Ch.4542 – Roundabout

“Is NoName always taking medicine? Is there something wrong with her health?”

Ji-hye kindly helped me wash the flask bottles, making a scrubbing sound as the fully oxidized residue washed away with the soapy water.

“It’s nothing serious. As long as I don’t forget to take my potion daily, my body’s fine.”

“What happens if you forget?”

“Hmm… I get a bit angrier?”

“Pfft! What’s that about! Are you turning into the Hulk or something?”

“Thanks for helping. I’ll buy you a crepe on the way home after school.”

“Crepe? Suddenly? But there’s no place selling crepes around here.”

“Then fish-shaped pastries?”

“It’s March, are they still selling those?”

“Then Pok*mon bread.”

“Sounds good!”

I’m surprised Pok*mon is still popular. Even in virtual reality where multiplayer games dominate, it consistently ranks in the top 10. Praising the greatness of IP once more, we headed to our classroom.

“Kyaaak!”

A sharp scream from the end of the hallway immediately drew everyone’s attention. Students chatting in the corridor all turned their heads.

“I think it’s coming from our classroom! Let’s hurry!”

The classroom was in complete chaos. Students had formed a circle, making it impossible to see what was happening. While everyone was anxiously shifting around, Han Seo-ri spotted us and ran over.

“What’s going on?”

“NoName, it’s terrible! Seo Yu-na secretly took your medicine and drank it… She’s been coughing non-stop and looks like she’s dying…! Her face is extremely red!”

“What?!”

I immediately went to Yu-na to assess the situation. Broken flask pieces were scattered on the floor. The potion, already oxidized and turned black, was spilled all over the classroom floor.

‘She just had to cause trouble!’

First, I cleared away the glass fragments to prevent Yu-na from getting cut as she thrashed around.

“You’ll hurt yourself touching those with bare hands…!”

As Seo-ri said, Yu-na was gasping for breath and continuously coughing dryly. It would have been better if she could just vomit, but unable to do so, she was writhing in agony.

Yu-na must have opened the potion cap and immediately drank it. There was a reason my rare disease medicine only cost ten or twenty thousand won per bottle despite being a “treatment.”

Because it’s not actually a “treatment.”

It’s just a “suppressant.”

Not a Potion, but a PORTION.

More precisely: Powerplant Outcomes with Residue Transmutation into Overcharged Nebulosity.

It was compressed “residue” from power plants that refine mana in this world, transformed into an “overcharged nebulous state.”

It’s impossible to explain it more simply, but if I really had to compare it to something, think of it as radioactive waste.

There was a reason it was so cheap for a rare disease medication—it was just a byproduct with forced commercial value.

Generally, mana isn’t directly harmful to humans like radiation, but consuming a potion in its nebulous state immediately leads to serious consequences, as we were witnessing.

Of course, once it oxidizes in air, its effects diminish significantly, so it’s better to consume it quickly.

In short, it’s a trade-off between therapeutic effect and pain.

As the saying goes, bitter medicine is good for the body.

Since I drink it regularly, I don’t have issues taking it immediately, but Yu-na must be in considerable pain.

Anyway, calming this reckless kid was the priority now.

“Keh-hek…! Keurk…”

“Seo Yu-na. Can you hear me?”

“Hngg…”

“I’m going to put my finger in your mouth. Don’t bite down, okay?”

Yu-na was awkwardly lying on her side, making it difficult for me to position myself. I brushed her sweat-soaked hair aside so I could see her face better.

Yu-na seemed to notice I was beside her, so she probably understood what I said.

I swear I’ll slap her if she bites me.

“Hnngh… it… hurts… cough…”

“…”

“Sorry…”

I quickly put my finger in her mouth before she could speak more and hurt herself.

A warm sensation transferred to my left index finger. Though unintended, I could feel the smoothness of Yu-na’s gums. I noticed her second front tooth was missing, with a permanent tooth shyly poking through, lightly pricking my finger.

Putting my finger in the mouth of a child just starting to lose teeth—what a strange situation.

“Bear with it a little. You’ll be fine soon.”

Seeing her poor condition, I needed to act quickly. With my free hand, I hastily drew a simple magic circle on the floor.

[3rd Circle Inscription: Local Anesthesia]

[4th Circle Reverse Casting: Irreversible Reduction Reaction]

The human airway requires extreme caution when applying anesthesia. Being a vital organ related to breathing, it needed to be treated carefully with surface anesthesia.

