Gold and Silver Alchemist

After checking in at the hotel, I walked out of the Wosa Square (五四廣場) Yilan Seaside Park.

This is a place to commemorate the ‘5.4 Movement’, China’s anti-imperialist movement against Japan in 1919.

Influenced by the March 1 Movement in Korea, two months later, on May 4, Chinese students led the movement to restore sovereignty.

To commemorate that time, the square was created here and now it has become a landmark symbolizing the development of Qingdao.

“This is where the most buildings are concentrated in Qingdao.”

I listened to Park’s words and looked around.

The prestige of the high-rise buildings along the beach was great.

“It’s better than I thought.”

At my admiration, President Park smiled and replied.

“Shanghai is so much better than here.”

“okay?”

“But if you think that China has developed just by looking at these wonderful places, you are mistaken. China is so vast and there are so many people, so you can’t just look at one part and make a judgment.”

It really seemed like that.

After leaving the square and entering the narrow alley, the atmosphere completely changed.

It felt like I was instantly transported to a completely different world.

The buildings are old and the roads are dirty.

Kak- Tweak!

A man who used to walk around naked in broad daylight spit on the road after urinating on the street.

President Park looked at him sideways and said.

“Look at that. China still has a long way to go before it gets any better. I wonder if that kind of day will ever come… tsk tsk.”

I nodded and asked.

“So, where are you going to eat dinner?”

“Since I came to Qingdao, of course it is ‘Qingdao for lamb skewers’!”

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Beer is one of the things that cannot be left out of Qingdao.

A beer museum and production plant are located in the city, so you can enjoy fresh draft beer at any restaurant.

With the guidance of President Park, we settled at a restaurant that sells lamb skewers and seafood.

And while waiting for the food we ordered, we drank a glass of cold beer.

It was a raw beer that can only be tasted near the brewery.

Beer gets water in the filtration process, but it was the director’s beer that did not go through that process.

When I drank it, the heavy density and rich barley scent were excellent.

“oh! The beer is really worth it!”

“It’s made with German technology.”

Tsingtao Beer started production by importing beer production facilities and raw materials from Germany.

And in 1906, three years after the start of production, it won a gold prize at the German International Fair and gained international fame.

I also bought and drank Tsingtao Beer a few times out of curiosity at a convenience store.

“But the taste is completely different from what I drank in Korea.”

“The director’s beer cannot be preserved for a long time because the yeast is alive. So I can’t export. Eat plenty while you’re here.”

Beep beep-

While I was drinking a delicious beer, snacks started coming out.

Lamb skewers, beef skewers, pork skewers, and chicken skewers came out one after another.

I tasted one of each type.

But it was below expectations.

“What is this strange taste? They all taste the same.”

Because of the spice called ‘Zuran’, which is heavily embedded in the skewers, the original taste of the meat was not at all.

Lamb, beef, and chicken all tasted the same because of the spices.

However, President Park eats it with a delicious expression.

“It’s not good at first, but if you keep eating it, you’ll like it.”

In fact, Ziran is not a spice used only in China.

Even in ancient Rome, it was sprinkled on meat, but after the Middle Ages, it was pushed back by pepper and was not widely used in Europe.

However, it is widely used in West Asia, India, and Mexico.

Anyway, I found the spice I want to avoid next to champagne.

“The thing on the plate over there is not sprinkled with zucchini.”

President Park had also ordered skewers without spices.

It was prepared in advance for me.

I didn’t feel any objection when I tried it, but I don’t know how delicious it is.

After the skewers, seafood dishes came to the table.

I put a piece of oyster dish into my mouth.

“This is worth eating.”

It was grilled with minced garlic and glass noodles on the stoneware with only one side of the shell removed, and it was edible.

My tongue, which had suffered from Ziran, seemed happy to meet the familiar garlic.

However, I was not satisfied with the seafood dishes as they said they were edible compared to the skewers.

For Koreans, seafood is sashimi, wild octopus, and other raw and spicy Maeuntang.

‘Let’s drink beer to our heart’s content.’

Yum Yum-

Jjam jjam-

Seeing President Park eat it like he’s possessed, it must be really delicious.

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After eating, we headed to the hotel.

It is said that China has a developed eating out culture, and there are so many small and large restaurants in every alley.

There were also many stalls selling skewers and seafood that we ate earlier.

It’s the exact same menu, but the price is about 1/3 level.

“Why is it so cheap here? Didn’t we get ripped off earlier?”

President Park answered my question with a smile.

“In China, you have to know how to choose something moderately expensive. If something is too cheap, it’s likely fake.”

“FALSE? Are there fake lamb skewers?”

“Sure, isn’t China the first place where the word lamb head meat (羊頭狗肉: selling dog meat with a sheep’s head staked) first appeared?”

It is not surprising in China that the meat of fox, mink, etc., which remains after skinning is sold as mutton, is faked.

“Not only the meat is fake, but the cooking oil is also fake. Have you ever heard of ‘sewer cooking oil’?”

“Gutter cooking oil? What is it?”

“I collect the oil floating in the sewer and use it to make food.”

“Oh no way, that’s ridiculous!”

“It is real.”

President Park took out his cell phone and showed the news.

Indeed, there was a case in which a gang of people who scooped oil from the sewer and made it into cooking oil was arrested.

Fake food is so prevalent that the Chinese government even enacted a law that could punish such crimes with the death penalty.

what the-

I asked President Park with a worried face.

