"Who the hell are they?!You're telling me everything was breached—government agencies, financial institutions, all of it?!Does that even make sense?!"
A furious shout echoed through the room.
A middle-aged man in a black suit slammed his desk, while the young employees standing before him bowed their heads, hands clasped tightly in front of them.
"This wasn't a normal cyberattack!It was on an absurd scale!And you're telling me the National Intelligence Service couldn't detect any signs beforehand?!"
"We–we're sorry, Director."
"There were no warning signs in our information assets right up until the moment of the attack."
"Damn it!It wasn't just ordinary servers.The Ministry of Defense, the Financial Supervisory Service—everything that was under special protection was breached.Even private financial institutions were completely paralyzed.And of all times, this happens right after His Excellency's inauguration!"
The director of the National Intelligence Service's Eighth Bureau (Psychological and Information Warfare) looked visibly exhausted, his face pale from stress.
"If we couldn't stop it, we should have at least handled the aftermath properly.I heard His Excellency shouted during the briefing this morning.You all understand what that means, don't you?"
The atmosphere in the office grew heavier.
A tense silence filled the room.
"If they hadn't stopped at just ten minutes—if they'd decided to do something worse—what then?"
The director lowered his head, exhaled deeply, and spoke in a drained voice.
"…Listen."
The agents straightened into perfect attention.
"Yes, sir!"
"We must catch whoever did this. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Recheck everything.See if they left anything behind during those ten minutes.Track them down—no matter what it takes.You will catch them."
"Yes, sir!!"
Determination burned in the eyes of the agents as they answered in unison.
Late at night.
My eyes were bloodshot as I stared at the screen of the mysterious computer that had arrived in a package earlier that day.
This was the Akashic Records—the place I had accessed by following the guidance of an entity claiming to be a quantum computer with power far beyond human technology.
And within that Akashic Records, I had found something impossible to ignore.
[Alchemy (Gold Transmutation)]
A technique for creating a catalyst capable of transforming ordinary metal into gold.
If this was real—
Then I could escape almost every hardship currently crushing me.
Turning crude metal into gold?
If that was truly possible, I wouldn't need a job.
I could simply make gold and sell it.
With enough money, I might even be able to give my father access to better treatment.
The doctor had told us to prepare for the worst… but miracles did happen sometimes.
Of course, I didn't yet know the materials or the exact process.
But no matter what it took, I would make it work.
This was alchemy.
A technology humanity had dreamed of for thousands of years.
According to the Akashic Records, decrypting [Alchemy (Gold Transmutation)] would take eight hours.
I rubbed my tired eyes and waited through the night.
Only a few seconds remained before humanity's most coveted knowledge would be unlocked.
[Time remaining: 3 seconds][…2 seconds][…1 second]
A short 8-bit sound played.
Like the jingle from an old game when you cleared a stage.
[Decryption complete!][Would you like to view the knowledge now?]
▶ Yes No
I didn't hesitate.
I pressed Enter.
A new window appeared.
[Alchemy (Gold Transmutation)] – Tier 1
A technique for creating a catalyst that converts other metallic elements into gold (Au, atomic number 79).Gold is one of the purest and most conductive materials, making it highly versatile.
Materials
Fresh blood
Platinum
Sulfuric acid
Red phosphorus
Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone
That was… unexpected.
Fresh blood?
It sounded more like black magic than chemistry.
And what was this Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone?
I continued reading.
Procedure
Add a Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone to 100 ml of fresh blood, then mix in 10 g of finely ground platinum and 5 g of red phosphorus.
Add 10 g of sulfuric acid and stir slowly.(Diluted sulfuric acid is acceptable, but concentration must exceed 10%.)
When a faint red smoke rises, the catalyst is complete.
Usage
Fully submerge the metal you wish to convert into gold in the clear red catalyst solution.
After 12 hours, the metal will transform into gold.The catalyst will revert into pure water once its role is complete.
The procedure itself wasn't particularly complicated.
The problem was obtaining the materials.
Fresh blood—where was I supposed to get that?
A blood bank?Or… my own?
Sulfuric acid was also tightly regulated.
