Chapter 7

Black Market (1)

Sitting in the back seat of the car that Secretary Kim was driving, I closed my eyes and focused my mind on the Mana core that resided within my body.

Its capabilities could not even measure Seo Jin-wook's core.

Perhaps it was because the body was not in the awakened state yet, so [The Successor's Eyes] did not quantify Seo Jin-wook's Mana.

I was busy trying to pre-activate an amount of Mana while in transit.

No matter what artifacts I obtained today, I needed to spend Mana to let myself be recognized as the user.

Normal people could not activate it until they awakened, since they did not feel the Mana in their body, but I had a different situation. As I focused my mind for a long time, indeed, the expected phenomenon happened.

Wow!

I could only inwardly scream as I did not want Secretary Kim to notice.

'Okay, it's reacting!'

Until now, the latent Mana that had been lying dormant in the core, declaring its presence like the weight of seawater, filled in a huge aquarium and had stayed still.

But now, a tiny fraction of it had created a faint wave.

To activate latent Mana meant to draw it into an area where you could control it at your will.

Unlike Seo Jin-wook, who uncontrollably activated the Mana in a state of rampage before the possession, I got to control and activate it with an extremely focused mind.

It was all thanks to the memory of the hardship of having to practice as Choi Seung-hyun, who had a relatively small Mana like a water droplet. Perhaps it was moisture compared to Seo Jin-wook's potential Mana that was like the ocean.

The ingredients were abundant, and the chef's skill to handle them was indeed top of the class.

So, I succeeded in activating quite a bit of the Mana.

"Wake up, Team Leader. We're here."

I stopped pretending to be asleep and open my eyes. I saw an area lined with warehouses like that of Incheon Port.

Concealing my joy, I talk to Secretary Kim while stretching in an unnerved manner.

"Do you remember all the precautions?"

"For sure."

He frowned as he began to answer.

"But, Team Leader, how did you know about a place like this?"

"Well... Firstly, it's because I am the successor."

Secretary Kim tilted his head but was eventually convinced.

I did not know if the Celestial Dragon Guild shared this type of information with Seo Jin-wook at this point. He hadn't even awakened as a Hunter yet, so perhaps not.

"Okay, get this."

Secretary Kim handed me an item from the guild warehouse.

Slop! Slop!

An opaque, colorless jelly-like thing was bouncing around slowly, one on each hand of Secretary Kim and mine.

They were called the Mask Slime. This item was captured in the dungeon.

It was an academic controversy, arguing if it was a living thing or not, to the day I lived. Of course, it was only until the days when the academic society remained to exist.

"I brought it with me because you, Team Leader, told me, but is this a must?"

I nodded.

"It is a complicated place to let your identity be known."

Secretary Kim sighed and then spread the slime that was the size of a fist in his hand with both hands. Then, the slime began to stretch out like cellophane.

I also spread the slime that I was holding in the same way as Secretary Kim did. I pulled it out to a size covering my entire face, like a flat dough, and wrapped it over my face, like a mask pack.

Guruk!

Rumble!

Rumble!

Then, the opaque slime on my face gradually changed to a color similar to human skin. Afterwards, it started to shape the facial features of a person, completely different from my face.

It was an unpleasant sensation that I felt after a long time. This was also a reason why Secretary Kim was reluctant. If I dared to compare it, could I say that it felt like wiping your face with a cow tongue?

After waiting for a while in that manner, my face completely changed to that of a strange man.

There was a slight difference in texture when I touched it with my hand, but it was difficult to notice that it was fake if one were to look at it without touching it. There was no sense of difference in the connection between the face and neck.

I then spoke, looking at the man with sharp eyes in the mirror.

"It seemed that we have faces of people who have nothing to do with the Celestial Dragon Guild, right?"

The big-headed Secretary Kim took longer to prepare to increase the slime to the size of his face, and he couldn't immediately answer because he was still putting it on his face.

After a while, Secretary Kim, who had transformed into another person's face, nodded.

"Yes, I have perfectly prepared for it in advance."

The Mask Slime had begun to reshape into the face it previously covered when used the next time.

So, if I were to take off what I was wearing now and someone else were to use it, then it will take on the shape of my face.

Of course, the guild would do something about it before putting it back into the warehouse. Things would get complicated if someone were to walk around, pretending to be the successor of the Celestial Dragon Guild.

A small office building was attached next to the four-story warehouse. I saw a shabby sign saying 'Tae-Ju International Logistics.'

