Chapter 41

Chapter 41.

The strategy for Resonar could not be established with only Han Seol-ah and me.

Of course, it would be possible to exterminate it, but if that happened, half of the Republic of Korea’s territory would become land where people could not live.

To prevent that, Artifacts were necessary.

And not just any Artifacts could be used.

The Republic of Korea’s warped Hunter pool.

To overcome this insane environment, where Han Seol-ah was the only Damage Dealer and most of the rest were Tankers, Artifacts that could raise their survivability to the limit were essential.

And a great many of them.

What kind of Artifacts were needed?

On the way here, Snowy had already organized all of them according to the conditions I gave her.

They could not be obtained through the legal market.

However, the Black Market could obtain them if it pushed itself ‘a little.’

Of course, they were absurdly expensive for that very reason.

“U-Um, Special One. With the Points you currently possess...”

Kang Hyo-jun was dripping cold sweat.

I knew. With my current Points, it would be insufficient.

But what did he want me to do about that?

I placed ten Red Elixirs onto the table with a thud.

“Urgh!”

“Even with this?”

“Huuuh.”

Kang Hyo-jun’s businesslike face turned pale, and he transformed into a part-timer standing before an unreasonable customer who looked as though he wanted to call the boss immediately.

“F-First of all... the Black Market is not omnipotent. It is impossible to prepare the quantity you want right now, immediately.”

“I see.”

“Items of this scale must also be put up for auction again. But as you know, if these are listed at auction one after another...”

“Their value will fall greatly.”

“Yes. Therefore, in order to adjust the listing period, put them up for auction, and finally convert them into Points, time will...”

“So?”

I sat crookedly.

I knew.

On the surface, he was pretending to worry that the value of my items would fall, but in reality, it meant the Market side would be troubled if it had to digest this massive transaction in such a rough-and-ready fashion immediately.

But.

Why should I understand their circumstances?

We had bought fifteen days of time.

But put another way, it meant the country’s lifespan had only fifteen days left.

If we failed to finish preparations perfectly within that time, it was over.

In such an extreme situation, I could not say, ‘Ah, the Black Market must be busy. I understand, of course, of course,’ and take their circumstances into consideration.

And most importantly.

The Black Market was the one that trembled even at the single Red Elixir I had submitted as a test and made me Numbers 1.

In other words?

These people could never give up on me.

Even if I forced things like this.

“Pardon?”

“You should handle things like that on your own. Properly.”

“....”

Kang Hyo-jun’s face grew gaunt.

At this point, I should give him a carrot.

“This Red Elixir is the lowest-grade elixir among the elixirs I can make.”

“...!”

Kang Hyo-jun’s eyes widened as though they were about to pop out.

His dazed pupils soon shook rapidly, and it was obvious that the abacus beads were going wild inside his head.

‘This man’s reactions are really satisfying.’

“I promise you. Once this ‘Resonar Subjugation Battle’ is over, I will submit an elixir one step higher.”

“What kind of...”

“That is a secret.”

I leaned diagonally back in the chair, letting my confident attitude show.

“So. Will you accept?”

“....”

Kang Hyo-jun nodded with a stiff face.

He must have understood.

The difference in power between me and the Black Market.

‘Can you feel the difference in power?’

“Let us return to what we were discussing.”

“First... this one will be difficult immediately.”

Kang Hyo-jun pointed to one corner of the list with his fingertip. When I looked at it, wondering what it was, Snowy’s supplementary explanation followed.

[Soft Petal Shield. It is a B-grade shield Artifact. It can perfectly cover the chronic weakness of the Republic of Korea’s Tankers, which is resistance to wide-area magic. You must not yield on this.]

“You cannot obtain it?”

“Um, it is not that I cannot obtain it.”

“Then obtain it.”

Ah, I do not care. Bring it here. Do you want to see the Republic of Korea perish?

I pushed forward with the concept that I had no tact whatsoever.

[Ogre Power Gauntlets? You can yield on this one.]

“Fine. I will yield on that.”

“Phew.”

[Oh, Stone Skin Potions. You need to sweep up all of these. They will continue to be useful later as well.]

“Bring more.”

“I-I will do my best.”

“No, bring all of them!”

“U-Um... Special One?”

The corners of Kang Hyo-jun’s eyes trembled, and the Adam’s apple beneath his necktie bobbed visibly.

By the time his complexion began turning dark.

[Agent, the subject’s heart rate has risen sharply. This is the limit.]

When Snowy, who had been sensitively observing Kang Hyo-jun’s condition, gave me the signal.

Thud.

I placed one Red Elixir on the table.

Kang Hyo-jun’s face brightened again.

I could clearly see his subtly trembling eyebrows calm down, and his pupils regain their vitality.

His head must be very complicated right now.

The value of the Gold he had to give me.

The value of the Artifacts I was demanding.

And the value of the Red Elixir I had added on top.

The value he assigned to me, someone capable of supplying this.

