Chapter 10
{You have cleared the first stage!}
After completing the first stage, I received two rewards.
{10 Raid Points have been accumulated.}
First, the Raid Points. These points are essential for obtaining rewards from the raid.
When the final boss is defeated, participants who have reached that stage share the rewards.
At this point, those with the highest Raid Points choose their rewards in order.
To get the best and most valuable items, one must accumulate as many Raid Points as possible.
{You have acquired 5,000 Gold.}
The second reward was Gold. A currency I was already very familiar with.
“Take a look at my wares! There are many useful items here!”
An NPC merchant was advertising to the Awakeners.
The clear blue sky, the ships docked at the port, the streets with carriages passing by, and rows of red-brick buildings lining the road.
The place I arrived at after completing the first stage was a fantasy city styled after medieval Europe.
“You can stay at our inn and have meals for just 50 Gold!”
“Want me to sharpen your sword? Or you could just get a new one.”
“Don’t forget to take potions when you go hunting monsters.”
In a raid, there were intermediate areas for rest and preparation, where Gold was used as currency. Awakeners used this Gold to pay for lodging, food, weapons, gear, and various tools. It was an indispensable currency in the raid dungeon, where participants were isolated for a long time.
{Gold in possession: 74,146,891}
And I had an enormous amount of it right from the start.
Of course, I hadn’t brought this Gold to spend on lodging or potion costs—there was a specific purpose for it.
“I found it.”
It was the black market.
[If you think you can’t get a good final reward due to insufficient Raid Points, saving Gold and buying items from the black market is an option.]
[Many Awakeners in the raid try to collect Gold instead of progressing through the stages just to buy items from the black market.]
According to an online information post I had read before joining, raid participants had two options: Focus on earning the minimum necessary Gold and advancing to the final stage, or Stop midway to accumulate Gold alone.
Depending on their abilities, needs, and goals, most people would choose one of these paths.
‘But not me.’
I had a smartphone that allowed me to easily obtain Gold with real money.
This meant I could buy whatever I wanted without needing to gather Gold.
Thanks to this, I could aim for both the final rewards and the black market items.
“Looking for something?”
An old man at the entrance to the back alley leading to the black market spoke to me. Without replying, I held out my hand.
{Would you like to hand over 10,000 Gold to the other party?}
The entrance fee to the black market was 10,000 Gold. This amount alone far exceeded the Gold I had earned from clearing a stage.
“Ho, sharp as a tack. Go on in.”
The old man moved aside with a look of admiration, and I proceeded down the alleyway.
Walking forward, I eventually reached an area where iron bars, like those of a prison, stretched on both sides.
Beyond these bars, black market merchants were waiting with various items piled up.
“……”
They said nothing, giving off a vibe that suggested I could buy if I wanted or leave if not.
I didn’t need any unnecessary interaction with them, as I had already decided what to purchase.
“Inventory.”
“Fifty million Gold.”
A concise demand met with a concise response.
I handed over the Gold, just like before. The merchant passed a small pouch, like a coin purse, through the bars. As soon as I received it—
Flash.
{You have obtained the Inventory.}
A system message appeared, and the pouch disappeared from my hand.
‘Inventory.’
As I thought of the command in my mind, a holographic window appeared before me, empty. I placed the two knuckles and the Talisman into it. The items vanished upon touching the holographic window and appeared in the inventory list.
───
<Inventory> Storage: 3.5 / 100
- Romanov Model 31 Knuckle D x2
- Universal Orc Warrior Talisman
───
{Tutorial Message}
{The Talisman’s effect applies to the owner even while stored in the inventory.}
{If multiple Talismans are in the inventory, the effect of the Talisman at the top of the list will be active.}
This usage guide message only appeared for first-time users. I already knew this from online information.
‘I don’t need the bag anymore.’
I threw my backpack into a nearby trash can.
Now, I no longer needed to carry items around awkwardly.
Whenever I needed anything, I could retrieve it from my inventory with just a thought. I could also freely collect loot and rewards.
The mystical subspace pouch that could only be obtained from the black market within the raid dungeon.
This artifact was so valuable that countless Awakeners joined raids solely for it, even giving up final rewards.
I had easily acquired it as soon as I entered.
{Gold in possession: 24,136,891}
Even after that, I still had this much Gold left. Meaning, I could buy more items.
“Information notes on stages two through the final stage.”
“5.8 million Gold.”
“What’s the best-quality knuckles?”
“1 million Gold.”
“I’ll take a pair of those, and the Talisman with the highest Willpower stat.”
“Another 3 million Gold.”
“Do you have any return scrolls?”
“They’re 10,000 Gold each.”
“Give me ten, please.”
In an instant, I spent another 10 million Gold on items. After putting everything into my inventory, I quickly exited the black market.
