Chapter 52 – 52. Into the Eerie Darkness

Kikiiik.. Pushuk. Doo kung!

Kikiiik.. Pushuk. Doo kung!

Kikiiik.. Pushuk. Doo kung!

From somewhere, I hear the sound of a machine spinning hard.

The pump was running and the pistons were spinning moment by moment, and the roaring sound made my head lightly dizzy.

‘What the hell are you talking about…’

And it wasn’t just the sound that got on my nerves.

Walls, ceilings, and floors were lined with pipes, and the streets were full of garbage and bugs.

It is a difficult place to stay for a long time.

In particular, when the pipes that stretched out arbitrarily trembled and spilled contaminated water, an indescribable smell emanated from it, causing my nose to itch.

“It’s filthy dark…”

Darker than a moonless night.

At least I have a deformed vision, so it doesn’t matter, but it was so bright that it would be difficult for an ordinary person to walk straight.

Moreover, it does not tolerate any light sources, including flashlights, so if you do not have night vision skills, you will be lost forever.

If your foot gets caught in a pipe while walking, you could seriously injure yourself. Or I fall into unknown polluted water.

‘And if I get lost in a place like this…’

There is a high probability that you will not be able to return home.

“Let’s see…”

I walked through the narrow alley avoiding the pipes that grew like plants on the walls, floors and ceilings.

I didn’t know where to go, so I walked along the road where the pipe was shortened as much as possible, and soon I was able to get out of the narrow alley and came out of the main road lined with various shops.

It was a space that felt like a large underground shopping mall.

And there is also a soft purple light from the store with the door open, so it’s better than the alleyway just before…

“Uh..?”

The alleyway has disappeared. As if it had been blocked by a wall from the beginning.

The door disappeared and the alley disappeared. With this, I was able to understand for sure.

‘Chew…’

The black market is a much more dangerous place than I imagined.

I’ll have to look around and get back to you as soon as possible.

If I make a mistake, I have an ominous feeling that four hours will pass while looking for a door with a keyhole.

The moment I turned back.

Took.

“Kirara.”

“Ah. I’m sorry…?”

Dolphin?

The head looks like a dolphin. It was a somewhat cute face that didn’t fit at all in a place like this.

“Kirere. To Kyre.”

The guy who bumped into me let out such a strange cry and went on his way again.

“Huh… What is that bastard..”

But the language is strangely understandable.

It must have meant ‘Look ahead and walk around, idiot.’ I could hear why.

I think it is the effect of the ‘stigma of ten thousand horses’ obtained while encountering Carshinax. Because he said that smooth communication with Manma would be possible.

Fortunately If I ran into such a bizarre being in such a strange place, and I couldn’t even communicate well, it would have been really creepy.

At least, I’m really glad that I can communicate with you.

‘But… There are more people walking around than I thought.’

They were all monsters dressed in black.

Not even a single human was there, and most of the goons were covering their faces.

‘Cephapods.. Chungin.. What is that? Are these guys all aliens?’

Also, everyone was dressed in a dark sci-fi style, for example, there was a madman wearing a gas mask on his face and exhaling rough breath, or wearing a black coat that was likely to appear in The Matrix up to the neck.

On top of that, there were fanatics who swarmed in groups of threes and threes with black hoods pressed down deeply, and bipeds dripping slime and half-crawling.

If you run into them on the road, high-ranking people who don’t joke, scream, and look like they shot their skills first, openly walk around.

‘This is.. The black market..’

A place where various races with disgusting appearances casually wander around, buying goods or chatting among themselves in strange languages…

I got a little scared when I thought that there wasn’t a single human like me in this place, and that all of them might be hostile aliens.

For some reason it seemed that they could never be subdued and enslaved. I’m so scared of that.

And there were also guys standing here and there watching over these people. They must be security guards in the black market.

They were big monsters wearing brass-colored diver’s helmets that looked like they came out of 20,000 leagues under the sea. I was very concerned about the tight black leather outfit that made me look uncomfortable.

Also, the inside of their helmets were not visible at all, and they were looking around their heads creating a strange sense of intimidation.

I wanted to get closer and ask where the door might be, but as I got closer they reached into my waistband and gently grabbed an unknown weapon.

‘I’ll just have to find out…’

While I was looking around again and wondering which way to go, someone approached me.

“The black market. First?”

It was a being with a box stuck in the place where the head should be.

“Me. Guide. Guide. Need help?”

No. This bastard is absolutely not a peaceful guy like a guide or guide.

