Chapter 115 – Black Market Tenth Shopping (5)

Note: Term change ‘Ring of Helrick’ to ‘Helix Ring’ explained at chapter end note.


‘One two three four…’

Sungjin counted his receipts. There was a total of 10. One of the items he had put up last time as well as 9 of the 15 items he put up for auction today was sold.

Sungjin shoved all ten sheets into the cube at once.

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

[You currently have 59065 Black Coins.]

“Hmm really?”

Sungjin lost the sense of scale for the amount of money that he had.

‘So much money after buying two legendary class item like Blood Vengeance… compared to my last life…’

Running around diligently during the raid had paid off.

‘Since I got roughly 50,000 coins from 10 items… each one sold for an average value of 5000. I guess the average worth of items has gone up?’

The cause was twofold. The reason was the trolls now had better items, and the hunters buying items from the auction house generally had more money to spend.

“It was a really good day.”

Sungjin stretched. And

“Haaa~”

He couldn’t help but yawn. Sungjin rubbed his eyes and recalled

‘I said I would fuse Blood Vengeance as soon as I had the money…’

But he didn’t feel like making the trip to Kargos’s smithy. He could drop by the smithy at night on his way back from ‘Darker than Black’ and fuse his sword then.

He had to go there to pick up Artemio anyway. Sungjin stood up from his seat to head to bed. Soldamyr who was next to him asked

“Are you going back upstairs, Master?”

Sungjin replied

“Yeah. I am too tired today. I’ll be retiring early today. Please research on the ring until tomorrow.”

“Understood, Master.”

Sungjin who returned to his room didn’t take a bath like he normally would and only took a quick shower before collapsing into the bed. He fell right to sleep.

*

Four ten in the morning, Sungjin’s eyes opened themselves. He had gotten used to this sleep schedule and waking up early every morning.

Sungjin quickly washed his face before putting on day clothes and leaving the room. He saw Dalupin walking up the stairs. He must have come to wake Sungjin up.

When he saw Sungjin, he quietly moved out of the way. Sungjin passed him and reached the 1st floor. Soldamyr was inside his lamp. He didn’t require sleep, but it must have been easier for him to ‘research’ while inside the lamp.

Outside the Inn were the animals he had spiritual link with; Rajenta, Cain, and Shadowrun. Shadowrun looked like he did not need sleep at all. After Shadowrun saw Sungjin wearing Besgoro,

‘Brrr’

He let out a sound once. Cain noticed his master leaving, and stood up as well but

“Stay Cain”

Cain was stopped by Sungjin’s gesture and command and returned to sleep. The youngest of the bunch, Rajenta, was the only one to sleep soundly in his straw nest. As Cain had once done so, he was growing rapidly day by day. Estimating his rate of growth, Rajenta would likely grow to be double the size of Cain.

‘Well, I did hear that Royal Griffins… grow to the size of a small dragon.’

Sungjin left them behind and headed towards ‘Darker than Black’ alone.

He took the napkin out of his pocket on the way. And on the napkin was the following message.

‘He who searches for answers finds questions, and he who searches for questions finds answers.’

Sungjin read the completed text and thought of the ‘Darker than Black’ Merchant. The man had definitely uttered this from time to time. Sungjin stared at the pen. There was more to the message.

‘4:30 in the morning, head to the 3rd district, last building on the right, underground.’

It was written by ‘Mu – Pen of Reply’, the message which Ariana was unwilling to speak out loud due to her mother telling her ‘not to get involved with that man’.

The individual that even the mighty dragons were afraid to cross was none other than the merchant of Darker than Black. Sungjin said while holding onto the napkin

“Just what is he? God? Demon? Or…?”

If anyone saw Sungjin right now, he would appear to be talking to himself, but there was indeed someone that was listening. It was Besgoro.

‘Who the fuck cares. Why are you wearing me every time you go there, but take me off when you’re meeting with pretty ladies?’

“That’s because I can see better in the dark wearing you. The shop ‘Darker than Black’ is just as advertised. Furthermore… about when I’m talking to ladies… You know exactly why, right?”

Besgoro did not reply. He seemed upset.

‘Is this how a 50 year old man should act?’

Sungjin thought as he entered into the Darker than Black. The merchant was sitting in the same spot as usual.

Thinking about it, the merchant seemed more like a piece of furniture like tables or chairs rather than a person. Once Sungjin arrived, he greeted Sungjin.

“Ah, you’re still alive, Master Hunter K.”

His words expressed surprise, but his tone of voice said otherwise. Sungjin asked him

“You already knew though, that I’d be back.”

“Well, I could predict to some extent that you would.”

But once again his words were mismatched to his tone. Sungjin took the seat directly in front of him.

“This raid was really difficult. The boss Red Dragon, as well as her* mother”

“Ahh, so you met her? Ariane?”

Sungjin stared straight at him and asked

“You know her?”

