「Congratulations! You have pulled: Tier 0 Spell - Glow」

「Skill Description: This spell allows you to make your hand emit a dim light that is unharmful and can only be used as a makeshift lantern」

「Mana Cost: 3 mana per activation」

At this point, Klaus just rolled his eyes. Was he surprised? Not at all. In fact, he’d been expecting exactly this.

’I shouldn’t expect much from the Gacha spins anyway,’ Klaus thought with a shake of his head. ’With my shitty luck here, it’s a surprise that I’ve been able to make it this far anyway.’

He sighed under his breath.

It’s not like he would magically roll a Tier 3 item or something overpowered. That kind of fortune was reserved for protagonists... people with actual plot armor. Klaus was a mob character and the universe wasn’t going to hand him legendary artifacts.

The blue window blinked out of existence.

"Klaus!"

Taula’s voice cut through his thoughts. He turned right to see the blonde wearing a rat mask over her face complete with painted whiskers and a tiny pink nose.

"Meow meow~" Taula said, tilting her head. "How does my rat mask look, Klaus?"

Klaus’s eyes twitched.

"Rats don’t meow..." he said flatly. "They squeak."

"Oh!" Taula’s eyes lit up behind the mask.

She brought her hands up to her chest like tiny paws. "Squeak squeak! So how does it look?"

Klaus stared at her for a long moment taking in the ridiculous sight of an A-Rank adventurer making rodent noises but then it was Taula so he guessed it was okay, she could get a better mask though.

"You look absurd..." Klaus said. "Take it off."

Taula’s shoulders fell immediately. Her enthusiasm deflated like a punctured balloon, and she lowered her hands with a visible pout behind the mask.

"Klaus!"

Another voice called his name from the right this time and he turned around. Serra stood there with a cat mask over her face, it had pointed ears and delicate painted whiskers that framed the eyeholes.

"How does it look?" Serra asked, striking a small pose.

"You look nice in it..." Klaus said without thinking.

THWACK!

Pain exploded in his side. Taula had materialized from nowhere and elbowed his waist, Klaus shouted and fell to the ground.

"That hurt!" he gasped, looking up at Taula.

The blonde stuck out her tongue.

"If you keep complimenting Serra..." Taula declared with her hands on her hips. "then I won’t cook for you anymore."

Klaus sighed and laid back on the ground, letting himself stare at the ceiling of the mask shop.

He had a lot of metil now. If he wanted to sell these diamonds, he had two options: the Capital or the Black Market. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The Capital meant official channels and questions that could probably mean paying a hefty amount in tax and paperwork. The Black Market meant potential robbery afterward... back in the game, that’s how it worked.

Klaus wasn’t like those "smart" protagonists that knew all the alleyways and could dodge trained assassins, he was only human after all but Serra had a trusted contact that someone who would give them good rates.

The rest of the Phantom Crew used to do business with him too.

’There’s a chance Serra could be sabotaging me...’ Klaus thought. ’That’s why I brought Taula along.’

Klaus pulled himself off the ground, brushing dust from his shirt and immediately, Taula got in his face. She was looking at the ground with a thoughtful expression.

"Since you like cat masks so much..." Taula said as her eyes sparkled with an idea. "all of us should wear cat masks and be like the three Mosquitoes!"

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"Did you mean the Three Musketeers?" he asked.

"Mosquitoes, Musketeers, what’s the difference?" Taula said with a dismissive wave then she shoved the cat mask into his hand and immediately spun around, sprinting toward the owner of the shop. "I want to buy all three masks!"

"We need cloaks too." Serra chimed in and Taula nodded as she turned to the shop owner.

"I want three cloaks for all of us..." Taula said.

The owner nodded his head eagerly and his eyes lit up at the prospect of a big sale.

"That’ll be 3 silver for everything."

"Heh, that’s too che—" Taula started to say, then she looked down at her hand and saw that her finger was bare.

She’d forgotten her storage ring back at the inn and her face flushed with embarrassment so she resorted to the second plan.

"Klausss~" she called in a sing-song voice. "Come buy this for us!"

Klaus sighed while walking to the counter.

He didn’t mind buying a cat mask at least it would keep his identity hidden in the Black Market, and that was worth the few silver coins the shopkeeper was charging.

...

Minutes later, the three of them walked out of the shop with cat masks on their faces and black cloaks draped around their backs.

The afternoon sun felt warm against Klaus’s skin and he blinked behind the mask, adjusting to the limited field of vision the eyeholes provided.

Klaus turned to both of them.

"So, how will I know who is Taula and who is Serra?" Klaus asked, gesturing between the two identically masked and cloaked figures.

Serra perked up immediately.

"Look at the one with bigger breasts..." Serra said with her voice filled with confidence. "I have bigger breasts than Taula."

Taula gritted her teeth behind her mask.

"What are you even doing with those big breasts anyway?" Taula asked, stepping closer then she reached out and poked Serra’s breast. "They only slow you down!"

Serra whimpered at the poke.

"I’m a healer remember?" Serra protested. "My job is support."

Taula poked Serra’s breast again.

"How do big breasts provide support?" Taula demanded.

Klaus pushed his hand between them and shoved Taula’s head to the side, physically separating the two before this escalated into an actual fight.

