Genius Wizard Takes Medicine Chapter 19

“…Did we get him?”

Lenoch ignored Dylan, who had muttered exactly the kind of thing one should never say, and kept moving his hands.

Crocken was a cold-blooded creature.

A sudden change in temperature should be a weakness for him.

Lenoch’s attempt to exploit that weakness had worked, even if it was partly due to luck.

But only for a moment.

If Crocken could be defeated by something like this, he would never have walked out of that high-temperature explosion without a scratch.

Lenoch’s remaining mana was almost gone.

The only weapons he had left were two.

Running was not an option.

Instinctively, Lenoch knew that this brief pause would not last.

Just as he expected, Crocken’s frozen body soon began to tremble.

Cracks spread between his frost-covered scales.

With durability and resilience far beyond human limits, he was already forcing his way out of the ice.

Facing Crocken, whose vibrations were growing stronger by the second, Lenoch focused his mind.

He had to use every second before Crocken fully regained his senses.

He had to settle this here.

In that desperate moment, Lenoch frantically searched for an answer and pulled out the pistol he had carried since escaping the factory.

Then he scraped together the last of his mana.

A crushing sense of depletion filled him.

It was a feeling he had rarely experienced since awakening his mana.

Even so, he had to end this now.

His entire body felt hollow, but Lenoch gritted his teeth and cast his spells.

The image formed in his mind in an instant, shaped by sheer will and desperation.

His mana responded and manifested into reality.

Common magic.

Among those spells, the auxiliary spells designed to support ranged weapons were instantly woven together through Lenoch’s will.

**[Aim Correction]**

**[Trajectory Guidance]**

**[Penetration Enhancement]**

The shooting-support spells he had used countless times as a **Gun Mage** in **WORLD 2.0** swept over the pistol’s barrel and vanished into it.

For a moment, it almost felt as if he had returned to the days when he played the game without a care.

Lenoch applied every auxiliary spell that came to mind, one after another.

The old pistol, unable to withstand the mana being forced into it, began glowing blue.

Lenoch ignored it and pulled the trigger.

**[Projectile Acceleration]**

Bang!

Light burst from the muzzle.

At the same time, the pistol in Lenoch’s hand crumbled apart.

It could not endure the violent mana fluctuation contained within it.

To fire a single bullet, Lenoch had applied four auxiliary spells.

Speed.

Accuracy.

Firepower.

Penetration.

All of them were enhanced to create a trajectory aimed at piercing Crocken’s eye and brain.

Lenoch knew he could not defeat Crocken in a direct confrontation.

Crocken was a monster who had survived an explosion that collapsed an entire factory.

Against something like that, Lenoch had only one chance.

A decisive surprise attack aimed at a vital point.

If he could forcibly amplify and unleash one of the large-scale spells he knew, perhaps things would be different.

But after consecutive battles, his remaining mana was already running dry.

In the short time he had bought by blocking Crocken’s vision, this was the sharpest attack Lenoch could produce.

Ironically, what came to mind was the auxiliary shooting combo he had used endlessly while playing as a **Gun Mage**.

Auxiliary magic was weak in direct power and not very efficient.

But it consumed very little mana.

In this situation, it was the most powerful and practical move Lenoch could create.

The thought process felt long.

The preparation felt endless.

But the result arrived in an instant.

The moment Crocken’s vertical pupil twitched and revealed itself, Lenoch’s magically timed bullet struck the center of the frozen eye.

Crack!

Crocken’s face jerked backward.

Bang!

At the same time, the **[Frost Horn]** binding his entire body shattered completely.

“……”

Dylan, struggling to hold his sword, and Lenoch, gripping the broken handle of his pistol, both watched in silence.

Neither of them even breathed.

A silence that felt eternal passed.

Then Crocken, beginning to move again, slowly lowered his head.

“That was a very good attempt.”

“……”

“Except for the fact that your opponent was me.”

“…Damn monster.”

Lenoch’s frustrated mutter summed up the result.

