Chapter 043 – Black Market Fifth Shopping

Sungjin sat on the floor with his legs crossed, still holding onto his sword .

The place he was sitting was the ‘Hunter’s Hall . It was an unimaginably immense Hall lined endlessly with pillars .

Shortly, along with a ‘shooo’ sound, other Hunters were teleported to the same place . Sungjin looked up at the others . Everyone was drenched in sweat and covered in sand .

Once the crowd of hunters grew large enough, the Operator’s face showed up as a hologram above the pillars .

[Congratulations!]
[The hunters gathered here have all successfully cleared five chapters thus far . ]

Not many were happy despite her announcement . The hunters were fighting and struggling for their lives until just a moment ago .

[The current number of surviving Hunters is 637,024 . ]
[The raid began with a total of 7,310,067,613 Hunters . ]
[Less than 1 out of 10,000 of the original is remaining . ]

Sungjin tried to recall the past . He did remember that once the ‘Kutan Desert’ was cleared the Operator gave an announcement about the total number of surviving Hunters, but he couldn’t recall the exact amount .

‘Well based on luck, I bet it would fluctuate greatly…’

While Sungjin was lost in thought, the Operator continued to speak .

[Everyone present here is part of the top 0 . 01% of the rankings . ]
[You have all proven your own self-worth . ]

Sungjin briefly thought of “Serin Han’ and ‘Igor’ . He also remembered the ‘Coward’ from the first chapter . It was possible that he had survived until now… although the chances were extremely slim .

[Please continue to grow and become stronger]
[And clear all the raids . ]

Briefly, the Operator disappeared and was replaced by an image of people . Sungjin decided to look away and observe other people’s faces .

Everyone had deep frowns and angry faces; they were most likely being shown images of their friends and families .

[To remind you]
[Once the final raid is beaten,]
[Everyone trapped in the Purgatory will be revived . ]

Someone muttered under their breath .

“Fuck… How are we supposed to believe that?”

Someone else commented

“They’re holding everyone hostage… this is basically an extortion!”

But

[Starting from this chapter onward, at the center of the Black Market]

Despite grumbling just a second ago, once the Operator began an announcement, the hunters stopped speaking immediately; The Operator’s words were absolute when it came to survival in the Raids .

[A new area will appear . ]
[It is very useful in increasing your chances of survival, so I would recommend visiting it at least once . ]
[You will be sent to the Black Market in 10 seconds . ]

Sungjin could hear people murmur around him .

“New area? What’s that?”

“It’s probably useless without using tons of coins . ”

Sungjin couldn’t help but think

‘You don’t need it at all!’

[3, 2, 1, 0 . ]

Along with the countdown, the people gathered in the Hunter’s Hall were scattered to their own instances of the Black Market .

*

Sungjin immediately began walking once he arrived . His destination was one and only; Kenneth’s Katana shop . Once Sungjin was close, he asked the Operator for the amount of Coins he carried .

‘Operator, How many Coins do I have?”

[You have 12550 Coins . ]

Sungjin nodded and then entered the shop . And as always, Kenneth welcomed him inside .

“Welcome back, Mister Hunter . ”

“Hey Kenneth, sorry but… Can I… See the Blood Vengeance again?”

This was already the third time . Kenneth smiled brightly and replied .

“Of course you can, don’t be sorry . ”

And for the third time, Kenneth brought Blood Vengeance to Sungjin . Sungjin held the sword in his hands . Then, he held the Moon Specter in the right and Blood Vengeance in the left and tried swinging the sword with the sheath on . The swords smoothly sailed through the air .

“Sssh Sssh”

Kenneth hissed while clapping .

“I have seen a multitude of customers wield a sword… but it’s the first time I’ve seen anyone handle two swords so proficiently . ”

Sungjin was also very happy with himself . The Moon Specter and the Blood Vengeance; he was now able to field both swords simultaneously . With these two swords, he wouldn’t need to purchase any other weapon .

Sungjin lifted up the Blood Vengeance and said

“Please let me buy this . Operator, pay . ”

The Cube came forward and completed the transaction . Kenneth bowed and thanked Sungjin .

“9700 Coins received for one Blood Vengeance . Thank you for your business . ”

To her sincere and polite gesture, Sungjin replied in kind by also bowing his head .

“Thank you as well . Then, take care .

Sungjin hung the Blood Vengeance on his belt . He had finally become a Dual Wield Swordsman .

Sungjin was going to go straight back to the ‘Ninety Nine Nights’, but he thought of something .

‘Ah… That’s right . ’

At the newly created area, there was a business he had to attend to . Sungjin passed many shops to make his way to the center of the Market .

In a previously empty lot, a circular stall had sprung up which was run by three pig demi-humans .

“Do you have anything you wish to sell?”

“Or is there something you’d like to buy?”

“Whichever it is, please come!”

Sungjin walked over . The Operator began her explanation .

[This is the ‘Achi’ Brother’s “Time is money plan’]
[Hunters can put up items for auction at this shop, which could then be purchased by other Hunters . ]

Sungjin walked up to the smallest of the three pig brothers . And then

“Operator, give me Manta . ”

Receiving Manta from the cube, Sungjin handed over the staff to the pig man .

“Please put this up for auction . ”

The Pigman replied

“Oh, this is a Heroic Tier item . The Minimum payout for Heroic Tier items is 2000 coins . If someone makes a bid for the item, the item will remain available until sundown for another bid . ”

“I know . Start the auction price at 3000 and set the instant buyout at 6000 coins . ”

Sungjin knew the general prices of items thanks to his experience .

