Chapter 79 – Black Market Eighth Shopping (3)

Sungjin asked holding up the spellbook

“If I use this… and go back in time… my memory remains intact?”

“Yes, of course.”

“If I reverse time, how many seconds can it go back?”

“That depends on the Magic Power.”

As he listened to Soldamyr, Sungjin felt

‘If I want to master magic as well, I’m going to need more stat points.’

The effectiveness of a spell is proportional to Magic Power. And in order to properly utilize it, he also needed a fairly high value of Mind Power which affects MP.

Sungjin originally wanted to continue using swordsmanship as his primary source of damage and use magic on the side as a backup support utility. But the more he found out about what magic was capable of, the more he wanted it.

“According to my research, Magic Power affects the rate in which you go back in time, and Mind Power affects the duration of time reversal. With Master’s current level of Magic and Mind power, draining your entire pool would result in some fraction of a second of time reversal.”

Of course, such a small reversal of time would prove to be useless. Sungjin asked while holding the book up.

“How much is this?

The Blue Dragonkin skipped straight to the price.

“162414”

It was a monstrous sum. But considering its effects, it was a reasonable amount. In a fight against a master, being able to go back in time for even a few seconds would be a significant advantage.

‘And…’

Even omitting combat usefulness, he could think of a few other utility for it. Sungjin put down the book for now.

‘I am glad that I came.’

Even though he was unable to afford the spells he wanted for now, these spells would be immensely useful in the future. Sungjin headed to the Green Magic shop next.

“Welcome. Is there something in particular you are looking for?”

The Green Dragonkin was soft-spoken and polite.

“I am looking for magic to nullify poison.”

“Ah, we have that… here.”

The Green Dragonkin searched for and handed Sungjin a Spellbook. ‘Neutralization’. It was a type of purification magic. Soldamyr added an explanation from the side.

“The potency of the purification is affected by Magic Power level. The type and severity of poisons and toxins it can counteract grows with Magic Power.”

“How much is this?”

“It is 3570 Black Coins”

“Hmm… Check out. Please.”

Once Sungjin was done buying the spell he wanted, he asked

“Do you sell 9th class magic here?”

“Of course”

As if he was prepared to hand it over at any time, the Green Dragonkin pulled a book out of a stack and handed the fancy well-decorated book to Sungjin. The book title read ‘Force of Nature’

It was difficult to tell what this spell does with only the name. Sungjin accepted the book and glanced over to Soldamyr. He quickly understood what his Master wanted and began an explanation.

“This magic turns the very environment into a friendly state.”

The explanation was a little lacking. When Sungjin made a face, the Green Dragonkin further gave an explanation.

“Force of nature; It is a spell that makes all animals, plants, and even the unseeable amoeba in the area wish to be helpful to you. For destruction or reconstruction, whatever you wish.”

It was a more detailed explanation than before, but he probably needed to use it first hand to fully understand what it does. Sungjin put down the book for now.

“Thank you for explaining it to me.”

The last place Sungjin went to visit was the Black Magic shop kept by a Black Dragonkin. The Black Dragonkin saw Sungjin enter the store, but he looked annoyed.

“…Huh? If you want something, get it and get out.”

‘How unsociable’

Sungjin checked a few things in the shop.

It was a shop full of curse type magic like ‘Rise of the Undead’ ‘Age’ ‘Confusion’ ‘Slow’. Sungjin asked Soldamyr.

“Any recommendations?”

“From here… something like this would be good.

Soldamyr handed Sungjin a spellbook of ‘Anti Magic Shield’.

“It is a spell which can be prepared ahead of time to block a single incoming spell. A type of magic counter so to speak. Other schools of magic have a similar spell, but none are as versatile or effective as this.”

It sounded useful. Especially considering ‘what happened before’. Sungjin immediately decided to buy it.

“How much is this?”

The Black Dragonkin answered uncaringly.

“6050 Coins.”

It was quite expensive. But Sungjin still wanted the spell. He took a moment to check his funds.

“Operator, how many Black coins do I have left?”

[30358 Coins remaining]

He still had a large sum remaining, but he needed to save money for spending it at ‘Darker than Black’.

‘Star of the Nameless is one thing… I wanted to get one or two more marbles…’

Sungjin began calculating in his head.

‘Let’s see… Teleport was 6300… if I get them both… 12350 Coins… then I wouldn’t have enough for the Star…’

He would have to choose between the two spells. Sungjin deliberated on his choice before finally making up his mind.

‘Since I already have invisibility… I can forgo the teleport for now.’

“I want to buy this please.”

He purchased the ‘Anti Magic Shield’ spellbook. He didn’t need Soldamyr to tell him that he would need strong Magic Power to stop powerful magic.

After buying the spell he needed, he searched for the 9th Class Magic Spell again and found it. The 9th class magic spell was called ‘Summon Black Hole’.

Even the name was terrifying. Soldamyr gave an explanation to Sungjin.

“It is not a well-known spell. The Red Magic spell ‘Meteor Strike’ causes only physical damage…but Summon Black Hole… it causes damage across the dimensions… or so it is said.”

