Chapter 93 – Black Market Ninth Shopping (4)

After the blinding rays of light subsided, Sungjin and Franz stared at the gigantic figure of Cain standing before them . He was about double the previous size . His eyes were level with Sungjin now .

The suddenly-taller Cain took a look at himself and then

“Awoo~”

Let out a long howl . He sounded quite pleased . Just then, Sungjin noticed that the figurine had changed as well . The figurine was larger and slightly glossy . It was looking more like Cain now . Sungjin held the item up for inspection .

Grand Kin – Master of the Forest
Legendary Summon

Special ability – Spiritual Link (Grand Kin)
Spiritual Link(Grand Kin) – Loyal Familiar, Summon Grand Kin .

If Summon is killed, or if 10 minutes pass from the time of summoning, it disappears .

Grand Kin who inherited the Forest from his mother .
According to legend, he can communicate with other creatures of the forest and command the spirits .

“Whoa…”

Sungjin was staring at the screen . Franz was also standing wide mouthed .

“This… from chapter 2…?”

He must have mistaken Cain for Ahenna . Although, the current form of Cain looked just like her .

“Grr?”

Cain walked towards Franz . Perhaps due to his size, Franz unconsciously took a step back .

“Whao…”

Cain tilted his head and turned to look at Sungjin . He began to resemble a human .

‘Master, who is he? How can you be in the Black Market together with him?’

He seemed to ask with his gaze . Sungjin pet his head and said

“He’s my comrade . Just like you are mine . Comrade . ”

Cain seemed amazed and turned to resume staring at Franz .

‘Sniff sniff’

He smelled the air as if trying to memorize the scent . Sungjin said to Franz

“He is my friend Cain . As you can see he is a wolf… but he is the most dependable ally . ”

“I see . ”

Now that the ‘Comrade’ was mentioned, he thought of something .

“Oh yeah… about that…”

“Please tell me . ”

Sungjin scratched his head and said

“What do you think of taking 10% penalty from Raid reward in Coins?”

“10%… Is this about the Ring of the Rich? Didn’t you say that it would give me additional 10% instead?”

“Eh?”

Sungjin stopped as if he was hit in the head . Now that he thought of it, buying “Ring of the Rich” would eliminate the 10% penalty .

“Ah… in that case… follow me . ”

While on the way to the Jeweler, Sungjin told Franz about the penalty . Of course, not everything was revealed .

“This is a secret but… in order for me to ‘Choose’ someone, it needs the sacrifice of another . A permanent 10% reduction in coin reward… that kind of sacrifice . ”

“Really?”

“What I want… is for you to also partake in that sacrifice . If you can handle that burden, it will allow me to select another ‘Chosen’ as a Comrade . ”

“Ohh…”

While they were exchanging words, they arrived at the Jeweler . Sungjin asked as soon as he entered the shop

“Meridian, Heart of Gold – Ring of the Rich please . ”

“Alright”

The Cat shop owner retrieved a simple blue sapphire ring from the back . Sungjin said to Franz

“I’ll buy this for you . It’s only 500 coins…”

But Meridian took away the ring and said

“Wait! This isn’t 500 coins . ”

“Hmm?”

Sungjin was shocked .

“That was a long time ago . It’s 5000 coins now . ”

“What?”

Sungjin exclaimed . Meridian explained

“This item gets more expensive as time passes . It’s such a popular item that the price fluctuates . ”

She was right . He had received between 500~1000 coins in bonus last round . So if this only cost 500 coins, he would see a return on his investment the very next round .

Anyone who is aware of this ring’s existence would save up to buy it ASAP .

“But 5000 coins is too expensive!”

Sungjin was beginning to get angry . Meridian replied in a calm voice

“It’s still on the cheap side . Further on the raid, this becomes even more expensive . I can’t give you any discount . You know already right? The rules of this place?”

There was no such thing as barter .

“Ugh…”

Franz stepped forward .

“Ahh Kei, I’ll buy this myself . It’s supposed to be my item anyway . ”

“But I am just trying to use it to reduce your penalty…”

“You already gave me an incredible amount of stat points . If I could pay just 5000 Black Coins to buy this much stats, I would buy it a hundred more times . And I do have some coins left anyhow . ”

Before Sungjin could reply

“Please give me that . ”

He immediately bought the ring from Meridian . And then

“Now… on to the next…”

He faced Sungjin . Sungjin stared at him for a moment before presenting the ‘Ring of Helrick’ .

*

When Sungjin returned to the Ninety Nine Nights, Dalupin was cleaning away Sungjin’s uneaten burger .

“Ah… You disappeared and didn’t return for a while, so I was cleaning up now . ”

Sungjin said to him

“Don’t worry and clean up . I ate somewhere else . And…”

Cain was behind him

“Grr~”

He was unable to enter the Inn and was stuck outside .

“You’ll probably have to feed him double the amount . ”

Dalupin saw Cain’s figure and replied

“Ah… you’re probably right . ”

He nodded . Rajenta stared at Cain’s enlarged body and

“Kaa…?”

He hid himself behind a chair . It would be difficult for them to roll and fool around like before . Soldamyr saw Cain and understood that Sungjin must have given him the fruit .

