Debt-Collector of the Apocalypse

CHAPTER 7: The First Extraction

“Manifest item three.”

The moment the word left his mouth. A heavy, cast-iron bowl the size of a mortar manifested and dropped from the empty air, slamming onto the concrete rooftop with a dull, metallic clang.

The exterior of the [Basic Alchemist's Refining Crucible] was etched with crude, glowing green runes that pulsed in sync with Min-jae’s heartbeat. It didn't look elegant like the gear of a high-tier Mage, but to a Scavenger, this was pure gold.

[Item Unlocked: Basic Alchemist's Refining Crucible (Rank-E)]

[Remaining Cosmic Units: 10.0003]

Yoo Seo-ah flinched at the sound, her eyes tracking the strange iron bowl before looking out at the emerald dome shielding the building. The chaos outside hadn't stopped. A block away, a multi-story department store erupted into a pillar of oily black smoke, the screams of hundreds of trapped civilians echoing through the shattered streets.

"Min-jae... what are we doing now?" she asked, her voice hollow, completely numb from the sheer scale of the destruction. "Should we try to find a radio? Look for survivors downstairs?"

"The people downstairs are already dead, or they will be within the hour," Min-jae said without a shred of emotion. He walked over to the crucible and knelt beside it. "They barricaded themselves in a pharmacy full of antibiotics and bandages. In exactly thirty minutes, the scent of those synthetic chemicals will draw a horde of Plague Rats up through the sewage lines. This roof is the only safe square inch in the district."

He pulled the glowing green F-Rank Mana Core from his denim pocket. The tiny crystal felt warm, vibrating against his skin.

"In the old timeline, people treated these like raw gemstones," Min-jae muttered, dropping the core into the center of the iron crucible. "They hoarded them, traded them for bread, or tried to swallow them whole to gain magic. It took two years for humanity to realize that raw cores contain cosmic impurities. If you don't refine them, they slowly turn your mana pathways into brittle glass."

Min-jae pressed his thumb against the primary rune on the crucible's rim.

"Refine. Target: Low-grade Vitality Elixir."

The green runes flared violently, a harsh, chemical-smelling white smoke billowing out of the bowl. The F-rank core began to dissolve, crackling like rock salt tossed into a campfire.

[Refinement Process Initiated...]

[Removing Impurities: 45%... 90%... Complete.]

[Consolidating Essence: 100% Complete.]

[Creation Successful: You have crafted [Refined Vitality Fluid (Rank-F)] x1]

Inside the crucible, the solid stone was completely gone. In its place lay three thimblefuls of a thick, glowing crimson liquid that viscous-ly coated the iron bottom. It looked like liquid rubies.

Min-jae didn't hesitate. He dipped his finger into the fluid and brought it to his lips, swallowing the bitter, metallic-tasting syrup in one gulp.

BA-BUMP.

His heart hammered violently against his ribs. A sudden, scorching wave of heat erupted from his stomach, rushing through his veins like boiling water. The persistent, exhausting ache in his lower back—a remnant of years of heavy lifting in the logistics warehouse—instantly vanished. His vision sharpened, the dim, smoke-filled night appearing suddenly crisper, clearer.

A clean, blue system prompt flashed before his left eye.

[You have consumed Refined Vitality Fluid (Rank-F).]

[Your latent physical limitations have been forcefully expanded.]

[Strength: 10 → 12

Vitality: 9 → 13

Stamina: 11 → 14]

[System Warning: You have reached the maximum safe consumption limit for F-Rank elixirs. Further consumption of un-upgraded fluid will yield zero attribute growth.]

Min-jae stood up, flexing his knuckles. His grip was noticeably tighter, his movements fluid and light. A standard human adult had baseline stats averaging around 10. In less than ten minutes after the apocalypse descended, his physical conditioning had jumped past that of an Olympic athlete.

"Min-jae?" Seo-ah stared at him, her eyes wide as she noticed the sudden, subtle change in his posture. The slouched, exhausted warehouse worker was completely gone. Standing before her was a man who looked perfectly anchored in the middle of hell. "Your... your eyes are glowing."

"Your turn," Min-jae said, pointing to the crucible. "Drink the rest."

Seo-ah recoiled slightly. "What? No, I don't want to drink monster blood—"

"If you don't drink it, your heart will rupture the moment we leave this barrier," Min-jae interrupted, his voice dropping into a harsh, commanding register. "The ambient mana density of the atmosphere is climbing by 5% every hour. Human lungs weren't designed to filter cosmic radiation. By tomorrow morning, anyone who hasn't increased their Vitality stat past 12 will begin coughing up their own lung lining. Drink it, or I leave you here when the barrier drops."

The brutal honesty of his words hit her like a physical blow. Realizing that the modern world's rules were completely dead, Seo-ah crawled forward on her hands and knees. With trembling fingers, she scooped the remaining crimson fluid from the iron bowl and swallowed it.

She let out a choked gasp, coughing as the heat hit her system, but within seconds, the color returned to her deathly pale cheeks. Her trembling stopped.

[Allied Unit: Yoo Seo-ah has consumed Refined Vitality Fluid.]

[Vitality: 8 → 12]

[Status: Acclimatized to Tier-1 Cosmic Density.]

Min-jae nodded in satisfaction. He didn't care about saving her out of the goodness of his heart—he needed an assistant. A professional Scavenger couldn't waste time sorting low-tier loot or carrying heavy supply packs when the high-tier zones opened up. Seo-ah was being trained as his primary pack-mule.

He walked back to the edge of the roof, looking down into the dark alleyway outside the green shimmering barrier.

Now that his physical stats were stabilized, it was time to address his lack of offensive power. He had 412 Karma Points left in his starting wallet, and his vault still contained 1,401 locked endgame items.

His eyes locked onto the second item preview in his oil-slick interface.

[Rank-D: (The Ashen-Bone Dagger) — Current Debt Cost: 100 Cosmic Units.]

"Ten times the energy I currently have," Min-jae calculated, his mind spinning like a supercomputer. "I can't siphon normal civilians anymore—the low-tier ones don't give enough energy, and the high-tier future tyrants are currently barricaded or out of reach."

He looked toward the Incheon Municipal Library, a massive concrete structure three blocks away.

Through his Sight glass, a dark purple cloud of dense energy was rapidly condensing over the library's glass dome.

A World Quest Spawn Point.

"The first Goblin Chieftain is going to hatch there in exactly two hours," Min-jae whispered, a cold, predatory light flashing behind his violet lens. "If I claim its mutated core, I can unlock the Ashen-Bone Dagger before Day One ends."

He turned toward Seo-ah, who was carefully wiping the remaining fluid from her mouth.

"Grab the crucible."

Min-jae pulled a heavy tactical flashlight from his warehouse belt and switched it on, sending a narrow beam across the rooftop.

"We're going hunting."