The space around Ryoshu suddenly became eerily silent. He guessed that everything had turned pitch black because no light touched his tightly shut eyes.

'Is this the teleportation process?' He wanted to open his eyes, but this felt exactly like the sensation of riding a roller coaster.

This made him too afraid to open his eyes. Ryoshu could only feel a dizzying sensation.

He thought it would only take a few seconds, just like in a game, but perhaps the game developers had simplified many things in the original game, and now, with more investment, they paid attention to every small detail. As soon as the teleportation ended, he heard the noise of a bustling crowd, including footsteps, voices bargaining, and people yelling at each other.

The Black Market attendants would randomly teleport customers into the middle of the crowd and cast an invisibility spell on them when they arrived so they wouldn't be tracked.

When he opened his eyes, a slum appeared before him. It wasn't so bad that trash was everywhere, but the way the small shops were decorated looked very chaotic and poorly planned, making it feel like a slum. Customers moved past each other in a hurry, though no one showed their faces. Everyone wore a mask that the Black Market management had provided. Some even wore black cloaks around their bodies.

Like the fox mask Ryoshu wore, it was also enchanted so it couldn't be easily removed from someone's face. This was one of the protective methods the Black Market management used for customers.

Just looking at the surroundings proved that he had teleported underground. Ryoshu had officially set foot in one of the many branches of the Black Market.

'This place has such a depressing color scheme, it's so bad that it makes me want to puke.'

It made him feel so unsafe that he couldn't even breathe normally. His heartbeat was so loud that it seemed like he could even hear it. Ryoshu tried to acclimate quickly before anyone noticed anything odd in the crowd.

'I need to hurry up.'

While hastily searching for the skill book store, Ryoshu happened to pass by a stall selling some rather strange jewelry.

At the first level, there wouldn't be anything too illegal like human organs or anything like that. There would only be items sold to help vendors avoid paying taxes to the government.

'Oh, is there a beautiful mask at this rundown stall?'

The white mask was simply designed with a slight smile and black lines on a white background. Ryoshu bent down, picked up the mask, and asked the old woman vendor standing there.

"How much is this mask, ma'am?"

The old woman, a little hard of hearing, took a while to respond, and when she did, her eyes were still tightly closed.

"That one costs 5 RC."

"Here, 5 RC," he said, pressing his wristwatch against the automatic payment system, and it deducted 5 RC from his account.

[Account Balance: 98.5 RC]

He took the mask and examined it for a while, then placed it over the mask given to him by the management. For some reason, after wearing it, Ryoshu felt even safer. Maybe it was because he was wearing two masks instead of one.

Afterward, he tried not to linger around any more stalls, no matter how tempting they seemed, and intended to stick to his original plan. But despite his efforts, Ryoshu was easily drawn in by the allure of the weapons and high-end items.

The game had many beautifully designed weapons, so much so that players wanted to own models of them. Ryoshu was no exception, having a considerable collection of 1:5 scale models in his old mansion.

He even caught a glimpse of a sword that looked like it was at least rank C or higher. But the price would definitely be astronomical. So

Ryoshu quickly backed away before the vendor could pitch the sale.

Since opportunities like this didn't come around often, he took the chance to glance at some other items. But suddenly, someone from behind grabbed his neck tightly as if they were trying to choke him to death.

"Hey, this mask looks familiar, little mouse!" A hoarse voice shouted directly into Ryoshu's ear, nearly making him deaf.

An old man, at least a head taller than him, grabbed his neck and dragged him through the crowd ruthlessly. Many people in the Black Market watched as Ryoshu was dragged across the ground.

'At least I still have the mask on. It's less embarrassing, but who is this guy? I bought this mask properly, didn't I?'

'Wait, why does he look so familiar?'

----0w0----

"So that damn old woman stole from me again?!"

The old man sighed, clearly lost for words. Then he turned and scrutinized Ryoshu's body suspiciously. After a moment, he slapped his hand to his face and said,

"Sorry for dragging you like this."

He had dragged Ryoshu to his shop, where weapons were displayed. At the far end of the room was a furnace, still working, its heat quite intense.

"It's okay, sir. What's your name?" Ryoshu asked, but his attention was focused on the calico cat lounging on the chair for customers. Ryoshu couldn't resist the cat's cuteness and started petting its smooth fur.

The blacksmith didn't seem to mind what he was doing.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"I'm... Enomoto Atsuta."

For a moment, Ryoshu's pupils dilated and his hand stopped petting the cat. He quickly resumed petting it, though, trying to cover up his reaction. He seemed to recognize the name. But he quickly said something to hide the truth.

"I'm Amemura Ryoshu, a first-year student at Spiral Academy." Ryoshu introduced himself with his game name. That was probably the strangest feeling he'd had so far, aside from being in this virtual reality world.

Atsuta stared at him, as if calculating something. Perhaps he had seen the strange action Ryoshu just made. Ryoshu tried not to look into his eyes and focused on buying skill books, but that only made things worse.

"Is there anything special about this mask?"

When Ryoshu asked, Atsuta stopped glaring at him and looked at the mask in his hand.

"Oh, this mask I'm working on. If you channel Mana into it, it will make you invisible."

Then he took the mask from Ryoshu and put it on.

"Like this. Pretty cool, right?"

