The old fish market in District Three had been abandoned for years, ever since a D-Rank dungeon outbreak had contaminated the area with toxic mana residue. Most civilians avoided it, claiming the place felt cursed. Standing there now, my enhanced sense stat picking up dozens of presences hidden in the surrounding buildings, I understood why criminals had chosen it as their territory.
They owned this place. And I'd just walked into their domain.
The market was a maze of rusted metal stalls and crumbling concrete, reeking of old fish and something darker blood, maybe, or worse. My backpack felt heavy against my shoulders, the dungeon core inside pulsing with barely contained energy that only I seemed to notice. Maybe that was my increased sense stat at work, or maybe I was just paranoid.
Probably both.
A figure emerged from behind a collapsed vendor stall. Male, maybe late thirties, with scars crossing his face like a roadmap of violence. He wore a leather jacket despite the warm weather, probably hiding weapons. Two more figures flanked him from the shadows enforcers, making sure I was alone.
"You're younger than I expected," Lee Min-Ho said, his voice matching the gravel texture from the phone. "Chen Wei sent a kid?"
"Chen Wei sent someone who cleared an E-Rank dungeon solo." I kept my voice steady, channeling confidence I didn't quite feel. "Are we doing business or not?"
His scarred face split into a grin. "Got some spine. Good. People who come here scared get eaten alive." He gestured toward a relatively intact building at the market's edge. "Let's talk inside. My associates will make sure we're not interrupted."
Every instinct screamed at me to run. This was how people disappeared in the city lured to abandoned places by promises of money, never seen again. But I'd committed the moment I made that phone call. Running now would mark me as prey.
So I walked into that building like I belonged there.
The interior was surprisingly well-maintained. LED lanterns provided cold light, and a proper desk sat in the center with two chairs. Professional, in a criminal sort of way. Lee Min-Ho settled into one chair and gestured for me to take the other.
"Show me what you've got."
I carefully unwrapped the dungeon core first, placing it on the desk. Even in the artificial light, it glowed with inner fire a sphere of concentrated mana about the size of my fist, swirling with green and blue energy. Lee Min-Ho's eyes widened slightly.
"Intact E-Rank core. Clean extraction." He pulled out a small device that looked like a jeweler's loupe and examined the core closely. "No cracks, good density. This is quality work. You really solo'd a dungeon for this?"
"Yes."
"With what Aura rank? You feel unawakened to me, but that can't be right."
My enhanced stats must have been throwing off his perception. To someone expecting traditional power markers, I probably read as an anomaly. "Does it matter? The core is real."
"Fair enough. Black market rule number one don't ask questions you don't want answered." He set down the loupe and pulled out a calculator. "E-Rank core, official market value is around five million won. I can offer you three million, cash, right now."
Three million. That was six months of rent. New clothes for Yuki and Kenji. Actual groceries instead of instant noodles. But I'd risked my life for this core, and losing two million won to a middleman burned.
"Four million," I countered.
Lee Min-Ho laughed. "You've got balls, kid, but you're not in a position to negotiate. I'm taking all the risk moving this product. If Association trackers are on it, I'm the one going to prison, not you."
"Then why would there be trackers? I extracted it myself from a dungeon I cleared. It's clean."
He studied me for a long moment, then shrugged. "Three point five million. Final offer. Take it or try your luck somewhere else though I should warn you, every other dealer in this district answers to me."
It was still less than the core was worth, but it was also more money than I'd ever held at once. "Deal. And the mana stones?"
"E-Rank stones? Eight thousand each. That's two thousand below market, but again, you're paying for convenience and anonymity."
Seventy-two thousand won for nine stones. Combined with the core, I'd walk out with over three and a half million won. Enough to change everything, at least temporarily.
Lee Min-Ho made a phone call, spoke in rapid Korean too low for me to catch, then hung up. "Money will be here in five minutes. While we wait, let me give you some free advice, kid. You've got potential, clearing a dungeon solo at your age. But potential gets you killed in this business if you're not careful."
"What business? I'm just selling dungeon loot."
