“How do you do electrolysis? First, you need a substance to use as the target, right? That’s called an electrolyte, and it has to be electrically neutral or contain ions so it can carry a positive or negative charge. Then you supply it with direct current… You do know the concepts of direct current and alternating current, right?”
“…”
“Mm, so you’ve been throwing Azure Lightning around without knowing any of this. Well, I suppose Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo has a point. If it helps in battle, what does it matter whether it’s direct current or alternating current? But if you want to perform electrolysis, you need to understand direct current. I’ll have to teach you that too. Anyway, to get to the point, with electrolysis you break water molecules down into hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms… Hm? What’s the difference between a molecule and an atom? Aren’t oxygen molecules and atoms the same thing? Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo, didn’t you learn this in middle school?”
“…”
“Then I’ll have to explain the concepts of atoms and molecules too. An atom and a molecule are…”
“Sorry, Yuri. Could you explain it a little more simply?”
“That was already at a level even an elementary schooler could understand, but it was still hard for you…? Mm, all right. Then I’ll explain it so even a kindergartener can understand, so listen carefully. So, you see…”
“Yuri, sorry, but…”
“Again? Easier than this?”
Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo, do you perhaps not have a brain? Is that head there just for decoration?
Nam Yuri, who had been teaching me while drawing pictures on the ground, expressed her thoughts without hesitation.
With one eyebrow furrowed, there was not the slightest trace of courtesy or consideration for another person in her.
As someone seeking advice from her knowledge, I had to suppress the surge of emotion rising inside me again and again.
But it seemed my feelings had shown on my face.
She glanced at me, gauging my mood.
“Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo, are you sulking? You’re sulking, aren’t you? You are sulking.”
“I’m not sulking. Just explain it so even a baby can understand, not a kindergartener.”
“Yep, you’re sulking. It’s okay, Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo. You can live just fine without knowing things like this! Besides, you’re not an alchemist, you’re aiming to be a swordsman, right? A swordsman just needs to be good with a sword!”
“It’s too late to comfort me now, you know?”
“Don’t sulk too much, Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo. I was teaching based on what I was like when I was little, but I guess I was wrong. Sorry, sorry for overestimating you, Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo!”
“…”
Nam Yuri apologized, pressing her palms together and tilting her head to one side.
To me, it was hard to tell whether she was teasing me or trying to soothe me, and I was dumbfounded.
I clicked my tongue as I looked at her, who resembled a single meerkat.
If I could have, I wanted to flick her on the head as she stuck out her tongue.
But as someone mentally more mature than her, I endured it.
“So what’s the difference between an atom and a molecule?”
“To explain it in a way even a bawling baby can understand, starting in the order of elements, atoms, and molecules…”
“…”
Why did elements suddenly come into this?
Weren’t elements and atoms the same thing?
Questions kept breeding more questions.
Meanwhile, Nam Yuri explained gently, as if she were admonishing a baby sucking on a milk bottle.
Thanks to that, I was able to understand electrolysis, at least roughly.
I decided to put that realization into practice.
‘The problem is water…’
With the amount I’d brought with me when entering the gate, I wouldn’t be able to produce meaningful results.
It was nowhere near enough.
I looked around to find water I could use as an electrolyte.
Unfortunately, there was no water source in sight on the open field.
If there was anything that could serve as a substitute…
Mollang! Mallang!
Photon Slimes were scattered all around nearby.
Considering they were more or less made of liquid, I wondered if they would be enough to serve as a water source.
“Could I test it with these guys…?”
Holding up the slime I had been using as a chair, I seriously pondered it.
That was when Nam Yuri stepped in.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to use a slime as an electrolyte. It’s an interesting idea, but I wouldn’t really recommend it.”
“Why? What’s the reason?”
“Even ordinary slimes aren’t made of pure water, so what do you think Photon Slimes, which contain light-emitting particles inside their bodies, are made of? If you decompose some substance you don’t even properly understand, you might get into an unexpected accident. Are you okay with that?”
“…That’s true.”
