VHN 11
by SpringlilaIn the original story, Joo Seo-won appeared as an information broker. Beyond his skills, Joo Seo-won inherently possessed a wealth of information. Not the kind about future developments or status windows, but the kind only someone who had been rolling around in this world could have.
And there was a specific item shop that Joo Seo-won frequented. Kwon Tae-han’s description simply referred to it as a shady market, and since I didn’t know its actual name, I couldn’t even search for it. It seemed to be operating secretly, so even if I did search, it probably wouldn’t come up.
“I thought you’d at least be able to find that out. Joo Seo-won is known by everyone in this business.”
I hadn’t actually dug around, but it was true that Joo Seo-won was famous in this world. Though it leaned more towards notoriety than fame, there was definitely a reason why he remained a B-rank until the end, never reaching S or A.
-It’s not open to just anyone. You need a referral system to register a code….
“Then that’s settled. You refer me.”
As soon as I cut him off, a small curse came from the other end. Did this bastard just curse at me?
-…I expected you to say that, but don’t you know there’s a limit to how shameless a person can be?
“You said you were busy. Send me the location and referral code so I can hang up quickly.”
-Ugh, fine. I got it. And you have to deposit money as a down payment, so send the money. I’ll put it down for you.
“Okay. How much?”
-The referral code registration is 1,000. The rest is the amount you’re going to buy in advance. They trade in exclusive currency there, not cash.
Trading in exclusive currency, huh. What’s the reason for going through that extra step?
The original story didn’t reveal who ran this Hunter Market. It was treated as casually as ‘I stopped by the department store’ or ‘I stopped by the mart.’ I didn’t know if it was because it wasn’t important information and the description was omitted, or if Kwon Tae-han didn’t even try to find out.
After hanging up, I waited for a moment, and the location and referral code arrived via text. After confirming, I sent the deposit to the account, and ten minutes later, a text message arrived.
Thank you for using our service ^^ㅗ
If you have any conscience, give me the points.
Hmm. It would be better if he did the work I asked him to do quickly instead of sending useless messages. Being too lenient as an employer was also a problem.
* * *
When I arrived at the address Joo Seo-won sent, I saw a dilapidated abandoned building. Going inside, it was just an ordinary building with nothing special. Of course, this couldn’t be the end of it.
I didn’t have the ability to precisely sense mana. But there was one thing I could do.
“Status window.”
And….
“View Character Information.”
As expected, the seemingly empty building was teeming with status windows.
Kwon Tae-han didn’t use the status window in such a cheap way in the original story. But as an F-rank, I had no choice but to use every trick I could get my hands on.
To enter the market in the basement, I had to go to a space with an exclusive elevator. It was a system that filtered out uninvited guests by creating a wall with mana.
‘Found it.’
When I headed to the place where several status windows were gathered, I saw a solid wall shimmering. Fortunately, there was someone trying to enter at the same time.
‘Feels like I’m experiencing Harry X Potter.’
Without hesitation, I walked towards the wall and was able to enter without any resistance. However, I felt a slight fatigue during the process, so it seemed to drain some of the mana in my body.
‘Good skills.’
After briefly scanning the wall, I moved on. There were only two buttons in the elevator inside the wall. 1st floor and basement 1st floor. I pressed the basement 1st floor button and waited for a moment, and the elevator opened with a cheerful sound.
Ding—
And the sight that greeted me when the door opened was beyond imagination.
‘What is this?’
It was dark, and blue neon lights were shining here and there. It looked like someone with absolutely no sense of aesthetics had made it.
It had the appearance of shops, but at best, it looked like a club, not a place to buy things.
‘Is the concept a night market?’
Moreover, the interior of the shops was so vast that, to exaggerate a little, it was almost the size of a small village. It would have been difficult for anyone who wasn’t incredibly skilled to create all of this.
When I arrived at the entrance, a tall woman wearing a white mask said bluntly.
“Show me your referral code.”
I showed her the code Joo Seo-won had sent while glancing at the mask the woman was wearing. This mask wasn’t just for concealing identity. Or, to be precise, that wasn’t its only purpose. It was an item.
White Mask (B)
An item that can identify the opponent’s rank and mana type.
So, a nerfed status window? She’d be dumbfounded if it showed F-rank, but after checking the referral code, the woman let me in without saying anything.
“Enter.”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
I took my phone back and entered the shop, and it was different from what I saw from the outside. The overall bustling atmosphere still gave it a night market feel, but there was no club-like atmosphere.
There were quite a lot of people for a secret place, so my head was spinning from having the status window on.
‘It’s better to turn it off.’
In the end, I turned off the status window and started walking around to look around.
As I was looking around, a merchant waved and called me over.
“Hey. You, handsome student. Come here.”
His solicitation was quite rough? I obediently entered the shop.
