Chapter 9

Chapter. 9

[Tower Break - Floor 94]

[Tower Break Boss: Ancient Azure Dragon - Ice Dragon Scathach]

[5 days until commencement]

“Scathach is coming out?”

Right now, while Synchronization is still active, EX-rank Mana is flowing through my body.

That means that, at this very moment, I too am unmistakably recognized as a Hunter.

And along with that comes the ‘system messages,’ one of the privileges only Hunters can enjoy—something I could never see when I was an Awakening-incompetent with no Mana.

Ding-!

Over the red warning window of reality, a familiar golden system window spread across my vision this time.

It was the quest window from Lost Honor.

[Emergency Epic Quest]

[Save Republic of Korea from the Crisis of Destruction 2]

[Quest Objective]

[Defeat Ice Dragon Scathach]

[Reward]

[Corridor of Constellations - ‘Achievement’ Unlock]

[Possession Ticket]

“As expected. Since Scathach is appearing in reality, a subjugation quest has appeared in the game as well.”

As I examined the rewards, my eyes widened.

Achievements.

Those were always excellent in Lost Honor.

It was a system where clearing unusual and special objectives completed ‘Achievements,’ and the rewards were special things that could not easily be obtained otherwise.

Unlocking a Corridor of Constellations Achievement?

My experience as a hardened Lost Honor veteran was screaming at me.

This was a growth system linked to the Corridor.

‘In other words, it is a jackpot. And it even refills the Possession Ticket. Perfect.’

“Heh.”

Naturally, there was no reason to refuse a reward like that.

Still, the objective of the quest struck me as a little odd.

‘It wants me to kill Scathach myself?’

Scathach was an enemy Han Seol-ah had taken down easily in my world.

Now that a Genesis-rank staff was in Han Seol-ah's hands, subjugation itself should not pose much of a problem, so why was I being told to intervene personally?

Rather—

“Five days.”

That was the real problem.

The Break cycle, which had originally been thirty days, had been drastically reduced.

With the power of Han Seol-ah and Eternal Winter, there would probably be no great issue in killing whatever boss appeared, but…

“Can Republic of Korea withstand this?”

The problem was that the entire population would have to remain in a state of combat readiness the whole time.

“They might be able to stop it a few times… but if this drags on, it will be horrific.”

That was likely why the system had judged this a ‘crisis of destruction’ and issued the quest to me.

“Well, the reward is generous, so I have no complaints.”

The situation was clear now.

There was only one answer: climb the Tower.

Han Seol-ah would hold out against the Scathach arriving right away, and in the meantime, I would climb the Tower and resolve the root cause.

A perfect division of roles.

And for that to happen,

I needed to become stronger.

“Oh, that Mana Stone is huge.”

As the first step toward that,

I came to pick up the Mana Stone from the mutated Ogre I had just killed.

A chunk of stone lying where the Ogre had died, exuding a mysterious and dangerous-looking mist.

Since the dawn of the Hunter era, Mana Stones had been called the universal energy source.

It was the size of an adult man’s head.

There were two ways to deal with this.

The first was to bring it to the Hunter Association and receive contribution points.

It was legal, convenient, and they handled everything from collection to settlement themselves. On top of that, the contribution points you earned could be used however you wanted.

Since you could buy anything from food to Hunter equipment with contribution points, that would normally have been the best option to choose right now.

But I was rejected.

The reason was simple.

“Because I am Awakening-incompetent.”

I was someone who had lived a life in which I was not even treated like a human being.

I could not even complete citizen verification, so registering with the Hunter Association was even more impossible.

Register now?

And when they asked where I had been and what I had been doing all this time, what exactly was I supposed to say?

So that left the second method.

Illegal.

A path littered with the risk of being cheated at every step, from collection to settlement.

And even if you managed to exchange it after all that trouble, every product there came with absurdly inflated prices.

The Black Market.

In other words, the underworld market.

“It’s me.”

[We have been waiting for you, VIP.]

That was what it meant to be a VIP like me.

“I have something to sell.”

[…Sell?]

“Yes. A Mana Stone.”

[…What?!]

Crash! Bang!

A loud commotion came through the phone.

‘Is that really so surprising?’

