The Land-Claiming Shop

The day the Silver Wolf came calling, Mother summoned me.

"Tell me, Won-ae. What did you see? What did you feel?"

So I laid it all out for her—every impression the man had left on me, everything I'd noticed and everything I'd sensed.

What's this about, all of a sudden?

My first worry was that I'd somehow stirred up trouble inside the black market, but what came out of Mother's mouth next was beyond anything I could have imagined.

"It seems our market's benefactor is that very man."

"Pardon?"

Benefactor.

The word hit me harder than I expected—especially coming from her. Not from some mid-level executive, but from the woman who answered for the entire black market itself.

"You mean the awakener who visited that day, the one called Han Jin... he's the benefactor?"

"Ah—Won-ae, I never did explain any of that to you, did I?"

What I heard after that was even more shocking. An uncle I'd known since I was a child had betrayed the market, quietly siphoning off client information to sell elsewhere.

On its own, that was a blow enough to stagger anyone.

"Now, how ought we repay this debt...?"

Mother murmured to herself, sounding almost giddy. The black market was absolute about its debts of silver. Silver received must be returned in kind—and if a debt of gratitude had, by sheer fortune, flushed a traitor into the open, then her reaction made perfect sense.

After that, I went back to work as usual.

Right up until that day.

"Miss, the Director is asking for you."

"She is?"

That is, until one of Mother's personal attendants came looking for me while I was standing by.

What does she need me for?

I made straight for Mother's quarters.

"Director. You called for me?"

But when I opened the door and stepped inside, the one waiting there was the Silver Wolf—the benefactor of the black market himself.

"This child's specialty is combat. I noticed you've been traveling alone—if it's no trouble, might I ask that you take To here along at your side?"

Mother?

The request came so far out of nowhere that it flustered me, but I kept my mouth shut. When Mother called me in with talk like that, it meant a deal was being struck. Opening my mouth now for no reason would only ruin it.

"So you're attaching a watcher to me?"

Not that the benefactor looked particularly pleased about the arrangement.

After that, everything proceeded without a hitch. Under Mother's persuasion, the Silver Wolf at last agreed to take me on as a companion.

Then Mother's voice reached me through a transmission.

'Won-ae.'

'Yes, Mother.'

'There's no need to watch him. Be as much help to him as you can.'

Just as the Silver Wolf had said—she hadn't chosen me for surveillance. She was sending me to help him.

And yet, when it came time for the actual introductions, I suddenly felt embarrassed to give my real name.

"I'm called To. I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise."

And that was how I finally became the companion of the Silver Wolf, benefactor of the black market.

No sign of surveillance anywhere.

To simply followed along behind me in silence. She didn't watch me the way a spy would—no tracking glances, no cataloging my movements. If anything, it genuinely seemed possible she'd been sent to help me.

Businesspeople. You never can tell what they're thinking.

Before my regression, I'd been burned more than once by the so-called entrepreneurs running their guilds like corporations. Trust did not come easily.

I'll keep an eye on her a while longer.

Earlier, two contradictory impulses had collided—the urge to recruit her, and the conviction that a businessperson couldn't be trusted—and the situation had resolved itself into recruitment anyway.

And if it goes sideways, I just dissolve the party. Done.

It wasn't a bad position for me at all. The only real drawback was that I couldn't use my footwork while she was around.

Though, to be fair, that much I could cover.

"Is there anything you're looking to acquire?"

Just then, To, who had been trailing behind me, drew up alongside and asked. If we'd agreed to form a party, accepting this much help was only fair.

"Could you get me the items on this list?"

"Please wait just a moment."

She ran her eyes down the list once, then stepped ahead of me and began guiding the way. Thanks to her, I found everything in record time—which, I had to admit, was nice.

"Come out to wherever I summon you to, a few days from now."

With that, I parted ways with To and headed home. Then, through a favor from the Association President, I managed to secure an access pass for her as well.

"Well then—shall we go?"

"Are we truly going in?"

At my words, To asked, her voice heavy with worry.

Her reaction was perfectly reasonable. Say what you would, the land spread out before us right now was a hell drowned in poisonous miasma.

"You said that mask of yours has gas filtration?"

"Yes."

The mask To wore now was a high-grade piece, fitted with genuine gas protection. It would hold up against North Korea's miasma one way or another.

