CHAPTER 06………………………….
I washed my sweat-soaked body first, then sat down in my desk chair.
And I took out the Purification Egg I had stored in the drawer.
“…Ha.”
A sigh escaped the moment I saw it.
It had been a week since the quest to infuse it with mana began, yet I hadn’t even taken the first step.
I was Kim Hae-a in reality, not Seo Goun of this world—just an ordinary person far more familiar with science.
There was no way I could suddenly understand how to use something like mana, which only existed in novels.
I had gone back and reviewed previous quests hoping for a hint, but there wasn’t a single mention related to mana.
“So mana is probably that feeling of something draining out in chunks when you use a skill… but how am I supposed to infuse it?”
Fortunately, I wasn’t completely without a place to look.
[HunterNet]
A massive community site that almost every Awakened Hunter joined. Anything related to Hunters could be found there.
Even Seo Goun, that reckless lunatic, had an account, so while exercising, I searched HunterNet for articles, posts, and papers about mana infusion.
There were plenty of long-winded explanations, but the most noticeable comparison was that mana was like blood.
Just as blood circulates through the body, mana flows within a Hunter.
“Hm.”
I glanced sideways at the Purification Egg.
“Should I try drawing blood?”
But if mana infusion required blood, then even a mana gun that converted mana into bullets would need to be soaked in blood too.
Imagining myself drawing blood every time I fired a mana bullet, I shook my head.
“I might be losing it. Thinking up nonsense like this.”
If I had to use blood, I’d die from excessive bleeding before any monster could kill me.
I searched HunterNet once more, but still found nothing useful about mana infusion.
I rolled the Purification Egg in my hand, no longer wearing the handcuffs I once had, and fell into thought.
“Mana infusion. Mana infusion…”
That was when it happened.
For a brief moment, something inside my body moved—and light flickered at my fingertips.
And then, a ding sounded in my ear again.
[Let’s Become an Alchemy Master 1-1]
If you’ve obtained an item, it’s only natural to use alchemy.
Infuse mana into the item right now.
- Infuse mana into the Purification Egg (1/35)
Reward: ■■■ obtained.
Quest time limit: 5 hours 23 minutes 22 seconds
- Failure will result in destruction of the Purification Egg
“…It really does whatever it wants.”
I let out a bitter smile.
So mana infusion didn’t require some special method—it could just be done like this.
“Status window.”
At my command, a pink-tinted status window appeared next to the quest window.
As if to confirm what I still wasn’t sure about, it showed my mana decreased by 100.
Moreover, after infusing mana once, I could clearly feel what mana inside my body was.
The mana I had struggled so much to understand was, as the papers described, circulating through my body like blood.
“Phew.”
The tension in my body loosened.
Time was ticking, I didn’t know how to transfer mana properly, and I couldn’t sleep worrying I might lose the purification item.
“But can I move it without speaking?”
I focused only on the thought of transferring mana into the egg without saying anything.
At that moment, a ding sounded.
When I opened my eyes, the quest counter had changed from 1 to 2.
“So just thinking is enough.”
I quickly infused the remaining mana.
My mana in the status window dropped to 0, and the quest counter changed to 20.
But the quest still wasn’t complete.
“…What a hassle.”
Just like during the last gateway incident, when mana runs dry, my strength drains along with it.
‘Feels just like when I wasted a whole week on stakeout duty and came back empty-handed.’
I wanted to rest my exhausted mind, but there was still much to do.
I picked up a pillow and walked to the desk.
“First, I need to organize the information…”
I placed the Purification Egg on the pillow so it wouldn’t break, then took out a notebook from the locked drawer.
[Guide for Yoram]
While searching for mana for the quest, I had been writing down major events from the novel whenever I had time. My goal was to interfere only in events involving key people needed to clear the Yoram攻略 plan.
I recorded the people I thought were necessary, how they died, and what events would occur. By the time I finished writing everything, two hours had already passed.
My mana, which had been nearly empty, was now fully restored.
“This time, I’ll finish it.”
I picked up the egg beside the pillow.
Since I had completed 20 infusions, only 15 remained.
Carefully, I infused mana and watched the number increase.
When I completed the 35th infusion, a green quest window appeared.
[Let’s Become an Alchemy Master 1-1]
If you’ve obtained an item, it’s only natural to use alchemy.
Infuse mana into the item right now.
- Infuse mana into the Purification Egg (35/35)
Reward: ■■■ obtained.
Quest time limit: 3 hours 23 minutes 22 seconds
- Failure will result in destruction of the Purification Egg
[Quest completed.]
[Reward is being distributed.]
Then, the egg in my hand began to move.
“Huh?”
Startled, I placed it back on the pillow so I wouldn’t drop it. The egg began shaking violently.
“This wasn’t in the book.”
A sense of unease crept in—something had gone wrong. The Purification Egg was a key item for the plan going forward.
