Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Near Daehangno.
The main building of Korea National Open University.
Once a temple of learning, it had now become the base of the mid-sized raider group Blue Fang operating in northern Seoul.
“Boss! Look at this! It’s huge!”
One of the subordinates shoved a [U-Link] terminal forward excitedly.
The leader frowned in annoyance but glanced at the screen.
[Refurbished K-2 Rifle]
Condition: A-Grade
Price: 2,200 UP per unit
“…Damn.”
The leader’s eyes widened.
Most firearms listed on the black market were rusted junk or rifles whose rifling had completely worn out.
But the weapon in the photo gleamed with oil, looking ready to fire at any moment—clearly A-grade condition.
And below it were dozens of boxes of 5.56mm ammunition.
“If we buy these, we can crush those Hansung University bastards!”
The subordinate’s eyes glinted with murderous excitement.
After the collapse, Seoul’s territorial structure had changed drastically.
Subway stations had become shelters for ordinary survivors, while specialized facilities like university hospitals or industrial complexes often became corporate-style shelters.
The reason was simple.
Medical personnel frequently awakened as healer-type Awakened, while factory technicians often awakened into production-type classes.
Naturally, raider settlements sprouted nearby to take advantage of them.
Just as Pig had controlled Mapo Boulevard and collected tolls, controlling the surrounding roads meant enormous profits.
Blue Fang and their rival faction, Seongbuk Blades, fought over those profits almost daily.
“With ten rifles… we’d completely dominate in firepower. If we empty our UP right now, we can buy them!”
The subordinate wasn’t wrong.
With that quantity, the balance of power would collapse instantly.
But—
“Argh!”
The leader’s fist smashed into the back of the subordinate’s head.
“You idiot. Try thinking for once.”
“W-Why did you hit me?”
“How exactly are you planning to bring them back after buying them?”
The leader jerked his chin toward the window.
In the distance, a Union Unmanned Exchange Depot bunker was embedded in a school athletic field near Hyehwa Station.
Glossary - Owner of a Workshop …
“Inside that Union bunker is a safe zone. But the moment you take the goods out? That’s a lawless zone.”
“…Ah.”
“Ten K-2 rifles and dozens of ammo boxes. The second we drive out with a truck full of that, every hyena nearby will go insane and swarm us. We’ll be riddled with bullets.”
The subordinate shut his mouth.
Indeed, snipers and thieves always lurked around the exchange depot hoping for jackpot targets.
Still looking frustrated, he spoke again.
“Then we could hire mercenaries to escort the transport—”
“That’s not the only problem.”
The leader sighed and lit a cigarette.
“If we suddenly show up with gear like that, the Sungshin Women’s University group will feel threatened.”
“….”
“If rumors spread that we’re preparing for war, nearby factions will form an alliance and attack us first. You confident you can handle that?”
That was the dilemma of the ruined city.
Unless you possessed overwhelming strength, flaunting half-baked power only led to destruction.
A fragile equilibrium.
If anyone tried to rise above the rest, everyone else would rush in and crush them first.
Even Union Tech seemed aware of this and kept expanding unmanned trading depots so factions wouldn’t collide directly.
The problem was that the Seoul National University Hospital area had far too many small raider groups.
“Just buy a few magazines each. Replenishing ammo won’t attract attention.”
“Tch… understood.”
In the end, they couldn’t take the prize right in front of them.
With bitter expressions, they added only a few refurbished magazines to their cart.
This was the frozen consumer psychology of the ruined world.
“That’s strange. Why isn’t anything selling?”
Inside the temporary bunker on the waste hill, I crossed my arms and stared at the monitor.
A long time had passed since I registered the listings, yet expensive gear like rifles and body armor only accumulated views.
No purchase notifications appeared.
The price wasn’t high.
In fact, I had listed them 20% cheaper than the market rate.
Quality?
I personally repaired them.
A-grade without question.
There was no reason they shouldn’t sell.
