Surviving Among the Entities

“You’re the first.”

The first target I chose was the Rubber Rubber Duck.
Before starting, I carefully considered the experimental design as it was important.

“I’ll weaken it with the Weaken Potion first. Before applying the Purify Potion, I’ll observe the results at 1-hour intervals to check if the effect is permanent, then purify it back to the original state with the Purify Potion and apply the Strengthen Potion. After that, I’ll repeat the process.”

Experimental design complete. I immediately dropped a single drop of the Weaken Potion onto the Rubber Rubber Duck.

“Oh.”

The duck, which had been the size of my fist, shrank to about half my palm size. Its appearance also changed from a vivid yellow duck to a pale yellow chick.

-Piak!

“Not just its cry, but its irregularity has also changed.”

Instead of crying out randomly when not being observed like before, it now cried when poked with a finger. The cry matched its chick appearance.

-Piak! Piak!

“Let’s see if the effect is maintained.”

An hour later, the Rubber Rubber Duck had not reverted to its original state.

“So it’s a permanent effect.”

I dropped the Purify Potion to restore it to its original yellow rubber duck form.

“Next is the Strengthen Potion.”

When I dropped the white Strengthen Potion, its size increased tenfold and its color became white like a rubber goose.

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!

It had thick, furrowed eyebrows drawn in an angry expression, and despite me just watching and not touching it, it let out a thunderous cry.

“Its cry has become incredibly loud.”

The cry was so loud it made the table the duck was placed on vibrate.

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!
-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!
-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!
-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!
-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!

Since this was also a permanent effect, I used the Purify Potion after an hour to restore it to its original state.

‘My ears are slightly ringing.’

My head was also slightly aching, so I took a short break.

-Squawk!

After a brief nap my head felt refreshed. As I searched for the next experimental target, I noticed the “TV for You” entity.

“Would this work too?”

The target seemed to be an entity containing multiple selves or egos.
Curious if it would work, I dropped the Weaken Potion on it.

‘No change.’

The moment that thought finished, in the blink of an eye the TV vanished and was replaced by an old-fashioned radio.

“So the TV’s weakened form is a radio.”

I turned on the radio. After tuning the frequency, a familiar male voice came through.

[“The host, the announcer of Radio for You. Why am I the announcer and not the host, you ask? It’s because we haven’t given up on TV broadcasts yet!”]

It was the voice of an announcer.

[“The first and last news! There will be a great misfortune for Mr. Lee (25) living in the outskirts of Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province! If you don’t turn this radio back into a TV immediately, this news will become a reality and truly unimaginable calamities will befall him!”]
[“Kkyaak! Senior! This broadcasting station! It’s a complete dump!”]
[“Intern! Calm down!”]
[“Hello, the reporter unable to go on-site, the reporter. Today’s coverage location is this radio broadcasting station that was once beloved by all but is now treated as an obsolete relic, so I will reveal the reality of radio broadcasting….”]
[“Uwaaaak! Everyone be quiet!”]

The radio shut off. No matter how much I fiddled with it, the broadcast did not resume.

“Another permanent effect it seems.”

Just before applying the Purify Potion, I felt a tinge of curiosity.

‘If I don’t restore it, great misfortunes are supposed to happen, but to what extent?’

It wouldn’t be instant death. After all, they want me to restore them.
Then it would likely be a series of painful misfortunes that don’t threaten life but keep piling on endlessly.

Pootootootoo-tuk!

At that moment, I checked outside after hearing that sudden noise.

“……So that’s how it is.”

When I went out, I saw flocks of birds had defecated all over our roof before flying away. Not just one or two birds, but hundreds or thousands had covered our formerly red roof in white like it had been painted over.

‘Better restore it before it gets worse.’

I restored the Radio for You back into a TV and dropped the Strengthen Potion. At first it seemed there was no change, but in the blink of an eye the TV vanished again.

‘Where did it go?’

After looking around, I went to the living room and found an enormous wall-mounted TV.

‘It must be over 100 inches.’

When I turned it on, a large studio like a major international media network’s main news set was shown, with a view of a dazzling city visible through the rear windows.

“No one’s here.”

While the studio was empty, there were multiple signs occupying the space instead, each with different messages written on them.

[“Well now, that misfortune has been cancelled! Haha! Unfortunately, as the studio remodeling is still unfinished, “Wall-Mounted TV for You” will be taking a break for the time being! – The Announcer, The Announcer”]
[“Oww! I finally have my own room! My own room! No more sleeping with that snoring Tyrant! Hehehe! Thank you! Mr. Lee! – The Reporter, The Reporter”]
[“( ღ’ᴗ’ღ ) ٩(๑>∀<๑)۶ (❁´▽`❁) – The Intern, The Intern”]
[“We are truly grateful for your sponsorship, dear viewer. Thanks to you, our broadcasting station can now deliver even more news. We ask for your understanding as we take a temporary break to hire new staff and expand our facilities, all so we can strive to provide information beneficial to the world. – The Deputy Director, The Deputy Director”]
[“Let’s have a drink sometime. – The Director, The Director”]

So there were 5 personnel so far.

‘I’m curious how their broadcasts will change going forward, but hmm, is there no way to view it right away?’

Of course not, it was impossible. Instead, I tested the wall-mounted TV’s functions.

“It’s different from before.”

When not delivering prophetic broadcasts, it could be used as an ordinary TV, but even though our home did not subscribe to cable I could watch all paid channels.

‘I can even watch overseas broadcasts.’

After checking all the wall-mounted TV’s functions, I retrieved the other world’s Transfer Series book.

“It said not to use it on hazardous entities if possible, but……”

Since this entity seemed friendly toward me, it might be fine.

‘Alright then……’

I dropped the Weaken Potion on the other world’s Transfer Series book.

