Chapter 93. The Black Market (3)
TL: xLordFifth
ED/PR: The reader
Silence lingered for a while. And for good reason.
‘These are no ordinary conditions.’
Orichalcum and Adamantium. In terms of quality, they’re not much different from Mithril.
‘But getting your hands on them is like reaching for the stars.’
Their drop rates were incomparably more challenging than Mithril’s. Especially Orichalcum.
Labeled as Divine Metal in the information window. Orichalcum indeed could be obtained, albeit at slim chances, from maps related to the heavenly realm.
And naturally, its extreme rarity made it significantly valuable. The same was true for Adamantium, the metal of the underworld.
“Sigh… You really do.”
‘Ask for anything, I will try my best to provide it.’
Where had her previously confident demeanor gone?
“You always exceed my expectations.”
Rin sighed deeply as she withdrew her hand from the contract and sat back down, her hand resting on her forehead.
“Do you realize how ludicrous the conditions you’re asking for are, Kim Shimun-ssi?”
“I don’t think it’s too absurd, not for the owner of the black market. There have been several auctions before, haven’t there?”
The black market, where they say nothing is unobtainable. True to its reputation. Indeed, rare items including Orichalcum and Adamantium had been traded through the black market several times.
Unless you’re part of an ultra-mega guild like Continentality or American Dream, there’s no better place to dispose of such items than the black market.
“As you mentioned, there have been transactions of Orichalcum and Adamantium on our end.”
Rin, the owner of the black market, was aware of this.
However, “It’s been an extremely limited number of transactions.”
Even in the black market, the transactions were few and far between. This alone spoke volumes about the rarity of these two metals.
“Supply is unpredictable, and the price could run into the scale of national budgets…”
“But you’re not saying it’s impossible.”
Kim Shimun cut her off with a sly grin. Briefly blinking at his interruption, Rin spoke softly.
“Kim Shimun-ssi, do you think your Arena Disease Cure is worth that much?”
“That, Rin, is something you know better than anyone else.”
Kim Shimun responded to the question with another question. A type of answer Rin hated, but, “…”, she found herself unable to retort.
Because it was true. Rin’s gaze, which had been fixed on Kim Shimun, now dropped slightly.
‘Arena Disease Cure. It was something I shouldn’t have needed to intervene in originally.’
When the Night Hunter Park Jinwook first brought the cure to the auction. Even if it was a cure for incurable diseases, it wasn’t something that should demand the attention of the market’s owner.
It was expected.
‘After all, it was just a cure for Mana Petrification Disease.’
Mana Petrification Disease.
Among Arena Diseases, it was one of the slowest to progress.
Indeed, the Night Hunter himself only took a temporary break from the Arena and didn’t reach a level of illness where hospitalization, like other Arena Disease patients, was necessary.
Instead, he ran a private detective agency using his abilities.
But now, ‘The value has changed since then.’
As Holy Trinity began to distribute the cure more widely, its value completely changed.
‘The variety of cures alone has significantly increased.’
Although some addition of Arena Disease Cures was somewhat expected, no one anticipated cures for severe diseases like Circuit Regression.
‘The recovery of Dohu was the turning point.’
Dohu, one of the first-generation rankers from Korea.
After her return, interest in the Arena Disease Cure exploded, and the demand for the cure soared beyond imagination.
Moreover.
“Kim Shimun, that person also suffered from the Arena disease,” they said. Unlike Ironwood King, who rose to the position of the current chairman of the Korean Awakened Association through his own merits despite being an illegitimate child of the Kim family, Kim Shimun never had the chance to showcase his abilities due to his inability to use magic.
However, Kim Shimun has completely recovered from his mana inability and is now rising as the most promising figure in South Korea. What does this imply?
“It’s not just about his value as a player, but also the diverse range of cures that will come from him.”
Just as humanity had conquered numerous diseases deemed as curses throughout history, Kim Shimun is likely to produce a variety of cures for the Arena diseases. In fact, he already is. Isn’t Holy Trinity now distributing cures for 30% of the Arena diseases? This means, “Considering the future, this man is someone we must absolutely secure.”
People in business always need to look to the future. If they remain fixated on the present, their business will stagnate or regress instead of progressing. This was one of the few lessons from the previous owner, who must be screaming in hell now. Rin bit her lip slightly.
“Tch. If it weren’t for the warning from the fox bead, things wouldn’t have become this complicated.”
From deep within her chest, a consistent warning from the fox bead. Had it not been for its warning, she would have charmed Kim Shimun right away upon assessing him as a formidable individual and made him sign a slave contract, which had been her most efficient method of dealing so far.
