[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-level-4-human-in-a-ruined-world":3,"chapter-level-4-human-in-a-ruined-world-level-4-human-in-a-ruined-world-chapter-559":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Level 4 Human in a Ruined World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1848573,2454,"Chapter 559","level-4-human-in-a-ruined-world-chapter-559",559,"\u003Cp>[Translator - Night]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Proofreader - Gun]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chapter 559: Elixir (1)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grand Duke Kabu’s elixir.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surely, it contained the source of some tremendous power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no way a mere chef could have digested it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he himself had revealed, he was a Lagtari of the laboring class—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>one of the lower strata whose martial cultivation was restricted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, man. Even wild ginseng can turn into poison if it doesn’t fit your body… you almost died!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Yeongwoo said this and pulled a red mineral from the puddle of vomit on the ground, the chef hurriedly reached out his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—P-Please give it back!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why? You can’t even digest it, and taking it back won’t erase your crime, will it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—T-That’s true, but…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Yeongwoo wasn’t incapable of understanding the chef’s position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he couldn’t digest it, he could always sell it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But still—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You said you already sold the other two, didn’t you? So why do you need another one? You should have enough money.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chef waved his hands frantically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—The money I earned from smuggling the elixirs was all confiscated. Besides…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—That elixir… is different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Different? What exactly is different about it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seuk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Yeongwoo raised the elixir to eye level to inspect it closely, the chef added quietly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—It’s a medicine that changes the user’s constitution and builds inner energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s what I figured. That’s why you tried to eat it yourself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Its value can’t be measured in money. Please… return it to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. That’s why I said I’m keeping it. Your life can’t be measured in money either, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Eh…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If it weren’t for me, those one-eyed bastards back there would’ve caught you and killed you, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Yeongwoo lifted Bastard and pointed behind him, the chef couldn’t argue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was, after all, true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve already made up my mind, so stop talking. I’m taking this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Yeongwoo gripped the elixir greedily, yellow vomit dripped between his fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But in exchange—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll guarantee your safety. Even outside this dungeon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that, the chef’s eyes widened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—W-What do you mean by that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You were sent into this dungeon as a kind of punishment, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—…Yes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then, if you manage to survive and get out, what happens to you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—W-Well…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chef looked into empty space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—I’d be sent back to the Exile Zone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exile Zone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—A place where those cast out of the Great City are thrown away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then… do you know the coordinates of that Exile Zone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that, the chef’s face twisted into despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—…I don’t. Am I doomed now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your doom started the moment you stole that elixir.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still, thanks to that, it ended up in my hands… so I’d like to help you if I can. The universe has its karma and retribution, you know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the coordinates of that Exile Zone were unknown,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then even the owner of a planetary ship wouldn’t be able to find the chef in this vast universe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeongwoo grabbed the chef’s forearm and transmitted Earth-Ship’s communication code.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Paa-at!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Ugh? What is this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s a code that lets you connect to my ship. If you ever get access to a comms device, send a rescue request there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—T-Then, until then…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Until then, you’ll have to survive on your own. Still, better than dying in the dungeon, isn’t it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By this point, the debt for the elixir was paid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Yeongwoo immediately asked about how to consume it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the way, how do you take this? You’re the Grand Duke’s chef—you’d know, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elixir he had pulled from the chef’s stomach was a fist-sized red mineral.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t tell me you just shove this into your mouth…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chef nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—There’s no special method. It’s absorbed through each being’s digestive organs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, if your body isn’t strong enough to handle it, you’ll just spit it back out, as the chef did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘At least I’ve confirmed that it doesn’t kill you if it fails. That chef bastard just threw it up.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there was one variable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Species.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chef, though a laborer, was biologically an Artari.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeongwoo, on the other hand, was human—from Earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So there was no telling what would happen if a non-Artari consumed the elixir.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What happens if someone other than an Artari takes this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—…I’m a chef, not a doctor. I’ve never seen anyone besides the Grand Duke take it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chef fidgeted nervously, glancing at the elixir.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—More importantly… the elixir starts to melt if it isn’t inside a living body. So…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? Melt?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meaning that if he wasn’t going to eat it soon, he should hand it back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You were keeping something troublesome inside you, huh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he thought about it, the glow from the elixir had been increasing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Yeongwoo—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ta-at!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—grabbed the chef’s arm roughly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s head back first. If there are any side effects, at least that noble brat can protect me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Translator - Night]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Proofreader - Gun]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—This is bad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alden Miras, the third son of House Miras, felt an ominous premonition the moment he saw the “human” running toward him from afar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lagtari being dragged along was drooling yellow vomit, but more than that…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—What in the world is that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Alden pointed to the red mineral clamped in Yeongwoo’s mouth, Lady Kanaph answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—It seems to be an Artari elixir.