Game's Extra: Starting With SSS-Ranked 1000-Death Talent-Chapter 60: Dirty Mana

Noa felt nothing.

He saw nothing and thought nothing.

It lasted for a while as if he were in a deep sleep with no dreams.

Abruptly, his eyes opened without his consent, letting the light shine on the scene before him.

"Teleportation!" he exclaimed, glancing at his mates. "This is so cool."

Noa was okay with displaying his lost composure.

He already wanted to befriend order members, but the awkward start made it difficult.

Finding a fine line between not bending his knees and being likable was something he didn’t really know how to do.

"You need to get used to it," Vivi said. "But I am surprised you didn’t throw up."

She patted Punchy, who was emptying his stomach.

The strong, bald man never adjusted to the weird sensation and hated this magical transport.

"Guess I have a tolerance," Noa said with a wicked smile.

Punchy shook his head at Noa’s mocking comment, his fist shaking for blood.

’I fucked up big time,’ Noa realized his mistake, and knowing that his next practice would be painful, he looked at Viktor.

The man was silent.

Still, his concentration was on a screwdriver in his hand.

No one questioned why he brought it with him.

"He needs it for his invention?" Noa made a guess.

As for Tifa, her clothing was fully transformed.

Instead of wearing a green casual dress that matched her nails, her body was covered by a thin black leather armor.

She crafted it herself, giving her a terrifying persona.

Then a red mask appeared on every face Noa saw, altering appearances.

"Pray that your gamble pays off," Tifa said to him.

They were standing in a quiet, almost abandoned street.

There was a single shabby building in front of them with two words carved on it.

Tanaki’s Pharmacy.

Noa entered first, opened the wooden door, and invited others as if he were the owner.

’Just like I remembered,’ he reminisced.

This pharmacy had been one of the most visited places in the game.

Arthur frequently bought potions and medicine for his party, and he was the first one to discover Tanaki’s talent.

Not anymore.

Noa beat him to it, setting the plan in motion several months in advance.

The interior of the building was tidy, with a single counter in the middle.

Only the walls were too occupied with flasks of different grades lying on top of them.

"How can I help you?" a young, tall, and white-haired man asked.

His voice and attitude were polite.

Yet he seemed surprised by the sudden customers, as it was his first day opening the pharmacy.

The only advertisement he had was a crude online page and nothing else.

"We have questions for you. I hope and believe you can help us."

Noa took the lead, pointed at Tifa to stand next to him.

"Do ask, my friend. I will help you with the best of my abilities," Tanaki answered, his eyes blinking with anticipation.

Again, Noa glanced at Tifa.

The woman coughed, her voice rough.

"I have a patient. Her lungs don’t work. Her immune system is crumbling, and she is constantly bleeding from her nails. No doctor found a reason or a cure for her condition."

Tifa didn’t show as she was great at handling her emotions.

But Noa could tell how much she struggled to say these words.

Tanaki blinked again and posed a question.

"Did her eye color also change to blue?"

"How do you—?" Tifa asked.

It was her time to be surprised.

She glanced at Noa and then at the man, searching for the answers.

"That’s the common characteristic for the plague I am studying," Tanaki explained.

"Plague?" Tifa repeated.

"I believe I am the only person currently working on this project, so the name is something I came up with. Whispering Death is a condition only three people have had to this day. The girl you are talking about is the fourth one."

A silence descended.

Seeing how Tifa was gritting her teeth, Noa tried to add to the conversation.

"And the cure?"

Tanaki lowered his head apologetically.

"There is none. This is a phenomenon that appeared only three years ago, and considering how rare it is, there are no known cases for a medicine."

"You said that you are studying the plague. What’s your take on it?" Noa asked after getting a silent acknowledgment from the leader.

Tanaki didn’t blink this time.

But his voice became sharper and deeper.

"I think it’s connected to the Abysses. Specifically, to the dirty mana in the atmosphere."

"Dirty?" Tifa intervened.

As an Eclipsed who embodied the pinnacle of humanity, this revelation shocked her.

"Yes," Tanaki nodded. "The mana inside the Abyss is cleaner than it is on Velrox. And the higher the grade of the Abyss, the purer the mana becomes. This is a result of my last research, and I can share the papers if you want."

"What a load of bullshit!" Tifa said softly.

The very idea of mana being impure was outside of her understanding of the world.

Especially for someone who worked and shaped mana for her craft.

It was unthinkable for someone of her caliber to have failed to notice it this entire time.

Yet the young man, who was barely a Returne with pitiful strength compared to hers, seemed confident and composed.

Tifa peered at Noa.

He didn’t die because of the curse, nor did he seem surprised by the revelation.

She then looked at her loyal friends and sighed.

No words were needed.

Vivi materialized behind the man and struck him with enough force to knock him out.

Tanaki didn’t even realize what happened.

"You guys are so rough. Please don’t do the same thing to me," Noa pleaded.

Ignoring his playfulness, Tifa said, her eyes pinned to Tanaki’s limp body.

"He is an interesting guy. We need him, and there is a hope he can actually find something."

"Agreed," Noa said, following her into the street. "He just requires resources, and I think you are the correct choice for his needs."

Before exiting the building, Vivi sent the blacked-out man into the bunker.

She placed him in the same cell where Noa had once woken up.

Now that the first mission was completed, it was time for the second one.

Tifa asked Punchy to brief Noa about the task.

"Our objective is to..."