Rare was between 500 ~ 5000, Heroic between 2000 ~ 5000 and Legendary was between 5000 ~ 50,000 .

Unique Legendary items were priceless, but they were typically unavailable due to the advantage they offered in the raid .

Just like how Sungjin had no intentions to auction ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ .

“Understood . ”

The Pigman took the item and placed it inside a larger cube at the center of their shop .

“If it gets sold, we will send the earnings to Ninety Nine Nights . ”

Sungjin nodded . To be honest, items with magic enhancements like ‘Manta’ weren’t likely to be sold . It was because most hunters were not ready to fight exclusively with magic until after chapter 7 or 8 .

But as long as he kept the item available in the shop, someone was bound to buy it . The item itself was not bad at all . Another Pig demi-human approached Sungjin .

“Anything you would like to buy?”

Sungjin shook his head, but he thought he might as well ask .

“Well… Any Legendary Tier items available for sale?”

“There are… no legendary items for sale currently . ”

Just as he thought . It was too early for Legendary items to be in the surplus . Since Sungjin had no interest in anything less than a Legendary tier item, he left the market without worry .

“Ok, I’ll have to check back in another time . ”

Sungjin immediately headed off to Ninety Nine Nights . He had already decided on tonight’s Menu .

*

‘Slurp’

It was the cold noodles, in a bowl with chilled soup . Sungjin drank directly from the bowl that Dalupin served the noodles in . It was so refreshing after the torturous desert Raid .

“You look much better now, Master . ”

Soldamyr said sitting across the table . Thanks to ‘Spiritual Link’ he was able to stay at ‘Ninety Nine Nights’ along with Cain .

“Of course . Kutan Desert is the only desert I’ve been to . That being said, don’t you need to eat something?”

“Yes, I only need to absorb mana from the atmosphere . ”

“I see…”

‘Slurp slurp’

Cain was busily wolfing up the chicken meat . Sungjin petted his head .

“Good good, eat a lot, Cain . ”

Cain was definitely bigger now . Last time it wasn’t too noticeable, but now Sungjin was absolutely certain . Cain was growing at a very fast pace each day .

‘Does this even make sense?’

Sungjin wondered, but he quickly dismissed his thoughts; time itself flowed strangely in the Black Market .

The Raid always began in the morning, but by the time they returned, it was late afternoon . It wouldn’t be strange if several days passed while Sungjin was participating in the raid . Once he was done with his meal,

“See you later Soldamyr . Bye Cain . ”

Facing his host, Sungjin thanked him .

“Thank you for the meal . ”

Sungjin left and returned to his room . He was fatigued due to the desert heat .

He filled the tub and lay in the bath as he always did .

“Haa…”

Sungjin couldn’t help but sigh . He knew it would be a tough raid, but it was far more difficult than he had anticipated . It was physically taxing, but

‘Kill me, and continue forward . Survive to the end and save us from our imprisonment . Please, bring salvation to mankind . ’

After killing Igor with his own hands, he felt an internal turmoil . He had forgotten somehow but

‘Once the final raid is beaten, Everyone trapped in the Purgatory will be revived . ’

Igor and the Operator had reminded him of his mission . Very likely, the salvation of mankind rested on his shoulders . It was a heavy burden to take .

Sungjin raised his gaze to the ceiling .

‘But… this isn’t something I can clear on my own…’

If he could complete every raid by himself, it would be perfect, but that was impossible . The way the Raids had been designed, cooperation with several teammates was necessary to clear it .

The further along the raid he progressed, the more important his teammates became . It was not only about having strong teammates but having teammates he could trust . But often it was difficult to find both qualities in the same person .

It was true in the ‘real world’, and it was especially true in the Raid . He couldn’t help but recall Igor’s words .

‘In some ways, isn’t this just like how the world works? Competing over limited resources? This game is structured this way; work together until you clear the raid, and then Kill . Take the contribution points by force . This is a far more profitable outcome . ’

He wasn’t wrong . The design of the Raid seemed to encourage troll activity . It would be extremely rare to be able to find kind-hearted yet strong individuals, especially in a system that rewarded team killing .

‘So… does this system favor evil over good?’

If that was true, then something needed to be done, considering his ‘previous failure’ . Sungjin lay back in the tub and thought to himself . He recalled Serin and Igor’s case .

‘If I really intend to complete the final raid… I can’t be the only one to grow stronger… I need to overcome the system and be able to influence the raid as a whole…’

And then he thought of something .

‘Overcome the system . ’

There was a place where that might be possible . Sungjin got up from the bath and wiped himself down with a towel .

‘Knock Knock’

Dalupin appeared as if he knew when Sungjin might be done with the bath .

“Please come in”

Dalupin greeted him politely and then handed over a piece of paper .

“It is the information brochure on the next Chapter . ”

Sungjin accepted it and asked Dalupin

“Dalupin I have a special request for tonight . ”
Go ahead and ask . ”

“Please wake me up at . At 4:20 am… no, make that 4:10 am . ”

“Four in the morning?”

The Owl demi-human stared at him quizzically, not understanding what this was about . Dalupin blinked a few times . Sungjin answered

“Yes . You sleep during the day anyway, right?”

There was not an instance where Dalupin ever refused .

“Understood . ”

After he had left, Sungjin went straight to bed . He had to sleep earlier tonight . He had to wake up at 4:10 am to make it to the hidden market which opened at 4:30 .