fondly smiling at the thought of the money his brother would bring in, he completely turned off the national team selection match and scrolled through the betting app.

‘The AP. I exchanged was 175,000 points…’

Though he wouldn’t receive the sales money for the mana petrification syndrome cure right away, he had some buffer funds. It was the AP (Arena Point) he had earned from the broadcasts so far.

The total AP gathered was approximately 180,000 points. Out of which, 175,000 points were used for betting on the finals. Taking into account the one-to-one exchange rate with dollars, it amounts to over 200 million won.

With those funds, he bet on Kim Shihyuk’s 3 to 1 victory. And on top of that, he even got the exact losing round of one match right.

‘As expected, a lot of people bet on Shihyuk’s total victory.’

Expectantly scanning the betting statistics on the app, Shimun’s eyes slightly widened.

‘What? There are quite a few people who bet on 3 to 1 as well?’

Although it was less than 20%, it was entirely different from what Shimun thought, who expected it to be in the single digits.

‘So, they are the long shots, huh?’

Commonly known as betting against the odds. Those who, senselessly, place bets on high odds thinking ‘what if.’

‘Hmm. Even considering the long shots… it’s about 23 times?’

His lips curled into a smile. If you could multiply about 200 million won by 23 times? Oh shit.

“Philosopher’s Stone, tell me if you want any ingredients. Today, I’m treating.”

-Kyah! Really? I’m already happy with the ones our young master gave me!

Jackpot. There was no need for another word to explain.

* * *

“Hmm~.” The humming came out naturally. It was inevitable.

“With a total of 4.6 billion! With this much, moving to a spacious place won’t be a worry!”

But why stop at moving?

It would also be entirely possible to find a large laboratory for various tasks, including developing treatments for Arena diseases.

“I’ll be able to comfortably buy rare and necessary materials too!”

Shimun opened the door of his tiny apartment with a cheerful step.

“Time to say goodbye to this place, huh?”

A cramped one-room studio of about 5 square meters.

Even this tiny apartment was hard-won.

“They say fortune comes all at once…”

He still couldn’t quite believe he was now in a position to move to a much larger and nicer place.

-“Oppa? I understand you’re overwhelmed with earning so much money, but shouldn’t we start verifying?”

“Right! Now’s not the time to be sentimental.”

Pulled out of his reflections by the Philosopher’s Stone’s words, Shimun hastily approached the work table set up in a corner of his tiny room.

There, a aging device shimmered with a green light.

It signaled the completion of the elixir’s aging.

Shimun, with practiced movements, opened the aging device and took out the elixirs.

“Brother, these have fermented really well, huh?”

“Indeed?”

“Let’s check them out quickly! You even used achievement points to upgrade the aging device.”

“Wait a moment, buddy.”

Shimun carefully took out the elixirs he had placed in the aging device.

A total of three elixirs had undergone fermentation.

There was one in the form of a pill and two in the form of elixirs.

Shimun picked up the purple mochi-looking pill first.

[Moonlight Pill]

Grade: B+

– Consuming increases Agility stat permanently by 4.

– Increases flexibility slightly upon first consumption.

A pill made from mixing moonrock powder and shade grass.

High-level alchemy and fermentation have further enhanced the efficacy of this pill.

“Nice.”

B-Grade+.

The perfect manufacturing process not only secured it a ‘+’ grade,

“It seems the fermentation ensured a guaranteed additional option?”

Typically, a C-class would carry. ‘a low probability’, and a B-class. ‘a high probability’ for such uncertain additional options.

For instance, the second option of [Moonlight Pill].

Had it not gone through perfect manufacturing and fermentation,

– First consumption slightly increases flexibility.

Would instead be,

– ‘High probability’ that first consumption slightly increases flexibility.

Shimun looked at the Moonlight Pill’s second option with satisfaction.

“Instead of stats, it increases flexibility. This makes it satisfying even if it increases fewer stats than the Blood Blossom Pill.”

The grade of the elixir he had made before, [Blood Blossom Pill], was C.

However, perhaps because it was made from by-products of a hidden boss, it increased Strength, Agility, and Constitution by 2 each.

The Moonlight Pill, being of a higher grade.

Increased Agility by 4, which was less of an overall stat boost compared to the Blood Blossom Pill.

