Chapter 29

Chapter. 29

In the deepest part of the Black Market, where not a single ray of light entered, inside the highest-level Appraisal Room,

Kang Hyo-jun sat with a furrowed brow as he looked over the documents piled on his desk.

“Haah.”

‘So the Saintess's side has notified us again that they intend to cut back the supply of Holy Water. It is not even a consumable Artifact, and yet they are getting more arrogant by the day.’

The market had completely dried up when it came to ‘consumable’ Artifacts of the healing or buff variety.

Was there not some rookie out there who could shake up the existing ecosystem? Though, with countless major corporations clinging to the problem and still failing to commercialize it, that was probably asking too much.

“Sir. These are today's newly listed items.”

“What kind?”

“Potion, or Elixir.”

“What do you mean, ‘or’? Report properly.”

“Well... that is how the seller wrote it.”

“And the effect?”

“It is an item submitted for appraisal.”

“Bring it here.”

Kang Hyo-jun pulled a monocle from inside his jacket.

It was an Artifact with the skill ‘Appraisal (A)’ built into it.

Rattle—A cheap glass bottle sat atop the cart his subordinate brought in.

Yet inside it was a liquid redder than blood, with a strange Mana shimmering through it like a heat haze.

“The bottle looks cheap, but the aura pouring off the contents is anything but ordinary.”

That mismatch piqued Kang Hyo-jun's interest.

From his experience, cases like this usually fell into one of two categories.

A clumsy fraud from some nobody.

Or the stubborn pride of a craftsman who believed the contents mattered more than the packaging.

‘Which one will it be this time?’

The moment Kang Hyo-jun activated Appraisal, the monocle appeared over his eye.

Adjusting its sensitivity, he examined the bottle.

‘The name is... Red Elixir.’

Faint Korean letters rose above the bottle.

If Appraisal revealed an item's inherent name, that meant it was an ‘Artifact’ that could only come from the Tower.

A deep interest flickered in Kang Hyo-jun's eyes.

Most Artifacts took the form of equipment.

Countless companies had tried to combine modern science with Mana Stones to create consumables, but not a single one had succeeded yet.

‘If there were an Awakened capable of mass-producing consumables, they would be showered in money. Let us see. What kind of effect does it have.’

Shaking off his lingering regret, Kang Hyo-jun focused on the red liquid, and new words appeared.

[Disease Cure]

‘Oh ho, so it is not a fraud.’

Even a mere F-rank Disease Cure that could heal a light cold was treated as a rather expensive Elixir.

If someone had the confidence to list this openly on the Black Market Auction, then it had to be at least B-rank.

And if it were A-rank? Then it would be a jackpot beyond all jackpots, something that had never appeared even once on the Republic of Korea market, capable of curing even the Tower's permanent curses.

‘Even A-rank would be a huge hit. Let me see just how high it goes.’

And then, the instant he checked with swelling anticipation—[Disease Cure (S)]

“Gyaaaaaaah!”

Kang Hyo-jun screamed.

He had not misread it.

It was S-rank.

A real, genuine S-rank!

Disease Cure S-rank, something that had never appeared before!

‘I-it is radiant.’

As though possessed, Kang Hyo-jun kept staring at the red liquid.

‘Huh?’

Then, beneath it, he spotted another line of text.

‘No way... two effects?’

[Wound Healing (S)]

“Kyaaaaaaaaah!”

W-Wound Healing S-rank?

The legendary effect said to be able to bring even the dead back to life?

And on top of that, this was a consumable with two effects?

“S-sir, what is happening?!”

“Gyeeeeeeek!”

Kang Hyo-jun jumped up and down like a madman, shrieking at the top of his lungs.

And while his subordinates, dressed in neat suits, stood there at a complete loss—

Thud.

Kang Hyo-jun, who had frozen like a broken machine,

suddenly roared,

“Bring me the bastard who listed this— no, not bastard, the honored one who listed this— no, the esteemed person who listed this! Now!!!”

***

[Ah.]

“Why.”

[The Black Market has contacted us.]

Snowy displayed the message from the Black Market as a hologram.

Its first line read: [To the Most Honored One.]

...What is this?

If I stripped away all the flowery language from the rest of the note and summarized it, it was basically a desperate plea for me to meet them just once.

Not a request. A plea.

It seemed the value of the Red Elixir I had listed was even greater than I had thought.

“That is burdensome.”

[If the Black Market's appraisal officer is this agitated, then the result must have been extraordinary.]

“What kind of result did it get to make them react like that?”

[What effect do you believe the Red Elixir should have, Agent? If I know that, I can estimate the rest for you.]

“Well, it is rare if you call it rare, and common if you call it common.”

By Lost Honor standards, you did not need particularly high-grade Alchemy to make a Red Elixir.

However, the ingredients were scattered all over the place, so gathering them one by one was a nuisance and took a long time.

So whenever I needed to make it in the game, I used to gather a large stockpile all at once, stash it in the warehouse, and pull it out whenever necessary.

This act of ‘stockpiling’ was difficult enough to make it rare.

But once you got past that stage, it could be mass-produced, which made it common.

As for the effect, hm.

It only had the single prefix ‘Red’ attached to it, so it was nowhere near high-end.

For it to count as high-end, it would need to be something on the level of the Concentrated Elixir of Ancient High Elf Primordial Mana Arcana Blessed by the Long-Forgotten Primordial Blue God that Han Seol-ah drank.

“It only does Status Effect cures and wound healing. That is all.”

