Chapter : 43
Reward and Change (6)
In Pyongyang, one could find buildings of all kinds.
The place where Pranzo stopped was a narrow shop with a low-looking ceiling. At first glance, it resembled an old traditional herbal medicine shop. When they opened the door and stepped inside, the room was packed with unidentified items.
“Where’s the owner?”
“In the back… Mr. Bjorn! Mr. Bjorn!”
“I’m here.”
“…?”
Only then did Suhyeon realize the one who answered wasn’t human.
He was only about chest-high.
A dwarf.
“A dwarf and an elf… and what you’re doing here is illegal trading?”
Some non-human races adapted well to human society, but others didn’t. In the back alleys of Planet Cameron, it wasn’t uncommon to see non-humans working in shady businesses.
“What’s with this guy? Why is he spouting nonsense the moment he arrives?”
The dwarf called Bjorn came walking out with an irritated expression.
Dwarves weren’t that different from humans. They were just shorter, with somewhat superior strength and stamina. Otherwise, their appearance was similar.
“He’s a customer, Mr. Bjorn. I brought him. He said he’s looking for poison…”
“Your introductions have to be trustworthy first.”
Bjorn plopped down onto a round chair and gestured for the two of them to sit as well.
“So. A customer?”
“Yes.”
“Someone reliable?”
“Uh… I guarantee it.”
Pranzo said that for now. Since he had brought him, if he didn’t sound confident, the blame might fall on him as well.
From what he could see, Suhyeon seemed far from being a government agent. If Suhyeon really worked for the government, he should’ve been arrested the moment Pranzo tried to scam him with that “Earth Dragon meat.”
No way a guy like that is part of an inspection squad.
“What’s your guarantee worth? Got any ID?”
“ID?”
“That’s meaningless anyway. What do you do?”
“Mercenary.”
“Hm…”
Bjorn stroked his beard while scanning Suhyeon from head to toe.
“A mercenary looking for poison… So you’re not looking for anything ordinary.”
“Obviously. If I wanted something ordinary, why would I come here?”
“You got money?”
“Don’t worry. I brought enough.”
“Show me first.”
Suhyeon pulled out an electronic card from his pocket. It was untraceable—just enter the password and you could withdraw money instantly.
With the troll hunt and the success of this latest job, Suhyeon had quickly accumulated tens of millions. But Planet Cameron had just as many places to spend money as there were to earn it. Saving money just because you earned a lot was foolish.
“Check it.”
“Money, mercenary… alright. Pranzo, search him. Take out any electronics.”
Pranzo looked at Suhyeon awkwardly, but Suhyeon calmly nodded. This level of precaution was normal in illegal dealings.
“Th-then I’ll begin.”
“Am I going to eat you? Hurry up.”
Suhyeon hadn’t brought much. Just a smartwatch.
When he turned it off and placed it down, Bjorn stood and walked inside.
“Follow me.”
A strange smell lingered in the hallway. It was the scent of many different ingredients mixed together.
“Don’t try anything funny. If you die in here, nobody will know.”
“You’re good at threatening.”
Suhyeon chuckled and brushed off the warning.
What’s with this guy?
“Looking for anything specific?”
“Taiyo Company’s Onigoroshi. Single-digit series.”
“…!”
Bjorn turned his head sharply to stare at him. Shock was written all over his face.
“Onigoroshi? You planning to hunt a giant or something?”
“What I use the poison for is my business. Why are you asking so many pointless questions for someone running a black market?”
“My apologies.”
“So… do you have it or not?”
“I have numbers 1, 2, 6, 7, and 9.”
“You siphoned off quite a lot. Works for me. I’ll take them all.”
“….”
Bjorn had already sensed this man wasn’t ordinary, but hearing he’d buy everything sparked his curiosity. Still, after years in this trade, he knew digging too deeply could be suicidal.
What exactly is he planning with this stuff?
Adventurers and mercenaries who took on dangerous challenges were always interesting. Whether they succeeded or failed, the information they brought back could always be sold.
“How much?”
Instead of answering, Bjorn held up five fingers.
“Five hundred? That’s surprisingly reasonable.”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Five thousand.”
“Are you insane? You’re trying to make ten times the profit? That’s shameless.”
Suhyeon wasn’t stingy with money, but he wasn’t someone who’d ignore such blatant price gouging either.
Bjorn was actually surprised by something else. Even among people seeking illegal poison, few asked for Taiyo Company’s Onigoroshi. It was from a small company and had been banned shortly after release.
But the man in front of him even knew the production cost.
“Let’s make it a thousand. Double profit is enough.”
“Then why would I run this business? I can lower it to 4,500.”
“1,000. What do you say?”
“Not a chance under 4,000.”
“I’m being generous here. 1,000.”