“And by Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo’s logic, more than half of the human body is water, isn’t it? In that case, we might as well electrolyze a person instead… That sounds fun. Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo, let’s give it a t—”
“Don’t say scary things so calmly. Is there no other way?”
“Mm… There is! If you can’t see water, can’t you just draw it up from below? With grass growing this thickly, there’s no way there isn’t a water source, right?”
“That’s a good idea, but… how?”
“Like this!”
Nam Yuri brought her palms together with a clap and pressed them to the ground.
A moment later, the ground seemed to tremble softly…
Pshuuuuk!
“Water came out, right?”
All of a sudden, water shot up like a fountain from the spot where our gazes had been directed.
It was so forceful that droplets splattered down on us.
Without caring that my clothes were getting wet, I stared at the pillar of water in admiration.
“That’s amazing… Good job.”
“I did good, right? Praise me, praise me, praise me more!”
Nam Yuri hopped around me restlessly.
With her hair soaked from the water and her pure white one-piece dress clinging to her body as she delighted in it, anyone watching might have mistaken her for a lunatic.
As she pleaded, I patted her head.
Then I moved toward the pillar of water.
“I even added ions specially for you! The effect should be certain!”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Nam Yuri shouted from behind me.
Answering her without turning around, I drew the Ultramarine Sword.
Remnants of Azure Lightning drifted around the blackish-blue blade.
I activated the magic built into the Ultramarine Sword.
In that instant, the Azure Lightning dwelling in the blade burst forth as if it had been waiting.
Wrapping that Azure Lightning around my body, I closed my eyes and concentrated.
The environmental conditions had been satisfied.
As for the remaining necessary conditions, I would substitute them with my imagination, my mana control ability, and mana.
Crackle!
Under my control, the Azure Lightning spread outward.
In the darkness, I heard the sound of it touching the falling droplets of water.
Before long, I opened my eyes.
‘Did it decompose with this?’
At some point, the pillar of water had stopped.
I sensed the atmosphere, which felt as if it were full of moisture, and focused on it.
Then I moved on to the next step.
‘Explode.’
With my will, I commanded the Azure Lightning.
Then the Azure Lightning remaining in my body was released into the world.
The Azure Lightning grew in winding branches like tree limbs and writhed like snakes…
Crackle!
That was when my evasion instinct activated.
Sensing mortal danger, I immediately turned my body.
I kicked off the ground.
At the exact same time, an explosion occurred.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The world where moisture had been drifting exploded.
Everywhere was filled with flames and smoke.
I couldn’t help being shocked by the explosion, which was far larger than expected.
‘This is insane…!’
Explosions rushed in from all directions.
It was enough to make curses spill out on their own.
Wrapping my entire body in Hard Skin, I ran with all my might to avoid the chain of explosions.
In the direction I was running, Nam Yuri was cheerfully waving her hand.
“Wow! Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo really is so unpredictable! To think you’d develop a self-destruct technique… Hm?”
Nam Yuri was about to be caught in the explosion too.
I abruptly snatched her up and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Ignoring the sound of her laughter as she enjoyed the thrill, I fled.
Somehow, we managed to survive the explosion.
“I thought I was going to die…”
“That was so much fun! Gyeonwoo-Gyeonwoo! Shall we do this just one more time? Hm!?”
Whether the site of the explosion was burning and the flames were spreading around us or not.
Having consumed a considerable amount of mana, I flopped down on my back in the field.
I paid no attention to Nam Yuri, who lay down beside me and chattered away.
‘Next time, to keep from self-destructing, I’ll need to control the flow of atoms too. To do that, I’ll have to raise my Magic Power further…’
It seemed I needed to research it more.
As I reflected on the mistake from moments ago and thought of ways to improve it, welcome news arrived.
[Your body has broken through its limits.]
[Magic Power has increased by 1.]
It seemed that in the process of practicing current control, my Magic Power had reached its threshold.
Nearly blowing myself up had been worth it in its own way.
I raised the corners of my mouth.
* * *
“That was almost dangerous! What would you have done if other people had gotten caught up in it? And what if the fire hadn’t been suppressed and had grown bigger? We could all have burned to death if things had gone wrong. Do you understand what you did wrong? Gyeonwoo and Yuri, are you reflecting on it?”
