Chapter 118 – Black Market Tenth Shopping (7)

“Ah…!”

Sungjin opened his eyes . A familiar ceiling entered his vision and he sat up on the bed . Feeling his forehead, he discovered that he was drenched in sweat .

‘Cold sweat?’

Sungjin let out a long sigh .

“Haa…”

He relived the moment he had died in his dream . He must be the only one in the world capable of doing so since a dead man cannot dream .

Sungjin who just dreamt of his old teammates from his previous life thought about them for a moment as he laid back in bed . About what he should do if he were to meet them again, and who he will choose to be his teammates once more .

In the first row was Hildebrandt . He had a cheerful demeanor . Even in moments of peril, he wouldn’t forget to crack a joke (they were often not funny) . And he had said that his daughter was in purgatory .

He was a man dedicated to ending the raid from start to the end .

‘He passes…’

Second was Illich . He was a bit more difficult . He definitely had great skill, but he was very easy to anger and lacked flexibility . Whenever anyone deviated even slightly from the agreed strategy, he would berate them harshly .

‘He is… rejected . He certainly had leadership potential… but this time I am the leader . ’

The second row had him and Nada with whom he had already reunited . Once again, they will fight alongside each other in the 2nd row .

Third row’s first member was Ryushin . Like other members, the probability of him surviving this far is very high . Just a few chapters ago, someone had purchased a legendary spear from the auction who Sungjin believed to be him . But he wasn’t someone Sungjin wanted in the final ten members .

‘He was far too egoistic and prideful . Even though I had to put up with it in the past… I am much stronger than he is now . Rather than me putting up with him, he wouldn’t be able to stand having me around . Rejected . ’

Next was Umkhuba . He certainly had unbelievable physical prowess . But he was far removed from the civilized code of ethics and often had issues with communication . He would certainly be able to pull his own weight, but he would often do something bizarre that greatly shocked the rest of the team .

‘I don’t think… Umkhuba passes…’

Next was Araujo . He had a high understanding of tactics and strategy, but he was also on the nagging side .

‘Hmm… but at least he wouldn’t try to provoke a fight like Illich… does he pass? No no . He thinks too highly of himself and has too many complaints . He will… most definitely try to lecture and contradict me too . ’

Next was Edward . There was only one choice .

‘Rejected… no, even if I have to put up with becoming a troll for one round, I need to eliminate him . ’

Next was Shunsuke . Shunsuke had been in Sungjin’s team twice in the raids towards the end, but he always remained silent, and Sungjin never had an opportunity to hold a conversation with him .

‘I still don’t know anything about that guy… so, for now, it’s a defer decision… or does that mean I should just reject him at this point?’

Last was the healer Mustafa . He came from a different cultural background so he was occasionally difficult to understand, but he was deeply motivated to end the raids to save his family . And the number of skilled healers were low to begin with .

‘He passes . ’

Now that he thought of it, aside from Nada and himself, only two out of the eight remaining hunters had passed his judgement . Hildebrandt and Mustafa . Sungjin thought of them for a moment .

Although they were from a very different background, they were also quite similar in some ways . Sungjin took a moment to think of what that was . And soon, he came up with the answer .

‘…family… is it’

Others had families as well, but the two men were the only ones who had carried their family photos in their wallets when they were first dragged into the raids .

‘Look, look Sungjin . They are my daughters . They all resemble their mother, aren’t they such beauties?’

‘In our country, we all lived together . Look look, this is my wife, my son, daughter, brother, brother’s wife…’

The two men were deeply motivated by the desire to rescue their families and felt a strong sense of responsibility towards putting the raids to an end . Sungjin grinned while thinking of them .

‘Well, it isn’t like all fathers are like them though . ’

Sungjin was an abandoned orphan . Sungjin stood up from his bed . But when he absentmindedly looked towards the window, he saw lights leaking into the room through the gaps in the blinds .

Sungjin walked over to the windows and opened the blinds . The sun was already high up in the sky . He recalled that he had a lunch appointment with Serin .

“Operator, what time is it?”

[11 o clock, 42 minutes, 32 seconds . ]

There wasn’t much time before his appointment with Serin . Sungjin began to prepare himself hastily .

*

A demi-human with the head of a lion and body of a human came to ask

“How would you like your steak prepared?”

Sungjin stiffened up . He was unfamiliar with these kind of places . Serin answered first .

“Um… I’d like it done medium rare . ”

Sungjin quickly ordered the same

“Ah, me too . ”

The place Sungjin was teleported to was a fancy restaurant with a classical orchestra being played in the background . The restaurant was near the auction house, on the top floor of the only five-story building in the Black Market .

‘I knew this place existed but…’

He never thought he would come here until today when Serin had him teleport here . Sungjin was inexpertly cutting his steak with the knife and fork as he exchanged words with her . It was their second meeting, but he had even less to talk about than last time .

If they were in the middle of Seoul, they might have been able to share a few words . But in the middle of the raids where people were forced to kill or be killed, the only topic they could speak about was of the raids .

“If you see anyone good during the raid, recommend them to me . ”

“Recommend?”

Sungjin nodded .

