Spoiler Alert!
*sigh*
Overtime’s a killer.
It’s already past 10 pm and you barely have time to go home and sleep.
Whoa…dizzy…
You stop, close your eyes and shake your head a bit until the dizziness subsides.
You open your eyes and…
WHA?!
It’s all…white? What hap…
“Are you Kaoru Nagase?”
Huh? Who said that?
Who’s this?
“Please allow me to explain. I am the Administrator of your world. A god if you will. I was repairing a spatial distortion on your world, but you were nearby when it happened. Your body…exploded. My deepest apologies!”
The young man gives a deep bow.
Wait…EXPLODED?!?
After rising again, the Administrator says, “Fortunately, I was able to retrieve your soul and your consciousness. I can grant you a new life as compensation.”
“Will I be able to return to Earth?”, you ask anxiously.
“I’m afraid not. If I sent you back, it would cause an even bigger distortion. But fear not – I can send you to another world similar to Earth. Its culture is similar to that of Medieval Europe in Earth’s past.”
A thought comes to your mind.
“If that’s the case, I would like some cheat abilities when I get there.”
“Yes. After all, it wouldn’t do if I died the moment I stepped on the new world, would it?”
After a moment’s hesitation, the Administrator responds, “You’ll have to consult that world’s Administrator when you get there, but I’ll let her know in advance.”
“Alright then. I would also like to say goodbye to my family and my friends. I’m sure that my sudden…passing…was hard on them. I’d like to let them know that I’ll be fine elsewhere.”
A soft smile spreads on the Administrator’s face.
“Very well then. I hope you enjoy your new life.”
…
It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to your family in their dreams, but you feel a little better at least.
Your friends Kyoko and Reiko took your death harder than you thought. Come to think of it, that was the first time you’ve seen Reiko cry! You’ll have to make sure to find a husband and give birth to children this time around.
The scenery around you turns pure white again and you’re face-to-face with a young girl.
“Welcome! I am Celestine, the Administrator of the world of Verny!”
I Shall Survive Using Potions! (ポーション頼みで生き延びます！, Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!) is a web novel, light novel series, and manga written by FUNA, the author of Saving 80,000 Gold Coins in Another World for my Retirement.
While walking home from work one day, the 22-year old office worker Kaoru Nagase finds herself facing a young man who introduces himself as a deity, the Administrator of Earth. He explains, due to a freak accident he caused, that Kaoru is now dead and he can make amends only by sending her to another world. Kaoru eventually meets Celestine, the Administrator of the world of Verny, and asks for several potent abilities, most notably the ability to create any potion she wishes. She soon finds herself in the Brancott Kingdom on Verny.
At the first town she finds, Kaoru heals a badly wounded hunter with a healing potion she creates. A local Baron abducts her after hearing rumors about a young girl with powerful magic. After managing to escape, Kaoru travels to Aras, the Brancott Kingdom’s capital city, where she finds work as a server and consultant at a local restaurant to keep a low profile while learning what she can about her new world. She eventually attracts the attention of First Prince Fernand, who is determined to marry her. After publicly rejecting the prince’s proposal at a royal party, Kaoru flees across Brancott’s western border to the Balmore Kingdom.
At Balmore’s capital city of Grua, Kaoru gets a job as a caretaker at the Maillart Workshop. Over time, she befriends a small group of urchins, the local von Lyodart noble family, and the Abili Trade Company by using her potions to help them. News of potions’ miracles soon reach the ears of the Balmore royal family and beyond. From the west, the Holy Land of Rueda and the warmongering Aligot Empire commence their invasion of the Balmore Kingdom to both conquer the land and capture the rumored “angel”. Using chemicals and strategies to hinder the invading army’s advance, Kaoru and her allies manage to swiftly halt the invasion. At a peace conference, Celestine appears and tells the Rueda representatives that she never gave her blessing to their ancestors and they have merely used her name for selfish ends. For this, Celestine forbids Rueda from ever calling itself a Holy Land!
Determined to establish a business, Kaoru goes with a few allies go to the Drisard Kingdom, east of Brancott. In the city of Selinas, Kaoru is kidnapped but she quickly turns the tables on the culprits. She adopts one of the kidnapped girls, Layette, and continues south to the Jusral Kingdom. At the capital city of Litenia, Kaoru opens the medicine shop Layette’s Atelier where she sells medicinal potions, beauty products, and boxed lunches. Later, she manages to prevent a wide-scale epidemic using her own remedy potion and her modern-day knowledge about health.
