The Cartel Shop, on the whole, looked rather like a hotel lobby. Chandeliers hanging from the ceiling scattered light all around, and the floors and walls were lavishly draped with red carpets and fabric embroidered in gold. Neatly dressed employees in suits walked over them.
They were not like the gatekeepers, with tentacles stuck in their heads. They were ordinary humans wearing bright, businesslike smiles. After attending to the guests walking through the lobby, they slowly approached Ian and Lee Seo-a.
“Welcome, Ms. Lee Seo-a. Mr. Shin Ian. For your welcome food, we have prepared chocolate biscuits that are easy to eat. Will that be all right?”
“That’s fine. The market structure is still the same, right?”
“Yes. However, an arena has opened in the room at the end of the third basement floor, so you may wish to stop by if you are bored.”
“An arena?”
Ian reacted. The employee, still wearing his genial smile, handed him a paper box containing biscuits and nodded.
“It is a place where mysteries captured through commissions are made to fight one another. We had some difficulties during construction because the Colosseum ghost story might have latched onto it, but we have overcome that now.”
“…What a bizarre place. Does that make money?”
“Of course it makes money. It is a system where customers wager money and predict the outcome, so quite a few customers come to visit.”
“Ah, gambling.”
“A sacred system, indeed. If you are interested, please stop by.”
With those words, the employee slowly withdrew. Ian looked down at the biscuits in his hand, then carefully picked one up and chewed it. The distinctive taste of chocolate, sweet and bitter, lingered on his tongue before fading away.
“Is there anywhere you want to stop by first? Or should we split up from here?”
Lee Seo-a asked, holding a biscuit in her hand. Ian thought for a moment before answering.
“Let’s split up. You and I are looking for different things.”
Lee Seo-a’s main magic was necromancy. Among necromancers, she was a ritual mage who used human bone powder as a medium for her spells. Aside from the fact that both of them summoned something, there was no overlap whatsoever in category between her and Ian. Naturally, the goods they preferred had to be different.
Even their summoning differed in many ways when it came to cost-effectiveness. The materials needed to call forth a powerful evil spirit were a large quantity of bone powder and blood, a jar filled with yin energy, and one corpse that had died in an accident.
On the other hand, all Ian needed to summon a powerful predator were a few chunks of flesh and some blood.
They did share the point that, with one wrong move, they could be torn to death by the thing they summoned. Though there was a difference of whether it was prepaid or postpaid.
In any case.
There was no overlap at all between the items Lee Seo-a wanted to buy and the items Ian was looking for. So rather than wasting time, it was far better for each of them to scatter and search for what they wanted.
“Let’s meet back here in an hour. If you need more time, contact me.”
Ian said, waving his phone. Lee Seo-a nodded and took a bite of her biscuit.
“Okay. You contact me too if you finish first.”
“Sure.”
Ian gave her a faint smile, then looked at the map hanging on the wall and moved his feet.
The Cartel Market was structured with the first basement floor, where the lobby and various shops were located; the second basement floor, which housed all kinds of weapons; and the third basement floor, where the arena was. Ian decided to look around the first floor first.
‘Since the Hand of Recreation is as good as sealed for the time being, it’d be better to buy some flesh while I have the chance.’
Thanks to the recreation magic recorded in the grimoire, he had never suffered from a shortage of materials until now, but at present, the number of times he could use the magic was unavoidably limited. The amount he had stored was not absolutely insufficient, but since the magic consumed so much flesh, it seemed better to buy some with money.
It was true that the price made him frown a little, but what could he do? If he thought of it as the price for saving the world, even this was something to be grateful for.
Thinking that, Ian walked on and entered a suitable shop. It was a shop made of wood, and inside, processed byproducts of mysteries were neatly displayed. Some gave off a foul stench, while a few emitted a sweet fragrance.
“Oh my, a customer.”
The shopkeeper was an old woman with a frail impression. She had been sitting in a rocking chair, moving back and forth, but upon seeing Ian, she rose to her feet.
“Welcome. Is there something you’re looking for?”
“I’m not looking for anything in particular. I’m just thinking of buying a few reasonably cheap things.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll recommend some for you.”
The old woman chuckled softly, took up her cane, and came out from behind the counter. A rich peach scent drifted from the cane, which had been carved from peachwood.
“This is the eyeball of an anomaly called a Candy Giant. It tastes sweet when eaten, so many people seek it out. And this is the heart of a man-eating demon. I don’t particularly recommend eating it, but it should be more than enough to use as a material.”
“How much are they?”
“Five million won and six million won, respectively. Will you buy them?”
An absurd price. However, it was far cheaper than what he had seen in the Cartel Online app store. Ian pondered for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and nodded.
“Then I’ll buy about ten items in total, including those and other goods in a similar price range.”
“Oho! So you were a big-spending customer. Wait just a moment. I’ll prepare them and pack them up right away.”