“Are you kidding me?! Do you think I’m some idiot?!”
Suhyeon spoke as if he were raising the price, but never moved past 1,000. Bjorn finally snapped.
“You think this is a joke?!”
“I’m perfectly serious.”
“So you found what I said earlier funny? That nobody would know if you died here?”
“Try it if you can.”
“…!”
Suhyeon stared down at Bjorn without blinking.
“Looks like you’ve got them hiding behind there. Pull the trigger and they’ll come out. Go ahead. I’d love to take the poison without paying.”
“…!”
Bjorn felt sweat forming down his back. No one like Suhyeon had ever come here before. This man even knew the locations of the hidden guards prepared for emergencies.
Bjorn glared at Pranzo.
Pranzo, who had unknowingly dragged Bjorn into this mess, turned pale and waved his hands.
“You little—”
“I swear I don’t know anything!”
“Hey. Let’s compromise.”
The tense atmosphere broke with Suhyeon’s voice.
He had pushed enough—now it was time to ease off. He didn’t want a fight here either. Taking them all down would be easy, but it would make using the black market impossible afterward. No one wanted a customer who resorted to violence whenever things went wrong.
“We got heated earlier… but there’s no need for that. Sorry for being stubborn. Let’s say 2,500.”
“….”
Bjorn stayed silent for a moment before nodding. Pushing further wouldn’t end well. The man wasn’t reckless—but that made him even more dangerous. He could use threats as negotiation tools without hesitation.
“Fine. I’ll give in.”
“Much appreciated.”
Suhyeon grinned and bowed slightly. Since he’d won the negotiation, he needed to save the other party’s pride.
Bjorn still looked displeased but said nothing.
“Oh, one more thing.”
“What?”
“If you managed to siphon off five of those, you probably have other stuff too. Do you have double-digit models?”
“I do, but…”
Poisons from No.1 to No.9 of Taiyo Company were infamous finished products. But anything numbered 10 and above were closer to incomplete raw materials. Individually, their effects were insignificant.
“How many do you have?”
“I’ve got the whole set. They don’t sell.”
“Not surprising. Who’d bother mixing them manually? Add those too.”
“All of them? You want everything?”
“Is that a problem?”
“…Are you a blending technician?”
Bjorn became interested. The only people who bought raw poison materials in bulk were poison blending technicians.
Instead of answering, Suhyeon simply smirked.
For Bjorn, that was enough.
“If you’re a poison blending technician… interested in making real money?”
Talented poison blenders were valuable. Custom poison optimized for specific monsters could earn enormous profit.
“I’m already doing something profitable.”
“If you ever change your mind, come see me.”
Bjorn had run black market dealings for years. He could judge people fairly well.
Suhyeon was clearly exceptional—from what he searched for to how he handled threats.
“Alright then… shall we start negotiating this too?”
“….”
Later.
“Good. That settles your debt from before.”
“Th-thank you.”
Pranzo nodded with a pitiful expression. If things hadn’t ended well, Bjorn might have blacklisted him entirely.
Although Suhyeon bought a large variety of poison, the actual quantity wasn’t large. Poison wasn’t something you used in bulk.
Come to think of it… wasn’t there poison-related magic too?
He clearly remembered seeing it in Rubenfelt’s Grimoire. Suhyeon searched through his memories again.
[Poison Art]
- Abairam’s Poison: 0/1
- Homef’s Poison: 0/1
- Vladsolam’s Poison: 0/1
…
The list was endless.
And many of them were poisons whose locations were unknown.
They all shared one thing—poison—but collecting them would be extremely difficult.
Poison Art… sounds like the ability to control poison itself. Tempting.
For someone like Suhyeon, who often dealt with poison, it was an attractive ability. He didn’t know exactly how it worked, but considering the usefulness of magic, there was no downside to obtaining it.
The magic part was disappointing, but preparations were mostly done.
Now he only needed one more thing.
“A bow? Sure, we have those…”
When Suhyeon visited the gun shop he had used during the troll hunt with Kim Chang-sik, the owner looked confused.
The shop didn’t only sell guns, so they had bows too. But against monsters, bows were rarely used. Even though they were silent, they had too many disadvantages.
“You mean a compound crossbow?”
Modernized crossbows with mechanical mechanisms were weaker than firearms but still competitive.
“No. Just a bow.”
“What? What exactly are you trying to hunt? Are there monsters around here that weak?”
“If there weren’t, I wouldn’t be buying one.”
The owner still looked puzzled but brought one out anyway when Suhyeon insisted.
What he couldn’t understand even more was Suhyeon buying a recurve bow, not even a compound bow.
What is he planning to hunt?
Suhyeon lightly plucked the bowstring and nodded.
Since he wasn’t planning to hunt monsters, this level of power was more than enough.
