Chapter 10

The Tall Man handed over a small badge. This seemed to be the entry ticket to the black market. She looked at the small, fifty-won coin-sized badge, then slipped it into her pocket.

“You know the location, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you being so kind?”

The Red-Haired Man chuckled briefly, then put his hand on Cho-i’s shoulder, just as she had done, and whispered quietly.

“Because I don’t want to miss an A-Rank tank.”

As expected, he had already checked her rank. Cho-i grinned, showing her teeth, and said,

“Oh, you don’t respect other people’s privacy?”

“You must have checked mine too.”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t even see yours.”

“If you’re upset, then raise your rank.”

“You make difficult things sound so easy.”

Cho-i said that to him and then led the still dazed Nara Shim outside. Nara Shim still seemed out of it, so she personally put her in a taxi and sent her home, then turned back to the Red-Haired Man.

“Alright, shall we go now?”

As she turned around brightly, she saw a police car approaching from down the road. It pulled up smoothly in front of the adult shop without its siren on. The police immediately kicked open the adult shop door and said,

“We’re here for an illegal gambling raid!”

“Not a chance without a warrant.”

“We’ve got a warrant, you bastard! Flip it!”

“Yes!”

A total of four police officers turned the adult shop upside down and soon discovered the stairs leading to the basement. They went down to the basement and began to apprehend those who hadn’t managed to escape. And one police officer who hadn’t gone in approached Cho-i and the red-haired man.

“How did you two end up here?”

Cho-i thought it was a good idea to send Nara Shim ahead and naturally linked her arm through the red-haired man’s.

“We’re just a couple passing by, you know?”

“Why is a couple just passing by doing here?”

“Don’t you see that adult shop over there? We came to buy something there, but we were disappointed that there was nothing interesting, so we left.”

The police officer looked at them with great suspicion and asked,

“Do you have anything to prove that?”

Cho-i chuckled and then pulled out a receipt for one million three hundred thousand won from another adult shop.

“This is the kind of person I am.”

“…”

“What?”

Both the Red-Haired Man and the police officer looked at her with dumbfounded expressions. She, in turn, looked at them with a ‘why, what’s wrong’ expression.

“We’re busy because we have to use everything we bought at the adult shop, okay? Could you call us a taxi?”

“No, common sense…”

“What common sense? People live, and sometimes things like this happen, and sometimes things like that happen.”

“It seems you’ll have to accompany us to the station after all.”

“This isn’t working?”

“Did you think it would?”

The Red-Haired Man sighed in exasperation, and Cho-i just kept smiling.

“Let’s bolt.”

“Okay.”

They ran in the opposite direction from the police. Cho-i even made sure to carefully keep her receipt as she ran.

“Stop right there!”

“If we stopped just because you told us to, would we even be human?”

It was impossible for the unawakened police officer to chase two awakened individuals on foot. They ran for a long time and succeeded in shaking off the police, then stood, gasping for breath.

“I’ve never had something like this happen in my life.”

“If you hadn’t pulled out that receipt, it would have been resolved nicely.”

“Considering you weren’t doing anything.”

“There’s a reason for that.”

“I don’t want my name to be flagged just because I went to an adult shop.”

“That’s enough. I just realized it’s better not to talk to you for long.”

“Oh, you’re smart, aren’t you?”

Cho-i said that, but she didn’t seem particularly upset. She just walked with her flitting steps again, urging him on.

“More importantly, when are you going to take me to the black market?”

“Now.”

Naturally, this red-haired man was faster than Cho-i. She tried to catch up at various points, but it was impossible. She considered his rank.

‘He’s definitely not A-plus.’

She decided to be wary of him with a smiling face. An S-Rank going around illegal gambling dens. She couldn’t possibly guess the reason. The place they arrived at after running was the outskirts of a small downtown area. The Red-Haired Man soon led Cho-i somewhere. And he led her to a streetwear store that went underground. Cho-i quietly followed, looking around.

“Behave yourself. Don’t cause trouble.”

“Since when have you known me to tell me not to cause trouble?”

She followed him, and the clothing store owner saw the Red-Haired Man, recognized him, checked his badge, and then tagged the returned clothes. The Red-Haired Man opened a door marked ‘Staff Only’ and familiarly entered the storage room. It looked like a normal storage room, but the man naturally pushed a wall without shelves and said,

“Don’t go inside and call out names.”

“I don’t know your name?”

“Dongju Kim.”

“Wow, how old-fashioned.”

“I hear that often.”

Dongju Kim entered the plain wall with those words. Cho-i was with him. As soon as they opened the door, they heard a buzzing sound, and once they went inside, it was noisy. How well soundproofed is this place? Cho-i looked back at the door once. Meanwhile, Dongju Kim was walking forward. Cho-i hopped to his side and stood there. Cho-i wasn’t short, but he was much taller than her. He seemed to be about the same height as the tall man from that adult shop.