The bullet he had fired with four spells, aimed at one perfect opening, had been stopped between Crocken’s eyelids.

He had caught Lenoch’s bullet with nothing but the muscles of his eyelids.

It was an impossible result, one that defied human understanding.

But Lenoch’s reason told him it was real.

“Ha ha ha ha! You’re not wrong. I don’t think of myself as an ordinary human either.”

Crocken burst into hearty laughter, slowly opened his eye, and let the bullet fall.

Although he had blocked the shot, even he had not escaped completely unharmed.

Fluid leaked from his reptilian vertical pupil.

“Still, it hurts a little.”

Crocken grinned.

With trembling hands, Lenoch pulled out his remaining laser cutter.

“As for sending you off painlessly…”

Crocken’s smile widened.

“Let’s forget about that.”

Boom!

There would be no second chance.

With those words, Crocken swung his right arm.

A massive shockwave tore through the air and swallowed Lenoch whole.

A deafening roar rang out, loud enough to make it feel as though his eardrums would burst.

The force behind it was absurd.

It was a transcendent strength and impact that seemed to mock the laws of physics.

Lenoch’s frail body could not react.

For a moment, it seemed as if he would be reduced to a bloody smear.

‘Am I going to die?’

That thought only crossed Lenoch’s mind after his face struck the ground.

But the pain was still vivid.

His arms and legs still moved.

Aside from the shield he had wrapped around himself shattering, he was unharmed.

“……?”

Only then did Lenoch realize that he had survived, and he quickly raised his head.

A woman stood before him.

She wore a black metal suit that covered her entire body, and a black iron mask hid her eyes. Her jet-black bobbed hair swayed slightly.

Green light occasionally flowed from her eyes and suit.

With one hand, she was blocking Crocken’s attack.

A green wave emitted from the long mechanical device in her left hand, heavily deflecting Crocken’s strike.

Only after taking in the sight did Crocken bare his teeth in a smirk.

“Well… I took too long. Is it already time for the city government’s hound to arrive?”

“Crocken Achilles. You’ve crossed the line.”

A cold voice came from behind the mask.

“Did you think you could blow up an entire factory and not get caught?”

“……”

“I thought the underworld would stay quiet for a while. What are you trying to achieve by turning District 42 into a mess?”

“That’s a little unfair, Evelyn. I wasn’t the one who made this mess. Those two did.”

Crocken pointed at Dylan and Lenoch, but all he received in return was a scoff.

“That pervert in the mask who was about to have his head blown off by you? Stop making ridiculous excuses.”

“……”

In truth, it was not strange for her to think that way.

It was far more believable that Crocken, an executive of a criminal organization, had destroyed the factory than that Lenoch had failed to stop him and allowed the factory to explode.

At her response, Crocken seemed to lose all motivation and shrugged.

“Heh heh… Think whatever you want. I’m done here.”

“Are you running away?”

“Fighting a city government agent wasn’t part of the contract. No need to do something that would leave me at a loss…”

He slowly pulled back the arm still caught in the green wave, then turned around without hesitation.

That belligerent monster had chosen to avoid a fight instead of settling things here.

It was proof that Evelyn was powerful enough for even Crocken to find troublesome.

Evelyn did not stop him.

She simply watched in silence as Crocken disappeared beyond the ruined factory.

Although she had spoken boldly, even she seemed burdened by the thought of facing such a monster head-on.

Letting out a small sigh, Evelyn slowly turned around and walked toward Lenoch, who was still lying on the ground.

“…Thank you for saving me.”

Lenoch thanked her while lying sprawled on the hard asphalt.

No matter the circumstances, she had saved his life.

Was this coincidence, misfortune, or luck?

Not a single day passed without his nerves being pushed to the limit.

With a tired expression, Evelyn brushed back her hair and held out a hand to him.

“Can you stand?”

Lenoch refused her hand and rose on his unsteady legs.

The swaying hair.

The calm eyes.

The voice.

They immediately reminded him of who she was.

She was the vegetable vendor he had met at the market.