“A bookmark?”

It caused a bookmark-like object to protrude from the middle of the book.

‘So the Weaken Potion doesn’t change the book itself, but creates a derivative entity.’

Upon closer inspection, it was not a bookmark but a coupon.

[Challenge Coupon to Another World for You]
[Do you want to go to another world? Experience a dangerous and terrifying place instead of a soft, fluffy, happy other world? Challenge yourself and prove your abilities there!? Then use this right away! Prove your abilities and obtain incredible rewards!]

The coupon retained the function of sending the user to another world, but it was not a simple transfer – it was a challenge.

[Upon use, you will be transferred to a medieval fantasy world in your current physical body.]
[Upon transfer, you will understand the language of that world.]
[Upon transfer, others will not find your appearance out of place.]

So far it was the same as before.

[The world you transfer to will randomly apply 5 to 10 of the following elements:]

However, the characteristics of the world being transferred to were different.

[1. An Archdemon (not female, not chaos-aligned knowing the world’s secrets and sacrificing itself, not with a cute appearance, cannot polymorph into female form, not kind, a purely evil monster that enjoys killing humans) will invade the world the moment you transfer.]
[2. A terrifying plague not existing in the modern era, an endemic disease of that world, will spread across the land.]
[3. Heretics will lurk in the shadows seeking sacrificial victims.]
[4. Fallen gods turned into monsters will consistently threaten humanity, intensifying their activities the moment you transfer.]
[5. The ruling class of every nation will be extremely corrupt and incompetent.]
[6. The average moral aptitude of all races (humans, demonkin, merfolk, elves, dwarves, etc.) will be less than 3 out of 10.]
[7. All nations will begin war. A war that will not cease until they have destroyed every last thing of each other.]
[8. If you are male, a patriarchal world. If female, a matriarchal world.]
[9. Many magic-obsessed mages will exist, viewing ordinary people only as experimental subjects.]
[10. Outer deities will exist, observing the world you transfer to.]

Each condition was hellish.

[Upon transfer, you will gain ordinary talent in magic power and aura.]
[With effort, you can awaken your magic power and aura within 1 year.]
[Your starting point will definitely be a safe location where no outside intrusion or major events occur for 1 year.]

Fortunately there was some assistance as well.

[If you endure in that world for 30 years, you win.]

Even so, I doubted anyone would use such a thing, but of course there was bait.

[Benefits applied upon victory:]
[1. Return to Earth, 1 day after the moment you used the coupon.]
[2. All physical and mental issues healed and restored.]
[3. Randomly receive 1 EX-grade skill (ex: Indestructible Body, Formless Form, Replicating Hands, Absolute Hypnosis, Access to Akashic Records, etc.)]
[4. Immortality, able to live healthily for at least 200 years, up to 1,000 years with proper management.]
[5. A bank account in your name containing 100 billion won with no strings attached.]

“Hmm.”

[Will you use this coupon? [Y]<-Press any finger for over 3 seconds.]

Of course, I had no interest in using it.

“Would anyone actually do this?”

Perhaps someone would. Since the coupon did not disappear after waiting an hour, I decided to store it separately.

‘I should either give it to someone with an adventurous spirit later, or sell it to a merchant.’

Next, I applied the Strengthen Potion to the other world’s Transfer Series book.

“Another coupon this time?”

But unlike the previous coupon, this was an extremely good one.

[Possession Coupon to Your Heart’s Content]
[Were you dissatisfied with how the story you were watching progressed? Do you want to enter the world of that story and become friends with the characters? Were you frustrated with the protagonist and wanted to take their place yourself? This is the coupon for you! Use it right away!]

It was not for randomly transferring, but for possessing characters in existing works.

[It can be used on manga, novels, movies, animations, etc.]
[If used while holding the work in front of you, you will possess characters in that work.]
[It does not matter if the story is ongoing or completed. Rather than ending at a specific timeframe for an ongoing work, it will continue as an actual reality.]
[The characters in the world you possess are stated to be real living beings, not fake existences like text or illustrations.]
[Any lack of plausibility in the work (sudden plot progression, nonsensical developments, drifting) will be automatically corrected to fulfill plausibility.]
[Others will not find your appearance out of place, and you will automatically learn the language of that world.]

“Not bad.”

Furthermore, depending on effort it guaranteed survival even in dangerous works.

[You will be granted talent equivalent to A-grade in that world.]
[A-grade talent: Talent allowing you to potentially rise to the level of the protagonist’s rival or a main character through effort.]
[Applies to all fields like martial arts, magic, academics, arts, etc.]

[Will you use this coupon? [Y]<-Press any finger for over 3 seconds.]

Compared to the existing 5% chance of a fluffy, lucky transfer, the success rate was lower but I gave it high marks for the near 100% survival rate and the ability to enter a work of your choosing.

‘I should also sell this to merchants or give it to someone else.’

With this, I had finished experimenting on all the entities I possessed. There was still the Legacy of the Great Author, but tampering with that could erase my Resolver identity so I decided not to touch it.

‘For the same reason, I shouldn’t touch the Toy Well either.’

I still had 6 uses remaining, so what should I try experimenting on next?

‘Wait, come to think of it……’

This belt was called the Forgotten Alchemist’s Potion Belt.
It was an entity with settings related to alchemy.

‘Alchemy.’

Then the being who created this belt must have made it for the sake of alchemy.

‘For what purpose?’

While the ultimate goal of alchemy was to create gold, there was one other famous aspect.

“The act of creating humans without borrowing a human woman’s womb.”

The humans created this way were called something specific by alchemists.

“Homunculi.”

Excessive excitement made my blood race.

“Homunculi are said to know all truths?”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I should try creating one.”