Chapter 27

Black market.

Simply put, it’s [Alchemy]’s own kingdom built near the academy grounds—an ability user who can create an “elixir of immortality” due to the developer’s convenience-oriented setting.

The elixir of immortality is sold to influential politicians, powerful figures, and strong ability users in exchange for certain conditions and money.

—These are the settings visible on the surface.

The actual interior is a gray area that’s infinitely close to black, formed naturally as people and merchants gathered around the facilities created by Alchemy.

They said it was extraterritorial where the government had let go of control, but of course, they hadn’t completely let go.

If it were truly extraterritorial where that level of management had let go, what would an area occupied by kids with just ability licenses be?

Anyway, the reason Alchemy is so obsessed with the black market is simple.

Family. Family.

As always, what becomes shackles to people is the existence of family.

Alchemy’s only blood relative, a younger sibling, is an extremely rare “multi-ability user” with multiple abilities. But a problem arises here.

It’s because of an unclear illness that cannot be cured even with Alchemy’s ability.

It will be revealed later, but it was because too many abilities existed in one body, causing contradicting abilities to collide with each other.

Of course, no one knows at this point in time.

Alchemy needed Hiyeon with the [Restoration] ability to cure family, and that’s the motive.

…In fact, it’s an illness that can’t be cured even with restoration, but Alchemy doesn’t know that.

Unable to find a way to extract restoration from Hiyeon through options like negotiation or trade, Alchemy finally decides on kidnapping, and thus begins one of the main scenarios, ‘Black Market.’

It’s a typical righteous story where the protagonist goes to rescue her.

On the way to the rescue, he meets a small girl named ‘Yeon,’ who later joins the harem through a salvation narrative.

My goal is to go first and seize that narrative.

‘If given the chance, I should kill Alchemy and Alchemy’s sibling to turn them into abilities.’

: …

‘How valuable would a multi-ability user and [Alchemy] be? Aren’t you looking forward to it?’

: I believe I’ve told you before.

‘No, we won’t know until we check, right?’

Anyway, there’s a separate reason why Alchemy wants to take the ability from Hiyeon despite having other methods.

Hiyeon, who inevitably has to use [Restoration] on Alchemy’s sibling, during that process, Alchemy confirms that the symptoms of the sibling are temporarily alleviated.

But that’s only for a moment, and the symptoms manifest again.

In other words, the conclusion is reached that the sibling can only be comfortable if someone is constantly by their side using the ability.

Hiyeon would naturally refuse such a proposal and deal without even thinking about it.

“You’re here?”

“Yeah. You came quickly? Did you arrive first?”

“No, I just arrived too.”

The truth is, I couldn’t sleep until dawn because of my excitement.

I was so excited about finally moving to the next stage and the thought that I could snatch the protagonist’s damn connection right from the middle.

So I arrived an hour early.

There’s no need to say it out loud, but it’s good to think like this to myself.

Gulp-

Hiyeon seemed very nervous, she was sweating slightly, and the sound of her swallowing was loud enough for me to hear.

On the other hand, my appearance… was that of a child soaked in anticipation. Like a child whose eyes sparkle after hearing a promise from parents that they’ll buy a desired toy if they get 100 points on a test.

I didn’t have parents to buy me toys, nor did I have particularly sparkling eyes.

Well… it’s just a manner of speaking.

“L-Let’s go in.”

“Okay.”

“Why are you so calm?!”

“Well… I lived in a more rural area.”

“What? Is there still infrastructure left in the provinces?”

“No, there’s no infrastructure left, that’s why I’m calm even seeing this.”

“S-Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“It seems like I brought up a painful memory.”

Hmm, was this the original character?

She was definitely a character with a feeling like ‘You’re the one who did wrong first. You crazy girl!’ and had quite a lot of anti-fans, and thanks to that, she was a heroine who would go down in history as being disqualified from being the legal wife despite starting as a childhood friend.

I didn’t expect her to apologize first at all. I especially didn’t expect her to apologize for such a trivial thing.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t like that kind of reaction more.”

“Ah…”

“I’m joking. Why are you welling up over one word? You’re making me feel awkward.”

“Eek…! You were teasing me?! Right?!”