I got goosebumps at the ominous aura I felt from him.

In particular, the box on its head was slightly open, and it was filled with eyeballs of creatures that I didn’t want to figure out.

[This is a dangerous guy. Step back.]

Listening to Indicron’s advice, the antipathy grows even more.

However, it’s a bit unsettling to hear that Indy Cron’s voice is strangely small.

Feeling disconnected?

But once I thought they were looking at me, I felt a little relieved.

“Help. If you want coin. A little bit. Give it baby then. I. You. Guide you to a good place.”

When I took a step back, he took two steps closer and imitated human language with an awkward tone.

“Oh, no.”

“Specification. Don’t do it.”

Soon he reached his hand on my shoulder.

I hurriedly removed his hand and frowned at him.

As if he would kill me with a tentacle summon or Abyss Maw if I touched him further, I awakened his magic power and he quietly backed away.

“Do. Help..”

“It’s done..”

“Is it. It’s a shame.”

The head of the box clicked his tongue at my answer and went on his way again.

As I stared at him for a while, a human woman’s face with missing eyeballs protruded from his back and said something to me.

I couldn’t hear it, but the shape of its mouth was so creepy.

It seems to be saying to me, ‘Save me.’

“Haa.. Shibeol..”

I quickly got out of that place.

If I continued to stand there stupidly, it seemed that such a strange person would be twisted again.

This is for shop use, it’s naked, and you have to find the entrance to get out.

It was a crazy place beyond imagination.

At that time, I turned my head at the sound of something boiling and saw a restaurant.

Bubbling

“…”

I approached, drawn by the strange scent as if possessed.

I clearly recognized in my head that I shouldn’t approach strange things, but my body naturally led me to a place with a scent.

It smells so sweet… My hair…

“Oooh…”

However, when I reached the front of an old restaurant, the source of the scent, I couldn’t stand it and stepped back, gagging in vain.

There, a bug-like Yi tribe was squeezing its belly and throwing its maggot-like offspring into a pot and boiling them.

“Dogs are disgusting..”

Suddenly coming to my senses, I grabbed my nose to avoid smelling the scent and hurried away.

It’s hard to watch the sight of a caterpillar screaming as a mother being thrown into a pot.

Then someone grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.

“There.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t run inside.”

“Uh.. Yes.”

As soon as I ran, I was warned by the services.

I had no choice but to walk around at a quick pace.

‘It’s a really crazy place.’

There were various restaurants along the street, but none of them were normal.

There is nothing that humans can eat with their sober mind, perhaps because they are aimed at the Yi people, the main users of this place.

All of them are engaged in eccentricities that are difficult to describe, and are manufacturing nonsensical food… Things that can even be called food.

Even the Yi tribes who ate it as a good thing overlapped, so just looking at it made me vomit.

Everything here is out of the ordinary.

‘It was written in the usage rules that poachers, slavers, and drug dealers…’

The fact that only those guys were listed in the rules of use probably meant that those three guys were definitely doing business with humans as well.

It must mean that the rest are beings that need to be roughly filtered out.

So I continued on in one direction.

I didn’t worry about getting lost. I don’t know the way anyway. It is a space where the location or location can change at any time, just as doors and alleys have disappeared.

Rather than stopping and wasting time, it’s better to just quickly find the door with the keyhole.

‘There is no door. Not even one.’

It seems crazy. It’s already been an hour since I came here.

Even so, there was not a single door, perhaps to intentionally confine me here.

All of them had tents set up instead of doors, or they were just wide open.

Or even if there is a door, there is no hole for the key.

The moment I became more and more anxious at the stuffy feeling that seemed to be strangling my neck.

After continuing on past restaurants selling obscure dishes, I reached the end of one side of the road.

“Under…”

And there I found a family tree called ‘Poacher’s Hut’.

I couldn’t find the door I was looking for, so I went to one of the shops listed in the rules of use.

‘How many hours are left…’

Instinctively, I checked my watch.

After entering the black market, I check my wristwatch almost every five minutes as a habit.

2 hours and 50 minutes left.

‘Shall I go in?’

It would be better to go into the seaweed that you already found.

Maybe there’s a door with a keyhole in the store.

If it looks hopeless, get out quickly and go back the way you came.

Flutter.

I lifted the tent that covered the entrance to the store and went inside.

“It’s been a while since you’re human.”

The man sitting in the store talked to himself like that.

He was a monster wearing a black mask.

And he was wiping the egg of an unknown creature with a yellow towel.

