Gold.
For thousands of years, it had driven humanity into greed and obsession.
And now, the method to turn crude metals—iron, lead, copper—into that very gold rested in my hands.
All the materials were ready.
All that remained was to create the alchemical catalyst and confirm whether transmuting metal into gold was truly possible.
I stood in front of the so-called quantum computer that had arrived in a package not long ago.
"You've been awfully quiet lately.This recipe better be real. I risked my life concentrating hydrogen peroxide, synthesized sulfuric acid, and even drew my own blood."
A message appeared on the screen.
[System Message: I cannot personally judge truth or falsehood.However, I can guarantee that the Akashic Records contain no false information.]
[System Message: The Akashic Records are an archive of the greatest knowledge in this galaxy.At present, you are the only one granted access.]
Right.
That's how it was.
I'd already gone this far. I had nothing to lose.
I accessed the Akashic Records again and carefully read through the procedure, preparing to perform alchemy.
[Alchemy (Gold Transmutation)]
A technique for creating a catalyst that converts metallic elements into gold (Au, atomic number 79).Gold is one of the purest and most conductive materials, making it highly versatile.
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 may be used, but concentration must be at least 10%.)
When red smoke rises and then subsides, the catalyst is complete.
Compared to the chemical work I'd done over the past few days, the process itself was surprisingly simple.
I followed the steps exactly.
First, I poured 100 ml of freshly drawn blood into a beaker and dropped in the Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone, which still glowed with a clear, white light.
Plop.
The crystal sank into the crimson liquid.
Next, I added 10 g of powdered platinum and 5 g of red phosphorus.
Now for the final step.
Sulfuric acid.
Fully suited in protective gear, I picked up the beaker containing the acid.
The sulfuric acid I had made was at a 10% concentration—the rest was water.
Given sulfuric acid's density, to add 10 g of pure acid I needed approximately 100 g of the diluted solution.
I measured it precisely on an electronic scale and slowly poured it into the mixture.
The contents of the beaker began to bubble.
I instinctively stepped back—but nothing dangerous followed.
It bubbled gently, like water reacting with dry ice.
Red smoke rose through the surface, and the mixture's color slowly shifted from murky blood-red to a clear, translucent crimson.
After about ten minutes, the bubbling stopped.
The smoke vanished.
The liquid now looked like red wine—clear, luminous, and semi-transparent.
Its volume had nearly halved.
"…That's incredible. Something really did change."
I leaned closer.
The platinum and red phosphorus were completely gone.
At the bottom rested only the Luktic Basic Catalyst Stone, stained red.
Using tongs, I lifted it out.
The moment it left the liquid, it returned to its original pure white, translucent form.
So it was reusable.
I set it aside and lifted the beaker.
The ruby-colored liquid shimmered as light passed through it.
Now came the final test.
I reread the last part of the alchemy instructions.
Usage
Fully submerge the metal to be converted into gold in the clear red catalyst solution.
After 12 hours, the metal will transform into gold.The catalyst will revert into pure water.
In other words—
Soak metal in the solution.
Wait twelve hours.
I took out the metal chunks I had prepared in advance and carefully dropped them into the beaker.
Plop. Plop.
I made sure each piece was fully submerged.
Soon, the beaker was filled with metal resting inside the ruby-red liquid.
Now, all that remained was to wait.
If this worked—
The Next Morning
Twelve hours had passed.
With a pounding heart, I walked toward the table where the beaker sat.
Something was different.
The liquid was no longer red.
It was clear—like plain water.
And the metal inside—
It gleamed.
Not the dull gray of crude metal, but a brilliant golden luster.
"…This can't be real."
I used tongs to lift the pieces out.
They were gold-colored.
Still, color alone wasn't proof.
It could have been some chemical coating.
To be sure, I tested them using Archimedes' principle.
I measured their mass, then submerged them in water and measured the displaced volume.
My mind went blank.
The density matched pure gold perfectly.
There was no doubt.
The metal had truly become gold.
How much was this worth?
Gold is dense.
The pieces looked small, but their combined weight was about 2.5 kilograms.
At current market prices—
Roughly 300 to 400 million won.
Three to four hundred million.
Enough to buy a decent apartment in the provinces—paid in full.
And I still had enough materials to do this one more time.
Which meant—
Close to 800 million won.
Cash.
If this were a dream, I would wake up any moment now.
A cold fear crept in.
I pinched my cheek hard.
"Ow!"
Sharp pain.
Tears welled up.
"…This is real."
Then everything changed.
Loans. Loan sharks. Bank debt—all of it could be paid off easily.
The suffocating pressure of job hunting vanished.
And most importantly—
My father.
I could finally afford treatments we'd never even considered because of cost.
Then another thought struck me.
What if the Akashic Records contained knowledge to treat illnesses caused by chemical exposure?
I ran to the living room.
The retro all-in-one computer sat there, unchanged.
At first, I had doubted it.
I had been suspicious.
But now it was clear.
This wasn't a curse.
It was a blessing.
A golden gourd rolling in with the vines attached.
Why had something like this come to me?
I remembered—the system had said I was chosen.
Was this divine intervention?
A reward for my father's lifetime of suffering?
If a god truly existed and had given this to me—
I could become the most devoted believer in an instant.
I stood before the quantum computer and asked:
"…Does the Akashic Records contain knowledge to heal people whose bodies are beyond the limits of modern medicine?"
[System Message: Countless forms of knowledge exist within the Akashic Records.The knowledge you seek does exist.]
I frowned.
"But you said the Akashic Records are an archive of galactic knowledge, right?"
[System Message: That is correct.]
"Then how can there be knowledge capable of healing the human body when even modern medicine can't?"
There was a brief pause.
[System Message: For now, all I can say is that such knowledge exists.The rest will be revealed in time.]
"…I see. That's enough."
For the first time, I thanked the unknown entity.
Then I accessed the Akashic Records again.
Countless square panels filled the screen, stacked endlessly like the windows of a skyscraper.
How much knowledge was stored here?
The ability to create gold sat at the very bottom.
Then what about Tier 2? Tier 3?
And Tier 7—the highest level?
Just how far beyond imagination did this go?
They called it an archive of galactic knowledge.
For a human living on a small, distant planet—
It was overwhelming just to imagine.
As that vastness washed over me—
Two more panels began to glow.
The question marks inside them slowly transformed into readable text.
New knowledge was unlocking.