Chapter 59

Chapter 59.

They said that after Yeriche purchased the Red Elixir at the Auction House, she had been living like a shut-in ever since.

‘Hm… Is it that serious?’

Considering the power of the Supreme God Order, it probably was not simply because she felt the Points were a waste.

‘Her spirit broke after seeing the Red Elixir?’

That made even less sense.

The Red Elixir, well… judging by the state of the potions circulating in this world, it was certainly innovative.

But if one asked whether Holy Water was a Consumable Item that lagged that far behind the Red Elixir, that was not true either.

Wait.

I turned on microphone mute and asked Snowy.

“Was Holy Water an item judged as a ‘Consumable Artifact’?”

In Lost Honor, Holy Water meant ‘real Holy Water’ that received a Consumable Item judgment.

The Holy Water used in crafting stone-type items was precisely this ‘real Holy Water.’

And what I needed was also that kind.

Holy Water made by pseudo-priests was simply treated as an ordinary item. In other words, it was fake Holy Water that was not even treated as a Consumable Item.

Meaning, the Holy Water needed to make stone-type items in reality also had to be this ‘Holy Water judged as a Consumable Artifact.’

[No.]

“…Really?”

Haha.

It seemed Holy Water in reality was ‘fake Holy Water.’

“This ruins everything….”

It seemed creating real Holy Water had to come first.

‘…Though I did not unlock that class for this purpose.’

But…

As it happened, I had the ability to craft the ‘nutrient’ that would evolve fake Holy Water into real Holy Water!

‘The pieces fit together like this.’

I turned off mute and casually asked Happy.

[Excuse me? You are asking whether Holy Water can be made into an Artifact?]

Happy laughed, “Ahaha,” then added.

[You have a sense of humor. Such a method does not exist.]

“Hm.”

So she does not know after all.

I stroked the ‘One-Time Saintess Call-In Voucher’ I had carefully placed on my desk.

“I think I can resolve it.”

[As expected of Special One.]

“What can you do for me in return?”

[Hm…]

I could almost hear Happy’s mind spinning.

[Special One, do you know how the Market’s ‘employees’ are promoted?]

“I do not.”

Out of nowhere, Happy began explaining the Black Market’s organizational chart.

To summarize, at the very top was the owner of the Black Market, the ‘Dimensional Merchant,’ and beneath that was the ‘Market,’ which managed ‘Portals.’

“Dimensional Merchant?”

[Yes. To be honest, when calling them, we lump both the Dimensional Merchant and the Portal managers together and call them the Market.]

“Why call them that and make it confusing?”

[I heard that the name Dimensional Merchant becoming known is extremely dangerous.]

“…Then why are you telling me?”

[Excuse me? Haha. If you are ‘Numbers 1,’ you are a prime customer just below VIP, are you not? You may hear information of this much value.]

Hm?

‘Just below VIP?’

“Was Numbers 1 not the highest?”

[No. There is one more tier above it called VIP.]

“And above VIP?”

[There is nothing. Among customers, VIP is the highest.]

‘VIP… means my other account, ‘Alchemist,’ does it not?’

I clearly remembered Kang Hyo-jun calling me VIP.

“Who is the VIP?”

[Haha. Special One, do you covet the VIP position? It is impossible. That person is the one and only customer personally designated by the Market, so they are different from birth. The highest point a Hunter can reach is Numbers.]

“You do not know who it is?”

[No. They are only known by the code name ‘Alchemist.’]

‘That is right. It is me.’

Usually, if you spent a lot of money, they gave you VIP status, did they not?

Numbers was a rare position given only to 100 people, so I had naturally assumed VIP was a large group of excellent customers ranked below it.

I had been mistaken.

I had no idea VIP was such a high rank.

‘I am more impressive than I thought.’

“Dimensional Merchant….”

That name was a fragment of truth I had obtained from my call with Happy.

One complicated puzzle piece that had long been misaligned inside my head fit into place with a click.

The one who had been buying my items at the Lost Honor Auction House.

The one who coveted the Genesis-rank item Nameless.

The one who deposited Points into my Alchemist account after buying those items.

‘It was not… the developer?’

That was the Dimensional Merchant.

The peak of the Market and the one with the authority to designate me as the one and only rank.

The Dimensional Merchant had been buying my items for business.

‘Wait. Does that mean the items they have bought from me until now have been supplied to the Black Market? Did items I made already exist on Earth?’