“Really, it’s twisted and utterly knotty. When was the last time I faced such difficulty…?”
As Rin pressed on her temples, she let out a laugh.
“Well, I must have become complacent over time.”
No matter how successful, it was only a bit over a month since she had debuted as Gold. Underestimating him and not preparing properly led to this predicament, which was only natural.
Once she admitted this, the stress muddling her head cleared up. Rin lifted her head to look at the handsome man with distinct features.
“Shimun-ssi, you are right.”
Despite acknowledging defeat, which was uncharacteristic of her, “No matter how rare an item might be, someone will eventually bring it to sell. But cures are different.”
How could she not help but smile? Rin continued with a face that seemed somewhat relieved.
“The value of a cure stands higher than orichalcum or adamantium. That’s why I invited you here.”
Was it because of the genuine smile, unlike the calculated ones she had shown before? Shimun felt that Rin’s vibe, which had been hard to grasp, now felt surprisingly comfortable.
“The weight of minerals used for equipment can’t be the same as that of a medicine used for saving lives.”
Rin spoke openly about her thoughts. This was a rare sight, something Shimun, who had experienced a previous life, knew all too well. As Shimun quietly listened, Rin extended her hand again towards the blank space on the contract.
“Alright, Shimun-ssi. I’ll accept the conditions you’ve proposed.”
As her fingers moved across the blank space, A dark purple, ominous energy flowed out from the contract. Observing this, Shimun asked, “And your conditions?”
“Please supply only 30% of the volume distributed by Holy Trinity. However, the types must be the same as those distributed by Holy Trinity.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, that’s all.”
Rin concluded firmly, causing Shimun to raise an eyebrow slightly.
‘The conditions are surprisingly conscientious.’
He had expected demands for at least the same volume as Holy Trinity, or even to cut ties with Holy Trinity and ask for exclusive distribution rights.
‘It’s not like the leader of the black market to not be greedy. Perhaps there was a change of heart?’
The unexpectedly reasonable conditions left Shimun a bit disoriented. Sensing Shimun’s confusion, Rin chuckled, “Maybe kind dealings like this don’t suit me, huh?”
Despite saying this, Rin did not withdraw her hand from the contract, “Oh dear. Before that happens, we better seal the contract quickly.”
Shimun smiled wryly and placed his hand on the contract. The room filled with a rustling sound. A sinister aura of dark purple seeped up Rin and Kim Shimun’s arms and into their chests.
“Ugh.”
It was like ice had touched bare skin.
Rin shivered.
Contrary to Rin, ‘It’s warm.’
Kim Shimun felt a warm and cozy sensation.
Then, [A contract mediated by the void is established.]
A system message appeared in front of Kim Shimun, and as the aura of void that seeped into Kim Shimun’s body twitched, [The intermediary void is taken aback by your gaze.]
[The Constellation, the Black Goat scoffs, ‘Ha. Cthulhu, this son of a gun, was up to this?’
And waves its hand with a twisted lip.]
[The seeping void hastily conceals itself.]
[A penalty due to the contract is invalidated.]
A series of messages appeared. Kim Shimun’s eyes sparkled upon reading them.
‘Huh? The penalty from the contract has completely disappeared?’
In truth, when Rin had initially brought up the contract of the void, Kim Shimun had thought that he might not receive any penalty from the contract.
After all, in a past life, Players backed by divine or fiery beings hardly received any penalties from their respective contracts.
‘I was only expecting a reduced penalty since I’m favored by a Constellation, but not its champion.’
Yet to have it completely invalidated even without being the champion?
Kim Shimun glanced at the air and winked.
‘Thank you, black Goat.’
In response, [The Constellation, the Black Goat, looks at you with a pleased expression.]
The reaction of the Black Goat was immediate.
“Oh my, are you showing off right now?”
“Eh?”
Was it a misunderstanding?
“What to do? It’s cute, but that doesn’t mean I can ignore the contract.”
Rin saw the contract dissipating into a dark purple aura and smiled teasingly.
Of course, Kim Shimun smiled back.
“Haha! Did it appear that way?”
“Pretending it didn’t. It seems the unbreakable Saintess has a liking for this style, doesn’t she?”
Rin spoke with a completely different implication.
* * *
The black market. A place where you could easily find all sorts of rare items for the right price. Naturally, it was nothing short of heaven for top players.
And navigating through it were two women.
Specifically, “Malsuk, look! An S-rank pet! It’s so cute!”
“I like plate armors but not the design. It looks too bulky.”
“This one has a nice design, right? Try it on, too.”
