41
Noblesse.
In other words, ‘nobility.’
In the black market, the meaning of that word was immense and direct. It wasn’t just about the intimidation that comes from being on a higher floor.
The ‘qualification’ to belong to the fifth floor is a person who has built a reputation as a core member of a ‘clan,’ ‘guild,’ or ‘organization’ recognized by the market, or as an individual equivalent to such in the world.
Therefore, the name given on the fifth floor is also ‘Noblesse.’
Unlike those who sit on lower floors like Ha Jaemyung, pretending to be nobles, they were the ‘real nobles’ of Eternity.
-Kwak!
-Stop this guy!
The guild members occupying the alley fell in an instant.
As Ha Jaemyung, he couldn’t understand what kind of trick the man had used. Just by walking, the guild members fell on their own.
“T-That’s Noblesse…”
Ha Jaemyung, who had suddenly come to his senses at the trembling voice of the employee, shouted.
“Kids, clear out now!”
Thinking it was already too late, Ha Jaemyung pushed aside his employee and dashed out himself.
Spotting the guild members blocking the alley with swords, Ha Jaemyung struck them on the back of their heads and kicked them.
“Urgh! Wh-what, Guild Master?”
“I’m going crazy! Get out! Come out!”
As Ha Jaemyung pushed the guild members aside, using force, those who had already rushed into the alley were collapsing.
Thud─
A man, struck as if chasing a fly, flew away.
─Thwack!─Clang!
“Ahh!”
A hefty man, possessed by something unknown, had his ribs shattered and eyes turned inside out.
Shudder······.
Ha Jaemyung trembled.
It wasn’t just that the guild members were being subdued.
From the man subduing them, not even a hint of magic could be sensed. Despite the close distance.
“T-this is Noblesse······”
Feeling the stark difference in status between himself and the man, Ha Jaemyung stood frozen in place, forgetting to clear the guild members.
The man who had cleared the wriggling things approached. Ha Jaemyung swallowed dryly.
The black coat covering his entire body felt like death, and his approaching steps felt like the scythe of a grim reaper piercing his neck. Ha Jaemyung slowly raised both hands towards the sky.
“I-I surrender.”
“······?”
At that surrender, the man, Yi Haesol, abruptly halted his steps.
***
“······What?”
I was inwardly shocked at Ha Jaemyung raising his arms.
The moment I saw him, I sensed a formidable opponent had appeared.
Gram had warned me, trembling with caution.
That meant he was at least a figure belonging to the 3rd floor, if not higher, in the Academy hierarchy.
Moreover, I had heard him shout ‘Guild Master Ha Jaemyung’ from behind.
Realizing my opponent was Guild Master Ha Jaemyung, I closed the distance slowly without a hint of complacency.
However, unexpectedly, Ha Jaemyung raised his arms in surrender.
“Tsk.”
Puzzled by what was happening, I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
Anyway, this······
“Seems like an opportunity, right?”
[Sub Quest: Retrieve the alchemy potion ‘Hanul’ from the threat of the Bajerd Guild!]
*Bajerd Guild Master Ha Jaemyung (0/1)
*Guild Members (20/20)
[Reward: 1000 SP]
Thud!
Raising his arms in surrender, Ha Jaemyung’s head was struck as he stood there.
There was no hesitation. Once is difficult, twice or thrice is easy······
Ha Jaemyung, hit on the head, fell backward. Following that, a notification window popped up with a ringing sound.
[Quest Complete: Save the Alchemy Pharmaceutical ‘Hanwool’ from the threat of the Bazard Guild!]
*Bazard Guild Leader Ha Jaemyung (1/1)
From Noble mtl dot com
*Guild Members (20/20)
[Reward: 1000 SP]
As I looked at the fainted Ha Jaemyung, I suddenly glanced at the clock in the dimming sky.
[PM 07:38]
“······Hmm.”
The meeting with Eungaye was at 7 o’clock, and now it was 38 minutes past.
It didn’t take long to clean up the Bazard Guild, but it consumed all the time to get here. In the end, Hanseul turned out to be a terrible navigator.