“Yes, to become our comrade . ”

“What kind…”

“There are a few criterion, but first and foremost is being a good human being and having a strong sense of teamwork . As you can tell… this raid cannot be beaten alone . ”

“I understand . ”

Serin nodded quickly at his words . She had seen many trolls . She would understand better than anyone else .

“And… it would be best if they were strong too, right?”

“Yes of course… although Oppa is probably the strongest . ”

Hearing the word ‘Oppa’ was still strange .

“Well, yeah . And… no, that’s all . Those two things . Kind and strong . ”

“Well… that… I think will be hard . ”

“What is?”

“Finding someone simultaneously strong and kind . This raid rewards selfish behavior… which is why trolls exist . ”

She had thought the same way he did .

“I think so too . But it isn’t like there are none . In fact, it is because they are rare that they have value in finding . ”

“…I see . I understand Oppa . I’ll look for them . ”

“Thanks . I’ll depend on you . ”

*

“Comrades, you say?”

3 pm . Sungjin was eating waffle with Franz at a waffle house . His hands were getting sticky from the sauce and so eating was much less graceful than earlier, but Sungjin preferred this .

“Yes, Comrades . People we want to add as a Chosen One like yourself . ”

“Hee… how exciting . Getting more Chosen Ones . ”

“There are two others besides you . ”

“Ah… I saw one of them . The Asian beauty from before . ”

“Yeah well… there is a Western Beauty as well . ”

“Really?”

“Yes . She doesn’t look like a stereotypical Caucasian… but she’s from Europe like you . ”

“Ooh, I see… But is it okay Mr Kei?”

“What is?”

“Picking comrades by their looks . ”

“Eh, that isn’t it… it just so happened…”

“Haha it was a joke, a joke . And I’m a man after all . I like having beautiful women on our side . ”

“… Anyway, if you see any dependable and trustworthy individuals, please let me know . ”

“I got it, Kei . ”

*

“Didn’t you see last time, when you called me for help… the female archer who was standing by my side?”

“Hmm… I didn’t see . ”

Nada said as she put a fork wrapped in pasta in her mouth . 7 PM . Sungjin was having his third meeting of the day with Nada .

‘Sungjin, Looking forward to working with you again . ’

It was much different than when he saw her in his dream . Serin was the same; women seemed to be creatures who drastically change their behavior based on levels of friendship .

“The situation was quite dire; I must have not noticed it, Kei . ”

“Well, that makes sense I guess, since the Dragon’s breath was being fired towards you as we spoke . ”

“Anyway, so there’s a long haired Asian woman and another guy?”

“Yes”

“So, how many empty spots are remaining?”

“Taking ten man raid as the standard, six spots . ”

“Six…”

She put down her wine to gaze out the window . The night scene of the Black Market was visible through the window . After staring at the light outside, she said to him

“Strong but trustworthy comrades, does six more even exist?”

She spoke as if she had also experienced ‘The last Raid’ .

‘So Nada feels this way as well…’

Sungjin said to her

“Then… focus on trustworthiness . Since if they reached this far, they have already proved that they are skillful . And about being strong… Being given the Chosen One title can probably make up the difference . ”

“Probably . And… this is just a guess, but everyone given the Chosen One title will probably survive to the end . The Chosen One passive is such a gigantic stat buff in of itself . And we can even ask for help when in danger…”

“But calling me all the time is a problem as well . ”

She grinned at his comment and said

“I know, I know . ”

“Anyway, I’ll leave it to you . If there is anyone you’d recommend as a comrade, let me know . ”

“What will you do after you are called?”

“I will hmm… need to interview them . ”

Nada opened her eyes wide as she said

“I~ntervie~w?”

“Yes, interview . I need to meet them face to face and exchange a few words, see their approximate strength, and check to see if they have the right qualities to become our comrade . It won’t be easy though . ”

Nada smiled .

“Kei… you’re acting like some sort of CEO . ”

Sungjin frowned slightly . But he couldn’t come up with any retort .

*

After separating with Nada, Sungjin returned to his bedroom . But only a few seconds later,

‘Knock knock’

Dalupin came knocking at the door .

“What is it, Dalupin?”

“Receipts have arrived from the Auction House today as well, Mr Hunter . ”

Now that he thought of it, there was that possibility too . Sungjin quickly got up to open the door . Dalupin handed over the receipts as well as the information sheet for the next raid .

“Thank you Dalupin . ”

Dalupin bowed deeply and left . Sungjin put down the information sheet as he checked the number of receipts .

‘One, two, three, four, five, six…?’

Six receipts . Every item up for auction had been sold .

‘I knew it… I priced the items perfectly . ’

Sungjin stuffed the receipts into the cube . He then asked the Operator

“Then… how many black coins do I have?”

[You have 46215 Coins . ]

With this amount, he would be able to buy the ‘Staff of Helix’ and the elixir . Sungjin came down to the 1st floor as he thought so .
As promised, Soldamyr was waiting for him . Sungjin asked him

“So, how is the research progressing?”

He had tasked Soldamyr with researching on ‘Aio – Ring of the Great Sage’ for the day . At his question, Soldamyr answered

“Master, I was able to gain some insights . ”