There was a door deep within the store, and beyond it was a neatly organized storage.

“These are all the special elemental items we have.” Seo Jun-ho entered the room and looked over the items. Of course.

There were lots of great items, but there were no items with the Darkness element. However, there was one with an Ice element. 

There’s only one. A glove radiating a cold aura. He picked it up. 

As soon as he did, the worker—who’d been leaning against the wall with a fresh cigarette—suddenly leaped forward. 

“Hey, hey, you can’t just touch that!” He rushed over, snatched the glove from Seo Jun-ho’s hand and put it back in its place. He let out a long sigh, looking like he’d just lost 10 years of his life. 

“It’s a crazy item. It’s cursed, I tell you! It has a great boost, but sometimes the magic converges and freezes the user’s body. It’s already happened three times.”

“…Let me take a look.” Seo Jun-ho felt a pull toward the item. He checked the info. 

「Glove That Holds the Frost Fairy’s Wrath」

Grade: Rare (Curse)

Speed +1

Stamina +1

Magic +2

Wrath of the Frost Fairy:

Occasionally freezes the body of the user.

Requirements: Level 10, Speed 40, Magic 50

…Amazing. It was on the same level as Nine Yin Severance Syndrome. That meant it could raise his Magic stat by around 5 again. Seo Jun-ho’s eyes sparkled. 

“How much is this?”

“…You’re really gonna buy it?” The worker licked his lips as he glanced toward him. “You probably know from looking at its data, but this would sell for at least around 3 billion won if it were purified by someone skilled.”

(TN: Around 2.7m USD)

“And its current price?”

“…Well, it’s annoying to have an item that can harm customers… It’s also hard to find someone who can purify it, so I’ll offer 1.8 billion.”

(TN: about 1.6m USD)

It was a cheap price to pay for a rare-grade item. Seo Jun-ho nodded coolly. 

“Is this all you have? No items with a Darkness element?”

“Pfft. Do you think there would be Light or Darkness items in this kind of place? They might have some in the 2nd floor market though.”

The 2nd floor. I have to go there sometime. 

After adding the glove to his total, the worker saw him off with a wide grin.

“Please come again!” 

After leaving, Seo Jun-ho looked around in the artifact store too. But the player items started at 1 billion won, even if they were the lowest grade.

“So overpriced.” Seo Jun-ho shook his head and started toward a bar near the center of the Black Market. It wasn’t because he was hungry.

“I don’t have anything else to do. I’ll just go back.” A teleporter was required to enter the Black Market, and it was the same for leaving. This bar provided this service. Of course, it also served alcohol like a normal bar, and was a place to buy and sell information. 

As soon as Seo Jun-ho entered the bar, the other players looked up to stare at him. 

“Hey, that guy…”

“I think I saw him on the news. Korea’s rising star or something?”

“I heard he caught the Cinder Fox.”

“Really? Not bad for a newbie.”

Their attention and impressions came at him like knives. Seo Jun-ho ignored them and walked toward the bartender who was cleaning glasses. 

“Information? Drinks? Or… Are you looking to be teleported?”

“Yes. To the Insa-dong branch in Korea.”

“You’ll have to wait around 10 minutes.”

“I’ll have a drink while I wait, then. A martini, please.” He listened to the chatter around him as he sipped his martini. 

“The amount I won from gambling this time…”

“Did you hear? No one’s seen Kim Woo-joong of the Nine Heavens lately.”

“Just how long is the Association gonna hide Specter for?” As he listened, Seo Jun-ho suddenly wrinkled his forehead.

“Tsk. The Black Market isn’t like it was in the past. Did you see Seo Jun-ho come in?”

“Of course I did. He’s not even level 20 yet, is he?”

“He’s barely over level 10.”

“Geez, is the Association trying to say they’re better or something?”

The chatter was starting to annoy him. Seo Jun-ho clicked his tongue. 

Tsk. Those insects are already starting to gather. 

A player’s name was their brand. The more acclaimed they became, the more expensive they were to hire and the better contracts they got. And of course, they became more famous and would get more admirers. 

But it was difficult to raise your reputation. Even if you risked your life in Gates, you needed to stand out. Most players’ names never spread beyond third-rate internet articles. 

But there’s one way you can guarantee it. 

Seo Jun-ho raised his hand, gesturing toward the bartender. 

“I want to buy some information.”

“What kind of information?”

“Information on those three players sitting in the booth on the left.”

“…Understood.” The experienced bartender didn’t even glance toward them as he disappeared. Seo Jun-ho chewed on the olive as he waited for the bugs to come find him. 

The best way to raise your reputation is to win in a fight against a famous player. 

It was the simplest, most obvious way to signal to others that you were better. Naturally, their conversation started to flow in that direction. 

“Hm. Is he really that amazing? He looks pretty weak.”

“You can’t judge a player by their looks. But…”

“Clearing a Gate and fighting a player is different. Is that what you’re gonna say?”

“Exactly. Fighting a monster and fighting a person is fundamentally different.”