Dragging someone who refuses to leave the workshop to find the way was a serious mistake.
Opening my smartphone, I noticed dozens of unread messages.
Lacking the courage to read them all, I put the phone back in my pocket.
‘I lost.’
Fortunately, the auction house opens at 7, but the actual auction starts at 8, so there was still time.
Well, I guess I have to hurry for now?
***
“Why isn’t he coming?”
Passing 7 o’clock, Eungaye, sitting by the fountain in front of the Wizard Hall, anxiously looked around.
People participating in the auction were entering the Wizard Hall one by one, but there was no contact from Haesol on where he was or what he was doing.
“Could it be that he just left?”
Haesol, who was already emitting signs of annoyance, would not be surprising if he had just left.
Feeling annoyed at the thought, Eungaye’s lips pursed. Frustrated, she absentmindedly scratched her head.
“Ugh, what a waste of time.”
Giving up on the auction cleanly, Eungaye stretched and got up from her seat.
─Distributing Rune Test Papers! Take one! It’s not that difficult!
In front of the Wizard Hall, a female wizard was handing out rune test papers like distributing flyers. Passing the rune test was a requirement to enter the auction.
“Want to give it a try?”
Having given up on the auction, the words ‘not that difficult’ caught Eungaye’s interest.
Even though she had given up on the auction, being a student at the academy learning runes, she thought, why not give it a try.
“Well, I should be able to handle this.”
With baseless confidence, Eungaye approached the female wizard.
“Excuse me, I want to try solving the test.”
“Oh! Are you here to participate in the auction?”
“Not really, I just want to try solving it.”
“I see, you seem interested in runes.”
“Well, sort of······”
Smiling warmly, the female wizard welcomed her.
For no reason, Eun-ga-ye, who coughed in vain, returned with the exam paper and pen in hand.
As she unfolded the paper, inexplicable geometric and tangled patterns sprawled out.
“Huh?”
······Why is my head suddenly spinning?
Eun-ga-ye, shaking her head due to dizziness for no apparent reason, concluded that it must be because she had slept little the night before, then shifted her gaze to the exam paper.
“······Hmm.”
It was a bit, well, not just a bit, quite challenging, but still manageable. Was it? Nodding her head, she playfully flicked the pen back and forth.
Soon, Eun-ga-ye grumbled with some satisfaction as a reasonably satisfactory answer sheet emerged.
“What, bringing Ihae-sol along was pointless.”
If she had known it would be like this, she should have just grabbed anyone to fill the seat.
In her view, this was definitely a pass.
“Do you really think so?”
“···What? Oh, what! What?!”
Startled by the sudden touch of the exam paper and pen, Eun-ga-ye quickly turned her head.
“Well, still got three right.”
Ihae-sol, holding the exam paper, was drawing strokes on the paper.
“······Wow, you really startled me.”
Eun-ga-ye, her heart racing, put on a forced smile.
“Hey, why are you showing up now?”
“Sorry, had some work to do.”
Ihae-sol swiftly completed all the answers and submitted the exam paper.
“Wow! Got them all right. You’re really amazing.”
As the sorceress praised Ihae-sol, Eun-ga-ye’s lips twisted in displeasure.
“Ugh, seriously.”
If you couldn’t solve it, you should have just kept quiet.
Ihae-sol gestured for her to come over for help.
In the end, it was herself who asked for help, so Eun-ga-ye reluctantly stood up.
***
[Wizard’s Hall]
A vast circular space surrounding the stage.
This place, hosted by the Sorcerer’s Association, was as grand and magnificent as watching La Scala Theatre in Milan.
“Thank you for visiting the Sorcerer’s Association’s auction hall. Please follow me this way.”
Guided by the sorcerer, we moved to the ‘VIP room’ with a perfect view of the stage.
Luxurious wooden chairs and tables with a European touch. Chandeliers on the ceiling. High-quality carpets on the floor, golden ropes used for auction bids, and more.
The VIP room spared no expense, even if it meant breaking the bank.
