Dark Market — Part 1
Dark Market. (TL Note: Author calls it Dark Market instead of Black Market)
In the Shinwon Market area.
Located near Sillim Station, it stretches along the Dorimcheon stream.
In the original world, traditional markets were gradually losing ground to large supermarkets.
But in this world, things were different.
Traditional markets had things you couldn’t find in supermarkets.
“Ugh. This place isn’t like it used to be.”
“What’s up with the condition of these goods?”
“My go-to shop closed down. They said they won’t be back for a while.”
“Damn those gangsters. Why don’t they fight in their own turf instead of stirring up trouble here?”
It was well past midnight.
The market was pitch dark.
The roofless streets, cramd with tightly packed stalls, reeked of stale odors.
People appeared and vanished between the stalls, popping in and out like it was so kind of magic trick.
The complaints I overheard ca from those sa people, who had just exited the market.
‘Not like it used to be? Gangsters?’
I got the gist of the situation.
It seed like a domino effect was happening after I had taken down the Dagger Gang a few days ago.
But sothing felt off.
By now, the Iron Fist Gang should’ve taken over the entire Sillim-dong, shouldn’t they?
For now, I decided to go in and take a look.
The entrance was hidden in a secluded corner, between two stalls.
The flickering fluorescent light above made it seem like it could go out at any mont, and one side of the wall was piled with disgusting vomit, the stench sharp and sour.
‘This place is a ss.’
I made my way down a long, narrow corridor.
The passage was so tight that only two people could barely pass each other.
After descending about three levels, I finally reached the underground market.
“Cheap! Cheap! Top-grade mana cigarettes, just 30,000 won for a trip to bliss!”
“Buying cybernetic materials! Got any cybernetic parts? I’ll buy them!”
“Today’s a rare chance! Selling legendary martial arts scrolls and mythical magic books!”
“Hey, isn’t advertising the Three Calamities Sword Art as a legendary martial arts scroll a scam?”
“Co on, what else is legendary in martial arts novels if not legendary techniques?”
“You fraud!”
Standing at the entrance, I scanned the underground market.
The dimly flickering fluorescent lights, the gaudy neon signs, a drunk man shouting, prostitutes swaying to the rhythm of their drugged-up bodies, and wisps of turquoise-colored drug smoke drifting everywhere.
Junk piled up everywhere.
Shopkeepers grinned slyly as they brought out hidden treasures from their backrooms.
Bundles of cash exchanged in shady deals, their eyes full of deceit.
Drugs, poisons, guns, bombs, martial arts manuals, illegal cybernetic parts, magical artifacts, unholy relics—there was nothing you couldn’t find here.
This was the largest Dark Market in Sillim-dong.
‘The place I need to go is…’
Kim Chunbok’s Junk Shop.
I didn’t know its exact location.
In the ga, all the shops were just listed in a neat nu format.
But no matter. I had ti, so I decided to take a slow look around.
‘A lot of places are closed.’
Shinwon Market was three tis bigger than the original market.
A slow stroll through here would normally take 30 minutes, not 10.
Yet, more than half of the shops were closed.
They had wrapped their stalls tightly with tarps and sealed them with blue tape and magical barriers, making it impossible to open them.
Each closed shop displayed a similar sign:
[Closed until the market stabilizes.]
The other people wandering around the market muttered curses under their breath.
“How long is this going to last?”
“What are the cops even doing…?”
“What are you, stupid? Don’t you know things get even worse when the cops get involved?”
“Yeah, but they should at least do sothing for all the bribes they’ve been taking.”
“What can we do? We’ll have to wait until the Iron Fist Gang sorts it out or until the Poison Gang or the Naked Gang muscle their way in.”
“Ugh, this is bullshit.”
The Poison Gang controlled Doksan-dong in Geumcheon-gu, and the Naked Gang ruled Bongcheon-dong in Gwanak-gu.
They bordered Sillim-dong on both sides.
It looked like the Iron Fist Gang was slower in taking control than expected.
Shinwon Market was pri real estate for the Dagger Gang, but if they couldn’t take it over quickly, it would give other gangs room to move in.
‘Don’t tell
the junk shop is closed too.’
Feeling uneasy, I quickened my pace.
About 10 minutes later, my fears were confird.
The sign for Kim Chunbok’s Junk Shop was right in front of , sealed tightly with plastic tarps.
The whole shop was wrapped up like a mummy, completely shut down.
“Ah, damn it.”
I could barely hold back my frustration.
Kim Chulkwon, what the hell are you doing?
Huh? What are you doing?
I took out your rival gang, so you should’ve taken over this market smoothly by now and kept it running!