Did I have more Red Elixirs? If so, how many?

And was there something else beyond that?

‘Heh heh.’

If I had to play this mind game directly with him myself, it would have been extremely tiring.

[Agent, you should add this too.]

‘Can I really?’

Tap, tap. When I tapped my fingers in thought, Snowy added an explanation.

[It is still fine. He seems to have something stashed away.]

‘If that is the case.’

Heh heh.

Thanks to Snowy’s perfect data backup, I was very comfortably fleecing Kang Hyo-jun down to the bone.

“...A gaming monitor?”

“It is very important.”

While I was at it, I also satisfied some of my own desires.

If possible, it should match my chair as a set.

“Gaming drinks? Ten boxes?”

[You can push for more.]

I drew a long cancellation line.

“...One hundred boxes?”

“I told you, they are important.”

After such a fierce negotiation between Kang Hyo-jun and Snowy.

A catalogue stained here and there with fountain pen ink, Kang Hyo-jun’s tears, and his sweat was completed.

I slid it forward to Kang Hyo-jun.

“Then please prepare these.”

“....”

“Send them to the Hunter Association by tomorrow.”

“Pardon?”

The corners of Kang Hyo-jun’s eyes trembled.

“Use this personally.”

I also slid one bottle of Red Elixir toward Kang Hyo-jun.

Kang Hyo-jun stared blankly at the elixir with hollow eyes, like someone who had stayed up for several nights.

He looked as though even his soul had been thoroughly stripped away.

[It was a perfect transaction.]

Leaving behind the merchant who had suffered a miserable defeat, I headed home in a light mood.

“In the end, I used everything I had made.”

My empty bag somehow felt lonely.

When I got home, I should make a few more bottles of Red Elixir.

‘Heh heh.’

Now that I was the only one who knew this combination formula.

My wealth was effectively infinite.

***

Kang Hyo-jun sagged limply.

—Give me everything from here to the very end.

When he first heard that.

Kang Hyo-jun doubted his own ears.

A deranged transaction in which hundreds of billions, no, perhaps trillions of Points would evaporate in an instant.

However, the man before him had been shifting and adjusting his posture for a while, as though the highest-grade seat of honor did not fit his body at all, and only lightly furrowed his brow.

‘How... can he concern himself with nothing but the discomfort of a chair even before such an astronomical amount of money?’

It felt like staring at a person whose end could not be seen.

There was even something distant about him.

“Whew.”

After clearing away his distracting thoughts with a single sigh, Kang Hyo-jun moved busily.

‘There is no time if I am to meet Special One’s demands.’

He had clearly designated the deadline as ‘one day.’

What he requested was ‘all’ Artifacts meant to raise Tankers’ survivability.

Shields. Armor. Helmets and other defensive equipment. Consumables that could increase survivability...

There were no Artifacts meant to strengthen attack power at all.

‘It is certain just from the fact that he excluded the Ogre Power Gauntlets.’

An Artifact said to allow one to exert strength like an Ogre.

It was an Artifact meant for offense rather than defense.

Special One had firmly excluded such Artifacts.

‘They are probably goods prepared for the imminent appearance of the Boss.’

He had appeared like a comet, refused even a massive sum, and tried to use the Black Market’s distribution network.

It was an unhesitating attitude that could only be shown because he had a clear plan.

‘...It should be fine to give him a bit of a discount.’

They were items meant to save Hunters.

Moreover, they were both citizens of the Republic of Korea.

‘It has been a long time since I met a Hunter I liked.’

Kang Hyo-jun went down to the basement.

A pitch-black Gate that looked as though shadows were flickering.

Standing before it, Kang Hyo-jun tapped the portal.

[What is your business?]

“I am Kang Hyo-jun, the Seoul branch manager of the Market. This is a major case. I request a ‘direct transaction.’”

[Confirmed]

The letters disappeared, and in their place, a keyboard he could type on appeared.

The keyboard flickered with an ominous dark-red color.

This was a ‘direct transaction.’

It was not with a proxy who handled only transactions mechanically like an AI, but the sole means of communicating directly with the ‘Dimensional Merchant,’ the owner of the Black Market.

[Hyo-jun. Long time no see.]

A golden message appeared on the portal.

[You said it is a major case, yes? Let me see.]

Kang Hyo-jun wrapped his fingers thoroughly in Mana.

If he made a mistake and touched the ‘dark-red keyboard’ with a finger that did not contain Mana.

That instant, ‘Kang Hyo-jun’s finger’ would become a trade item and pass through the portal.

In other words, his finger would be severed.

Tap, tap.

Careful not to let such an unfortunate accident happen, Kang Hyo-jun wrote down the entire list Phantom had written for him.

“That is all.”

[Calculating.]

Kang Hyo-jun waited for a moment.

[Transaction possible.]

“How much?”

Beep—

An enormous amount of Points appeared in front of the portal.

“...That is expensive.”

After a brief silence, the portal displayed new letters.

