Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Rewards and Changes (6)
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In Pyongyang, you could find buildings of every shape and size. Franjo stopped in front of a narrow shop that looked like it had a low ceiling. At a glance, the exterior resembled an old herbal medicine shop. When they opened the door and stepped inside, it was packed full of unidentified items.
“Owner, where are you?”
“Back inside……. Byorn-ssi. Byorn-ssi!”
“I'm here.”
“?”
Only then did Suhyun realize the voice didn't belong to a human. The height barely reached his chest. It was a dwarf.
“Dwarves and elves……. And the best you can do after coming all this way is black market deals?”
Some other races adapted well to human society, but others didn't. Other races working in the back alleys of Cameron Planet weren't exactly rare.
“What's with this punk? Spouting nonsense the moment he arrives?”
The dwarf called Byorn walked out, visibly irritated. Dwarves weren't all that different from humans. They were just shorter, with slightly superior strength and stamina—their appearances were similar enough.
“A customer. Byorn-ssi. I brought him. He said he's looking for poison…….”
“I can trust your introduction only if it's reliable.”
Byorn plopped down on a round chair and gestured for the two of them to sit as well.
“So. A customer?”
“Yes.”
“Reliable guy?”
“Uh……. I guarantee it.”
Franjo said it for now. Since he'd brought him here, he had to say it with confidence, or the sparks would fly his way too.
In his eyes, Suhyun was far removed from anyone on the government side. If Suhyun had been government, he would've been arrested back when he tried scamming with that Earth Dragon meat.
‘No way a guy like that's with the enforcement squad.’
“What good's your guarantee? Got any ID to prove it?”
“ID?”
“That means nothing. What do you do?”
“Mercenary.”
“Hmm…….”
Byorn stroked his goatee as he looked Suhyun up and down.
“A mercenary looking for poison……. Not your average guy.”
“Of course not. Why would I come here for something ordinary?”
“Got the money?”
“More than enough to cover it, so don't worry.”
“Show me first.”
Suhyun pulled an electronic card from his pocket. It was untraceable and convenient—just enter the PIN and withdraw.
With the troll hunt and the success of this job piling up, Suhyun had quickly amassed a fortune in the billions. But Cameron Planet had just as many places to spend it. Being stingy after making bank was for fools.
“Go ahead and check.”
“Money's good, mercenary……. Alright. Franjo. Pat him down. Any electronics, pull 'em out and power 'em off.”
Franjo shot Suhyun a flustered glance, but Suhyun nodded calmly. This was par for the course in an illegal deal.
“Th-then I'll do it.”
“You think I'm gonna eat you or something? Hurry up.”
Suhyun hadn't brought much. Just a single smartwatch. Once it was powered off and set aside, Byorn stood and headed further inside.
“Follow me.”
“…….”
The passage inside carried a peculiar smell. It was the scent of various ingredients mixed together.
“No funny business. From here on, even if you drop dead, no one would know.”
“You're good at threats.”
Suhyun brushed off Byorn's words with a laugh.
‘This guy?’
“Looking for anything specific?”
“Taiyo Corp's Onigorooshi. Single digits.”
“!”
Byorn whipped his head around to stare at Suhyun. Shock he couldn't hide was plain on his face.
“Onigorooshi? You hunting giants or what?”
“How I use the poison's my business. You're running a black market—why the pointless curiosity?”
“Sorry about that.”
“So……. Got it? Or not?”
“Got 1, 2, 6, 7, and 9.”
“Smuggled a nice haul. Works for me. I'll take 'em all.”
“…….”
He'd already sensed this wasn't some ordinary guy, but hearing him say he'd buy them all made curiosity surge in Byorn. Still, he knew prying too deep in this line of work was suicidal.
‘What kinda job needs this stuff?’
Risk-taking adventurers and mercenaries were always objects of interest. Whether they succeeded or failed, the new intel they brought back was worth money.
“How much?”
Byorn held up five fingers instead of answering.
“Five hundred? You're too soft.”
“What kinda nonsense is that? Five thousand.”
“You crazy bastard. Trying to mark up ten times? Isn't that a bit much?”
Suhyun wasn't one to skimp on money, but he wasn't about to let such blatant profiteering slide.
Byorn was surprised by something else. Even folks seeking illegal poisons rarely went after Taiyo Corp's Onigorooshi. It was a small company that hadn't even been selling long before it got embargoed.
Yet the man in front of him knew the production cost down to the digit.
“Let's say a thousand. Double's plenty.”
“Why bother with this gig then? I can go as low as four thousand five hundred.”
“A thousand. How's that?”
“Absolutely not below four thousand.”
“I'm compromising here. A thousand.”
“You goddamn human punk—who do you think you're playing for a sucker?!”
