A Father's Keepsake

The rabbit mask walked me through the black market's layout and how to use the place, told me to call for him if anything came up, and then slipped away.

Let's head to Zone 2 first.

The black market was divided into four zones. Zone 1 was weapons. Zone 2 was armor. Zone 3 was accessories. Zone 4 was sundries. Today, I had business in Zone 2 and Zone 4.

I made my way toward Zone 2 with familiar steps.

It's quiet in here….

People browsed in silence, checked whatever they'd come for, and left. Occasionally a negotiation would get loud, but for the most part the place stayed hushed.

I'll handle my business and head straight to Zone 4.

I wandered the stalls, checking what the merchants had on offer, but nothing really caught my eye. And here I'd hoped the black market might have something….

Just as I was writing the place off, someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠called out to me.

"You there, White Wolf."

"Are you talking to me?"

"Who else would I be talking to?"

The man who'd hailed me was shabbily dressed.

"What can I do for you?"

"You've been eyeing gloves and boots for a while now…."

I closed the distance the moment I heard that. A man who knew what I wanted. Exactly the merchant I needed right now.

"You're bringing it up because you actually have the goods, I take it?"

"But of course."

With that, the man set down the pack slung over his back and slowly began drawing out his wares.

"Take your time and look them over."

He laid everything out in front of me, and I picked up each item to check its information.

One pair of gloves and two pairs of pants — and one of them even came with a description written entirely in Chinese.

What is this even supposed to say?

For starters, it had no effects whatsoever. Getting rated Rare at all felt like charity.

"How much for the gloves and these pants together?"

"They're both Unique or better, so I'd love to ask two billion… but since you're my first customer, I'll do it for 1.8 billion."

"Deal."

I extended my hand to close the transaction. The man took it, and money changed hands through the gloves. Before entering the market, I'd had to decide in the preparation room how much to load into them, and I'd stashed roughly ten billion won inside.

Good thing the old man converted it for me so cleanly.

Thanks to the mask, I'd come away with plenty of spare cash, which was the only reason I could afford to load in ten billion.

Once the deal was done, I pulled my hand free of his.

"I look forward to serving you again, White Wolf."

"Let me offer some advice, as your first customer — a Unique+ goes for at least five billion."

"…I'm sorry, what?"

My words drained the color from the man's face. The item's value had blown clean past his estimate. Honestly, the moment a merchant misjudges his own goods, the mistake is his.

"I loaded eight billion in there."

But accounting for the fact that he was dealing with a first-timer, I'd paid both items at their bare minimum prices. I said my piece and rose from my seat without a shred of regret. Judging by how he'd talked just now, this had evidently been his first-ever sale.

"From now on, learn the value of what you sell."

With that, I left him behind and headed for Zone 4. If I'd been anyone else, those men would have kept their mouths shut forever.

Let's wrap up my errand and get out of here….

I fiddled with the slip of paper in my pocket. I had to deliver this to someone today — to her, the Korean Branch Director of the black market.

She should be around here somewhere….

Zone 4 was nominally for sundries, but what it actually sold were elixirs and consumable items. And one particular shop in Zone 4 was connected to the surface above.

"There it is."

After a long search, I stepped into a general store tucked into a corner. Talismans, monster cores, potions — all manner of goods lay scattered across the shop.

"What brings you in today?"

"I came to deliver this."

I handed a slip of paper to the clerk who'd come out to greet me.

"…For me?"

"No. Please pass it up to the floor above."

Having said that much, I walked straight out of the shop. Anyone who went to that lengths had to be suspicious of something, and that alone would guarantee the note reached her.

I hope I don't get burned this time….

In about a month, the black market would collapse. An organization that rivaled the great guilds, gone overnight.

There was a traitor on the inside.

The traitor siphoned out every scrap of information the black market held and offered themselves up to the Demons in exchange for refuge. That incident shattered the market's credibility, and from there it walked the road to ruin.

The black market is a powerful ally.

Losing an ally like that would be a heavy blow. Which was why I'd delivered the note — Envy was dead, sure, but who knew how that traitor might jump now that the board had shifted.

With things like this, cleaning house early is always the best move.

I left the 63 Building and headed home.

"So. You brought me a note from someone whose identity you don't even know?"

"Yes."

The ruler of Korea's black market — Jin Chae-won, the Korean Branch Director — took the slip of paper her subordinate handed over and read it.

The note her subordinate presented bore nothing but that single line. The moment Jin Chae-won finished reading it, she burned the paper on the spot.

