Ch.167167. Mark of the Dark Site

A sword and a snake. A small badge with a pattern.

Seeing them attached to the weapons of those two, anyone would think they were some kind of Dark Site emblems.

It was a trace ridiculous enough to make even a basement gamer wonder, “Why would underground operatives carry such obvious markings?” But I suppose when you think you can’t die, anything becomes possible.

Anyway, since I might encounter these Dark Site guys frequently, I kept the badges as souvenirs.

Even if they weren’t items, they might be useful for something if I collected enough.

They were engraved with simple yet clean designs that would look nice displayed as trophies on my farm wall.

When I exited the dungeon, Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop, who had been watching from a distance, quickly contacted me.

“How did it go?”

“How did what go?”

“Did they get in?”

“Who?”

“Pardon?”

“The assassins don’t seem to be targeting me, so I think you can withdraw too, Team Leader.”

“…?”

“They’ll probably both go back to Korea after eating some samgyeopsal. I don’t think we need to worry anymore.”

“…Understood.”

A moment of silence.

Then acceptance.

I appreciate how quick-witted Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop is.

His voice seemed to tremble at the end of the call, but regardless, if things ended well, then Kim Jin-hyeop completed his mission, which is good.

I was heading home to ask Kim Su-jeong if she had found anything else, and if not, suggest returning to the farm to open accessory boxes and wait again, but…

“Oppa! It’s out! It’s finally out!”

“What is?”

“An SS-grade necklace! It appeared in China!”

“In China? They’re selling it?”

“Yes. They’re auctioning it, and the whole world is going crazy. But they won’t sell it for money—they’ll exchange it for something of equivalent value.”

“Who are these people?”

“…The Murim Alliance.”

“Murim Alliance? What? Like martial arts novels?”

“Yes.”

Kim Su-jeong, who rushed to me excitedly as soon as I entered, showed me a photo revealing the item’s options.

[Ice Spirit Pearl Necklace]

– Grade: SS

– A pearl formed from the condensed cold of the frozen abyss. A necklace made by connecting 10 pearls that form only once every 100 years. It contains mana filled with extreme yin energy, becoming poison to those unqualified to hold its mana.

– Contains an unknown energy that seems likely to produce special effects when purified.

– Equip Conditions: Magic Power Grade S+ or higher / Mana 1,000 or higher

– Magic Power +2 grades

– Maximum Mana +100%

– Mana Recovery Rate +20% per minute

– Final Damage +1% per 100 Maximum Mana

“This is it, right? An unidentified item.”

“Wow. Does it even have chaotic energy?”

SS-grade items by themselves already show incredible performance.

This one has options comparable to my Holy Ring, but it also has an unidentified option that will likely improve its performance even further when purified.

Additional purified options will be added too.

So, all things considered, it’s an item with higher value than the Holy Ring.

“Can we buy it?”

“If we can’t buy it, we’ll have to take it by force.”

“…Oppa. That would mean war. The Murim Alliance is a guild affiliated with the Chinese government.”

“Hmm. Will the auction be legitimate then?”

“Well… people say the Murim Alliance is quite trustworthy.”

“They’re not trying to lure people in to kill them, are they?”

“Come on. In the 21st century…”

“You have no idea what happens in the 21st century, kid.”

I didn’t tell Kim Su-jeong about assassins illegally entering the country to chase me and the mess in the dungeon.

That’s the kind of story you save as a conversation piece for when you’re drinking beer at the farm with nothing else to talk about.

“Anyway, the person who posted this is Li Weixing, the Murim Alliance leader. He’s SS-minus grade and famous for using swords. This old man is known for his sense of justice and despises the kind of underhanded tactics you mentioned. Many people don’t understand why someone like him is in the Communist Party. Though ‘Communist Party’ is a funny term these days.”

It’s a world of hunters.

No matter how powerful a nation is, they say an SS-grade hunter has the power to overthrow a country—what novels would call “nation-toppling” power.

Even the most powerful nations might make exceptions for SS-grade hunters.

So if that’s what the man says, we can probably make calculations without considering the China factor too much.

That’s not to say there’s no risk.

But I can’t give up on the Ice Spirit Pearl Necklace—an SS-grade item that I absolutely need right now.

