Chapter 152
If you were to ask whether ‘not buying anything and not selling anything’ was really such a significant penalty…
Well, there were others besides the Story Merchants who could trade stories. But the problem was that they were on a completely different level compared to those whose very race value was “Story Merchant.”
Story Merchants pursued “safe” transactions. No matter how greedy they were, they didn’t rip people off to a ridiculous extent. If the standard price was 40, they would buy at around 30–35 and sell at around 50–55.
A Story Merchant who could neither buy nor sell stories would lose their racial value and be effectively ruined. In the end, they had to keep trading forever, and among all “third parties,” a kind of “common-sense” guideline naturally formed. In other words, extreme profiteering became difficult. What would they do if no one bought from them and they were collectively boycotted until they disappeared?
In short, there was an obvious difference in reliability between those who risked their lives to do business and those who risked nothing at all.
‘Besides, if it’s not these guys, you’d have to wander around forever to find someone else.’
Unlike Story Merchants, who were scattered everywhere, black-market dealers tended to hide. And unless something had considerable value, they wouldn’t even treat it as merchandise.
Even if they did, they would slash the buying price to less than half the original value… and make you pay double when purchasing. And even then, you had no choice but to trade with them.
The only way to avoid that was a “third party,” like a direct transaction.
The very fact that we had gone to those kinds of people first instead of Story Merchants said a lot.
In the meantime, the one who had checked the logs released us.
“I apologize, customer. We will compensate you for the unavoidable discourtesy. Could you please wait a moment?”
At the polite tone, Lee Hoin couldn’t bring himself to say anything further and simply stood there stiffly.
I let out a small breath and gestured for him to step back. Sensing the heavy atmosphere, he quietly retreated to our side.
The tension between us didn’t seem to matter to them at all. The two of them were already standing in their own courtroom.
“You may present your defense. You are free to protect yourself. I have a few questions.”
“……”
“First, I will ask for the reason, perpetrator. The logs of this entity contain no ‘reason.’”
No reason. Of course, there wasn’t. The logs he referred to would only show that it had been suddenly ambushed from behind. In the first place, that entity had caused no trouble or incident.
To Sa Jaeheon, that merchant’s death had merely been a means… an expression of the fact that I was here.
“Do you not have an appropriate answer to the question?”
I knew it, and ‘13,’ who had examined the logs, knew it too. Even so, he asked politely. On the other hand, Sa Jaeheon did not answer. Without responding, he glanced once at ‘13,’ then looked at me.
What, bastard? What did I do wrong?
—
[It’s not that the narrator did anything wrong… perhaps he’s lamenting that your neck is still attached.]
—
That made sense. And that made it even more irritating.
‘13’ waited a little longer with patience before speaking again.
“I will consider this as the killing of a ‘Story Merchant’ without just cause.”
‘13’ took out a notebook and began writing something in it with a quill pen.
“According to our laws, anyone who kills a ‘Story Merchant’ without reason is classified as a dangerous individual and will no longer be permitted to trade. Do you agree?”
‘13’ continued asking questions, but Sa Jaeheon gave no response. Without showing any irritation, ‘13’ simply kept talking on his own.
It felt like watching a play. A stubborn play where neither side would yield.
“As of this moment, I will classify the killer ‘Sa Jaeheon’ as a dangerous individual. All ‘Story Merchants’ are hereby ordered not to conduct any transactions with ‘Sa Jaeheon’ or anyone accompanying him.”
As he finished writing in the notebook, something like a brand appeared on Sa Jaeheon’s forehead before sinking into his skin and disappearing.
An intangible mark… one that Story Merchants could immediately recognize.
Sa Jaeheon remained calm. He had no choice but to.
And then, ‘13’ expelled Sa Jaeheon, who was no longer even considered a customer, from the Story Merchant’s shop.
When a Story Merchant set up a stall, everything within a 3-meter radius became part of their shop. In other words, this entire space was the merchant’s domain.
Seeing Sa Jaeheon disappear before our eyes, Lee Hoin frowned and looked back.
“Ah, don’t worry. I’ve sent him to a completely different space. As for compensation… You may each take one item from the stall as you please.”
It was a generous offer. There were definitely valuable items displayed there. While Kim Taekjin and Lee Hoin began choosing, I spoke to ‘13.’
“Do you buy items?”
Even if he was an executive, his essence was still that of a Story Merchant. ‘13’ blinked, then nodded.
“Yes, we do. What items are you referring to? I’ll give you a particularly good price.”
“Particularly good” didn’t mean much coming from a Story Merchant, but I didn’t bother pointing it out. I picked up a nearby bag and placed it in front of him.
He quickly began sorting through the items. After all, he must have accumulated experience as a merchant to reach that rank.
“From here to here, I’ll value them at 3 low-grade stones each. From here to here, 5 low-grade stones each. This section is 15 lowest-grade stones each. And this part… We’ll bundle it. The quality is quite poor.”
As always, selling gave you a worse deal than buying. Still, that was a decent rate, and since the quantity was large, I didn’t mind. I nodded without haggling.
He immediately poured out spirit stones, stacking them in front of me. As I gathered them into my hand, ‘13’ spoke again.
“I have a piece of information. Would you like to purchase it for 5 low-grade stones?”
Information worth 5 low-grade stones? I raised an eyebrow at him.
“It’s a hint about the next event.”
A very favorable offer. Too favorable. I paused to think.
He was essentially giving me information while trying to sell it. Whether I bought it or not didn’t seem to matter much to him.
‘The next event.’
If it were the next event, it would probably be the joint event that opened in Chapter 30 of the Apocalypse. Until then, my plan was just to pick up longevity-related gains, so that seemed likely.
‘How does he know which one I’ll enter?’
Like before, I’d probably choose one world among several.
‘Did he see something?’
Or hear something?
—
[They roam around so much that there’s very little they don’t know.]
—
That was true. Story Merchants existed everywhere. And they never wasted their internal information network. They shared everything. Recorded everything.
Even the smallest detail.
Important information was filtered once more by items and then managed by contracted “archivists.”
They had no hesitation in sharing trivial data.
And if an executive-level merchant was this certain…
After a brief moment of thought, I handed ‘13’ eight lowest-grade stones and asked:
“Do you think I should buy that information?”
‘13’ looked between me and the stones, then adjusted the monocle-like dot display on his panel.
And then he answered:
“Yes. You will need it.”
His voice carried certainty. In the end, I handed over five low-grade stones.
“I’ll buy it.”
At my words, ‘13’ nodded and spoke as if he had been waiting:
“Buy back the item ‘Collector’s Dilemma’ that you sold to me.”
‘Collector’s Dilemma’?
A material item. It had been rather ambiguous. I barely managed to recall what it was.
—
[Collector’s Dilemma]
Do you know?
Collectors even worry about ‘what’ they should collect.
Therefore, this is both the beginning and the end of the collection.
It doesn’t shine much, and the light it emits is rather murky, but it is someone’s shining beginning and someone else’s extinguished end.
Some collectors even gather things like this.
Well, the world of collecting is vast, after all.
※ Upon consumption, you will temporarily gain the trait [Collector’s Dilemma].
—
A one-time consumable item.
The trait [Collector’s Dilemma] wasn’t particularly good. It just made you “worry about what to collect.”
‘The next event I’m entering…’
It didn’t seem related to collectors at all.
While I was thinking that, ‘13’ spoke again:
“Would you like to purchase related information for 3 low-grade stones?”
Only then did I realize.
Damn it… I got played.
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