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Chapter 10
{You have cleared Stage 1!}
After finishing the first stage, I received two rewards.
{10 Raid Points have been accumulated.}
First, raid points.
These are the points needed to claim raid rewards.
When the final boss is defeated, all participants who reached that stage share the loot.
At that time, those with the highest raid points get to choose their desired reward first.
So, if you want to walk away with expensive, high-quality items, you need to stack up as many raid points as possible.
{You have obtained 5,000 Gold.}
And second—gold.
That familiar currency I already knew well.
“Come check out my wares! Lots of useful items here!”
I saw an NPC merchant calling out to awakeners.
A blue sky. Ships docked at the harbor.
Horse-drawn carriages passing by the streets lined with red-brick houses.
The location I arrived at after finishing the first stage was none other than a medieval, European-style fantasy city.
“If you stay at our inn, we’ll provide food and lodging for just 50 gold!”
“Need your sword sharpened? Or perhaps a new one?”
“Don’t forget to stock up on potions before heading out monster hunting.”
In raids, such rest areas appear between stages, and the currency used here is gold.
Awakeners spend gold for lodging, meals, weapons, equipment, or various tools.
Inside raid dungeons—cut off from the outside world and lasting for long periods—this is the currency you inevitably need.
{Gold in possession: 74,146,891}
And I already had a massive amount of it from the very start.
Of course, I hadn’t brought all this gold just for inns or potion money.
I had a different use in mind.
“Found it.”
That place was—the black market.
[If you don’t think you can get good final rewards due to lacking raid points, saving up gold and buying from the black market is another option.]
[In fact, many awakeners who enter raids aim for black market goods rather than clearing stages.]
According to some info posts I had read online beforehand, raid participants have two main choices:
Focus on earning only the minimum gold needed and aim to reach the final stage.
Or ignore stage progression and instead farm gold for the black market.
Depending on each person’s abilities, needs, and goals, most choose only one of these paths.
‘But I’m different.’
I had my smartphone, through which I could easily obtain gold with real money.
That meant I could buy anything I wanted without wasting time farming.
Thanks to that, I could have both—the final reward and the black market items.
“Looking for something?”
At the entrance of a back alley leading into the black market, an old man asked me.
I didn’t answer. I just held out my hand.
{Do you wish to hand over 10,000 Gold?}
The entry fee for the black market was 10,000 gold.
That alone far exceeded the amount of gold one could normally earn from clearing a stage.
“Ohh, sharp one, aren’t you? Go on in.”
The old man stepped aside with a pleased grin, and I walked down the alley.
Eventually, I reached a section where iron bars stretched along both sides like prison cells.
Behind the bars stood black market merchants with all sorts of goods piled up.
“……”
They didn’t say a word.
Their attitude was clear: buy if you want, leave if you don’t.
But I already knew exactly what I was here to buy, so there was no need for pointless chatter.
“Inventory.”
“Fifty million gold.”
A simple request, a simple answer.
I handed the merchant gold just as I had before.
In return, he passed me a small coin pouch through the bars.
The moment I grasped it—
Flash!
{You have acquired an Inventory.}
With that system message, the pouch vanished from my hand.
‘Inventory.’
When I thought the command in my mind, an empty holographic window appeared before me.
I placed my two knuckles and the talisman into it.
The moment they touched the hologram, they disappeared, reappearing in the inventory list.
───
<Inventory> Storage: 3.5 / 100
-
Romanov Model 31 Knuckle Type D x2
-
Omnipotent Orc Warrior Talisman
───
{Tutorial Message}
{Talismans provide their effects even when stored in the inventory.}
{If multiple talismans are in the inventory, only the topmost one in the list is active.}
A usage guide message, shown only to first-time users.
Of course, I had already read about all this online.
‘No need for a backpack anymore.’
I tossed the bag I had been carrying into a nearby trash bin.
Now I no longer needed to lug around a bunch of items.
I could summon whatever I needed straight from the inventory.
And I could freely collect loot and rewards.
This mysterious pocket dimension, obtainable only in the raid dungeon’s black market—
It was such a valuable artifact that many awakeners abandoned final rewards just to get it.
And I had gotten it right away, effortlessly.
{Gold in possession: 24,136,891}
And I still had plenty left over.
Which meant I could buy even more.
“Information notes on stages 2 through final.”
“5.8 million gold.”
“What about the best-performing knuckles?”
“One million gold.”
“I’ll take a pair, and also the talisman with the highest willpower.”
“Another 3 million gold.”
“You got return scrolls too?”
“One for 10,000 gold.”
