Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Demon Realm Market

DING!

[Poporu, the Demon of Kung Fu, has consumed Magic Stones!]

[Poporu leveled up!]

[Poporu leveled up!]

[Level 16 achieved!]

[The level of the Unique Trait ‘Physical Training’ has increased! Current Level: LV2]

The speed of muscle growth through training accelerates in proportion to the level!

When a specific body part is repeatedly trained periodically above a certain intensity, the ‘Neural System Enhancement’ effect activates!

You can mobilize more muscle fibers at the same time and momentarily produce greater strength.

Unnecessary muscle tension decreases even in sudden combat situations.

Nerves send signals to muscles more quickly, increasing reaction speed.

Gulp.

I had fed him Magic Stones because I wanted muscle growth to become even a little faster.

But not only had the speed increased, an ability directly linked to survival in the Labyrinth had appeared.

Since what rose through this trait applied in reality as well, it would not be an exaggeration to call it overpowered.

Slide.

I quietly stretched out my arms and hugged Poporu.

He was incredibly soft.

“Du?”

Poporu, who had been patting his bulging belly, drew a question mark at the sudden hug.

“This crazy Poporu.”

“Ddu!?”

As if proving he was indeed a coward, he flinched with a ddu and trembled.

After vigorously stroking him, I turned my eyes to the next message.

This time, I did not swallow dryly.

My eyes did not go round either.

[Aris, the Demon of the Evil Eye, has consumed Magic Stones!]

[Aris leveled up! Level 18 achieved!]

A message endlessly shorter compared to Poporu’s.

She had only leveled up, and it ended there.

I stared fixedly at Aris.

Aris was licking her hands, then felt my gaze and lifted her head.

Aris’s eyes shook violently.

For some reason, her gaze looked aggrieved.

‘Did I eat too disgracefully!?’

That did not seem to be it.

She had eaten messily from the beginning.

Then what on earth was it!?

Ryu Jin laughed faintly and tapped Aris’s head as if to say it was a joke.

If he left her alone, she looked ready to let her imagination run wild in every direction.

I rose from my seat and gathered my underwear and towel.

“I’m going to wash up and come out, so behave yourselves. Don’t open the door no matter who comes. And.”

I pointed to the room that had become a complete mess because Poporu and Aris had been fighting before I went to Plum Blossom Venerable.

“Clean it up while I’m asking nicely.”

Chicken bones, pizza crusts, and so on were scattered everywhere.

If we left it like this, the cockroach teachers might come visiting.

“Understood, du! This humble one, du, shall clean it up responsibly, du!”

“What are you taking responsibility for! You lousy Kung-du! I’ll take command, so follow me properly!”

I shook my head at the two of them, who were bickering again.

They would not end up destroying my precious one-room apartment someday, would they?

Not until I saved up the next security deposit.

“Oh, right. Poporu.”

“Give your command, du! Shall I beat up this treasonous steamed bun, du!?”

“That’s not it. How much strength can you use in your current Miniature version?”

“Judging by outward appearance, you may think I am similar to this scheming steamed bun, du. But that is a grave misunderstanding, du.”

“Hey, lousy Kung-du! What did you just sa—Gueh!”

With a crack, Aris flew away in a familiar angle.

“I had merely restrained myself because this is my lord’s house, du! I can produce several times more force than that, du!”

“If you had to subdue me?”

“Such an irreverent act is impossible, du! I am not Aris, du!”

“No. Try it once. Don’t hit me, though.”

“Duuuu...!”

It seemed to be a difficult request for the loyal retainer Kung-du.

Poporu rubbed his chin with his short, stubby fingers and pondered for a long while.

Then he finally spoke.

“Since it is my lord’s order, I shall do it just this once, du!”

With a solemn expression, Poporu exhaled.

Anyone watching would have thought he had made a decision to save the nation—

!?

In an instant, Poporu kicked off the ground and flew at me.

When that Poporu touched my leg, my vision flipped.

Boing!

A warm softness supported the back of my head as it fell.

He did not look particularly strained either.

It was a strength that could not be explained by the simple difference in visible physique.

“The essence of Poporu Kung Fu, du, is that even a fallen opponent must be finished thoroughly, du! Therefore, it begins now, du! Like this! Ddush, ddush! Like this!”

The softness that began at the crown of my head passed evenly over areas considered vital points, such as my eyes, nose, mouth, Adam’s apple, solar plexus, and heart.

“That is all, du. This humble one is small, so I cannot help you up, du.”

“It’s fine. By the way, Poporu, are you very tired?”

Poporu wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“For some strange reason, in this world, my strength is not only suppressed, but it is also physically exhausting, du. Since this does not happen in the Labyrinth, I suspect it may be because my world does not exist here, du.”

“It looks like demons can display their greatest strength when they are in their own world. Like a home advantage.”

“Home panties, du?”

“It’s nothing. But why are you only telling me such important information now? You didn’t tell me when I asked last time.”

“Ddu!? It was so obvious to demons that I left it out, du.”

“I’m joking. Let’s go take a bath.”

I placed Poporu, who was sweating heavily, on my shoulder.

Then I helped Aris, who had been slammed into that corner, to her feet.

“Are you all right, steamed bun?”

“Boss! My face has been hit so much that I can’t feel it!”

“Ugh.”

When Aris turned to look at me, I frowned without realizing it.

Perhaps because she was a steamed bun, the place where she had just been struck by One-Inch Punch was sunken in.

“Do you want to use my phone?”

“Great! There is something I didn’t finish!”

