Master Hunter K

“Knock knock”

Dalupin gently knocked on the door. He was apparently aware that Sungjin had completed his bath. Sungjin answered while wiping down his hair with a towel.

“Come in”

He could hear the door open from behind him.

“I have brought the information sheet for tomorrow’s raid as well as receipts for items sold in the auction house today.”

Sungjin pointed towards the table next to the entryway without turning and said

“Please leave it on that table, Dalupin. And please don’t forget to wake me up in the night.”

“Understood.”

Sungjin heard the door click shut behind him. Once he was done wiping his hair, he headed over to the table and checked the things Dalupin left behind.

There were four receipts in total. Sungjin picked up the first receipt.

Receipt – 1200 Black Coins

The item ‘Helm of Fire resistance’ which you had put on auction was sold for a total of 1200 Coins to the ‘Pugilist’.

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

He had posted the item for a starting price of 1000 and instant buyout at 1500, and it had been sold somewhere in between.

‘Not bad’

Sungjin placed the receipt into the cube.

[You have received 1200 Black Coins]

Sungjin checked the next receipt. The bow ‘Hydra’ containing the skill ‘Cobra Snipe’ was sold for the starting price of 3000. Someone had placed a bid and obtained it without any contest.

‘As I suspected... the demand for bows is low...’

Sungjin also put the receipt into the cube. The next item was “Vaiden’, the spear with Fiendish Needles. It was put up for 3500 coins with an instant buyout at 4000 coins. But someone opted for the instant buyout in this case.

‘Hmm...’

It was technically a good thing when someone opts for the instant buyout. But it gave him mixed feelings.

‘Should I have sold it for more?’

This was probably a common feeling afterwards. Sungjin inserted the receipt into the cube and took a look at the last one.

‘Hmm?’

He was surprised when he read the content.

Receipt – 3000 Black Coins

The item ‘Manta – Cho’Roch’s staff’ which you had put on auction was sold for a total of 3000 Coins to the Offensive Mage.

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

It was the item he put up for auction two chapters ago and had forgotten about. After being available for auction for two days, someone had finally placed a bid on it and got it at the starting price. The buyer’s name was ‘Offensive Mage’

It was about the right time for mages to begin appearing. The ‘Spellmaster’ Ed had sometimes said this;

‘At first, it is extremely difficult to invest into Mind Power and Magic Power, but as time goes on, you learn that doing so is extremely efficient. Of course, in order to grow stronger, good items and expensive high class spellbooks become necessary to purchase.’

Sungjin also placed the receipt into the cube.

[You have received 3000 Black Coins]

The two items still available for auction were the Rare class ‘Emergency Boots’ and the Legendary class Spear ‘Armantine’.

The Emergency Boots wouldn’t appeal to the general populace, and the Armantine would be a financially intimidating to purchase at 10,000 coin price point, even if it was very attractive.

Even Sungjin, who kept 70% or higher contribution every single raid, did not receive more than 9000 coins in any given raid.

For a typical Hunter, they would need to save up everything for two raids to be able to afford it.

‘Well, it is a great item... so it should eventually sell.’

Sungjin asked the Operator as he finished up his thoughts.

“Operator, how many coins do I have right now?”

[You have 21468 Black Coins]

In one raid, he had obtained more than 20,000 coins. At this point, he could even afford the ‘Star of the nameless’.

‘I thought it would take me at least two raids to reach...’

Sungjin went to lie down on the bed once he was done with the receipts. He would be busy later at ‘Darker than Black’.

*

“Ha~”

Sungjin arrived in front of ‘Darker than Black’, letting out a thick white fog from his mouth due to the cold. It was too dark in this area, so Sungjin took out Besgoro.

“Equip”

He wore the helmet over his head. ‘Ghost Vision’ allowed Sungjin to see more clearly in the dark. Besgoro spoke first.

‘...You’re going back in there again?’

“Yes, from now on I will be coming here every night. You said it’s no big deal.’

He seemed to have regained sanity on his own after a while. He replied seriously

‘I just don’t like the atmosphere of that place. Even a ghost like me feels spooked by that place.’

Sungjin didn’t reply and just swallowed. Sungjin had experienced death before, but for some reason, the merchant inside inspired fear far greater than death.

While Sungjin was watching, the surrounding suddenly grew even darker; it was 4:30 am, it was time to enter.

“Please remain quiet while I am negotiating a sale, Besgoro.”

‘I have no intention to speak in that man’s presence.’

Sungjin entered ‘Darker than Black’ wearing Besgoro’s skull. As always the man inside was sitting at a table within.

“Welcome. So, did you find the TrollSeeker Marble useful?”

Sungjin nodded.