***
───
<Ainar’s Cestus Replica>
Category: Knuckle
Attribute: None
Physical Attack: DDD
Magical Attack: DD
Martial Arts Proficiency Growth Rate +30%
───
The knuckle I bought at the black market was a special item naturally formed by the system, unlike man-made products.
These types of items are characterized by having special functions.
The “Proficiency Growth Rate” option was precisely that special function.
‘Additionally, both physical and magical attacks are decent…’
The “Knuckle Type D” I had worn before was, as the name suggested, rated D in attack power, without any magical attack power at all.
However, the one now in my hand had two grades higher physical attack and was also imbued with magical attack.
This meant that the power of magical abilities like “Sphere of Inferno” would also increase.
‘It’s labelled as a replica, so there must be an original somewhere, but this is more than strong enough.’
‘Next, the talisman.’
───
<Sea Serpent Talisman>
Barrier Charge: 139
Willpower +5
Mana Recovery +0.5/second
───
‘Oh.’
What I wanted was willpower, and that stat was decently attached.
But unexpectedly, it also came with an even better option.
‘Mana recovery.’
An option that automatically recovers 0.5 mana per second without the need to use a skill.
While the “Evil Dragon Magic Arts” consumed mana at a faster rate than that, the recovery wouldn’t fully offset the consumption.
However, with this option, the duration of combat would be significantly extended.
The need to stop and use “Mana Breathing” would be greatly reduced.
Even without the mana recovery option, this talisman was already valuable.
{Willpower: 21 (+5)}
{Mana: 156}
With 1 point of willpower gained from clearing the first stage and an additional 5 points from this talisman, my mana had increased to 156.
My total stats had increased by a whopping 30 compared to before I joined the raid.
‘Speaking of which, that trait…’
Once I finished all my preparations, memories of the first stage came back to me.
{The Right Eye of Malice}
{Observes the Guardian Spirits of others.}
A trait that I suddenly obtained.
I had never heard of anything like this before.
Observing someone else’s Guardian Spirit at will?
This was an extraordinary ability.
Simply knowing the type of Guardian Spirit could reveal its weaknesses.
The act of being able to freely see the capabilities of others was akin to defying the system’s rules.
‘Maybe that’s why—it felt like an external presence was forcefully altering the system.’
The system mentioned an error and said it would be fixed.
A message appeared stating that Baphomet’s minion had infiltrated.
After that, there was a notification that the debugging was complete.
Yet, this third trait still remained with me.
‘Is it something like hacking…?’
Whatever the case, one thing was clear.
The strange phenomenon itself was beneficial to me.
The Synchronization Rate was proof of that.
{Synchronization Rate: 1.03%}
It increased by 0.5% when I defeated the four orcs, and again by 0.5% after defeating the Warlord.
I initially thought it was related to killing orcs, but that wasn’t the case.
The condition for increasing the Synchronization Rate was seeing a message that “Malice is satisfied.”
Recalling carefully, I realized that every time a message with that phrase appeared, the rate increased by 0.5%.
To increase the rate, similar events needed to happen continuously.
{Matching… 99/100}
{Matching… 100/100}
{Matching complete! You will soon enter the second stage.}
‘It’s starting.’
Finally, the number of participants needed for the second stage was filled.
The second stage was a large-scale stage involving 100 participants in one space.
I had been waiting for the matching to be completed.
‘Demon, appear before me again.’
Determined to respond once more to that presence’s call, I entered the second stage of the raid.
***
{The second stage is starting.}
{Clear Objective: Survive for one week.}
{Time Remaining: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 38 seconds}
The space for the second stage was a vast island with mountains and fields.
A total of 100 Awakeners were randomly summoned to locations on the island.
These 100 had to survive for the next 7 days.
It wasn’t a battle royale where only the last person standing won.
The condition was simply to survive.
Ideally, the best way was for all 100 participants to band together and survive.
The threats came only from various monsters summoned around the island that hunted the Awakeners and certain environmental factors.
If the 100 participants cooperated and defended against the monsters, they could all pass the stage without much difficulty.
‘But it won’t be as easy as it sounds.’
Slam.
I closed my notebook.
It was an information notebook I had bought earlier from the black market, which contained conditions and environmental details for clearing stages that changed every year.
‘Among 100 people, how many would be lacking in skill, start fights to eliminate competition, or deceive and backstab others?’
This suspicious survival game presented such simple rules and left the people inside to “interact” as they saw fit.
If tragedy were to unfold, it would not be because of the dungeon, but because of the malicious intentions of humanity itself.
That seemed to be the message.
‘That’s why I’ll survive alone.’
I didn’t need to carry the variable of others with me.
I had prepared for everything using the information notebook.
Other people’s help would only be a hindrance.
‘Let’s go.’
I moved toward the hiding spot I had scouted in advance.
—
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