Chapter 67: Chapter 67

“Do you know about the black market?”

Blaine mentioned the black market after seeing the box.

“Yes.”

Of course he did.

The black market was a slightly different concept from the auction house.

In the auction house, users could register and sell items they had verified, while the black market required no verification.

As a result, the black market was often used for crimes.

Things like money laundering or selling stolen goods.

The empire had once wiped out the black market, but ‘factions’ were opening it sporadically in the shadows.

Jeong-Hoon was a little surprised that Blaine mentioned the black market, as he hadn’t expected it.

“Two years ago, a black market was opened in Autobahn.”

“Really?”

“Yes…”

Blaine gritted his teeth as he recalled the past.

It was not long after his father, the previous lord, had passed away and he had taken the lord’s seat.

Before Blaine was established as the heir, he had a younger brother.

Drake Autobahn.

Drake pretended to trust and follow his older brother on the surface, but he was a snake in the grass, ready to bite him at any moment.

As a result, Blaine had received numerous threats to his life after being appointed as the heir.

‘…I thought he was a good brother.’

But Blaine wasn’t foolish enough to just let it happen.

He dealt with Drake’s minions one by one, cutting off his hands and feet, and finally expelled his brother from Autobahn after becoming the lord.

It was a decision he made because he couldn’t bring himself to kill his own flesh and blood.

“So you’re saying that your brother led the opening of the black market?”

“Yes…”

But Drake didn’t give up easily.

He stole the lord’s insignia, a symbol that only the lord could possess.

He intended to cause chaos among the residents by claiming that Blaine was unfit to be the lord.

Public opinion was a scary thing; once it started to boil, it was very difficult to calm down.

In such a situation, if Drake could show himself retrieving the insignia, his initial plan to undermine Blaine’s position would be successful.

However, Blaine was informed of the entire plan through his subordinate, who was planted next to his brother, and was enraged.

‘He’s colluding with the illegal forces?!’

He gritted his teeth.

Even if he coveted the lord’s seat, to think that he would collude with those shady people…

Blaine then leaked false information to his brother that the insignia had disappeared.

As if waiting for it, Drake opened the black market, and Blaine’s side, who had been waiting for this, raided the black market as soon as it opened and took down the criminals all at once.

“And this is what you got in the process?”

“Yes. I didn’t know what it was, but it seemed precious, so I kept it in the vault.”

He didn’t know why the ‘Unknown Box’ was circulating in the black market, but Jeong-Hoon made a decision as soon as he saw it.

“Then can I take that box?”

“That one?”

Blaine hesitated for a moment.

The Unknown Box was an item that appeared in the black market at that time, and it was brought by Drake.

Although Drake had said he had acquired the box by chance while being exiled, Blaine had no intention of believing that.

He must have been preparing a trap.

‘It won’t open?’

However, no matter how hard he tried to open the box, it wouldn’t budge.

In the end, he failed to open it and had no choice but to stash it away in the treasure vault. He hadn’t expected Jeong-Hoon to choose that box.

“Yes. Did it come from Iora, by any chance?”

“Oh…? Yes, that’s right. How did you know?”

As expected.

Iora was one of the towns you could only access after reaching level 200.

And it was also the only place where you could get an Unknown Box.

‘Interesting. I never dreamed I would find an Unknown Box in the treasure vault.’

He had never dreamed of finding such a rare box here.

It was a treasure vault that could only be entered after reaching Max trust with Blaine.

This must have been another trick by New World.

“Is it impossible?”

He needed Blaine’s permission to take the box.

‘If he says no, there’s nothing I can do.’

He hadn’t expected the treasure vault in the first place.

Among the items here, the Unknown Box was the most tempting, but there would be other opportunities to get it.

He didn’t want to get too attached to the Unknown Box.

However, contrary to his expectations, Blaine shook his head.

“No. I’ll give it to you if you want it. But… you won’t be able to open that box. I’ve tried everything to open it, but I failed.”