“Snowy. Check whether equipment engraved with the initial ‘N’ has ever been traded.”

[No. No such equipment exists on Earth.]

Fortunately, that was not the case.

“Whew.”

All items I made had Nebula’s initial, ‘N,’ engraved on them.

That applied to Eternal Winter, the Genesis-rank item Han Seol-ah had, and there was no exception for Primordial Essence, which I had given Lee A-un.

If no Artifacts engraved with that initial had ever appeared?

That meant the items I made had never been released through the Black Market.

‘Then where are they using them?’

Since the name included ‘dimensional’… were they selling them to other dimensions? If so, that fellow was a merchant of an unimaginable scale.

Interesting possibilities continued one after another.

[Special One?]

Ah, I was still on the phone.

“Yes, please continue.”

[Yes. Then to continue…]

Happy’s story afterward continued with an explanation of the existence of the ‘Directors’ responsible for operating the Market at the lower level, as well as the limits possessed by ‘Administrators.’

[All Administrators want to become Directors.]

“What is good about becoming one?”

[Their authority expands very… very greatly. They can do a great many things.]

“Hooh….”

[It seems you are backing Kang Hyo-jun.]

Hm.

She was quick to read the room, and her ability to quickly grab a lifeline was excellent too.

‘I do not dislike sharp employees.’

Do you want to work at my foundation too?

The more talent there was to share the burden of Kang Hyo-jun, who was being ground down alone, the better.

[If Kang Hyo-jun later runs in the ‘election,’ I will support him.]

“I see.”

[I will tell you in advance. My influence in the election is the greatest among Administrators.]

Kang Hyo-jun’s authority would increase, and he would be able to do more things in the Black Market?

That was good for me.

‘…Will it be good for Kang Hyo-jun too?’

He already looked so busy he was about to die.

But who was Kang Hyo-jun?

Was he not the ‘insane workaholic’ who had neatly completed the work I ordered within the deadline?

He should be able to do it.

‘What is good is good. Kang Hyo-jun, I will back you properly.’

“Happy. Are you good at your job?”

[Yes. In fact, I am the next candidate for promotion to ‘Director.’ That means I am capable and good at my work. Among Administrator-level employees, the only employee better at work than me is probably… Hyo-jun.]

Passed.

“I accept your offer to support Kang Hyo-jun as Director. But that is not enough.”

[Hm.]

“Do one job with me.”

[Yes, well. Very well.]

Happy accepted as though it was no big deal.

‘Kang Hyo-jun, another slave is coming your way.’

“Contact Kang Hyo-jun and say I sent you. He will understand. Follow his instructions.”

[Understood. Then?]

“The Numbers 1 card can contact the Saintess, right?”

[Yes.]

Grin.

A smile came out on its own.

“From here on, I will handle it.”

***

“This makes no sense… It is a lie.”

Yeriche was sitting in the corner of her dark room, nervously biting her nails.

Yeriche’s eyes were fixed on one bottle of ‘Red Elixir,’ which she had bought for an exorbitant price at the Auction House.

‘This is real… It is real.’

A legendary elixir with two absurd effects attached: Wound Healing (S) and Disease Healing (S).

That was right in front of her.

To Yeriche, the existence of that red liquid was another name for despair.

Yeriche and her Supreme God Order had reigned over wealthy magnates and powerful figures around the world by using ‘Holy Water’ and Yeriche’s own Divine Power as bait to extort enormous donations.

—If you pay, we will save you.

This was the Order’s one and only authority and weapon.

But then this damned elixir appeared.

Moreover, what made Yeriche feel even more as though she was going insane was the fact that it did not even contain Mana impurity, which could cause resistance or side effects.

As if it truly were the legendary ‘Elixir’ known as the medicine of God.

In other words, it was a perfect superior version of Holy Water and Divine Power.

And since it guaranteed 100% medicinal efficacy even after repeated use.

It was a medicine of God whose demand would be eternal and immortal.

‘If something like this starts being released into the market, it is only a matter of time before the Order’s money line and power are cut off…!’

She had thought she only had to deal with the single item that had been listed.

That was why she had desperately gambled enormous Points and even the priceless ‘One-Time Saintess Call-In Voucher.’

But that devilish seller, ‘Special One,’ had deceived her by saying there were two items.

However, what drove Yeriche even more insane was the single message card Special One had left behind.

