Chapter 5 - Black Market

After entering the bar, Han Sen calmly walked inside, which was filled with strange loud music and people drinking and enjoying life.

Passing by those people, he quickly went to the women's bathroom and walked to the last stall. The women inside looked at him strangely, but they didn't scream or say anything. Some were even looking at him approvingly.

After entering the box, he picked up a access card that he had recently picked at the Shelter.

After extensive research, he finally discovered that there was indeed a Black Market in the mega city where he lived. Well hidden, but accessible to anyone who searched carefully. By making various contacts and engaging in conversations with other people in the shelter, he quickly found someone who knew what they were talking about and how to access this market.

As the conversation went on, he discovered how it worked. Basically, each person had an access key to enter a specific location in the city and be able to make their purchase or sale. It was not possible for someone to have an access card without ever having made a purchase, so it required the assistance of another member.

As soon as he swiped the access card in a well-hidden slot inside the booth, the toilet began to sink into the floor and the wall in front of him opened, revealing a computer. There were also other tools for analyzing the sale he was about to make.

"That's quite interesting, if I'm being honest. And easy." Seeing how this evolved world dealt with illegal trade almost made him praise whoever created this system. Not to mention how buying and selling worked, which was completely discreet. No one would look at each other unless a sale was completed, and everything was done as secretly as possible.

Typing on the computer, Han Sen offered around 100 ordinary Beast Souls to any buyer who wanted them. He had much more, but he couldn't afford to just give them away like that. Besides, if he sold more than that, he would have to lower the prices even more. He was selling each Beast Soul for Ḻ$10,000, which resulted in a profit of Ḻ$1,000,000 for just one purchase.

Shortly after, an intermediary managed to connect their sale to an interested buyer. Soon a video channel was opened, revealing a person who didn't care about hiding. He was an old, fat man, who seemed to be in a not-suitable-for-minor-aged place.

"I'm not going to talk about the origin of this, but know that if you deceive me, I'll come after you." The old man threatened as soon as he appeared. The video channel was completely optional, so it was clear that this old fool just wanted to make a threat.

"Are you going to buy it or not?" Han Sen had no patience for this. If he called, it meant he wanted it. Did he really need all this fuss?

"Hmph!" The old man grumbled after looking at Han Sen, but soon a smile appeared on his face. He admired the courage, or foolishness, of this boy in the screen. He then thought for a moment and said, "I know you must work for some beginner's organization within the First God’s Sanctuary, so you probably have more of these souls. Tell me how many you have, and I'll buy them all now. A unique opportunity."

The old man arrogantly allowed free trade, which means he would pay for anything the other party offered. A smart move for those who have money.

"Five hundred! Thanks for the payment!" Han Sen increased the amount of Beast Souls to the maximum he had, leaving only a few in reserve, and closed the video channel before the other party could refuse and back out.

As soon as he completed the transaction, he began to put the Beast Souls into a sphere that mimicked the vibrations of the human soul, a artificial Sea of Souls, making sure they were securely stored. But unlike the human body and its perfect soul, this crystal ball would last for a very short time, a week at most. They would be transferred to the customer depending on how he saw fit, so this had nothing to do with Han Sen.

After everything was completed, the computer issued two cards, one card to use the Ḻ$5,000,000 he had now and a new access card that was his. He had to return the other card and, if he couldn't... Well, problems are an understatement.

"Now that I have you, let's start the second part of the plan..." Opening the shopping tab now, Han Sen put the credit card back into the computer and smiled as he typed in what he wanted.

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Two days later, Han Sen returned to the Shelter, and this time he wasn't in a hurry to hunt. After spending the weekend with his family, he returned calmer and more relaxed to this death and intrigue hole that was the Sanctuary of God.

In the local market, where people used to buy and sell items, he took a sign and skillfully wrote some things on it. After that, he nailed the sign to the ground and waited for someone to come.