“It’s okay. I can open it.”

“What…? Is that really true?”

Jeong-Hoon nodded.

Blaine couldn’t believe it, but he couldn’t doubt the benefactor of Autobahn.

So he decided to make a request.

“…Then could you please open the box in front of me?”

“In front of you?”

“Yes. Since it was Drake’s… I’m suspicious of what’s inside.”

“Alright.”

Thus, the Unknown Box came into Jeong-Hoon’s possession.

[Unknown Box]

-Contains all items randomly.

-Luck effect X

-Requires Unknown Key (Not owned)

A box containing all items randomly.

That’s why it was called the ‘Unknown Box’.

Even luck potions didn’t work on it, so it was a box that had to be left entirely to chance.

And it required an item called the Unknown Key to open it.

‘That’s why it wouldn’t open no matter what I did.’

It was a box that couldn’t be opened without the key.

Jeong-Hoon opened the Achievement Shop and immediately went to ‘Category – Special’.

-Unknown Key

The price of the Unknown Key was 20,000 points.

Since he currently had 72,000 achievement points, if he bought one key, he would have 52,000 points left.

‘It’s okay.’

Jeong-Hoon immediately purchased the key.

Then he took the key out of his inventory and laid the box on its side.

The hidden keyhole was revealed.

“Even when I tried to make a matching key, it didn’t react.”

Blaine had also tried that method.

But no matter how many times he modified the key, the box wouldn’t budge.

“It will open.”

Jeong-Hoon said and inserted the key into the keyhole.

Then, as he slowly turned it…

Click.

The locked box was unlocked.

“Huh…? Did it really open?!”

Blaine’s eyes widened as he watched the box.

“Yes.”

Jeong-Hoon opened the closed box.

Inside the box was a ring.

[You have acquired the Ability Amplification Ring (One-time use)(Epic).]

‘Oh?!’

===

[Ability Amplification Ring (One-time use)]

-Type: Ring

-Grade: Epic

-Special Ability (1): When the ring’s magic power is drawn out, it temporarily increases the wearer’s all stats by 50%.

-Special Ability (2): Reduces all damage from the opponent’s abilities and attacks by 50%.

-The ring cannot be used again after one use.

===

Jeong-Hoon’s mouth widened into a grin as he checked the ring.

* * *

Whoosh-

The capsule door opened, and Ha-Jin stepped out.

Ha-Jin’s face was slightly flushed as he exited.

‘I finally got a Unique grade weapon.’

The Unique grade equipment he had longed for.

Even Epic grade equipment was quite expensive, requiring a lot of saving to purchase.

Of course, he could buy Unique grade equipment with cash, but Ha-Jin didn’t have that kind of money.

So the only way was to obtain equipment through content like raids or siege wars.

But he barely got any Epic grade equipment, let alone Unique, so he had been using Rare grade equipment with enhancement stones.

‘And today I got it!’

Not even Epic, but a Unique grade sword.

He would have been happy with just an Epic, but it was Unique, so he felt like he was flying.

“Something good happen?”

He happened to meet his boss, Lee Hyun-Woo, who was returning from a smoke break.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah. You’re grinning like that, it would be strange not to notice.”

“Haha…”

“So what is it?”

Lee Hyun-Woo took out a can of coffee and handed it to Ha-Jin, asking again,

“I got a Unique grade sword today.”

“Whoa, really?”

“Yes! I can get even stronger with this!”

The difference in performance between a Rare grade sword and a Unique grade sword was like heaven and earth.

The initial state of the equipment was inferior to a Max-enhanced Rare sword, but once you started adding Unique enhancement stones, the stats of a Unique grade weapon would skyrocket.

“Oh, really? Then do you want to participate in an event?”

“An event?”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-Woo handed him a flyer from the pile in the corner.

The flyer read [Capsule Room Siege Event].

“Capsule Room Siege Event? What kind of event is this?”

He had never heard of such an event.