I stood in front of the office door, knocked twice, and open the door without waiting for an answer. What I could see was the interior that was so simple that it looked almost bare. A middle-aged man with a brutal wound was sitting at a desk.

He rolled his eyes as if the sight of us annoyed him.

"Who are you? How can I help you?"

I spoke in a straightforward manner. "Please give me an account."

Then the middle-aged man's expression subtly changed.

He double-tapped the latest device on his wrist. At the same time, a clear hologram began to float in front of us.

At the top of the screen, a large number said 30, and below was a European bank account number. I then glanced at Secretary Kim. Then he also operated the device on his wrist. And after a while, it sounded.

Ding!

As Secretary Kim nodded, I spoke to the man.

"I just deposited 3 billion won."

Then the man guided us to the inner door without confirming. It was a door placed opposite the entrance door we entered from.

"Please wait here for a while."

His tone had abruptly changed. We entered as he led the way.

There was a reception room with a modern and luxurious interior that was completely different from the office we had just seen before.

When Secretary Kim and I sat on an expensive-looking sofa, the man closed the door and disappeared. Secretary Kim, as only two of us were left alone, whispered in my ear.

"Have you ever come here? It's too natural of you."

"No... Of course, it's my first time."

"Hmm... It's really weird. Anyway, how long do we have to wait here?"

"It won't take too long."

Probably, checking the deposit was the job of another employee than the man a while ago, so a little waiting time was inevitable.

The amount we remitted must be checked to see if it came from a third country, and if the account was untraceable to the financial authorities.

After 5 minutes or so, the door across opened, and a woman in a clean suit entered.

Nodding, she bowed to greet us. Then she lifted her head and spoke, with her eyes shining through the old-fashioned glasses, which were rare even today.

"I'm sorry to have kept our special guests waiting for a long time. I am Director Oh Jin-hwa. I will guide you inside."

Our special guests?

This wasn't something the people of this field of work would say. No... Was it the usual greeting in this era? Something felt unpleasant.

Moreover, this woman...

I stared at her back, to be precise, toward her chest are for a moment, then walked along. Just like that, we entered the real entrance to the black market.

*

Black market.

It went without saying that items from dungeons had the highest demand to be traded on the black market in this era.

Many items were subjected to the state's strict trade control, so there was always a demand to trade them free from such shackles independently.

Most of such consumers had strong financial power, so the black market was the blue ocean for such customers.

In a way, it was more of a betting business. Instead of verifying the customer's identity, they receive a deposit to enter the market. The money was the needed identification card.

From the customer's perspective, they had risked giving away the money and deposit without asking questions or nagging about it to enter. If one met a scammer and lost his money, only he would be to blame. It only meant that the one who did that would be powerless to make a proper connection to enter the black market.

The place we entered was much smaller than the size of the warehouse we saw from the outside. This also means that the zones were divided in their manner.

There was something suspicious about Director Oh Jin-hwa, but I decided to negotiate instead of giving up the deal and leaving. My suspicion of her arose because she was part of the black market. However, on the contrary, because she was part of the black market, some parts could be trusted.

I was convinced that at least she wouldn't harm us unless we acted rudely.

Upon entering, she posed a question, making eye contact with both of us.

"Do you have any items you are looking for?"

I didn't feel like specifying what it was that I was looking for. "I'll just look around."

Then the Director replied with a wide smile, whatever her intentions might be.

"Yes, customer. Take your time looking around. I will serve right next to you."

Against the backdrop of her tight smile, keeping an eye on us, we first walked through an area displayed with weapons and armor.

If I kept my gaze on one item, Director Oh Jin-hwa appropriately intervened and explained about it. I passed by so many products, but nothing caught my eye.

Then...

Huh?

It felt like a light bulb went on in my head.

However, without expressing it, I had a similar expression as before... 'Doesn't that look unusual?'

Then, again, Director Oh Jin-Hwa intervened.

"Isn't the design unique? So does its performance."

I didn't answer for a moment and looked at it for a few more seconds. Then, she quickly pulled out two pairs of gloves. It looked ordinary, but that was also a specially crafted item.

"Would you like to hold it in your hand?"

I nodded, feeling unnerved.

What she brought from beyond the cabinet was a bracelet made of black metal. It looked like thin snakes intertwined and bit each other in order to form a circle.

I cried with joy inside. This wasn't something that I found with location information in advance. It was something I had found by chance.

It was rotting while being buried in a place like this in this period!