Despite trying to live a quiet, happy life while searching for true love, Kaoru’s unique talents continue to attract the attention, desire, and envy of others.
Main Characters
Kaoru Nagase (長瀬 香, Nagase Kaoru), a 15-year old potion maker and former office worker. Cheerful, clever, cunning, and compassionate, Kaoru is skilled at manipulating situations to her advantage, whether through words or her abilities. She is also a free spirit who does not want to answer to anyone, but she never kills unless provoked. Kaoru can instantly create potions with any effect and duration she wishes, including healing magic, poisons, and various chemicals. She can also create any kind of container to hold such potions, which she often uses to create various items such as unbreakable swords and even a metal-detecting device! Kaoru can access an Item Box, a magical extradimensional space of infinite volume, and read/speak literally any language in Verny, including animal languages and coded messages. Due to Celestine’s interpretation, Kaoru’s current body can never die and is forever 15-years old.
Celestine, the Administrator of the world of Verny. Friendly and somewhat spacey, she is usually more concerned with maintaining the stability of Verny as a planet than with the welfare of its people. Celestine has a crush on the Administrator of Earth and watches over Kaoru to ensure she comes to no harm.
Roland, the older brother of King Serge of the Balmore Kingdom. Brave, talented, and politically savvy, he grew to enjoy his freedom after he was passed over for rulership due to an injury that crippled his right arm. After his arm was healed by one of Kaoru’s potions, he accompanies Kaoru as one of her bodyguards.
Francette, knight of the Balmore Kingdom and Roland’s wife. Diligent, kind, and honest, she was dedicated to swordsmanship for over a decade and earned herself the epithet of “Demon God” for her deeds. At 27, she noticed that many of her relatives and friends were married and came to worry that she herself never will be. After learning this, a sympathetic Kaoru gave her a potion that rejuvenated her to the physical age of 16. After Balmore fights off the Alicot invasion, Francette married Roland. A highly skilled swordswoman, Francette tends to get overeager when fighting. She also carries Ex-Gram, an unbreakable sword sharpened on the molecular level created by Kaoru (its pommel is a potion vial).
Emile & Belle, members of the Eyes of the Goddess, a group of former orphans that now do assignments for Kaoru. Brave, curious, and loyal to a fault, they will do anything for Kaoru, such as help conceal her abilities, perform scouting missions, or defend her to the death if necessary.
Personal Thoughts
After getting potent divine gifts to ensure a quiet, happy life, Kaoru quickly learns that her life is ironically less than peaceful because of her new abilities.
In a world where magic is usually limited to a few tricks by ancient hermits, Kaoru’s potion creation is nothing less than a miracle and she is seen by many as an angel. This inevitably attracts the attention of those who want to earn her favor and those who want to hoard her abilities for their own selfish use. While she wants the best for everyone around her, Kaoru also has to be wary of those who want to deceive her, take advantage of her, or even harm her. Her abilities could arguably be a curse since she brings happiness to her friends, but not herself. Fortunately, Kaoru is good at reading people and manipulating their needs and selfishness to her advantage, making her skilled at negotiations and, if necessary, lying.
There are always people who will put wealth before the lives of others and people who want to tear more successful people down so that they can prosper instead. When we encounter such people, it is often necessary to understand selfishness and trickery ourselves as a defense. For example, salesmen have to emphasize what they can offer to customers. People are more likely to hire those who can improve their businesses, such as people who don’t mind working hard or who are clever enough to think of innovative ideas to improve sales. It is often necessary to be humble to a certain degree because most people are instinctively offended by those who claim to be better than everyone else.
It is a fact of life that greed and envy exist in our world. As we learn about and understand human selfishness, it is prudent to find ways to work with said selfishness to a degree in order to survive. It is still important to remember our good qualities such as honesty, empathy, dedication, and such, but we can learn to anticipate the selfishness of others so we do not fall victim to them.
Moral
Selfishness is always a part of human nature, but we can adapt to it. Just remember to not become too selfish yourself!
Isekai Eye 