But the situation was already in motion, and I needed to think of alternatives.
If the shop was closed, I just had to find the owner.
The stall next to the junk shop was still open.
Though the owner, puffing away at a hookah, looked half-dead like a rotten fish, there wasn’t much else I could do.
“Hey, how’s business these days?”
The shopkeeper glanced at
with bleary eyes.
It was a hookah shop, filled with hookah supplies…
Actually, scratch that.
This was a drug den.
They sold everything from drug-laced hookah tobacco to cigarettes, syringes, gum, snacks, candy, suppositories, ointnts, and even costics laced with drugs.
“How’s business? No custors, can’t you tell? With those gangster bastards fighting every day, who the hell would co here?”
He spoke gruffly.
“Isn’t this Iron Fist Gang territory?”
“Hah! Iron Fist, my ass. This place used to be run by the Dagger Gang’s number two. That guy was slick, greased the palms of the cops and city officials real good, and didn’t demand much protection money, so everyone liked him.”
“Oh, you an the guy with the cybernetic eye?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
Of course I knew.
That guy had given
a rocket launcher as a ‘gift.’
“I heard he got taken down when the Dagger Gang collapsed.”
“Yeah, that’s right. And the Iron Fist Gang was supposed to take over, but those idiots only focused on the slums instead of grabbing the pri spots here.”
“No brains in their operation, huh?”
“That’s what I’m saying. A few days later, the Iron Fist sent so people, but it was already too late. The Poison Gang and the Naked Gang had already moved in, and they sent so of their top dogs.”
“Their top dogs?”
“Yeah, they both sent their number twos.”
The number two in both the Poison Gang and Naked Gang would be level 2 superhumans.
Unless Kim Chulkwon himself showed up, the Iron Fist Gang couldn’t take them on.
Kim Chulkwon was the only level 2 in his gang; the rest were just level 1, and there were only three of them.
‘In the original storyline, Kim Chulkwon gets betrayed and drops down to level 1.’
I understood the situation now.
I looked at the closed Kim Chunbok’s Junk Shop and asked the shopkeeper.
“Looks like I ca at a bad ti. Do you know when that shop might open again?”
“Hmm.”
The shopkeeper squinted at .
“You think I’d tell you for free?”
He rubbed his fingers together in a money-asking gesture.
Of course.
Nothing’s free in this world.
I took out two 50,000-won bills and handed them over.
The shopkeeper snatched the cash and flashed a yellow-toothed grin.
“Heh heh, always good to deal with soone who understands. If you give sothing, you gotta get sothing in return!”
“Cut the crap and tell . Where can I find the owner? I’m in a hurry.”
“How should I know?”
“What?”
“You think I know the lives of the people here? Everyone here is a druggie, a gambler, or a debtor. Kim Chunbok? That’s probably not even his real na. Nobody knows where he lives or what he does in his free ti.”
“Hah? I could’ve told you that. Do your job properly if you’re going to take my money.”
I scowled at him.
Black flas quietly flickered around , intensifying as I glared at the shopkeeper.
Startled, the shopkeeper finally realized I wasn’t just so random guy.
“R-right, you’re right! My bad! Kim Chunbok didn’t just close his shop. He got caught up in a brawl yesterday and had a few ribs broken, so he shut down.”
“Ribs broken?”
“Yeah. An Iron Fist guy got smacked by a Poison Gang thug and got thrown into Kim Chunbok. Crushed him. That guy’s fragile as hell. It’s because he doesn’t take his drugs. If he was juicing, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt so easily. Anyway, after that, he closed up and left. Probably holed up in a hospital sowhere now.”
Hospital, huh?
“Probably so shady, illegal clinic, I’m guessing. Try looking around. It’s bound to be a nearby one. Heh, I wouldn’t be surprised if those quack doctors removed a few of his ribs while fixing him up. You want
to recomnd a place? I know a few clinics around here. Even if he didn’t go to one I know, quacks stick together. Their network is pretty tight.”
“No thanks.”
This guy sure talked a lot.
A real TMI machine. (TL Note: TMI ans “Too Much Information”. It’s basically soone who yaps alot)
‘Broken ribs, huh…’
I mulled it over.
As far as I knew, there wasn’t much you could do for broken ribs.
If the bones were completely shattered, you’d need surgery, but if it was just a fracture, all you could do was rest and take painkillers.
Since he sealed up the shop and left on his own, it was probably just a fracture.
That ant I needed to find his house…
Judging from what the shopkeeper said, that wasn’t going to be easy.
I looked around the market, trying to co up with a plan.
The bustling yet gloomy atmosphere.
The closed shops.
