Black Market

A leisurely weekend afternoon.

I lay sprawled on my stomach across the mattress of my cramped one-room studio, staring blankly as I scrolled through my smartphone screen.

"Hehe. This is fun."

Browsing the endless stream of ridiculous posts flooding the community boards, I found myself letting out empty little chuckles without even realizing it. The warm sunlight pouring through the window melted my body into a pleasant, lazy haze. Honestly, I just wanted to keep lying there forever, doing absolutely nothing but wasting time on my phone like a pure freeloader.

But don't get the wrong idea.

It wasn't as if I'd spent the entire weekend rolling around doing nothing but useless crap. In my own way, I'd been diligently searching and studying the essential information I needed to survive in this unfamiliar world—or rather, in Babel Academy.

The very first thing I'd looked up was Babel Points (BP).

Think of it as the exclusive currency that circulated throughout this massive academy city. It wasn't physical cash like bills or coins; every payment and transfer happened only through smartphones or the electronic system.

The uses for BP were endless. Personal spending—food, daily necessities, clothes, game consoles—plus luxury goods, training ground rentals, magic tool usage fees, workshop commissions, even medical bills. Every single economic activity inside the academy city was settled in BP. Students, ordinary residents, and merchants living on this island all survived on these points.

So how did you actually earn this all-purpose currency?

The surest way was ranking high on academy evaluations or raking in a fat scholarship-style payout based on end-of-semester grades. Of course, for bottom-feeders like me that was pure fantasy, so most people just took regular part-time jobs.

There was another major lifeline, though: commissions.

These were official jobs posted by the island's residents or the academy itself. Opening the commission board on the academy-exclusive app revealed every bizarre request imaginable.

……What the hell is that last one.

It wasn't even "please rescue a kidnapped person." It was a straight-up open declaration of legal human trafficking. Graduate student recruitment? That looked scarier than the villain subjugation.

Anyway, looking over all these petty and major commissions, I couldn't help picking holes in the system. Weren't the dangerous hunts and important jobs the kind of thing you just paid professional outfits to handle? The academy's official stance claimed it was "to cultivate students' real combat experience," or whatever. But after skimming the anonymous boards on the school community, rumors were rampant that they were just cheapskate-dumping work onto students' cheap labor to save money. The moment I saw articles about students who had actually died mid-commission over the years, my heart firmly sided with the latter theory.

I'm definitely sticking to safe, guaranteed part-time jobs.

I firmly swore never to do anything stupid enough to risk my life for money.

After BP, the next thing I researched was information about the "world" outside this gigantic academy. Digging through the communities again, I found the global situation wasn't all that different from the reality I'd lived in before possessing this body. America was still the almighty superpower, Russia was still the bear nation, and Korea was just Korea. Diplomatic relations and economic conditions between countries were almost identical. The only real difference was that every nation had its own "Awakener Association," each operating under different methods and laws.

Still, under the grand banner of protecting world peace, most countries had signed treaties sending their awakeners to Babel Academy once they reached adulthood. Exceptions existed, of course. Closed-off nations like North Korea, or a handful of countries that ignored international rules and insisted on going it alone, refused to send students. From the articles I'd skimmed, those places were constantly struggling with gates exploding left and right and teetering on internal collapse without outside help.

This is why dictators are the problem. Damn fat bastard.

I skimmed the headache-inducing world affairs roughly and moved on.

Ding—!

An alert popped up at the top of my smartphone screen. Checking the time, I pushed myself up off the mattress.

"Ah, is it already that late?"

Today was the day I'd promised to go to the Black Market with Anastasia. I washed up roughly, threw on some clothes, left my one-room, and headed for the meeting spot.

I arrived a little early, but even from a distance I spotted a familiar figure that stood out immediately. That model-like height and visuals were unmistakable at a glance—Anastasia. Seeing her in casual clothes instead of the school uniform or gym clothes I saw every day, she radiated such an overwhelming aura that she could have walked onto a runway right then and there. If she just kept her mouth shut, she would have been the perfect ice-cold beauty.

