The Second Salvation Myth of a Retired Regressed Hero

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The elixir prize from the tournament was created by Enoch’s lead alchemist specifically for him.

Unlike the other guild members, Enoch was of utterly ordinary human birth, his physical limitations clear.

His strength and endurance could be supplemented by his innate mana control ability and the mana accumulated through regression.

But his stamina, particularly his regenerative abilities, had no workaround – that was purely an innate limitation.

For Enoch, the alchemist who had harbored feelings for him poured her heart into creating the Vitality Pill.

Elixirs, especially those refined into pill form, experienced rapidly diminishing efficiency with repeated consumption.

But as one of the top three alchemists of her era, she had hoped Enoch would consume this elixir repeatedly to transcend his bodily limits.

Thus, the Vitality Pill was designed with repeated consumption in mind – an audacious, unprecedented attempt.

‘I had quite high expectations.’

The result was a failure. Repeated consumption of the Vitality Pill was impossible.

However, her efforts bore fruit in another way. Composed of easily obtained ingredients for repeated production, the Vitality Pill’s cost-effectiveness led to its widespread proliferation.

And such a state persisted even a century later to this day.

“Sophie. Don’t consume that elixir yet.”

“Pardon?”

On their way back to the dorms together, Doyun instructed Sophie.

Doyun opened the paper that had been included with the elixir’s wooden case, listing its key ingredients, effects, and components.

Ordinarily, such core alchemical information wouldn’t be so freely disclosed. But as this widely proliferated elixir’s name and production method were already public, keeping it hidden was meaningless.

“In the world I lived in, there was an almost identical elixir. It was also widely popularized. That elixir had a special consumption method to maximize its efficiency, and perhaps this one has the same.”

“Really?”

Sophie’s eyes widened as she marveled inwardly.

Indeed, Doyun’s original dimension must have been remarkable. Like the ‘martial realm’ her students had mentioned, Earth also seemed to be a place where various means of strengthening oneself were studied.

“I’ll experiment with it first, and if it works, I’ll let you know, Student Sophie.”

“Woah…”

Sophie gently clasped her hands below her swelling chest, delighted.

“Thank you…”

More than the prospect of enhancing the elixir’s effects, she was overjoyed to share this secret with Doyun alone and receive his favor.

Doyun nodded.

The Vitality Pill had a formalized ritual to perform during consumption. But judging by the Headmaster’s and the paper’s lack of mentioning any ritual, it seemed the ritual was not widely known alongside the elixir itself.

It was quite a remarkable feat. Without the ritual, the Vitality Pill’s efficiency dropped to under 20%. Yet its cost-effectiveness had earned it widespread use even a century later.

Just like all of Doyun’s comrades, she too had been an unparalleled genius of her era.

“I’ll look into it and let you know later.”
“Yes. Go and rest.”

The two parted ways at the male and female dorm entrances.

Doyun entered his room and assumed a lotus position on the floor for mana cultivation, closing his eyes to focus his mind on the mana in his dantian. From now was a time requiring mental concentration for his training.

But then, his eyes suddenly opened wide.

“…”

Halting his mana cultivation, the dumbfounded expression on Doyun’s face as he sat on the floor was quite vexed.

‘Oh no…’

Doyun greatly regretted telling Sophie he would share the consumption method with her.

At the time, buoyed by the nostalgia of encountering his comrade’s legacy after a century and the desire to aid Sophie’s growth, he had carelessly spoken without thought. But upon reflection, it had become an extremely troublesome situation.

‘I should have first considered why the ritual wasn’t widely disseminated…’

He had forgotten the consumption ritual the alchemist had created for the Vitality Pill.

The alchemist had harbored an ardent, unrequited love for Enoch. But the hero had been surrounded by attractive, adoring women, and her introverted self couldn’t muster the courage to join that fray.

As a regression turner, Enoch had already known this but chose not to make an issue of it to avoid team discord.

Every day, she had simply repeated lewd fantasies and self-gratification in bed, using the hero as her material. And her indecent desires were directly reflected in the Vitality Pill’s ritual.

After its creation, the Vitality Pill was distributed to all guild members. But with the alchemist’s assistance, the only one who fully absorbed the elixir through the ritual was Enoch alone.

