They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World-Chapter 186: First Deal!

Tessa had gone pale beside me.

The receptionist was already moving, calling for the guild’s on-staff healer.

But I knew what I’d find.

Standard healing wouldn’t work on dungeon corruption.

It required specific treatment.

I stood up, Tessa’s hand still gripping my arm.

"Jin?" Her voice was quiet.

"What do we do?"

I looked at Tessa.

"Do you have the potion?"

She nodded quickly, her hand already moving to her storage ring. "I have two left."

"Give me one."

The vial appeared in her palm. She pressed it into my hand without hesitation.

I moved toward the panicked adventurers, Tessa following close behind. Jack, Kira, Jorin, and Lyssa trailed after us, curiosity and concern written on their faces.

The guild’s healer, an older woman in white robes was already kneeling beside the injured adventurer, her hands glowing with soft green light as she channeled healing magic into him.

But nothing happened.

The dark veins continued spreading, the corruption pulsing with that sickly glow, completely unaffected by standard healing.

She pulled back, frustration clear on her face.

"I can’t... it’s not responding. This isn’t a normal wound or poison. It’s something else—"

I activated my debug vision, scanning the injured man.

It was same signature as Scarlet’s infection. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

But it’s getting worse faster because it’s a bite instead of just a scratch.

Without thinking much, I stepped forward.

"I can cure him."

Every head in the immediate vicinity snapped toward me.

Jack’s mouth fell open. Kira’s eyes went wide. The other newbies just stared.

The leader of the injured party, a scarred man in his thirties with a sword at his hip looked at me with immediate suspicion and anger.

"Stop playing games, kid. You’re not a healer. Don’t mess with us when my friend is dying—"

Kira moved closer to Tessa, speaking urgently in a low voice.

"Please, ask him not to interfere. They already look angry. If he makes things worse..."

"Is your friend getting better right now?" I interrupted, keeping my voice calm and direct. I gestured to where the official healer had stepped back, clearly out of options.

"Is he being healed? Is the corruption stopping?"

The scarred leader’s jaw clenched.

"No, but—"

"Then what exactly do you have to lose by letting me try?" I held up the vial so he could see it clearly.

"I’ve used it successfully before."

The leader looked at his friend, whose breathing was becoming more labored, whose skin was taking on an unhealthy pallor as the corruption spread.

Then back at me.

His hand moved to his sword hilt.

"If you’re lying," he said, his voice dropping to something dangerous, "If you make this worse, if my friend dies because you wanted to play hero... I will gut you right here in this guild hall."

I just nodded and moved to the injured man, kneeling beside him, ignoring the threatening presence of his companions hovering nearby and uncorked the vial.

Then paused, activating my debug vision one more time, focusing on the compound itself.

The standard formula will work, but not optimally. Dungeon corruption is slightly different from miasma corruption.

I made quick edits to the compound’s molecular structure.

The liquid’s color shifted subtly, still blue, but deeper, more vibrant.

Then I lifted the injured man’s head and poured the modified compound into his mouth.

He swallowed reflexively, coughing once, his body convulsing.

I kept my debug vision active, watching the corruption’s response.

The dark veins that had been spreading across his skin stopped.

Then began to recede, disappearing completely, but pulling back from his extremities, concentrating around the original bite wound.

The sickly glow faded.

His breathing steadied.

After maybe thirty seconds, his eyes fluttered open.

"What... what happened?" His voice was weak but coherent.

His friends exhaled collectively, relief so powerful it was almost physical.

"Teryn!" One of them dropped to his knees beside him. "You’re okay! Gods, we thought—"

Jack was staring with his mouth open. Kira had her hand over her heart. The other newbies looked equally shocked.

Healer was also examining Teryn with professional interest, her expression shifting from skeptical to genuinely impressed.

The scarred leader looked at me, his earlier hostility replaced with cautious gratitude.

"You... you actually did it."

"I told you I could." I stood up, brushing off my knees.

"But this isn’t a permanent fix. The corruption is suppressed, not eliminated. He’ll need additional doses to fully clear it from his system."

They blinked at me.

One of the other party members—a younger guy who’d been silent until now—spoke up eagerly.

"Then what are you waiting for? Give us those doses!"

I tilted my head, looking at him with deliberate incredulity.

"Do I look like a fool to you?"

He faltered. "What?"

"Why would you assume I’m giving you expensive alchemical compounds for free?"

I kept my tone matter-of-fact, not hostile but absolutely firm.

"That vial I just used? That was emergency treatment because your friend was actively dying and I’m not heartless enough to let that happen in front of me."

I gestured to Teryn, who was sitting up now with help from his friends, looking weak but alive.

"But future doses? Those aren’t charity. They’re specialized medicine that requires rare ingredients, precise crafting, and significant expertise to produce."

I crossed my arms.

"Each additional dose will cost twenty silver. You’ll need at least three more. That’s sixty silver total for complete treatment."

Silence fell over the group.

Twenty silver per dose wasn’t that expensive nor that cheap.

But it was also less than they’d pay for equivalent treatment from a high-rank healer in a major city, assuming they could even find someone who knew how to treat dungeon corruption.

The scarred leader’s expression went through several emotions.

"Sixty silver," he repeated slowly.

"For your friend’s life," I said.

He looked at Teryn, who was still pale and weak but undeniably alive when he’d been dying five minutes ago.

And made his decision.

"Deal. Twenty silver per dose. Three more doses." He extended his hand.

I shook his hand. "Come back in two days for the next dose. Don’t let the corruption sit too long between treatments."

"We’ll be here."

They helped Teryn to his feet, supporting him as they headed toward the exit.

The guild hall slowly returned to normal activity, the excitement of the emergency fading.

But I could feel eyes on me now. Whispers.

Jack and his newbie party approached cautiously, their expressions a mix of awe and uncertainty.