Then again, of course, I had only ever bought things before.

This was my first time selling.

…Well, I suppose it would seem strange if someone who had always bought only rice suddenly announced he wanted to sell something.

Lost Honor really was a magnificent game.

After all, it had allowed even someone like me—who could not even go outside, let alone engage in the bare minimum of economic activity—to survive for ten long years.

Incredibly enough,

if you sold items at Lost Honor’s auction house, it deposited coins that could be used in the Black Market.

I bought food with those coins.

I indulged in a little luxury now and then as well.

That was how I had earned the rank of VIP.

‘…It sounds grand, but it really is not anything special.’

I knew there were true experts above that level, the ones called the Numbers, so it was best to remain humble.

[I-I will come to you at once!]

“You are coming here?”

[Y-yes. It is also to commemorate VIP’s first sale, and for a deal involving something like a Mana Stone, we usually make house calls.]

“…Really?”

This was the first time I had heard that the Black Market even offered an on-site service.

[Y-yes. It is understandable that you may not have heard of it. It is a service we only provide in limited situations, so only in special cases. As you know, a Mana Stone is… rather dangerous to trade in its raw form. So it qualifies as a special case.]

“All right, then.”

[If you tell us the meeting location…]

“Hmm.”

The location.

Up until now, every transaction I had made with the Black Market had been delivered to Cheol-su’s house.

Cheol-su followed a routine where he left in the morning and returned late at night, so it was convenient for me to make use of it.

And besides, as the saying went, the darkest place is under the lamp.

No one would easily expect that I would be doing something like this right next door, so it had seemed like a fairly clever move on my part.

But I did not want to use that address for a case this large and dangerous.

I did not want them growing suspicious and thinking, ‘This bastard, is this actually his real address?’

‘I would rather not expose my home address.’

“I will come instead.”

Problem solved.

I would just go there myself.

I could simply switch Synchronization on and make a quick trip.

[You are coming here?]

“Yes. I will come.”

[…]

“Hello?”

[Th-then I will send you the address by text message.]

“All right.”

[Please make sure it does not leak outside.]

“Of course.”

After hanging up and waiting a moment,

Ding.

A text arrived with the market’s address.

“Hm.”

‘It is right in the neighboring district. Close by.’

There was no reason to hesitate.

I returned home at once, refreshed the remaining duration of Synchronization,

picked up the Mana Stone, and flew off.

***

The Market was illegal, but it was a marketplace even larger than the Association.

Even if a country collapsed, and the Association disappeared, and all administrative power vanished, that did not mean every last person living on that land would simply die off and disappear.

Their only means of survival was to earn Coins, the currency of the Market, and buy the things they needed to stay alive through the Market.

The Market existed in every place that made you think, ‘Surely not here too?’

Crack down on the Market because it is illegal?

That would mean abandoning humanity trapped in this extreme situation.

That was why no one could touch the Market.

Naturally, the Market existed in Korea as well, even in this land of ruin.

The Black Market, Korea Branch.

A land that, by all rights, should have breathed its last long ago, but somehow continued to survive through abnormal vitality, dragging itself onward.

And yet everyone expected that its destruction was not far away.

“Our branch is in first place again this quarter. It is almost laughable.”

And yet, ironically…

The Korea Branch of the Black Market was a mysterious place that had never once lost the top spot in profitability among all branches.

…The reason was simple.

Because there was one ‘madman.’

Kang Hyo-jun, the manager of the Korea Branch, stared fixedly at a transaction history sheet.

[Purchased item: Calorie Stick (x100)]

“…Why in the world would anyone spend coins to buy Calorie Sticks?”

What were Calorie Sticks?

They were ‘free items’ distributed daily by the system.

And not only that—if you needed more, you could simply go to the distribution center in front of your home and receive as many as you wanted.

But this madman—

He paid Coins to buy Calorie Sticks.

Those precious Coins, the very lifeblood of the Market!

‘Is he some kind of criminal?’

But for someone living at rock bottom like that… his Coins never ran dry.

In any case,

Thanks to him, the Korea Branch had become a place performing miraculous alchemy, creating something out of nothing.

That was why this madman’s codename was ‘Alchemist.’

