Chapter 20
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
The Korean Branch of the Awakened Association.
"What is it this time, old man? Chairman."
At the sudden summons, Hong Yeon-hwa had been called to the Association, and she spoke with a frown.
The chairman, who had been sorting through documents, answered her a beat later.
"Ah, Team Leader Hong."
"You know I'm busy climbing the Tower these days, right? If you called me in over some stupid little thing..."
"Sorry. Something troublesome has come up."
"......"
The chairman handed her some documents, looking tired.
Hong Yeon-hwa grumbled, but accepted them without protest.
As she checked the title, her brow furrowed.
[ Tracking Report on Special Surveillance Targets in District 13 ]
"District 13? That's where the black market is."
"You know it well. Yes, this concerns the black market."
"Why did this get passed to the Response Team? Isn't this normally the field team's job?"
"...Please read the documents."
At the chairman's words, Hong Yeon-hwa flipped through the papers once more.
Sure enough, near the end were profiles of Awakened she hadn't noticed earlier.
Seeing them, the chairman continued with a grim expression.
"Wanted criminals. A-rank Awakened, no less. And they're operating as an organization."
"...They're pretty big fish."
"A criminal organization has started operating in the black market. You know better than anyone what that means, don't you, Team Leader Hong?"
"......"
Of course she knew.
Hong Yeon-hwa's position in the Association was head of the Special Response Team.
And as far as she knew, there was only one reason the Response Team would be sent to the black market.
"...Drugs."
Illegal drug trafficking inside the Tower.
The reason the Association had to wage a war on crime.
The chairman nodded.
"That's right. As you know, drug crime has long been a chronic problem on Floor 0."
"Didn't we round up all the drug-related criminals last time...?"
"Looks like this is a new organization. Otherwise, they wouldn't be selling drugs so openly with the Association right here."
"...These guys are fucking insane."
The Tower's legal system might be relatively lax, but drug trafficking was still a serious crime.
A job that exposed you to the extreme stress of combat every single day.
Maybe that's why, in the Tower's early days, many Awakened turned to drugs.
It was easy for Awakened who made a fortune climbing the Tower to get their hands on drugs.
They were even less sensitive to the side effects than non-Awakened people, so many abused them.
The number of addicts kept growing, and the Tower gradually turned into a lawless zone.
Only after the Association stepped in and began regulating drugs could the peaceful Tower we have today exist.
After studying the wanted criminals' profiles for a long while, Hong Yeon-hwa spoke up with a troubled expression.
"But even I can't handle this, can I? You know I'm useless against multiple opponents, old man."
Hong Yeon-hwa's specialty was unleashing immense firepower in a short amount of time.
In gaming terms, she was closer to a Nuker.
She was good at taking on a single target with one powerful blow, but became ineffective when faced with a large number of opponents.
It would be an even bigger problem if she were up against a criminal organization made up of A-rank Awakened.
"Most of my people are B-rank, too... Taking on a criminal organization of A-rank Awakened without any other support..."
Hong Yeon-hwa gauged his reaction as she made excuses.
Seeing her, the chairman continued with a knowing smile, as if he'd expected this.
"That's why I've prepared some reliable backup."
"What? The Association has spare personnel?"
"I've asked the major guilds for help."
"Ah, of course..."
For a moment, she let herself dream of happiness.
If the Association had spare personnel, she wouldn't have to be worked into the ground like this.
Then, as Hong Yeon-hwa turned the chairman's words over in her mind, realization dawned on her.
"...Wait. A major guild?"
"That's right. And it's a guild you know well."
"Ah, don't tell me..."
Bang!
But before Hong Yeon-hwa could continue, the meeting-room door suddenly burst open, and a blue-haired woman strode inside.
A black suit, a harness, and a jacket draped over her shoulders.
And a voluptuous figure that none of it could conceal.
After spotting Hong Yeon-hwa, the woman frowned openly, making her displeasure clear.
"...Hello."
Baek So-hee.
An S-rank Awakened, and the guildmaster of the Baekhwa Guild.
Seeing her, Hong Yeon-hwa frowned right back and muttered under her breath, her voice full of irritation.
"...Ice-fucker."
"......"
Also known as the Ice-fucker.
She was a famous, well-liked regular on the Awakened Gallery and Tower Gallery.
*
*
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- Great Mage: What about the black market?
Great Mage.
A familiar regular.
The asshole who'd called me a brat after hearing my voice earlier.
I'd been waiting to downvote every post this guy made...
"The black market...?"
At his comment, I tilted my head and murmured.
It was a name I'd never heard before.
Was there a place like that around here?
As far as I knew, there wasn't a location in the Tower with that name.
So I immediately replied to Great Mage and asked him.
└ (OP) 39.7: Where is that?
└ Great Mage: An alley in District 13
└ Great Mage: It's where Awakened gather to make private deals
From the way he described it, he didn't seem to be lying.
District 13 was famous for being one of the least safe places on Floor 0.
Even the Association, basically the public authority, was reluctant to visit the area, so it wouldn't be strange if there were a black market there.
But.
"Sounds sketchy, sketchy..."
Somehow, it had a suspicious smell to it.
