The Black Market That's Hard to Adapt To
“Hoo.. hoo.. Fuck...”
Han A-ram dropped to one knee.
Mer wiped the sweat beading on her forehead and lowered the scythe in her hands.
As expected, Mer was the victor. Both had fought with their skills sealed, and while A-ram had held her own, she still couldn’t beat her.
From the start, their lives had been lived on completely different timescales. Even as a fallen angel stripped of every original power, the combat techniques she had mastered over the years remained.
“You’ve definitely gotten much stronger than before.”
“Hoo.. Damn it.. Mer unni, you’re just too strong. I don’t think I can win at all...”
A-ram clutched at the dirt in frustration. She felt a little wronged, too.
She had been so excited to head into the black market’s underground with Jang Jo-jun and slaughter demons, only to run into an unexpected wall and be forced to sit this one out.
If even demon hunting—her specialty—was being stolen by another woman, she felt she had nothing left. She needed at least one thing she was good at if she wanted to nap without worrying about what others thought, and the thought that she might never have that again made tears threaten to spill.
Mer extended a hand to the teary-eyed girl.
“Take good care of the master, A-ram.”
“What..?”
“I never actually planned to go. I just wanted to test how skilled you really are. For confirmation.”
Mer had never intended to accompany Jo-jun into the black market. The mere memory of her time there made her skin crawl. She still couldn’t forget the bizarre things she had encountered.
Of course, if she had to go she would have gone without complaint, but she had no desire to force her way in when Han A-ram was so eager.
“Thanks.. unni.”
“Don’t mention it.”
A-ram decided Mer, who had willingly given up her spot, was a genuinely good person. She took Mer’s hand, stood up, and pulled her into a tight hug. Their chests were so large they pushed against each other, but neither commented on it.
The team was now set. Han A-ram, Jang Jo-jun, and Eila would be the core members for this black market expedition. They would meet Cheshire, purchase one slave from the slave trader, and then the five of them would tackle the underground floor.
“Since everyone’s decided, let’s get ready to move.”
At Jo-jun’s words they began preparing for the black market. There wasn’t much to prepare. Food could be obtained on-site, so they only needed to pack useful items.
The gem merchant, who had finished storing all her jewelry in the gem box, approached Jo-jun as he loaded supplies into a large-capacity magic bag. She had come to teach him how to power her off.
“Packed everything?”
“Yeah. Can’t call it perfect, but I’ve got everything I need.”
“Good. Now, here. Touch this.”
“Here?”
“Yeah. I’m only telling you this, so don’t ever repeat it to anyone, okay?”
“Yes.. Understood.”
Eila revealed her weakness to him.
“Turn it clockwise while feeding it a little mana. I’ll shut down. To turn me back on, turn it counterclockwise. Got it?”
“Yes.. But is the switch in the same place for every gem merchant?”
“Probably not. I think they’re all different. Most are on the back of the head or the back, though.”
“I see.. Understood...”
Jo-jun recalled the pure-white gem merchant who had hurled insults at him during the Jeonyul Mansion raid. He had already decided to twist her limbs off and kill her if the chance arose, so he had asked how to capture one alive in advance.
“Alright, powering you down now.”
“Okay. See you later.”
Jo-jun gently stroked the gem merchant’s head, then flipped the switch. Her eyes slowly closed and she went still, becoming nothing more than a doll. He carefully placed her inside the magic bag.
At that moment, Han A-ram, now wearing the perception-distorting goggles, asked him,
“Is it okay like this? It feels a bit loose.”
“Ah... Hold on, I’ll adjust the strap from behind.”
“Do I really have to wear these? They feel stuffy...”
“If you don’t, you’ll regret it. The black market is insane. No matter what you see, it’ll be hard to handle.”
“Worse than zombies?”
“Yeah. If zombies are R-rated, the black market is straight-up banned.”
“Whoa... Tighten it more.”
At Jo-jun’s words, A-ram gasped and demanded the goggles be fastened tighter. As he said, the black market was the kind of place that could mentally shatter ordinary people.
All manner of horrific acts happened there without the slightest hesitation. Cannibalism, human farms, and things too grotesque to put into words occurred casually. Without the mosaic goggles, the uncensored scenes would destroy anyone’s sanity.
The bipedal creatures wandering around casually eroded human mental strength just by existing, and even the NPC merchants running shops in this madhouse were monsters beyond comprehension. Simply witnessing them polluted the mind.
The reason no other players besides Jang Jo-jun could be seen in the black market was simple: most died after entering, were executed by the merchant NPCs for breaking the rules, or refused to ever return.
Only because Jang Jo-jun was Jang Jo-jun could he stroll through it like a tourist. In truth, the black market was a trap. For reference, seven other people besides Jo-jun currently held entry qualifications.
“Alright, let’s head in.”
Preparations complete, Jo-jun and Han A-ram opened the school warehouse door with the black key.
“Come back safe!”
“Unni! Be careful!! Oppa too!”
“Yeah! Everyone wait for us safely!”
After exchanging farewells with those who had come to see them off, the pair stepped through the door. They wouldn’t return for a week. The others would have to face disasters without a leader.
******
Thud. Thud. Creak....
Thud. Thud. Creak....
Thud. Thud. Creak....
The sound of an unidentified machine working echoed faintly through the alley.
Aaaah!!!!
Something screamed.
Splash.. Splash...
