The Legend of Dongmyo

"So... you're saying we're going all the way to Dongmyo to buy items?"

"Yeah."

I stretched my back one more time, then grabbed my shoes and pulled them on.

"Do we really have to go out to Dongmyo? You said you picked up a decent item at Seoul Station yesterday. Something with flight, wasn't it?"

Gyeol's eyes dropped to my shoes. Under that relentless stare, I squirmed. This kid already had a movement skill of his own, and he was jealous over this?

Then again, in the space of a few days I'd gained a pet and a halfway respectable item, and Gyeol hadn't gotten a thing. He wasn't the type to covet what other people had, but even so, this was enough to sting.

"True, but it isn't enough. If we're going into a dungeon on our own, we need to prepare more than that. Consumables, too—potions and the like."

"You can get those at the Awakener center nearby. No need to trek all the way to Dongmyo."

"Come on. You don't know that story? The legend of Dongmyo Market came back as an Awakener."

"I don't know any story like that. What is it."

"Unbelievable. You really don't know a single thing about how the world works."

"......"

While I was snickering, Gyeol closed in behind me and drove a knee into my back.

"Ow, ow! An S-rank's gonna kill somebody! Can't you control your strength, you punk?! You're gonna murder someone doing that! Aigoo! I'm dying! Fine, I get it! Your hyung will explain it properly. Once upon a time... once upon a time, I don't actually know what year."

"What. You don't even know yourself."

Gyeol put more weight into the knee.

This wasn't play-acting anymore. I might actually die. I thrashed my way out from under his knee, bit back the tears prickling in my eyes, and rubbed my burning back.

"Ow, ow, ow, seriously. You. And I'm just a little weak with numbers, that's all. Anyway."

The legend of Dongmyo.

A man also called the dimensional merchant. An Sa-hong.

His business sense was so sharp that he handled deals with major guilds single-handedly, and it was no exaggeration to say he held every dungeon-related item in the country in the palm of his hand. Before he awakened, he had been nothing more than the manager of an ordinary secondhand-clothing stall. Business was so famously bad that people called him a legend for it. After he awakened, he became the true great legend of Dongmyo.

With him at its head, a whole commercial district grew up across Dongmyo for trading dungeon byproducts and items, and for Awakeners the place became somewhere they could not do without.

"You know, right? Awakeners aren't just the kind that hunt monsters."

"I know. There are the ones who make items, too."

"Exactly. An Sa-hong's probably that type."

"...Probably? So you're not sure."

"Yeah. There's an unnatural lack of public information on him."

Gyeol's mouth twisted.

"Still, he must have registered as an Awakener and had a bio-chip put in."

"Well, yeah, but... the truth is, unregistered illegal Awakeners are everywhere."

"What? Illegal?"

Later on, the bio-chips disappear entirely. I can't tell him that.

"It's not confirmed that An Sa-hong is an illegal Awakener. Anyway, people say it's because almost no information gets out."

"Then we should've just not registered either."

"What? No. Absolutely not."

"Because of your conscience?"

"Conscience is part of it, but the fallout of becoming an illegal Awakener is no joke. Dungeons that are already known are managed by the state, so the only way in is to raid them. Who's going to do that? If you're lucky, you find a dungeon no one else has discovered and scrape by on it until the monster special forces catch on—or you just become a superpowered street thug who does nothing but cause trouble."

"......"

"We promised we'd never sink that low, no matter what happened."

Gyeol watched me in silence, then slowly nodded.

"So this guy is that impressive? And we're going to buy items from him?"

"Yeah. He deals in incredible goods that nobody else can move."

"Nobody else can move them. Is he even trustworthy? You've never dealt with him yourself."

"My information is solid, so don't you worry. Items you might get one of—if you're lucky—after clearing an absurdly dangerous high-rank dungeon? Go to An Sa-hong, and you can get them."

"That's possible?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

This was why An Sa-hong had come to hold the entire commercial sphere of the country in his grip. The moment a deal was promised, he always produced rare items that could not be found anywhere on Earth. His trading house had no dedicated dungeon-hunting team, and no one could discover whom he dealt with to obtain those items.

So was he selling fakes?

Rumors followed him constantly—that he stamped out counterfeits with some shallow crafting skill, or that he was running some kind of con. But the worth of a thing reveals itself when you use it, and his goods were always the real thing.

As several famous Awakeners took to using them, they became a guarantee in themselves, and word of mouth spread even further. Setting aside the games of bad-faith customers, not once had a defect ever turned up in his merchandise.