I was approaching while secretly admiring her looks when Anastasia spotted me and her brow furrowed hard.

"……What the hell are you? Why are you dressed like a total idiot?"

She looked me up and down like she couldn't believe it. Fair enough—my current outfit was solid black from head to toe, a massive hoodie pulled low over my face, and a mask covering half of it.

I glanced around warily and mumbled my excuse in a shrinking voice.

"……Well, we're going to the Black Market. Isn't it dangerous if we get caught? We could get disciplined……."

"Haaah? Are we going there to commit terrorism or something? Dressing like that makes you a hundred times more suspicious! Take the hoodie and mask off right now!"

At Anastasia's bark, I hurriedly yanked the hood down and stuffed the mask into my pocket. She clicked her tongue at the sight of me, then jerked her chin forward.

"Just follow me."

"Yes ma'am……."

We rode the bus for quite a while toward the outer districts of the academy city. The lively scenery outside the window gradually vanished until we finally got off in a deserted, remote spot. The entire walk toward the Black Market entrance, every time I spotted people who looked like patrolling police, I flinched and hunched my shoulders like a guilty thief. But my cowardly worries proved pointless—we reached our destination without a single stop or inspection.

"Hey, first let's exchange some money over there."

Anastasia, walking ahead, pointed off to one side.

"Exchange?"

I looked where she indicated and saw an old man standing under a small tent pitched in a corner.

"The Black Market doesn't take BP payments—that's a trackable electronic system. Strict rule is untraceable cash transactions only. ……Come on, hurry up."

Anastasia impatiently grabbed my wrist and strode toward the exchange booth, dragging me along. I stumbled after her rough grip until we stood in front of the tent. Bundles of real currency from various countries—dollars, euros, rubles—were spread out everywhere.

"Um…… what should I exchange into?"

When I asked, Anastasia flinched and let go of my wrist. Glancing up, I saw her face had turned oddly red. Was it just the sunset light? While I tilted my head, Anastasia cleared her throat and snapped her gaze away.

"Ah, ahem. Uh…… dollars. Dollars are the most universally traded. And they won't convert leftover cash back into BP, so only exchange a reasonable amount you'll use right away. Around 400,000 BP should cover anything we need."

Hearing her explanation, the old man nodded and held out a terminal.

"400,000 BP exchange, eh. Yes, just pay on this terminal first."

I opened the academy app and tagged the terminal; 400,000 BP vanished from my account in a flash. In its place, a thick wad of dollars landed in my hand.

Hello there…… first time in my life touching a fortune worth four million won.

I fiddled with the crisp texture unique to dollar bills, sinking into a strange sense of awe. After carefully stuffing the cash deep into my pocket, we headed a little further inside, and the real Black Market revealed itself.

I'd expected some dark, blood-soaked underground criminal den like in the movies, but it just felt like a dimly lit local night market or flea market. We began browsing the rows of stalls one by one. Most of the displayed goods were magic tools of unknown origin or bizarre materials, but nothing particularly caught my eye.

What I need most urgently right now is a magic-capacity-boosting tool to cover my pathetic mana…….

Everything on display was only "increased mana regeneration" or "enhanced power for specific elemental magic." Frustrated, I carefully asked an uncle running one of the stalls.

"Excuse me, do you have any magic tools that increase absolute mana capacity itself……?"

"Oh, looking for a mana-inflation tool? Perfect timing—I've got something rare."

The man pulled a dusty old bracelet from under the display and showed it to me.

"This here dramatically increases the wearer's mana."

I took the worn bracelet and turned it over carefully.

……But if I put this on, exactly how much does my mana go up numerically?

I had zero professional knowledge about magic tools, and this unfamiliar world had no convenient status window that popped up stats like a game. There was no way to confirm whether this old bracelet raised my mana by 10 or by 100.

I hesitantly stammered at the man.

"Uh…… mister. Hypothetically speaking? Like…… if, uh…… if my mana was 1…… then how much would this increase it?"

"……?"

