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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shio
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“Brother, I’m sorry, but your hands cannot be healed. It’s… too late.”
“Ah, is that so? Well then, just take care of the rest.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. There’s no need to apologize.”
Before going to the black market, I arrived at the temple and immediately had my wounds treated.
The bandages were only for first aid, so the temple was essential for fully healing my body.
The problem was how expensive it was.
The temple had the advantages of short waiting lines and overwhelmingly fast and effective treatment, but the drawback was the cost.
It hurt my heart to cut off a piece of the gold bar in my ultra-small dimensional pocket.
Even though I thought it was a fair price, I couldn’t help feeling it was a waste.
The only regrettable thing was that they couldn’t heal my hands, disfigured from labor in the ant colony.
The priest said that because I had continued working while injured, the scars had completely settled into my body and nothing could be done.
The right time they spoke of would have been immediately after the injury occurred.
As if that was possible.
Back then, living as an ant and a tool for mining mana stones, treatment was an unimaginable luxury I couldn’t even dream of.
Since they said there was no possibility at all, I gave up on that idea and only had the wounds from Ungbak treated before leaving the temple immediately.
Now, only the black market was left.
I would have liked to consign the items to an official auction house, but it was impossible because it took too long.
I had to buy necessary items for the academy and place equipment orders within a week, so I couldn’t leisurely attend an auction.
Even if I somehow managed to auction them, I would naturally have to ask for the money to be sent to the academy during the payment process.
Then the academy might become suspicious about the source of the money.
It would inevitably look suspicious if someone who clearly didn’t look like a noble but a commoner received tens of thousands of gold at once.
For these reasons, the black market, where I could receive money in a lump sum even if I earned less, was the most realistic choice.
I needed to go quickly. I could save time.
I hurried to move because the sooner I finished the schedule, the more time I would have to safely digest the internal organs.
Going to the black market wasn’t difficult, but finding out how to get there felt like a typical secret location.
It was easy to think of it as similar to finding the platform in a famous wizard movie.
“Found it.”
On the surface, it looked like an alley you could find in any neighborhood.
But the difference was that there were no traces of people to an awkward degree, and it was incredibly clean and well-maintained.
Except for the trash can intentionally blocking the front, it could be considered well-managed.
The most important thing about the black market was that you had to be fully aware that it was a black market.
In other words, if you entered that back alley without any thoughts, nothing would happen, but…
If I entered while consciously aware that I was going into the black market…
Swish swish swish.
With each step I took into the back alley, the surroundings gradually changed, and the scenery began to completely transform.
Just before fully entering the black market, I covered my face with a mask I had prepared in advance.
There was nothing better than covering one’s face for thorough concept play.
The structure was like a huge tunnel with flashy lights that made it impossible to see the sky.
It gave a feeling reminiscent of the ant colony, which made me uncomfortable, but I tried to ignore it.
If compared to Earth, it felt strongly like an underground subway station flamboyantly converted into a market.
Anyways, I had to get ready.
First, before officially selling my goods, I walked towards the center of the black market as much as possible.
Thud thud thud
The people in the black market showed interest in the new face that wasn’t someone they usually saw.
There were also faces wondering why a clearly young-looking kid would come in alone.
Regardless of that, as soon as I reached the center of the black market, I immediately shouted loudly:
“Selling Ungbak head!!!!!!!! Urgent sale!!!!!!! No pre-offers!!!!!!! No negotiations!!!!!!! Selling only until today!!!!!!! Can show proof of hunting!!!! Partial hide trade possible!!! Also selling freshly caught, still pulsating Ungbak testicles and heart!!!! Rumored to be very good for men!!!! Prefer cool deals!!!!!!!!!”
…
After shouting, everyone in the black market who heard my voice stared at me.
Not missing that moment, I immediately spread out a mat in the center and placed Ungbak’s head along with the well-preserved testicles and heart.
I displayed about two claws and exhibited half of the hide in a cut state, then leisurely waited for customers.
“Saying it one more time!!! Selling only until today!!!!!!!! No pre-offers!!!!!!! Absolutely no negotiations!!!!!!! Will reject trade if negotiated!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No other questions!!!!!! Will not respond!!!!!”
I demonstrated the same skills I used when selling items in the free market while playing computer games in the past.
If this were really a game, I would have filled the message window diligently while floating @ symbols as well.
This was the best I could do now.
The reason I changed my speech pattern even while wearing a mask was to make it absolutely impossible to identify me.
It would be troublesome if records of visiting the black market later hindered my activities at Mirinae Academy.
It was my own effort to leave no traces by even using the outdated “eum-seum-che” speech style¹ that was popular on Earth in the past.
“Ungbak? You caught that mountain guardian bear?”
“Look at that, it really is that face.”
“What if it’s a lie?”
“Do you think that hide, claws, and head are all fake?”
“There are plenty of scams here.”
There was always a reason for selling things secretly.
The most important thing in the black market was not buying and selling goods, but avoiding being scammed.
Customers were cautious, as this was a place that required the ability to clearly distinguish between genuine and fake items.
But that was just a matter of time, so it didn’t matter.
Once they used quick informants to check, they’d realize it was really caught.
There would be no aftermath if someone approached out of curiosity about who caught it, as they would clearly face bloodshed.
Not a single person in history had ever returned safely after investigating the princess of Mudanad.
