The Twins' Submission and the Hidden Threat

The twins stood there, unable to continue their sentence, seemingly flustered by my broken English. Since they hadn't even bothered to wear masks, it was clear they were newcomers to the Black Market—utterly naive. The blonde one seemed the sharper of the two; she eyed me with deep suspicion and wariness as I approached with a grin, while the dark-haired one looked terrified, taking a step back to hide behind her companion.

'Hmm. Did I mess up...?' I hadn't expected such a negative reaction. Perhaps I’d closed the distance too quickly. People are naturally suspicious of strangers who are overly friendly. Even I would peg a guy grinning at me in a place like this as a con artist.

'I need to drag them to the sewers, at least...' I needed to calm them down. If they bolted out the shop door now, catching them would be a massive headache. If I fired off tentacles to restrain them, I’d likely wreck the shop... and I couldn't afford to do that just to catch them.

Just then, Cheshire, who had followed me out of the breeding ground, stepped in to smooth things over. As soon as a woman took the lead in the conversation, the twins cautiously opened up. Thank goodness. The stiff atmosphere eased thanks to her intervention.

"Phew."

Whether it was the power of Cheshire’s empathetic listening or something else, the twins’ guard began to drop. I couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠understand a word they were saying, but I felt relieved that the conversation was flowing.

That was when Poacher spoke to me in a chilling voice.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"I'm in the middle of a job ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠here... can't you wait a second? Are you planning on stealing my customers now, too?"

"What? Stealing? You're being a bit dramatic, Father-in-law."

"What? Father-in-law? You little...!"

"Ah, no... that's not it. Wait, but you are my father-in-law, aren't you?"

"This guy's lost his mind..."

A ballpoint pen flew toward my face. I barely managed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to dodge it by rolling on the floor. Poacher might have thrown it playfully, but if I hadn't dodged, it would have been a fatal wound.

"Phew. Well, selling the items on the display shelf is just pocket change anyway. You're the main customer... it's just my luck that my main customer is messing around with my successor..."

Sighing, Poacher began clearing the items from the counter. I calmed my racing heart and watched him pack away the goods, lamenting inwardly.

'Ah... I should have come out a little later...' If I had, I could have snatched up the items those twins ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had purchased. Even I thought my behavior had been too impatient. I’d been anxious that they might just buy their goods and leave. After all, I’d just missed one team. Maybe that’s why I felt such an urgent need to capture them.

'I can't be like this... stay calm...' One of the rules of apocalypse survival: always maintain composure and calmness. It’s a rule similar to never letting your guard down. Impatient and rash people always die the fastest.

"Hey. Leave those two to Cheshire and let's finish our transaction."

"Ah, yes."

I followed Poacher back into the breeding ground. It was better to let the women talk among themselves than to have a mysterious man hovering nearby; it would keep the atmosphere smooth. I examined the beetle-humans in the glass jars again.

'Let's start with the flashy gold beetle...'

'Hmm. Nus, the progenitor of druids... him again.' I didn't know what kind of entity Nus was, but he kept popping up throughout my apocalypse survival journey. He seemed to be the founder of the druids... and likely a very important figure in the Manma-jeon faction.

'And the Corrupted Forest... this is linked to the quest for Heeseon-noona...' More foreshadowing about the Corrupted Forest had emerged. It was a place revealed when Heeseon achieved the 'Apprentice Forest Keeper' achievement, and the site of a druid-exclusive quest that triggered when Nus's Necklace and the Fresh Flower Ring met. The quest involved entering the forest, purifying it, and usurping the Deer King's Crown. However, I’d assumed I’d never have to enter, as I hadn't received Nus's Bracelet from Aila yet. I should have received it as a reward for clearing the Thrill Mansion, but... I felt like if I took it, I’d be forced to go in.

'At this point, it feels like a command to enter the forest...' The recurring Nus foreshadowing, combined with the fact that creatures linked to the forest had popped up here, made me feel uneasy. It was as if it were a warning that I’d be dragged into the Corrupted Forest soon. I didn't want to go yet...

"Damn it..."

Maybe it was the World Tree's scheme. Since the druid, a hero-class unit of Manma-jeon, was my slave, it might be trying to lure me into the Corrupted Forest to kill me and snatch the hero unit back. Of course, I had no intention of dying easily. I’d just snatch the Deer King's Crown and run. My colleagues and I could easily pull off a hit-and-run.

Dreaming of such a bright future, I examined the black beetle next to the gold one.

This guy didn't seem like much, just a lackey for the Queen. Regardless, I had to buy both. They might serve as guides when I entered the Corrupted Forest. If I secured guides now, I could enter the forest with confidence whenever the bracelet finally appeared.

"I'll take both of these."

"Understood."

I purchased the insect-users, which were clamoring inside their glass jars. I wasn't sure if the Guardian would be useful beyond being a guide, but the Queen looked promising. As soon as I reached my base, I’d have Heeseon-noona contract with her, and if I gave her a tree, she’d multiply the population on her own. The small, winged insect-users could be used as messengers.

'Between the Alcides, the mushroom-humans, and the corpse-parasite tree I bought last time... and now insect-users...' The number of creatures guarding my base was growing. Most of them weren't even human.

