Chapter 143 – 143. The Black Market… Is a Treasure Trove.

“Come in. Because there are no traps.”

Me and Cheshire followed the poacher’s back and crossed through the sliding door. Fortunately, because the space is fixed, I did not move to another place even when I passed the sliding door.

I followed the poacher and came across a room made of concrete on all sides. In the center of the room were two iron cages, a birdcage, and a large glass bottle. Besides, there was an iron door on the wall to the right, and several red buttons on the wall where the poacher was standing that weren’t supposed to be pressed. Beyond that iron gate must be a real poacher’s kennel.

“Look around. As long as you have enough funds. You can take them all.”

“Funds… Will be sufficient. But what about these…”

I made eye contact with the beasts glaring at me, drooling from the cage. All of them were radiating menacing energy and glaring at me.

“Only the unusual ones were prepared. How is it?”

“Certainly…They’re likely to be of great help…”

I first saw a snarling beast in the largest of the cages, shooting off nerve-racking grim mental waves. It was a large lizard with two heads.

[Eternal Sacrificial Dragon: A semi-adult mutant drake with two heads. It never dies unless both heads are destroyed. Fresh blood is the staple food. Unlike the head, there is only one tail, but the taste is excellent.]
[Caution. The sacrificial dragon emits a terrifying scream whenever it is wounded. The scream of the sacrificial dragon makes the surrounding intelligence feel sympathy and compassion. If you are continuously exposed to the cries of the sacrificial dragon, your desire to rescue will increase, and you will feel depressed and suicidal every time you are stopped from rescuing.]
[Price: 74000C]

Eternal Sacrificial Dragon. It was a gigantic lizard with an effect worthy of its name.

‘If I can’t rescue him… I’ll feel depressed and have suicidal thoughts…’

It was a guy who inflicted quite vicious mental attacks. To make the humans who butcher him feel guilty and eventually even persuade them to commit suicide…

‘It’s enough to leave the slaughter to the stupid Dyurahan…’

For some reason, if you are a slaughter maniac who is obsessed with decapitation, it seems that you can cut off the tail of the sacrificial dragon without any guilt. If you’re a psychopath, Dyurahan, you probably won’t be affected much by the cries of this guy.

‘Not only is the flesh filling up, but we also have a cleric on our side…’

If you draw the blood of non-awakened people who are considered out of power, feed it to the sacrificial dragon, and cast a recovery skill while taking turns all day… Theoretically, you could collect meat while keeping the guy alive indefinitely.

Therefore, it can be said that this beast is a valuable livestock. If you use a recovery skill… Food that can be regenerated indefinitely. Although it is risky, it was a very valuable means of supplying meat.

‘Honestly, it’s just fruits and vegetables… I got tired of the taste.’

It was terrifying because I felt like I was forced to become a vegan because I was forced to eat only plants that were growing on the playground, whether they were fruits or vegetables. Really good.

No matter how much you stir-fry, fry, boil, or make a fuss, vegetables are just vegetables. For a non-vegan me, eating only vegetables for a few days was quite painful.

It’s hard to find fresh meat anymore unless you rob a decent ranch somewhere that raises cows or pigs. But it’s not like you can’t eat human flesh because you’re mentally weak. I ate too many canned food and spam, so I got sick of it.

At such a moment, I felt like I was given a piece of meat that could be reproduced infinitely, so I burst into laughter. It is fortunate that even the appearance is a reptile with less empathy.

“I have no words. Is it surprising that it is an immortal creature? He’s not really a dragon, but he’s not someone you can save just because you want to.”

“That is definitely true. I will buy it right away.”

“Good. Would you like to take it yourself? Or would you like a delivery?”

“Can you fix that too?”

“If you can pay 10,000 coins for the delivery fee, that’s quite possible. Is there anything in this world that cannot be done with money?”

“Right.”

The poacher’s words were a kind of truth. His assertion that there is nothing in this world that cannot be done with money was a truth that could not be refuted. For example, like Hee-seon, who was a zombie but turned into a human, if you can prepare a currency called the rate of causality, it is a world where zombies can also be transformed into humans.. Wouldn’t it be impossible?

In the end, after paying an additional 10,000 coins, I decided to receive the Eternal Sacrificial Dragon in the form of a summons. I’ll keep going around, but I can’t drag this guy around.

