Chapter 331: The Black Market (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 331: The Black Market (4)
With each passing moment, his anguish deepened.
Almost every day, people came looking for him.
“Hunter Son Si-woo. The sabbatical you mentioned is long over. When do you plan to resume your activities…?”
An executive from the Hunter Association.
“Master. How long are you going to rest? Shouldn’t we be getting back to the front lines soon?”
His direct subordinates from the guild.
“There are rumors that your sabbatical is due to an injury, Hunter Son Si-woo. Is this true?!”
The reporters surrounding the guild entrance in double and triple layers.
“When are you planning to return? More and more people are starting to look for you.”
His wife in name only.
[Why isn’t Son Si-woo coming back?]
[Heard it’s because of an injury. What if this is for real?]
[Actually,,, Son Si-woo is already,,, dead,,,]
[lol Isn’t he just enjoying his first break in decades and doesn’t want to come out?]
[Look at these comments. After everything Son Si-woo has done for us;;]
[fr lol If it weren’t for Son Si-woo, a third of the bastards writing comments here would be dead.]
[A third of the useless bastards who leech off their parents would be gone…? Might actually be a good thing?]
Even on the internet, countless stories about him appeared and disappeared in a constant cycle.
Everyone was hoping.
For the return of the National Hunter, Son Si-woo.
Everyone was wanting.
The sturdy shield that would protect their peaceful daily lives.
But they would never dream of it.
That the Son Si-woo who had defended the Republic of Korea without a single step back, even against disaster-class monsters, no longer existed.
“Ugh… What do I do, what do I do.”
Son Si-woo clutched his head, lost in thought.
“Return…? How am I supposed to do that? Ugh…!”
What did Son Si-woo’s return entail?
Conquering high-difficulty dungeons where countless adventurers had tasted failure.
Joining operations to arrest A-rank or S-rank wanted villains.
It meant standing in the vortex of a battlefield where one wrong move could mean death.
“What do I do? What should I…!”
A body that was falling apart.
Memories he couldn’t recover.
And along with them, Son Si-woo’s combat abilities.
If he got swept into that vortex, he would surely die. How could he possibly go back?
Yet every aspect of his situation was pressuring him.
At this rate, only two outcomes remained for him.
Either he would crash and burn, clinging to his shattered image.
Or he would crash and burn after everyone grew suspicious and his true identity was revealed.
Either way, it was clear he was destined to fall to the very bottom of the abyss.
After agonizing over it, he finally thought of a way.
“Yes, if it’s that person…!”
More accurately, he thought of someone who could help him find a way through this crisis.
Son Si-woo picked up the smartphone on his desk.
He immediately called a number saved in his contacts.
*
There was no doubt.
That bastard is me.
“Hmm… or maybe not.”
Saying it like that makes it sound like I’m staring at a doppelgänger.
Anyway.
That guy is definitely Son Si-woo.
No matter how he hides it, I, of all people, can recognize him.
That is a body I sculpted stitch by stitch through decades of grueling training.
If I couldn’t recognize my own body, what kind of absurd farce would that be?
“By the way, why is that bastard here…?”
That’s the important question right now.
For what reason did he come to this Black Market?
“…And what’s with all that gear?”
The mask on his head, the robe draped over his body.
I’d never seen any of it before.
Where did he toss all the equipment I had custom-made to be wearing crap like that?
“Hmm.”
Finally seeing my own body in person didn’t feel particularly special.
Maybe it would have been different if we were face-to-face.
Perhaps it was because he was completely bundled up in a mask and robe.
Watching his back as he walked away, the only thought that came to mind was a simple, “Oh, that’s me.”
Besides, with the non-aggression and non-disclosure pact, there was nothing we could do even if we did meet.
Perhaps that’s why I was more interested in other things than the meeting itself.
For example, the direction he was currently walking in.
“That way leads to the upper level…”
As I said before, the upper level is a place you can only enter with a pass.
And I have no memory of ever being issued one.
Which means that guy must have gotten a pass himself…
“That moron did?”
I was skeptical.
I don’t know the exact details, but the upper level is considered a special area even within the Black Market.
And for such a special place, the procedure to get a pass was said to be extremely difficult.
I know I shouldn’t say this about the benefactor who gave me a new life, but that guy is a moron.
An idiot of idiots who makes me want to criticize him with words much stronger than ‘moron.’
A guy like that got a pass from the Black Market’s administrator?
“…Something smells fishy.”
Well, it’s not entirely impossible.
Just as I’ve undergone many changes since getting this body, he could have too, right?
For example, he could have developed a diligent personality, or gotten his act together and decided to live earnestly.
“Though the probability is extremely low.”
The only problem is that the chances of that are incredibly slim.
Personally, I think the probability approaches zero.
Why?
Because in this world, besides himself, I am the only one who knows his memories and thoughts inside and out.
There’s no one who knows better than me what a hopeless case that guy is.
“That’s not what’s important right now.”
How he got his hands on the pass doesn’t matter in this situation.
What’s important is that he’s heading for the upper level right now.
So, what should I do here?
“Tail him, obviously.”
Non-aggression and non-disclosure.
Neither of those clauses said anything about not tailing the other person.
Of course, if I get caught, things could get a little dangerous…
“If I don’t get caught, it’s fine, right?”
