Sinuiju Free Market (8)

At the sight before her eyes, Hyeonseong finally understood exactly what the alphabet letter attached beside the coordinate values meant.

‘B……. Did it mean Battle?’

Or it might have been a code pointing to the second door in the place guarded by the gatekeeper. Whatever it was, that letter B ultimately meant that the quest location was an arena.

‘In any case, my guess that it was somewhere close to the abyss was right.’

“My god…….”

Haesu muttered in a flustered voice.

“I had heard there was an arena somewhere under the market…….”

“Welcome. We have been waiting for you.”

A person approached Hyeonseong’s group, who were staring at the scene in the arena.

The figure was dressed in a suit that did not suit the arena at all, with the face hidden behind a mask. Anyone could tell they were an arena manager.

“This is the task you must carry out.”

The manager, after greeting Hyeonseong’s group, held out a card folded in half. Hyeonseong opened the card and furrowed her brow.

‘Two or more people, achieve three consecutive victories in arena fights?’

She had expected it would not be an easy task, but this was a condition even more troublesome than she had thought.

‘Since I can’t exactly tell Mr. Haesu to fight, that means one of the two has to be me in the end…….’

Hyeonseong’s gaze turned toward the center of the arena. In the middle of the arena, built in the form of a circular stadium, two people holding weapons were fighting a fierce battle.

‘And they’re telling me to do something like that?’

It felt uncomfortable to reveal her true identity in a place like this. That meant she could not carelessly use Infinite Corridor.

But Hyeonseong did not have the talent to fight head-on so honestly like that. It was a difficult situation in many ways.

“Three straight wins…….”

Hyeonyeong, who had also been reading the contents of the card, muttered.

“Let me say in advance that changing the condition is impossible. Those are our rules.”

Perhaps sensing something in the air, the manager spoke again.

“So that means two people among us absolutely have to stand up there?”

Hyeonyeong cast her gaze toward the center of the arena.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Hmm…….”

Hyeonyeong subtly revealed her displeasure. Even so, the manager’s upright attitude did not change.

“Then what are the rules of these fights?”

After engaging in a silent contest of nerves with the manager, Hyeonyeong stepped back a little and asked.

“You need only follow the combat rules of this place.”

“The rules here?”

“That is correct. We run this place by setting restrictions each fight on the weapons and skills used.”

“How exactly are the restrictions set?”

“One weapon, and three skills. It is a rule under which you may use only three skills in total, counting offense, defense, and support alike.”

If only three skills could be chosen across all fields, then it was quite a tricky condition.

‘Then people with lots of so-called passive-type skills, or people with high pure stats and good combat sense, have the advantage.’

Conversely, people whose strength lay in using a variety of skills were at a disadvantage. And if one had to classify Hyeonseong, she was closer to the latter.

‘Because I patched over everything I didn’t have with skill cards.’

“What about support items?”

While Hyeonseong was calculating in her head, Hyeonyeong continued asking.

“You may not use any of them. Potions are also forbidden during battle. Please bear in mind that if unauthorized use is discovered, it will automatically be treated as a defeat.”

“Then skill cards can’t be used either?”

“Of course not.”

“Not even if they’re used to replace skills you already have?”

At Hyeonyeong’s continuing question, the manager fell silent. This question seemed to have room for deliberation.

“……If it is by the method you described, then they may be used. But there would hardly be any reason to go that far…….”

“It’s enough that they can be used. When registering skills or skill cards, do we have to disclose all the skill names?”

“That is correct. However, disclosure to the audience is not mandatory.”

‘At a glance, this is obviously for gathering information on the participants.’

That was what Hyeonseong thought while listening to the exchange between Hyeonyeong and the manager.

The names of one’s main weapon and primary skills were important clues for inferring the identity of an arena combat participant.

‘And once they find out your identity, they’ll probably try to use that as the basis for either blackmail or negotiation. Whether by leveraging social standing, or exploiting weaknesses in the traits of your skills.’