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—An elixir…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Yeongwoo shoved the chef toward Alden and took the stone from his mouth into his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“While I’m taking this elixir, you’ll make sure none of the others try to run.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—What? And you?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Me? I might be rolling on the ground if I get side effects. Someone has to guard the area.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, he was entrusting his back to Alden Miras—a man he’d met for the first time today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—You trust me that much?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t trust you. I trust the kind of people who are obsessed with their family’s name and honor.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like that fool, Prince Aldo of the Benefactors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Alden Miras didn’t seem as stupid as Prince Aldo,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but Yeongwoo was sure he wouldn’t stab him in the back while the effects of the elixir were raging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d gotten better at reading people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You wouldn’t tarnish your family’s name in the middle of a journey, right? I’m taking this trusting that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alden Miras didn’t answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, Yeongwoo was already opening his mouth wide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haven’t eaten anything in a while.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he shoved the mysterious, otherworldly stone into his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kwak!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was far too big for a human mouth to swallow at once, but surprisingly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it began slowly sliding in between his lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Urgh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surface had melted from being outside too long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Shouldn’t you have at least wiped it before swallowing…?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the elixir still covered in the chef’s vomit, Kanaph stepped back from Yeongwoo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, with the elixir fully inside his mouth, Yeongwoo tilted his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suddenly realized that even half-melted, it was much larger than his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his cheeks bulging grotesquely, he looked at the chef.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lagtari exile pointed to his own neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—If you wait a little, it’ll go down on its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aah?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeongwoo’s eyes widened as a crimson light burst from inside his half-open mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>KWAHHHH!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if a laser cannon had just fired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—W-What the—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Aagh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chef, the two one-eyed beings, Lady Kanaph, and even Alden Miras all flinched in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And meanwhile, Yeongwoo—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aaaaaagh!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—was screaming wildly, spewing light into the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside his mouth, the elixir was melting rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And finally—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gurururuk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bubbling sound like boiling porridge echoed,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and the now gravel-sized elixir slipped down his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Huh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the light pouring from his mouth disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What… what the hell? Is it over?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Yeongwoo muttered that, the chef shook his head nervously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—If your body can truly digest that elixir, then this is only the beginning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The beginning? Of what? Don’t tell me there’s something you didn’t say.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chef took a cautious step back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—What you just took is the elixir Agfa. Even the Grand Duke built a separate chamber to fight against the spiritual power sealed inside it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?! You’re supposed to fight the elixir? Then why the hell did you swallow it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Yeongwoo frowned and asked, everyone else backed away in fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s with this atmosphere all of a sudden?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Kanaph, her face damp with sweat, pointed at Yeongwoo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Y-Your eyes… right now…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My eyes what?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sensing something wrong, Yeongwoo lifted Bastard to reflect his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since the blade itself glowed with a red demonic aura, he couldn’t see clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t realize his eyes had turned red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, he could tell the color of his pupils had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the… my eyes look weird?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tilted his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then his jaw began to itch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it, what now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice trembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling his jaw itch after eating the elixir of the cephalopod-headed Artari could only mean one thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised Bastard again to see his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seuk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He saw his nose bending downward, far too much—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>like an anteater’s snout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rip!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of tearing flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His long-drawn nose split in two—no, three—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and began transforming into long tentacles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shit!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that wasn’t all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his severed left shoulder, a massive purple-skinned arm—nonhuman—began growing rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever it was, his body was undergoing massive change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“C-Chef! Is this that battle with the spiritual power?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—I-I don’t know! I never dared enter the Grand Duke’s chamber…!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Yeongwoo’s new left arm was swelling abnormally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stabbed Bastard into the ground and removed the prosthetic “Little Bird” that had replaced his left leg.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheolkuk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where the prosthetic fell away, purple flesh puffed up like popcorn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the hell, damn it. Am I finally being punished?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now, Yeongwoo’s head had already transformed about sixty percent into that of a cephalopod.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hair fell out in clumps as strange patterns spread across his scalp like a tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Y-You… you’re in big trouble!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Lady Kanaph screamed, covering her mouth,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a system window appeared before Yeongwoo, now almost unrecognizable as either human or Artari.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>「Artari Power acquired: +1.1」\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, from beneath the tentacles covering his chin, crimson demonic energy poured out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“GUWAAAAAAAHHHH!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Translator - Night]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Proofreader - Gun]\u003C\u002Fp>",1726,"2026-06-09T07:04:15.797Z",1,"novelbin.me","0003c9e427f01c81a9122f4e901e41e5691935f422ce84cfc414e51eeecb689d","level-4-human-in-a-ruined-world-chapter-560","level-4-human-in-a-ruined-world-chapter-558",688,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flevel-4-human-in-a-ruined-world-cover.jpg"]