Serving Up the Black Market Full Course
Purple neon. A moderate level of humidity and the subtle scent of incense. The warmth of human skin holding her close. The rhythm of breathing. And...
“Aila. Are you awake?”
“Mm... yeah...”
At Jojun’s call, Aila shifted her body. She stretched out, curled up in Jojun’s arms like a cat. Soon, a cracking sound echoed from her joints as magical energy surged throughout her body. For her, it was the first time she had truly “powered down” in a long time; it was effectively her first real sleep in years. She felt incredibly refreshed and happy, especially knowing she had woken up in the arms of a human she favored. She had originally been pathologically averse to sleeping, but now, she felt she could sleep in Jojun’s arms anytime.
Just then, Cheshire approached and pressed her index finger firmly against Aila’s forehead, as she was still struggling to fully wake up.
“Umm...”
“Aila. Wake up.”
“Hm? Ah...”
Aila finally opened her eyes. She glanced at Cheshire, who was wearing her neon mask.
“Long time no see, Aila.”
“Indeed. It has been a while, Cheshire. But why on earth are you always wearing that neon mask?”
Fully alert now, Aila exchanged greetings with Cheshire, who was looking down at her. It was a casual greeting, as if they had met just yesterday. Yet, the gap of time until that greeting could take place had been unimaginably long. Aila hadn’t visited the Black Market for a while, and Cheshire hadn’t sought her out, either. Regardless, the two were on quite good terms. Cheshire found Aila cute, and Aila felt a sense of pity for Cheshire.
“By the way... why is this button undone?”
“Huh? Oh. Maybe it came undone while I was taking it out of the bag?”
“Hmm... is that so?”
Aila felt that her clothes were a bit disheveled, but she didn’t pay it much mind. She brushed it off as something that happened while traveling.
Jojun, who had been the one to undress Aila and fondle her breasts, sighed in relief as Aila let it slide. If she had realized she was on the verge of being raped while she slept... he feared she might distance herself from him.
“Seeing as Cheshire is here, it seems we’ve entered the Black Market safely. This is... your base, isn’t it, Cheshire?”
“That’s right. I came here to fix the laser concentrator last time.”
“I see. More importantly, have you been well?”
Cheshire and Aila chatted for a while. In the meantime, Jojun finished preparing to leave and put the goggles back on Han Aram, giving her a stern warning.
“You absolutely cannot eat anything a drug dealer gives you.”
“I know. That’s the third time. You’re not my mom, stop it.”
“No, seriously. You absolutely cannot eat it. You’ll die if you do.”
“No, I said I get it.”
Jojun secretly wanted to leave Han Aram at Cheshire’s base. But he couldn’t do that; if he were going to leave her behind because the Black Market was scary, he shouldn’t have brought her in the first place. The Black Market was a place one had to pass through to reach the underground floors. If her mental fortitude couldn’t handle the Black Market, it was far better not to take her to the underground floors at all. Jojun knew this, so even while worrying about her, he couldn’t leave her behind. He had to observe her condition in the Black Market, and if it seemed impossible, he would have to send her out before four hours passed.
“And the slave traders are insane perverts, so just ignore them if they talk to you. Ignore everything and stick right behind me. Got it? It’s a must.”
“Yeah. I got it. I understand. Stop nagging.”
“Phew... why am I so worried about you?”
“I told you not to worry. I won’t do anything weird.”
“That’s not it, Aram. It’s just... this place itself is too dangerous. It’s a place where you can’t practice defensive driving...”
As Jojun said, the Black Market was a place where your life could vanish due to the slightest carelessness. It was only thanks to Cheshire, their guide, that they were safe; otherwise, even Jojun’s life might have been at risk. Han Aram seemed to be listening half-heartedly, but in reality, she was memorizing everything Jojun said like a madwoman. She memorized every single word. In a sense, this was a team game. If she made a weird mistake, the whole team would suffer. Before the world ended, Han Aram had been a variety gaming streamer. She had participated in 5-man team gaming tournaments several times. She knew all too well how much scrutiny one faced if a small mistake ruined the game. Fortunately, she was the type to be strong in actual practice. Therefore, she would never make a mistake regarding the things Jojun had taught her.
Around that time, Aila, having finished her brief catch-up with Cheshire, pulled a hood that obscured her face in darkness from her vintage bag, put it on, and explained her plan to the group.
