The Poisoned Chalice
"We'll consider this commission closed for now."
"Understood. As for the reward, we agreed on it last time, did we not?"
Granting me one favor within the chairman's authority. It was more than sufficient compensation for the commission—generous, even.
"Is there something you want?"
"Then I'd like a permanent access pass to North Korea."
"You… you're really asking for that?"
I could understand the chairman's reaction. I had a purpose in North Korea, but the place was drowning in deadly poison. To him, or to any ordinary awakener, my request was no different from asking for a one-way ticket to hell.
But for me, it's a gold mine.
That region held the thing I needed most right now. To everyone else it was a pie in the sky; to me, it wasn't.
I've obtained the White Poison Antidote Needle, and my stats are more than enough.
Some additional preparation would be necessary, but at this level, holding my own in North Korea wouldn't be a problem.
"Making an entry permit for North Korea takes time, so you'll have to wait a bit."
"Of course."
Since I had extra preparations to make anyway, the wait posed no issue. I left the Association building immediately—there was no reason to linger in an uncomfortable seat when I had no business being there.
Armor and other equipment are in good condition… if I need anything, it would be food and antidotes.
Since I'd be staying in North Korea for a long time, food and antidotes were essential. I'd earned a decent income selling byproducts from my hunts, so money wasn't an issue.
And to think the old man is still struggling with that thing.
Nearly half a year had passed since I'd entrusted him with the dismantling of the Demon Slime. And yet he hadn't even properly begun the work. The corpse still sat there, untouched—presumably because he was approaching it with excessive caution.
Well, setting that aside… I should pay the Black Market a visit. It's been a while.
I hadn't been back since passing that information to the branch director. According to the news reaching my ears, she had flushed out the traitors.
To think someone that careful actually trusted my intel. Impressive.
The current Black Market branch director was someone who had ruled Korea's underworld for decades. For a woman like that to place her faith in an outsider's information was far from common.
"A healthy Black Market works in my favor, after all…."
The Black Market's roots ran deep through every corner of the Korean economy. If it collapsed, the country would suffer a devastating economic blow.
And then things get difficult for me.
A crippled economy would inevitably drive awakeners overseas. Korea's awakener numbers would shrink while the gates kept multiplying—a crisis in the making.
The country could fall to the gates themselves.
Before my regression, that scenario had eventually come to pass, and it had taken considerable time to contain. During that window, I had withdrawn into closed-door training, and Korea was annihilated in the war against the demons.
That was how vital the Black Market was to Korea.
"Well then, shall we…."
I headed for the 63 Building, home of the Black Market.
"What business brings you here today?"
"I'd like to use the gate on the 63rd floor."
"Confirmed."
The same passphrase as before—though it surely hadn't changed. The Black Market rarely rotated its passwords.
"Will you be needing any items?"
"Not today."
Last time I'd requested goods and a mask for entry, but I was fine now. Instead, I casually flashed the mask and gloves I'd received before. I had the mask already; any items I needed, I would hunt down myself.
"You may take the elevator behind me."
Following the attendant's guidance, I boarded the elevator. The moment I stepped in, the attendant's fingers danced across the buttons in a fluid flourish.
"Enjoy your visit."
The moment the attendant stepped out, the doors slid shut and the elevator began to move. The exact same service as last time.
Is that person actually a robot?
The attendant's behavior had been so identical that the thought genuinely crossed my mind. After a short wait, the elevator doors opened onto a room—the same dark room as before.
Shall we, then….
I pulled the Silver Wolf mask from my inventory, put it on, and pushed open the door. The door that should have led to the Black Market proper opened onto somewhere else entirely.
"This place—!"
I had never seen it with my own eyes, but I had heard it described. The gathering place of the Black Market's executives—the Center. That was where I now stood.
Why?
By rights, only executives, select VIPs, and those bearing the branch director's personal authorization could set foot in the Center.
"Would you be Silver Wolf, sir?"
Just then, a woman wearing the Eagle mask stepped quietly out beside me and asked. I knew this woman from before my regression.
The Appraiser—the Korean branch director's right hand.
I didn't know her name, but that mask I remembered with absolute certainty. Unlike the Appraiser's title suggested, her combat abilities had also been formidable.
"I am Silver Wolf, yes… but might I ask who you are?"
"I've come to escort you, on the branch director's orders."
Only a handful of the Black Market's executives even knew of the Appraiser. If I'd pretended to recognize her here, my head could have gone rolling.
Good thing she doesn't seem to have noticed anything.
If I kept this pace, my neck would remain firmly attached.
"Was it the branch director who summoned me to the 'Center'?"
"Yes, that's correct."