“Cain is looking more dependable now . ”

“Yes . On the next opportunity, it will be your turn, Soldamyr . ”

“No no, even if I were to eat that thing, I doubt much would change in me . ”

“Is that so?”

While Sungjin was exchanging words with him, Dalupin approached them with a stack of papers .

“Here are the receipts from the auction, and the information page on the next Raid . ”

Sungjin first checked the information sheet .

‘Information pertaining to ‘Red Dragon’s Lair’

This time reading the information sheet in detail was important . Sungjin put the sheet into his vest and sat on the table to review the receipts .

‘This is 3000… the minimum price . Damn… I should have sold it for more . ’

‘This one is 5300! Nice!’

‘Oh! 7000 instant buy?! Let’s see, Knight of the Emperor? An excellent title . Must be skilled and wealthy . ’

Sungjin counted the coins like a child receiving his allowance and put the receipts one by one into the cube . He had sold 9 out of 10 items up for auction .

He was now so experienced with selling via the Auction that he could be considered a master . Sungjin asked the Operator

“So how much did I make this time?”

[41151 Coins]

“What’s the total then?”

[50297 Coins . ]

‘The most pressing item is… Star of the nameless at 20,000 coins . Gourmet’s monocle 15,000 coins . And Moon Specter’s Enhancement cost of 10,000 . 45,000 Coins in total… I have enough . ’

He would have 5000 coins remaining after buying everything he needed . It was because the income from the Auction was higher than he expected .

‘5000 coins left… I should get the Elix…’

Then he remembered .

‘Oh wait… Recharging the marbles’

He had forgotten for a moment . He would need 5000 coins to recharge all five of them . His remaining funds were 297 Black Coins .

‘… Ok, Elixir is for next time then…’

Sungjin got up after making up his mind . He had finally finished everything he needed to for today . The only thing that was left to do was to shower and rest . But once again, he remembered

‘Nada…’

If she checked her status screen, it would have resolved her misunderstanding of his intentions . And if she checked the ‘Chosen One’ title, she would be aware that she is able to call him .

‘I wonder if she will call me…’

Sungjin looked out into the darkness through the window . But throughout the night,

[The chosen one requested your teleportation . ]

No such announcement came .

*

“Here is the Star of the Nameless, Gourmet’s Monocle . ”

Sungjin gathered them from the table . Finally, the man handed over five brightly sparkling marbles .

“And they are done recharging . ”

Sungjin put all the marbles away . And finally he took out the white coin and said in a business-like tone

“One more Holy Water please . ”

But at his request, ‘The Man’ grinned with a knowing smile .

“Eh, are you enjoying the Holy Water?”

“Yes . ”

His grin grew revealing his teeth .

“Hmm… Ok, good luck . ”

A distasteful laughter . Sungjin wanted to leave . But then the man said one more thing .

“The next raid… is the Red Dragon’s Lair . ”

This was the first time he ever mentioned anything about the raid . Sungjin turned and said

“Yes . ”

“Hmm… Well, good luck . The Red Dragon is… well… a historical and… a powerful being . ”

A strange nuance; As if he was hiding something .

“… I know . ”

Sungjin replied and left the shop . It was still dark outside .

“Operator, time?”

[4:45 AM . ]

‘Is Moon Specter… done upgrading?’

The Smithy was on the way to the Ninety Nine Nights anyway, located to the south . It was only a slight detour to visit the Smithy first . He felt that it couldn’t do any harm to visit it on his way back, since if it was already done he wouldn’t have to make a second trip later .

‘Well, there is nothing to lose . ’

Sungjin made up his mind and turned his feet towards the smithy . It was still before the first twilight of the day .

‘Clang! Clang!’

He could hear metal clash against each other in the distance . Sungjin continued to walk over to the Smithy . He saw Kargos hammering away, sweating buckets late into the night .

Sungjin got quite close to him, but he continued to hammer away not having realized that Sungjin had arrived .

“Clang! Clang!”

Sungjin continued to stand silently as to avoid distracting him . Kargos continued to hammer away for another hour .

“Clang! Clang!”

He hammered and hammered until finally he dipped the entire length of the sword into the cold water and extracted it . The Moon Specter’s bluish blade reflected the moonlight and became even more vibrant .

Kargos closely inspected the blade and muttered to himself (although he wasn’t alone)

“Whew… almost done . What a difficult item to work with . But… definitely worth the extra effort . A blade with this much Death Ki…”

And at that moment, Sungjin who had been watching for over an hour finally interrupted him .

“Thank you for your hard work Kargos . ”

“Oh My Goodness!”

Kargos flinched as if he had seen a ghost .

“You surprised me! How long were you standing there for?”

“Since just a moment ago . ”

Kargos calmed his rapidly beating heart .

“Well… anyway, the sword is finished . This was most definitely a possessed sword… a ghost blade . ”

Sungjin was surprised to hear that .

“Oh, you were able to tell? It is a sword with the power of a spirit…”

“Of course I can tell . And…”

His voice trailed off . He then said

“Well, see for yourself . ”

He handed over the newly upgraded Moon Specter to Sungjin .