At my garbage analogy, the man stared at me with a face that clearly said, "What the fuck kind of nonsense is this kid spouting?" Growing desperate, I shot Anastasia a look of pure salvation.

Anastasia first frowned, not understanding what I was trying to say either, then let out a small "Ah" of realization.

"Ah. Are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you talking in terms of 'status' values? Then just say that from the start instead of talking like an idiot."

She clicked her tongue like I was hopeless and turned to the man.

"Mister. How much does this raise it by status standards?"

"Ahhh! That's what you meant. Let's see…… about mana 4."

That exchange left me inwardly stunned.

Huh? Stats…… so something like a status window…… actually exists separately in this world too?!

My eyes went wide as I urgently asked Anastasia.

"N-Nuna! Is there a way to check my stat numbers separately?"

Anastasia looked down at me like she was staring at a bug.

"Obviously you get measured at the inspection center inside the academy and receive a certificate. You seriously didn't even know that? Are you a freeloading parasite? Please look things up with your own hands for once. You're not blind."

"Ah……."

I awkwardly averted my eyes.

So it existed. I had no idea when I searched…… no, I definitely didn't just look half-heartedly.

Anyway, I'd obtained the objective info that it raised mana by 4. My current mana stat was 1, so wearing this would make it a total of 5.

4, huh…… a little disappointing, but I should still use this for now since I'm desperate.

Holding the bracelet, I asked the price.

"……Uh, mister. So how much is this?"

With a sly smile, the price the man quoted was exactly "double" the money I'd just exchanged.

"Huuurk……!"

I recoiled in shock and hurriedly put the bracelet down.

"Th-that's way too expensive?! Do you have anything else?"

"Tch."

The man clicked his tongue and this time pulled out a small ring from the corner of the display.

"This one raises mana by about 2. Just 2,500 dollars."

The price he named was an amount I could barely afford even if I scraped every last soul-filled bill from my pocket. I fiddled with the ring, sinking into serious deliberation.

……Isn't that too pathetic?

Even if I wore it, using the Chain of Causality would probably drain my mana again and knock me out cold. I still didn't even know exactly how much mana the Chain of Causality consumed, so burning my entire fortune just to raise it by a measly 2 felt wasteful.

As I groaned over the ring, Anastasia, watching from the side, casually muttered,

"What? Not good enough? But mana-increase options are expensive, so this is actually pretty cheap."

The man nodded as if agreeing. Still, I couldn't bring myself to open my wallet and kept fretting. Seeing my shoulders slump, Anastasia cleared her throat slightly and mumbled,

"……Why? That worried about the next evaluation? Then I could, ahem. Maybe if we're in the same cla—"

"Yahoo~ Meeting everyone here? Anastasia-yang, Siyul-kun!"

Suddenly.

An endlessly bright voice cut Anastasia's offer clean off as it barged into the dim Black Market alley. I turned my head and there stood Chloe, smiling brightly. She was also in casual clothes. The lively, cute skirt paired with a light jacket completely stole the eye in a completely different direction from Anastasia's chic model fit beside her.

I stammered in panic.

"Uh, Ch-Chloe-ssi……? How did you end up……."

I hadn't even finished speaking.

"Y-you fucking bitch……! What the hell are you?! Did you fucking stalk us?!"

Anastasia snarled like a beast and blocked Chloe's path. Despite the murderous aura that looked ready to throw a fist any second, Chloe just shrugged and smiled leisurely.

"Oh my, what are you talking about. Stalking? Pure coincidence. I was also here looking for magic tools to use in next week's gate evaluation."

"What kind of bullshit is that! Why would you even need magic tools……!"

Anastasia spat curses and tried to argue, but Chloe lightly ignored her and turned her gaze to me.

"Hmm, Siyul-kun is looking for mana-increase magic tools? Stuff like that doesn't sell well in shallow areas like this. I know a better place. Come on, follow me!"

Chloe naturally grabbed my hand and led me deeper into the alley without hesitation. Anastasia's face, which had been carrying a strange tension until a moment ago, flushed bright red with rage.

"You fucking bitch! Who the hell do you think you are dragging him off?! Hey! Stop right there!"

