Chapter 1 - Part 1
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***
It was an ordinary day for her, who had always just been waiting for the day she would die.
Is there one special achievement she’d obtained? Then it would be that she reached the max level of the game she’d been playing.
<Lv 100 achieved!>
[Gained the title of ‘Legendary Alchemist’!]
[Gained the title of ‘The Alchemist of the Three Great Dragons’]
Several messages and notifications filled her cell phone screen.
Behind the motion of cute little dragons, and a golden alchemy tool, floated a speech bubble.
[Congratulations, Master!] Final upgrade has been completed. Now you can make a Philosopher’s stone! o(≧▽≦)o]
A Philosopher’s stone!
Perhaps she was the first person in the game to reach level 100 and win a Philosopher’s stone recipe.
A Philosopher’s stone is the highest-ranking item in a game that deals with alchemy.
The ultimate item for an alchemist. A Philosopher’s stone that will grant any wish, as well as immortality!
It’s a game item, but if this Philosopher’s stone really granted her wish, she would have answered without hesitation, ‘Let me reincarnate into this game after I die.’
An alchemist who can make philosopher’s stones had various titles, top level alchemist tools, and cute dragons.
She even had bags that stored items sets containing 9999 different kinds of alchemy ingredients.
With that, she’d be able to craft whatever she wanted in the game until she died.
… but that couldn’t happen.
The game “Alchemy Lottery” is a game that requires you to be an alchemist and obtain various recipes.
It was perfect for her, who loved alchemy in the first place.
The story of the game wasn’t that great.
The main character, who ran a lottery store for villagers, made a successful alchemy potion that she used to sell on the side one day.
Therefore, she changed the name of the store to ‘Alchemy lottery’ and created various items using alchemy.
It was a game in which as alchemy levels increased, various recipes were disclosed to villagers.
There were thousands of alchemy recipes. Even words could be a part of alchemy, as well as medicine, tools, and food.
Although there were many complaints from users because the villagers’ requests were so demanding….
It was popular thanks to its cute illustrations and various alchemy recipes.
But thanks to the adorable alchemy tools and dragons, there were still a considerable number of users left.
After breaking the last achievement, she felt proud and a little conceited at the same time.
[I can’t believe I broke through.]
It was probably the first time. Indeed, the environment she was in was so advantageous compared to office workers, school students, and unemployed people who had many distractions.
Besides, she spent more time playing games than reading novels recently.
After enjoying the moment, she clicked the tool on the screen to look at the recipe list.
At the very end, a new recipe was added.
Once all recipes had been opened, the final recipe would pop up.
<The Philosopher’s Stone>
She felt a rush of excitement. She clicked on the recipe to check the ingredients.
<The Ultimate Item: Philosopher’s Stone>
[Materials Required: None]
“Wow, I don’t even need any ingredients?’
It seemed that the only thing needed to craft the stone was the title of “Legendary Alchemist.”
‘I’m so proud…’
She immediately pressed the craft button.
Fortunately, the crafting time was short; 10 seconds.
She clicked the screen several times in nervousness. It didn’t shorten the production time, but it was a habit.
<“The ultimate item: The Philosopher’s Stone” completed!>
Fluorescent rainbow colors, like light green and orange, were mixed together to show the shining ore.
She had always wondered what it looked like, and now she could finally see it.
‘It’s a bit like radioactive ore….’
Soon after, the alchemy tool appeared and a speech bubble popped up.
[Master, we succeeded in producing “The Philosopher’s Stone”! Make a wish to the Philosopher’s stone that makes any wish come true! It’ll grant for you! ✧*٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*]
What? Then give me a space to type….
Just in case, she whispered quietly to her phone.
“Let me keep my Alchemist title, inventory, alchemy tools, and dragons in the game.”
She begged specifically on purpose. She was afraid she’ll be reincarnated to level 1. But the cell phone screen remained the same.
“……”
She expected it, but somehow she felt empty.
After confirming that the Philosopher’s stone was well stored in the item inventory, the game ended.
Now that she has broken through her achievements, it’s time to read a novel for a while.
‘Ah, I can’t wait to die!’
They were not empty words. There was not much a dying patient could do except for lying in bed, waiting for death.
Playing cell phone games, reading novels.
These were great ways to forget reality.
“Now I guess I’ll read a novel.’
After turning off the game screen, she went into a web novel app.
The novel that she read a few days ago had given her an unsatisfied feeling, so she had not been able to read a new novel.
‘Well, I got into playing games thanks to that lingering feeling.’
While looking for a new novel to read, she felt sleepy and dozed off,
And made a wish that she thought wouldn’t come true.
‘I want to live…’
***
Of course, the Philosopher’s stone did not completely fulfill her wishes.
She was sure she asked to keep her items and titles, and that she made a wish to live before she went to bed..
When she opened her eyes, she saw herself dead.
‘This is ridiculous…’
But she was sick of the hospital life, so bye!
Her dead soul was naturally led into the spirit world. For a long time, she wandered around the underworld and stayed in the dark.
A world of nothing.
She would usually be scared, but she couldn’t feel any fear. It was a world where people felt no emotions, including fear.
At one point, something glowed, and her soul was absorbed by it.
She was reborn into this life.
***
Back in reality, Lelia grabbed her head. This is because her mind became blank when she recollected her memories after her death.
On the day she fell into the water in the temple, she remembered her past life, but when the details suddenly came to her mind, she was distracted.
She shouldn’t have read that novel.
It was this world, this novel, that had left her with lingering emotions before her death.
“……”
Lelia looked at the screen with a puzzled face.
No matter what happened… she couldn’t believe this game screen just popped up!
The game screen she had always seen on her phone was right in front of her. Plus, in a much larger size.
She was so surprised that she was shaking.
Lelia hugged the rabbit doll and took a deep breath to cool her mind.
“Let’s calm down for now.”
As she held the rabbit doll, her mind soon calmed down.
[So this watch granted me a wish I had made before I died in my previous life…?]
The watch which was placed on her small palm, looked old and worn out.
[Like Juliana, did my unconscious wish…?]
Lelia was dazed and all she could do was blink.
[It didn’t break the spell, but did it instead grant my old wish?]
Then it was clear that the spell had not been broken. She felt a little cheated, but… It wasn’t that bad for now anyway.
Lelia looked up at the screen again.