“Give me ten.”
And just like that, I spent another 10 million gold in one go.
I stored everything in my inventory and left the black market at once.
───
<Einar’s Cestus Replica>
Type: Knuckle
Attribute: None
Physical Attack: DDD
Magic Attack: DD
Martial Arts Proficiency Growth Rate +30%
───
The knuckles I bought weren’t man-made items.
They were special system-generated items.
Such items came with unique functions.
In this case, the “Proficiency Growth Rate” bonus.
‘And both physical and magic attack stats are solid…’
My previous “Knuckle Type D” only had physical attack power at grade D.
No magic power at all.
But this new weapon had two levels higher physical power plus added magic attack.
Which meant even my magic-based abilities, like Sphere of Scorching Flames, would grow stronger.
The “Replica” tag suggested there was an authentic version out there, but even this was plenty powerful.
‘Next, the talisman.’
───
<Talisman of the Sea Serpent of Mana>
Barrier Energy: 139
Willpower +5
Mana Recovery +0.5/sec
───
‘Oh.’
What I wanted most was Willpower—and I got it.
But on top of that, I also received an unexpected bonus.
‘Mana recovery.’
An option that restored mana automatically at 0.5 per second.
My Evil Dragon Demonic Arts consumed mana too quickly for this to cover everything,
but it would massively extend my combat endurance.
I’d need far fewer breaks to use Mana Breathing mid-battle.
Even without the mana recovery, the talisman was worth it.
{Willpower: 21 (+5)}
{Mana: 156}
With the +1 Willpower from Stage 1 and another +5 from the talisman,
my mana capacity had now reached 156.
Compared to just before the raid, my stats had increased by a whopping 30.
‘But then there’s that… trait.’
Once I was done preparing, my mind returned to what had happened back in Stage 1.
{Right Eye of Malice}
{Observe the guardian spirit of others.}
A sudden trait I had acquired.
Even I had never heard of such a thing.
Being able to peer into others’ guardian spirits?
That was insanely powerful.
Just knowing what kind of spirit they had would reveal its weaknesses.
The ability to see through others’ true strength at will—
it was almost like breaking the system’s rules.
‘Maybe that’s why it felt like the system was being tampered with by an outside force.’
The system had said there was an error and that it was fixing it.
Then came a message about Baphomet’s minions intruding.
Afterward, a notification said debugging was complete.
But even so, that third trait remained with me.
‘A… hack?’
Whatever it was, one thing was certain:
That bizarre phenomenon was helping me.
The proof was in the Assimilation Rate.
{Assimilation Rate: 1.03%}
It had gone up by 0.5% when I killed four orcs,
and another 0.5% when I defeated the Warlord.
I had thought it was tied to killing orcs—but it wasn’t.
The real condition was seeing the message: “Malice is satisfied.”
Looking back, every time those words appeared, my assimilation went up by 0.5%.
So, to raise my Assimilation Rate further, I needed more of those phenomena to occur.
{Matching… 99/100}
{Matching… 100/100}
{Challenger matching complete! Entering Stage 2 shortly.}
‘Here it comes.’
Right then, all 100 participants had been matched for Stage 2.
Stage 2 was a massive stage where all 100 would enter the same space together.
I had been waiting for this.
‘Demon. Appear before me again.’
Resolving to answer its call once more—
I entered the second stage of the raid.
{Stage 2 has begun.}
{Clear Objective: Survive for one week.}
{Remaining Time: 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes 38 seconds}
Stage 2 took place on a vast island filled with mountains and plains.
One hundred awakeners were summoned randomly across the island.
Their goal: survive for seven days.
Not a battle royale where only one remains, but simple survival.
Ideally, if all 100 worked together, they could survive easily.
The only threats were roaming monsters and some environmental hazards.
If they cooperated to fend off monsters, all challengers could clear the stage at once.
‘But things never go that smoothly.’
Snap.
I closed my notebook.
This was one of the info notes I had bought at the black market, detailing stage conditions and environments that changed each year.
‘The weaklings, the aggressive types who pick fights, the manipulators who betray others—
with 100 people, you’ll definitely have those kinds among them.’
This suspicious survival game gave players a rule that was too convenient,
and then simply left them to “interact” with each other.
If tragedy occurred, it wouldn’t be the dungeon’s fault.
It would be because of the humans’ own treachery.
‘That’s why I’ll survive alone.’
I had already prepared everything with my information notes.
I had no need to carry the variable of “other people.”
Their help would only slow me down.
‘Let’s move.’
I headed straight toward the hiding spot I had chosen beforehand.