I tried to manage my facial expressions. In response to the Director's recommendation, I picked up the item while wearing the gloves. Although it was a special glove, it did not interfere with the ability of [The Successor's Eyes]. Thanks to this, I was able to see the system message, which was the item description.

The result was, as I guessed. My prediction had been correct.

"This item was found in the gate of a dungeon near Helsingborg, Sweden in last December."

After being discovered in a dungeon, I did not know how it found its way into this place, the black market in Incheon. Director Oh Jin-hwa didn't necessarily explain it as well.

Finding it in the black market in the first place means that it wasn't going through the normal route with high probability.

Director Oh Jin-hwa focused on product descriptions instead of talking about distribution channels that must have been illegal.

Up to now, three hunters had tried to analyze its value using the 'Value Analysis Scroll,' but they were said to have failed. So, its exact item name and function registered in the system was currently unknown, but there were still a few functions that the hunters found out by using them themselves.

"Like a normal dungeon item, after injecting a little Mana and wearing it on your wrist like this, and then engrave the user, and you're ready."

The explanation continued from there.

"If the user is injured in this state, it has been confirmed that the item itself activates the healing magic without consuming the user's Mana and restores the user. It is a rare wrist-wearable item with auto-heal function."

Such a function may still be rare in this era. I looked down on the bracelet on one finger.

"It would be useful. Pretty, peculiar."

"Yes, customer. After all, you have a good discerning eye. Can I help you with the purchase process?"

"Yes, please."

Black markets never scammed buyers. This was because it was difficult to survive by turning multiple hunters into enemies.

Not surprisingly, Director Oh Jin-hwa quickly touched the device on her wrist and displayed a document as a hologram.

"By the way, customer, before anything, let me inform you about this. The maximum effect of healing is limited, and injuries above a certain level are irreparable."

She continued to explain.

"Also, once in a while, it causes side effects that cannot be controlled."

Several new pictures appeared on the hologram.

Unlike the ones we had just seen, only one type of injury picture was listed. These were the appearances of wrists that were almost bitten off, brutally cut.

In severe cases, almost the entire arm was torn off.

"Almost randomly, at every unpredictable cycle, the bracelet's ornaments biting around the user's wrist have been observed in almost all cases. It is suspected that this method is used to replenish Mana in the item, but it has not been proven."

Director Oh Jin-hwa explained that she had tried to measure the numbers of things such as auto-heal occurrences and the degree of repair and attempted to compute and predict the amount of Mana left in the bracelet. Still, the deviation of error was too large.

Some hunter got bitten off after healing few flesh wounds, another hunter was said to have bitten after healing numerous piercing wounds, so it must have been not easy to estimate.

I then asked. "So, what about the price?"

"It's 620 million won."

It was a price close to bargain for an item with an auto-heal function.

An injury could be healed, but if that happened during the midst of a battle, there was a good chance that the wearer could die. It was not a reliable product as it was unpredictable.

However, there was indeed a way.

"I will take it."

Then, Secretary Kim wriggled his thick eyebrows. The meaning of his two eyes was this. 'You're buying that kind of thing for 620 million? It's better to buy that much amount of potions!'

I glanced as if to tell him to calm down. From somewhere, one more employee came out and got the artifact from me.

Other than that, there were no items that stood out, and we thusly moved on to the next section.

"Customer, this is the area where the skill cards are displayed."

I look round and passed the shelves as if I was uninterested.

In the first place, this was not my concern.

Seeing that my steps were much faster than before, Director Oh Jin-hwa carefully tested the water.

"I think we haven't prepared the products you like in here."

I answered bleakly.

"Ah, well."

The effect of a card was to fill the skill slot of the Hunter who used it.

If the Hunter wanted to use the skill after filling the slot, he could release his Mana while activating it. Then, according to the system's guidance, the Mana would move in a specific shape and flow in the body. It could be done without the Hunter taking the initiative.

As a result of the Mana moving according to a specific pattern, a forced strength was applied in reality, sparking a pillar of flame from the hand, releasing lightning from the sword's tip, and moving to space hundreds of kilometers away.

All this process did not require the Hunter to count and control it without thinking about such things. It was like a game where you pushed a button, and your skill went out.

The only thing the Hunter cared about was concentrating so that enough Mana was released, and frequently used it to increase his proficiency.

But why do I not need the Skill Card?

In my previous life, when I lived as Choi Seung-hyun, I had seen countless hunters using their respective skills, and I had seen clearly how their Mana moved in every moment.