Anastasia hurled dual streams of swears and chased right after us. Led by Chloe through several narrow, winding alleys, the crowds vanished completely and a zone of thick darkness appeared. An alley so poorly lit it was downright creepy. In dark corners where you couldn't even see faces, people had laid out mats and were selling unidentifiable goods.

If the previous area had been a local night market, this was the real back-alley underworld. Obviously ominous, grotesque, and dangerous-looking items were scattered everywhere. While looking around, the moment I spotted something that weirdly resembled skin on one mat—

"Ah! Better not look at that kind of thing."

Chloe quickly reached out and covered both my eyes. Anastasia, who had been right on our heels, furrowed her brow hard.

"……Ah fuck, my eyes. Why the hell are they even selling that crap. Is that seller a psychopath."

We were carefully walking through the darkness when—

"You there, students."

A voice like scraping metal snagged our ankles. We flinched and turned to see an old woman in a tattered robe crouched in the deep shadows.

"Looking for magic tools, are you? I've got a few useful ones."

At those words, Anastasia, Chloe, and I exchanged glances before approaching the old woman's mat. Chloe wiped away her usual bright smile and asked in a cold voice,

"……How did you know we were students? And how did you know we were looking for magic tools."

But instead of answering Chloe's sharp questions, the old woman abruptly thrust out a hand like a withered tree branch from the shadows. In her grip was a necklace gleaming with a violet light.

"Heh heh ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heh…… a precious necklace that raises the wearer's mana. Raises it by a full '10,' no less."

"……!!"

In that instant, intense light blazed from both my eyes.

Mana by a full 10?!

For someone with a pathetic mana stat of 1, a +10 boost was less like rain after a drought and more like a full-on flood. How many more times could I use the Chain of Causality with that?!

But I quickly suppressed the surging joy and regained my composure. Patterns of vicious merchants flashed through my mind.

Hmph, you think I'll fall for that. Show the high-end item first to grab attention, make them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠realize the price is insane, then dump the cheap junk next to it, right? I know that trick.

"The price is…… just 2,500 dollars."

Without a single second of hesitation, I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out the thick dollar bundle.

"Heh heh heh……."

Seeing me offer the cash, the old woman let out a satisfied, eerie laugh and opened her mouth.

"Before you buy, let me tell you a story about this item. Long ago, there was a student very much like you. That child also would have been stronger than anyone if only their mana had been sufficient…… but after putting on this necklace……."

"I'll take it!!!"

"……Huh?"

Before the old woman could even finish, I snatched the necklace like I was stealing it and slapped the dollar bundle down right there.

"It's really 2,500 dollars, right?! No take-backs! Thank you!!"

I couldn't care less about whatever backstory she was rambling about. When someone was offering a +10 mana inflation item at a bargain price, "shut up and take my money" was the absolute truth. Afraid she might change her mind, I clutched the necklace and bolted without looking back.

"W-wait……! S-Siyul-kun!"

"Hey you crazy bastard! Where the hell are you going alone!"

Panicked by the lightning-fast cool deal and hit-and-run, Chloe and Anastasia hurriedly chased after me. The two of them kept throwing suspicious glances back at the shady old woman as they exited the alley, but soon they were gone.

After the storm of kids had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠completely vanished.

Left alone, the old woman began shaking her shoulders with laughter in the shadows.

"Keeheehee…… I wonder how long it'll take for that cursed thing to return to my hands again……."

She muttered her monologue grotesquely toward empty air.

"And as for the new owner of that necklace, what kind of miserable end will they mee—"

Whooosh—

Just then, the cool, chilly night wind of the alley swept across the old woman's body.

"What kind of end will they m— Achoo!!! Aish……."

Sniffling, the old woman staggered to her feet on trembling legs. The eerie atmosphere from moments ago was nowhere to be found.

"Aigo, it's cold. Putting on airs with this old body is hard work. Better clock out before I catch a cold."

Grumbling, the old woman gathered up the mat on the ground and walked off into the darkness with familiar steps.