Chapter 77 – Black Market Eighth Shopping

“Starting bid 4000 and instant buyout at 4500 please.”

Auction House ‘Time is Money Plan’

Sungjin was putting up the items he had obtained today for auction, handing them to the three pig brothers.

“Starting bid 1500, instant buyout at 2000 for this one.”

“Understood, Mister Hunter.”

One item from Raid Reward, and six items from the Troll Hunt; Seven items in total were put up for auction before he returned to Ninety Nine Nights.

Cain greeted Sungjin with tail wags.

“Woof Woof!”

Sungjin wanted to pet Cain by kneeling as usual. But Cain’s head was within reach without having to bend over. Sungjin was amazed.

‘When I first got him, he was shorter than my knee...’

Cain was growing with each passing chapter. Sungjin said after placing his hand on top of his head

“If you keep growing like this, you’ll be taller than me at some point”

At his words,

“Woof!”

Cain barked some more. As he grew taller, his voice also grew deeper. When he was smaller his barks were on the cute side, but now it sounded sturdy and dependable.

Now that he took the time to take a closer look at Cain, Cain was starting to exude a mystical aura like that of his mother (or perhaps Grandmother) Ahenna.

“Good. Grow and become stronger Cain. That makes me happy.”

While Sungjin was exchanging greetings with Cain,

“Brrr”

The sound of a horse could be heard coming from the stable as if Shadowrun was appealing for attention.

He couldn’t call Shadowrun due to not having any opportunity within the Dark Elven City, so his mount remained neglected.

‘Hey Kei, can you place me on top of Shadowrun? I have to talk to him about something.’

“I know you are a ghost, but how can you communicate with a horse?”

Besgoro answered

‘Long time comrades of the battlefield can understand each other without words. Like you and that wolf.’

It was somewhat a plausible explanation. Sungjin walked up to Shadowrun to do as he asked. Cain who was following closely behind

“Grr!”

Growled threateningly; he still seemed to dislike Shadowrun. Sungjin took Besgoro off of his head and placed it on top of the saddle of the horse. Leaving it was no problem because there was no one around to take it away or steal it.

Despite ‘Ninety Nine Nights’ being an inn, it was reserved solely for Sungjin’s use. Well, to be more accurate, the entirety of the Black Market was created for the sole purpose of Sungjin’s use.

If he were to leave a coin on the market grounds, the same coin would remain there indefinitely day after day undisturbed. That is, if the hunter who put it there leaves it alone.

Sungjin returned to the interior of the ‘Ninety Nine Nights’ along with Cain. Inside

“Welcome back, Master.”

The Genie Soldamyr

“Good work today, sir.”

And Innkeeper Dalupin awaited him. Sungjin replied to their greetings and took a seat at the table.

“Should I prepare a meal?”

Sungjin nodded.

“Yes, please do.”

He had many things to do tonight after dinner.

“Is there something you would like to order...?”

‘What should I pick?’

Sungjin tapped on the table trying to remember the past. One menu finally popped into his head.

“Chicken. Korean style. Half of them fried, other dipped in sauce. 500cc glass of beer. Get Cain a fried chicken.”

“Understood, Right away.”

Dalupin left for the kitchen. Sungjin beckoned Soldamyr.

“Soldamyr, please come closer.”

“Yes Master”

“I put up seven items up for auction today. I don’t know how many of them would sell today, but I think we can expect about 30,000 coins.”

Soldamyr couldn’t help but show surprise at Sungjin’s words.

“What an amazing amount of earnings.”

“And on top of that, there’s 10,000 coins from the Raid Reward as well... so expect about 40,000 coins to be available later today. Once we finish dinner and get the receipts, let’s head back out into the market and buy a 7th class or higher spell book from a shop.”

“Understood, Master.”

Not long after, Dalupin reemerged from the kitchen with freshly fried chicken and a glass full of cold beer. Sungjin first picked up the fried chicken and took a bite.

The crispy skin of the chicken gave way to the soft juicy meat hidden within. The juices which oozed out of the meat was still hot. Sungjin reached over and took a swig of his beer.

“Ahh~”

Sungjin wiped away the foam from his lips and took another bite out of the chicken.

*

‘Bang!’

Sungjin put down the glass of beer. It was his third cup. He had emptied the cup to the point where no foam remained. The drinks were just as good as the food served in Ninty Nine Nights.

He wanted to drink more, but if he took any more than now, it would affect his reason for shopping and perhaps even affect his ability to fight tomorrow. From experience, three glasses of beer was his safe limit.

Sungjin expressed his gratitude to Dalupin.

“I ate really really well Dalupin.”

Dalupin bowed. He probably would have known without Sungjin saying anything, judging from the fact that the fried chicken was reduced to clean bones.

Within the raids, Dalupin’s care and cooking were one of the few sources of comfort.

Sungjin exited the inn while rubbing his full stomach. The sun was setting in the distance dyeing the sky orange. The Auction house operated until sundown; afterwards the receipts for the day would arrive.

