125 Shop

The Cartel Market as a whole looked like a hotel lobby. Chandeliers hanging from the ceiling scattered light around, and the floors and walls were lavishly draped in red carpets and cloth embroidered with gold thread. Neatly dressed staff in suits walked about on it.

They weren't gatekeepers with tentacles sprouting from their heads. Just ordinary humans wearing business smiles. As they tended to the guests walking through the lobby, they slowly approached Ian and Seoa.

“Welcome. Ms. Seoa Lee. Mr. Ian Shin. We've prepared chocolate biscuits as a simple welcome snack. Is that all right?”

“That's fine. The market layout is still the same, right?”

“Yes. Though we've built an arena in the room at the far end of B3, so feel free to stop by if you get bored.”

“An arena?”

Ian reacted. The employee, who had been wearing a friendly smile, handed him the box of biscuits and nodded.

“It's a place where Mysteries captured through requests are made to fight each other. We had some trouble during construction because the Colosseum ghost story might latch onto it, but we got through it.”

“……A strange place. Does it make money?”

“Of course it makes money. It's a system where people bet money and predict the outcome, so quite a lot of customers come by.”...