“For now, I’ll move separately. There’s a merchant I absolutely must meet in the Black Market.”
Aila had a history of wandering the Black Market alone several times already. To her, the Black Market was nothing more than a slightly dangerous back alley. Thus, she could move around without any issues even without the help of Cheshire, the guide. Above all, the ‘fence’ she was trying to meet now was an extremely sensitive individual, and it was clear he wouldn’t show his face if anyone other than the familiar faces of Cheshire or Aila were present.
“Then let’s split up after we leave this room... Jojun, where are you planning to go first?”
“Uh... for now, we’re going to meet the poacher, Cheshire.”
“Okay. Then everyone, grab onto me.”
Cheshire grabbed the hands of Aram, who was a first-timer in the Black Market, and Jojun, her main client. Aila placed her hand on Cheshire’s shoulder, and they moved from the base to the food alley of the Black Market.
The four people arrived at the food alley. Perhaps because it was her second time moving, Aram felt a little less nauseous. Jojun had moved so many times it was no problem, and Aila was a doll who didn’t even know the feeling of an upset stomach, so she had no issues at all.
“Then, let’s move separately from here.”
“Yes, let’s meet at the central plaza later.”
“Right, see you at the central plaza.”
With that, Aila vanished from sight. Having wandered the Black Market several times, she skillfully moved to another location. She was likely going to meet the fence, who would be somewhere in the central plaza. Since the fence occasionally brought in very unique treasures, meeting him was a necessity.
“Then shall we move too?”
At Cheshire’s energetic words, Han Aram, who was wearing a gas mask, didn’t know how to respond. To her eyes, more than half of the food alley appeared covered in mosaics. If she hadn’t been wearing the perception-blocking goggles, it was certain she would have felt nausea and dizziness just from looking directly at the food alley. Han Aram didn’t show it, but she became a little afraid.
-Aaaaaah!!!! Don’t!!! Don’t!!! Don’t do it!!!
-Gyaaaaaah!!!!! Stop!!!!! Stop peeling it off!!!!! No!! Don’t cut it!!!!!!
-Kyaaaaaah!!!!! Mom!!!! Moooom!!!! It hurts!!! Stop it!!!
“Shit...”
Han Aram was overwhelmed by the screams coming from the alley on the left. Since she couldn’t understand the language of the Manma like Jojun, she didn’t know what those screams meant, but she could feel on her skin that something absurd was happening. Above all, the smell of blood was erupting like crazy. It was as if they were cutting and slicing people while they were still alive.
She realized instinctively. The left side was dangerous. Beyond imagination.
“How is it... can you handle it?”
“Mm... but you, you used to walk around a place like this alone...?”
“Yeah. Only once, though. For a while before I met Cheshire.”
“Crazy...”
Han Aram finally realized that the man she loved was, in a sense, a being far beyond the category of human. Usually, he had an image of being a bit cruel but taking good care of his own people... but seeing him witness high-ranking alien races without any filters and suffer no mental damage, or stand there as if nothing were wrong while dozens of people were letting out unbearable screams in the alley to the left, was quite phenomenal.
Just then, Cheshire said to Jojun.
“The right is dessert, and the left is Japanese cuisine.”
“Japanese cuisine? Oh. Let’s go toward the dessert side.”
At Cheshire’s words, Jojun recoiled and said they should go to the right. In Jojun’s opinion, there wouldn’t be a single normal person among those running Japanese restaurants in the Black Market. If it was Japanese cuisine, it meant sushi... and sushi was a cooking method that involved slicing flesh while the creature was still alive.
As Jojun thought, in the left alley, butchery and processing were being carried out in an orderly fashion using all sorts of methods. The screams Han Aram heard were all the desperate death throes of those being killed while alive. Especially from the perspective of the alien races, the key point of human-style Japanese cuisine was ‘slicing flesh while alive, eating it raw,’ so they were carrying that out without any restraint. They even had all sorts of bizarre, alien-specific decorations lined up, under the idea that ‘Japanese cuisine has a lot of garnish.’ Even for Jojun, it was too much to accept the art of these alien races with a sane mind.
“Alright, then...”