I'd put deliberate weight on the word Center as a test, but the Eagle showed no reaction at all. Then again, nothing about her felt hostile.
"We've arrived. Inside, the Korean branch director is waiting for you."
"Thank you."
I carefully opened the door and stepped through. A woman was waiting for me inside.
"At last we meet. Silver Wolf—or rather, Awakener Han Jin."
"The honor is all mine, Branch Director Jin Chae-won of the Korean Black Market."
Jin Chae-won and I clasped hands. There was probably no one alive harboring a deeper den of vipers than this woman.
"Thank you for the information you provided before."
"I'm glad it proved useful."
A terse reply. We exchanged only a handful of words, yet within them we took each other's measure. She was exactly as she had been before my regression—obsessed with the Black Market to a pathological degree.
"I'd like to properly repay you for that information. Is there anything you desire?"
"No, there's no need to go out of your way for me."
The items I needed to acquire now hardly required the Black Market director's help.
The fact that she's pushing the repayment like this… she must be playing some kind of game with it.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to bring up the repayment at all. The Black Market was a business, plain and simple. Compensating me meant a loss on their ledger.
That old viper would never willingly take a loss. It simply doesn't happen.
I should not accept that reward. I was thinking this when the door opened and a woman entered.
"You called for me, Branch Director?"
The one who walked in was the woman in the Rabbit mask—the same one who had given me a brief tour last time.
Why go out of her way to summon this woman?
Rabbit's only connection to me was that single escort job. But I could guess why she'd been called here, of all times.
So you were planning this from the start, you old hag.
No ordinary person worked for the Black Market. Combat, assassination, healing—specialists in each field, and all of them strong. And Rabbit's specialty was probably….
"This girl's specialty is combat. I notice you travel alone—if you don't mind, might I have Rabbit accompany you as your shadow?"
That was the woman's true objective from the very beginning. To attach a watcher to my side—and a legally sanctioned one at that. I hadn't paid attention before, but that woman in the Rabbit mask…
She's strong. Genuinely strong.
A fighter of that caliber could keep pace with me. The old hag knew it, which was precisely why she'd made this offer.
Now that I think about it, I was planning to recruit companions before heading to North Korea anyway….
Now I wouldn't have to bother. With that Rabbit, everything was handled. Where else would I find someone who fit the criteria for a companion this perfectly?
Feast or famine, I have to make that woman my ally.
If she grew as I hoped, she'd be a tremendous asset in the battle against Pride. But I couldn't accept outright.
"You're attaching a watcher to me, aren't you?"
"Surely not. I would never commit such a graceless act against my benefactor."
The branch director shook her head with a look of exaggerated surprise. My blunt accusation, and her practiced denial—when it came to acting, the woman was first-rate.
"Then there's no need to insist on handing me a reward I've already declined, is there?"
Solid logic. How the woman answered that logic would decide my choice.
"I simply wish to be on friendly terms with you. This is merely a token of that goodwill."
"For a mere A-rank awakener?"
I wasn't sure I should be saying this, but plenty of A-rank awakeners used the Black Market. If she had singled me out from among all of them, something strange was going on.
"The one who severed Envy's head. The Demon Slayer. A powerhouse acknowledged by both the Association Chairman and Han Min-joon. Shall I recite more?"
Everything spilling from her lips was unofficial information. In other words, she knew exactly what I was capable of.
"A mere A-rank? In my eyes, you look like an S-rank—perhaps something even beyond that."
"Who can say?"
I played it coy and met her gaze. Someone holding secrets that classified clearly had approached me out of goodwill—especially after the traitor incident, she had no reason to treat me as an enemy.
When it comes to money and goods, the Black Market cuts like a blade. Clean and precise.
The real question was whether this approach was truly goodwill and nothing more.
It wasn't.
I could say that with certainty. I was sure of one thing at least: the Black Market hadn't come to me just to forge a friendly relationship.
A poisoned chalice, then….
If I failed to neutralize that poison, it would mean grievous injury—perhaps death. But if I could, I would gain a powerful, dependable ally.
There's no option where I refuse to drink from a poisoned chalice, is there?
I needed the companionship either way. If so, having a fighter I wanted at my side was the comfortable choice.
"If you insist that strongly, then I'll accept the reward."
"And I look forward to working with you."
The branch director and I shook hands. I couldn't say whether the goodwill was genuine, but if the Black Market became a friendly power, the road ahead would be that much smoother.
"My name is To. I'll be in your care from now on."
"Likewise. Pleasure's mine."
This time, I shook hands with To. It was probably an alias used within the Black Market—she may have been declaring her affiliation outright.
Still, it'd be nice if she told me her real name eventually.
I hoped the day would come when I could face this woman not as a Black Market operative, but as a comrade.