Ch.181181. Lee Ji-hyun’s Passion

Lee Jihyun is an alchemist.

She was an alchemist with grand dreams.

“I’m going to make a lot of money.”

That was the vague dream she had when she awakened as an A-rank alchemist.

Making big money.

Becoming someone great to repay her parents who had supported her.

For that, she chose the difficult path, refusing to sell herself cheaply.

She thought that after going through this process, she could make good use of her abilities, earn a lot of money, and live a life doing whatever she wanted.

The dreams she had while worrying about money in her small studio apartment painted a vast, bright, and vibrant world.

But once she actually had money, she realized how futile and fleeting those fantasies had been.

Of course, Jihyun was lucky.

She met a good boss who provided welfare benefits and paid her more than her abilities warranted, which allowed her to realize how meaningless her previous concerns had been.

Anyway, her dream was never about becoming a world-famous alchemist.

During her school days, she was just an ordinary girl who liked to live quietly.

Like everyone else, she wanted to do what she liked and enjoy what she loved. Who wouldn’t like receiving attention?

The money from selling potions gets deposited into her account.

It’s nothing compared to what goes into her boss’s and Sujeong’s accounts, but compared to when she was struggling to make potions, it’s an astounding amount.

Honestly, she doesn’t feel any particular greed.

If this were all there was, she might want to try various things, but she knows this will continue.

And since she’s confident that her current earnings are just the beginning, even handling large sums of money doesn’t make her anxious.

She’s done her filial duty too.

Seeing her parents embrace her with tears made her think she should continue to serve her boss well.

It wasn’t because the boss paid well.

He’s handsome.

And kind.

Has a good personality.

His straightforward approach to doing what he wants is attractive to her as a woman—the traits of an appealing male.

That’s why she initially volunteered to go to the farm cabin.

It would be a lie to say she didn’t have some naughty thoughts.

Just the two of them in a world with no one else.

Even though Lulu was there, she thought something might happen.

She still had such expectations, but now she simply found life at the cabin too comfortable.

She had given enough money to her parents, and her share would continue to accumulate in her account while she was here, so there was no worry.

If she needed food or items, she could ask Sujeong to buy them when going to Earth.

A lifetime’s worth of dramas, movies, novels, and comics.

Even 24 hours a day wasn’t enough to enjoy them all.

She didn’t even feel guilty about spending time on these things because she was fulfilling her role as an alchemist, working at least 8 hours a day, so there was no problem at all.

Farming Company might seem free-spirited at first glance, but from what she had observed over the past month, it was a company.

A free company.

A company where you could do anything as long as you fulfilled your role.

The downside of such a company was the need to constantly come up with new ideas.

Hair loss medicine. Then mud potion. Then virility enhancers.

The role given to an alchemist was quite heavy and burdensome, but creating these wasn’t in the realm of creation.

When materials were provided, she just had to work hard at alchemy, buy recipes with the points she earned, and make them.

With a bit more attention to detail and research, she could produce more efficiently and create higher quality products.

If she got hungry during work, she could always ask Sujeong, who was at the cabin or in the field, and she would make a different dish every day.

Whenever she was bored, Sujeong would make snacks and bring them up, and lately she seemed to be experimenting with drinks, feeding her various cocktails, coffees, and beverages.

As the cabin expanded, she had a room that served as both her workspace and personal space, almost combining two rooms, with one corner partitioned off to create her cozy TV viewing area.

The feeling of turning on the air conditioner full blast, lying on a soft bean bag with a thin blanket, piling up snacks, having a cup of coffee or a drink, and watching TV with the lights off was incomparable.

Becoming known worldwide, getting famous, having comments flood her social media…

Jihyun realized after coming to the cabin that she preferred these small, simple pleasures over that kind of happiness.

That’s why she was even more motivated to work.

She had no choice.

She slept for 6 hours.

Invested 8 hours in alchemy for Farming Company.

Spent 6 hours on personal activities like watching TV, eating, and bathing, which left exactly 4 hours that could be considered her self-development time.

She could watch more TV, take walks around the farm, or go play in the village.

Kim Sujeong usually spent her time like that, but homebody Jihyun decided to do what she liked.

Watching TV was consumable entertainment.

Although it seemed almost infinite now with new content constantly being added from Earth, if she watched TV all day, she would eventually run out of things to watch.

It was good to share with other hobbies, and rather than finding something new, she decided to try something that would help with what she was already good at.

That was exploring areas of alchemy she hadn’t touched before.

Perhaps if she hadn’t come to the farm.

If she hadn’t become the owner of an alchemy shop, she might never have attempted this.

Without learning these kinds of recipes at the alchemy shop, she wouldn’t have dared to create them with her alchemy skills, which had mostly focused on healing potions.

This new hobby she started actually suited her taste quite well.

The warehouse was full of various resources with unknown uses.

There was really everything imaginable.

Whenever the boss returned, numerous resources were classified through the legendary warehouse, including things that made her wonder if they would ever be useful.

And now the day had come for Jihyun to use them.

She had fun making various interesting potions and alchemical creations, sometimes imagining:

If in danger, could I use these?

It was just an amusing fantasy, but then…

“…Use my special potions for hunting?”

“Yes. This one and this one. How many more can you make?”

He said he would use what she made as a hobby for hunting in the rift dimensions.

Her heart raced.

She had just made them as a hobby and to level up her alchemy skills.

“I’ll try this one first.”

He took some sample potions and returned a few hours later with praise.

“Wow. This is amazing. I shoved it into a snake’s mouth, and it glowed before dying.”

“But that one’s rare. Even using everything in the warehouse, I could only make about 10 bottles.”

“…Really? Then I’ll save this for boss fights. What about the pill bombs?”

“I have more of those. I made them by mixing copper gunpowder, and there’s plenty in the warehouse. I already have about 100 made.”

“Then I’ll use those for regular mobs. Can you make more? About 200 more.”

“Yes! I’ll stop everything else and focus on making these.”

“Thanks.”

Seeing the boss leave excitedly with a thumbs up made her heart flutter.

Jihyun knew.

That her boss was a very popular man.

Beyond his good looks and personality that matched her taste, she had heard from Kim Sujeong that famous beauties from around the world were already pursuing him just for his abilities.

But still.

Even if it was an unrequited love, it didn’t necessarily have to be love.

A moderate flutter of the heart.

And a happy work-life balance.

Being a valued employee.

Just this much made Jihyun very happy right now.

She sat at the alchemy table and began crafting her “Small Pill Bomb Potion.”

[Small Pill Bomb Potion]

– Grade: C

– A pill-shaped bomb potion modified by Alchemist Jihyun.

– Reacts to saliva or gastric acid, dissolving the capsule surrounding the bomb potion, generating heat and causing an explosion that deals powerful damage in a small area.

Originally, it was a different type of explosive potion, but it was too large and bulky for practical use, so she modified it until it became her exclusive invention with her name attached to the item.

If this experiment went well, could she sell these too?

The thought of the first alchemy potion bearing the name “Alchemist Jihyun” being used by her boss filled her with passion as she began mass-producing them.

“I’ll finish by tonight.”

Though he had never ordered so urgently before, Jihyun went into overnight work mode.