“Well, hello, Noble Hunter.”
“Don’t ruin my mood the moment we meet.”
I replied to Yaksha's greeting as if spitting out the words.
Noble Hunter.
Lately, reporters have been attaching that damn moniker to my name, Cheon Hae-seon. An S-ranker who quietly clears Poison Dungeons and saves the people of the world. I do it out of my own necessity, but to others, it seems to be some kind of ‘talent donation’.
A Noble Hunter. Just thinking of the word makes my face flush.
“I'm just happy to see you. Noble Hunter.”
That damn bastard keeps calling me by my nickname. Obviously, to make fun of me. After all, he's the one who knows better than anyone that I'm not so noble.
“When is Do I-su coming?”
“He's scheduled to arrive in thirty minutes.”
“He's got some nerve thinking of setting foot in this black market. It's a pretty dangerous place.”
“Doesn't this remind you of someone who first visited this place, knowing nothing?”
The person who came to the black market with a Copper Eternal Flower in a black plastic bag. Yaksha was reminding me of my past self.
Hmm.
Thinking back now, it was a pretty risky thing to do.
“What's my role?”
“You just need to explain what you experienced in the Poison Dungeon. From my perspective, you're an important reference and witness.”
After saying that, Yaksha had someone deliver two items to me.
“What is all this?”
“A disguise. To hide your identity.”
“I brought my own.”
“Whatever is in that bag of yours, it can't be as good as what we've prepared.”
“How much shady business do you do behind the scenes to be so confident?”
Despite saying that, I obediently took the items. Even at a glance, the quality of the items in the bag was on a different level from my shabby paper mask. One was a fox mask that shimmered faintly, as if carved by a master craftsman.
And the other was...
“A cloak? You want me to wear this crap?”
“Big-shot businessmen like Do I-su have sharp instincts. Just covering your face isn't enough. You need something to cover your entire physique.”
Hmm. That's true.
But something feels off. Because Yaksha is being unnecessarily kind today.
“They say people change when they're about to die...”
Muttering to myself, I put on the fox mask and the cloak. Indeed, with all the padding in the shoulders, my originally slender frame now looked like that of a giant. But there was a problem.
Compared to the small fox mask, my shoulders were as wide as the Pacific, making me look as ridiculous as a cartoon character.
“Wahahahahahahahaha!!”
Yaksha burst out laughing, spitting everywhere. That son of a bitch. So he persuaded me from the start just to see this.
“What a magnificent sight. I feel like I should take a picture.”
“You'd better stop provoking me. The price you'll have to pay later is rising like BitCoin.”
“Oh. It would be troublesome if it went up that high.”
Yaksha stopped laughing and led me to a private room. As I followed him, a girl with red hair carefully waved her hand. The girl with fiery hair that suited her so well.
The pickpocket who boasted a deadly beauty as striking as the scar by her mouth.
It's Bi-soo.
‘Do I-su is one thing, but there's something I need to tell her.’
Seeing her usual playful face, it seems she doesn't realize the change that has occurred in her. The day after we cleared the 8-star dungeon, I shared what happened with Iron Arm. He described his experience to me in the most intuitive way.
[It was like I suddenly ate five bowls of rice!!]
I've never eaten five bowls of rice, but as someone who also received the buff, I could guess what it felt like. Buffs are an ability as helpful to Hunters as Healing Ability. Wasn't this a type of Esper that had never appeared in our country before?
If she were to take the Hunter Qualification Test, she might receive as much attention as I did. If not for Bi-soo's buff that day, it would have been me lying on the floor, not the Giant Treasure. For once, I smiled brightly in response, and Bi-soo grinned bashfully and called out carefully.
“Noble Hunter...!”
Son of a bitch.
“Umbrella Industry, Do I-su.”
No matter how you look at him, he doesn't seem like the type of person you'd meet in a black market. Despite being in his late forties, he had fair skin and a stylish pomaded hairstyle. Indeed, he was a man of such noble bearing that the word 'young master' would come out naturally.
To think I have to stand in front of a man like this wearing a fox mask and a shoulder-padded cloak.
Yaksha. You bastard.
Just tell me where a hole to crawl into is.
“It's Yaksha.”
Unlike Do I-su, Yaksha had no business card to offer. Just a simple introduction, so much so that it could be felt as rude. Well, that's to be expected.
The lord of the black market wouldn't go around handing out things like business cards.
“This is the first time I'm hearing your real name. It's an honor to meet you.”
I'd heard that Umbrella Industry was quite a large company, but Do I-su maintained a consistently respectful attitude. Was Yaksha such a big figure in the industry? When he's joking around with me, he seems no different from a neighborhood thug.
“Excuse me, but this person is...?”
“My subordinate. His name is 'Noble'.”
I almost punched Yaksha in the face. Anyway, the reporter who came up with that nickname is going to face some serious payback from me soon.
“Yaksha... Noble... Such distinctive names, as expected of the black market.”
No. That's not it. While I was screaming internally, Yaksha got to the main point.
“I don't like to drag out words or time. From now on, my subordinate 'Noble' will tell you about the state of the dungeon.”
Yaksha gestured to me with his chin, and I took a deep breath to maintain my composure.
“The dungeon confirmed on site was without a doubt a Poison-type. The toxicity in the air, the appearance of Poison-type Monsters, the discovery of rare herbs, and so on. All the elements that can be called characteristics of a Poison Dungeon were there.”
“The dungeon's difficulty?”
“As a rough estimate, it seems to be at an 8-star level. The boss Monster I confirmed on site was a Giant Treasure, a golem covered in Pranium.”
