Solo Leveling: Ragnarok – 184

by Jessie@AFNCC

<h1 data-p-id=”0″ data-original-font-size=”24″ data-original-line-height=”38″ style=”font-size: 21.6px !important;”>Episode 184< /h1>

A complete oriental painting.

That was Suho’s first impression on the way to the black market.

A deep valley road in a misty mountain range.

As we walked up the winding road a huge building slowly emerged in front of Suho and eventually its true nature was revealed.

’Temple'

It was like that.

There was no other way to express it than that.

High ceiling.

A crude but elaborately decorated stone pillar.

A huge door made of bronze located in the middle of it.

This sacred atmosphere that overwhelmed me as soon as I saw it made me instinctively realize that this was a ‘temple’ even though I did not know who it was for.

I flinch.

Suddenly Ber’s eyes brightened sharply and he looked ahead.

[Little Lord I can sense many signs of presence deep within that building.]

“Human? Or a demonic beast?”

Stuttering.

Ber wiggled his antennae and answered Suho’s question with confidence.

[Humans with magical powers. I think most of them are probably hunters.]

“What about the devil?”

[I can feel demons too but there aren’t many of them. And there is no one right on the other side of the door.]

“It’s just as the branch manager said.”

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Suho nodded and walked carefully to the front of the temple.

And then I raised my head and looked up at the huge closed door in front of me.

A heavy door that ordinary people would never be able to open.

Of course with Suho’s incredible strength stats he could not just open it but destroy it in one blow.

’But even then there’s no point in sneaking away.'

It wasn’t a good idea to make a fuss in a situation where I didn’t know whether my grandfather would be in this building or not.

Besides Suho already knew how to open this door.

Snap.

Suho took out the ‘stardust necklace’ that he had taken from branch manager Min Dae-seok from his pocket.

Then after putting the necklace around my neck I stretched out my hand and gently pushed the tightly closed door.

Gggggggggggg-!

Then surprisingly the heavy door began to be pushed away very lightly.

Cow-!

Soon the door opened wide revealing a spacious interior.

Damp interior with moss here and there on the floor walls and ceiling.

Suho burst into laughter as he walked up the hallway following the torches hanging on the wall.

“…It was real. “I never would have guessed that the real purpose of the stardust necklace was as a pass to the black market.”

It is now widely known in the world that the reason the stardust necklace was created was as a memorial.

The so-called ‘Let’s honor the souls of the victims who died as stardust’ was a truly meaningful and good intention.

In fact most of the profits from the stardust necklace were being used for bereaved families so no one had any doubts about its purpose.

’…But in reality it was all a smokescreen.'

According to Branch Manager Min Dae-seok there are still only a few hunters who know this truth.

Because the black market had only recently been created in the first place very few people knew of its existence.

But in the end it was only a matter of time.

[Even if you only spread information about the black market to a few people they will spread the word about it on their own in the future.]

Once the black market became more and more known hunters would move to obtain the stardust necklace.

Quay made an interesting face.

Really the more you learn about Black Market the more interesting it becomes.

[It’s like a method you would see in a multi-level pyramid business.]

Ponzi schemes commonly called pyramid schemes often increase the number of victims in this way.

A method of starting with a small number and increasing the number by encouraging others as if introducing good things.

Among them there were many places that had a religious tone that was sometimes suspicious.

However as long as there was no direct harm to himself it didn’t really matter to Suho.

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But what if that religion is a foreign religion that serves Italim?

’Anyway one thing is clear.'

If this was truly the temple of the Foreign Gods the apostles of Itarim seemed to have already completely adapted to Earth.

After walking along the hallway for a while a wide dome-shaped space soon opened up in front of Suho.

It seemed bigger than several of the main Olympic stadiums combined or even larger than several of them combined.

But Suho who witnessed the scene unfolding inside couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

I thought it would be very dark and secretive because I thought it was a black market but when I actually walked in the atmosphere was much brighter and more cheerful than I expected.

“200 kg of magic stones! Yes it is possible!”

“I have everything except the lack of dungeon ore types!”

“The corpse of a demonic beast is dropped today! We’ll give it to you at a low price only to the last person on a first-come first-served basis!”

“Extraordinary sale! “The boss is crazy!”

“If you don’t have money you can pay with magic stones!”

“Ah! Are you new here? What kind of idiot in the world would hand out a credit card on the black market?!”

I felt like I was at some kind of fairground.

Numerous mats and booths filled the wide cavity.

There are numerous merchants who take their seats there and sell and sell goods while eagerly soliciting customers.

Seeing that scene Suho couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“…I feel like I’m at some kind of bazaar.”