Of course, we didn’t enter the VIP room because Eun-ga-ye paid a hefty sum or made a reservation in advance.
It was a privilege of the 5th floor, the Noblesse class.
Here, in the black market, the Noblesse class enjoyed privileges wherever they went.
The floor was not just about class distinctions but also about unparalleled privileges.
Of course, that didn’t mean the black market was all sunshine and rainbows.
As much as they took advantage of, the place where everything was taken advantage of was none other than the black market.
“An entrance fee of 1 million won per person, is this for real?”
“This is cheap. Upper class is 1.2 million won.”
“Huh.”
Moreover, the wines and drinks displayed on the tables were not free either.
Some were worth tens of millions, and others even hundreds of millions.
Here, everything was about money, money, money.
Well, it made me realize just how absolute the power that the strong wielded in Eternity was, considering how I had just destroyed a guild on the first floor without anyone batting an eye… Even the victims of the destruction took it for granted. (I later found out that the reason Ha Jaemyung backed down without fighting was because he had checked the class.)
Thanks to that, Han Seyul was able to escape the pressure from the Basgard Guild and comfortably make potions.
I thought that the black market in the game wouldn’t be much different, but in these small details of ‘plausibility,’ the real black market showed many differences from the game’s black market.
“Elaine really gave something amazing.”
Honestly, when exchanging 24 Magic Stones and Blue Marbles, I felt like I was at a disadvantage, but once I actually experienced the benefits of being a ‘Noblesse,’ I could understand how amazing Elaine’s gift was.
Anyway, as I witnessed this ‘money craze’ at the black market, I suddenly felt suspicious.
“Do you have money?”
“Yeah, of course, I brought plenty of bullets.”
“How much did you bring?”
“About 600 million won after deducting the entrance fee? I emptied all my savings. Awakening potions should be enough with this.”
In a world where even supplements cost 600 million won each…
It was natural for the items at the auction house to be expensive since they were not ordinary goods, but still, the monetary units seemed quite disconnected from reality.
“Duras! Duras bracelet for 30 million won. Any more bids?”
While talking with Eungyae about the auction items, the auction continued.
“Duras bracelet sold for 30 million won…”
By the way, the common language at the black market is ‘Korean.’
Since Korea was a superpower, it was natural for Korean to be the common language in gatherings of people from around the world.
“Lionel’s Tears”
“Black Eyed Bead”
“Irene’s Ring”
“Guardian’s Necklace”
As the auction continued, items kept changing hands. Perhaps because the auction was organized by the Wizard’s Association, most of the items were magical.
Seeing me starting to get bored, Eungyae said,
“Let’s just buy Awakening Potions and leave. I’ll treat you to a meal.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“Meat.”
It was when we were about to discuss our meal choices.
“Roderick’s ‘Riddle Box.’ Crafted by Roderick during his lifetime, legend has it that one may gain unknown abilities upon opening it.”
At the mention of the Riddle Box, I turned my gaze. Eungyae, who saw it, shook her head.
“Don’t be so interested, it’s all a lie. It’s just that magical energy can be felt from the box, so they make a big deal out of it at auctions. Nothing’s inside when you open it. It’s a scam, a scam.”
Indeed, just as Eungyae said, no one at the auction house paid any attention to the appearance of the black box.
─Riddle Box, starting bid at 500,000 won.
As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, I immediately grabbed the bidding rope.
“Hey!”
Eungaye shot me a questioning look, but I held the megaphone firmly and declared, “500,000 won.”
─Riddle Box of Roderick sold for 500,000 won! Any more bidders?
There was silence.
─Riddle Box sold for 500,000 won.
The auctioneer hammered down.
Riddle Box.
A sucker’s box.
Laughter erupted in the auction hall, but my expression remained stoic.
I knew what it was.
Why no one had gained abilities from the Riddle Box.
【Roderick’s Riddle Box】
─Upon opening, the player can obtain a random ability once, limited to one use, with a 100% success rate.
That was it.
An item exclusively for players.