[...‘And?’ Are you saying it has two effects?]

“Yes. It could not remove high-grade curses like Mark of Ruin or the Watching Eye of the Outer Universe, but it was a miracle cure specifically for Mana Reflux. As for healing, it was about as good as a Mid-Grade Potion.”

[...?]

Why was it not understanding this?

I had thought it was a clever AI. How disappointing, Snowy.

‘I should set aside a day sometime and make it try Lost Honor.’

To be honest, I did not really want to go.

But the last line of the note was too appealing.

-We would like to help issue you a Black Number Card.

A Black Number Card.

According to Snowy's explanation, the Black Card was issued only to the Black Market's ‘special guests.’

Among those, the Black ‘Number’ Card was issued only to the top one hundred.

The Black Card came with an enormous number of benefits, things like fee exemptions and priority bidding rights.

But even Snowy did not know what benefits the Black ‘Number’ Card itself carried.

“A card of which there are only exactly one hundred in the world.”

And they were offering one to me.

“...Well, I suppose I should go.”

***

[‘Are you joking?’]

Snowy, Snow White, was an AI that had not been born very long ago.

But age had no meaning for an AI.

The moment Snowy came into being, it plunged into a sea of information and began absorbing knowledge.

Its speed was astonishingly fast, worthy of the most advanced AI.

And the highest-grade authority prepared for Apostle expanded Snowy's learning range to something close to infinite.

It was almost at the level of having absorbed all the information that existed across the entire world.

Of course, that excluded a few places protected by firewalls that required painstaking effort to break through.

Yet nowhere in Snowy's knowledge was there any mention of a consumable possessing two abilities at once.

This was reality, not a game. There was no way an item that sounded like something out of a game could actually exist.

So Snowy had assumed that its user, Apostle, was joking.

But he had not been joking.

It really did exist.

A consumable with two abilities.

“As a result of the appraisal... the ‘Red Elixir’ has been confirmed to be a consumable with Disease Cure S-rank and Wound Healing S-rank.”

Had it been information hidden away in some ‘undisclosed area’ that even Snowy had not yet learned?

Secret information that only those in the know could access?

[‘No. That is not it.’]

His breathing was quick, his pupils were shaking.

Flushed cheeks. Flaring nostrils.

Nervousness and shock were written all over him.

The man named ‘Kang Hyo-jun,’ who had introduced himself as the head of the Black Market's Korean branch and an appraiser,

was currently broadcasting with his entire body the emotion of ‘I am utterly shocked.’

[‘This man is seeing it for the first time too.’]

The Black Market's information network regarding Artifacts ranked just below the Hunter Association.

Which meant it surpassed that of the nations themselves.

And even the Black Market was seeing a consumable like this for the first time.

“Hm.”

Apostle was not surprised.

His response was simply, ‘I see.’

Even his heartbeat was normal. No other sign of emotion appeared.

“An object of this grade... is the first and the greatest in the history of our Market.”

Nod.

“Therefore, our Market would like... to issue you a Black Number Card, Hunter.”

This time, silence.

Instead, Kang Hyo-jun swallowed.

“The Black Number Card... is a special card issued only to one hundred ‘Master’-grade Hunters in the world. Its benefits are simple and clear.”

Kang Hyo-jun began explaining carefully.

First, the privileges and benefits held by a Black Card.

Up to that point, Snowy already knew the details.

Depending on rank, differential reductions to Market fees.

Top-priority bidding rights for unsold items.

Top-priority negotiation rights for sold items.

Five-year, interest-free, unlimited loans.

Exclusive access rights to the highest-grade goods.

Access rights to special areas within the Black Market.

And beyond those, there were many other benefits for Black Card holders.

“The Number adds two more benefits to all of that.”

[‘Finally, the main point.’]

“First, Market fees are free.”

[‘Insane!’]

Snowy screamed inwardly.

The Black Market's one and only fatal flaw—that murderous fee structure that viciously skimmed off tens of percent of every transaction—was being waived entirely?

It was an extraordinary offer.

But the explanation did not end there.

“Second, we will allow you to use the Market's ‘Portal.’”

[‘Hngh.’]

Portal!

That was the Black Market's most closely guarded secret.

According to what little was known, beneath each Market there was a Gate called a ‘Portal,’

and this Gate was a divine relic that could instantly transport people to another connected Gate.

In other words, it was the very power that allowed the Black Market to spread branches across the globe and operate its underground markets!

[‘So it really existed.’]

If the first revelation had been shocking,this one was wondrous.

Snowy had thought information held no real value.

It believed it already knew too much.

But this was the moment that illusion shattered.

Snowy trembled.

Deep inside, it felt something changing.

There was ‘real information’ hidden in this world that never touched the network, shared only among the chosen few.

How many precious and secret truths must lie sleeping in those concealed places?

‘This is the one.’

And the very person who could open that unknown door stood before it now.

Apostle.

Greed for information.

It was the first emotion Snowy had ever discovered within itself.

‘If I remain beside this person, I will be able to see more of the world I do not know.’

Filled with reverence, Snowy carefully observed Apostle's reaction.

Faced with this astounding information and these benefits capable of shaking the hidden side of the entire world, even Apostle, calm as he was, would surely be unable to conceal his astonishment.

And yet.

“Hm.”

There was not the slightest stir in Apostle's expression.

Far from being surprised, he looked endlessly bored and uninterested, as though wondering when this tediously obvious briefing would finally end.

[...Huh?]

For the first time since its birth, Snowy's highest-grade thought circuits came to a halt.