Serving the Full Black Market Course (2)
After leaving the food alley, they soon arrived at the Poacher’s shack. Han A-ram felt dizzy at the chaotic landscape inside the shop. Countless items were packed tightly into display cases, and the floor, walls, and even the ceiling were hung with all sorts of objects and iron cages, leaving no room to step.
“Welcome. Oh? That one’s a human I haven’t seen before.”
Han A-ram, who had been mindlessly following behind Jang Jojun like a duckling following its mother, was startled by the sudden voice and looked ahead. There, a being with a completely black body—save for an abnormally large white mouth—sat at the counter. He was busy wiping down a pixelated monster’s head.
‘What on earth is that...’
Han A-ram bowed her head toward the Poacher. Perhaps because he was classified as a merchant NPC, she could understand his words.
“Is that woman... a companion of yours, Cultist?”
“Yes. I brought her along because of some business.”
Jojun didn’t mention that he planned to take Cheshire out of the Black Market. To be precise, it was more accurate to say he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Jojun knew that the Poacher cherished Cheshire deeply and wanted to make her his successor. If he told a man like that he was going to snatch Cheshire away... Jojun couldn’t even imagine what would happen.
“I see. Be careful. Ordinary humans are easy targets.”
The Poacher stopped wiping the head and sent a direct, warning gaze toward Han A-ram. At the Poacher’s chilling warning, Han A-ram felt a shiver run down her spine and shuddered. Cheshire then spoke up to the Poacher.
“Uncle! There’s no problem at all! Don’t say useless things! And stop staring at someone else’s woman!”
“Hmph. I’m just giving you a warning...”
Han A-ram calmed down a little as Jojun squeezed her hand tightly. The Poacher was an opponent even Jojun was slightly wary of. Since the Poacher was a being who could make the great Jang Jojun tremble with just his killing intent, there was no way Han A-ram could withstand his gaze directly.
“Sigh... Cheshire. Stop cleaning up after these brats and just take over the shop already. That will be of much greater help to your future.”
“Ah, I told you I’d think about it. And it’s not for my future, you just want to rest, right? Isn’t that it?”
“Ahem... Why do you say it like that... Phew, fine. Everyone, follow me. Here is today’s recommended menu.”
Sensing he was losing the pointless conversation with Cheshire, the Poacher quickly opened a sliding door and invited the group inside. In the room, there was one iron cage, two flowerpots, and a leather pouch soaked in blood.
“Now, take what you want. I’d prefer it if you took everything.”
“Oh...”
Jojun began to observe the items carefully. Han A-ram, following behind him, also observed the items Jojun was looking at. She first examined the beast inside the iron cage on the far left.
‘Ugh...’
Inside the cage was a small animal curled up tightly. However, the beast had a quite bizarre appearance. Its face looked like a nautilus head, and its body had no fur at all, revealing a pinkish flesh with mottled, bulging veins.
◈ Description: A being that should never have been born. Everyone wishes for this beast's death. Feed it blood to form a master-servant contract. All curses, diseases, and poisons applied to the master are transferred to the beast. The beast will humbly accept its fate.
◈ Warning: If 9 negative effects stack on the hatchling, it evolves into an adult. The moment it evolves, the master-servant relationship is reversed. Slaughter the beast before it becomes an adult. It cannot be killed by any method other than decapitation. If you cut open its belly, a new hatchling will be born.
◈ Price: 90,000C
“This...”
“It’s a ward. I’ll take it.”
Jojun purchased the hatchling of the Slaughter Beast without hesitation. The hatchling had a clear purpose. For Jojun, who had to go to the underground floor of the Black Market teeming with demons and fanatics, and also to the Forest of Corruption to obtain Nu’s Deer Crown, there was no reason not to purchase a beast that could remove negative effects. Even if it cost a massive 90,000 coins, he had to get it now.
‘If I buy this... I won’t die even if other bastards feed me poison.’
It was no exaggeration to say that Jojun had dealt with his team members in the Jeonyul Mansion half with poison. That meant Jojun could also fall victim to similar methods. However, if he formed a master-servant relationship with the hatchling, even if someone fed him a memory eraser or a gender-swap potion, the effect would be transferred to the hatchling, and Jojun would be safe. In effect, as long as he had the hatchling, he was practically in a state of immunity to all poisons, curses, and diseases. Of course, if more than 9 negative effects stacked, it would be the end, but that was a problem he could calculate to avoid.
“Next is...”
He had bought the beast in the cage instantly. What remained were two flowerpots and a blood-stained leather pouch. Jojun checked the sapling that had a human-like face on its stem among the two pots.
◈ Description: A tree that grows by eating the blood and flesh of the dead, or male semen. As it grows, it spreads its roots to establish a territory. It finds and absorbs abandoned corpses and remains within its sphere of influence. The fruit of the Corpse Tree is extremely sweet.
◈ Price: 12,000C
The Corpse Tree was a tree useful for corpse disposal. Until now, Jojun had burned corpses or fed them to the Ebony Cockroaches. In fact, the Corpse Tree wasn’t a very necessary item for Jojun. However, reading the phrase that it grew sweet fruit, along with its relatively cheap price, Jojun decided to purchase it. Perhaps the fruit of the Corpse Tree might be used as an ingredient when Hellas made medicinal herbs with a high probability.
After purchasing the Corpse Tree, Jojun examined the flowerpot next to it. A thin, red plant was growing in the second pot. It looked just like a roundworm, which was creepy.
