Chapter 90 – Black Market Ninth Shopping (1)  

‘What should I do?’

Sungjin remembered about the ‘Eye of Jeremiah’ on his ear. If he could read her mind, he could possibly find a solution. Sungjin decided to start a conversation.

“What’s your name?”

He touched the earring.

“Why do you need my name?”

He could now hear her thoughts.

‘1 minute until Black Market... I’ll just have to be careful for another minute... then nothing will happen. But... I still haven’t got the chance to grab the item...’

After hearing her thoughts, Sungjin glanced behind her at the bow the Owl Hunter had dropped. It must have troubled her.

What’s the point of hunting trolls if you can’t even pick up their items afterwards? Each Item she took from the Trolls must have been worth more to her than Sungjin, who picked up multiple items from across different dimensions.

Sungjin pointed at the bow next to the ‘Owl Hunter’ and said

“Hey, go ahead and grab your item. It’s a shame if you can’t even collect the Item you got from troll hunting, right?”

‘I don’t think this guy is a troll per se...’

It looked like she had lowered her guard a bit. She slowly moved backwards while watching Sungjin. Sungjin continued to stand still to make sure she can feel safer.

And like that, she placed the bow into her cube without taking her eyes off of him. Once it was away, Sungjin moved forward, but she still held out her dagger towards him.

‘He said boobs earlier... There’s no way I can put down my guard. Seeing how fast he pulled out his sword earlier, he could put me in danger in a split second.’

Reading her thoughts, Sungjin put all of his swords away in the cube.

“I have zero intentions to fight. I just want to talk.”

‘He put them away? What is he planning to do in case I attack?’

She was now deeply confused. She asked him

“... What is it?”

“I am not an enemy. In fact... I’ve come to help you.”

“Help with what? Trolls are already dead.”

He couldn’t hear her thoughts anymore. The 10 seconds must have passed. Sungjin pulled out the ‘Holy Water of Baptism’ from his vest and said

“This... is an item which increases your stats by a large margin. I’ll use this on you.”

“Why? How do I know it is not a poison?”

“It’s not a poison. I’m telling you, it’s beneficial.”

“If it is really that good... hand it over. I’ll use it on myself.”

Sungjin slapped his forehead. There was no time to convince her. But he didn’t want to lose this opportunity. It was then that the Zombie Samurai collapsed.

Sungjin didn’t do anything, and it just died on its own. It meant she was out of mana.

‘...’

Sungjin considered his options. Then he made up his mind. He couldn’t afford to let her go. She already proved her worth in skill and as a person. Sungjin prepared himself.

“Whew...”

He let out a long sigh and then charged towards her. Her eyes grew wide as she brandished her dagger against him. She was fast. She must have had high stats despite also investing in mana on the side.

But that was only in comparison to other hunters. Perhaps she could have put up a fight against Sungjin with Black Magic, but without mana, there was nothing she could do.

Sungjin twisted his body and dodged all of her strikes, and then he grabbed her wrist.

Once her hands were caught, she tried to kick him in the groin, but he moved to the side and dodged her.

Because of Sungjin moving to the side and her missing her kick, she lost balance and began to fall. Sungjin quickly raised his hands and grabbed her behind, holding her up.

Her sizable breasts jiggled in front of his eyes. The situation was turning strange again. Nada began to swear.

“You son of a bitch!”

It was too late to straighten out this situation. Sungjin pushed her down to the floor and saddled on top of her to prevent her from moving.

“Fucker!”

Nada continued to shower him with insults, but she couldn’t do anything. Sungjin opened the bottle of Holy water with one hand and sprayed her with it.

“Baptise”

Bright light emerged and enveloped her. At the same time, the Operator gave an announcement.

[You were ‘Chosen’ by someone. Title granted.]

Baptism was a success for now. Sungjin quickly got up and pulled her back up to her feet.

“I am sorry, I had no choice.”

But Nada’s expression towards Sungjin was far more wrathful than it had ever been.

“Get out of my sight you piece of shit!”

Sungjin decided to ignore everything and focus on the key points.

“Title! Check the title!”

If she would just check the title, she would understand what had happened.

[Chosen one – Receive 20% of the chooser’s...]

Before the explanation could finish

[Returning to the Hunter’s Hall in 10 seconds.]

The Countdown began. The chapter was about to be finished.

[9, 8, 7]

Along with the Cube’s countdown, Sungjin said to her

“Please check your title and status screen!”

[6, 5, 4]

But she was glaring at him as if looking at a rapist.

“And please call for me, at the Black Market”

[3, 2, 1]

“Or if you’re ever in danger!”

[0]

Along with Sungjin’s words, the two disappeared from sight.

*

Sungjin was summoned to a room with what appeared to be an infinite number of columns called the ‘Hunter’s Hall’. The room was full of people, but no one spoke. Most of them appeared exhausted.

Meanwhile, the Operator began to speak.

[Welcome. Everyone present here has overcome nine chapters thus far.]