The fact that she had to expose her identity to a certain extent felt deeply unpleasant. But that did not mean she had any other choice.

‘Putting me aside, I wonder if Hyeonyeong will be okay.’

Hyeonseong’s gaze turned to Hyeonyeong. Unlike Hyeonseong herself, Hyeonyeong had a public image she had to manage. Hyeonseong was not sure whether it would be fine for her to leave traces in a place like a black-market arena.

“Can we borrow equipment and the like?”

Hyeonyeong kept asking.

“Of course. All kinds of basic equipment are prepared, so you may borrow whatever you wish.”

“Understood. Then how do we sign up to participate?”

At Hyeonyeong’s next question, the corner of Hyeonseong’s eye twitched.

‘She’s really going to go ahead under these conditions as they are?’

The goal was to get to the auction house as quickly as possible, but even so, if Hyeonyeong found the conditions too difficult to accept, Hyeonseong had intended to look for another route of approach.

But Hyeonyeong seemed to have decided to deal with the arena quest.

“Please follow me. I will assist you with registration.”

The manager turned first and started walking. Hyeonseong’s group followed behind the manager.

“Will you be okay?”

On the way after the manager, Hyeonseong asked Hyeonyeong in a low voice.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got ways to deal with everything, from not getting found out in the first place to having rumors leak out after I’ve been exposed.”

As if she understood the meaning of the question Hyeonseong had thrown at her, Hyeonyeong answered smoothly.

“Well, if you have a way, that’s a relief.”

“I’m less of a problem than you are, Unni. What are you going to do?”

This time, Hyeonyeong asked Hyeonseong.

“Good question…….”

It was nice that skill cards could be registered as if they were possessed skills. But the problem was choosing which skill cards to use within that.

‘As for Hyeonyeong’s skills…… if she uses them, then she’ll only be able to use basic slashing or thrusting skills.’

To reduce clues that might reveal their identity as much as possible, they had to use skills that did not show personal characteristics. But aside from basic aura skills like Mana Thrust, everything else was eliminated.

‘But all aura attack skills have usage limits. Same for the skill cards I picked up during dungeon runs.’

Among the cards she possessed, the only ones that could be used without limit were Mad Collector’s Eye and Magician’s Hand. And neither of those two skills was a direct attack skill.

‘It also feels a bit off to swap attack skill cards every match……. The very fact of using skills regardless of trait or attribute is basically a clue in itself.’

No matter how she looked at it, it seemed difficult for Hyeonseong to perfectly hide her identity in the end.

‘I guess I’ll just give up on that part and try putting together a useful skill combination. I do have to win, after all.’

If she accepted that her identity might be exposed and focused only on winning, then there were all kinds of usable combinations she could draw up. Once she gave up on hiding her identity, the option of using Hyeonyeong’s skill cards became available again.

‘Or I could just go crazy and use something like Illusory Sword Telekinesis…….’

That was when Hyeonseong, while thinking over skill combinations, stepped into an office in one corner of the arena.

‘……Yeah, staying quiet would be even stranger.’

Just as the manager was about to begin the additional explanation, the Constellations’ messages started updating rapidly again. It was always like this whenever they saw a chance to butt in.

“As I explained earlier, you may change the weapons and skills you use in each match. However, most people…….”

“They usually don’t switch them, right?”

At Hyeonseong’s words, the manager nodded.

“That is correct. I believe you can guess the reason.”

It meant everyone thought along similar lines.

“How are opponents decided? Randomly?”

Hyeonseong continued asking.

“That is correct. Except in special matches, it is a completely random pairing that considers no conditions whatsoever.”

“And the victory condition? Don’t tell me we have to kill them or something…….”

“In principle, killing is prohibited. Victory is obtained by placing a blade against the opponent’s vital point. However…… it is not rare for unfortunate accidents to occur due to intense fighting.”

In the end, even if they pretended otherwise, it was practically the same as allowing murder.