No, just think about it.
A place with poor security.
Private deals happening there?
"That's just a city of crime..."
Somehow, I could imagine Brother Ma and a guy with antenna hair being there.
It wouldn't be at all surprising if I went there and lost a kidney or an eyeball or two.
└ (OP) 39.7: Isn't that illegal...?
└ Great Mage: Nah, it's not
└ Great Mage: If it were illegal, the Association would've shut it down already
└ Great Mage: Besides, do you think I'd recommend an illegal place while using my regular account on the Tower Gallery?
└ (OP) 39.7: Oh...
But judging by what Great Mage said next, it seemed the place wasn't entirely illegal.
I continued asking him questions.
└ (OP) 39.7: So why should I go there?
└ Great Mage: First off, you know magic stone prices are fucking high right now, right?
└ (OP) 39.7: Yeah
I already knew magic stones were expensive lately.
The Awakened bros had just said in the comments that there were none on the market.
But what did that have to do with the black market?
Could I sell them for a higher price there?
Then, as if responding to my question, Great Mage continued explaining.
└ Great Mage: There are basically two ways to sell magic stones fast
└ Great Mage: The Association and the black market
└ Great Mage: The Association buys them at a fixed price
└ Great Mage: No matter how high the current market price is, you have to sell them for the set amount
└ Great Mage: Was it 100? Something around there, yeah
"Oh..."
I hadn't known that. You could sell magic stones to the Association, too.
But if Superior Magic Stones were a million won... wasn't that a fucking rip-off?
Mid-grade stones went up to a million won when they were expensive.
"The Association really is full of lowballing experts..."
This was why I couldn't bring myself to like the Association.
I'd have to call in Carbon later and give them a piece of my mind.
Great Mage continued.
└ Great Mage: But if you go to the black market, at least you can get a fair price
└ Great Mage: That's probably the best place to sell magic stones fast
└ Great Mage: Of course, the security there isn't great...
└ Great Mage: But even taking that into account, with current prices, the black market is the way to go
└ Great Mage: Plus, you can get rid of monster drops that are basically useless
└ (OP) 39.7: Ooh...
Being able to get rid of monster drops was good news.
I hadn't gotten anything worth selling yet because monsters kept screwing me over, but as I climbed higher floors, monster drops would naturally pile up.
That meant I'd be setting up a way to get rid of them in advance, so even without the magic stones, I had plenty of reason to visit the black market.
Thinking that, I started doing the calculations in my head.
Just then, a familiar regular appeared in the replies.
└ Child-Lover: Wait, are you insane??
└ Child-Lover: You're sending them to the black market??
└ Child-Lover: The Gallery owner, who's a little kid??
Child-Lover.
The weird guy who always left comments like "Ooh" or "Nngh" on my posts.
His oddly irritating tone got under my skin, so I immediately replied to argue back.
└ (OP) 39.7: I'm not a kid
└ (OP) 39.7: I'm a fully grown adult;;;;
└ Child-Lover: Awakened crime's already a huge problem these days
└ Child-Lover: Why recommend the black market of all places?
└ Child-Lover: If they get kidnapped, are you gonna take responsibility??
But they completely ignored my reply and stubbornly kept saying what they wanted.
In response, Great Mage answered as if it were no big deal.
└ Great Mage: ?
└ Great Mage: What are you talking about
└ Great Mage: A kid? Does that still look like a kid to you?
└ Great Mage: A monster bastard who solos Lunatic difficulty?
└ Child-Lover: W-what...?
└ (OP) 39.7: ?
At Great Mage's continued replies, Child-Lover was thrown into confusion.
I, who'd gone from being a kid to a monster bastard in an instant, looked baffled.
Great Mage continued replying.
└ Great Mage: An Awakened who can solo Lunatic?
└ Great Mage: At least S-rank. Even if you lowball it, top-tier A-rank.
└ Great Mage: Against someone like that, those B-rank nobodies in the black market... What, kidnap them?
└ Child-Lover: B-but...
└ Great Mage: Don't make a fuss
└ Great Mage: If anything, you should be worried about those nobody bastards
└ Great Mage: They might get ground up and swallowed alive for messing with that monster bastard
└ (OP) 39.7: Jesus;;;;;
"What the hell do you take me for, seriously."
Ground up and swallowed alive?
What am I, a cannibal?
What kind of image did Great Mage have of me?
└ Great Mage: So don't worry and go
└ Great Mage: If anyone tries anything funny, just cut them down
└ (OP) 39.7: Okay, sure...
"...Anyway."
After leaving Great Mage a perfunctory reply, I closed the Gallery window and murmured softly.
"The black market..."
The name did sound dangerous, but thinking about it, it didn't seem like it'd be a problem.
As Great Mage said, compared to Lunatic difficulty, everyone else would be a total amateur.
[ Superior Magic Stones x10 ]
There'd been a little commotion, but now I knew where to sell the magic stones.
On top of that, I'd also learned how to sell the monster drops that came out of the Tower.
I was almost out of money for living expenses, barely scraping by.
Now that I had a way to make money, there was no reason to hesitate.
"Should I go right now?"
That was the moment my next destination was decided.