“Prepare delivery.”

Saying that, the poacher pressed the switch in the room, and the floor turned off and the iron cage containing the sacrificial dragon fell into the endless darkness. I thought I could hear the cry of a dragon in the distance, but I decided not to pay much attention.

If I listened carefully to the cries out of curiosity for no reason, it would only make me feel worse. I’ve decided to sacrifice forever anyway, so there’s no need to think too deeply. It’s just a living piece of meat.

‘Now, next…’

Excitedly, I checked the following items. This time, he was smaller than the sacrificial dragon.

[World tree aphid: A parasite that lived by sucking the sap of the world tree. They are very hardy and release a certain amount of secretion every day. Aphid secretions contain trace amounts of world tree sap. In addition, secretions are extremely sweet ingredients and have the effect of evoking mental uplift when drunk raw.]
[Caution. An overdose will expel all blood from the body and can cause death.]
[Price: 50000C]

“Can you deliver?”

“Of course. 60,000 coins including delivery fee.”

“I will buy it right away.”

The reason I bought it without thinking was because of a conversation I had with Hellus.

‘I’m sure… He asked me to collect all the things related to the World Tree…’

The reason was simple. The World Tree, which has a body directly in the material world and can be said to be a living, breathing god, is said to be a god that sheds a lot of by-products among other gods belonging to Manguijeon that share similar attributes.

As a result, by-products of the World Tree have been used as various alchemical ingredients for a long time… Among them, it is said that the three major elixirs, ‘Nectar’, ‘Soma’ and ‘Elixir’, are also included.

‘And Hellas was a second-class alchemist in his later years… Hellas is a madman who set the country on fire because he couldn’t become a first-class alchemist. Taking advantage of the new opportunity gained by becoming my slave, he is trying to qualify as a first-class alchemist… Of course, it’s too late, but it’s only a cosmetic qualification…’

Helsed like a slave by a long-serving elf professor, Hellus has always lived as a second-class alchemist. Thanks to that, you can make any reagent or potion with your eyes closed, and even a philosopher’s stone can be created. However, he said that he did not know the recipe for the 3 major elixirs that only first-class alchemists could make.

The elven master didn’t tell us even the moment he died… That’s why Hellas said he wanted to experiment with it if he found the ingredients to make the 3 elixirs.

‘If you make an elixir… You said you’d let me eat it first…’

Nectar, soma, and elixir are unpredictable how great elixirs they will be. I really wanted to taste it. Therefore, the aphids that grew up sucking the sap of the World Tree and contained the components of the sap in their secretions were a must-buy.

“It’s amazing how casually I bought it. Hey, you have a lot more money than you think.”

“Well… That’s right.”

Because there are still slaves working in real time. In fact, he is the boss, not the owner. Thanks to this, I can use the coin very usefully here, and the slaves benefit from it, so it’s a mutual aid.

Anyway, having used 144,000 coins in an instant, I also quickly checked the remaining two items.

[Lost Fairy: A lost fairy. If you grind it, your magic power increases by 100. If fed with flowers, it shakes its wings to shed a certain amount of fairy dust daily. I always cry sadly.]
[Caution. If released from the cage, it blows nearby humans to a random location on the planet.]
[Price: 25000C]

I think this will be valuable as a material, so I bought it…

[The Mermaid Prince’s Heart: If you take it without processing, gill breathing becomes possible and webbing sprouts when you are submerged. If you offer the heart of the mermaid prince to the king of the undersea city, you can become their honored guest.]
[Caution. When consumed, all aquatic creatures become hostile. It may go bad when stored at room temperature.]
[Price: 80000C]

Both are of a size that does not require delivery. There is no need to spend an additional 10,000 coins each. But…

‘Crazy… Only arms for one heart? Mer also wasn’t this expensive…’

I was in great trouble. If you buy this… You may not be able to purchase a proper slave. I’m quite worried because I’ve already burned more than 100,000 coins with the preceding items.

‘If you use the gambler’s golden coin received as an achievement reward… You can get it without consuming coins… But it would be foolish to spend the achievement reward on a heart that can breathe underwater…

A gambler’s golden coin received as a reward for the achievement of ‘gambling at the risk of one’s life’, which was achieved by eating the inner hem of the black priest. It is a reward that can be obtained for free with one item sold by a merchant NPC. Is that heart worth using?