“I have heard of her, although I’ve never directly met her.”

He looked slightly up as if thinking about something and said

“It’s just that I’ve met her mother before. When she was a tiny hatchling.”

Sungjin was surprised and asked

“When Ariane was a hatchling?”

If what he said was true, it would be an incredibly long time ago. But the man shook his head.

“No, no. I’ve met HER mother when she was an infant.”

Sungjin couldn’t believe it. If true, it meant that his age was more than a few thousand to tens of thousands of years old. Sungjin stared at him, and the man said

“What is it? Are you curious about my age?”

Sungjin said bluntly

“It’s not like you’re going to tell me even if I ask you anyway.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true. Also… something like age is completely unimportant, isn’t it?”

Sungjin said to him

“It is important to a human being. We also value acting our age. But not you. Since you aren’t human.”

He grinned at Sungjin’s accusation.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Then are you human? You can’t be. There is no way.”

“Well feel free to think what you want.”

Sungjin took the napkin out of his pocket and handed it over.

“Here.”

The merchant narrowed his eyes and said

“What about this?”

“Ariane gave me this. Telling me that it would help me alter my fate. But I already knew where to find you from before I died in my previous life. And so I was able to meet you before ever meeting Ariane.”

“So?”

“Despite that, you were unsurprised to see me. In other words… you already knew that I am a regressor, right?”

The merchant placed the napkin on the table and said

“Yeah, there’s very few things I do not know.”

Sungjin asked

“Then what are you? And just what is this raid for?”

The man answered

“In this dimension, I just sell few knick knacks and work as a merchant, but in other dimensions, I am an information broker. I give answers to questions, but I demand payment for the value of the information.”

“And? You want me to pay?”

“Of course.”

“How much?”

“The first question, ‘What are you?’ You might not recall, but you already asked me that. And the price of that information, as I already said before, is 10,000 white coins.”

Sungjin frowned. With the way the Raid works, it was physically impossible to gather 10,000 White Coins.

“Second question, what are Raids for? The Operator already gave you that answer in the past. To prove the strength of humanity. Prove the worth of your species, and everyone goes free. Or the race is eradicated. It’s that kind of game.”

Sungjin glared at him. It didn’t seem like he intended to give any straight answers.

“What about this question? Is there such a thing as ‘the last raid’?”

“Hmm about that… I can tell you for 100 Black Coins.”

Just 100 Black Coins. It was a very small amount. Sungjin immediately said

“Complete transaction.”

As soon as Sungjin finished uttering his words, the man immediately gave an answer.

“There is a last one. In terms of the chapters… remember the raid you died on?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not far from there. The last one.”

Sungjin was shocked.

“Really?”

“I’m not called information broker for no reason. I give guaranteed answers to any paid question.”

‘We weren’t far from the end at ‘that chapter’… that means from now on…’

Sungjin fell into deep thought. Soon, the man asked

“Well, did you come only to ask questions today?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Sungjin shook his head.

“Please recharge these.”

Sungjin placed the five marbles on the table. The Merchant picked them up briefly before returning them to the table. The Marbles regained their luminosity.

“Recharge complete.”

Sungjin put those marbles away into his vest.

“And… I was going to buy Elixirs today… before that… is there any item that can gather the Chosen Ones into one spot? Trying to meet them all one by one is proving to be inconvenient.”

“Ahh, for that…”

He reached into the darkness and pulled out a short staff. The Staff was similar to the ‘Helix Ring’ in that it was in a double helix shape. A round gem was embedded on the tip, and upon closer inspection, Sungjin could see that the staff was decorated to look like two dragons competing for a Dragon Ball.*

“Helix Staff – Staff of the Warlord. The price is 30,000 Black Coins. Once a day, you can call upon every Chosen One into one spot. In addition, you can check what’s happening to the chosen ones and teleport there yourself.”

It was good. Furthermore, it allowed him to choose to enter a dimension without having to wait for a Chosen to request a summon first. Sungjin liked it a lot. But the price was hefty and made him hesitate. 30,000 Black Coins. It was expensive even for Sungjin who was relatively rich. Sungjin deliberated for a moment.

‘Well… Do I need this now?’

Sungjin quickly considered his options. He had roughly 54,000 coins in total. He owed Kargos 20,000 Coins. And if he takes the cost of combination for the Blood Vengeance, he could run short if he paid 30,000 Coins here. Sungjin made a decision and said

“I’ll… buy it tomorrow. Elixir as well.”

“Really? Do what you like.”

“Before that…”

Sungjin took out the white coins from his cube. There were four in total. Sungjin said while holding them up.

“Is there any item I can buy for four White Coins?”

But the merchant replied

“There is nothing you can buy other than four Holy Water with those.”

“… How much do I need to gather before I can buy something else?”

“Ten. If you can gather it, then you can purchase a different item.”

“Really? Then… give me four Holy Water for now.”

