episode_0069

Mulberry.

It may be sudden, but when you hear this word, different fields come to mind for each person.

-Bong? what? Are you talking about the sound of a fart?

Some people will think of the ‘bong’ sound.

Maybe you enjoyed watching a popular drama, or came up with one of the names of a character with a similar name.

-When you say mulberry, doesn’t it mean breasts? Did someone manipulate the breasts?

Some may think of pads placed on the chest.

When your girlfriend kicks you in the face, or you think ‘Which character manipulated her breasts?’, you will turn on your eyes and try to find the person who did it.

-No matter what, mulberry is soup!

Some people will think of Gukppong, the basis of this light novel.

World-famous world-class figures will feel pride and pride in being Korean.

-Bong? You have become stronger. Charge!

Some people will think of a buff machine.

It is not clear whether mulberry is a type of nerve enhancer or a stimulant, but in this situation, receiving mulberry usually refers to the moment when one’s abilities, whether physical or mental, improve.

The word mulberry is used in so many different places.

Therefore, it is difficult to interpret the meaning of mulberry based on just the word mulberry because each person has different thoughts when they hear the word mulberry.

Context is needed.

I have experienced Gukbbong in this world and experienced various things in this world, but there is one Mulberry that I have not touched, even before I was possessed and even now.

Mulberry is strange?

Are you telling me not to keep babbling?

So what if we change it to a different word?

‘drug’.

A psychoactive substance called methamphetamine.

It is also used as a medicine, but of course, most people who want to use it want to get the pleasure that drugs provide.

The mulberry I am talking about is this narcotic substance.

Also, it is not just a substance for the general public, but for ‘people with special abilities’.

So question.

Is this a commonly used drug?

no.

To the average person, it is just an ordinary white powder, but when inhaled by a person with a special ability, there is a drug in powder form that is even more effective than drugs.

The official name is ‘Mana Powder’.

It is a substance that is strictly prohibited even in the society. When taken, white powder is a substance that improves psychic abilities, amplifies magical power, and enhances mana output.

After taking it, like regular drugs, you will fall into addiction and be unable to carry out your daily life, and most people who have touched this drug have all become ‘villains’.

Why does something like this exist in this worldview?

At first, everyone didn’t know.

Based on the setting and my research, mana powder began to be distributed on the market in earnest around 2015 by world standards.

-South Korea is a drug-free country!

It was a time when you could often hear stories on TV and the Internet saying that so-and-so had administered drugs.

-This is breaking news! A-class hero ‘Erectile’ is addicted to drugs targeting people with special abilities and is going on a rampage! Citizens living in Cheongju, please evacuate immediately….

An accident occurred.

Something so terrible happened that the world tried to somehow ban mana powder.

In terms of efficacy alone, it is nothing more than an amplifier and stimulant that improves one’s abilities even if one does not become a demon, but there was an opinion that it could just be used as is.

However, the moment the method of making mana powder was spread by a conscientious person, the world fell into an abyss of fear and hatred.

-Mana powder is made using dead psychics!

-It’s a human bone! What white powder would come out of a dead person’s body!

-That’s a huge amount of powder!

iced coffee.

It is said that relics come from the body of Buddha.

Mana powder comes out from the body of a person with this ability.

To be exact, after the person with superpowers died, he was cremated and the remaining bones turned into powder.

In that powder, the mana that the person possessed in the body before death remains in the bones, and as the bone dust weathers away, it is scattered into the world.

what?

Is there any mana left in the remains?

Then I can have that mana, right?

With this in mind, someone committed a terrible act, which eventually led to new knowledge about people with special abilities.

The remains of the dead become the blood, flesh, and mana of other supernatural beings.

That is mana powder.

in other words.

The only drug allowed for those with special abilities is ‘bone meal’.

After cremating a deceased person with supernatural abilities, if the bone still retains its shape, the bone powder is made by pounding the white bones with a hammer to make them finer than flour.