“Sorry, I was too complacent. I’m reflecting on it.”
“Sorry! I’ll reflect on it too!”
Lisa, who had been watching the situation from under the tree before hurriedly running over, scolded us sharply.
She was normally generous and kind, but when it was time to get angry, she did not hesitate.
Since we thought there was nothing wrong with what she said, we were too ashamed to argue back.
Meanwhile, thanks to her voluntarily taking on the role of discipline leader, no one else added anything.
‘Still, since the explosion we caused let us find the gate key, you could say it worked out in the end… No, let’s just stay quiet.’
It was a coincidental result, but among the slimes caught in the explosion, there had been one carrying the gate key.
In other words, we had ended up clearing the gate unintentionally.
But even if our contribution had been great, we couldn’t proudly argue that point.
In my experience, at times like this, the best course of action was to keep your mouth shut and nod.
As if my judgment had not been wrong, Lisa did not scold us any further.
She merely put on a deliberately stern face and sent us a warning look.
When our eyes met, I smiled awkwardly and showed as repentant an attitude as possible.
Only then were Nam Yuri and I able to escape from her…
“No, this won’t do. Gyeonwoo and Yuri, you two should move with me. I get anxious when the two of you are together by yourselves, so I’ll have to stick with you.”
“…Sure, do as you like.”
Lisa seemed to find us unreliable.
In the end, she, who had only been active around the tree, began moving together with us.
With her joining us, not only was I able to experiment safely, but hunting slimes also became easier.
Some time passed after that.
Having finished our business, we gathered at the meeting place and decided to settle our earnings.
“Should we all pour everything out on three? Then we can sort it afterward.”
“Sounds good! Everyone, let’s compete by the number of magic stones to see how many each of us hunted!”
“How about we give the essences and magic stones to Hanbyeol first? Leave the appraisal to me.”
“I think that’s good too. Then let’s divide what’s left among ourselves.”
“I’ll do whatever you all want!”
“Guys! Thanks for being considerate!”
“Then one!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
Gathering beneath the tree, we undid the pouches at our waists.
Then, following the triplets’ signal, we took out the spoils we had placed inside.
Magic stones, slime essences, and law stones came spilling down in front of everyone.
“You all gathered quite a lot! At a glance, Kang Hanbyeol, it seems you have the most.”
“We were here for almost ten hours, after all. When we get outside, the sun will probably be rising…? So much for getting any sleep. Sob…”
The spoils piled on the ground made us feel just how much time we had spent inside the gate.
Belatedly feeling our fatigue, all of us smiled bitterly.
In Lisa’s case, she even looked at me as if resentful.
I made an effort to turn my eyes away from her gaze.
Still, when everyone began sorting the spoils, their faces lit up.
“After giving some to Hanbyeol, we can convert the remaining magic stones and slime essences into money and distribute it. Sagun, could you handle the settlement as our representative?”
“All right. It’s not difficult, so I’ll go to the exchange as our representative. I’ll take care of it either today or tomorrow and transfer the money to everyone’s accounts. Everyone, send me your account numbers later through Talk. What’s left is the distribution of the law stones… First, we’ll have to appraise what kind of principles they contain, right? I’ll do it.”
“I’m taking a lot, so don’t include me in the settlement—divide it among yourselves!”
No one expressed dissatisfaction with the method of distributing the magic stones and slime essences.
Since Kang Hanbyeol did not show needless greed and gave up some of his rights, the mood was warm.
In that state, we began appraising the law stones, the core of the distribution.
Park Sagun was in charge of the appraisal.
As he lightly touched the bridge of his glasses, one lens emitted a blue light.
We waited for the appraisal results.
Of course, since I could bring up an information window, I had already figured it out long ago.
‘One low-grade lawstone each that raises stamina, strength, durability, agility, and mana. And lawstones imbued with the principle of toxic decomposition…. The acquisition rate totals 233%, huh. We can make two.’
A moment later, Bak Sagun’s appraisal was no different from what I had expected.
