Chapter 2589 – 2589. Nectar

[The game is terminated.]

Returning to reality, I naturally checked my status window first.

[Sung Yu-jin
Level: 95
Strength: 150 Stamina: 140 Agility: 150 Intelligence: 140 Vitality: 150 Mana: 150]

[Available Points: 23,805]

‘First, I’ll invest 20,000 points into Stamina.’

[Sung Yu-jin
Level: 95
Strength: 150 Stamina: 150 Agility: 150 Intelligence: 140 Vitality: 150 Mana: 150]

All stats except Intelligence have reached 150.

‘Considering that Intelligence doesn’t have a huge impact… I can practically say I’ve reached S-rank now. It’s quite moving.’

Of course, officially, I’m still A-rank.

‘As far as I know, the condition for an S-rank hunter is to be certified by the World Hunter Association. With my current abilities, I could definitely get certified as an S-rank hunter.’

But as with everything in life, things don’t go smoothly. The World Hunter Association could demand all sorts of things. Even Han Ah-young is going through hardships traveling around the world after becoming an S-rank hunter.

‘I could become an S-rank hunter by going to the association and putting on a show of force. The problem is that the World Hunter Association isn’t just any ordinary association.’

It’s a group of superhumans that has existed for a very long time. Now they’re out in the open, but in the past, they were a force that did all sorts of things in the shadows. A group that has held power under the guise of working for the world.

‘It’s an organization older than some countries. Their accumulated power is extraordinary, and their authority is no joke. Plus, they have an amazing cause.’

A fact I learned while traveling through various worlds: the established powers will either put a leash on or keep in check any new power that emerges.

‘The World Hunter Association is no different. Just look at Han Ah-young, who is suffering under the thumb of the World Hunter Association.’

Han Ah-young had received quite a bit of help from the World Hunter Association, so she couldn’t refuse them.

Not all S-rank hunters are the same. There were S-rank hunters who didn’t work and just lived off the system, unlike Han Ah-young.

‘In short, it’s a matter of who’s the boss and who’s the subordinate.’

There was no need for me to go to the World Hunter Association first and become the subordinate. To become the boss, I had to increase my value and make the World Hunter Association come looking for me.

The slight problem was my reputation. I was an official S-rank candidate, but my reputation was lower than other S-rank candidates. That’s because I’ve been keeping a low profile and not showing my face to the media.

‘If this were a game world, I would have found a suitable guild and crushed it.’

This is reality. I have to be at least somewhat sensible to avoid troublesome situations.

‘I’ll show off my power in the most moderate way possible.’

How should I do it?

I was about to make a plan, but it became bothersome. The truth that even if I became an S-rank hunter, I wouldn’t be able to wield power as I pleased because the World Hunter Association existed, sapped my motivation.

But I couldn’t just destroy the World Hunter Association either. It was close to impossible, and even if I succeeded, the world would just become a mess.

‘I should just live as usual.’

I could enjoy power in the game world.

[Available Points: 3,805]

I was bored, and I decided to throw 805 points into the random draw.

The results were disastrous.

[Red Work Gloves
Slightly increases strength when worn.
Price: 10
※Caution
Durability is not very good.]

[Peach
Delicious peach.
Price: 1 point
※Caution
Eat as soon as possible.]

[Red Pill
Cures all mental illnesses.
Price: 5,000 points
※Caution
The cause of the mental illness remains.]

[Myobi Shuriken
A shuriken that generates an energy blade when rotated. The power of the blade is proportional to the rotational force and the user’s mana.
Price: 500 points
※Caution
The blade may be damaged after one use.]

Among the items I got from the random draw this time, these were the only ones that had any value.

I tried on the red work gloves. If they increased my strength by just 10%, they would be a jackpot item. But they didn’t seem to increase it by even 1%, let alone 10%. The increase in strength was so small that I couldn’t even feel it. Moreover, after throwing a few punches in the air, the red work gloves became unusable.

‘The game life app wouldn’t lie, so the red work gloves must be useful only for ordinary people.’

Even then, they wouldn’t last long because of their poor durability. They weren’t even worth 10 points. The peach was better. The peach was delicious enough to satisfy my taste buds.

The Myobi Shuriken was a black, eight-bladed shuriken with a mechanical appearance. It had a cyberpunk feel to it.

*Fzzzt.*

The shuriken levitated above my palm. It used electromagnetic force to rotate the shuriken. The edges of the shuriken glowed blue, and an energy blade was generated. As it rotated faster, the energy blade grew larger.

When I poured mana into it, the energy blade became even longer.

I stopped it before the shuriken turned the house into a blender.

‘It’s so-so.’

In the past, it would have been a pretty useful weapon. But now, I can use my aura. For long-range attacks, I can just use aura slashes.

‘Well, it might be useful later. I’ll just store it in my inventory for now.’

It was good that the inventory was spacious. It was convenient to store items that I didn’t need right now. I could take them out whenever I wanted.

‘Realistically, the only jackpot from this draw is this red pill.’

A red pill.

It cures mental illnesses when you take it. It seems to remove mental-related status ailments. Since it doesn’t remove the cause of the mental illness, it would be temporary.

‘It’s a useless item for me, who is definitely sane. For me, that is.’