◈ Description: A parasitic tree that roots into the bodies of dead creatures. It controls the body of the dead creature to consume nutrients. It absorbs the brain of the parasitized corpse to gain intelligence. The more it obtains the brains of high-intelligence creatures, the more cunning and cruel it becomes. It reproduces asexually.
◈ Price: 23,000C
The Corpse Parasite Tree was an item that allowed him to turn all the zombies scattered on the roadside into slaves. If he made an army of corpses with this, the reason for the existence of the Lich Son Ha-eun would effectively disappear, but Jojun didn’t care much. This was because Son Ha-eun, a necromancer and an undead herself, was growing by raising an elite unit rather than through mass offensives. In short, since she was growing by creating one Death Knight rather than an army of skeletons, the concept didn’t overlap much with the Corpse Parasite Tree.
“The problem is this guy...”
Jojun stared intently at the last remaining blood-stained leather pouch.
◈ Description: The head of Henry, a noisy contract killer. Even though only his head remains, Henry is not dead!! Henry’s body, which lost its head, is still surviving somewhere at the bottom of the Abyss, slicing and killing everything that approaches. If you find Henry’s body, he will swear eternal loyalty to you. Henry is the last survivor of the vanished 'Order'.
◈ Price: 1,000C
“Huh... Do you sell things like this too?”
Jojun asked the Poacher as if he were flustered. The Poacher replied as if it were nothing.
“I sell anything if it’s a living creature. I even sell corpses, so what can’t I sell? Still, it’s only 1,000 coins because the guy is useless with just his head. Cheap, right? Take him as a conversation partner. He’s bad inventory.”
It was truly a useless item unless he went down to the bottom of the Abyss to find his body. A head that chattered noisily. It was an item no one would buy unless they were an extremely lonely human.
‘But... I have a way to go to the bottom of the Abyss...’
Jojun, who possessed the Cracked Ankh, was planning to go down to the bottom of the Abyss someday. And what do you know. To think he could get a sub-quest item here. It seemed he could find Henry’s body while he was down at the bottom of the Abyss.
“Good. It was a good trade. I feel good because you buy everything whenever you come. Of course, just because I feel good doesn’t mean I can give you service... If Cheshire takes over the shop, maybe I’ll do a warehouse clearance... If you persuade her well and make her take over the shop, I’ll give you a special item. How about it?”
The Poacher put his arm around Jojun’s shoulder and whispered. If he had no relationship with Cheshire, he would have accepted the Poacher’s request and persuaded her, but unfortunately, Jojun had already chosen the option of taking Cheshire out of the Black Market. In the end, Jojun couldn’t give a proper answer, saying he would talk about it next time, and then escaped from the Poacher.
“Then come again next time.”
“Yes. I will come again.”
“Ah, goodbye...”
“Bye, Uncle!”
Leaving the shop, they headed straight to the sewer where the drug dealer was.
Han A-ram spent another hellish time. This was because those sprawled in the sewer, demanding drugs and coins, grabbed A-ram’s legs and clung to her. At their touch, stained with bloody pus, Han A-ram used her skill in irritation, and only after several trash-like drug addicts were trampled and killed by her feet did no one approach her anymore.
“Sigh... Damn it...”
“Let’s wash up when we go back later.”
“Yeah... Damn it.”
Han A-ram sighed as she watched the drug-addicted bastards biting and sucking on each other, engaging in orgies. It was a place full of damned bastards. If the food alley was a chaotic mess of people trying to eat each other, this place was full of people who had gone crazy on drugs.
For example, if one drug addict in a shack secretly took drugs, the one next to him would kill him and crave his blood. To share even a little bit of the drug energy that had seeped into the blood. If one guy died while on drugs like that, drug addicts would gather at the corpse to suck his blood, and the drug-addicted bastards gathered at the corpse would lick the blood full of drug ingredients smeared on each other’s bodies, continuing all sorts of filthy acts. There was no hesitation. They were just trash crazy for pleasure. There were even many non-human sentient beings, so the mosaic processing wasn’t even done properly.
“So disgusting.”
“Hehe... It’s a bit like that here. Let’s go quickly.”
“Yeah...”
Still, perhaps because Han A-ram had already passed through the food alley, which could be considered the worst, she didn’t feel emotions beyond disgust. Jojun, who found that admirable, encouraged her and quickened his pace. Soon, Drug & Rush, the drug dealer’s shop, came into view.
“Welcome.”
Bartender Jackson was wiping a glass. From the moment she entered the shop, Han A-ram kept repeating the words Jojun had strictly warned her: ‘Don’t eat anything.’ She was very well-trained.
“Oh, Cheshire. And Jojun, it’s you.”
Han A-ram frowned at the two-headed man. Of course, thanks to wearing a gas mask, her expression didn’t show. ‘That bastard... what is he...?’ One head was muttering strange things as if high on drugs, and the other head looked neat and normal. It was creepy enough that one body had two heads, but it was even creepier that one head was completely out of its mind.
“Mr. Jackson. Please give us today’s recommended menu.”
“Of course. I prepared some special ones, knowing you’d come.”
Jackson skillfully took out four liquor bottles from the counter.
“They are special ones.”
The liquors Jackson brought out were brilliant. First, a blood-red wine. A sapphire-blue liqueur. A bottle of rum dyed in the colors of the universe. And a honey wine sparkling with gold. Jojun checked the bottles. Meanwhile, Jackson took out a candy, smiled kindly, and handed it to Han A-ram. Of course, Han A-ram shook her head and refused the candy. Jackson became suddenly dejected.