Chapter 20: Gotta Go on Sale
[Basic Healing Potion: Requires ginkgo leaves, daisy roots, crystal vial.]
With [Basic Alchemy] now in his skillset, Zhou Ning's mind was instantly flooded with the complete refining technique for the [Basic Healing Potion].
How much ginkgo leaf to use, the correct ratio, how much daisy root, the exact proportions, the precise steps of the process—he remembered it all with crystal clarity.
In the game, crafting potions was as simple as standing at an alchemy station and letting a progress bar fill up. But now, he had to manually work with cauldrons, distillers, and other actual tools.
This was on a whole different level.
5 grams of ginkgo leaf, 7 grams of daisy root, a bit of iodine tincture to balance the potion's properties... Zhou Ning followed each step methodically, dropping herbs into the cauldron, boiling the mixture, then pouring it into a beaker.
His [Basic Alchemy] skill bar began inching upward—from 7 proficiency points to 8.
In under five minutes, a steaming vial of beginner healing potion was complete.
[Basic Healing Potion]
Quality: Common
Type: Consumable
Effect: Restores a small amount of HP.
Note: Drink it!
After crafting his first potion, Zhou Ning took a sip. The taste was tolerable—it probably wouldn't kill anyone. He set the finished potion aside and calmly picked up another set of ingredients to begin the next batch.
[You completed a potion: Quality 63, gained 36 EXP, +1 proficiency point.]
[You completed a potion: Quality 77, gained 41 EXP, +2 proficiency points (Extreme Calmness +1).]
Thanks to his talents [Dexterous Hands] and [Extreme Calmness], Zhou Ning's potion crafting was exceptionally stable and efficient. As his proficiency grew, his crafting speed improved too—what initially took five minutes per bottle was soon down to just three, and his success rate was nearing 90%.
Over three hours passed. Zhou Ning reached out for another crystal vial on instinct—and came up empty. He'd used them all up?
Snapping out of his hyper-focused state, Zhou Ning stared blankly at the piles of beginner healing potions covering the table.
Zhou Ning: …
Can someone please tell me what I'm supposed to do with this mountain of healing potions? Seriously, this is urgent!
He could already imagine Professor Wesley's darkening expression…
Sure, he might've caused a bit of a mess, but the EXP gains were worth it—over 6,000 points in just over three hours. His Basic Alchemy proficiency was now nearly a third full.
Whatever.
At 1 p.m. sharp, when Professor Wesley pushed open the door to the alchemy lab, he froze in shock at the sight before him.
The lab floor was spotless. The windows had been polished. All the materials for the afternoon session were prepped and ready.
And then… a full table stacked with beginner healing potions made him question reality.
Wesley inspected the ingredients. His face remained expressionless as he picked up a vial and sniffed it—the quality was excellent. Zhou Ning had turned 120 sets of materials into 112 finished potions. That success rate was astonishing, even better than most intermediate alchemists. And considering Wayne Sturwell was still just an apprentice, his talent was remarkable. Given time, he might even reach advanced or master level.
But why the hell would someone brew this many beginner healing potions?!
"Rosie! Get over here!" he barked.
"Coming!" A flustered, pretty girl came rushing in. This was the first time she'd seen Professor Wesley this flustered.
"Rosie, take all these beginner healing potions to the academy's alchemy shop. They're 20% off for the next week. And fetch me a new batch of crystal vials," Wesley said coldly. "Also, tell Wayne Sturwell—no more healing potions. He can make anything else he wants. But he's solely responsible for the freshman orientation event in four days."
"O-okay!" Rosie nodded furiously. She snuck a peek at the table and was shocked by the sheer volume of potions. This was hardcore overproduction.
There were so many beginner healing potions, they'd probably still be selling them well into next semester. No wonder they had to go on sale.
Yeah… definitely gotta go on sale.
Elsewhere, Zhou Ning had already returned to his dorm, arms full of books. He stored away the 6,000 EXP he'd earned, planning to use it once he'd gathered even more.
After simulations in two worlds, his [Literary Life] progress had unknowingly surpassed 300. The end of this mission wasn't far off. With more real-world reading and three or four more simulation runs, he might complete it.
[Literary Life]: Deep down, you've always had a literary dream. In a future life, pursue that dream. Across both real life and simulations, read a total of 1,000 books. (353/1000)
He set the books down on his desk and eagerly opened the recharge menu, dumping all 30 newly earned Vecktas into it in one go.
And just like that, the 30 Vecktas vanished in an instant. His traversal coin balance rose to 14.
He opened the lottery page and tapped the ten-draw option. A ten-pull only cost 9 traversal coins—quite the deal!
[You received rare item: Springfield Rifle. Includes 7.62mm ammo.]
[You received rare item: Colt M1878 Revolver. Includes .45 ACP ammo.]
[You received rare item: Lee–Enfield Rifle. Includes .303 British ammo.]
[You received exotic item: 1792 Western Armor.]
…
Just as Zhou Ning expected, the draw was almost entirely firearms. Out of ten items, seven were guns, two were worthless British antiques, and one was a dagger he could actually use. Of the firearms, there were five revolvers and two rifles—and none were especially valuable. By the standard conversion rate—18 Vecktas for a rifle, 15 for a revolver—he could probably sell them all for over 100 Vecktas. He was getting closer to full traversal freedom.
He still had five traversal coins left. If this next traversal went badly, it might be his last shot for a while. Zhou Ning took a deep breath and selected the traversal option again.
[Preparing for traversal… Traversal coins -5]
[Please choose traversal mode…]
[1. Direct traversal.]
[2. Use parallel world template.]
The three templates—Yakuza Fiend, Mad Clown, and Supreme Gambling God—only had about 10 hours left on their timers and were too expensive. Zhou Ning immediately chose option 1.
[Spend 1 more coin to reroll talents?]
He selected no.
[You have selected Talents 6, 8, and 9.]
[Your current talents are: Super Gambler, Naturally Sociable, Business Genius. Constant talent: Tony Stark.]
[Match complete. In this parallel world, you are a playboy, a master of socializing, and a genius in both science and business. You're also an unrepentant gambler.]
[Current world exploration: 34.8%. When exploration reaches 66.7%, the next map will unlock.]
[If you die during simulation, the game ends.]
[Boarding time machine… 1%... 33%... 65%... 95%... Whoosh… Traversal complete.]
[You have arrived in New York, 2006. From this moment on, the wheels of history begin to turn.]
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