'It's not like it's a Demon King's castle.' I chuckled to myself and checked the final item. It was a stone trapped in a birdcage.

'A stone? Why is there a stone in a birdcage...'

"I'll buy this too."

Did "various minerals" include gold and things like that? The fact that it absorbed all moisture in the area was a bit concerning, but I’d just have to pick the location carefully.

'If I’d bought the mole-human, this would have been incredibly useful...' Unfortunately, the mole-human from last time had lost its last chance to be purchased by me and died under the slave trader's whip. I’d bought Kekere instead. Well, even without a mole-human, I had plenty of slaves for mining.

"Jojun! Are you done trading?"

"Ah, Cheshire. I just finished buying everything."

Cheshire found me just as I’d finished buying all the day's recommendations. She seemed to have had a smooth conversation with the twin sisters.

"What did they say?"

"They want our help. They said they'd do anything if we could get them out of here? Hehehe..."

"Hehehe... anything?"

"Yes. Anything. These two don't seem to know how terrifying it is to say they'll do anything."

Cheshire and I looked at each other and smiled deviously. Could those twins really do anything?

"Then, let's get going."

"Come back again. Make sure to bring Cheshire."

"Yes!"

We said goodbye to Poacher and took the twin sisters to the den of drug addicts where the dealer was located. They followed us without a shred of suspicion. It seemed they trusted Cheshire's promise to get them out of here with all their hearts.

"Alright, then."

Upon arriving at the addicts' den, I cracked my knuckles. No need to hold back anymore. I immediately unleashed my tentacles toward the twin sisters.

"Kyaaa!!! Bella!! Help!!"

"Ella!! Hey!! Please don't kill us!!"

The twins screamed and struggled. I tightened my grip on their bodies even harder. The dark-haired one begged for her life with tears in her eyes first, and soon, a message popped up before my eyes stating that Ella had surrendered.

I dropped Ella to the floor and branded her forehead. "Hey. No betrayal. No team-killing. No self-harm. Understand? Nod if you understand."

"Ye, yes... please..."

After giving the basic commands, I held a knife to the throat of the submissive Ella. I intended to use her as a hostage to force the blonde one to surrender. As the blade pressed against her sister's throat, the blonde one shrieked and struggled even more violently.

"Cheshire. Tell that girl to surrender immediately."

"Okay. Just a second."

Cheshire gave an order to the blonde one, Bella. Bella pleaded for her life, saying "please" over and over, and when a trickle of blood finally ran down Ella's neck, Bella finally surrendered to me.

With that, the white-horse twins were my slaves. Afterward, I used Cheshire as an interpreter to ask the two women questions—how they’d gotten in, why there were so many people outside, and so on. While chatting with them, I heard some explosive information.

"What? Nick? Nicholas?"

The twins had mentioned the name of Nick, a hero of the Pantheon faction. As it turned out, the twins were Nick's colleagues. There were even six of them inside. 'Six colleagues, organized in pairs... there's still one team left. Those must be the ones who were calling for Cheshire earlier...!'

Of the three teams that had entered the Black Market, Mark and Rio—one of the teams—had died in the food alley, and I’d captured the twin duo. That meant Helen and Roy, the ones who had been calling for Cheshire, were wandering around here somewhere.

'I can't let them get the Cracked Ankh...!'

I started running toward Drug & Rush. I had to catch and kill them before they could get the Cracked Ankh and escape.

******

A few minutes ago, Helen and Roy had been blown into the sewers. The two were disoriented by the sudden spatial shift, unsure of where to go.

"Where are we now?"

"Hmm... Sis. I think we're screwed... I told you we should have just waited for the guide."

Helen answered Roy's grumbling irritably.

"If we’d kept waiting for the guide, we would have died there. Running away was definitely the right move."

"Uh, okay. Sorry."

"Phew... well, nothing good is going to happen if we just stay here, so let's move somewhere."

"Sis. Is that 'danger sense' again?"

"No. You know I can't use that often."

"Then it's just a hunch?"

"Hey, Roy. Don't you trust me? I've survived several times thanks to my intuition, haven't I?"

"That's true. Sorry."

"Stop apologizing and move if you understand!"

"Uh, okay."

Roy adjusted his hold on Helen and started walking at a half-run in one direction.

"It smells... and it's a bit filthy. But at least there aren't any weird-looking monsters walking around, so that's good."

"Yeah. My head doesn't seem to hurt much either."

They could have such peaceful conversations because they hadn't yet seen the shantytown where the addicts lived. Not long after, the two entered the addicts' den, which was filled with people dying from drug overdoses.

"Hey... drugs... give me some drugs. Anything is fine... please...!"

"Get lost!"

"Roy! Look! The neon sign!"

"Huh?"

"Run!! Quickly! Before more of them swarm us!"

The addicts approached as if to pounce the moment they saw new faces. Roy realized the addicts were weak and started beating them down blindly. That was when Helen spotted Drug & Rush, their final destination. Roy ran at full speed. He wanted to get into the shop before more addicts swarmed them.

"Haa... haa... arrived..."

Panting, Roy collapsed to catch his breath as soon as he entered the drug dealer's shop, and Helen, held in his arms, stared at the two-headed bartender and the demon drinking wine while wearing a black veil.

It was Paimon, the demon wearing a crown.