“I’ll have to go check it out.”

“Do you have something to offer?”

“I have plenty of things. But what would that old man want most?”

Besides, I can negotiate from a more advantageous position than other hunters.

If Li Weixing wanted money, I would be at a disadvantage.

I have about 2.5 trillion won in my account, including funds for this auction, but there are plenty of people in the world with more money than that.

If I were to compete directly with Kellin, there’s no guarantee I wouldn’t end up like the others who lost to him.

But Li Weixing clearly stated that he doesn’t want money.

“That old man already has more money than he knows what to do with. The Murim Alliance is the only government-affiliated guild in China. China has the second most SS-grade hunters after the United States.”

That’s one advantage of the Communist Party, I suppose.

Since hunters began appearing, China has strictly controlled them, and none of their SS-grade hunters have escaped to the United States.

Chinese people are people too, and with good treatment, they might naturally want to emigrate, but China has used rather shocking methods to keep its citizens within its borders.

If someone tries to emigrate…

Or if they do emigrate, they’re hunted down and killed.

There have been many international issues related to this, but China has effectively used both stick and carrot to gather hunters until now.

“Hmm. What Li Weixing likes… I sometimes watch his YouTube. He likes swords.”

One thing does come to mind.

A sword that would definitely get me the Ice Spirit Pearl Necklace.

The Demonic Blade.

But I’d be crazy to give that up.

I’m trying to get the Ice Spirit Pearl Necklace to unlock the Demonic Blade’s options, so trading the sword for the necklace would be like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.

I do have another sword, the Sewer Sword, but even if I enhance it, it would still be insufficient to impress an SS-minus grade hunter.

Even if I tried to acquire another sword now, someone else might complete the deal before me, so time is tight.

I need to figure out what I can offer from what I currently have.

While pondering, I discovered something incredible.

“Swords and his granddaughter. Li Weixing has a granddaughter—his only son’s only daughter—and he absolutely adores her. If you watch his YouTube, it’s either dungeon videos or vlogs with his granddaughter.”

“That’s it.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go. I think we can make a trade.”

I immediately booked a flight to China.

——————

The Murim Alliance was located in Guangzhou, China.

I had imagined something like the ancient martial arts world’s Murim Alliance, but in today’s era, it was just operating like a guild in a major city, similar to Korea.

The difference was that the city center had been transformed with Chinese-style buildings that looked straight out of an old martial arts novel, and the tallest pavilion among them was the Murim Alliance headquarters.

“Wow. This is killer.”

“It’s my first time in China.”

Many Chinese people.

And tourists.

China was also using this martial arts-themed Guangzhou as a tourist destination.

When we tried to enter the Murim Alliance, hunters dressed like real martial artists blocked our way.

After hearing what they said, I looked at the person who came with me for translation.

“They’re asking why we’re here.”

“Please tell them we’ve come to purchase the Ice Spirit Pearl Necklace.”

The woman who came with me is both an interpreter and an employee of the Hunter Association.

When I asked Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop if he could provide an interpreter before heading straight to China, this employee came right away.

Even if I’m going, I need to be able to communicate to make any deals.

Thinking that I really need to learn language skills when I get back to the farm, I wait for their response.

“They’re asking what you’ve brought.”

“Are they really going to keep us standing at the door like this before letting us in?”

“Their manners are pretty lacking.”

I could understand it, though.

With an SS-grade item, they must be used to all sorts of people showing up claiming they want to buy it.

Especially since they’re not selling for money but accepting offers, there must be a line of people trying their luck with whatever they think might work.

Surprisingly, not many people had gathered yet, perhaps because the information hadn’t spread widely.

Maybe the reputation of China and the Murim Alliance name intimidated the riffraff from approaching carelessly.

Anyway, when in China, follow Chinese rules, and the one who needs something has to dig the well.

I beckoned to one of the gatekeepers.

One of them approached, and I whispered quietly in his ear.

“Tell the Murim Alliance leader I can make his granddaughter an SS-grade hunter.”

“…?”

“Ah, right.”

I called the interpreter over and had her whisper in his ear.

“He says to wait a moment.”

The surprised man went inside.

Before long, we were escorted into the Murim Alliance.