Suddenly, Ryoshu lost track of where the old man was.

'Huh, no, is he still in front of me? I'm not sure... it's like he's just appearing out of nowhere, I can't focus on him…'

Ryoshu had a few ideas on how to use this feature, but it wasn't something most other men were thinking about.

"I was making this hat when I noticed it had disappeared."

The blacksmith paused to catch his breath and muttered.

"Dammit, that old woman!"

But then he tossed the mask back to Ryoshu. He caught it and examined it again.

'This mask... has some potential, especially when I'm still so weak.'

When he looked up, he saw the blacksmith rummaging through his chest.

'I wonder if he has more backstory than what I've seen in the game?' Ryoshu's curiosity rose as he thought about the changes the game might have gone through since its original version.

"Do you sell skill books, sir?"

Atsuta widened his eyes in surprise.

"Of course, you blind kid. This is a skill book store, after all."

Now it was Ryoshu's turn to be shocked. He had clearly seen all the weapons outside. He was about to point to them when Atsuta interrupted him with words he hadn't spoken.

"I also sell weapons. Never mind that, what skill books do you want?"

"Do you have any books on Good Memory and Quick Reflexes?"

Both skills seemed useless and only really helpful in other areas. But Ryoshu had played the game long enough to know that these skills would be very important for him later on.

"Good Memory and Quick Reflexes, huh? I'm old, so I forget things easily, so let me check my storage." He didn't even ask why Ryoshu wanted these books.

'As expected, a professional. Atsuta is over a thousand years old, so he really must be a pro… though admittedly, he is a little old and forgetful.'

"Okay, I'll wait outside."

"But the question is, do you have enough money?" He looked Ryoshu up and down with a look that clearly said, "Someone like you wouldn't have enough money."

Although Ryoshu was irritated, he didn't object to the old man's sharp gaze. He sighed and quietly replied.

"I have about 100 RC."

"Well, that's not enough to buy a single book. Each book costs at least 120 RC. Go home." The blacksmith brushed his hands dismissively, signaling Ryoshu to leave.

Ryoshu knew he wouldn't have enough, but he still wanted to ask. In Rainfall Disorder, there were two ways to learn new skills:

The first, the hardest but completely free way—training.

Repeating an action over and over would create new skills. But if you had a teacher, the skill would be created faster and leveled up quicker.

But for Ryoshu, time was more valuable than money, especially since he didn't have much time left. So he chose the second method.

The second way was to use items. Skill books could be bought at skill book stores, but the prices were always high because the only way to get them was from dungeons.

However, there was another type of item that could be consumed to acquire new skills. And this was the initial goal of Ryoshu when he came to the so-called Black Market.

"How about [Memory Orb]?"

By using the Memory Manipulation magic to transfer part of someone's memory to another person, one could learn new skills like reading a skill book.

However, Memory Manipulation was a forbidden magic due to the dangers it posed to its user. In return, the price of a Memory Orb was much cheaper than a skill book since it could only be used once.

Atsuta stared at Ryoshu for a long time, making the atmosphere feel much different from before. This time, he sighed deeply, perhaps because the Memory Orb was a forbidden and rare item, not something you'd hear about every day. It was only available from organizations outside the government.

"I have it."

He hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand at Ryoshu and said,

"Follow me."

After walking for a while and seeing that the kid wasn't following him, he grumbled in a low, angry voice like an annoyed tiger,

"Hurry up."

Just that one sentence made Ryoshu's heart tighten to the point where he thought his blood had frozen. But he quickly followed behind the blacksmith. Along with him was the fat cat struggling to climb onto his shoulders.

Ryoshu picked it up into his arms and tried to keep up with Atsuta.

They walked down into a secret basement of the shop. Without the lanterns hanging around, Ryoshu would have hardly been able to see anything. But from time to time, he felt the tail of the cat brushing lightly against his cheek.

Enomoto reached out to a secret wall and pushed a lever down. The wall next to them immediately shattered with the sound of metal parts moving and colliding.

Inside was a hidden warehouse, separate from the above ground area. It was several hundred meters wide with various rooms used to store select items. This was also where Enomoto hid his special items in the game.

The cat, after successfully taking advantage of its human companion, immediately jumped off and latched onto its owner. The blacksmith went into one room, and after a while, he came out holding two glowing blue orbs. The orbs flickered on and off, and they felt a little unreal.

"These two cost 110 RC."

"Right now, I only have 98 RC."

Atsuta stood there, looking at Ryoshu with surprise.

"I give up, kid... How about this?"

The blacksmith thought for a while and began muttering. Ryoshu had seen scenes like this many times in the game, so he didn't say anything further.

"Kid, you owe me one favor."

Atsuta looked Ryoshu straight in the eye and said in a serious tone.

"In exchange, I won't take a single cent from you."

An unspoken quest had been triggered. Ryoshu felt a burst of adrenaline pumping through his body. His heart was so excited that he felt like his body was about to explode. The cat looked at him with a completely indifferent expression.

"I can't believe I just made a deal with a kid like this."

Atsuta whispered, seemingly regretting what he had just said.

"Do you agree, kid?"

Still, Ryoshu thought that the price was far too cheap considering his life was on the line. He started to negotiate, as he knew that if he took on the task unprepared, he could easily lose his life.

"Alright, but I want to add a few conditions."