A full-scale oriental painting.
That was Suho’s first impression on his way to the black market.
A deep valley path in a misty mountain range.
As we walked up the winding road, the outline of a huge building slowly appeared in front of Suho, and then its true form was finally revealed.
‘Temple’
That’s right.
There was no other way to express it.
High ceilings.
A rough but elaborately decorated stone pillar.
A huge bronze door sits in the middle of it.
The sacred atmosphere that overwhelmed me the moment I saw it made me instinctively realize that this was a ‘temple’, even though I didn’t know who it was for.
Shudder.
Suddenly, Ber’s eyes lit up sharply and he looked ahead.
[Your Majesty, I sense a lot of movement from deep within that building.]
“Human? Or Demon?”
Stutter.
Verga answered Suho’s question with confidence, wiggling his antennae.
[Humans with magical powers. Most of them are probably hunters.]
“The devil?”
[I can sense the demons, but not many. And there’s no one right across the door.]
“It’s exactly as the branch manager said.”
Suho nodded and walked carefully towards the temple.
And then he looked up and saw the huge door firmly shut in front of him.
A heavy door that seems impossible for ordinary people to open.
Of course, with Suho’s incredible strength stat, he could have destroyed it in one shot rather than just opening it.
‘But then, all the hiding would have been for nothing.’
It wasn’t a good idea to start a commotion out of nowhere when you don’t know if your grandfather is in the building or not.
Besides, Suho already knew how to open this door.
Click.
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Suho took out the ‘star dust necklace’ he had taken from Branch Manager Min Daeseok from his pocket.
Then, after putting the necklace around her neck, she reached out and gently pushed open the firmly closed door.
Ggggggggggggg-!
Then, surprisingly, the heavy door began to slide open with great ease.
Kooung-!
Soon the door opened wide, revealing a spacious interior.
A damp interior with moss growing here and there on the floor, walls, and ceiling.
Suho burst into laughter as he walked down the hallway, following the torches hanging on the walls.
“… … It was true. I never thought the stardust necklace’s real purpose was to be a pass to the black market.”
It is now widely known that the reason stardust necklaces were created was for the purpose of remembrance.
The so-called ‘let’s honor the souls of the victims who died while becoming the material for stardust’ was a truly meaningful and good intention.
Besides, since most of the proceeds from the Stardust Necklace were actually used to help the bereaved families, no one doubted its intention.
‘… … But in fact, it was all smoke.’
According to Branch Manager Min Dae-seok, there are still only a few hunters who know this truth.
Because the black market has only been around for a short time, very few people even knew about its existence.
But it was only a matter of time.
[Even if you spread information about the black market to only a few people, they will eventually spread the word.]
As the Black Market gradually became known, the hunters would move to get their hands on the stardust necklaces.
Quay stuck his face out as if he was interested.
Truly, the more I learned about the black market, the more interesting it became.
[It’s like something you’d see in a multi-level pyramid scheme.]
Ponzi schemes, commonly called pyramid schemes, often increase their victims in this way.
Start with a small number and increase the number by enticing others as if introducing a good thing.
Some of them were so religious that it was suspicious.
But as long as it didn’t cause any direct harm to himself, in fact, it didn’t really matter to Suho.
But what if that religion is an alien religion that serves Itarim?
‘Anyway, one thing is clear.’
If this was truly a temple of the foreign religion, the Itarim apostles seemed to have already perfectly adapted to Earth.
After walking along the hallway for a while, a large dome-shaped space soon appeared in front of Suho.
It seemed as big as, if not bigger than, several Olympic stadiums combined.
However, Suho couldn’t help but be a little surprised at the sight that unfolded inside.
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I thought it would be dark and secretive because it was a black market, but when I actually went in, it was surprisingly bright and cheerful.
“200 kilos of magic stone! Negotiation possible!”
“We have all the dungeon ore types except for the rare ones!”
“Demon corpse drop today! I’ll give it to the last person on a first-come, first-served basis!”
“Smashing Sale! The Boss is Crazy!”
“If you don’t have money, you can also pay with magic stones!”
“Oh! Are you a newbie here? What kind of idiot in the world uses a credit card on the black market?!”
It felt like I was at an exhibition hall.
Numerous mats and booths fill the wide space.
There are many merchants who each take their seats and work hard to solicit customers and buy and sell goods.
Suho couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the sight.
“… … It looks like we’ve come to some kind of bazaar.”
They said it was a black market created for tax evasion, but when I actually looked, it felt like I was at a second-hand market.
But there was also an unexpected appearance.
[My lord, it seems there is a blacksmith shop that directly refines ore and makes weapons to sell.]