“What do you sell?”
“I sell everything you need. What do you need?”
“I need some magic stones.”
“Magic stones? I have plenty of magic stones. Come in and take a look.”
Well, then, should I take a look at the magic stones? I had come thinking about a few items I wanted to buy, but what I really wanted was magic stones that I could process and use myself.
When I held one of the displayed magic stones in my hand, it started to glow with a buzzing sound.
‘Amazing.’
To think they brought all this from the Dungeon, there really were a lot of crazy people in the world.
Following the guy who first made meringue and the guy who thought of eating pufferfish, there was a guy who brought this kind of thing from a Dungeon where monsters poured out.
“How is it? What do you need? You look young, are you a hunter? B-rank? C-rank?”
He excluded anything below that because they wouldn’t come to a place like this, and if I were A or S-rank, he would know my face, so it was reasonable to assume B or C.
‘Of course, I’m F-rank, though.’
“Pick one quickly. I’ll sell it to you a little cheaper since you’re a student. What’s your skill? I’ll recommend one that’s perfect for your skill. If you buy it at this price, it’s a complete steal, huh? Look at this radiance. There’s nowhere else that sells S-rank magic stones at this price. Of course, there will be processing costs, but you’re still getting it for next to nothing.”
By the way, looking at these magic stones, I had one thought.
Very flashy and sparkling magic stones. They came in all sorts of types. They increased speed, made strength stronger, replenished mana….
As I looked at the descriptions, I smiled softly and said in a gentle voice.
“Where are you selling trash?”
There were so many pieces of trash trying to rip off a kind and virtuous person like me in the world, it was a pity. Should I just destroy it?
The merchant’s face, which had turned red in an instant, turned purple as it met the blue light.
“…What? Trash?”
“It is trash. You’re just changing the names of the same types from this to that and making a fortune.”
“Ha! You don’t know anything. Are you even a hunter? Have you ever seen a magic stone before?”
“I said it was trash because I know.”
Although I’ve never even been inside a Dungeon, so I don’t know if I can even be called a hunter.
Anyway, there was a reason why I called these magic stones trash. First of all, this isn’t S-rank.
Magic Stone (B)
Can affect mana in the body.
Mined from: The Underground World
The Underground World…. I raised the corners of my lips. The places, people, and Dungeons that appeared in Im Seong-yeon’s novels were random, but there were traces of motifs taken from various places. Most of them were myths, and this Underground World was also a mythological motif. It was probably the Underworld.
‘Mythology has now become reality.’
That was truly amazing.
The reason I said Im Seong-yeon’s novel was shitty wasn’t just because Im Seong-yeon wrote it. To talk about that, I had to first talk about the ‘Titles’ in the status window, but that was complicated, so I’ll think about it later.
Anyway, if there were different grades among the things mined from the Underground World, it would be one thing. It was just funny that they brought all the same things and sold them with different names. Of course, there was a reason why this worked.
I turned my gaze to the merchant’s status window.
Name: Park Cheol-woo
Age: 45
Rank: C
Title: –
Main Skills: Master of Deception (C), Flashy Decoration (C)
Limit Growth Rank: B
He used his skills very effectively.
“Look at this. It’s a B-rank Magic Stone. This one too, this one too, this one too. Wow… they’re all B-rank? And you’re selling these as S-rank? You’re very bold! If S-rank or A-rank nobles came, they would have been caught right away.”
“Wh, what? You’re talking nonsense! Can’t you see this is an S-rank Magic Stone? Have you ever seen a B-rank with such a big aura? Ha! You’re trying to lower the price, aren’t you?”
“Lower the price? Just grind it up and make a ring. The color is flashy, so it’ll be pretty.”
The merchant seemed flustered, and his voice grew louder and louder. Still, it wasn’t trash, and it was good enough to use if processed, but the price was not right. In the meantime, the merchant’s voice, who was excitedly talking here and there, was so loud that, at some point, Hunters began to glance at us.
“Hey! Are you even a Hunter? What’s your rank?”
“I’m not meat, so why are you asking about my rank?”
“If you’re not going to buy anything, hurry up and leave. Why are you picking a fight with someone who’s selling perfectly good things?”
I’m picking a fight because you’re not selling perfectly good things. Why are you saying something so obvious? I quietly put the Magic Stone I was holding back in its place. I should look somewhere else. Anyway, this world was too harsh for a kind person like me to live in.
I needed magic stones, but it was a shame. Looking at the merchant’s expression, I thought he would throw the Magic Stone at me if I said anything more.
‘I, a nobody, will endure.’
I cheered him on and left the store.
“Yes. I was going to do that anyway. Sell a lot!”
“You little brat!”
No, to be precise, I was about to leave. If the sparks that flew from behind me hadn’t fallen at my feet and burst into flames just before I left the store.