[Out of 7,310,067,613 participants in the first raid]

[the number of surviving hunters is 183,655.]

[Everyone present represents the top 0.0025% of humanity]

[and have proven with your own hands, your strength and your worth]

Sungjin looked around. There were still plenty of people around him, but it wasn’t like last time where the crowd of people extended ‘without end’. It was now possible to see the edge of where the crowd ended.

[Please continue to grow stronger and stronger]

[And clear the final raid.]

The Operator disappeared from the pillars. Instead, the image of staff members of Sungjin’s orphanages appeared; Principal, Teachers, friends, etcetera. It was time to see the people stuck within the Purgatory.

Sungjin never felt strongly about the people within the Purgatory, so he looked around him. By now, almost no one cried at the sight; if anything, they looked more determined than ever.

They have seen it often enough to get used to it; the remaining people were all strong enough to be able to move on.

[Once again,]

[If someone manages to clear the final raid]

[Everyone in Purgatory will be revived.]

Among the silence, someone yelled out loud with annoyance.

“So why were we called here?”

The Operator gave an explanation as if responding to him.

[From this point onward the raid will be carried out in not 5 man, but 10 man member format]

[The map and monsters will become more difficult to reflect this increase in membership.]

“10 man teams?”

“Twice as many people?”

People began to whisper. But

[Starting with next raid, please take extra precaution to preserve your life.]

[Teleporting to Black Market in 10 seconds.]

“Even 5 man teams were not trustable...”

“Right, what are we supposed to do now?”

“You tell us that NOW?”

Shouts of anger filled the hall but indifferent to their complaints,

[2, 1, 0]

Everyone was soon teleported away from the spot.

*

Once back at the Black market, Sungjin plopped down at the ‘First Drop’.

“Haa...”

“What would you like to drink, sir?”

Xiu Ran asked Sungjin politely, but Sungjin replied half-heartedly.

“Ah... cold water. Water.”

“Ah... ok...”

She left to get him a glass of water. Sungjin drank it and then remembered Nada’s words.

‘Get away from me you piece of shit!’

Sungjin massaged his forehead. In the past

‘So you survived. I look forward to working with you.’

‘Leave the back to me’

She was so friendly with him. This time, things went as wrong as it could possibly go.

‘But if she checks her title... she should understand my intentions...right?’

In truth, Sungjin was also somewhat interested in her due to her outrageous appearance. But a chance for a good first impression was forever lost. Sungjin took out ‘Besgoro’ from the cube.

He headbutted the skull before putting it on.

“You Perverted old man!”

‘What? You were the one who said it out loud’

“It was because you kept on saying weird things!”

‘Hey, why are you like this? As if I’m the only one in the wrong? You were staring at her too. At THAT. I told you before, but I can see what you can see... those enormous breasts.’

“There’s a difference between thinking it and saying it out loud”

‘The only difference is that I am more honest with myself. You said it out loud because you were focused on it as well, don’t you think?’

Sungjin couldn’t say anything to respond. It was the truth that his eyes were glued there as well. Besgoro continued.

‘So did you baptise her? Did you spray that sticky fluid all over her...’

Sungjin took off the helmet before he finished.

‘Wow, this senile old thing... even after death...’

Sungjin vowed to get a different helm as soon as he finds one. Although it would be difficult to find one that could replace ‘Substitute casting’ and ‘Frenzy’.

Sungjin returned Besgoro back into the Cube. He drank the rest of the cold water and

“Thank you for the water”

He left the shop. He had baptised Franz and Nada. He wasn’t sure about Nada, but Franz would definitely call him. There was much he needed to do before the meeting with Franz.

Sungjin first visited the Pig Brothers’ auction house to put items up for sale.

“Set this one’s starting price at 3000, and 3400 instant buyout. This one... 3500 starting price and 4500 instant buyout please.”

“Understood, Items put up for auction.”

After putting up the eight items he had already determined the prices for,

“Operator, give me the four items I got from the last dimension.”

He checked the items obtained from the last dimension he had visited. But one of the four items caught his eye.

‘Eh...’

It was a necklace which looked like something an ancient South American Inca or an Aztec would wear; The necklace of the Berserker, Yanhurat – Mad God’s Voice’.

‘Two identical items... I heard something about synergy in the past... I guess it’s about time I visited Kargos.’

Kargos was a blacksmith who worked at a smithy to the southern end of the Black market. It was about the right time to begin using the Enhancement stone, so Sungjin wanted to take care of everything at once.

Sungjin placed both Yanhurats into the Cube and picked up the other Items dropped by the Samurai and the Berserker

“Set this at 2000 and 2500 instant buyout; this at 2700 and 3200...”

And placed them all on the auction house.

“Thanks”

He put the auction house behind him and began walking. Sungjin thought of the two individuals he had baptised.

‘Hmm, I hope he doesn’t call me until I’m done with my things... I should have told them to call me after sundown.’

He thought about Franz as such.

‘Will she understand my intentions if she checks the title and stats? What if she thinks I am an irredeemable pervert?’

He thought about Nada.