Pushing his glasses back into place, he said,
“It was difficult to analyze them precisely, but these seem to be lawstones that strengthen our bodies. In order, they’re stamina, strength, durability, agility, and mana. The remaining lawstones seem to contain the principle of the Photon Slime. I can’t tell in detail with these either, but… there’s a high chance it’s related to detoxification. I think three people would be too much, but two should be able to acquire the principle without much trouble.”
“Then… how should we divide them? I don’t know about the principle lawstones, but I think it would be better if we used the enhancement lawstones….”
“I’m of the same opinion. Personally, I’d like to receive either strength or durability.”
It was quite common for disputes to break out over the distribution of spoils.
We carefully offered our opinions so no one’s feelings would be hurt.
In particular, since I was trying to secure Yeon Haneul’s share as well, I had no choice but to be mindful of the others.
I had to ask as politely as possible.
“I know I’m being unfair to you guys, but could I take all the principle lawstones? In exchange, I’ll give up my rights to the mana stones and essence. You can divide them among yourselves. And any lawstones left over after use, I’ll either distribute to you or convert them into money and pay you.”
“…”
My friends blinked silently.
I quietly waited for their answer, hoping for their permission.
Soon, starting with Kang Hanbyeol bursting into laughter, they began to speak one by one.
“You’re going to give them to Haneul, aren’t you? I don’t mind. I didn’t have the right to claim ownership in the first place anyway. By the way, redistributing the leftover lawstones would be a hassle, so how about you just treat us with that money? I’m craving beef….”
“You’re obviously planning to give them to Yeon Haneul. You’re simple enough to figure out. I don’t intend to take any, so I’ll pass. We’re learning poison resistance in class anyway. Let whoever wants them discuss it among themselves.”
“I thought it was strange how desperately you were searching for lawstones, but it was because of Haneul. I’m fine with it too.”
“I think I understand how you feel, Gyeonu. Something like that happened to Haneul recently…. I’m fine too.”
“Gyeonu, Gyeonu! Poison doesn’t faze me, so do whatever you want with the lawstones!”
“Do Gyeonu! Even if you deny it, we’re Haneul’s childhood friends too!”
“If it’s for Haneul, we’ll give them up!”
“Haneul’s health is important!”
“…”
I had secretly expected that there would be people who objected.
But my friends readily accepted my request.
Facing them as they grinned, I expressed my sincere gratitude.
“…Thanks. You guys are the best.”
“What’s there to thank us for!”
My friends shouted in unison.
Following their lead, I found myself smiling for no reason and shrugged.
After that, the lawstones were distributed smoothly.
Yong Haerang received the low-grade strength lawstone as he had wanted, Lisa took the low-grade stamina lawstone, saying she wanted to build up her stamina, Bak Sagun received the low-grade durability lawstone fitting for the Guardian line, and Nam Yuri took the low-grade agility lawstone at my recommendation.
The last remaining low-grade mana lawstone went to the triplets, but….
“The three of us are one, so we can’t fight over a single lawstone!”
“Therefore, Do Gyeonu! We propose a deal! You know that from low-grade lawstones onward, there’s a lot of demand but barely any supply, right?”
“You want this, don’t you? Want to buy it? We’ll sell it to you for a little above market price as a friend discount! No commission for the seller or the buyer—how great is that!”
The triplets suddenly held out the mana stone and tried to bargain with me.
For them, who had said that only one side couldn’t become stronger, it was a fairly wise decision in its own way.
Though the idea of selling it above market price while calling it a discount was absurd, it wasn’t bad for me either.
It wasn’t as though I couldn’t pay.
I accepted their offer.
“Fine. It’s not my money anyway, it’s the family’s money, so I’ll buy it at a high price.”
“Awesome! We made allowance money!”
“Ah! And if there are any principle lawstones left, you’re treating us to meat with that too, got it!?”
“Of course you know you’re buying alcohol too, right!? Meat! Alcohol! Company dinner!”
“Yeah, drain me dry. And then roll until you’re half dead.”
For the sake of unlocking the fifth skill of the Guncheong Sword.
And for the sake of handling current control properly.
I needed to raise my mana whenever I could.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss