It’s been a couple of hours since I’ve been in this Hunting Ground. I’m pretty sure I’ve killed over a dozen Trolls at this point.

At first, with every green monster I killed, I took their blood to get money and also save a little of it myself, but after the sixth or seventh one, I stopped since I didn’t have enough room to carry anymore.

All of the Trolls' blood was in a couple of glass vials I took with me, specifically for this. But, I ran out of the vials, so I couldn’t any more blood.

Since my storage was packed, I decided to focus on the other reason why I came here. And that’s to find a certain place in this forest.

“Where the hell are you…”

I kept roaming the dense forest for a little while, ignoring any troll monsters that I came by. Since I had no more vials, killing them was pointless.

Thankfully, these guys aren’t the brightest monsters, and they were easy to sneak around. At least so I could find what I was looking for.

“From what I remember in the novel, Luke and the others found the place when they saw a mark on one of the trees…”

I kept looking around, trying to find the “mark” that was on a tree. This will lead me to the place I’m trying to find; a secret lab. It’s where the Fictional Potion was being created, or at least, where the recipe was to make it.

There was another item in this lab I needed to get. In fact…it was the one thing I had to grab before anything else.

“Come on, where’s the stupid mark…”

I didn’t think finding the mark would be this hard. Especially with how obvious it looked…

It was pretty much a red circle with an X in the center. That’s when I’ll know I’m close to the lab…

With every tree I came across, I made sure to examine it before I left. Dammit, it shouldn’t be this difficult to find it!

Luke and the others found the damn thing by mistake! What gives?

Maybe [Absolute Misfortune] was finally making its appearance...though it felt kind of off considering how mild it was. I mean, making me lost in the forest while I try to find the mark that Luke and a few other characters found? Come on.

There’s an event where Luke and Co. find the lab while killing some trolls. At this point, they were pretty much Interns at a Saviors guild and came to this forest for a mission.

This little event will happen in a couple of years…but I need to do this now. I can’t afford to wait on this matter.

“Just where the hell…there!”

It took a while but I finally found the mark. Right in front of me was a tree with a red circle and X engraved in the center. The mark looked withered due to how long it's been since it was first sketched.

Nice! I found it!

I guess my cursed talent wasn't messing with me...which wasn't any better considering that it was still suspiciously quiet.

Yeah, you know what? I'd rather it just make me feel lost than whatever it's actually planning.

Anyway, since I found the mark, all I need to do is keep moving forward. After I found the mark, I walked passed it and went in a straight line.

If I keep going down this path, I should be able to find the Cabin…

And lo and behold, I did!

Standing before me was a worn-down wooden cabin. The grass around this area was really long like they belong in the jungle. As for the cabin, I noticed a lot of mold and chipped wood along with broken windows and a semi-open and damaged door.

“Yeah…this was the place.”

This is definitely where the Lab was located. Wasting no time, I walked forward and drew closer to the small shack.

I pushed the tall grass away from me since they were blocking my vision.

Once I made it to the shack, I walked through the broken door and took a look around. It was pretty much empty with little to no signs of life.

I saw what appeared to be the remnants of a bed with the blanket and mattress all torn up. The Chairs and table next to me were just as worn down since their legs were completely destroyed from decay.

It was clear that this place hasn’t been used for a while…a few decades to be precise.

“No time to look at the damage of time,” I muttered. “Where’s the damn switch…”

Looking around, I took a look at a book shelve before me. Most of the books being displayed here were withered away from the passage of time…except one that is.

Located on the middle shelf, there was a red book that barely looked damaged, like it wasn’t all that affected by its surroundings.

“There you are…” I smiled as I reached for the red book.

Once I got it, I instinctively pulled it down. Upon doing this, Mechanical gears could be heard, whirling away behind me.

Just then, the floor slowly opened up, sliding apart as more gears turned and separated the two planks that revealed a secret staircase leading down.

“Heh…how cliché…”

The Author did tell me that they liked things like secret entrances being revealed by pulling down a book. I can’t blame them since I like them as well. They’re just so cool.

Anyway, after finding the secret entrance, I walked down the stairs. As I did, I turned to see that the walls going down here were made out of metal along with the stairs. I heard a metal thud as my boots hit the steps, echoing slightly.

Going further down, LED lights soon light up, giving me a little bit of illumination so I could see. It was around that time that I finally got to the bottom.

More lights activated and revealed a lab straight out of science fiction. The walls were white-plated metal with red lines running across them, and the floors were made of dark gray tiles.

All around the room were tables with various vials and jars filled with liquids of all kinds of colors. Not only that but there were shelves with even more of them stacked. Not only that, but this entire place smelled of various chemicals. It was so strong that it stung my nose a bit.

It was clear that I was in some sort of chemistry lab. In fact, I was currently in the lab of the Famous Alchemist, Nick Lamel.

Close to five or six decades ago, there was an aspiring scientist that sought to help humanity against the evil beings that invaded this world. Although Saviors were powerful, they weren’t invincible and Nick wanted to come up with a solution.

Although Lamel was a savior, his knowledge when it comes to chemistry and science involving monsters was second to none. Not only that but his talent was related to his field of science, making him even more talented. With the help of his talent, he has created many things with monster parts from corrosive acids from slimes to paralysis elixirs from various venomous monsters.

Lamel was the person that first came up with the idea of making healing potions from Trolls' blood. And although he failed in the end, this didn’t stop him from continuing his work.

That’s when he created a base in the forest where Trolls were the most habitable and spent his days collecting their blood and experimenting on it. No one knew about his lab and simply thought he went missing after his failure. In fact, he spent so much time in this place…he died here.

I turned to look at the door on the other end of the lab…and I knew instantly what that room was. During the days he would spend his time in his laboratory, he would sometimes fall asleep in here, so he made a second sleeping area where he could rest if he didn’t want to leave the lab.

And that…was where he fell asleep and died.

I can still remember the scene where Luke and the others find Nick Lamel’s sleeping corpse. The description of his decaying and dried-up body and how horrified they were gave me nightmares when I first read it.

Since I knew Lamel was in there…it was for the best for me to not enter the room. There wasn’t anything important in there, so I didn’t have to worry about missing something.

Plus, I don't want [Absolute Misfortune] messing with Lamel's corpse. What if it brings him back to life as some kind of ghoul? And yes, that's a thing, which is why I don't plan on going near Lamel's room.

For now…I needed to find Lamel’s research.

Walking over to the table, I took a look around it and saw sheets of paper scattered about. They were really old and looked fragile, so I tried to be careful so I didn’t ruin anything.

“Nothing…” I muttered. “Where’s the journal?”

Aside from the papers Lamel had all over this lab, he also had a journal that had all of his research regarding the healing potions and a couple of other things.

Continuing my search, I spied a desk with more papers and a couple of drawers attached. That’s got to be where his journal is.

I left the table and inspected the desk to see if it was there. And it didn’t take long until…

“Finally found it!” I cheered while pulling out my prize.

Located in one of the drawers was the Journal of the Great Alchemist, Nick Lamel. It was a tattered brown leather book with the words “N.L” engraved on the cover.

Inside this book had the information I was after, so I quickly read through it. There was a lot of interesting stuff in Lamel’s notes, but I could read them later.

Right now, I needed to find the page that contains Lamel’s life’s work. After skimming and flipping pages for a few moments, I found it.

“There you are…Healing Elixir!”

On this page was the formula for how to create a Healing potion. He managed to accomplish his dream…

“Hmm…yeah, all of the ingredients and instructions were here. This is good.”

Thankfully, none of his research seemed to be missing, so that was a relief. Of course, in order to make this potion, there was one other thing I needed to get. It’s the key item that will help us in this.

And it’s called…the Philosopher’s Stone.

It’s a legendary item that can transmute material like turning regular metals into gold. It’s the same item that a familiar Alchemist created as well.

You see, Nick Lamel was based on a real person in my old world, much like Jeanne Orleans. And that person was the famous Alchemist known as Nicolas Flamel.

The names were a bit on the nose, but that was hardly the case. Anyway, much like Nicolas, Nick Lamel creates the Philosopher’s Stone and he uses that stone to help create the potions.

And if I’m right…the stone should be here.

I scanned the lab once more, and my eyes soon spotted a nice painting of a river with a mountainous background.

“There you are…”

I walked to the painting and carefully removed it, revealing a safe. It looked like one of those traditional turn dials for safes.

In order to open it, I’ll need to know the code…thankfully, I do. I turned the dial on the specific numbers before I heard a click. And just like that, the safe was now open.

“Thank god the novel talked about this instead of just omitting it,” I sighed before taking a look inside.

There was a little platform with a shiny red gem on top. It gave off a very intriguing aura.

Reaching for the stone, I pulled it out and examined it a little. Despite it being in this safe for a few decades, it looked rather polished like someone cleaned it before I showed up. It was to the point where I could see my reflection in the stone.

It could just be the properties of the stone. According to Lamel’s journal, he spent years making this thing and used a lot of ingredients to perfect it.

And when he finished it, he finally made his dream elixir. It gave him miraculous results and he was going to continue his research on the potion and the stone itself since he believed it could do a lot more.

Unfortunately, he died that night when he went to sleep. So, all we know at the moment is that the Healing Potion can be made with the help of the stone, but we don’t have a lot of information regarding that.

I say “we”, but it’s really just the people of this world. Me, on the other hand? I knew exactly what the Elixir and Stone could do…and it was terrifying.

When Lamel’s lab was discovered, the guild that Luke and his group were working with claimed authority over the property and took all of his work and research.

Once it was discovered that the alchemist actually managed to create the potions, the guild planned to mass produce them since they had both the formula and stone…but this never happened because the research and materials were stolen.

And they were stolen by Ouroboros…

And when they got their hands on these items…a lot of horrible things happened.

So much destruction…so much chaos.

And, with the help of the Philosopher’s Stone, Ouroboros was also able to create an invincible army…the Homunculus. Artificially created beings that followed their command.

They were created to be stronger than Saviors…and they were. There were countless scenes in the novel where the Saviors had so much trouble dealing with the Homunculus, and many of them lost their life these things.

The moment Ouroboros got their hands on Lamel’s research, was the start of them achieving their goal…and finally destroying this corrupted world to create a new one.

There’s no way I could let those bastards get their hands on either item. Part of me wanted to destroy them since I wouldn’t have to worry about them getting taken…

But, I also knew that I needed them. Destroying them might be a good idea but putting them to good use is the better option, especially when it’s in my hands.

Plus, with how the future keeps changing, any threats I won't be able to stop once the event happens need to be dealt with immediately before they occur.

The Philosopher's Stone was on of those priorities. If Ouroboros gets their hand on this stone too early, then the other arcs will start earlier too.

And I refuse to let these bastards get this item or research.

I won’t let Ouroboros have their way. This is the one future event that I’m going to prevent no matter what.

Swearing this, I then put the stone in my pouch along with Lamel’s research.

"Okay, with that done. Now it's time for me to...?!"

And then it finally happened...

"Another change in the future?!" I complained. "What for?!"

Is it because I got the stone earlier than it was supposed to? If that's the case, then all my other goals will be met with the same result! That's total bullshit, dammit!

That's the third change in the future, and I have no idea what could happen because of this. Why can't I catch a break...!

"Oh, what now?!"

Suddenly, I heard a blaring siren as the entire lab started getting coated in a red light. It felt like I was in a red room now...giving it a very menacing appearance to this place.

"That didn't seem good..."

I then heard something on what sounded like an intercom. And what it said was not what I expected...

[Warning: intruder has been detected. Initiating Self-Destruct sequence.]

"S-self destruct?!" I fretted.

I don't remember Lamel having a feature like that in his lab! What the hell is this shit?!

I then started to hear the entrance to the lab start to close. The metal creaked and groaned as they were shutting. Panicking even more, I rushed over there and tried to go through it before it closed, leaving me inside and ready to be incinerated.

"Please make it!"

[Condtions have been met: Sub-Talent [Speed Boost] has been activated.]

Using [Speed Boost], I dashed forward and managed to make it through the entrance. Just as I did, the doors closed with a loud metallic thud.

But, I didn't waste a lot of time watching the doors because as soon as I was in the cabin, I immediately ran out the door and got as far away from that place as fast as possible.

After a little while and running, I turned to see the cabin in the distance...and I witnessed it explode into a large mushroom cloud. There was even a shockwave that nearly pushed me to the ground if I didn't brace myself. The trees, grass, and anything else nearby were getting blown back from the blast as well.

Once the explosion was over, all that was left was a charred landscape. The trees were scorched, the grass and ground were burned to ashes, and there was a black cloud from the explosion that engulfed the area.

"What the hell..." This was all I could say while looking at the scene before me.

I now knew why [Absolute Misfortune] was taking its sweet time in screwing with me...this damn talent tried to blow me up!

Every time I experience a stroke of bad luck like this...I slowly fear this cursed talent more.

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