“Fufu, he’s good prey… What do you think?” The two men exchanged looks and stood up to walk toward Seo Jun-ho. At that moment, the bartender returned and handed an envelope to Seo Jun-ho. 

“Here is the information you requested. It’ll be 3,000 dollars.” Seo Jun-ho held out his left hand. “Take another hundred. As a tip.” 

(TN: Man I wish I could bartend for SJH.)

“Thank you.” Seo Jun-ho ripped open the envelope and skimmed through the documents.

23, 25, 22. Those were the levels of the men that were headed toward him. The information on their skills and specialties was short, but there was nothing that would be dangerous to him. 

They’re just some lowlife thugs. Seo Jun-ho quickly covered his mouth to hold back a laugh. It almost feels like I planned this myself. 

Those who’ve experienced infestations know that pests have to be stamped out completely from the start. If you missed even one, they would multiply uncontrollably. 

They probably think that I’m the best prey. Well, their levels were almost twice as high. In a normal situation, they wouldn’t be able to lose even if they wanted to. It’s a move often used by those who’ve never really achieved anything.

Stamping out budding talents, that is. It was a cheap, nasty tactic, but it was effective. Negative attention was still attention, after all. 

It’s a different kind of annoyance from the past. Back then, there were also many pests who came after them. But they were a little different. They would flatter him while scrunching their eyes. Back then, simply being able to greet me would raise your specs. 

So it was more fun this time. It had been a long time since someone had faced him head-on. 

I don’t want anything personal… But it was the same for them. They didn’t have anything specifically against him, but they were picking a fight for their own interests. 

Then, I’ll use you too. That way, no other pests of this kind would come after him.

Seo Jun-ho placed his empty glass down with a clink. 

“Oi.” Tap, tap. An unfamiliar, coarse hand hit at his shoulder, making him feel dirty. “Are you Seo Jun-ho? I’ve seen you a lot in articles. We’re big fans.”

“Yeah, I collect scraps of your pictures.” The men laughed with their teeth bared. They slid into the seats next to him, showering him with unwanted praise. 

“Actually, we’re really proud of you.”

“From a sunbae’s perspective, we’re proud of outstanding hubaes like you.”

“We want to teach our cute little hubae.” Seo Jun-ho smiled as he listened, nodding. 

“Sunbaes… When did you guys debut?”

“Huh? Well, I’m the oldest and I debuted four years ago… Hey, you guys debuted over three years ago, right?”

“Yup.”

“Wow, you guys are experienced.” The men stood up straighter at his admiration. 

“Ahem. Well, since you mentioned it, it’s thanks to us that you guys can hunt easily.”

“Of course. It’s because people like us paved the way, don’t you think?”

“…Pft!” Seo Jun-ho exploded into a fit of laughter. Once he started, he couldn’t stop. “Ha…Pft… Ahahaha!” He hunched over the table, gripping his stomach as his shoulders shook with laughter. 

The mens’ faces darkened. Their voices became low. 

“…Why are you laughing?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be funny, you know.”

The warm conversation suddenly shifted. Seo Jun-ho slowly raised his head, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Of course it’s funny. You paved the way? The 1st generation of players did.” It hadn’t even been five years since they debuted. For a 1st-generation player like Seo Jun-ho, it sounded ridiculous. 

The men wouldn’t sit still against a hubae who was now speaking informally and insulting them. They stood up, enraged. 

“You’re just a stupid kid!”

“How dare you insult your sunbaes?”

“We need to teach him a lesson.”

Even as they stood over him, he wasn’t the least bit scared. In fact, he smiled as he asked them a question. 

“Do you guys know what the handle of a millstone is called?” They responded immediately.

“An eoi.”

“If it falls off while you’re grinding something, you don’t have an eoi.” 

“This situation we’re in? There’s no eoi, you bastard hubae.”

(Long TN: ‘Eoi’ is the name of the handle, but when something’s ridiculous—basically a bruh moment—in Korean, we say ‘there is no eoi’. ‘Eoi’ doesn’t really mean anything, it’s just an expression.)

“……” 

They looked dumb, but they were smarter than he thought. Seo Jun-ho stood up with a sullen look on his face, having had his line stolen from him. 

“Well, your goal was obvious from the beginning. Let’s drop the act.”

“…You knew?”

“And you didn’t run away… I applaud your courage.” The men took it in stride, grinning as they surveyed the area. Everyone in the bar was watching. It’s what they wanted. They exchanged looks and spoke loudly. 

“We just wanted to teach our hubae a few things…”

“But seeing how disrespectful he is, I don’t think we can just let this go with a short lesson.”

“Remember, you brought this upon yourself.” The man who’d debuted the longest time ago gestured him over with a finger. 

“No need to talk. Come here. We’ll show you how great your sunbaes are.” He didn’t feel the need to reply. Seo Jun-ho turned to the bartender who was watching everything unfold.

“How much time is left until I can teleport?”

“…Around four minutes.”

“Four minutes. I see.” Seo Jun-ho rolled his shoulders, stretching them out. “That’s more than enough time to play with them.”