“Picker. Check the forum mood. Is anyone saying there’s something wrong with my stuff?”
—One moment, Boss! Searching now!
Picker spun his lens and immediately displayed forum comments.
—Damn, Thunder’s stuff is insane. Look at that K-2 condition.
—But how are you supposed to carry that out? You’ll get cut down at the depot entrance lol.
—Seriously. Walking out with that is basically a sign saying ‘Please rob me!’
—Heard groups in Seongbuk are watching too. Whoever buys first gets jumped.
I laughed as I read.
“So that’s it.”
The problem wasn’t the price.
It was the balance of power between factions—and transport risk.
“I approached this like it was a peaceful-era marketplace.”
—Looks like the situation outside is very different.
“That’s a headache. Mass sales with the old method won’t work.”
Then a chilling realization hit me.
Worrying about others was the least of my problems.
“…I should be careful too.”
I also had to visit the exchange depot to deposit goods.
Until now, selling one or two items didn’t attract attention.
But unloading the current stock meant visiting the depot constantly.
I could take Porter and use Spatial Tethering, but…
That would be practically advertising myself to Union Tech.
“Better move at night. Even better if it’s raining.”
I was revising my sales strategy when—
Ding!
[Sender: SurvivalIsMyHobby]
[Thunder oppa~♥]
The first line alone was intense.
Frowning, I continued reading.
[Just like you promised, you listed a lot of good stuff. The rifles look great.
But do you have any good knives?
The monsters in Gangnam have gotten too tough lately.
My old one keeps breaking… sob.
Something that won’t break even if I use it roughly. Very sturdy.
Don’t worry about the price. I’ll pay whatever you ask.]
The moment I saw the message, it felt like my blocked blood flow suddenly cleared.
“Right. I had a customer like this.”
The Gangnam Madwoman, Cha Yumin.
Glossary - Owner of a Workshop …
Would she worry about getting ambushed while transporting goods?
Of course not.
She would probably treat anyone attacking her as walking experience points.
If she wanted something, I should make it.
A smile slowly spread across my face.
“Ahem… I mean, we can’t neglect a VIP.”
This time I could produce quite a few.
After all, she was a one-woman weapon capable of wiping out raider parties.
I immediately began [Manufacture].
To make it look like a found item, I aimed for the same concept as before.
[Expert-Forged Machete]
Rank: D-
The delicate craftsmanship of its maker is impressive.
“…Damn it.”
I clicked my tongue.
Maybe because [Work Protocol] had reached Lv.3, my workmanship had become too good.
Even when I tried to make something crude, the Expert tag appeared.
And the rank was D-.
That was too conspicuous.
Something around E-rank—good enough but not suspicious—would be better.
“Again.”
Without hesitation, I dismantled the finished blade.
—Why waste it?!
Picker cried beside me, but I ignored him.
After several attempts, I found the balance.
Relax the force.
Make it rougher.
But keep the balance perfect.
[Old Military Machete]
Rank: E
“Good. That’s it.”
Exactly the quality I wanted.
No Expert tag, but durability and cutting power above typical E-rank weapons.
Maintaining that feel, I produced ten blades quickly.
Different types, of course.
Selling ten identical machetes would be suspicious.
—Ten is suspicious too, Boss. It’s too neat.
“Really? Then I’ll make one more.”
In the end, eleven machetes were completed.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
We moved swiftly through the darkness.
Picker conducted reconnaissance overhead.
Porter waited some distance away from the unmanned exchange depot.
Disguised as Thunder, I repeatedly deposited the rifles, ammunition boxes, and eleven blades into the depot.
Carefully watching for pursuers, I returned to the temporary bunker.
[Sale completed]
[Sale completed]
[Sale completed]
By the time I arrived, all eleven knives had sold.
Buyer information was hidden, but I didn’t need to check.
“Just as expected.”
The Gangnam Madwoman must have bought them all.
In this ruthless game of mutual suspicion, only predators like her could move freely.
“Hmm…”
I woke inside the soft sleeping bag in the temporary bunker.