They said it was a black market created for tax evasion but when I saw it it felt like I was in a second-hand market.

But there was also something unexpected.

[Little Lord it seems there is a blacksmith shop that smelts ore directly and makes weapons and sells them.]

“Okay. Blacksmiths are mainly demons.”

Surprisingly humans and demons lived naturally together here.

Those who visited for a while and traded goods were mainly hunters but those who settled here and made and sold goods in earnest were devils wearing crow masks.

So to speak the organizers.

They are staff.

’A market where humans and demons coexist. It’s really strange.'

[Master you can see the auction house and gambling house over there.]

’Hmm?'

Looking at the direction Quay is pointing I can finally see what looks like a real black market.

“Ha one more time! Lend me more money! “You’re saying you’re going to take it and pay it back?!”

In front of the gambling hall hunters who seemed to have squandered all their money were begging with grim expressions.

Finally when their entire body was filled with magic the raven masks guarding the gambling house grabbed their shoulders with their weight.

“Members please calm down. You can’t do this here.”

“We also don’t want to take action to force them to leave.”

“Well just once! “Please lend me just one more time!”

“…After. There is no choice. In that case how about playing a few rounds yourself?”

“What what?”

“Don’t worry. I will take responsibility and match the weight class.”

The gamblers’ eyes were shaken by the devil’s suggestions.

In the meantime I couldn’t take my eyes off the gambling hall as if I still had regrets.

And I ended up making a decision that I shouldn’t have made.

“Are you really going to match the weight class?”

“Oh it’s obvious. You know it well right? In the underground fighting arena all items are removed and it is purely bare-body fighting. “Why are you so worried about someone as strong as Hunter?”

“…Then is it possible to receive an advance payment?”

The moment those words came out Suho looked.

The corners of the devils’ mouths are torn long beyond the raven mask.

The demons smiled brightly and held the hands of the hunters.

“What an obvious statement. Then let’s talk about the actual contract over there.”

Suho quietly watched the gamblers following the demons one after another.

’It’s an underground fighting arena. It’s literally a contract with the devil.'

[You know Little Lord right? Gambling is a shortcut to ruin. uh? Why are you going there?]

“They say it’s an underground fighting arena. “It’s okay to just look around.”

As Suho walked to the gambling house the gatekeeper demons who were guarding in front of him politely bowed and spoke to Suho.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Did you visit from another factory?”

At the same time I glanced up and felt a bit of caution as I looked at the pair of horns hanging on Suho’s head.

[You answer informally. Since you are wearing Volkan’s horn they think you are a much higher level devil so they are careful.]

At Esil’s timely advice Suho nodded briefly and opened his mouth.

“I stopped by after hearing a rumor. Is there a problem?”

Then when he lifted up the stardust necklace hanging around his neck to show them the gatekeeper demons hurriedly backed away and responded in a quite friendly manner.

“Oh my what a problem. We always welcome new factories. If you need any guidance can we be there to help you?”

’It’s strange.'

Suho felt like a salesperson trying to find new business partners from the Devils.

And the demons seemed to have no intention of hiding their true feelings at all.

“But… if you don’t mind may I know how many star pieces you have?”

As soon as they asked that question their snake-like gaze scanned Suho who came here empty-handed.

“As you know there are so many factories that are broke these days.”

“….”

While Suho was taking a moment to choose his words Esil whispered as if he was displeased.

[True. How dare you little squires say something like this to a devil with horns?]

’Why are you so angry? I’m not really the devil.'

It seemed like this was a place that worked regardless of the rank of the demon race.

But when Suho didn’t say anything for a moment a blatant sneer appeared on the gatekeepers’ lips saying they knew that would happen.

“Oh my. You said that too. I recognized you from the moment you came empty-handed. These days there are a lot of demons who come to us because they are broke and want to join us… hmm?”

It was that time.

A bunch of stardust suddenly appeared in Suho’s hand which was clearly empty.

“…!”

At that moment the gatekeepers’ eyes widened.

No it wasn’t a bunch.

Two bundles.

Three bundles.

Four bundles.

Suho had been robbing demon factories and keeping the stardust he had acquired there intact in his inventory.

A bitter smile appeared on Suho’s lips as he took out a package and showed it to the demons.

“Maybe there should be more?”

“That’s enough.”

“Come this way! We will guide you to the VIP room!”

“Please guide me.”

“Yep!”

The gatekeeper demons immediately took a low stance and guided Suho to the gambling house.

Suho followed behind them his eyes shining sharply.

’It’s a VIP room… devils live like real people.'

It was good to pretend to be the devil from the beginning.

If you want to find out if grandfather is here it would be faster to investigate from the depths.

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