That’s only if I get caught.
Keeping him at the edge of my vision, I slowly follow him.
Before long, we arrived in front of a heavy, closed door.
The guy placed a small, card-like object on a terminal next to the door.
Soon, the door began to open.
Grrrrr…!
Beyond the door, which opened with a loud groan, was nothing but deep darkness.
Judging by the shimmering mana, it seemed to be layered with some kind of perception-hindering magic.
Seeing that made me even more curious.
What in the world is on the upper level that requires such ironclad security?
“…He’s gone.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the guy stepped through the door leading to the upper level.
Thud!
I approached the door, which immediately closed after swallowing him whole.
“The first hurdle, I see.”
To continue tailing him, I have to open this door.
But how?
“The terminal…”
Next to the massive door stood a terminal.
It was just the right size for a palm-sized card to be placed on it.
“Oh.”
As I touched the terminal, I could feel its internal mana circuitry as clearly as if I were seeing it with my own eyes.
The meticulously applied circuits told me many things.
For instance, the method this terminal used for authentication.
“The circuit is complex, but the method is surprisingly simple.”
The terminal’s role is to read the mana wavelength flowing through any object that touches it.
In other words.
“The door only opens when it reads a specific, predetermined wavelength.”
A specific wavelength is required to open the door, and the pass is an object that contains that wavelength.
It’s simple to explain, but the security is solid.
If they wanted to, they could make it so that only one key exists among an infinite number of derivative wavelengths, right?
Realistically, for someone without a pass to get in, they’d have to destroy the door, which would cause the waiting caretakers to swarm them in an instant. Infiltration is practically impossible.
“Hooo… this is nice.”
I quite like this method.
Why?
Because while it instills a sense of hopelessness in others, making them feel like it’s impossible to break through, it’s not like that for me.
The single wavelength that serves as the key.
The answer exists within the terminal itself.
No, it has to exist.
How else could it distinguish between the right and wrong answers if the waveform wasn’t stored inside the terminal?
And I am the only person who can pick apart the circuitry inside the terminal.
What does that mean?
“If I do this like this…?”
I find the wavelength stored inside the terminal, copy it exactly onto my palm, and place it on the device.
[Authentication complete.]
It means I can easily bypass a security system that’s an insurmountable wall to others.
Grrrrr…!
The door opened once again.
Beyond it, pitch-black darkness.
It was a darkness created by a specific spell, so I could break through it anytime I wanted if I put my mind to it, but…
“There’s no need for that.”
I can just go in and see for myself.
I wonder what the upper level is like.
With a sense of excitement, I stepped into the darkness.
It felt like passing through a barrier made of dense mana.
And then, a new world unfolded before my eyes.
“Whoa…”
A well-paved street.
Dazzling, brilliant lights.
And gorgeous buildings everywhere that caught the eye.
It was a spectacular scene, reminiscent of Las Vegas, which I had visited once before.
“This is… the upper level?”
Is this a Black Market or a resort?
An underground paradise so magnificent it momentarily made me confused.
I never imagined the upper level would be a place like this.
“So there’s a reason it was sealed off in double and triple layers.”
The astronomical sum of money it must have taken to create this street.
And the Black Market’s VIPs who use these facilities.
To protect those two things, it makes sense to keep it tightly under wraps.
“Ah, this is no time for that.”
I quickly reined in my focus, which had been momentarily captivated by the street’s splendor.
Then, I calmly began to follow the guy walking ahead of me.
Judging by the way he kept looking around in wonder as he walked, it seemed this was his first time here, or he had visited very few times.
After scanning his surroundings, he stopped in a very unexpected place.
“…A church?”
A church, of all things, suddenly appearing among the rows of glamorous buildings?
From the outside, it looked like an ordinary church, but… I don’t know.
“Ten to one it’s a cult.”
A church building in the Black Market, and on the upper level at that? There’s no way it’s a normally operating church.
My questions deepened.
What business could he possibly have in that church?
Is it just a meeting spot?
Or don’t tell me he’s actually become a believer of this church…?
“Nah, no way.”
I want to believe that’s not it, but I’m not sure.
Because if it’s that moron, I could totally see him falling for a cult and getting in over his head.
“Well… I’ll find out if I go inside.”
I waited a bit before trying to enter the church he had gone into.
A priest in black robes standing by the door blocked my path.
“I’m sorry, Brother, but there is no mass today due to church matters.”
In other words, go away.
Can’t be helped.
“Ah… I see. My apologies for the intrusion.”
“Not at all, Brother. We are the ones who are sorry you came all this way. If you visit us again next time, we will open our doors wide to welcome you.”
For a cultist, he was awfully polite.
Smiling as if to return the priest’s smile, I took a step back.
“Yes, I’ll see you next time, then.”
“Take care.”
For now, it’s a tactical retreat.
I walked away, then hid in a spot a short distance away to observe the church.
“He definitely let that bastard in without any trouble.”
The fact that he let him pass without any particular verification process meant there must have been some kind of token in plain sight.
That weird-looking mask? Or the robe that looked ordinary?
Or was it something else I failed to notice?
In any case, I can’t scheme anything right now, nor can I knock down the person blocking my way and cause a commotion.
That leaves only one option.
I have no choice but to level up the genre from simple tailing to an action-infiltration story.