The woman in the bomber jacket who had spoken in that strange, unreadable way was now standing right in front of him.

It had only been a brief encounter, but Lenoch’s extraordinary memory had preserved her image perfectly.

He had known she was not ordinary, but he had not expected her to be an elite agent working directly for the city government.

It seemed her claim that she made good money had not been a lie.

“Hmm?”

It seemed the woman had also noticed something familiar.

But it seemed Evelyn recognized him as well.

She looked Lenoch up and down, her eyes glowing green.

“I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

“…I don’t know.”

Cold sweat ran down Lenoch’s back as he quietly looked away.

His face had been changed with magic, and he was even wearing one of Dylan’s strange masks. It should have been difficult for Evelyn to recognize him.

But she stared at his mask as if she could see straight through it, then eventually nodded.

“Well… it must have been someone else. The mana pattern is too different.”

Had the slight changes he made to his mana pattern every time he used magic actually helped?

To think the lesson he had learned from meeting her once before would help him during their second encounter.

Life was truly unpredictable.

The moment Evelyn decided Lenoch was not someone she knew, she lost interest and turned her gaze away.

“I have to at least pretend to chase that old man, so take care.”

“You’re not going to catch him yourself?”

At Lenoch’s polite question, Evelyn shook her head.

“I don’t have the ability or the circumstances for that. Do you know how much money the underworld spends bribing our investigative agencies? Even if that crocodile robbed a bank in the middle of the city, the police wouldn’t be sent out.”

From her plain explanation, it seemed Balkan’s investigative agencies were deeply corrupt.

It was not surprising, so Lenoch simply nodded.

“I see.”

“So be careful when dealing with them. Even if you’re pushed to the brink of death, no one will come to help you.”

Leaving that calm warning behind, Evelyn leapt away in the direction Crocken had gone.

Only then did Dylan walk over and pat Lenoch on the shoulder.

“You got lucky, mage sir.”

“……”

Instead of answering, Lenoch looked at Dylan coldly.

In the end, wasn’t this whole mess caused because Dylan failed to escape the factory quickly enough?

Crocken had arrived because of that, and Lenoch had been forced to buy time against him while Dylan was beaten half to death.

It was only natural for him to be irritated.

“You’ll be giving up a considerable portion of the reward this time.”

If Dylan refused, Lenoch was considering freezing his lower body and leaving him here.

But Dylan nodded immediately.

“Fine. Since you saved my life, I’ll take only ten million Cel. You can have forty million.”

“……”

Even though he had successfully extorted money from him, Lenoch felt a strange sense of loss.

Dylan, on the other hand, was humming cheerfully, which only made that feeling worse.

“This time really was close. Who would’ve thought Charlotte would hire that old man…? He’s famous for locking himself in a room and drinking all day. I wonder what got into him.”

Lenoch did not answer.

Instead, he took another cigarette from his pocket.

“Smoking again? You really must like those things.”

“Shut up.”

Facing Crocken had drained Lenoch both mentally and physically.

Even if he survived today, he would likely suffer from the side effects for nearly two weeks.

At the very least, he had to stay alert until he returned home.

That meant he had no choice but to rely on cigarettes.

“…Watching you makes me want one too. Can you spare one?”

“……”

“……Watching you smoke is making me crave one too. Give me a cigarette.”

“……”

Lenoch frowned at Dylan, who now felt more like baggage than a partner.

In the end, however, he took out one of his remaining cigarettes and handed it over.

What Dylan had accomplished today was worth more than seventy million cells.

One cigarette was more than enough compensation.

The two of them sat down on the battered asphalt and silently devoted themselves to smoking.

“……This is actually pretty good.”

The setting evening sun slowly cast its light over the ruined factory.

Continue reading more chapters at henprogressive.com

Please join here, I need supporters to help me continue translating Surviving game as a barbarian and Lee Gwak
If it doesn’t work support me here buymeacoffee.com/hennoveltranslations. There are advanced chapters for supporters as well.