I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

Erdin blinked his dark eyes.

She stood there, stunned.

According to her pre-set script for this kind of occasion.

A poor boy like Evan, when a rich girl of his status takes the initiative to talk to him and reach out to him.

You should immediately show utmost respect and excitement, and try your best to say as many words as possible to leave a good impression.

Why did this guy just... leave like that?

Carrying sacks?

Is carrying sacks more attractive than me?

Helen, the girl who was still sobbing behind her, also looked up and stared in surprise at Evan's departing figure.

Ivan did not turn around.

He walked straight to the group of Ryan and John by the edge of the playground, their eyes filled with envy and regret.

"It's getting dark, if we don't leave soon we'll miss the tram."

Ryan stared intently at Evan, lowering his voice and speaking almost in a tone of reverence.

"That's Miss Hearst! A high-ranking noblewoman from Britain!"

"So many middle-class students send flowers and fawn over her, writing her love poems, yet they can't even get close to her!"

"My God! What are you saying? Carrying sacks? You...you've completely ruined this precious chat opportunity!"

John, standing nearby, eagerly added insult to injury.

"They take a car to and from school every day! Do you even know what a car is?"

Ivan shrugged, his tone indifferent.

"have no idea."

John was so anxious he kept stamping his feet.

"The kind that car tycoon Kevin Durant drives!"

Ivan pursed his lips.

"I only know the kind that Chennault sits in."

"Who is Chennault?" John asked, taken aback.

Evan slung his backpack over his shoulder and didn't answer.

"School's out, guys, time to go home."

Amidst the envious sighs of "Oh dear, what a missed opportunity!" behind him, he quickly left the playground.

He cannot linger here any longer.

School security has already taken Gilbert away; sooner or later they'll find out that the guy is missing three bottles of medicine.

He, who just heroically saved someone, will definitely be among the top names on the search list.

The safest way to store medicine is to put it inside your own stomach.

The few poor boys who remained on the playground wanted to go up and get acquainted with Erdin.

Unfortunately, Erdin had already turned around and was walking towards the teaching building with Helen's arm in hers.

Her straight back looked particularly aloof in the setting sun.

"Sigh, Arkham really can't seize opportunities."

Several students couldn't help but sigh, their minds already conjuring up their own roles as Ivan.

If they were in that position, they would surely be chatting and laughing with Miss Hearst right now, exchanging addresses.

Evan pulled out a five-cent coin and squeezed onto the clanging tram.

When we got back to Guding Street, it was already 6:30 p.m., and it was completely dark.

One by one, the streetlights lit up, their dim yellow light bathing the street in a warm orange hue.

Evan went upstairs, took out his key, opened the door, and locked it behind him.

The apartment was so quiet you could hear yourself breathing.

He went into the bedroom, sat at the table, and laid out all his day's achievements.

Five bottles from Price. Three bottles I swiped from Gilbert.

A total of eight bottles.

Ivan stared at the eight small glass bottles for a few seconds, then decided to smell them first.

Anyway, I have the power of nine dragons, and currently only two dragons are displayed on my panel - Demon Hunter trait and Copper Plague.

Adding a few more dragons wouldn't be a problem.

The more potions you digest, the more you understand the extraordinary systems of this world.

He compared them carefully and found that the three bottles he got from Gilbert were all the same medicine, with identical bottle designs, indicating that they were a three-day supply.

Evan picked up one of the bottles and used his thumb to pry open the wax seal.

A pungent, spicy smell immediately wafted out.

He instinctively stepped back, his eyes stinging from the fumes.

"What the hell is that? Pepper spray?"

As his nose caught that scent, that familiar whisper echoed in his mind once more.

This time it was another piece of unfamiliar yet precise knowledge.

Night Chili. One of the ingredients for potions.

It mainly grows in damp rock crevices near the nests of the Bloodthirsty Species, and its rhizomes absorb the excrement and residues discharged by the Bloodthirsty Species as nutrients.

It has a strong hemolytic effect and can temporarily enhance the sense of smell and muscle strength after ingestion.