"Ha. Sending me this kind of nonsense."

Every last executive was someone she had hand-picked herself. As if they would ever betray her. That conviction was nailed deep into Jin Chae-won's mind.

Up until a moment ago, anyway.

Still, no harm in being careful.

She had no idea who'd sent it, but anyone who went out of their way to deliver a message like this was after one of two things: sowing chaos in the black market — or genuinely flushing out a traitor.

I don't know which it is, but… I'll play along.

Because if a traitor truly existed, that would be a catastrophe.

"Tae-won."

"Yes, noona."

"Look into it."

"Understood."

The man called Tae-won rose from the shadow of Chae-won's silhouette, then sank back into it just as suddenly. She already had a read on most of the executives' movements — but if betrayal had been carried out on a thread she'd missed…

Then I absolutely have to catch them for her.

She didn't know who they were, but whoever had passed along this information wanted something from her. It might be the purge of the traitor — or simply a desire to see blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠run through the black market.

"I'll gladly dance with my blade."

Jin Chae-won murmured the words with eyes gone cold and dreadful.

"Hoo."

I exhaled the breath I'd been holding and opened my eyes.

"Finally going up…."

Two weeks had already passed since my trip to the black market. The whole time, I hadn't set foot in a single gate — I'd just breathed at the park and the mountains nearby, drinking in as much mana as I could.

Five points in two weeks, huh?

Because I'd been raising my mana with elixirs alone all this while, the moment I started stacking it through breathing, it climbed faster than I'd expected.

Riiing! Riiing!

Just then, the phone in my pocket went off like an air-raid siren. The caller was Seonha.

And with that scream, Seonha hung up.

I completely forgot.

So focused on my breathing, I'd totally blanked on the date of the family trip. I sprinted home — and thankfully, we made it onto the plane.

"One more minute of dawdling and you'd have been a dead man, courtesy of Mom."

On the flight, Seonha gleefully recounted exactly how Mom had blown up at me. Just listening to the story made goose bumps crawl up both my arms.

"I owe you my life."

"You could be a little more grateful."

"Yay, thank you so very much."

Seonha's self-esteem shot up out of nowhere, but I let it slide. The only reason I was still sane right now was thanks to her, after all.

"We're here."

After a short one-hour flight, our feet touched Jeju soil for the first time in ages.

"Let's head to the lodging first."

"Sounds good."

We rented a car nearby and drove to our accommodation. The reason we'd come to Jeju Island was for my recuperation. I wasn't sure "recuperation" was the right word for a twenty-one-year-old, but that was the official story.

While I'm here, I might as well grab that too.

The last Hidden Piece in Korea. The real reason I'd picked Jeju as my recovery spot was to collect it.

I'll move at night.

Deep in the night, once the whole family was asleep — that was when I planned to go after the Hidden Piece.

About time to get moving.

A full day of sightseeing had left the family completely wiped out — the moment we got back to the pension, they all faceplanted into their beds. I waited a little longer, and at eleven o'clock, I moved.

Well then, off I g—

"Son."

The instant I turned to leave for the gate where the Hidden Piece lay, a voice came from behind me. I rotated my head around very, very slowly and looked back.

"D-Dad?"

There stood my father, who had very definitely been unconscious an hour ago. Flustered, I scrambled to talk my way out of the situation.

"So, uh, the thing is…."

But no matter how hard I racked my brain, no excuse came. When your dad catches you climbing out a window in the dead of night, exactly what justification covers that?

"Take it with you."

Contrary to my expectations, though, Dad didn't scold me. Instead, he held something out to me.

"Dad?"

"I've known from the start that you were planning to go somewhere."

My ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thoughts must have been written all over my face — he'd already predicted I'd get up to something.

"You wouldn't listen if I tried to stop you anyway, right? So take it."

With that, Dad fastened a necklace around my neck.

"This was your uncle's keepsake."

"A keepsake…?"

Uncle was the reason Dad had quit being an awakener in the first place. Something this precious to him… a keepsake like this had to weigh on him.

"Come back with it. That's all I ask."

And with those words, Dad went back inside the pension. I turned the keepsake he'd given me over in my hands for a moment, then opened its information window.

A Unique-grade escape necklace. With this on me, my safety was all but guaranteed.

Only… the uses left bother me.

Two remaining. If he'd used it back then, Uncle would have lived. But Uncle was dead, and the charges were still there.

"……."

I stood there in silence for a long moment.

Then I began to move.

Having received a keepsake like this, there was no way I was coming back hurt.