The Black Market (3)

"Well, I'll be. What brings a kid like you here?"

The moment I stepped into the pawnshop, the first thing I saw was some old grandfather.

An old man with age spots blooming all over his face. He looked me up and down over his glasses, then tossed out a question in a blunt, curmudgeonly tone.

"Where's your mother?"

"...Don't have one."

"Ah, wasn't she with you just now?"

"......"

Seriously, this old man. Why does every single person I meet do this to me? At the convenience store, at the Association—why is everyone so desperate to land a low blow about me being an orphan?

"I'm not a kid, okay? Believe it or not, I'm over twenty."

"You? You?"

"Yes."

"Then I suppose I'm thirty, eh, brat?"

"...I'm serious."

When I puffed up my cheeks and grumbled, the old man shooed me away like I was a fly.

"If you've got no business here, get lost. This is no place for children."

"I AM twenty! Wanna see my ID??"

"Twenty or thirty, you're a brat either way."

"Can you believe this crazy old f—ffffffffart."

Apparently he had zero intention of listening to a word I said in the first place, so I gave up on convincing him and went straight to action.

"Quit messing around and buy my stuff already."

Clatter-clatter!

Magic stones came pouring out of thin air and rolled across the counter. At the brilliant gleam radiating from them—on a completely different level from ordinary stones—the old man's interest snapped into focus, and he muttered under his breath.

"An Inventory...? No, wait—these stones..."

Vmmm—

A blue glint sparked to life in the old man's eyes, like something out of a manga. I could sense faint mana flowing from them, which meant he had some kind of appraisal skill.

Seconds later, having appraised all ten stones in an instant, he murmured in disbelief.

"...High-grade. All ten of them, at that."

"Of course they are."

They were quest rewards, after all—of course they'd be high-grade. The Tower's status window doesn't exactly lie.

I continued, addressing the old man.

"I want to sell them fast. That doable?"

"Well... it's possible, but..."

The old man nodded absently, then looked at me with an expression that had shifted dramatically from moments before.

"Don't tell me... that Lunatic climber everyone's been buzzing about lately...?"

"......"

Oh. Oh, come on now.

It's not like I was showing off or anything, you know... It's just that, well, if you happen to recognize me under these unavoidable circumstances...

"Mhehehe."

"...I could've sworn you were nothing but a brat, but turns out you're a madwoman."

"Not bad, right? Suddenly I seem pretty impressive, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't I?"

"Impressive, certainly. In several senses of the word."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"It wasn't a compliment."

Unbelievable... this tsundere of a grandfather. Stop being embarrassed and praise me more. Tsundere characters don't sell these days, you know.

"I'll take them off your hands. Wait a moment."

But all I got in return, despite my quiet hopes, was an icy reception. Betrayed in my expectations, I urged him on in a disappointed tone.

"Hurry up and hand over the money. Cash. Crisp bills, none of that limp stuff."

"Don't order me around. I'll get to it at my own pace."

With that single remark, the old man turned on his heel and walked into the back without so much as a backward glance.

Instantly annoyed, I pouted my lips and grumbled away.

"Ugh... gramps. He could at least hustle."

This Awakener has no time to waste. A-yeon needs cash right now. A quick transaction, a fast sale—that's the service I'm demanding here.

But since rushing him wasn't exactly producing results, I quietly sat down in a corner of the pawnshop and waited for the old man to return, idly wasting time on the forums.

How long had I been killing time like that? Before I knew it, the old man reappeared carrying a bag stuffed with cash, set the money down in front of the counter, and addressed me.

"Five million apiece. Any more than that is a hard no."

Hearing the price, I tilted my head.

"What? Where do you get off lowballing me like this?"

"So the gal who wanted a rush sale has gone and sold her conscience too. You did know the market price is running six to seven million right now, right?"

"Of course I knew before I came."

I'd heard the going rate from the Archmage guy, after all. It was the kind of info that popped up with even a quick search of the gallery.

The old man stared at me with an incredulous expression.

"So let me get this straight. Ten high-grade magic stones."

"Yep."

"Sold same-day, face-to-face, as a rush deal."

"Yep."

"And paid out in full, cold cash, on the spot..."

"Yep."

"And you're asking me for MORE than five million...?"

"Yessir."

"......"

Finally, the lid blew off. The old man slammed down the wad of bills he was holding and glared at me.