But the addition of. ‘increased flexibility on first consumption’ was a characteristic of higher-grade elixirs.

“The others must be similar?”

With hopeful eyes, Shimun also checked the two potion-type elixirs.

[Wild Violence Elixir]

Grade: B+

– Consuming increases Strength stat permanently by 5.

– Increases Constitution stat permanently by 1 on first consumption.

An elixir made from the hearts of ogres, trolls, and various beasts.

High-level alchemy and fermentation have further enhanced the efficacy of this elixir.

[Diamond Water]

Grade: A

-Upon consumption, stamina stat permanently increases by 7.

-Upon first consumption, stamina stat permanently increases by 2.

-First consumption slightly increases natural healing abilities.

An elixir made from Mithril, which has been refined for consumption.

Enhanced by high-level alchemy and aging, the elixir’s effectiveness has been elevated.

As expected, these elixirs not only boost stats, but also come with a second additional effect.

“My goodness…”

Among them, the elixir that took Kim Shimun’s breath away was the. “Diamond Water.”

-“Oppa, the grade of Diamond Water has actually gone up, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I was just looking into that.”

Initially, the grade of Diamond Water, like the other two elixirs, was supposed to be B+.

But what about the Diamond Water right in front of them now?

It was an A-grade Elixir.

Kim Shimun could easily guess the reason.

“It must be largely due to the Mithril used in it.”

-Right. The very idea of refining Mithril for consumption was unbelievable to begin with. I was truly shocked back then.

Before the previous Arena battle began,

Kim Shimun made elixirs with the leftover ingredients Park Jinwook had given him for the creation of a mana sclerosis treatment.

At that time, there was a shortage of special metal ingredients for the Diamond Water, so he used the Mithril, which he had acquired as a reward from the special Arena. “Fiery Mines Nightmare.”

-I never imagined humans could refine Mithril to that extent.

And the Philosopher’s Stone, witnessing this, was in a constant state of amazement and shock.

-It’s not that. I underestimate you, oppa, but that’s something even magic adept races can’t easily do.

“Well, refining it for the first time was indeed a lot of work.”

-‘A lot of work’? Oppa, that’s not just some regular refining technique you’re talking about! Honestly, I still have my doubts.

“Doubts?”

-Yeah. What if you used some kind of trick, not just alchemy?

“What trick could I possibly have used, being only capable of alchemy?”

Besides, all things considered,

“If that were the case, Philosopher’s Stone, you would have noticed.”

It was impossible for the mythical creation, the Philosopher’s Stone, not to detect such a thing.

-Well, that’s true but…

Could it be that hard to believe?

The Philosopher’s Stone trailed off, still unconvinced.

“Your skepticism is your own, but remember the elixir recipes and you’ll understand.”

One of the ingredients in the Elixir is Mithril itself.

If one did not know how to refine it for consumption, making an Elixir in the first place would have been an impossible dream.

Naturally, the Philosopher’s Stone knew this too.

-Right, the Elixir! A large amount of Mithril was used in that, wasn’t it?

“Exactly. Are your doubts beginning to clear now?”

Considering that Kim Shimun crafted it at level 1, acceptance was inevitable.

“It makes me feel a bit hurt to think that our Philosopher’s Stone had doubts about me.”

-Eh? No, no, no! That’s not what. I meant…

The voice of the Philosopher’s Stone suddenly became high and shaky.

-I mean, because you refined it so effortlessly despite the high difficulty… Yes, that’s it! I was just incredibly surprised!

“Always quick with words.”

-Ah! Oppa, you know what I mean, right? Hmm?

“Enough. It’s unbecoming.”

-Brother, please! Ugh! Anyway, let’s quickly consume them. You said you wanted to move up to Gold rank quickly, right?

Maybe it’s time to let it go.

“Little one.”

Kim Shimun grinned as he opened the highest grade elixir, the Diamond Water.

Just as the Philosopher’s Stone said,

-‘Let’s level up quickly to Gold rank and use [Corrupted Fragment of the World Tree’s Seed].’

Hadn’t they already experienced the sweetness of a special Arena once?

“Shall we boost the specs then?”

Pop.

With the clear sound of the elixir cap opening.

Glug.

Kim Shimun eagerly downed the Diamond Water.