And when a person with superpowers dies, Sejong Island is the place where the body can be quietly disposed of without anyone noticing.

If the ‘high-ranking people’ of Sejong Island decide to hide it, there is nothing they cannot hide.

Yes.

F- or E-level talented people will be eliminated and ‘weeded out’ in the process of this treasure hunt.

Among them, mainly people with low-level abilities who do not have a family, or even if they do have a family, do not have enough support, or who are unlikely to suffer any problems after being touched.

-Is it a blessing to become someone with special abilities? Unfortunately, anything below E or F is of no help to the world. If, just in case, they die, shouldn’t their bodies be used in a way that is helpful to this country and the world?

okay.

The main character called himself Class E.

He tried to hide his power and presented himself as a socially underprivileged person, but almost got eaten by those who wanted to prey on the weak.

Due to the attack of the title heroine, ‘Ermina Sternfert’.

The black bag I found in a public restroom late at night contained a paper bag.

It is believed to have contained bone meal.

One dilemma here.

Mana powder is not yet illegal.

Although the process of making it is so bizarre, mana powder is a ‘naturally occurring’ product from a certain perspective.

It’s just that the process of its occurrence is so sad, pitiful, or shocking.

-Everyone dies.

-There is no order in which to go.

Although it is difficult to provide specific statistics worldwide, death is equal for everyone and comes suddenly.

The same goes for people with special abilities.

If there is a person who made the noble sacrifice of sacrificing his or her life while trying to save someone, that person’s ashes will be placed in the charnel house and used the moment a danger arises that could harm the continuation of humanity.

Because he was a hero.

however.

What if someone tries to ‘deliberately’ create mana powder?

What if the person with this ability is turned into mana powder, like forcibly stealing the devil seed from a woman who has become a devil?

That person.

You won’t be able to avoid the goblin’s bat.

* * *

After turning into a goblin in the mother-in-law’s room, I came out during the day, avoided people’s eyes, and headed to the place where the treasure hunt event would be held.

To be exact, to the rooftop of a 10-story high-rise building overlooking that location.

[Everyone gathered in the main plaza. welcome.]

Grand plaza.

A white-haired old man in a suit held the microphone at the center of a podium in a plaza as large as Gwanghwamun Square.

Behind him, a huge screen showing the old man’s face was shining.

[At the academy, we are always working to improve people’s abilities. This time, as many of you know, it is a treasure hunt.]

There were already too many people gathered in the main plaza where the event was taking place, and except for the visitors who were separated by a certain distance, most of them were academy students.

[From now on, you will be in a group of two and each person will have to search for treasure in a designated area. Information about your partner will be transmitted through Taegeuk Watch, and the treasure hunt competition will begin as soon as the information is transmitted. Hehe, are you careful? There are quite a few fatal accidents and disappearances every year.]

Although he’s saying this in a joking manner, it doesn’t sound like a joke to me at all.

[…First place in each area is given a ‘privilege’. Everyone knows, right? Just like last year, the President also prepared special benefits this year. Free midterm exam pass, prize money, and 5 official certificates. This year, we issued a special public certificate so that you can use it whenever you want.]

He seems like a person who thinks about convenience every year and presents it for students, but what is it like in reality?

[…And this time, the student council prepared an event. This will be announced directly by Student Council President Iseon Yoon.]

[Thank you, President. Hello, fellow students? The student council wants to help you find safe treasures, about ‘Goblin’…]

Yoon I-seon didn’t show anything and explained about the ‘goblin hunting’ as if they had actively taken part in the process.

I hear a sound.

Diddle is so absorbed in hunting goblins that he shakes his shoulders, and everyone makes a fuss, saying that he will somehow find the treasure and get good results, and that if he finds the goblin, he will do something with the prize for finding it.

[Well, now I’m revealing your partner! Everyone, please check Taegeuk Watch!]

As the president shouted, I kept a close eye on the shiny blonde hair in the distance.

Ermina.

The direction she walked in stride-

It was Ymir.