Even though I was technically homeless outside the workshop, Porter’s underground tunnel combined with the [Mobile Bunker] made the sleeping arrangement surprisingly comfortable.
The first thing I did was check my [U-Link].
[Assets: 4,467 UP]
More than 4,000 UP.
Just days ago, that amount would have been unimaginable.
But my expression wasn’t particularly bright.
“No jackpot after all.”
Except for the eleven knives Cha Yumin bought yesterday, sales had been terrible.
One K-2 rifle.
One ammo box.
That was the entire day’s sales.
Dozens of rifles and body armors remained unsold.
Worse yet, the hourly log showed that transactions completely stopped overnight.
Union Market wasn’t a 24-hour convenience store.
“Well… unless someone has multiple lives, who would crawl out at night to collect goods?”
A depot in pitch-black darkness was practically the entrance to a grave.
I could move around at night thanks to drone reconnaissance and overwhelming information.
But for ordinary survivors, it was practically suicide.
—Of course, Boss. Without a smart navigator like me, humans with poor night vision are just walking lunchboxes.
Picker chimed in from beside me while charging.
He wasn’t wrong.
Night in this world didn’t belong to humans.
“Still… this is selling way worse than expected.”
It wasn’t just because of nighttime or faction tension.
There had to be a deeper structural problem in the market.
“Picker.”
—Yes!
“Did you finish the analysis? There should be plenty of potential buyers besides raider groups.”
At my question, Picker projected a hologram.
He even added fake dark circles under his lens like he’d been up all night.
Ridiculous.
—I nearly died doing this, Boss! I swam through this pile of… data all night until my CPU almost burned out!
“Stop exaggerating. Just tell me the conclusion.”
—So impatient. Look!
Picker displayed a chart.
—Reason number one: the entry ticket is too expensive.
“Entry ticket?”
—The [U-Link]! You picked yours up for free, but outside it’s a luxury item.
Ah.
I felt like I’d just been hit in the head.
I had several because I looted raiders.
But for ordinary survivors, a smartphone was an extreme luxury.
I had searched the entire waste hill and never found a single one.
—Most individual survivors and low-rank Awakened don’t even have terminals. Maybe a group leader might own one. In other words, the number of customers who can actually buy your goods is very small.
“So the total market size is tiny…”
—Exactly. And the second reason is even bigger.
Picker flipped the screen.
Photos appeared showing raiders lurking near exchange depots.
—Kiosk terror. Weak humans avoid Union Market unless they’re about to die.
“Then where do they get supplies?”
—From traveling merchants they know, or barter with nearby friendly groups. Union Market is the last resort when essentials like antibiotics or food run out.
Listening to Picker’s briefing, I nodded slowly.
The true face of the market was exposed.
“So that’s why mass sales don’t work.”
I had assumed Union Market was like some omnipotent Amazon.
But reality was different.
It was an exclusive league for the strong.
And its pipeline was too narrow and dangerous to handle my production capacity.
Union Tech…
They built the trading system, but they still couldn’t guarantee the most important thing—safe large-scale transport.
That explained why Pig had seized Mapo Boulevard.
Small deliveries used Union Market’s spatial transfer system.
But large shipments were done through direct trade.
Thinking about it, Mapo Shelter must have traded directly too.
I had never even heard the name Union Market while living there.
Perhaps this was Union Market’s fatal weakness.
“For now, I’m weak enough to hide behind this system…”
But someday, once my workshop reached a higher level, Union Market itself might become an obstacle to my business.
Or even a competitor.
“I’ll remember that.”
For now, though, I had to squeeze everything I could from the environment.
[Workshop upgrade completion: 01:58:30 remaining]
About two hours.
The moment I had been waiting for was approaching.
But there was one more thing to check first.
“And… did you find it?”
At my quiet question, Picker narrowed his camera aperture as if smiling.
—Of course, Boss. Who do you think I am? The greatest information broker in the world—Picker.