“That potion from earlier, don’t you think it’s rather weak for an A-class? The one orabeoni made was much better.”
It was truly a unique rampage by one woman.
“Malsuk, how about this?”
“It looks the same as the last one.”
“The design might be the same, but the colors are a bit different. Which suits me better?”
“I don’t know. Just pick something.”
“Why~.”
Yujeong navigated the black market as if it were her own house.
Contrary to her nickname, the unbreakable Saintess, “Oh my! Isn’t that the armor set made by the famous European blacksmith? It’s a brand new release!”
“Are there no blunt weapons? I’d prefer something on the larger side.”
She meticulously inspected every single item within sight. Considering this was the auction house, the heart of the black market, the items in the surrounding shops boasted astronomical prices, yet
“I’ll take this. And this one too!”
“Hey miss, do you have enough money for all this? As you know, cards don’t work here……”
“Here.”
In front of Yujeong, the sole heiress of Korea’s top conglomerate, the (former) master and ranker of the Holy Trinity Guild, one of the top guilds, no obstacle could stand in her way.
Watching Yujeong spend hundreds of millions without hesitation, one thought went through someone’s mind, ‘Ah, this is really killing me.’
Go Malsuk let out a deep sigh.
‘How much more does she plan to keep buying?!’
For Lee Yujeong, who was relentlessly shopping, even a warrior’s stamina seemed to be at its limits. Especially since, ‘Is it because she’s a ranker? Damn, her inventory is annoyingly huge!’
Just considering what had been bought so far, it looked to be about a ton in weight. Was it because she was a ranker?
Lee Yujeong’s inventory seemed to endlessly swallow items.
‘Damn it! I should have realized when those guys were going on about shopping being a women’s thing!’
Kim Shihyuk and Park Jinwook, who used to shop leisurely among women, had pushed Lee Yujeong to join in on their behalf with good reason.
After moving around for about 30 more minutes, “Whew! I’m exhausted! Malsuk, shall we go eat something over there?”
Lee Yujeong finally suggested what Go Malsuk had been wanting to hear.
“That way, we’ll get the energy to keep going.”
Along with some words she didn’t want to hear, “Yeah. I’m freaking starving.”
But Go Malsuk immediately ran towards a bench on the side at the mention of taking a break.
Then, “Hey, you! What the…”
“Get lost, you brat!”
She shoved aside a robe-wearing man occupying a part of the market and took his place.
“This crazy woman! Guys! Tha… huh?”
Following that, “Aaaargh!”
Lee Yujeong, who was trailing behind, caught the robe-wearing man charging at Go Malsuk and flung him away with one hand.
“Crazy! She threw that man so easily?”
“Definitely high-level. Let’s just get out of here.”
The surrounding people quickly stepped back, noticing these women were not to be messed with. This would have caused quite the commotion in the Galaxy Agora.
Could it be because this was a black market?
Even though someone was suddenly thrown through the air, no one seemed to care.
Lee Yujeong, dusting off her hands, asked, “Malsuk, what do you want to eat?”
“Anything’s fine. Preferably meat.”
“Meat? Isn’t that a bit much for a snack?”
“Hey, after moving around this much, we deserve some meat at least.”
“Hmm… I kind of want something sweet.”
“Then buy dessert too. No, just buy everything. You’re good at that.”
“It sounds like an insult, but well, it’s a good idea.”
Lee Yujeong nodded and disappeared into the crowd.
More precisely, “Ouch! What the hell!”
“Isn’t this strength too much?”
“She thinks she’s an ogre or what… gah!”
She bulldozed through the people like a bulldozer. Especially the last person who called her an ogre was launched into the air by Lee Yujeong’s punch.
‘I like that kind of thing.’
True to the unspoken law of strength being right in the black market, Lee Yujeong cleared everything in her path without hesitation. Go Malsuk looked on with a satisfied smile at Lee Yujeong’s progress.
How long had it been?
The crowd started to murmur. And from the direction where Lee Yujeong had disappeared, the crowd parted. Then, walking down the parted path was Lee Yujeong with her hood down and an impressive middle-aged man.
The attention of the surrounding people concentrated on the two.
“That person, couldn’t be…?”
“Why is someone like him here?”
“He must not have been to the black market for long. He used to frequent it in his youth.”
“I saw him once, ten years ago. Looks the same.”
It was to be expected, “I never dreamed I would see you here.”
“Same here. But is she your companion?”
The handsome and sleek middle-aged man, he was none other than, “That’s right. Malsuk! Come here!”
The master of the Myth Guild and one of South Korea’s first-generation rankers.
“…Malsuk?” was indeed Iron-Blooded Go Changjin.