Sungjin handed over the white coins. He decided to have enough holy water to increase the number of Chosen Ones to nine. Afterwards, he could save up to buy something else.

The Merchant handed over four bottles to Sungjin. Sungjin received the bottles and stood up. He did wanted to spend not a single more second in this place than he had to.

The Darker Than Black merchant told Sungjin

“Then see you tomorrow.”

Once out of the shop, Sungjin headed towards the Kargos’s Smithy. While other shops were closed, the smithy alone gave off a brilliant light.

Sungjin took out Blood Vengeances out of his cube as he made his way to the smithy. One, two, three Blood Vengeances…

Sungjin even removed the Blood Vengeance hanging from his waist and carried them in his embrace as he made his way to the smithy.

 


* Apparently Khal Gal is a girl

Originally I had translated the ring as Ring of Helrick. It looked like it was a nordic/european name, and it wouldn’t have been a bad guess per se. But as I was translating another ‘Helrick’ Item, I realized ‘huh. both items are described to be twisted around.’ Then I realized that the shape is basically a double helix, and the phonetics of helrick is the same as helix in Korean.

Henceforce, the ring of Helrick is Helix ring, and the staff is Helix Staff. Change will be made in all previous chapters.

Currently, we are recruiting Korean translators. So if you do know Korean and want to give it a shot please email us at oppatranslations@gmail.com.

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41 thoughts on “Chapter 115 – Black Market Tenth Shopping (5)”

  1. Sunjin so dumb, he should be asking more questions, or even asking “What is the optimal way to beat the raid?” Or “what do you think the best items for me are?” .

    1. while good, sounds like mighty expensive questions…

      But if we are asking expensive questions, might be a god idea to ask “Why where we betrayed last time around?”. it was the guy that backstabbed him that told him about darker than black….

    2. It’s a useless question. Best items are from the raid and those are based on distribution. He already has an OP magic blue ring for all spells under the 9th rank as well as legendary swords.

      Unless you’re talking about items from the shop, but it’s useless to even ask now, since he’s low on funds and those items would probably cost sooo much. A simple summoming the ‘chosen ones’ staff is 30k, imagine the more rare, OP AF offensive/defensive powerful items. I’m sure theyll cost even more than those spell shop 7th rank spells he saw.

      1. I think leaving aside the practicality of actually asking the said question, the fact that it did not occur to him to try is something we can lament.

      2. At least he could’ve know what can be bought and at what price that way he could’ve save his coin for something that could be usefull instead of what he’s doing right now.Also he could’ve ask what he can buy with that 10 white coin for the low price of 100 BC

  2. BUY THE STAFF. That is definitely a good staff to have lol no more having to make appointments, just call everyone together.

    I wonder what he can buy for 10 white coins as well. I am sure it’ll be good.

    1. oh god…. you have to thing bigger! if he buy the staff, he can know what the others are doing! remember 2 of the choosen one are beautiful girls!!! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

  3. Apparently Khal Gal is a girl

    ^ Probably the Greatest Twist for such a minor Boss right now in this novel.

    Thanks for the chapter.
    Gonna looking forward to what he can buy with 10 white coins.

    1. Too bad he killed HER instead of there being an option for spiritual link like with Cain or Soldamyr. Pity, she made a strong waifu canidate.

  4. I have this weird ass theory where ‘spellmaster’ ed asked the darker-than-black person on what would happen if only one hunter is left, thus knew that the last one can revert back time then went absolute ballistic and tried to kill everyone but he died and left sungjin as the last hunter and went to the past. #I’mNotOnDrugsToday

    1. ‘o’ Apparently a New England dragon prostitute. And Sungjin’s the serial killer that goes around cutting them apart. Meanwhile, this merchant’s the really old man who peeps on little girls with his “information network” and thinks about them for years afterward. How morbid and coarse.

      1. Oh my god
        Got my dose of internet for today…

        Does that mean Sungjin is actually jack the ripper?

  5. Thank you for the chapter!

    Why is he still refusing to pay 100 Black Coins for the White Coin Catalogue? Wouldn’t that let him plan his purchases much better?

      1. At the time I had assumed there were other items he could buy for a single white coin, due to the way it was phrased. Chapter 67:

        —–

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

        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.

        And yeah, there’s a giant typo right in the first sentence there. Sometimes I wonder if I should just email them corrections as I find them, but then if I do, that would be like, helping and stuff.

        1. could be that there are 2 lists, one for black coins, that costs 100 black coins, and then the good stuff, that you need white coins for, that is on a second list.

  6. Ok so the mysterious merchant is actually thousands of years older than the mother dragon, I doubt that that even demons can survive that long (well at least not without evolving or something) so he must be some sort of elder god working part time for whoever created the raids

  7. …Buy the item list for 100 black coins omg… and fucking don’t only buy holy water he only said you can only get 4 holy water because you didn’t buy the one white coin list…

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