"Argh, you little—!! Then what, am I supposed to starve to death?! A man's gotta skim something off the top!!"

I replied without changing my expression in the slightest.

"Awww, come on. Just this once."

"......"

Whether my killer aegyo had disarmed him, the old man found himself unable to continue.

To any observer, he looked utterly bewitched by my devastatingly adorable display.

"...Madwoman."

Whatever you say.

The old man sighed heavily and continued.

"5.1 million."

"6 million."

"5.2 million."

"6 million."

"Mother of— 5.5 million. That's genuinely my final offer."

Driven to the brink, the old man waved the white flag while invoking a mother who probably wasn't even alive anymore. I snatched up the offer immediately and extended my hand.

"Okay, deal. Thanks."

"......"

The old man's face curdled. After a moment, instead of taking my hand, he shoved the bundle of money at me like he was telling me to take it and get out, issuing his formal eviction notice.

"You've skimmed your cut, now get the hell out."

"Oh, thank you kindly."

I immediately counted the bundles I'd received. Eleven in total—probably bundles of hundred bills, ten million won each.

Having stuffed all the cash into my Inventory, a sudden thought occurred to me and I asked the old man.

"Oh, right, gramps. Do you buy things other than magic stones too?"

"...Did you not hear me tell you to get lost?"

Clearly sore about being squeezed for money, the answer came back venomous and instant. I could tell I wouldn't get a straight answer if I pressed the question as-is, so I bit the bullet and sold out an acquaintance's name.

"The Archmage guy said you take byproducts too."

"The Archmage...? Ahh, you mean that delusional lunatic who thinks he's actually a mage?"

"...That's probably him, yeah."

Wait, what. So this guy wasn't even a mage? And he walks around with a handle like that on top of it?

"That's odd... I could've sworn his tastes didn't run to brats like you..."

"......"

But there was no need to reveal things I didn't know to the old man, so I just kept my mouth shut and stayed quiet.

And perhaps my strategy worked, because before long the old man seemed to convince himself of something, nodding slowly.

"Fine, then. Out with it. Let's see just how much bargain-bin junk you've brought me."

"It won't be bargain-bin."

In response to his provocation, I opened my Inventory and produced the two items I'd obtained on Floor 5.

"......"

The old man examined my items with blue fire blazing in his eyes for a long while—then, in the space of a heartbeat, his face went rigid.

"...You. Where in the world did you get this?"

"Where did I get it? The Tower, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠obviously."

"Why am I even asking... Phew. Right. I don't know what I was expecting."

I'd only given the obvious answer to an obvious question, but for some reason the old man sighed and complained of a headache. He then pointed to the Y-shaped wooden branch among the two items and began to explain.

"First off, this branch is an S-rank item."

"I know. It's the World Tree Branch, isn't it?"

"...No, girl. You don't know a thing. Do you have any idea how rare this item actually is?"

"Well... very?"

"......"

"Extremely...?"

Truthfully, I had no idea. All I knew was that it was an S-rank item, so I was vaguely assuming it must be pretty great.

When my answer trailed off, the old man gave me an I-knew-it look and pressed on.

"The last one to hit the market was four years ago. A branch about a hand-span long went up for auction."

A hand-span—roughly a quarter of the length of the branch I'd brought with me. And yet the winning bid had been a sum beyond imagination.

"The final price was fourteen billion won. This one is far bigger than that... so conservatively, you're looking at tens of billions."

"Whoa."

"For the record, the winning bidder was the Thunder Emperor. As you know, Korea's number-one S-rank Awakener."

The Thunder Emperor was someone I knew too. The current strongest Awakener in Korea since the Ice Emperor vanished—and one of the very few Awakeners climbing Lunatic difficulty, same as me.

I asked the old man with a perfectly innocent face.

"Sooo. You're not buying it, then?"

"...I couldn't afford it even if I wanted to. I don't have the funds to pay for it right now."

"So you ARE a broke old man..."

"......"

Well, I never intended to sell it in the first place. Selling the World Tree Branch now just felt like a waste, somehow. Besides, I had a feeling it might come in handy somewhere down the line.

"And this potion-looking thing..."

The old man stared at the potion bottle, small as a finger joint, for a long time—then eventually shook his head and told me:

"...I don't know."

"I'm sorry, what?"

No, hold on, gramps. What am I supposed to do if you don't know? What kind of appraiser can't appraise? That appraising is literally your job? Are those manga-protagonist eyes of yours just decoration, huh?