—I currently have 18 more bottles of Red Elixir on hand, and if I want, I can produce as many as I please.

The moment she saw that horrific sentence, Yeriche shed tears of misery.

Yeriche’s bloody efforts and the Order’s absolute value had been trampled by something like an industrial product that could be ‘produced as many as he pleased.’

Moreover, even the ‘Numbers 1’ seat she had taken three years to secure had been stolen from her.

‘The world I built is collapsing….’

She was afraid to go beyond that door and witness the world collapsing.

So Yeriche had shut herself in her room.

Vwoong!

“Hiiik!”

At the sudden heavy Mana wave that vibrated the air inside the room, Yeriche was startled and jumped in place.

“Wh-What is it?”

Vwoong! Vwoong!

It was the sound coming from the Numbers card she had thrown onto the floor.

Numbers cards had a strict hierarchy.

They were blocked so that lower numbers could not ‘dare’ to send messages to higher numbers.

However, higher numbers were free to send messages, and at such times, the Numbers card would make a noisy vibration saying, ‘Check this quickly.’

Vwooooong!

Like now.

Because Yeriche had maintained the Numbers 1 seat for a long time, it had also been a long while since she had heard a ‘summons’ like this.

“…I am Numbers 2 now.”

Then that was Numbers 1.

The one who had listed the Red Elixir was contacting her.

‘Uwaaa….’

I do not want to see it…

Vwoong! Vwoong! Vwooooong!

But the card vibrated madly, making it impossible for her to endure without checking it.

Yeriche rolled and crawled across the floor as she approached the card.

[Greetings, Numbers 2. You mediocre fool who was the strongest in the era before I appeared.]

The first sentence was a blunt provocation.

“…What the hell?”

A curse reflexively burst from Yeriche’s mouth.

[I heard you lost your mind after seeing the Red Elixir and shut yourself in the corner of your room, LOL.]

“…Did this person always talk like this?”

[LOLOLOLOLOLOL]

“…?”

[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Weakling.]

“???”

At that moment, the thin thread that had barely been holding Yeriche’s reason together snapped.

“This… insane bastard?”

Heat surged up from deep inside Yeriche’s chest.

Who cared about a summons from Numbers or anything else, when Holy Water was ruined and the Order was ruined too?

The Order was… shutting down.

‘I am quitting Numbers too!’

Brilliant Divine Power rose from Yeriche’s body.

Yeriche, who had greatly strengthened her body with the power of Divine Power, squeezed the hand holding the card.

Crush—crack!

The card, made of a special alloy and harder than steel, began to crumple.

At that moment, just before fragments flew out, a new message appeared on the screen.

[There is a way to turn Holy Water into a greater elixir than the Red Elixir.]

Yeriche’s hand stopped.

“Is that true?”

There was such a method?

[Curious?]

The timing was as if he were peering at her desperate expression from somewhere unseen and mocking her.

“…I am curious.”

The Divine Power in Yeriche’s body subsided.

Yeriche focused all her mind and waited for the next words.

She waited.

“?”

She kept waiting.

“What is this? Why are you not saying anything?”

Tap, tap.

Was it broken? Had she squeezed it too hard earlier?

No matter how anxiously she stared at the card.

There was no contact.

“No, why did you stop talking midway?!”

***

“There are two ways to make a person angry.”

[Hooh… Such methods exist? Interesting. What are they?]

“One is to stop speaking midway.”

[I see. What is the other one?]

Vwoong!

A call came in.

“Happy?”

[How did you do it?]

“Did things go well?”

[…Yes. Astonishingly so.]

As expected.

The effect is certain.

For Yeriche, it was bait she had no choice but to ask about.

And if I teased her by almost telling her, then not telling her, anyone would have no choice but to get angry.

[She was furious. She says she will come meet you, so please make time for her.]

“Huh.”

The effect was tremendous!

‘She is not going to attack me the moment we meet, right?’

Anyway, it went well, just as expected.

‘There is no need to lure her all the way to Korea anymore.’

“Let us do that.”

[When shall I set the appointment?]

“Tomorrow.”

I glanced at the quest rewards I still had not fully checked.

“I am busy today.”

[Yes, then I will relay it that way.]

The matter was finished.

I turned my gaze back to the monitor.

“Then….”

[Agent?]

[Reward]

[Synchronization (EX) ‘Trait’ Unlocked]

“Shall I check this?”

[Agent? What in the world is the second way to make a person angry?!]