Jojun stood in the middle and grabbed the hands of Cheshire and Han Aram. Han Aram felt like she was going crazy from the sounds of something being crushed, ground, and broken from all directions. So she grabbed Jojun’s hand even tighter. She realized that if she let go of Jojun’s hand, she would die right there. Her mental fortitude was dropping in real-time. Han Aram tried to look only forward as much as possible, but it still entered her vision. Dizzily horrific sights. For instance, a giant face squeezing pus-like substances out of its own face, or those pus-blobs screaming and calling for someone desperately. She couldn’t grasp the meaning of those screams... but Han Aram thought it was fortunate she couldn’t. If she had understood the meaning, she would have felt even more repulsed.
“Aram. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I can handle it... These goggles... the performance is amazing. Ugh...”
“Oh... yeah... that’s a relief. We’ll reach the shop if we go a little further.”
“Yeah. I... I’m okay.”
In reality, she wasn’t okay at all. Inside the mosaic-covered landscape, Han Aram felt hell. This place was insane. Cheshire and Jojun, who walked around such a crazy place so nonchalantly, were the strange ones. Above all, the smell was too foul. A unique scent that went beyond the smell of rot. This place stimulated all five senses and drove people mad. Even if she was defending her vision with goggles, there was no way to handle the sense of smell and hearing, and the various sensory information coming in real-time was tormenting her.
-Puh-waak!!
“Ugh... shit...”
Just then, something erupted from the shop next to Han Aram. Before Jojun could even react to stop it, the red liquid that erupted splashed onto Han Aram’s face and also stained her goggles. It was sticky blood. It was a fishy jam. What erupted it was a donut. To Han Aram’s eyes, it looked like a donut. The perception-blocking goggles represented ‘that’ as a donut to protect Han Aram’s mind. A mosaic-covered donut.
“Ugh... the smell...”
Han Aram stood there blankly, not knowing how to react to the smell of blood that stung the tip of her nose and the sour scent of grapefruit.
“Ah... that son of a bitch...”
Jojun spat out a curse and moved Aram behind him as if to protect her. Cheshire took a towel out of her bag and handed it to Han Aram to wipe herself, then grabbed Jojun’s shoulder and pushed him behind her. Soon, the owner of the shop that had made the mistake walked out, its face covered in tentacles and the arms of small infants twitching. It started talking to Cheshire, spewing out sounds that were impossible for Han Aram’s ears to understand. The voice itself was so repulsive that Han Aram felt nauseous. Still, she couldn’t vomit on the street, so she endured it, wiping away the liquid—whether it was jam or blood, she didn’t know—from her face.
Just then, the voices of Cheshire and the strangely mosaicked shop owner grew louder, and soon, Cheshire pulled something out of her bag. It was a pistol with a unique appearance.
“W, wait a second, Cheshire.”
“Jojun, let go. I’m going to kill this son of a bitch. I need to show him who he dared to raise his voice at.”
Han Aram had no idea what this situation was. Suddenly, the donut(?) displayed in the shop came to life and erupted jam (blood)... and she had been hit by that blood... Then, the strangely mosaicked donut shop owner crawled out and started fighting with Cheshire, raising their voices. And now, Cheshire was pointing the muzzle of a gun at the head of the alien race believed to be the shop owner. Han Aram felt the presence of the patrol squad approaching from behind. She was anxious that things might escalate.
-Bang!!!
-Puh-jak!!
At that moment, a gunshot rang out. The moment Han Aram turned around for a second at the presence approaching from behind, Cheshire had pulled the trigger. The shop owner, whose head had exploded, collapsed and met its death.
“Uh... uh-uh... i, is it okay to do that?”
“Ah, it’s fine. That bastard started the fight first. He was negligent in managing his goods... and then he demanded money because I damaged the product.”
Jojun said it was no problem at all. Han Aram had no choice but to nod. Cheshire, who lived here, would know better than her, a complete novice who knew nothing, and since Jojun said it was fine, it must be fine.
“And Cheshire has immunity. It seems the patrol squad can’t do anything even if she kills bastards like that.”
“Oh... wow... Cheshire-unnie... she’s cool...”
At Jojun’s supplementary explanation, Han Aram finally felt a little relieved. The authority and rights Cheshire possessed were beyond imagination.
“Hmm, there was a brief disturbance. Let’s be on our way again.”
“Yes.”
“Oh... y, yes...”
Soon, they headed back to the shop where the poacher was. Han Aram seemed to be gradually adapting. Only now did she get a rough idea of what kind of place the Black Market was. This place was just all crazy. Leaving behind the sight of other alien races approaching to dismantle the corpse of the fallen alien, Han Aram followed behind Jojun vigorously.