abcnovels
Chapter 150
Chapter 150
Chapter 150
Translator: rainbowturtle
Editors: LD & Jyazen
A man stood in the sophisticated black market located in the basement of Portland. It was Damian, the guild leader of the Zeus Guild, and hewas waiting at the entrance of the auction house for the people he would attend the upcoming auction together with.
“Why aren’t they here yet?” he grumbled as he waited for two of his executives, Reina and Reinhardt. He had waited so long that it seemed they were lost.
“I should send a whisper...”
Just then, a voice was heard, “Damiaaaaan~?”
It was a coquettish nasally voice. This was definitely Reina. She was walking while showing off her figure, as usual.
‘Why is she wearing those clothes?’
It was Reina coming over but her outfit was a bit different from usual. She had the assassin-type job called Reaper of the Battlefield. She liked wearing leggings that clung to her body but today, she was wearing a red dress with fishnet that showed off her white thighs. It was such a sight that the passing men stared at her.
“No, what the hell is that outfit?”
“Oh my~ the guild leader is also against my clothes~?”
Reina placed a hand on his shoulders and revealed her thighs. He was sensitive to this type of touch so he reddened and coughed. “Cough. It isn’t like that. By the way, why are you suddenly shopping?”
Reinhardt stood behind her, holding large shopping bags. There were so many that Reinhardt’s face couldn’t be seen at all. They must all belong to Reina. Reinhardt smiled as he put down the bags in his arms. “Kuhaha! Reina told me I could confess to her if I bought her clothes, so I did!”
Damian sighed. “Weren’t you rejected last time?
“Huh? Reina! Are you going to reject me?”
“Huhu, I need to look at your performance.”
“Then I’ll confess now! I love you, Reina!”
“Huhu, then I’ll refuse. However, you are starting to look a bit masculine.”
"Wuhahaha! Reinhardt is a man!”
Reina leaned back slightly on his thigh and Reinhardt snorted and struck his chest. It was the appearance of a gorilla.
‘I can’t stop it.’
He didn’t know what was good about that fox Reina but Reinhardt liked her. Looking at this, he must’ve bought all these things with the money he got from selling Minotaur’s Hammer earlier on.
“Reinhardt, did you buy all of this with your money?”
"Wuhahaha! That’s right!”
“...Poor guy.”
It seemed that Reinhardt had been robbed. By the way, how much was Minotaur’s Hammer sold for? Was it $7 million...?
In fact, hammer type weapons didn’t tend to be expensive. The expensive ones were usually swords, spears, or bows or, if people preferred it, a staff. Due to the heavy weight of hammers, there were many gaps. Therefore, they were usually only used by blacksmiths. They were combat-affiliated blacksmiths who fought by manufacturing and using various bombs.
“In any case, let’s go in. It will soon be 9 o’clock.”
“Oh~ It is already that time~?”
"Wuhahaha! I wonder how much Reina’s item will sell for?”
Just then, a broadcast was heard.
-Ahh.This is a notice.The auction scheduled for 9 o’clock will soon begin.If you’re looking to make a bid then please come to the auction house.
“Let’s go. We will see how much it will sell for.”
Damian joined the group and entered the auction house.
* * *
Meanwhile, I was led by Aidan to the black market in the basement. I split up with the group. Joseph had gone to buy the things that Sujeong had asked for. The plan was to sell the jewels at the black market to buy herbs but there was no need for that now that we had money. That damn Kis was still flirting with the women upstairs. Drain had gone to the black market with me but our roads diverged and thus we split up. He said he wanted to go see the various fabrics being sold in the black market while I ended up in a clothing store instead.
It was also alone with Aidan. No, those people guarding AIdan were also present.
“Huhu. What about this? It is a vintage outfit made by the best designer in Fortren.”
“Ah, yes. Haha. It’s pretty good.”
Aidan picked up the colorful clothes and urged me but I shook my head. The best designer label was nonsense. It was a long way away from Drain’s skills.
“They are only 10 coins. Wouldn’t you like to buy them?”
The coins he was talking about right now was this.
[Chocolate Coin Jeong]
[Rating: Normal
A small chocolate coin common at the black market in Fortren. However, in reality, it is the secret currency of the black market and one is worth $100,000.
The character ‘Jeong’ is engraved on the back, symbolizing the black market that seeks credit.
-$100,000 for one coin, $10,000 if split into 10 pieces.
-It can be exchanged for dollars ($) on the 1st floor of Portland Casino.]
I was very upset when I read the description. This was the choco pie that I always saw on TV.
“Would you like to buy it? It is very cheap.”
I sneered at his answer again. 10 coins was one million dollars. What was one million dollars? At first glance, the clothing wasn’t even worth $10,000.
“I’m not interested in clothes. Huhu.”
It was inconceivable to think that the cost of the clothing was the same as the construction cost of the Temple of the Wind. I laughed and Aidan frowned. “Hrmm. You are a noble but you’re frugal. You really don’t like anything?”
I was suddenly a noble...? This idiot seemed to have mistaken me for a Fortren noble. However, it was quite plausible. I was wearing a mask but my clothes made me look dignified. The charisma stat that rose from frequently being in a party also contributed. In any case, Fortren was a place that pursued capitalism and a person who looked glamorous would seem to have a high class.
“Well, I love cooking.”
“Ohu. You are a gourmet.”
“Is there a place to fill my stomach?”
It felt like my satiety was starting to decline. I thought I should eat something. I would like to cook but I couldn’t do it here. If I knew it would be like this, I would’ve brought some ingredients with me. I used all my ingredients during my time cooking for the people of Garbage Village.