“How tall are you?”

“188.”

“Wow, I wanted to grow that tall too.”

“It’s a shame you couldn’t.”

Cho-i laughed heartily at that and patted his back.

“That’s right. It’s a shame I was 20cm short, so I couldn’t reach it.”

The black market had more people gathered than expected. She thought she might only see one or two people in such a gloomy atmosphere, but it was very spacious, as if there was another entrance nearby.

“Who digs these tunnels anyway?”

“Probably hunters.”

“Do hunters do this kind of work too?”

“Usually, those who awakened as hunters but had a criminal record, or committed crimes after awakening as hunters, are often drawn to places like this.”

“You seem to know a lot?”

“Because I used to be in places like this.”

“Since it’s past tense, you’re not anymore, I guess.”

“That’s right. And I’m thinking of drawing you into it.”

“Isn’t the only place a hunter can go to make a fortune the guild? Unfortunately, I’m not planning on joining anywhere else yet.”

“Your mind will change when you hear the name.”

“Where is it?”

“I can’t tell you now.”

The two started to walk deeper into the market while talking. The market had stalls set up everywhere, displaying items from illegal dungeons. There were also people who came to repair broken items. It seemed there was an illegal dungeon nearby. Cho-i followed closely behind Dongju Kim, finding everything interesting. Someone saw them and shouted at Dongju. He seemed to be an acquaintance.

“Hey! Did you get a pet? What’s following you around?”

Then the surroundings erupted in laughter. Cho-i didn’t find it funny at all. Dongju Kim stopped walking, approached the person who spoke first, and threw a punch. It was very clean and fast. Thwack, a sound of something breaking was heard. Dongju dusted off his hands and pointed at him with an open hand.

“Watch your mouth.”

“Ah-ha.”

Cho-i saw that and realized it was acceptable. So she followed suit and lightly, very lightly, kicked his leg with her toe. He then grabbed his shin and tumbled down.

“What, he’s weak.”

“Go easy on him.”

“I did go easy.”

Dongju narrowed his eyes at Cho-i at her words, then gestured. He led her to a spot between two tents. Deep inside, there was a small box house. The box house was narrow but deep. And countless cheap items were visible further inside.

“Hey, Old Woman.”

“Oh my, our delinquent is here.”

“How long are you going to keep calling me that?”

“Heh heh, probably until I die. So, who’s behind you? Did you bring a bride?”

“It’s not like that.”

“I know. Would such a pretty lady marry you unless she was crazy?”

The Old Woman, who looked to be in her eighties, laughed heartily and sat on a creaky chair.

“So, what brings you here this time?”

Dongju shrugged.

“Not me, she has something to do.”

“This young lady? Come here.”

“Yes.”

Cho-i approached the Old Woman sitting in the chair and extended her hand. The Old Woman saw the ring on Cho-i’s finger and put on a monocle for a moment. It wasn’t an ordinary monocle, but an item used to appraise dungeon items.

“This is strange, I can’t see it at all. Young lady, where did you get this?”

Cho-i said it openly.

“From a hidden dungeon.”

“A hidden dungeon? It must be something precious.”

“Yes, but it’s a bound item, and it won’t come off my finger.”

“What? Even if it’s a bound item, there’s no case where it’s impossible to unbind it.”

“Yes, that’s why I came all the way here. If I got it appraised outside, it would obviously cause a stir.”

“That’s right. They might even try to kill you for the item, young lady.”

Cho-i was about to say that she couldn’t die but then closed her mouth. She felt it wasn’t necessary to explain that far.

“May I try to take it off?”

“Please do.”

Cho-i briefly forgot the pain she had felt last night. And as the Old Woman tried to pull the ring off her finger, she felt a sudden pain in her lower abdomen again.

“Ah!”

“Oh dear.”

The Old Woman quickly removed her hand. And she looked at Cho-i. Cho-i was rubbing her lower abdomen from the pain that had just passed. She blinked and then frowned.

“It feels like there’s a strange pain when I try to take it off. Come to think of it, it was like that last night too.”

At her words, the Old Woman said,

“This is no ordinary item. I don’t think I can appraise it. Then let me ask its name. What is the item’s name?”

Cho-i told her the ominous name as it was.

“Parasitic Ring.”

“Parasitic?”

The Old Woman’s expression changed strangely. And for a moment, she looked at Cho-i’s lower abdomen.

“Just by the name, it seems like something is parasitizing your body, young lady.”

“Right? But I don’t know what it is.”

“Me neither. Is there nothing written in detail on the item?”

Cho-i shook her head.