"Made with magic chili peppers?"

Evan muttered to himself.

He weighed the pros and cons.

The power of the Nine Dragons can reverse the side effects, so theoretically there's nothing you can't try.

He tilted his head back and downed the entire small bottle of spicy liquid in one gulp.

A burning sensation traveled down my esophagus and into my stomach.

His entire body felt as if it had been stuffed into a red-hot bronze furnace.

[You have consumed an incomplete Blood Burning Potion. Effects last: 5 hours.]

[Effect: Permanently increases constitution by 0.2; within the effects of the medicine, self-healing ability is reduced by 300%, and blood quality is reduced by 50%.]

[Did you reverse the side effects?]

The next second, Ivan's expression changed drastically.

He felt like a balloon with a punctured valve, his whole body was incredibly weak.

His physical constitution stats were still intact, but he could clearly sense that a certain "texture" inside his body was rapidly collapsing.

My skin started to feel faint, like it was rotting from the inside out.

Even worse, his breathing became rapid, and the long-lost tinnitus and dizziness returned.

The symptoms are almost exactly the same as when I had severe anemia.

"elder brother."

Evan slumped into the chair, his hands bracing against the table.

"I will never dare to take medicine randomly again."

He stared at the two remaining bottles of Blood Burning Potion on the table, tears welling up in his eyes.

"This lousy medicine of yours!"

Evan then realized that he had underestimated the bizarre nature of the potions in this world.

The ones that Pulis gave out, at least on the surface, were disguised as "health medicines," and their positive effects lived up to their name.

But this thing.

The "reverse" option is still available!

"In other words... the reduced self-healing ability and lower blood quality are positive effects of this drug, not side effects."

"Depend on."

He supported his forehead with his hand, his temples throbbing.

"Which legitimate medication has the positive effect of reducing the body's self-healing ability and blood quality...?"

Halfway through the thought, Evan's pupils suddenly contracted.

"etc."

"Blood-Burning Potion. Reduces self-healing ability. Reduces blood quality."

Those previously chaotic thoughts were now grasped by an invisible hand and instantly strung together into a clear line.

He looked up and stared at the two remaining bottles of Blood Burning Potion on the table.

The blood-red liquid swayed slightly in the glass bottle, like a small piece of venous blood in a tube.

"This is... a counter-potion specifically developed for the Bloodthirsty race?"

Thinking of this, Ivan's eyes lit up.

"It seems Byron and Pulis are not on the same page."

He stared at the two remaining bottles of red liquid on the table, his breathing quickening.

"This is a good opportunity."

"Twist!"

[Reversal progress: 5 hours.]

"Fortunately, it's an unfinished version, so it won't last long."

"But there's no hope of carrying sacks tonight. Let's eat first, then read for a while."

Ivan propped himself up on the table, his legs feeling a little weak.

He went into the cramped kitchen, scooped a few pieces of coal from the iron bucket in the corner, and threw them into the stove.

The orange-red charcoal fire gradually stabilized, illuminating the blackened tiles in the kitchen with a warm glow.

None of the apartments on Guding Street have gas or natural gas connections.

Every household had to go out to buy coal for cooking and boiling water.

A bag of ordinary bituminous coal costs twelve cents and can last for five or six days.

Evan took the leftover food from the cafeteria from the cookie box, placed it upside down on an enamel plate, and heated it on the iron rack on the stove.

The fish sizzled softly in the residual heat, and the butter on the vegetables melted again, seeping into the breadcrumbs.

He looked at the flickering flames in the stove and sighed.

"The coal supply is running low again. We'll have to spend money again."

He just paid his monthly property tax of $1.80, water bill of 50 cents, kerosene of $1, and notebook and ink totaling 80 cents. All these odds and ends added up to several dollars.

Adding to the odd jobs he'd earned these past few days from testing drugs and carrying sacks, and the eleven dollars he'd found at the bottom of Mary's trunk.

He now has only six dollars and forty-one cents left in his entire fortune.