'FOR SALE: ORDINARY BEAST SOULS'

'UNIQUE OFFER: 5 FOR Ḻ$50,000'

Once he placed the sign on the ground, Han Sen busied himself with cleaning his nails with a knife. Despite them not being dirty, as he was a cleanliness addict. Nonetheless, his relaxed demeanor with a sign written behind him with that offer was still good to catch attention.

So, a few people approached, and they seemed to be nervous newbies like he would be on his first day.

"Hello, how are you? Are you really selling Beast Souls so cheap?" A price of only Ḻ$10,000 for a Beast Soul was something that made one wonder if the quality was terrible and useless or if the guy was desperate for money.

"Exactly as it is written. Trying to recover some money after being scammed, you know..." Han Sen made a somewhat sad face, as if he had been tricked by someone and now needed to sell everything cheaper to sustain himself.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The young boy who saw his face understood the situation and became interested in it. After all, he had some money and wanted to protect himself more for his first hunt, "I'm interested, can-”

"Well, look who it is, the newbie."

A female voice suddenly interrupted him as a woman passed by the young man and looked directly into Han Sen's eyes. Everyone who was at the market at the time recognized who she was in the blink of an eye.

"Qin Xuan!"

"Wolfie?" Han Sen raised his eyebrow as he recognized that woman again. And he only called her that to make her uncomfortable. Which worked.

"You have a sharp tongue." Qin Xuan was mature enough not to blush in front of everyone and just looked at the sign written behind Han Sen, "But it seems that your skills are up to par. In a short time, you've already got 5 Beast Souls? An impressive number, indeed."

”Actually, I only managed to get one out of the five. The others I was tricked into buying and all of them were very disappointing... "Han Sen scratched his head, pretending to be embarrassed about the purchase.

"Which ones?" Qin Xuan had nothing better to do and was strolling through the city to clear her head. She might as well stop and chat with this newcomer she met.

The people around were slowly drawn to the stall, after all QIN XUAN herself was there, not someone who looked like her! It was enough to excite all her fans. Conversations went back and forth in whispers at the back, but only those closest to the stall could hear them.

”I got two Beast Souls in a row from the Black Beetle, so I ended up with an extra armor that I don't need. My beginner's knife wasn't well as I expected, so I took the money I saved and threw it at a scoundrel who gave me some weaker Beast Souls than my weapon. Not to mention this one!”

Han Sen was almost putting on a drama show, explaining his story so far. To emphasize his deception, he even used the Blue Wing Chicken Beast Soul and two small blue wings appeared on his back.

”Hahahaha! I'm sorry, man!”

“It seems like you got tricked as well! I remember someone sold me a Beast Soul that turned me into a platypus the first time I came here!”

“I'm sorry, boss! If you need help catching this guy, just let us know!”

The crowd that gathered laughed together and felt sorry for Han Sen, with some sharing similar stories. When they heard he had only a week of experience, they all went back to their newbie times together. Qin Xuan had her hand in front of her mouth, looking serious as she watched Han Sen.

"How the hell does someone have the dignity to wear this??" He asked angrily as he removed the wings. He looked at Qin Xuan, who was clearly trying to cover her laughter with her hand, and offered her, "Sister Qin, if you buy four Beast Souls, I'll give this one to you for free! You don't need to pay anything! Just get rid of this burden for me please!”

"Alright, alright!" Qin Xuan rolled her eyes and liked the newcomer more and more. She took out some notes of Ḻ$10,000, which were insignificant for her, and handed them directly to him, "I will buy it for the price on the sign, so you won't be so sad!”

"You are a rare gem, Miss Qin Xuan!" Han Sen changed his address and quickly pocketed the money, pulling the sign out of the ground as well and shortly after saying goodbye to everyone, "It was a pleasure doing business with you, bye bye and see you later!”

Walking away, he counted the money he had and saw that there was a card in the middle of it, and written on it was a comlink number. Putting both in separate pockets, he smiled and returned to the hunting fields.

"Calm and Patience always win!"