Suhyun kept phrasing it like he was raising the price but stuck firm at a thousand, making Byorn snap and yell.
“You think this is a joke? Where do you get off?!”
“I'm completely serious.”
“So that bit about 'drop dead and no one knows' sounds funny now, huh?”
“Give it a shot if you can.”
“!”
Suhyun stared down at Byorn without so much as blinking.
“Looks like you've got 'em stashed behind you there? Pull that, and they'll come running. Go on, try it. Would be nice to get it for free.”
“…!”
Byorn felt sweat beading down his back. Among everyone who'd come here, Suhyun was a first. To think he had the positions of the hidden guards completely figured out, just in case.
He whipped his head around and glared at Franjo. Franjo, who'd unwittingly led Byorn into a trap, went pale and waved his hands frantically.
“You little shit…….”
“I-I don't know anything!”
“Hey. Let's compromise.”
Suhyun's voice cut through the tense standoff. He'd pushed hard, so now it was time to pull back a bit. Fighting here wasn't what Suhyun wanted either. Subduing them all would be easy, but after that, black market access would be off the table. No one wanted a client who flexed muscle at the slightest hitch.
“We got heated up and argued like this……. No real need, right? Sorry for being stubborn. Let's say two thousand five hundred.”
“…….”
Byorn stayed silent for a moment before nodding. He could tell being stubborn here would end badly. The guy wasn't just some loose cannon—he was more dangerous. He could wield threats as a negotiation tool without hesitation.
“Fine. I'll let it slide.”
“Appreciate it.”
Suhyun grinned and dipped his head. He'd won the negotiation, so now he needed to let the other side save face. Byorn looked dissatisfied but said nothing more.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
“?”
“With five smuggled already, you must have other stuff too. Got any double-digit models?”
“I do, but…….”
Taiyo Corp's poisons ran from 1 through 9, each a finished product infamous in its own right. Anything past 10 was closer to raw ingredients—unfinished, with lackluster performance on their own.
“How much you got?”
“The full set. Doesn't move, so…….”
“Figured. Who'd bother blending that crap themselves? Throw those in too, all together…….”
“All? You want the whole lot?”
“Why not?”
“You a blender or something?”
Byorn took interest in Suhyun buying raw poison in bulk. Nobody but blenders bought unfinished goods.
Suhyun smirked instead of answering. But that was answer enough for Byorn.
“A poison blender……. No interest in lucrative gigs?”
A skilled poison blender was talent everyone coveted. Custom poisons optimized against specific monsters could rake in insane cash if you knew the craft.
“Already got a money-making gig.”
“If you get interested, come find me.”
Byorn hadn't been slinging in the black market for just a day or two. He could read people pretty well. Suhyun was the real deal—from what he sought to how he handled threats. You couldn't fake that without serious skills.
“Now, shall we haggle this too?”
“…….”
* * *
“Alright. Consider last time's debt wiped.”
“Th-thank you.”
Franjo grimaced and nodded. At least it'd ended amicably—otherwise, Byorn would've had it out for him too.
He'd bought a bulk lot of poison, but the actual volume wasn't huge. Poisons weren't about quantity anyway.
‘Come to think of it, there was magic for poisons too…….’
He definitely remembered seeing it in Lubenfelt's magic book. Suhyun dredged up the memory and checked again.
[Poison Arts]
Availam's Poison: 0/1
Homep's Poison: 0/1
Bladsolam's Poison: 0/1
…….
The list went on endlessly. And plenty he had no clue where to source. They all shared the trait of being poisons, but gathering this many would be a nightmare regardless.
‘Poison Arts……. A skill for handling poison itself, huh. Tempting.’
For someone like Suhyun who dealt with poison often, it was appealing. He didn't know exactly how it handled it, but given magic's utility, no harm in acquiring it.
Magic would have to wait—preparations were mostly done otherwise. Just one more thing.
“A bow? I got 'em, but…….”
When he visited the gun shop from the troll hunt with Kim Chang-sik last time, the owner looked flustered. They didn't sell guns exclusively, so they had bows too. But against monsters, they were a weapon rarely used. Great for zero noise, but too many drawbacks otherwise.
“You mean a compound crossbow?”
The mechanical, modernized version of a crossbow lagged behind guns but held its own competitively.
“Nah. Just a regular bow.”
“What? What are you hunting? Got easy monsters around here?”
“If I didn't, I wouldn't be buying.”
The owner looked baffled, but when Suhyun pressed again, he dutifully fetched a bow. He couldn't wrap his head around Suhyun picking a recurve bow instead of a compound one.
‘What the hell's he after?’
Suhyun lightly plucked the string and nodded. It wasn't for hunting monsters, so this level of power was plenty.
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