No matter how she thought about it, Hyeonseong could not imagine the managers running a facility like this would morally distinguish deliberate murder from anything else.

‘They’d probably only accuse someone of intentional killing when they wanted an excuse to get rid of a participant who had fallen out of favor with them.’

“Is there anything else you are curious about?”

The manager asked.

“I’d like to check the types of equipment available for borrowing.”

Hyeonseong answered immediately. The manager then brought over a booklet. It was a catalog of the equipment that could be borrowed.

The moment she received the catalog, Hyeonseong checked the table of contents first. And at the very end of the table of contents, she found what she wanted.

‘There it is. Non-combat equipment.’

It was there just as she had hoped; several kinds of equipment prepared were not weapons meant for combat.

‘In an arena like this, there are always people like that. The sort who pick a concept on purpose and fight with weird equipment.’

Whatever the principles, these were fights where one’s life could genuinely be in danger. Even so, Hyeonseong could not understand why anyone would do something like that.

But because there were not just one or two people of that sort, equipment Hyeonseong could use had been prepared. It was the sort of moment where she could not tell whether she should laugh or not.

‘……Anyway, it’s a relief that I don’t have to force myself to use combat weapons I can barely handle.’

Hyeonseong returned the catalog to the manager.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then we would now like to proceed with participant registration…….”

After obtaining agreement from Hyeonseong and Hyeonyeong, the manager held out the registration forms.

Receiving the forms, Hyeonseong quickly checked the fields that had to be filled out. While doing so, she gave some final thought to the three skills she would use.

‘If I can use the equipment I normally use as it is…….’

Hyeonseong thought about how she usually fought when fighting personally. After thinking for a moment, the answer came more quickly than expected.

‘If I take what I used often normally…… and add something useful for the current situation, that should do it.’

The skills to use had also been decided. Hyeonseong filled in the form’s fields without hesitation.

‘They said I don’t have to write a name, so I’ll leave that blank, and for equipment and skills…….’

While filling in the skill section, Hyeonseong thought the situation of writing this skill combination with her own hand was absurd.

That was only natural, because the combination she was writing down now was exactly the kind of thing the sort of people Hyeonseong thought she could never understand would do.

‘Unintentionally, I’ve ended up spitting in my own face.’

“Uh…… you’re really going to write that?”

While the Constellations’ messages were flying toward Hyeonseong, Hyeonyeong, after seeing the contents of Hyeonseong’s form, asked in a surprised voice.

“Yeah. Why?”

Naturally accepting the Constellation quest, Hyeonseong asked in a calm voice.

“If you’re going to reveal that anyway, then you might as well just use an attack skill.”

“Even if I cram in something halfway useful like that, I won’t be able to use it properly. I don’t want to waste it for no reason either.”

Answering Hyeonyeong, Hyeonseong submitted the completed form. The manager checked the contents of the form Hyeonseong handed over.

“……I usually do not ask this sort of question unless it is absolutely necessary, but are you truly submitting it exactly like this?”

The manager, who had been dealing with the group in a relaxed manner the entire time until now, spoke in a bewildered voice.

“Why? Is there some skill there that can’t be used?”

“That is not the issue, but…….”

The manager answered in an embarrassed tone and checked Hyeonseong’s form again. Then he soon spoke again in a voice that had recovered its composure.

“Understood. We will accept it as is. I trust you have fully read all the disclaimer clauses.”

After taking Hyeonyeong’s form as well, the manager led the two of them to the borrowed-equipment storage room.

“This one requested a sword and a mask, correct?”

The manager first found one longsword and a plain mask and handed them to Hyeonyeong.

“And this one…….”

Then the manager turned his head in another direction. From that motion, Hyeonseong sensed a strangely dubious air.

‘They’re the ones who put that there, so I don’t know why they’re making such a fuss just because I said I’d use it.’

Hyeonseong also looked at the manager with a dubious gaze. While that happened, the manager brought over the equipment Hyeonseong had borrowed.

“……The pickaxe and mask you requested.”