‘Of course, as the price is so high, it must be an important item. Moreover, the fact that the keyword for a place called an undersea city has emerged at this point must mean that it is a place you will go to someday…’

In particular, the fact that you can become a VIP in the underwater city… I wonder if the value of this item will increase.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ah.. That’s too expensive..”

As I pondered over my heart, Cheshire whispered to me.

“Hmm.. Juna. Shall I buy that?”

“Yes?”

In fact, she didn’t even charge me for a guide today. But to buy you a gift here.. Thank you so much, but that can’t be the case..

“Mister. This. I will live.”

“What? Huh.. Yes, do it yourself.”

“Che, Cheshire! It’s too expensive..!?”

“It’s okay. It’s a gift. Gift. A gift for the prince on a white horse who will one day get me out of this terrible cage.”

Cheshire smiled and took the mermaid prince’s heart from the poacher and put it in my bag. A wonderful girlfriend who spent as much as 80,000 coins for me…

“Thank you. Cheshire… I will definitely repay you.”

“Huh! Don’t be too burdened! I just need to come see you every week.”

“Cheshire…!”

Cheshire and I crossed our arms and smiled at each other, and the poacher snorted and waved his hand.

“Damn you guys. If you’ve finished your business, get out of here! And Cheshire!! You will surely follow in my footsteps… Don’t hold on to your dreams and hopes for nothing and take the apprentice poacher class!”

“Don’t talk nonsense!! It’s melon! June! Let’s run away quickly! Before that old man keeps saying strange things!!”

Cheshire playfully teases the poacher and then grabs my wrist.

“Catchcha!”

“Whoa…”

As soon as we got out of the poacher’s hut, we arrived at an underground canal full of drug addicts. Quickly kicking beggars beggars, I entered the neon-lit drug dealer’s shop, Drug ‘n’ Rush.

By the way… The drug dealer was strange.

“Welcome. On drag and rush.”

The drug dealers I met were always transvestites. A muscular transvestite with two heads, one of which is always intoxicated.

Even the way he spoke was feminine, so it was quite disgusting… But now he looked completely different.

Like a real bartender, he was wearing black slacks, a white shirt and black tie, and he was neatly dressed in black shoes. One side of his head is still drugged, but… With his hair neatly trimmed, he has definitely turned into a cool bartender.

“Uh?”

“Jackson!”

“Oh. Cheshire, long time no see.”

Cheshire called the drug dealer Jackson. It must have been Jackie, dressed like a madam at a high-end bar last time… Jackson now?

“Aha. I don’t know Jun. This is jackson If you look closely, is your head different from when you were awake?”

“Uh? Is that so?”

At Cheshire’s point, it was only then that I noticed that my awake head was different from before.

“Haha.. My twin sister, Jeki, and I take turns using our bodies. To be precise, they take turns testing drugs on each other. The last time I visited, I was in the middle of testing a new drug. That’s why you must have run into my younger brother, Jackie, and not me.”

Surprisingly, the two twins were taking turns administering drugs to one body. While one head alone bears the effects of the drug, the other head carries on with daily life.

How to say.. The spirit of experimentation was so thorough that it was at the level of going crazy. Fanatic drug addicts who inject their own bodies first before conducting clinical trials on others…

Even more surprising is that the original owner of that body was Jackson. He said he had cut off the head of his dying twin sister and transplanted it into his body.

“Well, there was such a story. It’s a relatively common story on the black market. But since you’ve come a long way, I’ll give you a cocktail service. All kinds of cocktails are available to order. Faust? Rusty Nails? Blue Hawaii? Or even a famous one like Sex on the Beach.”

I almost ordered a cocktail from Jackson, who was casually shaking his cobbler shaker. Because there was a strange magic in his voice, and he had the power to make something listen.

‘This crazy…’

I almost got a drink from a drug dealer and drank it. Of course, Cheshire would have stopped it before, but if I had taken even one sip… I would have become a drug addict beggar wandering around that underground waterway… It’s creepy.

“Don’t be fooled, Jackson. Show me today’s recommended menu.”

“Whoops. All right. Smart customer. Well, here. Let me show you today’s recommended menu.”

Jackson smiled like a child who failed a prank and took out four bottles of liquor hidden under the counter.