After spreading out the mat and waiting for customers for about 10 minutes,
“Testicles! Sell me the testicles! How much were you thinking? I’ll match it as much as possible. Sell them to me!”
“Is that rumor about it being good for men really true?”
“If you don’t know, get lost! It’s urgent even if only those who know buy it, so if you’re not going to buy, get out!”
“Since the hide isn’t processed, I trust you’ll sell it at a conscientious price! The claws too! They’re unrefined, right?”
“Won’t sell if you’re picky, only those who will buy should come.”
“Just now! Sell the hide to me instead of that picky guy who was here before! I’ll really pay without asking or checking anything!”
“Who said you could cut in line!”
“Cutting in line?! What cutting in line! It’s first come, first served!”
The area in front of the mat was filled with numerous customers and had turned into chaos.
Even the black market management soldiers judged this level of commotion as normal and didn’t intervene at this point.
Now was the best time to raise the prices of the items to their highest.
“First, I’ll sell the testicles. Only selling one testicle, and buyers will be specially informed of a cooking method that can maximize virility. Since there seem to be many buyers, I’ll proceed with an auction immediately. The starting bid is…”
“Two thousand, I’ll buy it for two thousand, so can we skip the auction? It’s a waste of time, you see. You said you prefer cool deals, so it shouldn’t be bad for you either.”
Before I could even announce the starting bid, a customer appeared who blurted out a price far beyond what I had imagined.
This was too big a fish.
I thought I could sell it for about a million won at most, but to casually offer twice that amount…
The atmosphere around my mat, which had been noisy until just now, became quiet at this person’s spirit and presence.
People had unconsciously realized that this person was no ordinary individual.
“Must pay right now, and I only accept cash.”
“Understood.”
As soon as the words ended, a pouch flew swiftly towards me with frightening speed.
It seemed to have been thrown by someone who looked like a bodyguard standing right next to the big shot, and it contained exactly that amount of money.
To hide my surprise, I tried to hand over the note from my pocket to the big shot as naturally as possible.
Now that I had sold one item, if I could just keep selling quickly from now on, it would be a great success.
“Selling the heart! This is very effective for hair loss! See Ungbak’s fur? That’s all because this heart does its job properly. Like the testicles, I’ll also tell you a custom cooking method!”
“Hair loss! I must buy it for hair loss! Sell it to me!”
“No, why should you get it when you can just grow your hair long to cover it? I’ve worn a wig for 16 years, so it’s definitely mine!”
“Four thousand, I’ll buy it for four thousand.”
Just as it was about to get noisy again, the big shot once more threw cold water on the situation.
After looking around a few times and confirming that no one was bidding higher than him, he threw a pouch in the same way.
By this point, the surrounding people seemed to sense something was off and began to leave one by one.
It was an instinctive movement, knowing that getting involved with a big shot rarely ended well.
“The hide and claws…?”
“I’ll buy those all together for two thousand, is that alright?”
“Ah, very good…”
I almost forgot my act and spoke normally.
The biggest problem in this situation was that I couldn’t identify who this big shot was.
Who was it?
Things that had never happened while playing as Lee Seok-Hyun kept occurring.
Originally, in a case like this, it would have been right to sell at a reasonable price and pocket about three thousand.
However, with the appearance of an unexpected variable, the total amount earned was eight thousand.
It was earning in one go an amount equivalent to a low-ranking noble’s annual income.
Even at the lowest estimate, this person must be at least royalty.
Did a royal with a child at Mirinae Academy enter the black market?
That would explain the guards.
To conclude, the probability of getting into trouble if I got involved was extremely high.
As soon as I handed over all the items to the big shot, I folded the mat and quickly left the spot.
I didn’t know what kind of trouble I might get into if I got wrongly entangled.
Instead of wasting time on that, I had to focus on digesting the internal organs.
Ungbak’s internal organs were incredibly valuable as they could not only increase the stamina stat but also had a certain probability of acquiring a sub-skill.
The drawback was that if eaten early on, it took a long time to digest and had a high chance of failure.
But I wasn’t in a position to be picky now, so eating it right away was definitely the right answer.
“You, perhaps…”
“Well then, I’ll be going now.”
I heard a voice calling me from behind, but I immediately ignored it.
It was the belief of an experienced player to never do anything I didn’t know about.
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“He’s gone.”
“Indeed.”
At the spot where Lee Seok-Hyun had left, the big shot remained standing.
“I came wanting to see the face of the guy who caught Ungbak, but he was all wrapped up.”
“He seems smarter than we thought.”
“Should we try to recruit him?”
At the suggestion, the big shot pondered for a moment before responding.
“Try it. If he refuses, kill him.”
“Yes, sir.”
The eyes of those conversing briefly turned black before returning to normal.
The story was slowly advancing towards places unknown to Lee Seok-Hyun.
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[Shio here~!
I wonder if the people pursuing Seok-Hyun are Main? I mean, surely he wouldn’t have caught their attention THIS earl-nvm, as I’m writing this I realized the second to last line literally says “The eyes of those conversing briefly turned black…” I’m soooo done :sob:
Notes:
1: “Eumseumche” is a casual, internet-based speech style in Korean that is often used in online communities, particularly on forums and social media. Think of an informal and humorous kinda broken speech style. ]