The shopkeeper laughed happily and began putting the processed goods from the display case into a bag. Ian watched her and fiddled with the cigarettes in his coat pocket.
‘Now that it’s gone, it’s even more irritating…’
Originally, he had resolved commissions and secured materials at the same time, but it was truly vexing that he could not do that now. It was fortunate he had enough money; otherwise, he would have had no choice but to make the purchase with the feeling that he was coughing up blood.
He understood that it could not be helped, but that did not mean he could stop himself from being annoyed. Ian roughly raked a hand through his hair and tapped his cigarette pack.
A moment later, the shopkeeper, having packed all the processed goods, gathered them together and slipped them into a plastic bag.
“Here, take it. As for the price, I’ll be generous and take just fifty million won.”
“…”
Instead of answering, Ian slid out his card. The old woman chuckled, snatched the card, and swiped it through the reader without hesitation.
[Payment complete. Please remove your card.]
At the same time as the familiar notification sounded, she handed the card back to Ian.
“Thank you! Come again next time!”
“…Yes. Good luck with business.”
Haa.
Letting out a sigh he could no longer count, Ian shoved the plastic bag into his bag.
[…Woof?]
The Deep Sea Travelogue, which had been waiting quietly, seemed to have caught the scent of blood and twitched slightly. He lightly stroked the cover of the grimoire, then walked down the hallway in search of a smoking area.
At that moment, one shop entered his field of vision.
[!+!+!+!New Products for Chain Smokers Now in Stock!+!+!+!]
A shop with a noisy signboard set up in front of the entrance. Ian stared at the store, which no smoker could help but notice, then opened the door as if entranced and went inside. The door opened with a jingle.
“Welcome!”
The woman sitting at the counter greeted him warmly. Ian looked around the shop and slowly walked toward the counter.
The inside of the shop was filled with tobacco. From commonly seen luxury goods to foreign cigarettes Ian had never seen before in his life, as well as piles of cigars, they were all trapped inside glass cases. He carefully stared at one red-colored cigarette, then turned his head toward the woman.
“Is this a specialty tobacco shop?”
“Yes! We’re the kind of place that handles every cigarette that exists in the world!”
“Where are the new products?”
“This way!”
The woman immediately pointed with her finger at the pure white sticks displayed behind the counter.
In appearance, they were not very different from ordinary cigarettes. In other words, they looked extremely plain.
“This is an item made by the Clock Tower.”
When Ian stared intently at the cigarettes, the woman came beside him and explained.
“There’s a school called the Alchemist School, skilled in alchemy, you see? These are cigarettes they manufacture and distribute.”
“…”
“There are a great many flavors. Plum, apple, lemon, mint, and so on. They probably have every flavor you can imagine. I heard they even have a sewer-smell flavor for people with special tastes!”
“No, I don’t need that.”
Ian answered immediately. The woman laughed and scratched her head.
“Right? There’s no way someone as handsome as you would like the taste of gutter water!”
“No need for flattery. More importantly, if it’s something made by mages, does it have any separate effects?”
“Of course it does. In fact, this is tobacco, yet not tobacco.”
The woman smiled bewitchingly and rubbed her hands together.
“It is, believe it or not, an item made for quitting smoking.”
“…Quitting smoking?”
“Yes. It removes every toxic substance found in cigarettes, and the smoke cleans your lungs—a fantasy luxury product! And despite that, when you smoke it, it eliminates all withdrawal symptoms caused by being unable to smoke!”
“Is that true?”
Ian asked back with an expression of pure surprise. The woman smiled brightly and nodded.
“Of course! However, it’s not completely without side effects. Once you smoke it, you must smoke it at least once a week, but that’s not difficult for heavy smokers, is it?”
“…That’s true. What happens if you don’t smoke it?”
“Your lungs rot. That’s all.”
“The side effect disappears once your lungs are fully purified, though,” she added. Ian let out an exclamation of admiration and nodded.
Compared to the condition, the risk was far too small.
If asked whether rotting lungs were not a significant risk, he would answer that they were not.
No, in the first place, your lungs rot when you smoke, don’t they?
So it was fair to say there was effectively no risk. The effect was also quite outstanding, so anyone who did not buy this was an idiot.
‘Right, what’s the point of cooking and exercising to take care of my health? One cigarette and it’s all over. I might as well quit smoking while I have the chance.’
It was not as if he had ever resolved to quit smoking in his life, but there was no need to refuse such a good opportunity now that it had come. He immediately turned to the woman and asked with an excited face.
“How much is it?”
“One hundred million won for sixty sticks!”
“…Excuse me?”
Ian’s face instantly froze cold. The woman smiled brightly and tilted her head.
“One hundred million won!”
“…”
“If you’re hesitating, would you like to sample one?”
“…Just one stick.”
He smoked it.
“…Ah.”
That day, one hundred million won flew out of his bank account.