The groups of thugs moving around in packs.
Then, a thought floated to the surface, like a bubble rising from deep within my mind.
“Hey, I’ve got a question.”
“What is it?”
“If the market stabilizes, will the owner of that shop co back?”
“Oh, of course. What else would a guy like him do? Whether his legs are broken or he’s had a stroke, he’s gotta open his shop. As long as the market’s in good shape, he’ll be back.”
“Yeah, makes sense.”
That was the fastest solution, then.
Who knew if Kim Chunbok just went to pick up so painkillers or if he checked into a proper hospital, or even an illegal one?
The best thing to do was stabilize the market first.
I sat on the tarp-wrapped junk shop and surveyed the scene.
Especially the groups of thugs milling around.
There were three distinct groups.
One was familiar. Just your typical gangsters.
“What the hell are you looking at?”
“Wanna get smacked?”
“Eyes down, asshole.”
They were ard with baseball bats and golf clubs, but they looked nervous.
The proof?
They imdiately backed off when they spotted a group led by a woman heading in their direction.
The woman was bald.
Her face was decent-looking, but it was ruined by all the piercings covering her eyelids, nose, earlobes, lips, and even her forked tongue.
Her left middle finger was replaced with a tal prosthetic, and she wore a vicious spiked gauntlet on her right hand.
[N] Iron Scorpion.
The second-in-command of the Poison Gang.
She usually used an automatic shotgun, but there was no sign of it.
Well, it would cause a huge commotion if she started shooting up the market.
No matter how many bribes you hand out, the cops would have to respond if civilians started dying.
“Get lost, you pieces of shit!”
“Eek!”
“We’re with the Iron Fist Ga—”
“Then go get your boss, dumbass!”
Iron Scorpion kicked the Iron Fist lackeys aside and marched on.
Following her was a group of n wearing short white capes.
That’s it.
Just capes and… speedos.
Oh, for crying out loud.
Am I really seeing this with my own eyes?
My stomach churned.
Think about it.
Muscle-bound n, barely covered by tiny capes that barely reached their shoulders, and nothing else but speedos.
I’d gagged just seeing them on my phone screen, but in person?
It was worse. Way worse.
“We’re here to share the good word.”
“Brother, have you considered devoting yourself to the Primordial Goddess?”
“No? Then you’ll need to pay the religious tax.”
“Taxes, you say? Ah, that was your standard tax, not the religious one. Surely you know the difference. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s, right?”
What a circus.
The guy in the front, who wasn’t even wearing a speedo but a red thong, was the most obnoxious of them all.
When people refused to listen, he started chanting so bizarre prayer and flicking his hands.
A wave of mana energy spread from his hands, and the shopkeepers quickly downed drugs to avoid getting brainwashed.
It seed they’d rather get high than hand over money.
Thong Man clicked his tongue.
“All is vanity… In the end, you will give your bodies and minds to the Primordial Goddess.”
“Heh heh heh!”
“Hahaha!”
Everyone laughed.
The thugs laughed, the shopkeepers, high on drugs, laughed.
[N] Exhibitionist.
Of course, the first priest-class superhuman I et is this idiot.
I couldn’t watch anymore.
I stood up.
Suddenly, attention turned toward .
The black flas I had let burn around
until now had gone unnoticed due to the chaotic lights of the Dark Market, but only for regular folks.
Both Iron Scorpion and Exhibitionist had been secretly watching .
I strode purposefully toward the direction I had scouted earlier.
It was on the opposite side of the market.
In the farthest corner, where few people walked, and most stalls were closed, there was a man.
“Hey.”
“Ugh… What the hell, I’m dying here.”
The man was lying on a makeshift bed made of junk piled together.
His entire body was covered in bruises, and his arm was in a splint, clearly broken.
One of the gang mbers guarding him flinched when he saw .
He recognized my face.
I nudged the man with my foot.
“Quit whining and get up.”
“Who the hell… huh?”
The man, who had turned around with an annoyed expression, froze when he saw .
Of course, he recognized .
It was that guy.
The one who had freaked out and ran away when I perford self-surgery with tal shrapnel after confronting Kim Chulkwon at the labor office.
“How long are you gonna lie there?”
“Uh, well, you see…”
He hesitated, clearly unsure how to act.
I wasn’t his boss, nor was I his enemy, but we weren’t exactly allies either.
Regardless, I said what I ca to say.
“Hey.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Let’s do sothing together.”
“Do what?”
“Let’s kick them out.”
I pointed toward Iron Scorpion and Exhibitionist in the distance.
For a mont, a gleam returned to the Iron Fist lieutenant’s eyes.
–TL Notes–
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