It was different for other people. Someone would desperately want this red pill. I looked at the red pill and put it in my inventory.

‘It’s a bit of a shame. If it were a potion instead of a pill, I could have copied it with the potion copier and gotten another one.’

* * *

I headed to the Japanese black market to meet my regular black market dealer, Park Jung-gu.

The black market in Korea had been shut down recently due to a crackdown, so Park Jung-gu was temporarily operating in Japan.

It didn’t matter to me since I had a space-movement scroll. Well, to be honest, the space-movement scroll was a bit of a waste. But it couldn’t be helped. It was more convenient to use a black market dealer to handle and buy various items. I had been trading with the black market dealer Park Jung-gu for over two years, so I could trust him to some extent.

Park Jung-gu was running a tofu shop in Japan. It was so notoriously bad that even ordinary people didn’t come.

I had tried his tofu once before. It was so bad that I wanted to kill Park Jung-gu.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Park Jung-gu had dark circles under his eyes.

“You look more tired than usual.”

“I am tired. Some bastards are stirring up the black market. So, did you come to sell or to rescue?”

“Both.”

I pretended to take things out of my bag but took them out of my inventory instead.

[Great Medicine
Makes you feel great when taken.
Price: 1 point
※Caution
Too frequent use can lead to addiction.]

These were the items, including the best-selling Great Medicine. I was disposing of the unnecessary items I got from the random draw to Park Jung-gu.

“Oh, Nectar! I’ve been waiting for this! My customers have been asking me to get this. I’ll pay you well according to the increased market price. Ah, there are other items too, so I’ll need to calculate.”

“There’s something I want to get.”

“Tanks are difficult. I can get you a small yacht for a party on the sea.”

“What about a nuclear bomb? Even a small one is fine.”

“Are you even going to be able to get one?”

“I heard there’s a small nuclear bomb for destroying SS-rank dungeons.”

“That’s just a rumor. Even if there is, an individual can’t get one. The World Hunter Association. They’re really strict.”

“Was it an individual?”

“It’s an individual. But they have some backing. It’s a very dangerous job to do alone, you know?”

“Additionally, I want to buy all kinds of fruits and seeds from Southeast Asia. And as many types of firearms and ammunition as possible.”

These were things I would take to the [White World]. Especially ammunition, which I had to take periodically.

“Just the firearms and ammunition you’ve taken so far are enough to arm a decent-sized city…”

“Mind your own business. It’s not important.”

“…Yeah, you’re right. It’s not my business. Sorry. I haven’t been able to sleep well lately.”

Park Jung-gu scratched his head. He looked tired, but his eyes were alive. It seemed like he was testing me under the guise of his health. He was a guy I couldn’t let my guard down around.

“By the way, is the guy hiding in the ceiling your bodyguard? It seems like you’ve decided to bring a bodyguard this time?”

“What, a bodyguard?”

Park Jung-gu asked back in surprise.

I immediately pretended to take out the Myobi Shuriken from my pocket and threw it towards the ceiling. As the Myobi Shuriken rotated, an energy blade was generated, slicing through the ceiling and the body of the guy hiding in it.

The ceiling didn’t collapse, so the corpse didn’t fall. Instead, blood dripped from the crack in the ceiling.

“What the fuck!”

Park Jung-gu was startled and jumped up from his seat. He tore the ceiling apart with his bare hands. Despite being a black market dealer, Park Jung-gu had the strength of a B-rank hunter since he worked alone.

The corpse fell from the ceiling. It was a corpse wrapped in black clothes with its face covered by a mask. It looked like a ninja. Park Jung-gu took off the corpse’s mask and checked its face. It was a man in his mid-30s with sunken cheekbones. Park Jung-gu’s face contorted.

“Do you know him?”

“He’s a wanted criminal in Japan. He’s a famous hitman from the Japanese black guild, Kamais. He’s also one of the customers who buys Nectar from me. Fuck. He was spying on me, aiming for the Nectar. How could I make such a mistake…! Damn it!”

After cursing a lot, he got up from his seat and started cleaning up the surroundings.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing! I have to run before things get worse! You should get ready to run too!”

“What about the trade?”

“Are you talking about trade in this situation? That guy must have already passed our information to his organization in real time. The Kamais guys are coming!”

“That’s a bit disappointing. Nothing like this has happened in the past two years.”

“…It’s an unavoidable situation that happened because the popularity of Nectar has increased. Fuck. Honestly, I couldn’t help it either. I can’t completely block a person with an awakening ability specialized in tracking. What are you doing? Get ready to run quickly.”

“It’s already too late. Two A-ranks are approaching from outside.”

“What?!”

Park Jung-gu was shocked for a moment, then took out the weapons he had hidden in various places. As expected of a black market dealer, he had weapons that were hard to find in the open.

I quietly pondered. Should I abandon Park Jung-gu here, or should I help him? There were two options.

‘Even though Park Jung-gu made a mistake, he’s a capable black market dealer. He might rip me off a little in trades, but he doesn’t play around. He’s not only capable, but there’s no guarantee I’ll meet another trustworthy black market dealer like Park Jung-gu. Finding a new black market dealer… just thinking about it makes me sigh.’

The conclusion was that I needed Park Jung-gu.

“I’ll help you just this once. It’s not free.”

I got up from my seat.