An unidentified being stepped through puddles.
This was the Twisted Alley.
The first place anyone entering or leaving the black market visited—a deranged location where doors suddenly appeared on walls to spit out bipeds or kidnap visitors.
Unless you were an apostle of evil gods, even escaping the Twisted Alley was difficult. Because Jo-jun was favored by all demons, he merely found the place dirty and smelly. In reality, it was one of the locations with the highest probability of human disappearance.
Creak...
A door suddenly manifested on the previously empty wall, and Jo-jun and Han A-ram stepped out.
“Is this.. the black market..?”
Han A-ram couldn’t hide her shock at the stench rising from the narrow, twisting alleys, the pipes growing in every direction, and the damp floor. The black market was far more horrific than she had imagined.
She had heard Jo-jun’s rough explanation, but she never expected it to be filled with such a disgusting smell and chaotic noise.
“You wandered around a place like this.. alone?”
“Yeah. The first time I got lost by myself. From the second visit onward I went with the guide, Cheshire.”
“Wow...”
“More ordinary than you expected, right?”
“What? This? Whoa... I don’t know about ordinary... but it definitely looks filthy. And I don’t think I can swing the hammer here.”
“Yeah. The space is too cramped.”
The Demon Slayer’s exclusive weapon, the “Excellent Conversation Tool,” was a massive hammer. Its sheer size made it impractical in the narrow Twisted Alley.
It was also extremely heavy, so it couldn’t be stored in the magic bag. In the end, Han A-ram had no choice but to keep carrying it.
“Whoa... What the hell is this place.. It’s an endless maze...”
While A-ram stared at the twisting, maze-like alley, Jo-jun skillfully pressed the remote to summon Cheshire.
“You’re here!!”
Less than two minutes later, a small gate opened in the air and Cheshire leapt out. She immediately threw herself into Jo-jun’s arms.
“Jun! Jun!”
She poured all her joy into the hug, completely missing Han A-ram’s presence. A-ram nearly swung her hammer, mistaking the neon-masked figure with the mechanical voice for an enemy.
“Easy. Easy! She’s on our side!”
“Ah...”
Only then noticing A-ram, Cheshire asked in a small voice,
“Who’s that...?”
“Ah, this is Han A-ram. My comrade and.. girlfriend.”
“Oh... Nice to meet you.”
“Ah, yes.. Nice to meet you too..”
The two shook hands awkwardly. A-ram was flustered by how casually Cheshire clung to Jo-jun, while Cheshire was surprised by the ominous hammer in A-ram’s hands.
Both had awkward first impressions.
“From today we’re conquering the underground floor. Since A-ram’s a demon hunter, I figured she’d be helpful, so I brought her along.”
“Aha... There are plenty of low-level demons and their servants down there, so.. um.. if you’re a demon hunter, you can handle demonic energy, right?”
“Ah, yes. A little.”
“Then things should go faster. Thanks for coming.”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
A-ram scratched the back of her head and shook hands with the overly enthusiastic Cheshire.
“Then first, since this place is disgusting, shall we move? We need to store that big hammer somewhere if we’re going to wander the market... and we should take Eila out too.”
“Eila?”
“I’ll introduce her later. She’s in the bag.”
“Oh... Yeah, okay. Then let’s go!!”
“Huh? Where...”
Before she could finish asking, Cheshire grabbed her hand and teleported them away. A-ram found the rapid changes overwhelming.
“Uwaaa!!!”
“A-ram, calm down. We’re here.”
“Huh.. huh?”
Arriving at Cheshire’s hideout, A-ram dry-heaved from teleportation sickness. Jo-jun gently rubbed her back and helped her onto the sofa.
“Um.. your name was.. what again...?”
“Ah... It’s Han A-ram.”
“Right. A-ram. Want to drink this?”
“Ah... Yes.. Thank you...”
Feeling queasy, A-ram accepted the unidentified drink Cheshire offered.
“Uwek...!!! Khek! Cough!”
“A-ram!! What’s wrong!”
“Th-this.. ugh.. it tastes weird...”
Only then did she notice the mushroom drawn on the can.
It was “Yellow Sap Mushroom Water.”
“Ah.. sorry.. Guess it didn’t suit your taste..”
“Um, Cheshire.. unni? It’s unni, right?”
“Probably.. yeah?”
“Unni.. you didn’t do this on purpose, right?”
“No! Really not!! I-I just.. thought I had to give you something.. and the only thing I could offer besides alcohol was this... Sorry!”
Cheshire was visibly nervous. The sudden appearance of Jo-jun’s girlfriend—essentially her senior—had rattled her.
Watching the scene, Jo-jun explained to A-ram what lay ahead.
“Hey.. A-ram.”
“Yeah?”
“While we’re here, you’ll probably keep running into things that are.. a bit.. not normal. So you’d better adapt quickly. It won’t be easy, but honestly, even on my fourth visit I still can’t get used to this place. And this? Mushroom water?”
“Yeah. Mushroom water.”
“Let me try it...”
Gulp.
“Hmm. It’s got quite a.. flavor.”
“What...?”
“A-ram, this is probably the most ordinary thing you can taste here. So.. all I can say is adapt. Fighting?”
“Mushroom water being ordinary...”
Only then did Han A-ram seriously regret coming.
She even thought it might have been better to send Mer instead. And when she heard the black market’s rules that followed, her head started to spin.
* * *