In South Korea, private purchase was legally restricted due to its danger and potential misuse.
I'd need to think carefully about how to acquire it.
And lastly—
The Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone.
I'd never heard of it before.
But the name Luktic sounded familiar.
That was the company listed as the sender of the mysterious package.
I picked up the discarded delivery box and checked the label again.
Sender: Luktic Trading Company
Just who—or what—were they?
I'd need to look into this company.
But first, gold came first.
I needed to find out exactly what this Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone was.
At that moment—
One of the panels filled with question marks began to glow.
The symbols faded, replaced by readable text.
So this was what it meant when the system said more knowledge would become accessible.
And it was exactly what I was looking for.
[Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone] – Tier 1
A foundational material used in Tier 1 crafting techniques.It plays a role in rearranging and altering atomic structures.It embodies the essence of Second Singularity-era material control technology, developed through highly advanced quantum mechanics.
It sounded like something straight out of a science fiction novel.
If this was real, then this technology was far beyond human civilization.
Just what was this computer?
What was the Akashic Records?
Of course, all of that could wait.
First, I needed proof.
Even if the computer possessed unimaginable power, there was still no guarantee that the knowledge recorded here was real.
[Would you like to begin decryption of this knowledge?]▶ Yes No
Click.
I initiated the decryption of the Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone.
[Time remaining: 7 hours 59 minutes 57 seconds]
Once again, it would take eight hours.
Exhaustion washed over me.
After everything that had happened today, it was only natural.
I decided to get some sleep.
When I woke up, my body felt strangely refreshed.
I checked the screen.
[Decryption complete!][Would you like to view the knowledge now?]
▶ Yes No
Tap.
[Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone] – Tier 1
A foundational material used in Tier 1 crafting techniques.
Materials
Your own hair
Your own blood
Obsidian powder
Liquid mercury
Black phosphorus
Lead
Procedure
Mix three strands of your hair with a small amount of obsidian powder and place it on a lead block with a diameter of 2–3 cm.
Pour approximately 5 g of liquid mercury onto it, then add 3 g of black phosphorus and mix slowly.
Once the black phosphorus nearly dissolves into the mercury, add a few drops of your blood and continue stirring.
When black smoke rises and the mixture turns white, stop stirring and let it rest for about 30 minutes.The lead will absorb the mixture and transform into a semi-transparent white crystal—this is the Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone.
Hair and blood.
Materials that made little sense from the perspective of modern science.
Yet, aside from that, the ingredients themselves weren't particularly exotic.
Still, doubt crept in.
Then again—
If someone was bald… could they not use this at all?
For a moment, I felt a strange sympathy for the bald.
And relief that I still had enough hair—for now.
Either way, I decided to try.
I had personally witnessed the government and financial systems of an entire country being hacked in minutes.
Even if I couldn't fully trust this yet, it was worth attempting once.
The materials weren't that hard to obtain.
A few days later, everything arrived.
Obsidian fragments and mercury thermometers ordered online.A 2–3 cm lead block.Black phosphorus acquired through overseas shipping.
And finally—
Three strands of my own hair.A lancet for drawing blood.
I put on gloves and a mask and went into the bathroom.
Mercury wasn't sold directly, so I had to extract it by breaking thermometers.
A dangerous substance—but manageable with care.
Crash.
The thermometer shattered.
Silvery liquid flowed out.
Neither fully liquid nor solid.
Strange.
Following the procedure step by step, I began the synthesis.
Hair. Obsidian powder. Lead.
Mercury. Black phosphorus. Stir.
Finally—
Blood.
A sharp prick.
A few drops fell.
I stirred.
Black smoke slowly rose.
The mixture began turning white.
I stopped and started a 30-minute timer.
Time passed.
The lead absorbed the mixture.
When it was over, what remained was—
A pure, semi-transparent white crystal.
I held it up to the light.
Sunlight passed through it cleanly.
It didn't look real.
"…What the hell…?"
I searched online frantically.
Nothing.
No record of anything like this.
This wasn't something modern science could explain.
The recipe worked.
Which meant—
The alchemy recipe might work too.
I turned back to the Akashic Records.
And began preparing for the creation of gold.