I created a local anesthesia magic circle based on lidocaine and prilocaine, the main components of EMLA (Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics) cream. Then I cast a reduction reaction magic circle to gather the residue in her airway back into a nebulous state.

I chose local anesthesia because this process could be painful.

“Mmph!”

When the magic circle activated, Yu-na squeezed her eyes shut.

I appreciated her desperate effort not to bite my finger, though her tongue kept moving against it, which tickled.

I’d have to remove my finger carefully later to avoid embarrassing her with visible saliva.

Soon, the reverse-cast magic circle lost its light and disappeared.

Yu-na’s complexion improved dramatically. Her strawberry-red face had turned pale white when the local anesthesia took effect, which worried me, but thankfully everything resolved well.

“Teacher, over here!”

“Yu-na, are you okay?!”

Just then, Yoon Si-hoo arrived with our homeroom teacher.

Teacher Jackie rushed to the classroom after hearing that Seo Yu-na had collapsed after taking a strange medicine.

“Hey NoName, get your hands off Yu-na right now!”

Si-hoo shouted, and…

“What are you doing…?”

Teacher Jackie and I looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

The anesthesia magic was… ah, it just finished.

I laid down Yu-na, who had fallen into a deep sleep, and quickly removed my finger from her mouth.

The condensed residue had a high viscosity coefficient, and unfortunately, it had mixed with saliva.

Why unfortunate?

Because a thin, long parabolic line of saliva was connecting Yu-na and my index finger. It had a light gray color, neither black nor white.

“NoName, what is that…?”

When the teacher pointed at my hand, I felt embarrassed and quickly wiped away the residue.

*slurp*

I used my mouth since I didn’t want to get it on my clothes.

“…?!!”

I mentally told myself this was sweet, delicious honey.

Definitely not power plant waste mixed with a kid’s saliva.

So please stop staring at me like that, Yoon Si-hoo.

* * *

‘Damn… I should have been more careful. I should have questioned her properly when I first saw her carrying that strange medicine bottle.’

Si-hoo couldn’t shake the feeling that he might be misunderstanding NoName.

When he saw NoName chatting casually with classmates, she seemed like any other girl her age.

She even seemed to be getting along well with Seo Yu-na, whom he expected would be at odds with her.

But the problem occurred when Seo Yu-na drank the contents of the flask.

‘It wasn’t medicine but poison…!’

Was she undergoing some kind of spy poison resistance training?

When Yu-na’s condition showed no signs of improving, Si-hoo recognized the seriousness of the situation and immediately ran to the teachers’ office to call the homeroom teacher.

Compared to the other students who didn’t know what to do, he had responded quite rationally.

‘Maybe she even deliberately led Seo Yu-na to drink the poison herself.’

It was difficult to read NoName’s thoughts behind her expressionless face.

If something really happened to Seo Yu-na, Si-hoo would blame himself for not taking the situation seriously enough.

“What? Yu-na collapsed?”

“Yes, it’s urgent! Hurry!”

Teacher Jackie, who had been enjoying tea with other teachers in the office, rushed over.

They ran from the first floor to the third floor in an instant, needing to quickly check Yu-na’s condition and take her to the infirmary or hospital.

But the classroom atmosphere was solemn.

A strange magic circle was being cast in the air where Yu-na had collapsed.

It was NoName again.

So she’s finally showing her true colors.

“Hey NoName, get your hands off Yu-na right now!”

Though he shouted loudly, Si-hoo was actually scared.

What if she did something to him too?

Could the teacher beside him protect him?

Various doubts sprouted.

But NoName’s actions with Yu-na seemed more embarrassing than threatening.

She had her finger in Yu-na’s mouth.

Then she did something shocking—she pulled out her finger and sucked it.

“…?!!”

The homeroom teacher was equally surprised.

NoName explained sheepishly:

“I’ve treated Yu-na roughly. She’ll be fine after some rest.”

“What do you mean you treated her…?”

As the teacher was about to ask something, an announcement came through the classroom speakers.

[Ahem. Attention. NoName from Class 2-A, NoName from Class 2-A, please come to the administration office on the first floor of the main building immediately. I repeat, NoName from Class 2-A, please come to the administration office on the first floor of the main building immediately.]