Slave Market
It was the second woman's turn. The appraiser issued her a warning first, just as he had done before.
"You must answer every question truthfully."
The woman nodded.
"Did your group attack him first?"
"To be precise, I didn't attack him personally. The men in my group tried to attack him."
The second woman answered accurately.
"Is that so? Then, did your group often attack people in general?"
"No."
She lied there, but the appraiser's skill naturally detected the falsehood.
"Did you lure him to the warehouse — your group's hideout?"
"I guided him there because he said we needed a place for sex."
That was true.
"Was there a plan to attack him at the hideout?"
"No."
Another lie detected. The appraiser asked a few more questions, and the second woman answered honestly when it favored her but lied when it didn't.
"It has been confirmed that this woman also attempted to attack you. She is your slave."
He wrote Approved on the back of her hand as well.
Now it was the last woman's turn — Kim Sua. Having seen the other two judged as slaves, she spoke honestly from the start.
"I only joined this group recently. And I was forced into it under threats."
"I didn't want to kill anyone. I really didn't."
Everything she'd said so far was true.
"Still, you knew your group was going to attack this man, didn't you?"
"...Yes."
When that answer registered as true, Approved was written on the back of her hand as well.
The appraiser thus confirmed that all three women had been involved in attacking Kang Dohyun. Song Changwoo, who had accompanied them all the way, let out a relieved sigh.
"So it was true. I'm glad."
He was relieved that capable men like the two brothers — Kang Dohyun and Kang Dohun — had been telling the truth. If they had been the ones causing trouble, the military would have had to intervene.
"Thank you for your help."
"Not at all. I'm sorry we doubted you. It's part of our job."
Instead, he handed Dohyun a business card with his contact number.
"Contact me if you ever need help. I'd like to maintain a good relationship with a man of your caliber."
They exchanged a brief handshake, and Song Changwoo left the sports complex.
With Song Changwoo gone, only Kang Dohyun, Kang Dohun, and the three female slaves remained.
"Hyung? What are you going to do?"
"Sell them."
Kang Dohyun grabbed the leashes around the women's necks and tugged.
"Let's go."
He began walking around the stadium.
The stadium was filled with merchants in tents, each dealing in various goods, but only four shops traded in slaves. One of them was a military-run shop that only bought male slaves, so it was of no use to Dohyun. He visited the three remaining slave shops, haggling at each one.
"For that pretty slave, I'll give you sixty combat rations."
"We'll offer seventy military-issued meal tickets."
The first slave — pretty but with a loose pussy — was the most popular. She had the best looks.
After bargaining, Dohyun finally settled.
"I'll trade her for seventy zombie coins."
He sold the first pretty slave to the merchant who offered seventy zombie coins. The second slave was also in high demand.
"I'll give you fifty zombie coins for the woman next to her."
"Will you only take zombie coins? Then we'll offer sixty!"
"Seventy meal tickets? No deal?"
When selling the second slave, merchants from different shops gathered in front of Dohyun, holding a reverse auction. In the end, he decided.
"I'll let her go for sixty-four zombie coins."
He sold the second slave to the merchant who offered the most zombie coins.
The first two women sold easily, but the third, Kim Sua, was a bit trickier.
"How about thirty zombie coins for that bitch?"
"We'll give thirty-three."
"If you take meal tickets, I'll give you forty."
Compared to the previous women, Kim Sua had an average appearance, but she had the tightest pussy and the least experience with men — she was the one Dohyun had enjoyed fucking the most last night.
From Dohyun's perspective, he thought, 'She's not being valued enough.'
It felt wasteful to let her go for just thirty-five zombie coins.
"I'll trade later."
He ignored the merchants' offers for now.
"Hyung? Why aren't you selling her?"
"Huh? Too cheap. Let's look around the market a bit more and sell her later."
With that, he put Kim Sua's sale on hold.
The two brothers began browsing the market.
Many merchants were selling all sorts of goods. Zombie coins held the highest value as currency, followed by military-issued meal tickets or combat rations that could be eaten immediately. Bartering with valuable items was also possible.
They walked past the stalls, examining the wares.
'Oh?'
One merchant was selling something unusual.
This gauntlet made the left hand impervious to zombie attacks. It was a fairly good item, but...
'It's ambiguous because it has no offensive capability.'
Moreover, the gauntlet's structure made it awkward to wield a weapon while wearing it, and without any attack power, it was a bit of a white elephant.
'Still, it could be useful for Dohun to use temporarily.'
More importantly, he could purchase it here with a currency other than zombie coins.
So he asked, "How much is this?"
The merchant naturally emphasized the item's value. "It's a rare-grade item. Worth five hundred zombie coins. But since it's hard to find these days, there's a premium on it."