‘It’s full of iron bars… Is there a door?’

I quickly looked around the store.

The iron bars and glass bottles hung everywhere were filled with the body parts of various living insects and animals, ranging from bizarre creatures of unknown origin.

In addition, seeds and eggs of unusual creatures were densely placed on the stalls, but the whole store was cluttered because it was not organized, and all kinds of creatures and objects with unknown texts were stuffed into them as if they were about to explode.

The atmosphere of this store can be summed up in the word “Spiritual”.

‘Door..!’

And behind the poacher’s back, I found the door I was looking for so much.

‘Ah..’

Unfortunately, there is no hole for the key.

Above all, it was a sliding door.

“Even if I look around, I can’t choose something here. The only thing we can offer to ‘players’ like you is ‘Today’s Featured Products’. Would you like to take a look around?”

“Uh, that’s…”

I checked my watch.

It hasn’t even been 2 minutes since I entered the store.

To be honest, I’m very curious about what’s going to happen.

Obviously, it would be right to get out of here quickly… But wouldn’t it be okay to look around just a little, a little bit?

‘Okay, since we’ve found it, let’s look around a bit. Just five minutes.’

Let’s quickly see today’s recommended products in just 5 minutes.

I nodded at the store owner.

“Good. Something seems urgent, so let me show you quickly.”

He presented the egg he was polishing as a prize and put the rest of the goods on the counter one by one.

A total of 4 items were placed.

“Today, I will recommend only four of these. If you want to see something more valuable. In your words, you have to build something called ‘favorability’ with me. Aren’t you curious what’s in the door behind me?”

“Uh.. Yes..”

The rules of use say not to go near the kennel. There must be a kennel behind that door.

First of all, I did not want to delay any more time, so after answering his words with a smile, I checked the items on the counter.

[Unknown Egg: You do not know what will be born.]
[Price: 10000C]

If despair without an answer crawls out of a cherished egg, it is the end.

[Coralberg Adult: If eaten as a living body, your magic power increases by 70. There is a 70% chance of being infected with coral roundworms.]
[Price: 25000C]

I’m a little attracted to it, but I don’t even know what coral roundworm is, so I don’t think it’s a bit much to challenge a 30% chance of success to raise magic power by 70.

[Steven’s Tentacle: A severed tentacle found at the entrance to Chaos. You can attach it to a missing body part and treat it like your own body.]
[Price: 50000C]

This author named Steven… Is he the owner of Steven’s pillar item? The meat stick that was dedicated to Kashinax…

[Child care set: You can raise a child at home.]
[Price: 45000C]

This was a set that allowed you to breed humans the size of hamsters. Curious, but not worth buying.

They are all crazy things, and even the prices are all too expensive.

Steve’s tentacles drag a little, but he can’t spend 50,000 coins right now.

“Her. It’s too expensive.. I’ll come next time.”

“What. Yes. Because they are hard to find. I’ll take a look.”

Came out of the poacher’s hut.

Fortunately, I was able to quickly check things out and leave.

But one problem arose.

“Where are you again?”

The place has changed once again.

The poacher’s hut that had just been there had disappeared, and this time I was standing alone in a sewer-like place.

Does this change location every time you leave somewhere?

“It really sucks.”

My throat is dry from tension.

It might have been better to go to the shopping district where the terrifyingly high-ranking people wandered around.

It drives me crazy to be left alone in such a dark and shady place.

“Fuck… Fuck.”

Can not help it.

There is no other way, I have no choice but to keep walking.

Musty smell and unpleasant dampness. I walked past the bones and gooey mud of whatever was at my feet.

After about 30 minutes, the shantytown came out.

“Uhhhhh… Give me a coin.. Please..”

“Drugs… Give me some pills… Hey!! Just don’t go!!!”

“Hurerere.Hee hee…

This is a crazy drug addict’s lair.

From the loyal people who have completely lost their minds, to the unknown masses.

Even the dead were strewn about everywhere. A mouse the size of a dog ate it up.

I looked back, but I was already too deep to go back. It would be better to go to the store you see over there and leave.

I walked into a neon-lit store, kicking away the drug addicts who tried to catch me.

“Welcome. Oh. A cute human friend?”

What greeted me inside the store was her double-headed transvestite.

But strangely, one of her heads is muttering a strange sound as if drunk.

I saw a drug with this baby’s body.

“Welcome. To our drug and rush.”

This was a drug dealer’s shop.

And the woman-dressed man smiled brightly and she handed me a cup filled with a drink.