But the old man was genuinely flustered, sweating as he spoke.

"This is the first time I've ever seen anything like it. An item whose grade won't even display under an appraisal skill... where on earth did you get this?"

"From the Tower."

"...I should've known better than to ask."

I stored the World Tree Branch and the question-mark potion back into my Inventory. The old man wore a dazed expression as he murmured.

"How strange... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even fairly high-end S-rank items have never done this to me..."

"Sounds like a skill issue on your end, gramps."

"...Why you little—! Disrespect your elders and you'll come to no good."

It seemed the mystery potion's true identity wouldn't be revealed today. Still, I'd finished offloading the high-grade magic stones and learned about the World Tree Branch's value. On top of that, my drained bank account was about to get a whole lot fatter than expected, so I'd say the haul exceeded the plan.

"Well then, back to the grindstone, you bargain-bin gramps."

"Then hurry up and get lost already, you sly little wretch."

And so, as I exchanged rough-and-tumble farewell pleasantries with the old man and moved to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leave the pawnshop—

BANG!!

The door to the pawnshop was flung violently open. Through the swinging door, a man rushed in with a desperate, frantic face.

"G-Grandpa...!! Where's Grandpa...!!"

Eyes bloodshot red. His face was stained pitch-black, as though dark circles had sunk deep into it, and his skin looked as if it were melting like wax.

Tremble, tremble.

"H-Hide me...!! The Heuk, Heuksan gang... they s-suddenly just now... stormed in... and the Association people..."

"......"

The slurred speech and jumbled sentences. The hands shaking like a leaf in the wind. One glance was all it took to tell. This was, without a doubt, the face of a drug addict.

Then, having gotten a good look at the man's face, the old man spoke in a low voice.

"So you finally crossed the line, did you."

"Grandpa!! Hide me...!! Please, just once...!!"

"Tch. I don't know anyone like you. Don't show the kid anything unsightly—now get lost."

A tone cold to the bone, a complete 180 from the banter of moments ago. The man stood frozen like someone who'd lost his soul, body trembling—then abruptly transformed and hurled himself at the old man.

"You old bastard, you've been looking down on me this whole time...!!"

KRAK—!!

Mana erupted. The floor where the man had launched himself crumbled away helplessly. And just as the fist he'd extended shot forward to pulverize the old man's face—

Gotcha!

The man's body, seized by something, stopped dead in midair.

"Wh-What the..."

The flustered man stammered and looked back. There I stood, arm outstretched, gripping the back of his neck with a smile on my face.

"You shouldn't attack old people, you know."

It's bad enough he's not even young himself, and he can't even show basic respect for the elderly? Attacking old people is a privilege reserved for certified geezers like me, thank you very much.

"You little brat...!!"

But apparently he hated admitting his own age, because the man flew into a rage and lunged at me.

Vmmm——

At the same time, a mana-wreathed fist shot toward me at blistering speed. The fact that even my drug-enhanced dynamic vision struggled to track it meant he was probably a higher grade than those tattooed pigs.

'Metal—!'

I summoned a can from my Inventory to block the man's attack, channeling mana into my fingertips, ready to unfold the metal into shield form.

And then, at that moment—

"Jack Frost."

A short, feminine voice. And with it came a sound that crawled up your spine.

CRUNCH-CRUNCH-CRUNCH——!!

A wave of freezing cold surged right into my face, scattering the bangs I'd raised to shield my forehead. The shield I'd formed fell to the floor with a tin-can clatter, and the man before me—who knows when it had happened—was already encased in translucent ice, staggering.

A person froze solid in the blink of an eye.

Before I could even register my surprise, two women in business suits stormed into the pawnshop.

"......"

"Yes yes, nice work out there. We're from the Association."

The cold-featured woman who had just cast the spell. The woman who held out her Association registration card in a tone that suggested we were a chore. That second woman casually shoved the frozen man aside and strode toward the counter.

"Nothing personal, but we'll be conducting a simple inspection. If you're hiding any horse around here, don't even think about it—hand it over right n— ...Hm?"

The moment her officious, bureaucrat-by-the-book patter met my eyes, she blinked and murmured in surprise.

"Kim A-yeon...?"

I likewise got a good look at her face and echoed her expression.

"BurntCowIsCarbon...?"

Under another name—Hong Yeon-hwa.

Why on earth are you here...?