"We should focus." Klaus said firmly. "We need to head..."

He paused for dramatic effect, lowering his voice. "...to the Black Market."

He stretched out the words, making it sound like he was narrating a movie trailer and Taula tilted her head, staring at him through her mask.

"Why did you even stretch it out like that in the first place?" Taula asked, genuinely confused.

Klaus’s dramatic moment deflated instantly.

"Let’s just go." He said with a sigh.

...

Within every major town or city was a Black Market sector in Artemis Online. Galen Town had a world dungeon with floors, so naturally that made it eligible for a Black Market.

Black markets were illegal... dealing in everything from stolen goods to contraband magic items to things far darker than mere theft and they were usually hidden in elaborate networks of tunnels or disguised behind false storefronts.

The one in Galen Town was just underground.

A series of stone steps descended beneath an abandoned warehouse, leading to a vast cavern reinforced with wooden beams and enchanted torches.

The ceiling stretched high above while the ground was packed dirt worn smooth by countless feet.

The market itself was chaotic with stalls lining the cavern walls and each one manned by sellers calling out their wares.

"Fresh potions! For Mana recovery and stamina boost! If you want to last longer on bed, I have just an item for you!"

"Enchanted blades! No questions asked!"

"Information for sale! Dungeon locations and Bounties!"

"Human woman! Measurements thirty-six, twenty-four, thirty-five! Fifty silvers and she’s great for sex too!"

Klaus winced.

He immediately grabbed Taula’s hand as the blonde was looking all around when they were supposed to be staring forward and walking with purpose.

"Is this your first time in a black market?" Klaus asked while keeping his voice low.

"Yes," Taula said, her head still swiveling to take in every detail of the underground bazaar.

"We need to walk forward and follow Serra..." Klaus told her while tightening his grip. "Stop looking at people. Everyone apart from the sellers wear masks and cloaks. If you let your identity slip to the wrong person and you have money on you, say goodbye to a peaceful life."

Taula’s head stopped moving and she faced forward. Serra turned back to them with her cat mask catching the flickering torchlight.

"We’re almost there..." Serra said, gesturing ahead to a building that looked slightly more permanent than the surrounding stalls.

A man passed by them at that exact moment.

His eyes that were visible through the eyeholes of a crude wolf mask locked onto Taula. He reached out with his hand going straight for her rear.

"What a nice piece of ass..." the man said confidently. "How much for a nig—"

CRACK!

Taula punched him across the face. The man flew backward, hitting the ground hard and skidding across the packed dirt and his mask had been knocked loose.

Klaus couldn’t even say anything. That was well deserved but the surprising bit was that everyone went about what they were doing as if this was completely normal.

Taula grabbed Klaus’s arm and held him really tightly, pressing against his side.

"I don’t want to be here anymore..." Taula whispered as her earlier curiosity completely gone.

"Stop whining." Klaus told her gently. "We’ll be there soon."

Serra led them through the crowd until they reached the nondescript building tucked against the far cavern wall.

Unlike the ramshackle stalls, this structure was made of solid stone with a heavy metal door that looked like it could withstand a siege.

Serra approached the door and knocked three times and a voice came from inside.

"Password?"

"RakuRakuTofu..." Serra said.

There was a short silence then came the sound of locks being undone and the door swung open.

"Inside, quickly." the guard’s voice said.

They stepped through. The narrow pathway on the other side was claustrophobic as it was barely wide enough for two people and the walls were rough stone lit by flickering torches.

Klaus kept one hand near his storage ring, ready to draw his sword at any time while his Metal Sense was going crazy.

Dozens of hidden blades were embedded in the walls... and after what felt like an eternity, the pathway opened into a proper room.

Klaus’s eyes immediately swept the space.

The room was rectangular, perhaps twenty feet across and the walls were lined with display cases holding treasures that would make most adventurers weep.

There was gold that was the size of fists and jewelry that glowed with mana as well as ornate weapons lining the walls.

To the left, a man and two women sat at a table counting coins, none of them looked up and behind the main desk sat who Klaus guessed was the contact.

The man was puffy with a big stomach that pressed against the table.

His face was round and jovial, with small eyes that twinkled with shrewd intelligence. He wore fine clothes which were a silk vest over a pressed shirt and gold rings on his fingers.

Serra removed her cat mask and pulled down her cloak and the Collector’s face split into a warm smile.

"Serra..." he said. "Long time no see."

"We just met some time ago with the rest of the group." Serra said with a sigh and the man’s smile died instantly.

"I heard what happened to Vex and Garrick..." he said quietly. "That Kahn attacked them, I wonder why he would do such a thing?"

Then he turned to the other two masked figures and Taula immediately reached for her mask but before she could remove it, Klaus’s hand shot out and pressed against her face holding the cat mask in place.

He was absolutely not going to trust anybody in the black market and the Collector’s eyes crinkled with amusement.

"This is a safe place," he said gently. "Though it’s okay that you’re paranoid, Paranoia keeps people alive in this business."

He cleared his throat sitting up straighter.

"I should introduce myself properly," the Collector said with a pause. "I am Collector Marius, and I’m the richest man in the Galen Black Market."