“Hmm… ok.”

Sungjin couldn’t really tell how it worked. Black holes were a difficult concept to grasp to begin with. Once Sungjin was done taking a tour of the Magic Shops, he ended his shopping.

In the end, Sungjin bought five spells; ‘Heal’, ‘Invisibility’, ‘Purify’, ‘Neutralize’, and ‘Anti Magic Shield’.

After taking a look at the spells he purchased, Sungjin realized that they were all supportive magic befitting a magic swordsman rather than a true mage. Since he was a swordsman to begin with, it couldn’t be helped.

‘Later… once I have higher stats… I should be able to use those spells.’

Sungjin left the market and reentered Ninety Nine Nights. He ‘memorized’ all the spells he obtained and went to bed as early as he could.

He still had business to attend to in Darker Than Black.

*

“Welcome”

The merchant in ‘Darker than Black’ welcomed Sungjin with wide open arms.

“So how goes the hunt?”

“So so.”

Sungjin answered indifferently as he sat down in front of the merchant.

“I have a question for you.”

“Ask anything.”

Sungjin took out the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ out of his vest and placed it on top of the table.

“About this”

The man picked up the book and commented

“Ah, this thing… It’s quite fun. I’ve read it at least 10 times I think”

“It’s a great item… but there are moments when it is difficult to read it. Any solutions?”

“Ah…well… if you think so…”

The man pulled out something from his pocket. It was a luxurious looking gold framed Monocle.

“Gourmet’s old monocle. It reads the book on your behalf.”

Gourmet. It was a familiar name. Sungjin searched his memories for a moment before responding.

“Gourmet? The bookshop owner Gourmet?”

“Yes. It is the monocle Gourmet used to wear.”

Sungjin picked it up to check the Operator’s information screen.

Gourmet’s Monocle

Heroic Accessory

Active Skill

Substitute Reading (I) Reads the book on behalf of the user.

Gourmet’s Monocle. He initially had only one bad eye, but through years of intense reading, sight in both eyes went bad.

“This is worth 15,000 Black Coins. Will you buy it?”

Sungjin stared at the item. He had 24308 coins remaining. He wanted to buy this as well as the Star of the Nameless. But instead of those

“… Just give me two more Trollseeker Marbles.”

He chose to buy more marbles instead. Judging from the previous rounds, he had plenty of time left over. Instead of buying items that he wouldn’t immediately need, it made more sense to invest in increasing his income. Sungjin took out the three marbles from his pocket.

“And recharge these.”

“Total is 23,000 Coins.”

“Check out.”

Now Sungjin had a total of 5 marbles.

‘Now… I should be able to get almost 4~50,000 coins per raid.’

That was Sungjin’s thoughts. Since he purchased spells he needed this time, he could buy the items after the next raid. Sungjin pulled out the White Coin next.

“And… with this…”

The man was surprised each time Sungjin brought the White Coin.

“Where did you get THIS one?”

“A long story. Anyway, you said there’s nothing else other than the holy water that I could be buying with just one coin right?”

“Right.”

Sungjin thought for a moment. Rather than save up White coins, it would be more beneficial to buy and carry a second Holy water of Baptism, since he was expecting to enter 6 realms per chapter.

What if he ran into two hunters he really liked?

“Then give me another one.”

Sungjin flicked the coin over to the man with his thumb, and the man snatched it out of the air. Once he put it away into his vest, he pulled out another vial of ‘Holy Water of Baptism’.

Sungjin also placed this into the cube. He stood up from his seat.

“It was good doing business with you as always.”

“Yeah.”

Sungjin wanted to leave right away. No matter how often he came here he couldn’t get used to it. But on his way out before he reached the stairs, he suddenly thought of a question.

Sungjin stopped and turned around to re-enter the shop to ask the man.

“Hey, I no longer have a problem with making money thanks to the 5 marbles I have purchased… but… My stat points aren’t keeping up. So, is there any way to dramatically increase my stat points?”

The man grinned at Sungjin’s question.

“I have thus said; He who seeks questions get answers and he who seeks answers find questions. I believe you have finally gotten used to how this shop works.”

The man pulled out a small triangular vial about the same size as the Holy Water of Baptism from within his vest. It was filled with Black Liquid.

“It’s an elixir. The moment you drink it, it raises the total amount of unallocated stat points you have.”

Sungjin stared at the vial of black liquid before asking

“So, how much?”

*

In the early morning when Sungjin arrived at the Ninety Nine Nights, he headed back to bed. But he couldn’t sleep.

‘9th circle spells…and the elixir…’

There was a lot on his mind. After spending 20 minutes rolling about the bed and staring up at the ceiling, Sungjin got up from the bed. He picked up the ‘Information sheet’ left behind by Dalupin.

Sungjin carried that downstairs to the lobby, but he was also not feeling very hungry. He said to Dalupin

“One vine of grapes… and two oranges please.”

After ordering two different fruits, Sungjin began to read the content of the information page.

‘Information concerning Magician’s Ivory Tower’