Kang Hyo-jun spun the mouse wheel.

‘Sticks, sticks, sticks… frozen chicken, sticks….’

Other than the occasional purchase of cheap frozen chicken, the entire transaction history was filled with nothing but Calorie Sticks. Looking at it was enough to make one lose his mind.

‘What in the world does he even do?’

No one knew the Alchemist's identity.

The Black Market, by design, was never supposed to know customer identities.

…but the upper echelon of the Market wanted to know everything about Alchemist except for his personal information.

Since they could not dare interfere with the Market’s absolute iron law of ‘identity destruction,’ they had instead ordered every tiny detail of Alchemist’s life to be analyzed and reported—his petty preferences, his transaction patterns, his activity cycles, everything.

“Still no ‘sales’ today. End of report.”

Above all, that was the strangest part.

Alchemist had never sold a single thing.

Then where, exactly, did these inexhaustible Coins come from?

Everyone was curious.

But the supreme administrator of the Black Market, ‘Market,’ maintained only that Alchemist’s Coins had been issued legitimately, while offering no further explanation.

If anything, ‘Market’ issued a stern warning to anyone who dared suspect Alchemist.

[1. Alchemist is the first and last ‘VIP’ in the history of the Market. Under all circumstances, provide him with the highest level of service, and never do anything that might offend him.]

[2. Never forget Rule 1.]

‘Market,’ who normally treated even the arrogant figures known as the Numbers with disdain while controlling the entire world, had flattened himself before Alchemist alone and issued an absolute protection order.

‘Just what kind of person is he?’

Ring-!

“Damn, that startled me.”

Kang Hyo-jun jumped at the sudden sound of a ringing phone.

He had been assigned to the Korea Branch for ten years.

And in all that time, this was the first time a ringtone had ever sounded from that phone.

“…?”

There were two devices Kang Hyo-jun had prepared exclusively for Alchemist.

And the one now ringing was the device dedicated to ‘sales.’

Gulp.

‘No way.’

That Alchemist was selling something?

Kang Hyo-jun snatched up the phone at once.

[It’s me.]

“We have been waiting for you, VIP.”

[I have something to sell.]

Crash!

‘Impossible!’

It was like a bolt of lightning had struck his head.

He leaped to his feet so quickly that objects on his desk crashed loudly to the floor, but he did not even notice. As though possessed, Kang Hyo-jun asked again,

“…You are selling something?”

This was enormous.

Truly enormous.

Kang Hyo-jun’s mind spun furiously.

Selling was different from buying.

With buying, all they had to do was deposit the Coins and deliver the goods to the designated location.

But with selling, the manager had to personally verify the merchandise.

Which meant—

‘I can meet Alchemist.’

It did not matter what he was selling.

The Market’s only VIP.

Kang Hyo-jun would finally be able to uncover his identity.

How much would that information be worth?

The scavengers who had long wanted to establish ties with him would lose their minds over it.

The value of that information…

could not even be estimated.

[Yes. A Mana Stone.]

‘…?’

Kang Hyo-jun’s rapidly spinning thoughts came to a dead stop.

‘Did I hear that wrong?’

A Mana Stone?

A Mana Stone?

Something you could obtain only in Towers above the fiftieth floor,

or by killing boss monsters above the eightieth floor among Gates,

and in Republic of Korea, where Mana Stones were the only lifeline, merely attempting to smuggle one out was enough to earn immediate execution—

That Mana Stone?

“What?”

[Yes.]

‘…This lunatic!!! H-he talks about a Mana Stone as though it were some pebble he picked up off the street.’

“I-I will come to you at once.”

[You are coming here?]

‘Damn it.’

—I made a mistake.

The insane proposal that he was selling a Mana Stone had shocked Kang Hyo-jun badly enough to shake his judgment as well.

Alchemist was famous for responding mercilessly to any attempt to uncover his personal information.

Kang Hyo-jun had always been careful, extremely careful, not to cross that line…

“Y-yes. It is also to commemorate VIP’s first sale, and for a deal involving something like a Mana Stone, we usually make house calls.”

[…Really?]

‘D-damn it.’

What a ridiculous excuse.