Usually, siege warfare was considered a guild content, where guilds had to defend an occupied castle for a certain amount of time to succeed.

Depending on the level of contribution, various items such as experience points, equipment, and enhancement stones were given as rewards.

Therefore, guilds held siege warfare once a month, gathering their members.

To hold such a siege as an event…

“And even those who have individual capsules can participate, as long as they participate from a capsule room.”

This event could be played with up to 4 people in a 4-person party, and solo play was also possible.

If the number of participants exceeded that, they would be randomly split into groups.

“…That’s interesting. Then should I go with Jeong-Hoon?”

For Ha-Jin, the strongest ally was Jeong-Hoon.

Although he had just passed level 100, he had a Legendary class and a Legendary weapon to match.

He even won first place in the second class transfer event, didn’t he?

Ha-Jin had also confirmed through the New World announcement that Jeong-Hoon had won first place.

Regardless of level, Jeong-Hoon was a real monster.

“Hmm? Did he level up a bit? They say everyone is adjusted to level 150 in the event…”

The problem was that only the level was adjusted, but there was no restriction on skill usage.

Ha-Jin’s current level was 160.

Jeong-Hoon had only started New World a few months ago, so there would be a significant level difference.

“Yes, that Jeong-Hoon guy is over level 100 now.”

“…What?”

Lee Hyun-Woo’s eyes widened slightly.

He reached level 100 in such a short time?

How was that possible?

“I told you, he’s a real monster. He’s obsessed with leveling up right now.”

He had heard that Jeong-Hoon had gone to Autobahn.

But since he hadn’t heard any news since then, he must be crazy about leveling up.

“…Well, he was the guy who stayed in the capsule room for 21 hours straight.”

Lee Hyun-Woo had never seen such a determined person in his life.

It was more than just an addiction; the venom in his eyes was no joke.

It felt like he was clinging to New World for a purpose.

“Oh? Speak of the devil.”

Ha-Jin took out his smartphone from his pocket.

“Why? Is it from your friend?”

“Yes. Then I’ll go in first.”

“Okay. Take another flyer. You might be interested.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yes!”

Ha-Jin received another flyer from Lee Hyun-Woo and left the capsule room.

As soon as Jeong-Hoon left the capsule room, he called Ha-Jin.

He told his mother that he was going out for a bit and met Ha-Jin at a nearby cafe.

“Wow, it’s hard to see you. Isn’t it?”

Ha-Jin complained as soon as he saw Jeong-Hoon.

This was because Jeong-Hoon hadn’t even whispered to him since moving to Autobahn.

“I’m sorry. I was a little busy.”

“Yeah, I understand. You must have been busy leveling up.”

“Yes.”

He was indeed busy leveling up, but a lot had happened in Autobahn.

So he didn’t have the time to pay attention to others.

Ha-Jin was still better off.

Yeo Min-Ji had been asking him how he was doing every few days through whispers.

“But what’s up?”

“Do I have to have a reason to call you? I just wanted to have a cup of tea.”

“You? No way?”

Ha-Jin tilted his head with suspicion in his eyes.

“It’s true.”

“Then can I leave right after we have tea?”

“I heard there’s an event happening at the capsule room. Is that right?”

Flinch.

Ha-Jin’s shoulders trembled once.

“You’re like a ghost, where do you hear all this information?”

Then he shook his head and took out the flyer.

“It’s a siege event.”

Jeong-Hoon quickly scanned the flyer and nodded.

“I was just about to ask you to participate in the event with me. I heard you can form a party of up to four people.”

“Okay, sounds good to me.”

This wasn’t just any event.

It was the first sign that the game was becoming reality, disguised as an event.

“So, are we going just the two of us?”

“No, someone else is coming.”

“Coming? Who?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Jeong-Hoon took a sip of coffee and said something cryptic.

And the next day.

“You heard about the siege event happening, right?”

Yeo Min-Ji had come all the way to Autobahn to see Jeong-Hoon.