“You just figured that out?”

I smiled faintly.

“Wow…”

“Huh?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you smile.”

“…”

It’s a phrase I’ve definitely heard before, sometime in the past.

And it was also the last words from a precious person to me.

My expression stiffened rigidly.

Would she look at me with suspicious eyes? Although I hurriedly relaxed my expression, she seems to have already seen it.

Is it unavoidable?

I continue the conversation, pretending to be calm.

The conversation was flowing smoothly in its own way, but my mind was elsewhere throughout the entire conversation. It’s a complex state of mind.

It’s an emotion I haven’t felt in quite a long time. What was this emotion again? It was such an old emotion that I couldn’t even remember it properly. What is this feeling?

I don’t understand myself either.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah.”

She’s worried about me… she’s worried?

She set foot in the black market for the first time, and although she herself is in a fearful state, did Hiyeon as a person have the heart to worry about others first?

I don’t know.

Now I really don’t know anything.

: Remember.

‘What?’

: When you’re in a situation where you don’t know what to do, you can rely on me.

‘Yeah. I got it. Right. I remembered.’

: Don’t forget your plan.

‘I know. Yes.’

The reason Hiyeon got kidnapped in the black market was that she used her “ability” on others recklessly.

Everything that exists in this black market serves as Alchemy’s eyes and ears, and all information flows to one place. That place is the central residence that exists over there.

A mansion built so high and splendidly that it can be seen at a glance even in such a dim shantytown… or a place like a moon village.

That’s Alchemy’s residence.

From the moment academy students enter this place, everything about us is under surveillance.

Then, when does that surveillance break? When can I start my activities?

After Hiyeon is kidnapped, I inform the protagonist about the fact.

And at an appropriate time, I separate from the group.

When the protagonist and Alchemy engage in battle, Alchemy temporarily can’t pay attention to the radio reports coming in.

Even if they could pay attention, they can’t take any action.

That moment is the best timing.

‘Shall I create someone who’s injured?’

In the end, the start of this story lies in Hiyeon using ‘restoration.’

The main scenario will flow on its own even without my intervention, but I was getting anxious as we’ve been walking for a while and still haven’t seen any sick or injured people.

If there are no injured people, I can just create one myself, right?

A creative idea. This kind of innovation is always what changes the times.

The shadow extending at my feet wasn’t noticeable. This black market was dark, befitting its name, and everywhere was within my range.

Little by little… I slowly extend the shadow.

A mere scratch isn’t enough. For Hiyeon to use restoration, it must be a big enough wound that she absolutely has to use it.

Then, what kind of wound would be good…

Collapsing a building would also make Hiyeon use restoration, but then there would be no way to know if Hiyeon’s ability works on people or only on inanimate objects.

It has to be enough to make one think at a glance, ‘Ah, with that, I could cure my sibling.’

‘…Should I cut it off?’

I spotted a child passing by the road. It seemed like a child in a similar situation to my past, wandering around the slums.

I didn’t feel any cheap emotions like sympathy or compassion. Hiyeon will heal it anyway.

It will only sting for a moment.

I looked for a black market merchant nearby. Among them, there were types that dealt with dangerous items. Rare items are mostly owned by the academy or government, so they would be insignificant things.

But it’s enough to cut off the child’s foot.

: This plan is too hasty and goes too far.

‘Yeah. Actually, I think it’s mixed with… venting.’

: Pardon?

‘It doesn’t matter. It’ll be fixed anyway.’

The status window didn’t say anything.

I immediately dropped a sword displayed on the path where the child was passing. It was such a delicate manipulation that no one noticed.

Crack—

With an ominous sound, the tip of the knife was embedded in the child’s big toe. It’s cleanly severed.

Hiyeon saw this and screamed.

What to do~ What to do~

Hahaha… how funny.

“You can just fix it, right?”

“Huh…? Yes! Got it! Thanks for telling me!”

“Be careful not to let others see. Healing types are rare.”

“Okay…!”

I deliberately leaked information loud enough for people nearby to hear slightly.

Now the information will flow to Alchemy.

A girl with a healing ability… and a girl with an ability so strong that she can instantly heal an amputation!

She’s entered this black market right now!