It was such a harsh environment. They had weak strength and couldn’t afford to hunt monsters or animals. If they go hunting, it was common for dozens of people to be injured or killed.
...It was amazing how they had survived up until now. I heard there was a nobleman secretly supporting them by sending food and many necessities. He was a complete philanthropist.
“Yes, there is a decent restaurant not far from here. It is a place with a course menu so let’s go.”
I followed his instructions and started to move slowly. The place where I arrived was a high quality restaurant that looked very expensive. There was a signboard that stated today’s menu. I read it.
[Today's Menu (70 coins)
-A course special set meal:
Five-tailed Eagle Winged Barbecue.
Fresh Crayfish Crab Sashimi.
Snake Frog Pollack Roe Stew.
Pumpkin Seasoned Bat Meat.
......
There was too much. There were more dishes on the menu than I thought. There were so many course dishes that I was dizzy. It was the first time I had seen such dishes. I wanted to eat them but there were a few words that stood out. 70 coins. Crazy. It was a $7 million course. This meant I could build seven Temple of the Winds at once. The prices were a bit insane. Who would buy this?
“...What are you doing?”
There were more people in the restaurant than I expected but they all looked like Fortren’s nobles. They all looked like tycoons wearing beautiful clothing.
“Recently, this is one of the best restaurants in Fortren. It might be located in a special place called the black market but this is a trading city. It makes a variety of dishes imported from various kingdoms. It's an interesting place.”
I turned my gaze back to today’s menu. The chef’s name was written in small letters at the bottom.
-Cooked by the 1st ranked chef, Milang.
The name was Milang but that wasn’t the important thing. 1st ranked. The meaning was obvious. It meant he was a user like me. The person who ran this was a user...?
Aidan continued speaking, “I heard that the chef here is an immortal human. He was originally a chef in the Orca Kingdom but came here because he couldn’t make any money.”
“Ah, I see...”
It certainly seemed possible to make a lot of money. A capitalist system like this was a good place to make money. I opened the ranking window for the first time. In fact, I was able to open it after I’ve reached level 100 but I never did because I didn’t dwell on the rankings. Then a message appeared straight away.
[Do you want to register your ranking?]
[Your name might be revealed.]
[If you don’t want to, close the window.]
...My name had already been revealed? After I was appointed as a village chief in Windia, the name Jackson had been added to all the newspapers. The one good thing was that there were several people with the same name. Even if the same name was duplicated, Arkstar recognized them as different people due to the unique code. There were no mishaps with people of the same name receiving a whisper.
[Your ranking has been registered.]
The moment I was registered, I found my class ranking. I wasn’t interested in the domestic or world rankings. All I wanted to see was my chef ranking. I was able to check it straight away.
[Currently, your chef class ranking is 54th.]
Um, it was higher than I thought? On the other hand, it sounded like there were 53 people above me. They probably didn’t level up through combat like me but raised themselves purely through cooking. I was alarmed for a moment. I needed to polish my cooking a bit more.
“...Sir? Sir Jackson?”
Suddenly, the world flowed quickly and Aidan’s voice was heard. It seemed I had been too focused.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was thinking.”
“Haha, are you worried about what to eat?”
“...Cough. No, there are some dishes that I don’t like.”
“Huh?”
It was too expensive. It was better to eat skewers on the side of the road. This was only a good place to rip people off.
...Just like that damn Aidan.
At this time, something caught my eye.
“This...?”
Aidan followed my gaze and frowned severely. He continued speaking with a distorted expression, “This is the place where the residents of Garbage Village, Fortren’s lowest and poorest, sell their trash. It’s so vulgar that I’m afraid you’ll lose your appetite. Just come in here with me...”
I headed straight there the moment I heard it was Garbage Village. It was a small stall but no one came to it. It seemed like only flies would be around it. However, I liked these types of places.
“No, this is a place where garbage is sold...”
He was noisy. I ignored Aidan who was red-faced. I approached the freckled girl who seemed to be the owner of the stand and asked, “How much is this?”
It seemed like I was a philanthropist.
* * *
After a while, all the snacks of the small stall were sold to me. It cost exactly 0.5 coins but I generously gave 1 coin. The freckled girl thanked me repeatedly. She seemed to like that she could go home early today. I looked at her back moving farther and farther away and felt proud.
"No, why are you buying food from the people of Garbage Village?” Aidan, who was next to me, looked upset.
How did this guy grow up that he had such thoughts? I wanted to pull him into an alley if I could but there were many soldiers guarding him. I had no choice but to make excuses. “Cough. It is disturbing to see the residents of Garbage Village who came here. That’s why I bought it all to get rid of them.”
I thought it was a plausible excuse. Aidan clapped with admiration and smiled.
“Kuhaha! I see. I was too short-sighted. I didn’t understand Sir Jackson’s deep thoughts. Hahahaha!”
This trash. He was the one who should live in Garbage Village, not the girl. He should be locked up in prison and only fed fried dumplings.
-Ahh.This is a notice.The auction scheduled for 9 o’clock will soon begin.If you’re looking to make a bid then please come to the auction house.
“Auction house?”
I didn’t know there was an auction house here. How was it different from the outside auction house?
“Haha. Things worked out well. The last place I wanted to take Sir Jackson was the auction house. The auction house here has much rarer items than the outside ones.”
“Ah, I see.”
“The rarest item that will appear today is Minotaur’s Blazing Heart. Haha. I’m looking forward to seeing how much it will sell for.”
My eyes widened for a moment. Minotaur’s Blazing Heart—I remembered that if I ate it, my attribute would be fixed to the fire type but I would be able to acquire one of Minotaur’s powers. It was being sold for some reason. How much would it sell for?
“Let’s go and take a look.”