Sungjin sat on the rocking chair situated on the outside of the inn and watched the sun go down while he waited for his food to digest. Once the sun finally set below the horizon

‘Ring ring’

A delivery boy appeared out of nowhere, riding a bicycle. Upper body of a pigeon, lower body of a human; a pigeon demihuman. Dalupin came out of the inn to accept the deliveries.

All of it were for Sungjin; no wonder since Sungjin was the only customer in the entire market.

Dalupin thanked the delivery boy.

“Thank you for your work.”

The pigeon delivery boy completed the transfer of parcel and then

‘Ring Ring’

Got back on the bicycle and returned to the darkness. Sungjin wordlessly held his hands out towards Dalupin. He handed over everything he had received.

There were six receipts. Out of nine total items put up for auction including two from before and seven from this time, six out of nine were sold today. Sungjin read through them.

Receipt – 4700 Black Coins. The item ‘Helm of Fire resistance’ which you had put on auction was sold for a total of...

Sungjin only briefly scanned the first receipt. For the rest, he only checked the amounts.

‘1500’

‘3700’

‘4100’

While he was checking his receipts

‘Hmm?’

The last receipt caught his eye.

‘12,000’

Receipt – 12000 Black Coins

The item ‘Armantine – Spear of Paralysis’ which you had put on auction was sold for a total of 12,000 Coins to the ‘God of Spears’.

Place the receipt into the cube to instantly redeem the amount.

There were two points of surprise in this receipt.

First, someone spent 12,000 coins in one go. The next was the fact that they obtained the title of ‘God’.

‘God of Spears’

Sungjin knew just one person from the previous life who managed to obtain that title. One of the final 10 members.

“Ryushin...”

He utilized Ancient Chinese Spear techniques and most certainly reached a ‘God’ like level of skill. Obtaining ‘God’ tier title was difficult otherwise.

‘I guess... he managed to survive until now as well.’

If his skill was anything like in the previous life, it was no surprise that he would have survived until now. Except for an extremely unlikely and excruciating situation, like if all four others turned against him to try and kill him, he would have had no trouble surviving. Of course, all 10 of the final members were all within that level of skill.

Sungjin reminisced about him for a moment.

‘Hey, Sungjin. Don’t you think as ‘God of Spears’ and ‘God of Swords’, we should find out once and for all who’s better?’

His skill was undeniably great. But along with his skill came an incredibly high pride in his ability. With pride came ego and excessive competitive spirit.

If anyone managed to get higher contribution point than him, he would be unable to contain himself and explode.

‘You fucking retarded Operator, how the fuck did I get so little?’

This side of him made him difficult to deal with.

‘If I ignore that side... he was a good guy... maybe... we will see each other again.’

After five chapters, that is to say, after Kutan Desert the number of survivors numbered at 600,000. Since then, three more chapters have passed.

Although Sungjin had no idea of the exact number, the amount should have significantly decreased by now. It was about time for Sungjin to start running into at least one of the previous final members.

Especially since Sungjin had ‘Trollseeker Marble’ which allowed him to take a look at many times more hunters per round, so chances of running into them had increased. Sungjin took a moment to think about them again.

‘Araujo, Ryushin, Nada, Umkhuba, Ilich, Hildebrandt, Shunsuke, Mustafa, and Edward.’

Through the many hunts they shared, Sungjin had seen their personalities, even the worst parts of them which were revealed in moments of crisis. They were all individuals of incredible skill and talent, but not all of them had a stellar character.

Sungjin had divided them into groups worthy of ‘Baptism’ and those unworthy.

‘The most desirable is... Probably Nada. And the least desirable is...’

Sungjin was interrupted.

[Attention Please.]

[‘Spellmaster’ has succeeded in completing the Unique Legendary omnibus ‘Edda – Norse Mythology’]

[All other copies will be destroyed, and the owners will be refunded by 500 coins.]

Sungjin stared at the cube.

‘Spellmaster...’

There was only one person who could have possibly earned that title. The person he wanted least to baptise.

‘Edward.’

Sungjin stood up as if he sat on lava. He didn’t have time to waste; he had to get stronger.

He had to get strong enough to the point where he could take on all 9 of the previous final 10 and win alone. Sungjin shoved the stack of receipts into the cube.

[27500 Black Coins obtained.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Sungjin verified the amount and said loudly

“Soldamyr”

Calling over his loyal Genie. Sungjin had called for him in an uncharacteristic tone, and Soldamyr hurriedly emerged from the inn looking a little shocked.

“You called?”

“Let’s go. To buy the spellbook.”

His master’s expression was grim. Soldamyr lowered his head lower than usual and said respectfully

“Yes Master”

Before heading out to the Market, Sungjin stopped by the Stables. Besgoro was still on top of Shadowrun.

‘They should have had enough time to speak.’

Sungjin picked him up and said

‘Equip’

And put Besgoro back on top of his head. He could see clearly in the dark once more. Sungjin said to him

“Mister Besgoro, if you have anything to say, please tell me. Since you and I share the same spell list.’

‘Got it.’

Seeing his owner prepare to head somewhere

“Woof!”

Cain followed closely behind. Sungjin left with Cain and Soldamyr towards the darkened market. This was the first time he was heading towards the market after sundown, with the exception of heading to ‘Darker than Black’ at four thirty.