Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

The first thing that came to Suho’s mind as he walked toward the black market was that the scene resembled a traditional ink painting. The route went through a deep, foggy valley, surrounded by mountainous terrain. Suho followed the curving path upward, and a vast building slowly came into view.

A temple? “Temple” seemed to be the only word he could use to adequately describe the building. Its ceiling rose high into the air, and the stone pillars were crude but elaborately decorated. In the center of the facade was a huge door made of bronze. There was an overwhelming holiness to the place that made its identity as a temple obvious, though it was unclear what divinity it was meant for.

Beru flinched and suddenly looked forward, his eyes glinting sharply. “Young Monarch, I sense many individuals deep inside that building.”

“Humans? Or magic beasts?”

Beru moved his antennae and said with certainty, “Humans with mana. I think they are mostly hunters.”

“What about demons?”

“I sense demons as well, but there are not that many of them. There is no one right inside the door.”

“Just like the branch head said,” Suho replied, nodding and walking carefully toward the building.

He looked up at the firmly shut entrance. The door looked very heavy, and ordinary people could probably never open it. With Suho’s extremely high strength stat, of course, he could not only open it but even destroy it with a single blow if he wanted.

But if I did that, there would be no point in having snuck up here. It was unclear if his grandfather was even inside. It was probably not a good idea to start by attracting attention. Besides, he already knew how to open this door.

Suho produced the Stardust necklace that he had taken from Daeseok. Putting it around his neck, he reached out and gave the door a soft push. Surprisingly enough, the heavy door rumbled and moved as if it weighed nothing.

When the door was fully open, the expansive interior came into view. The building looked damp, with the floors, walls, and ceilings covered with patches of moss.

Suho walked into a corridor, following the torches that were hanging from the walls. He burst into incredulous laughter. “So he was right. Who knew the necklace was actually meant to be used as a pass to enter the black market?”

The public believed that the necklaces had been made in commemoration, seemingly part of a noble movement to pray for those who had died and become the material from which the necklaces were made. Most of the proceeds from selling the necklaces were actually being used for the families of the deceased, in fact, which meant that nobody suspected anything was amiss.

It seems all of that was a front, thought Suho. According to Daeseok, only a very small number of hunters knew the truth. The black market had not been around for very long, which meant that only a few knew about it in the first place. But the knowledge would spread soon enough.

“All it takes is for a few hunters to be told about the black market, and the rumors will take off on their own,” Que said. And once the black market became known, hunters would voluntarily look to acquire these necklaces.

Que stuck his head out, looking intrigued. The black market was quite the interesting place. “This is the sort of business strategy you would expect to find from a Ponzi scheme.” Such scams usually generated victims in this way—they would start with a small number of people and invite others in as if private benefits were being offered. Some of these types of schemes were suspiciously religious in nature.

Suho didn’t care about such things, however, as long as none of it affected him. However, there was a chance here that the religion in question could be the Church of the Outer Gods, which served the Itarim. In any case, one thing was clear—if this place was really the temple of the Church of the Outer Gods, the followers of Itarim had already perfectly adapted to life on earth.

Suho walked along the corridor for a while and soon came to an open, dome-shaped space. It looked several times bigger than an Olympic stadium, or perhaps even larger than that. He was a bit taken aback by what he saw inside, however. He had expected a black market to be very dark and secretive, but things were incredibly cheerful and bright.

“Two hundred kilos of mana stone! I am accepting counteroffers!”

“We have all kinds of ores from the dungeons! Chances are, we’ll have what you need! Come check them out!”

“Special discount today for magic beast corpses! First person to come up gets a cheaper price!”

“Shocking sale underway! In my opinion, the owner has lost his mind! Buy up while you can!”

“If you don’t have any cash, we accept mana stones!”

“Ugh! You’re not from around here, are you? What kind of idiot uses a credit card at a black market?”

It felt like some kind of bustling fair. Countless mats and booths filled the vast space. Many people had taken up their spots and were shouting out to the passersby, selling their wares.

Suho laughed incredulously. “What is this, some kind of bazaar?” It was supposed to be a black market that had been created with the purpose of evading taxes, but it looked more like a flea market for secondhand goods. There were some surprises in store as well.

“Young Monarch, it seems that there are blacksmiths who will process ores into weapons for money,” Beru said.