Just as I was about to hand it over, I glared at Aris with eyes full of suspicion.

“Hey, Steamed Bun Aris.”

“Yes!”

“Don’t do anything strange. It’s my phone, so I’ll be the one who takes the blame for everything.”

“Of course!”

“And don’t forget that I’m your meal ticket. If I disappear, you won’t be able to eat Magic Stones, understand?”

Aris winked and stuck out her short, stubby thumb.

Why did that make me trust her even less?

“Boss! But can we clean later?”

“Ah.”

Look at the state of my mind.

I put Poporu, whom I had placed on my shoulder, back down.

“Du!?”

And I confiscated the phone again.

“U-Uh!”

“Clean the room first.”

After saying that, I slipped into the bathroom.

I heard voices outside saying that it was your fault and so on, but let us ignore them.

Whatever the process was, it would be fine as long as they cleaned it properly.

“Ughhh.”

I stretched wide.

My whole body was completely covered in sweat and sand.

Let us wash quickly and get some sleep.

Then let us go sell Magic Stones.

Because the loan interest would not wait for me.

---

A certain alley market located in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon.

“W-Why are you doing this!”

“What do you mean, why?”

A rough-looking group raised the corners of their mouths.

“Bring it here. We know you just sold Magic Stones. You received cash, didn’t you?”

“No! I need this money if I want to do the next round of cash farming!”

“We can’t have that either. We need your money if we want to drink soju with dried squid today. I won’t say it twice.”

A group of youths who looked young surrounded the man.

“Do you want to hand it over after seeing something ugly? Or do you want to just hand it over? I’ll count to three. One.”

The man squeezed his eyes shut and held out the envelope that had been in his pocket.

This damned neighborhood.

He had come here because he had heard they bought Lowest-Grade Magic Stones at an unusually high price, but there was a reason it was called the Demon Realm.

He remembered the posts he had seen before coming.

There are a ton of delinquent circles gathered there. If you go, just assume you’ll get robbed.

Even if you receive it by bank transfer, they’ll take your phone and drain it. Go there if you want to pay tribute.

Even if you report it to the police, that sort of thing happens so often in that commercial district that the investigation is half-hearted at best.

The reviews he had ignored because he had been tempted by money.

He had thought he would be fine if he did nothing else and left right away, but that had been a massive mistake.

After checking inside the envelope, the group smiled.

“Wow, that’s pretty loaded. Where are you cash farming, bro? You must be doing it on a fairly low floor.”

“Want to exchange Instagrams, bro? If you pay us a protection fee, we’ll protect you from things like this next time.”

‘I’m never coming back, you bastards!’

He only shouted that quietly in his heart.

He did not know how it was inside the Labyrinth, but in reality, no one could stand against a group beating.

“If you’re not going to, then leave. Our business is done. Just think of it as giving alms to poor students. We didn’t take your phone or anything else.”

After snickering for quite a while, they each added one more comment.

“Mister, reporting it won’t do anything. Even if we get caught, we come right back out.”

“We’ve seen your face. Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

“I-I won’t...”

When they opened the way, the man lowered his head deeply and walked away.

It was money as precious as blood, but there was nothing he could do.

He had to survive first.

Jo Woo-chan, who was the leader of the group, smiled as he watched the man move farther away.

“The world really has become a better place. We just wait quietly, and they walk in to pay tribute.”

“Exactly. Why risk your life doing Labyrinth cash farming? We can just wait here.”

“So-yeon. Do you even know the value of labor?”

“Yeah, the value of labor, my ass. As if you’ve ever done anything either.”

“Enough. Let’s go to the shop first.”

Jo Woo-chan raised his hand and headed toward the shopping district.

Then he went to the shop where the man had just sold his Lowest-Grade Magic Stones.

“How did it go?”

The shopkeeper, who asked naturally while smoking, was the shop owner, Lee Do-guk.

Instead of answering, Jo Woo-chan took out the envelope he had just stolen.

Lee Do-guk raised the corners of his mouth.

A business where he obtained Lowest-Grade Magic Stones and even received the money back as payback.

Where else in the world would there be a business like this?

“Good work. Take this. I added a little more than usual.”

He took money out of the envelope and handed it to Jo Woo-chan and the group.

Even if they were handed over to the police, these guys knew how to come out on their own, so they were perfect to use.

“Thank you! Senior!”

“Yes! Meat and soju today?”

“You’re acting like you don’t usually eat that. You eat without paying anyway.”

“Hey, hey. Business must be bad these days because of the recession, so go easy.”

The method was to hide the fact that they were students, drink alcohol, then instead threaten the shop owner and extort money.

Jo Woo-chan and his group ate free alcohol and meals every day with this trick.

“Come on, of course! We go easy too! Easy! We need to coexist.”

“You brat, coexist, my ass.”

Just as he was about to tell them to leave.

An alert arrived on Lee Do-guk’s phone.

Lee Do-guk checked the text and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Do you guys want to come back after dinner and do one more job?”

“Can we? I think we’ll be tipsy.”

“If you want to make money, come. It’s a big fish.”

Jo Woo-chan and the group’s eyes sparkled.

It had been a long time since they had heard it.

Lee Do-guk saying something was a big fish.

It seemed their money luck was really about to burst today.

---

The hour was deep into dawn, when all the other shops had closed.

Ryu Jin, who had come a long way from Sillim, entered the alley market.

An alley market full of grim rumors, enough to have earned the nickname Demon Realm Incheon.

Let us give it a shot.