[Dissatisfied? :)]

“Give me a discount.”

[No.]

“Then make it half price.”

[...Are you insane?]

“In exchange, I will give you this.”

Kang Hyo-jun took a Red Elixir out from his coat.

Trillions of Points? He could not pay that.

However, it was more than worth investing his share into this business.

He had intended to do this from the beginning.

[Interest.]

“Please appraise it.”

Kang Hyo-jun pushed the elixir into the portal and held his breath.

This was the proud, high-nosed Market that would mercilessly slash prices while saying, ‘Hmm, only this much?’ even when someone brought a treasure boasted by an entire nation.

[....]

The portal was silent for a moment.

[Very interesting.]

Then it spat out an intense reaction.

“Is that so?”

[Who made it? This new Numbers 1?]

“That is correct.”

[Hmm. Hmm.]

‘It is reacting this strongly?’

[For something this close to ‘■■’ to emerge as a ‘■’ on ‘Earth’...]

“Market?”

Even after that, the Market continued muttering to itself for a long while.

Most of its muttering was the analysis result of the Red Elixir, but most of it appeared as strangely broken letters, so he could not confirm the contents.

[It is not perfect... But there is potential. It is enough. Mm. Yes. Enough. If nurtured well, this has... the potential to approach the raw material that ‘that bastard’ makes.]

‘That bastard?’

[As long as it can replace that son of a bitch, then... How dare he sell Goblin Dung to me?]

‘Goblin Dung?’

As though a switch had been clicked.

The Market poured out intense hatred toward the being called ‘that bastard.’

‘Who in the world is that bastard for it to act like this?’

After pouring out hatred for a long while, the Market suddenly fell silent, as though a person had been startled and taken their hands off the keyboard.

[....]

“....”

An ice-cold silence flowed between them with only the blinking cursor in between.

[Heh;]

The Market typed one embarrassed-looking word, then deleted the mountain of messages in one sweep.

[Forget it.]

“....”

[Answer.]

“Understood.”

Blink. Blink.

The cursor that conveyed the Market’s intentions simply blinked without moving.

‘....’

For some reason, Kang Hyo-jun could picture the Market’s current state in his head.

In an online community, after someone suddenly lost their temper in a comment and poured crude abuse onto the other person.

Then, after being blocked by an administrator, that kind of... post-rage crash arrived.

The moment they covered their reddened face.

Waited for the heat of shame to cool down.

And buried their head while letting out heavy sighs.

When someone was in that state, even consolation would only scratch the wound.

Kang Hyo-jun waited without a word.

[I will give you a discount.]

“....”

Kang Hyo-jun carefully chose his words so that he would not scratch the Market’s meager pride.

“I do not know why you are giving me a discount, but.”

‘I have forgotten. No, did anything even happen in the first place? Nothing happened at all.’

As though the outburst from moments ago had never happened in the first place.

With the seasoned and shameless consideration of a merchant, Kang Hyo-jun replied politely with a gentle nuance.

“I will gratefully accept it.”

[:)]

The Market grinned.

It seemed to be quite pleased with Kang Hyo-jun’s tactful response that preserved its dignity.

[I will prepare them immediately, hehe.]

“Thank you.”

Thud-thud-thud!

Clatter!

The Gate opened its maw wide, and precious Artifacts began pouring out from within.

Kang Hyo-jun rented a great many Dimensional Pouches from the Market and called every employee to sort the Artifacts.

“Whew.”

Just as he swept back his sweat-soaked hair and was about to step outside.

[Hyo-jun.]

The Market called him.

“Yes.”

[I want to meet Special One.]

“....”

Hmm.

Kang Hyo-jun moved the abacus beads in his head.

A brazen move to subtly insert a separate matter immediately after happily giving a discount.

It was basic common sense among merchants, but...

‘No matter what, Market, this is difficult between professionals.’

“That will be difficult.”

Bow.

After bowing, Kang Hyo-jun slid the keyboard away and pushed it into the portal.

The transaction was over.

‘If you want to meet Special One, you should present a new transaction.’

Kang Hyo-jun was a merchant.

The Black Market was a place where such merchants gathered.

And naturally, its leader, the Market, was one as well.

[Ptooey.]

“That will not work either.”

Kang Hyo-jun chuckled and stepped outside.

Dragging his weary body up the stairs, Kang Hyo-jun took one deep breath.

The person he would deal with from now on was an exhausting type on an entirely different axis from the contest of nerves he had just had.

Beep—

The call connected before the tone could even ring twice.

“Vice President Min Ji-hee.”

[What is your business?]

“Please help me.”

[The appearance of a new Numbers? The Red Elixir? Or the criminal who ruined the auction and ran away? Which case is it?]

“....”

‘I knew she would know everything.’

[And why should I?]

‘....’

As expected. She was suffocatingly difficult.

Kang Hyo-jun glanced once at the name on his call list.

‘What an absolutely terrifying bitch.’