“Were the foods we just ate safe?”

“sure! Even swindlers who eat raw meat can never cheat my tongue!”

hmm-

Somehow I couldn’t believe it.

I decided to eat only at McDonald’s and KF* until I returned to Korea.

***

I was standing in the backyard of a factory.

I was having a lucid dream.

The trees were giving off a bright light.

You are ready to hand over your knowledge to me.

I picked a leaf and put my finger on it.

pat-

Light emanated from the leaves, and a piece of knowledge entered my head.

It was ＜armor strengthening＞ magic.

It is a magic that increases the defense power of armor and can be applied to normal clothes.

If you use a lot of elixir, you can make jeans and t-shirts that deflect bullets.

‘oh! good!’

I picked another leaf and put my finger on it.

pat-

Light emanated from the leaves, and ‘Martial Arts Theory’ entered my head.

It was ＜Aaron Swordsmanship＞.

It was a swordsmanship developed by Aaron, who was Alan’s friend and the greatest warrior on the continent.

The theory of swordsmanship is so profound that it couldn’t fit all in one leaf, so it was divided into 3 pieces and contained in the leaf.

I had already found 2 pieces yesterday and the day before yesterday, but today I found the last one.

pat-

As the pieces of knowledge merged, a theory of swordsmanship was imprinted in my brain.

Martial arts theory, like any other knowledge, could be realized in an instant.

But just because I woke up, it didn’t mean I could use it right away.

After all, it is the body that performs martial arts, so repetitive training was essential.

The amount of knowledge that could be obtained per day was 3.

I was still able to pass on one more piece of knowledge.

I put my finger on the other leaf.

pat-

Light emanated from the leaves and knowledge of magic entered his head.

It was ＜weapon strengthening＞ magic.

Modern firearms as well as cold weapons such as swords and bows could be enhanced.

Furthermore, he was able to strengthen magic weapons such as the sword of light and the bow of light.

Reinforcing magic requires consuming ‘special materials’ and enormous elixirs, but it can increase combat power in a short time.

‘good!’

From ＜Aaron Swordsmanship＞ to ＜Weapon Enhancement＞ and ＜Armor Enhancement＞.

Today’s draw was a great success.

‘Let’s go straight into training.’

I will take the golem and learn swordsmanship together.

I went into the factory.

I saw the manager and Kim Seo-yeon.

“Kim Seo-yeon!”

“Yes, boss.”

At my call, she came running in sportswear.

“Follow me.”

Managers cannot learn swordsmanship.

She was using most of her powers to manage the elixir, so she didn’t have time to learn a profound martial art like ＜Aaron Swordsmanship＞.

I came into the free room with Kim Seo-yeon alone.

“From now on, I will teach you swordsmanship.”

“Yes, boss! I will do my best to learn hard!”

Not only did she have a pretty face, but she also spoke beautifully.

“Yes, yes.”

It would be nice if I could give her the theory of swordsmanship in an instant, just like a tree would pass it on to me, but that was impossible.

I had to teach them step by step.

“Before you pick up a sword, you must first learn the basic posture… First, spread your legs shoulder-width apart…”

Teaching others is not an easy task.

I keenly felt the difference between knowing and teaching.

But fortunately, Seoyeon Kim understood perfectly well even when I tried to explain it to her.

If I had taught normal humans, it would have been incredibly frustrating.

“Yeah, that’s the way it is.”

After watching my demonstration and listening to the explanation, she opened the perfect posture.

He had perfectly mastered one of the 36 basic postures of ＜Aaron Swordsmanship＞.

“By the way, boss.”

“why?”

“The attitude of the boss is a little wrong.”

“okay?”

Knowing the theory completely did not immediately lead to the right posture.

After listening to my explanation, Kim Seo-yeon, who acquired a perfect posture, began correcting my posture in reverse.

When I taught Seoyeon Kim one posture like that, she quickly learned it and corrected my posture.

That’s how we learned the basic posture of swordsmanship together.

Even if I practiced for a month in the ＜Room of Leisure＞, only 8 hours had passed outside.

Me and her were able to focus on swordsmanship training for a very long time.

“I think this is enough for the basic posture, let’s practice with a sword from now on.”

“Yes, boss!”

I took out two wooden swords from my inventory and handed one to her.

The wooden sword was prepared in Korea in advance.

I bought a wooden sword in advance on the day I got the first piece of knowledge of ＜Aaron Swordsmanship＞.

With this wooden sword, you will learn swordsmanship and sparring.

In fact, an ordinary wooden sword cannot handle the power of Kim Seo-yeon and me.

The moment the two swords meet, they will break.

In particular, in ＜Aaron Swordsmanship＞, the higher you go, the more skills you draw to transfer the power to the sword by drawing a magic diagram with footwork.

Ordinary wooden swords could never withstand the tremendous magical load.

A very special sword was needed to perform the swordsmanship properly.

However, here, even with a cheap wooden sword bought at a leisure goods store, he was able to perform ＜Aaron Swordsmanship＞ without hesitation.

＜Room of leisure＞ is a dream space.

The wooden sword will never break unless I, the owner of the dream, want it.

“Then swing it with all your might!”

bout!

Kim Seo-yeon’s spirit rang out.

***

A few days passed in China like that.

boo woo woo-

A passenger ship carrying Cheon Young-jin’s men entered Qingdao Port with the sound of a boat horn.