Kang Hyo-jun did not miss the subtle silence before that ‘Really?’

—I do not trust you.

That was what it seemed to say.

A silence full of meaning.

Kang Hyo-jun hurriedly tried to explain himself, but as expected, Alchemist was firm.

[I will come instead.]

‘….’

Kang Hyo-jun’s mouth fell shut.

The location of each Market branch throughout the world—

That was a secret among secrets.

No matter how powerful the person making the threats, the location of a branch was never revealed.

And the reason it was such an absolute secret was simple.

Because every branch had installed within it a secret device—

something that could be called ‘the Achilles’ heel of the Market’ and could never be exposed to the outside world.

And yet—

‘H-he wants me to tell him the Market’s location?’

What if he refused?

[Never offend the VIP.]

He would be violating Market’s warning.

And even more frightening than that…

‘…A monster on this level looks like the kind that would find it even if I did not tell him.’

There was no need to provoke such a monster and turn him into an enemy for no reason.

[Hello?]

“…Then I will send you the address by text message.”

[All right.]

“Please make sure it does not leak outside….”

That was the best Kang Hyo-jun could do.

[Of course.]

The call ended with that decisive reply.

“Haaah.”

Kang Hyo-jun slumped back into his chair.

‘…Just because I asked where he was, I ended up breaking one of the Market’s iron laws.’

Was this not effectively a declaration that, if he annoyed him even once, he would storm the headquarters and destroy everything?

Alchemist, as expected.

He was a man without blood or tears.

“Haaah.”

Kang Hyo-jun put a cigarette between his lips.

“I am doomed.”

To calm his pounding heart, he smoked slowly, all the way down to the filter.

Then Kang Hyo-jun organized what he needed to do next.

“When am I ever going to clean all this up?”

The Alchemist was coming.

So he needed to tidy this wreck of an office…

and seal shut the secret door leading underground…

Knock knock.

“?”

At the abrupt sound of knocking, Kang Hyo-jun froze on the spot.

“Is anyone there?”

“Huh?”

It was an unfamiliar voice, and yet somehow strangely familiar.

‘He is already here?’

“I do not have much time, so I will come in.”

Creeeak! The entire door froze solid in an instant, then—

Bang! It shattered into pieces.

Through the drifting powder of ice, a man walked in.

He wore on his face a cheap plastic clown mask with a broad grin, the sort you might find at some neighborhood stationery shop.

‘T-this insane psychopath…!’

At the suffocating dissonance between that bizarrely cheerful mask and the catastrophic Mana pouring from behind it, Kang Hyo-jun forgot how to breathe.

***

I was pressed for time.

Even though I had traveled while conserving Mana as much as possible, it had still taken about two minutes.

That meant I had to finish the Mana Stone deal within four minutes.

So I forced open the locked door.

‘Ugh, what a mess. It even smells like cigarettes.’

If I described the room as a pigsty, I would only be insulting pigs.

A trash can overflowing with paper would be the more appropriate comparison.

Out of habit, I swept the room with a quick glance.

No windows.

One chair.

One desk.

And the rest…

garbage.

Most of it was made up of inexplicable sheets of paper filled with nothing but the words [Purchase Calorie Sticks].

‘Purchase Calorie Sticks? Does this person like sticks too?’

They said Market managers tended to be odd people.

How much must he like Calorie Sticks to have written it so many times on paper?

Then I noticed the stairs leading downstairs.

‘Interesting.’

That part alone was tidy.

More importantly, there were traces everywhere showing frequent passage.

‘This space is just camouflage. The real thing must be downstairs.’

Only after thinking that far

did I take in the man inside the room, who had been smoking.

Neatly groomed hair.

Horn-rimmed glasses that made him look intellectual.

Heavy eyebrows, tightly set lips.

A well-trained physique.

He looked exactly like the sort of dangerous supporting character you would cast as ‘the bad guy’ in a crime film.

And the waves of Mana coming from him were anything but ordinary.

Just a little short of S-rank.

‘Whether it was people or Demonic Beasts, he looks like he has killed a fair number of them.’

Ordinarily, I would never have met his eyes. I would have fled.

But not now.

Right now, Synchronization is active.

“I am here to sell a Mana Stone.”