Chapter 3: The Game Can Be Quit

Only when no more sound came from the alchemy room did Ji Ming carefully push open a crack in the door.

However, the scene inside was not as horrific as he had imagined; aside from the items flung about in disarray, nothing had happened.

This was thanks to the stone he had temporarily moved in.

It not only effectively prevented the spread of the pungent odor, but also firmly kept the liquid in the pot instead of splashing all over the room with the explosion.

Lifting the lid, the scorched black pot bottom glistened with a beautiful red hue and even gave off a delicate fragrance.

This aroma tempted his nose, making Ji Ming inexplicably feel a desire to taste it.

He took out a small spoon and poured every drop of the Rejuvenation Liquid into the empty crystal bottle.

Gently shaking it, although the liquid still contained some impurities and its color was not the 'reddish-brown blood' noted in the records,

but compared to previous attempts, this potion at least showed noticeable progress in appearance.

As for its actual clinical effect…

Ji Ming turned his head and saw that the little rat, which had been lively just moments ago, was now on the verge of death.

He was busy fleeing himself, but Brother Houzi was still tied up on the rack!

Having borne the brunt of the stench, it lay limp, its body drooping with only a small tongue lolling to one side.

In such a state, it probably couldn't be used for an experiment…

But its whole clan has been wiped out by itself—where now could he find a suitable test subject?

Ji Ming hesitated, then took out a dagger and cut an opening in its leg.

"Please don't die,"

"Squeak!"

The intense pain instantly revived the little rat; it shook its head and wagged its tail, like a person just pulled from the water.

Exactly—this is what a lab rat should look like!

"Don't be afraid, I'm a doctor; I can heal flesh wounds quickly!"

He habitually soothed it, then Ji Ming dropped a few drops of Rejuvenation Liquid onto its wound and sat aside, waiting patiently.

As he watched, he suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Oh no, I forgot to start the timer!"

To ensure the experiment's accuracy, Ji Ming quickly brought in an hourglass.

But seeing the wound already beginning to heal, he fell into thought once again.

Is it still possible to start timing now…

No, as a professional my experiment must be accurate!

"Sorry."

He raised the knife and cut a new opening in the rat's other healthy leg.

This observation was more professional; he watched the hourglass while taking detailed notes.

Bleeding stopped, recovery began—in just over two minutes a thin scab formed on the wound.

Being able to scab over means it is no longer a fatal injury.

"Not bad."

Ji Ming nodded in satisfaction.

Although the wound is small, relative to the rat's size, if left untreated it could very well endanger its life.

Being able to stop the bleeding and enter a healing state in such a short time is sufficient to prove the efficacy of the Rejuvenation Liquid.

However, to know exactly how effective this new batch of Rejuvenation Liquid is, we still need to set up a control group.

So Ji Ming took out from his pocket the bottle of old-batch Rejuvenation Liquid that hadn't been used up just now.

He was about to give the rat's belly a harsh cut, but unintentionally met its tear-filled eyes.

"This…"

Ji Ming is also a person; he instantly felt compassion.

The belly is different; if this cut went in and wasn't healed, the rat would bleed out and die outright.

The life of the big black rat is also a life!

So he waved the blade, gently reopening the rat's wound that had just scabbed.

Rat: "I… test…"

This time the wound took nearly three minutes to stop bleeding and scab over, and the healing effects of the two batches of Rejuvenation Liquid were clearly different.

"Don't worry, there's no need to do another control experiment."

The rat tied to the rack let out a sigh of relief, its eyes shining with the joy of having survived a great disaster.

"But strike while the iron's hot—materials are still sufficient, let's brew another pot!"

Then its head tilted sideways and it stopped moving completely.

As night deepened, the alchemy room remained far from quiet.

Even just switching to a clean environment and ensuring precise proportions could instantly raise the product's quality by so much.

What if we go even further?

Black centipede mandibles, stone dragon child powder, mica stone granules, fire toad venom, spirit elixir herb scraps…

Ji Ming's face grew solemn as he continually fine-tuned the ingredient ratios based on the original foundation.

Yet what greeted him were two explosions, three burnt pots, and constant cleaning and torment.

But as a small-town exam‑taker and an adult who has been beaten down by society, he still has this resilience.

He frantically stirred the spoon.

"If what I'm brewing is shit, then what are the patients smearing on their bodies, swallowing in their mouths?"

Finally, the eighth experiment.

This time the production went smoothly, the pungent smell was light, and the intermediate product's color was fairly normal.

Most importantly, no explosion of any degree occurred throughout the process.

And the effect of the brewing was also astonishing.

"The scab formation time was actually compressed to just two minutes?"

Looking at the liquid in his hand emitting a captivating color, Ji Ming smiled.

Few impurities, correct color, high yield—this was his most successful batch on record.

The medicinal liquid instantly stopped the bleeding the moment it touched the rat's wound and visibly accelerated healing.

If it worked on a human, it would be considered a remarkably effective medicine.

"Could it be that I'm really a genius at potion-making?"

He whistled, and Ji Ming locked the black rat that had rendered great service into a wooden box.

The rejuvenation liquid he produced tonight, regardless of its efficacy, was all stored as granules, ready to be sold in grades of three, six, and nine.

Just think—how much should a bottle of this magical potion with nearly doubled efficacy sell for?

Thirty copper coins? Fifty copper coins?

If I encounter a wealthy customer and sweet‑talk a bit, asking for a hundred copper coins wouldn't be excessive, would it?

Even after lying in bed, Ji Ming continued to calculate carefully in his mind.

A hundred copper coins equal one silver coin, and the overdue rent with interest should be about fifty.

Being debt‑free and light‑hearted is still somewhat distant, but I'm gradually approaching it.

"Sleep well, then tomorrow I'll really rake in the money……"

But he had barely closed his eyes when he snapped them open again.

"Ugh……"

He gagged weakly at the bedside for a while.

While he was busy researching he hadn't noticed it, but now that it's quiet the lingering stench is really strong.

After Ji Ming settled his churning innards and lay down again, he realized he had completely lost any urge to sleep.

Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling above him, his expression gradually grew solemn.

"I really have transmigrated."

A thought struck him, and the System appeared before him.

Blue light shone on his face, giving him the illusion that he was still lying in bed staying up late playing on his phone.

He hadn't been chatting nonsense with silly netizens, nor listening to sleep‑aid audio to soothe his mind, yet this sleep felt strangely unsettling.

Although real life wasn't going well, it didn't seem so bad as to require a restart.

Carrying an inexplicable sorrow, he unconsciously swiped open the panel.

Character, equipment, mission, relationship, settings, exit game.

Ha, this thing's UI and interaction really resemble those of an MMORPG online game—I have no idea which bored idiot designed it……

Wait.

Exit the game?

Ji Ming sat up and discovered that this 【Exit Game】 button was not black and white but colored,

which meant it was an interactive button.

So……

Can the game be exited?