“That’s right. Most blacksmiths are demons.”
Surprisingly, humans and demons lived together naturally here.
Those who stopped by for a while to trade were mostly hunters, but those who actually settled down here and made and sold goods were demons wearing crow masks.
So to speak, the organizers.
They are staff.
‘A market where humans and demons coexist. How strange.’
[Master, I see an auction house and a gambling house over there.]
‘Huh?’
Looking at the direction that Quay was pointing, it was finally starting to look like a real black market.
“Hey, just one more time! Lend me some more money! I said I’ll pay you back?!”
In front of the gambling house, hunters who looked like they had lost all their fortune were begging with miserable expressions.
As they finally began to radiate magical power from their entire bodies, the crow masks guarding the gambling house caught their weight and grabbed their shoulders.
“Members, calm down. You can’t do this here.”
“We don’t want to take the step of expulsion either.”
“Well, just one more time! Just one more time, please!”
“… … Well. I guess there’s no other way. In that case, how about you play a few rounds yourself?”
“What, what?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility and give you the right weight class.”
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The gamblers’ eyes wavered at the devils’ suggestion.
Even in the midst of all this, I couldn’t take my eyes off the casino because I still had feelings for it.
And then I ended up making a decision I shouldn’t have made.
“Hey, you’re really going to match my weight class, right?”
“Oh, that’s obvious. You know that, right? The underground arena is basically a bare-handed fight, with all items removed. Why are you so worried about someone as strong as you, Hunter?”
“… … Then, is it possible to receive a deposit in advance?”
The moment those words came out, Suho saw it.
The corners of the devils’ mouths are torn long beyond the crow’s mask.
The demons smiled brightly and shook the hands of the hunters, no, the hogu.
“What an obvious statement. Then you should talk about the actual contract.”
Suho quietly watched the backs of the gamblers following the demons one after another.
‘It’s an underground fighting arena. It’s literally a contract with the devil.’
[Your Majesty, you know that gambling is a shortcut to ruin. Huh? Why are you going that way?]
“It’s an underground fighting arena. It’s okay to watch.”
As Suho walked towards the gambling house, the demon guards in front of it bowed respectfully and spoke to him.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Did you visit from another factory?”
Then, he glanced up and examined the pair of horns hanging from Suho’s head, and his gaze seemed a little wary.
[You answer me informally. I am careful because I think you are a much higher demon since you have Volkan’s horns.]
Suho nodded briefly and opened his mouth at Essil’s timely advice.
“I heard the rumor and stopped by for a moment. Is there a problem?”
As I briefly showed him the stardust necklace hanging around my neck, the demon guards quickly stepped back and responded with a rather friendly attitude.
“Oh, what a problem. We always welcome new factories. If you need any guidance, can we help you?”
‘How strange.’
Suho felt like a salesman trying to get new business from the demons.
And the demons seemed to have no intention of hiding their true intentions.
“By the way… … if you don’t mind, could you tell me how many star fragments you have?”
At the same time as that question, their snake-like gaze scanned the behavior of Suho, who had come here empty-handed.
“As you know, there are so many factories that have gone broke these days.”
“… … .”
While Suho was choosing his words for a moment, Eshil whispered in an unpleasant tone.
[Oh my. How dare you, you lowly seed, talk such things to a horned devil?]
‘No, why are you so angry? I’m not really the devil.’
It seemed like this place was one that had nothing to do with the demon tribe’s hierarchy.
But when Suho was silent for a moment, the gatekeepers’ lips showed a blatant sneer, as if they knew it.
“Ah, this is it. I knew it. I knew it when you came empty-handed. There are so many devils coming to us these days, wanting to join us… … Hmm?”
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That was then.
A bunch of stardust suddenly appeared in Suho’s hand, which was clearly empty.
“… … !”
At that moment, the gatekeepers’ eyes widened.
No, it wasn’t a bunch.
Two bunches.
Three bunches.
Your bunch.
Suho had been raiding the Devil Factories all this time, and he had been keeping all the stardust he had acquired there in his inventory.
A bitter smile appeared on Suho’s lips as he took out a bundle and showed it to the demons.
“Should there be more?”
“Okay, that’s enough.”
“Come this way! We’ll take you to the VIP room!”
“To guide.”
“Yep!”
The gatekeeper demons immediately became humble and guided Suho to the gambling hall.
Suho followed them, his eyes shining sharply.
‘It’s the VIP room… … . The demons live like real people.’
It was a good idea to pretend to be the devil from the beginning.
If you want to know if your grandfather is here, it would be quicker to start from deep inside.