At my report, Do I-su let out a deep sigh.
“My goodness. We almost got 'Mr. Noble' killed.”
“I had already heard it was no easy dungeon. If an accident happened, that would have been our own fault. In reality, we had a worthwhile gain.”
Do I-su stared at me with intrigued eyes.
Hmph.
No matter how closely you look, all you'll see is a fox mask and a cloak.
“The usefulness of the wave-measuring device your company made has been verified. Now it's time for you to bring out the deal you mentioned.”
“Yes.”
Do I-su took something out from his coat. As befitting black market employees, a few of the surrounding men reacted sensitively, but Yaksha raised a hand to stop them. Flick- He raised a small electronic device and aimed it at the wall, and soon a clear screen appeared.
“I find presentations like this more convenient... We'll do it our way.”
“As you wish.”
Do I-su began his explanation based on the content displayed on the screen. How did the abnormal waves occur? Why do these abnormal waves appear before a dungeon's manifestation?
Why is their wave-measuring device predicting Poison Dungeons? A few minutes passed.
Yawn.
In the middle of the explanation, Yaksha rudely let out a huge yawn. And only then, could I breathe a sigh of relief internally.
Good.
I wasn't the only one who didn't understand.
“... For these reasons, our wave-measuring device can predict the appearance of Poison Dungeons three days, or at most a week, in advance. Although the range is still limited, it boasts an accuracy rate of over 97% within the designated area.”
“With 97%, we should consider it practically perfect.”
“We have three conditions. The first is to share the profits generated from the Poison Dungeons with us. And the second is...”
Do I-su glanced at me and Yaksha once before continuing.
“The collection of Poison-type Monster blood.”
“...!”
What would they use Poison-type Monster blood for? Black Cores can at least be used by Poison-type Hunters, but blood is a completely useless substance. No. It's not just useless, it's classified by the Association as a top-grade poison.
Even if it's from a low-rank Monster, a single drop of its blood can send an ordinary person to their grave. Why go out of your way for something like that?
“The third condition is...”
The 'young master'-like face of Do I-su had transformed into that of a seasoned merchant.
“Not asking the reason for the second condition. This is the third condition.”
Hmm.
It's like he's reading people's minds. Considering the third condition didn't involve any money, one could say Umbrella Industry's objectives were practically two-fold.
Money. And blood.
But somehow, I got the strong feeling that money was just an excuse, and the only thing that mattered was the blood.
“I suppose I can gauge your character based on the profit distribution.”
In truth, for just providing information, the demands are quite excessive. Since the ones actually doing the hard work will be the black market people. Especially the process of extracting blood, where even a slight mistake can result in a fatal injury.
From what I've seen so far, Yaksha's deals are as precise as a guillotine's blade. If you try to pull a fast one or do anything suspicious, you'll surely pay the price. Even at the 'proposal' stage.
If Do I-su were to demand a split of more than 3/10, he might lose an arm right here.
“We will take 1.” “10%. You have a conscience, I see.”
At the mention of 1, the killing intent that had been simmering within Yaksha faintly disappeared. Does Do I-su know? That he was in an extremely dangerous situation just a moment ago.
But there was something we didn't know. About the meaning of the '1' Do I-su mentioned.
“It's not 10%.”
“...?”
“One percent. We at Umbrella Industry will only take 1%.”
Wow.
He's more modest than he looks. Even though Yaksha had shown he would be satisfied with 10%, Do I-su went a step further and declared he would only take 1%. 99 to 1. No matter what other conditions were attached, it was an excessively generous contract.
‘This makes it even more certain.’
That what Umbrella truly wants isn't money. At this point, I'm extremely curious what they plan to do with that blood.
“Fine. I accept.”
Yaksha accepted Do I-su's offer without another word. It seemed he had already calculated the pros and cons in his head.
“The rest of the process will be handled by one of the guys standing here. You don't need to come out yourself. We're all busy people.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“Alright. Then our business is done.”
Yaksha came to a conclusion on his own and stood up from his seat.
“Um...”
“Hmm?”
“May I ask your subordinate here a few questions about the Poison Dungeon?”
“... Do as you please.”
Yaksha glanced at me, gave a meaningful smile, and left the room. To make such a request just as Yaksha was about to leave. It was a request for a private meeting.
Yaksha didn't particularly object to a private meeting with me, and so only Do I-su and I remained in the room.
“They say just breathing in a Poison Dungeon is like torture. You must have gone through a lot.”
“It was nothing.”
“We are investigating the 'Rift' through the blood of Poison-type Monsters.”
Rift. Monster Breaks. Great Chaos.
The words are different, but they all refer to the point when Monsters first appeared. Investigating the Rift is not a strange thing to do.
However...
‘This is strange.’
Isn't this the very topic he had made a 'condition' not to ask about in front of Yaksha? So why is he bringing it up so freely as soon as we're alone?
“Do you know what might be in this private room that you're speaking so carelessly?”
“I don't believe there are any listening devices. We have our own ways of confirming such things.”
It doesn't seem like a bluff. Since it's a company that can predict Poison Dungeons in advance, it wouldn't be surprising if they had made some kind of machine for this. Time to get back to the main point.
Why is he telling only me the reason? Yaksha definitely introduced me as his subordinate.
Why?
He knows who I am. I can feel the handsome middle-aged man's gaze on my skin from behind the fox mask.
Bow.
Do I-su bowed his head once and offered a new greeting.
“My children were indebted to you a while ago. I have been truly wanting to meet you, Hunter Cheon Hae-seon.”