"Right. And I'm just a concerned citizen." He leaned back in his chair. "You're going to keep raiding dungeons, aren't you? I can see it in your eyes that hunger for more. Once you taste real power, it's addictive. But here's what you need to understand: the Hunter world isn't fair. It's controlled by guilds, associations, and people with connections you can't imagine."
"I've noticed."
"Then notice this too solo players like you are either recruited or eliminated. The big guilds don't like wildcards. You keep raiding unregistered, eventually someone important will notice. And when they do, you'll have two choices: join them or disappear."
A woman entered the building carrying a metal briefcase. She set it on the desk, nodded to Lee Min-Ho, and left without a word. He opened it, revealing stacks of bills all in fifty-thousand-won notes, neatly bundled.
"Count it if you want."
I did, quickly but thoroughly. Three million five hundred seventy-two thousand won, exactly as agreed. More money than I'd made in six months of grinding at the convenience store. I packed it into my backpack, my hands surprisingly steady.
"One more thing," Lee Min-Ho said as I stood to leave. "You need equipment. That sword you're carrying is a relic. And those clothes won't protect you from anything stronger than a goblin scratch. I know a guy who deals in Hunter gear unofficial stuff, but reliable. Give me your number. I'll text you his contact."
I hesitated, but he was right. My father's sword had nearly broken during the chieftain fight, and my regular clothes offered zero defense. "Fine."
After exchanging numbers, I headed for the exit. The two enforcers outside watched me leave but didn't interfere. I'd passed some kind of test, apparently. Made a first transaction in the criminal underworld and lived to tell about it.
The walk back to the subway felt surreal. I kept expecting someone to rob me, to jump out of an alley and take everything I'd earned. But nothing happened. District Three let me go, at least for today.
My phone buzzed with a text from Lee Min-Ho: "Park Jung-Ho. Tell him I sent you. He's in District Eight, shop called 'Iron Phoenix.' Mention you need beginner gear, he'll set you up. Good luck, kid."
Another contact, another step deeper into the shadows. But I couldn't deny the utility. If I was going to keep raiding dungeons and I was, because the system demanded growth and I demanded power I needed proper equipment.
The subway ride home was crowded with afternoon commuters. I sat there clutching my backpack full of cash, surrounded by ordinary people living ordinary lives. They had no idea what existed in the margins of their world. The dungeons, the black markets, the violence and opportunity lurking just beneath society's surface.
I'd crossed over into that other world now. There was no going back to being the weak, desperate dropout working dead-end jobs. That version of Stefan Hirogi had died in an E-Rank dungeon, and something stronger had emerged.
My phone buzzed again a message from Yuki: "Kenji got in trouble at school. Teacher wants to meet. Can you come?"
Reality crashed back like cold water. Right. I was still a sixteen-year-old guardian of two kids, still responsible for normal life problems. The money in my backpack could solve some of those problems, but it couldn't solve everything.
I texted back: "On my way."
The Hunter world would have to wait. My family came first. That was the whole point of getting stronger to protect them, to give them the life our parents would have wanted.
But as I rode the subway toward Kenji's school, I couldn't help checking my status window, looking at those thirteen unallocated stat points, feeling the potential thrumming through my enhanced body. I'd tasted power now. I'd felt what it was like to be more than human.
And I wanted more.
**[Daily Quest Available!]**
Quest: Prepare to Become Strong
Status: Not Yet Completed Today
Tomorrow's quest. Tomorrow's growth. The system never stopped, never let me rest on my achievements. It pushed constantly for improvement, for evolution.
Just like I would push myself.
Because somewhere out there were the people responsible for my parents' deaths. Somewhere were dungeons that made E-Rank gates look like playgrounds. Somewhere was the truth about why two S-Rank Hunters had died on a "routine" mission.
And I was going to find all of it.
But first, I had to deal with whatever trouble my eleven-year-old brother had gotten into at school. Because that's what guardians did.
Even guardians who secretly fought monsters and dealt with black market criminals.
The duality of my new life was already exhausting, and I'd only just begun.
To be continued...