Sa-young gripped my hand tightly. The wound that touched it throbbed as if it were on fire. It's been a long time since I felt such pain.

Red and black blood mixed and flowed down her wrist. Golden vines bloomed around the palm of my hand. Something tingled in my body. It climbed up my palms, wrists, and arms and settled near my heart.

At the same time, a hot lump rose from the pit of my stomach. I groaned and bit my lips. The constant pounding seemed unbearable.

"Ugh."

"Hold it in."

[Talent Basilisk Venom (S+) is active]

"Wait a minute.

My eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the system window.

It was a detox talent I'd gained from capturing a basilisk in the Western Sea Rift, but I'd never used it before - it was a strange talent that never reacted to weak poisons. So why now?

I couldn't get over my embarrassment and coughed, red blood spurting out. There was a faint sweetness between the fishy blood tastes.

"Ah, you bastard.

"Shit, Hyung. Come on."

Why are you cursing? I should be the one cursing. I coughed blood after blood, trying to hold on to my fading consciousness. Through my slightly shaky vision, I could see a hardened Lee Sa-young.

"Hyung?"

You're poisoning people, damn you.

"Hyung, open your mouth quickly."

"I told him I'd kill him if he touched me...

"Quick!"

Sa-young, mumbling nervously, pushed the thumb of his gloved hand into my mouth. I instinctively bit Lee Sa-young's thumb. I wanted to cut off his fingers with my teeth. My head was so hot.

I stared at the white window that filled my vision with bloodshot eyes.

Why is your S+ talent so slow? Do you want to search?

[Basilisk Venom (S+) Talent is active].
[Detoxify].
[Basilisk Venom (S+) Talent is active] [Detox].
[Detoxify].
[Basilisk Venom (S+) Talent is active] [Detox].
[Detoxify].

The system window blinked in frustration. It seemed like an expression that he was working hard, but it was none of my business.

I neither liked Lee Sa-young nor Basilisk's poison. What the hell did that bastard think he was doing, putting poison into a person's body? I don't think the antidote is useful, so why did you tell me to take it? What would you do if I didn't have the poison talent?

Soon, the cool liquid flowed slowly down the thumb. The fever gradually subsided along the contact with the liquid. At the same time, the system window appeared.

[Detoxification complete]
[Under the effect of Basilisk Toxin (S+), you gain resistance to poisons after detoxification.]

Damn it. I breathed heavily. I couldn't remember how long it had been since I vomited blood like this. The fever gradually subsided, and my senses slowly returned from my fingertips. One of my hands was still clasped to Sa-young's.

"Hyung."

I touched my forehead with the other hand. My blurry vision cleared and I saw the gas mask staring back at me.

"Hyung."

Saeyoung called out to me again. I slowly took a breath. My body was recovering quickly, whether it was due to hard work or some unknown liquid that Lee Sa-young had fed me.

"Okay, that's enough..."

Although the pain remained a little, it was enough to ignore it and move.

As I was about to answer the call, I heard leather gloves, warmed by my body temperature, gently wrap around my cheeks and chin. His hand, which had been on my cheek for a while, slowly looked down and grabbed my chin to lift my head.

The black gas mask was a little clearer. Sa-young asked in a whisper,

"Can you see me?"

I nodded meekly, as if I couldn't see through this skimpy top. Though it was more like a nod because my head remained fixed. Sa-young murmured in a worried tone.

"It seems like you can hear me."

"......."

"Talk? If you can't, at least blink."

I felt that if I opened my mouth I would probably start cursing, so with the utmost self-control I blinked instead of answering aloud. It was more a case of not speaking than not being able to, but it was either that or nothing. I felt the grip on my cheeks tighten a little more.

"Your vocal chords are damaged."

"......"

"Where else?"

What kind of poison does this guy have?

I was stunned to hear this. To sum up what Lee Sa-young is worried about... Doesn't it mean that the poison can damage sight, hearing, vocal cords, and organs at the same time? It's a powerful poison that even works on S-Rank Awakened ones.

How can a simple poison be so strong?

"Cha Ui-jae."

A worried voice interrupted my train of thought. A cautious hand touched my neck. I suddenly wondered what Lee Sa-young must be thinking right now. It reached out and touched my forehead,

"......."

"What..."

I gripped the gas mask tightly.

With a snap. The front of the gas mask crumbled in my grip. Fumbling and twisting and pulling, a pale, bloodless face emerged from behind the torn mask. Violet eyes wide with surprise, lips parted, fringe clinging to his face in cold sweat.

"Your lashes are really long."

I liked the way his normally stoic face changed to one of surprise and embarrassment. When I was satisfied with the look on his face, I tossed aside the remains of the torn gas mask and removed the stiffened hand from around my neck.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand.

"I'm fine. My vocal chords are not damaged."

"......."

"I've never seen such a deadly poison in my life... Do you have a conscience?"

"Shit."

Lee Sa-young's pretty face crumpled into a hard line. He took off the gas mask that had been torn off his face and threw it on the floor, then glared at me.

"Why don't you talk, are you kidding me?"

"I thought I would curse at you as soon as I opened my mouth, why?"

"Argh....Shit, really. Annoying..."
 

Lee Sa-young nervously tossed her hair and turned around. Only then did I look around carefully.

The blood-soaked table was melted in places, the dagger that had sliced my palm was lying on the floor, and an unfamiliar bottle was rolling around next to it.

I picked up the bottle as it rolled nearby. A system window appeared, showing that it was no ordinary bottle.

[Nectar of the Golden Tree (S)
Consume to remove all status diseases and curses]

"...No way."

The name alone was strange.

Most treatments for abnormal conditions have the types and levels that can be treated. An item that could unconditionally remove all diseases and curses would be priceless. And this rare item is now...

[It's an empty bottle now]

It was empty and rolling around on the table of Haejang-guk House....

This was the cool liquid that came into my mouth. I felt a little less inclined to grab a person by the collar and argue that no crazy person would poison a person after giving them a bunch of ineffective drugs. Come to think of it, Lee Sa-young seemed quite embarrassed as well.

Nectar... What a waste.

If he'd just waited a little longer, my Basilisk Poison talent would have detoxified him by itself. Shouldn't I have just told him that I had a detox talent?

I rolled my eyes as I clutched the now empty bottle of nectar. Lee Sa-young was still standing with his back to me.

"Hmm, Lee Sa-young?"

"......."

"This nectar... expensive, isn't it?"

"Say something else."

When Lee Sa-young growled at him, I stretched and glared. Asking about the price would be like rubbing salt in the wound.

I thought to myself. I've never been good at appeasing people anyway. After a moment's thought, I decided on the most obvious answer.

"Thank you for now."

"Ha ha."

"Did I finally get it right?

"Thank the person who poisoned you. You're a saint..."

"Thank you, but fuck you.

"Most of the people who went there were people who had body changes or were about to have body changes. The suppliers take the ones who crawled in under their own feet."

"Where?"

"The lab."

A dark light hung over Sa-young's face.

"Drugs are just bait to collect experimental bodies."