“More than I ever imagined.”

“So how many Black Coins do you have?”

Sungjin was about to answer when his own cube responded on his behalf.

[21468 Black Coins]

Sungjin couldn’t help but be surprised and looked back and forth between the man and the cube. It was the first time he had witnessed the cube responding to someone other than the ‘owner’. In response

‘Shink’

Sungjin drew his blade and pressed it against the man’s neck.

“Who are you?”

He responded

“You want to know? I’ll tell you if you hand over 10,000 coins.”

Sungjin was about to take him up on his offer when

“White ones”

He was interrupted. 10,000 white coins. That was almost an impossible amount to gather. When Sungjin stared at him with narrowed eyes, the man placed his hands over the Moon Specter and said

“Put this away. You know this already, threats don’t work in the Black Market.”

Sungjin stared at him a bit longer and then put away his sword. He was right. Sungjin crossed his arms when the man said

“You managed to gather more than 20,000 Black Coins in one Raid... Extraordinary. Did you come to buy this then?”

He lifted up a star shaped accessory with a spiral design. It was none other than ‘Star of the Nameless’. Sungjin stared at it for a moment before asking the man,

“Last time you said ‘He who searches for answers finds questions, and he who searches for questions finds answers’.”

“Yes. I wasn’t the one who came up with it... but well I quoted it.”

“I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

Sungjin placed the ‘TrollSeeker Marble’ onto the table as he continued.

“Can more than one of these be used per raid?”

At his words, the man grinned widely. As if he was waiting for this question to pop up.

“Yes.”

Sungjin did not hesitate to say

“Buy two more, recharge the used one.”

At Sungjin’s words, he suddenly replied politely.

“It will be 21,000 Black Coins dear customer.”

“Purchase.”

At his word, the Cube lit up brightly.

[Purchase complete]

The Operator announced, and Sungjin picked up the marble that he had put down on the table. It regained the bright colors which indicated it was ready for use once more, becoming indistinguishable from the other two marbles he had purchased.

Sungjin put away all three marbles he had purchased. From now on, he would be able to meet a minimum of three trolls per round. The man commented

“Kill the trolls and gather more coins. A good idea, but.”

When Sungjin stared with his eyebrows raised, the man continued.

“You’ll be pressed for time. If you want to teleport to another dimension, you’ll have few minutes of buffer time in between.”

Sungjin was fully aware of this.

“I’ll work around it.”

At his words, the merchant grinned.

“Since you used 21,000 coins out of 21468, I guess this is goodbye. There is nothing you can buy with only 468 coins here.”

Sungjin tilted his head and responded instead

“No, there is one.”

“What?”

The merchant blurted out surprised for the first time. Sungjin took out the white coin from his pocket.

“I got a white coin.”

The man looked at the white coin with his eyes wide. Suddenly an information page appeared from the cube.

White Coin

Ordinary Currency

Passive Skill

Exchange(II) – Item used as an intermediary in buying and selling

Coins obtainable only through truth and honesty.

Used in the purchase of special items.

It didn’t feel good, someone else using the cube forcefully. Seeing the item, the man whispered

“Real...”

Sungjin grinned this time.

“What, did you think I would paint a Black Coin white or something?”

“Really... Unexpected. So, what are you looking to purchase?”

Sungjin was about to ask for the ‘Holy water of Baptism’ when he got an idea.

“Is there anything else other than the ‘Holy Water of Baptism’ that I can get with the White coin?”

The merchant answered.

“Yes.”

“What else is there? Please make me a list.”

“To your question, you can obtain the list if you pay about a hundred Black Coins.”

Sungjin frowned. He just did whatever he wanted. Sungjin decided to just buy the Holy Water of Baptism for now since he was curious as to its effects.

“Then please give me the Holy Water of Baptism for now.”

“Got it.”

The man took out the vial out of his pocket and placed it on the table. Sungjin asked one more time before he completed the transaction.

“So... with this item, I can speak with other hunters, is that right?”

“Not only speak... you can do much more.”

Sungjin just stared at him. This mysterious man did not reveal all the information at once, although there were no ‘lies’ either.

Sungjin handed over the coin personally and said

“Purchase”

*

Once he was done with the transactions, he returned to the ‘Ninety Nine Nights’ and entered his bedroom. On top of the table next to the door was the information sheet that Dalupin had left behind for him.

‘Information pertaining to Rudala – Dark Elven City’

Sungjin was going to read through it when

“Yawn...”

He couldn’t suppress a yawn. He was still not used to waking up at the crack of dawn. Sungjin held the note for a moment as he deliberated. Then he made up his mind.

‘My rest is more important than this information.’

Convincing himself of his lie, he jumped back into bed.