Any variable like this was neither expected nor acceptable.
Suddenly, the violently shaking egg rolled.
“Damn it…”
I barely managed to catch it before it fell.
But the moment it landed in my hand, it shook even more violently—then cracked with a snap.
“I definitely caught it… why—did I squeeze too hard?”
If the Purification Egg broke, there would be no way to stop the rampaging Hunters.
Panicking, I reached into the drawer to find glue just in case—
“Peep.”
A sudden bird-like sound made me freeze.
I quickly looked around.
The window wasn’t open—so where was that sound coming from?
‘Don’t tell me… a bird came for the egg…’
That was when it happened.
As I tried to stay calm and think, I froze in shock.
“What the…”
While I had been looking away, the center of the egg had opened.
“Peep peep.”
And from the hole, something like a tiny beak stuck out, making chirping sounds.
“A… beak?”
I carefully placed the egg on the pillow.
As if it had been waiting, it rolled around energetically.
“Don’t tell me… it hatched? Suddenly? Why? That didn’t happen in the novel.”
While I rambled in disbelief, the rolling egg shattered completely.
And then—
“Peep peep.”
A tiny bird with a long tail emerged from the egg.
It shook its body once and looked up at me with shiny black bean-like eyes.
“Peep peep.”
“You…”
[Quest reward ‘Purification Bird’ has been received.]
My eyes widened at the sudden message.
So this was the quest reward?
[Passive Skill ‘Truth’ is activated.]
[Purification Bird]
Description: A forgotten primordial bird granted purification abilities by a god. It takes the form of a sparrow and can purify more effectively than when it was an egg. It feeds on its owner’s mana. If it does not consume mana, it will die within 3 days.
※ Additional information is available through inspection of its skills.
“A Purification Bird…”
“Peep.”
Thinking it had been called, the bird tilted its head and flapped over to me.
Its tiny wings fluttered frantically.
“You… can you really purify things?”
“Peep.”
It was unclear whether it actually understood me or was just chirping randomly.
Confused by its incomprehensible language, I asked again.
“Is your name Purification Bird?”
“Peep peep.”
“Did you just hatch?”
“Peep.”
Every time I asked, it responded at the perfect timing, making me even more suspicious.
“Peep peep.”
Feeling my gaze, the bird chirped angrily.
I held out my palm.
“Sit here.”
The bird landed on it and tilted its tiny head.
“You really understand me, right? If yes, peep peep. If no, peep.”
Since it only kept saying “peep,” I decided “peep peep” would mean yes.
The bird looked at me, then opened its beak.
“Peep peep.”
“Is this coincidence… or do you actually understand me?”
“Peep!”
With a flutter, it flew up and pecked my head.
I frowned in pain, and it pecked my eyebrow next.
“…Now I’m getting attacked by a bird. Is this even an attack? Or a raid?”
I tried to grab it, but it dodged and continued pecking me.
“Alright, alright. I get it. You understand me.”
Only then did it stop and fly back to the pillow like a prisoner returning to its place.
It began preening its feathers as if it belonged there, as if it remembered sitting there while still an egg.
I sighed and sat beside the pillow.
I couldn’t tell whether this unexpected bird was a blessing or a curse.
I looked at it quietly and asked.
“Can you really purify things?”
The bird, with its face buried in its feathers, suddenly turned to look at me.
Its eyes were the same black beads as before, but something about its gaze felt different.
Don’t tell me it’s looking at me like I’m pathetic?
“Peep.”
Whatever the look meant, the answer seemed to be yes.
I asked what I needed to know.
“How do you purify things? I just hold the egg in my hand, right?”
At my question, the bird flew up and landed on my head.
‘What does this mean? Does it mean purification happens when it sits on my head?’
As if reading my thoughts, the bird chirped loudly: “Peep!”
“So just sitting like this purifies it?”
“Peep.”
So simply having it on my head, like holding the egg, could purify things?
If purification works properly, then the bird is actually a good thing compared to the egg.
The egg might crack anytime, but the bird wouldn’t—though I’d still need to be careful.
‘But it said there was additional information earlier.’
I opened my palm, remembering the extra details revealed by the Truth skill.
“Come down here.”
The bird flew down and landed on my hand.
I used my appraisal skill.
“Appraise.”
With the skill activated, the same information appeared as before.
And shortly after, light revealed additional details that hadn’t appeared earlier.
※ It does not leave its owner’s side and has strong homing instincts.
※ It can grow larger through its owner’s mana.
“Owner? Who’s the owner?”
As I muttered, the bird, which had been grooming its feathers, lifted its head.
“Piro-piro-piro—”
As if trying to explain something, it kept making strange chirping sounds.
After a while, it sighed as if exasperated after seeing my expression.
‘Do birds even sigh?’
Its look of disdain might be my imagination—but sighing is going too far.
Just then, with a ding, another message appeared.