“You’re right. And most of the blacksmiths are demons,” Suho remarked.

Surprisingly, humans and demons seemed to coexist peacefully here. Passing visitors who bartered goods were usually hunters, but those who had set up shop and were producing and selling goods were demons in crow masks. In other words, the demons were like the staff who ran the market. ṝã₦ꝋβÊⱾ

A market where humans and demons do business alongside each other?How odd, Suho thought.

“Master, I see an auction house and a gambling house over there, too,” Que said.

Hmm? Suho turned in the direction Que was pointing and finally saw something that seemed to fit the setting of a black market.

“J-just one more round! Lend me some money! I’ll win more and repay you!”

Hunters in front of the gambling house who seemed to have wasted all their money were begging to borrow more. They summoned mana from their bodies in frustration, but the guards in crow masks who were blocking the gambling house entrance gripped them tightly by the shoulders.

“I’m sorry. Please calm down. We won’t be allowing that kind of behavior.”

“We don’t wish to throw you off the premises by force.”

“S-so just lend me some money, just one more time!”

“Ugh. All right, then. Why don’t you take part in a few games yourself?”

“Wh-what?”

“No worries. We will ensure that you are not outmatched.”

The gamblers seemed shaken by this offer made by the demons, though they still seemed unable to take their eyes off the gambling house. Eventually, the hunters came to a decision they would regret.

“Y-you promise?”

“Of course. You know how it works. Our underground arena is about hand-to-hand fighting, with no items allowed. You are powerful hunters. What have you to worry about?”

“W-well, then… Can we get an advance on some of that money?”

Suho saw the demons smile broadly behind their masks. They had apparently found some new victims to take advantage of.

A guard took the hands of a hunter. “Of course you can. Let us discuss the particulars of the contract over there.”

Suho watched as the gamblers followed the demons. An underground arena?So it’s literally a deal with the devil, he mused.

“You are aware, Young Monarch, that gambling is a shortcut to ruin. Huh? Why are you walking in that direction?”

“Didn’t you hear? There’s an underground arena. It can’t hurt to watch.”

The gatekeeper demons bowed politely to Suho when he approached.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. Are you from a different factory?” one of them asked. They glanced up at the horns on Suho’s head with some wariness.

“Respond in an arrogant tone.Vulcan’s Horn has made them think that you are a higher demon than they are,” Esil advised in his head.

Suho nodded briefly and said, “I heard the rumors and dropped by to have a look. Is there a problem?” He made sure the demons could see the Stardust necklace around his neck.

The gatekeepers quickly backed away, and one responded in a friendly tone, “Of course not. There is no problem at all. We always welcome visitors from new factories. If you need us to show you around, we are more than willing to oblige.”

Odd. Suho received the impression that they were like sales agents looking to establish new business connections. They didn’t seem to hide this intent of theirs at all.

“If you don’t mind… May we ask how many Star Fragments you have?” At the same time, their snakelike gazes looked Suho—who seemed empty-handed—up and down. “As you know, so many factories have completely run dry recently.”

Suho was silent for a moment, and Esil whispered telepathically as if offended, “Disgusting.These low-level demons shouldn’t dare to talk this way to a horned demon!”

“Hey, no need for you to be upset.It’s not like I’m a real demon.” Suho responded with his thoughts. It seemed that the hierarchy among demons was not a major consideration in this place.

The gatekeepers suddenly smiled mockingly at him.

“Ah. Just as we expected. We knew the moment you arrived empty-handed. There are so many demons nowadays coming to us without a single fragment to offer—”

A bag of Stardust suddenly appeared in Suho’s hand, which had been empty just a moment before. The gatekeepers’ eyes went wide.

It did not stop at just one bag. More bags appeared one by one. Suho had stored all the Stardust that he had acquired while looting demon factories in his inventory.

A sardonic smile appeared on his lips as he showed the bags to the demons. “Not enough for you?”

“I-it’s more than enough, sir!”

“P-please come this way! We will show you to the VIP room!”

“Go on, then.”

“Yes, sir!”

The demons immediately grew submissive and guided Suho inside. His eyes gleamed sharply as he followed them. The VIP room, huh?Demons sure know how to live.

It had been a good idea to pretend to be a demon from the start. If he wanted to find out whether his grandfather was here, it would be quickest to start his investigation in the deepest part of the market.

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