She had only helped Enoch with the ritual, and Enoch hadn’t suggested she assist the other members either – once learning the ritual’s nature, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do so.

‘This… ah…’

Doyun fell into anguish.

The prospect of the Vitality Pill’s 100% effects was immensely tempting, prompting him to share it with Sophie at all costs. Moreover, vitality was Sophie’s sole stat weakness, was it not?

But the ritual was too outrageous to actually go through with.

This ritual mandated the presence of an assistant – in Enoch’s case, the alchemist herself. If performed with Sophie, Doyun would become her assistant.

And… the assistant and consumer had to… embrace each other’s fully unclothed bodies tightly.

‘How could I with Student Sophie…’

The reason only the alchemist and Enoch knew the Vitality Pill’s consumption ritual, why it didn’t spread further, why the other guild members never received the ritual unlike Enoch.

And the primary reason the Vitality Pill had been designed for repeated consumption in the first place.

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For the past two days, Doyun had barely performed the mana cultivation he usually engaged in as naturally as breathing – his mind was too preoccupied.

Sophie, accompanying Doyun, wondered at his troubled expression. It seemed he was grappling with some major dilemma.

Even now during class, rather than looking at the instructor or the board, he gazed absentmindedly into the distance.

‘Is the consumption method not working out…?’

While slightly disappointed, she felt worse about Doyun agonizing over her sake.

Sophie lowered her voice to a whisper as she addressed Doyun.

“Um… Student Doyun.”

“Yes?”

Still lost in contemplation, Doyun was startled by the husky whisper tickling his ears.

Inwardly, Sophie nodded at his reaction – he clearly hadn’t been paying attention to the lesson.

“Is something troubling you…?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Doyun reflexively averted his gaze from wandering down to her pelvis.

Sophie’s dewy pink eyes gazed directly at him. Doyun avoided her eyes, consumed by guilt – these past two days, he had unconsciously imagined her nude form countless times.

“…Is it about the elixir method you mentioned before, not working out?”

“Ah, that…”

Doyun was about to admit it was indeed the case but stopped himself.

He already knew he couldn’t share the unsavory ritual method with her. But the missed opportunity to aid her growth kept nagging at him.

If only Sophie’s weakness hadn’t been in vitality specifically, he wouldn’t have agonized so much over this.

Sophie read the hesitation in Doyun’s eyes. Lowering her gaze demurely, she unconsciously fidgeted her hips as she spoke.

“…If it’s because you told me about it, please don’t worry too much…”

“…”

“I don’t want to see… you suffering because of me…”

…Such a gentle, kind-hearted girl. Which only made him feel worse.

While pondering if there was any way around this, Doyun’s gaze kept wandering beneath her clothes.

His eyes drifted down to Sophie’s fidgeting pelvis. Her buttocks and thighs pressed against the chair, straining her pants tighter than usual around her legs, accentuating the plump flesh protruding from the sides.

In contrast to her refined temperament, Sophie had unconsciously clasped her hands over her crotch area. Coupled with her seated posture outlining her crevice, it created the illusion of covering a cherished place.

…No, in reality, that hand was concealing her cleft.

‘Phew…’

Doyun felt his loins gradually stiffening, filled with self-loathing at his own state.

If it were a woman making sexual advances out of attraction, that would be one thing. But feeling such lust towards an innocent, far younger girl was quite vexing.

Doyun forcibly tore his gaze from Sophie’s fidgeting pelvis, taking shallow breaths to calm himself.

‘…Right. What am I thinking?’

It was merely the elixir’s consumption ritual, nothing more. If he simply didn’t view it lewdly, there was nothing indecent about the act itself.

The alchemist who had pined for Enoch was a top three genius of her era, and this elixir was the culmination of her devoted efforts.

Such providence was an invaluable opportunity for Sophie. It would be too great a loss to forgo over mere juvenile indecency.

Sophie might feel some embarrassment, but she would undoubtedly take it in stride – a wise, refined, and innocent girl.

‘Right. I’ll tell her.’

Doyun swallowed hard and steeled himself, looking at Sophie.

“…Sophie.”

“Yes?”

Sophie responded with wide, sparkling pink eyes.