"With that thing on, the miasma won't touch you. Guaranteed."

"That's not what I meant—"

"And if you're worrying about me, don't be. I have a poison-resistance trait, for all that I don't look it."

"...If you say so, then understood."

To accepted my words, if grudgingly. I approached the guards manning the gate into North Korea and presented the access pass the Association President had issued me. Only when the guard confirmed it and swung the gate open could we finally set foot on North Korean soil.

"So this is the miasma..."

I'd never come here before my regression, so this was my first time.

Thankfully, Hundred-Poison Immunity kicked in properly and kept the poison at bay. I glanced over—To looked fine as well.

Just then, a new system message appeared.

The Land Grab.

Exactly as the system said—a contest over who would claim the land of North Korea.

Before my regression, its owner had been Envy. Fighting on the enemy's home turf was something to avoid at all costs, but since Envy never left her stronghold, I remembered eventually having no choice but to fight her there, in the North.

So this time... does the chance fall to me?

The land that had once been Envy's now had a chance of becoming mine. It was a strange, unsettling feeling.

"Shop, open."

I'd checked the message, and I opened the shop without hesitation.

The system had presented four categories in total. Without delay, I selected Land Grab.

The others had their appeal, but what I needed right now was land-grab gear.

Everything the shop offered could be bought with points. And the points in question here were—

Stat points.

How much do I have right now?

With a flicker of excitement, I opened my status window.

3,730 stat points.

"Haha."

Maybe it was because I hadn't opened the window in so long, but today, somehow, the numbers looked more dazzling than ever. With this much, there was almost nothing in the shop I couldn't buy.

"Checked out the shop?"

"Yes."

At my question, she answered with a thoroughly sour expression.

Every single thing in the shop cost stat points—and to an awakener, stat points were the most precious currency there was.

Telling her to trade away something like that—of course she'd make that face.

Any ordinary awakener would react exactly the same way. Not that I was an ordinary awakener.

"For now, I'll be handling all the purchases myself, so don't worry about it."

"I'm sorry—what?"

"Don't you spend your stat points."

Mine were overflowing as it was. There was no reason on earth to squeeze them out of her.

"I'll buy what I need right away."

With that, I purchased the Land Declaration Right and the Guardian Soldier Summon. Then, adding siege magic, fortification magic, and the rest of the list, I sank roughly 1,500 points in total.

"That many points...!"

The expression on her face as she watched me spend was something to behold. I used the Land Declaration Right on the spot.

A demon takes first place, huh...

So that was how Envy had gotten her hands on the land back then—a baron-rank demon had been backing her from the shadows. The Seven Great Demons were treated as the equals of dukes, so prying territory loose from a mere baron would have been child's play for her.

The real mercy is that some human-held land is still standing.

If the peninsula had been ruled by demons alone, with not a single human territory left, there would have been no hope at all. But as long as humans were still resisting, a future still existed.

First things first—I need to link up with the survivor groups.

The demons held fifteen territories centered on Pyongyang, and three more built around Mount Baekdu.

Getting there means cutting through demon land. I'll be killing a lot of them.

I would have to cross straight through territory held by the demon kind, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠which meant I was bound to clash with plenty of them along the way.

I can handle that. But can To?

This would turn into a marathon of back-to-back battles. Of course I worried about her.

"Please don't concern yourself with me. Fight the way you need to fight."

Just then, as if she'd read my mind, To answered. At her words, I shoved the pointless worrying aside and looked at my remaining points.

About 700 left, give or take...

That was when my eye caught the item sitting at the very bottom of the shop.

Random Draw Ticket [10 Points] — Test your luck!

An item with a flat-out taunt for a description. And yet, if you were Korean, there was one thing you could never walk past: a gacha.

I bought a draw immediately.

An Advanced Antidote was a genuinely good pull. Especially in a place drowning in miasma like this one.

"Okay, this is a straight-up god-tier item...!"

Eyes gleaming, I threw myself back into the draws.

After that, the luck of that first pull never came back.

So "your first shot is your best shot" was actually true, huh?

I knew full well nothing good would come out. But my hand wouldn't stop.

No—it wouldn't stop. I didn't want ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it to.

If I quit here, that would be the real disgrace.

It was an utterly foolish thought. But I thought it anyway, and I bought another draw.

And the instant I did, the system window blazed to life, far brighter than before, and a message appeared.