At the word "premium," Dohyun smiled. "For a premium to apply, it should be at least this good."
He pulled out the rare-grade spear he had taken from the adventurer hunter leader and showed it. The merchant's eyes widened. It was a proper weapon with an attack power enhancement option. A glint of greed appeared in the merchant's eyes.
"Are you... selling this?"
"I wasn't planning to, but that gauntlet caught my eye."
At Dohyun's words, the merchant immediately made an offer. "Let's trade. Right now, on the spot. Both are rare-grade equipment, so it's fair, isn't it?"
"No, but this spear has a premium too, you know?"
When Dohyun emphasized the word "premium," the merchant was a bit pained but kept a smile. "Heh heh heh, then I'll throw in five meal tickets as a special bonus."
"If you add a few more meal tickets, I'll consider it."
In the end, they agreed to trade the gauntlet for the spear with an additional ten meal tickets.
Dohyun immediately handed the Left Gauntlet of Powerful Defense (R) to Dohun.
"Here, it's yours."
"Oh! Nice! Thanks, hyung!"
Dohun equipped the gauntlet right there, moving his hand to check the fit.
The three of them — Dohyun, Dohun, and Kim Sua — continued strolling through the market.
Dohyun sold the various equipment he had taken from the adventurer hunters at decent prices. The items were well-received by merchants, as the weapons and armor were of good quality. He sold them for better prices than expected. While doing so, he gathered information.
"The Busan area? It's really dangerous. But I've heard there are active parties in eastern Busan."
"I've heard there are a lot of dungeons in Ulsan. If you're careful with the dungeons, it's supposed to be good for hunting zombies."
"Jinhae is a military-occupied zone. They're barely holding back the zombies coming from Changwon and Masan."
"The outskirts of Changwon have many active parties, but they say you shouldn't go into the city center."
The merchants readily provided the information Dohyun wanted.
Once he finished collecting information, sold all the items he wanted to sell, and bought a few decent things, he returned to the slave shop.
"Decided? Will you sell that woman for thirty-five coins?"
The merchant offered again, but Dohyun asked a different question instead. "Actually, I'd like to buy a good female slave if you have any."
"Oh? Then come in and take a look."
The three of them entered the shop.
Inside, there were many female slaves, all bound.
"Plenty of good-looking bitches, don't you think?"
The merchant's words were true. But...
"Can I check their pussies?"
"What? That... it's hard because of hygiene."
The merchant made an excuse, not wanting to show the goods' private parts. Dohyun, however, summoned a large water container filled with clean water from his inventory.
"I'll wash my hands thoroughly."
"Ah... yes."
Seeing Dohyun use his inventory — a special ability he had never witnessed before — the merchant could only nod.
Dohyun personally checked the pussies and anuses of every female slave in the shop with his fingers.
'Most of them are rags.'
They looked decent, but they were slaves. Whatever their stories, most had been with so many men that their pussies were loose rags. A few had decent pussies and anuses, but their looks were relatively poor.
Dohyun left that shop and checked the women at another slave shop, but the situation was similar.
Dohyun, Dohun, and Kim Sua entered a restaurant in a corner of the market.
"Two meals here."
As he said that, his eyes fell on Kim Sua, who was keeping her head down.
"No, three meals."
"Yes!"
The brothers chatted while waiting for their food.
"Hyung, why were you looking at the women in the slave shop? You need a cook-maid?"
Even without Dohyun explaining, Dohun could guess from the situation. The only times Dohyun needed a woman were to satisfy his sexual urges or to have a cook-maid who would handle cooking, laundry, and chores.
"Yeah, but... there's no decent woman."
Dohyun answered his brother's question, then looked at Kim Sua and thought for a moment.
'She's from the adventurer hunter group, but she seems better than the other slave bitches...'
She had average looks, but her pussy was quite good. Moreover, when the appraiser asked, she had said she didn't want to kill Dohyun — and that was the truth.
'It's not like a cook-maid has to be a beauty.'
After deliberating, he made his decision and asked Kim Sua, "Hey, you."
"Yes?"
"Do you... want to be a cook-maid?"
"A cook-maid?"
Dohyun explained what a cook-maid was: she would stay at their base while they operated around Busan, handling cooking, laundry, and other chores, and at night, she would take care of his sexual needs. Above all, he added, "If you do well and I'm satisfied, I'll let you go."
The condition of freedom was attached. At that, Kim Sua's eyes changed.
"Yes! I'll work hard. I'll really work hard."
Thus, Kim Sua temporarily joined the party.
They finished their meal and left the restaurant.
Dohyun bought two sets of plain clothes from the market for Kim Sua, who was naked.
"Let's move right away. Destination is eastern Busan."
The brothers' next destination was the eastern Busan area.