Chapter 7 (2/2)

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.