The appearance of a truly mysterious tycoon.

The joke that he might be trading goods with someone from another dimension ended up becoming his nickname.

The legend of Dongmyo, and the trader between dimensions. Even up to the moment I regressed, no one knew how he obtained his goods.

At that rate, you'd think he was on his way to becoming the strongest Awakener on Earth. But he never once stepped into battle himself. With no exclusive raid party attached to his trading house, where was An Sa-hong sourcing his goods?

And that was not the end of it.

Unlike ordinary items, his rare and expensive ones could not be bought just because you wanted them. He was not swayed by anyone's money, either. No matter how much you offered, no matter what great person came bearing honor and reward, it had nothing to do with whether a deal went through. Whether he sold, and whether you were allowed to buy, followed An Sa-hong's decision that day.

An Sa-hong had standards of his own. Standards no one could guess. So of course he made enemies.

Well, we don't need anything that extraordinary right now. No need to worry about being turned away.

All that was left was to step out the front door. I looked back. Gyeol was just holding his coat.

Because of the way he did business, An Sa-hong received countless recruitment offers and just as many threats on his life. From a certain point on, he vanished completely, until almost no one remained who had seen him in person.

But if this was now, he should not have gone into hiding yet. Get some reasonably decent items, and if possible, build a connection with him. That would be ideal. If I managed that, then even after he disappeared, there might still be a way to reach him. Optimistic, sure. But still.

And I could ask him about Soul Stones.

He was a merchant who obtained items no one else could. There was no way an item like a Soul Stone existed for me alone, so the odds that An Sa-hong knew about them were very high. I already knew you got Soul Stones by killing monsters, but if they could be crafted—or bought as casually as ice cream—that would be a lot more convenient.

"Got all that? He's a real mystery of a merchant. Hurry up and get dressed so we can go. And you should've worn something thicker. You'll freeze."

"Hmm..."

"Hm? What, something else you don't get? Just take it as 'he's an amazing guy.' You don't have to understand."

"No. You talk like you've known him for a very long time."

"Huh? Wha—?"

"Do you know him?"

"Th-there's no way."

"Right. There isn't."

Had I slipped? No, I didn't think I'd gone that far...

"......Hm."

"......This much is common knowledge, you punk."

"......"

"Ahem! Hey! Just put your shoes on. We're already late."

I grabbed Gyeol and hauled him along, rushing him out.

All the way to Dongmyo, I had to endure Gyeol's strange, searching looks. At least he didn't press me any further.

"First we sell the Ether Stones we got, and use that money to stock up on items."

"...If what you say is true, we're about to have an absurd amount of money."

The Ether Stones from our first fight, mine and Gyeol's together, came to seventeen. On top of that, the haul from the battle at Seoul Station was enormous. I was roughly estimating today's income against item prices from before the regression when—

A shoulder slammed into me hard, and my body was shoved clean aside.

"Ha-jun!"

If Gyeol hadn't caught me, I would have gone tumbling across the ground.

"Damn it."

I turned. The guy who had hit me was already a good distance off.

"White hair?"

"That bastard."

"No, Gyeol. Leave it."

I yanked him back before he could chase the white-haired man. If an S-rank like Gyeol got dragged into a fight the wrong way, there was no telling how big it would get. Besides, this was already Dongmyo. That man was probably an Awakener too, and it was better not to pick a fight with an Awakener if you could help it. For all I knew, he was the sort of delinquent Awakener you ought to be grateful just walked past without a word.

Damn, he's tall.

The body that had hit me was strong enough that one whole arm had gone completely numb. High rank, or a high level. I swallowed the flare of anger and soothed Gyeol.

"You're stupidly strong. You can't just go picking fights. Got it?"

"What..."

"And you're going to become seriously incredible, you know? You have to start being careful with yourself now. People who matter are supposed to keep their hands clean."

"Wh-what are you talking about."

Gyeol stepped back as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Right. The nickname Mad Dog, stuck to him early after his awakening, had followed him nearly his whole life. This time, I intended to look after his reputation too. Wouldn't that work in our favor when it came time to do something big?

"What are you nodding to yourself about."

"Punk, you have no idea how much your hyung thinks about you, do you? Honestly. You'd better spend the rest of your life thanking me."

"What?"

"Aigoo, really. Doesn't know a thing. You're so cute I could die."

While I was cackling, the building I remembered came into view.

Danhong Corporation. A nameplate hung at the entrance.

Huh? The building was much smaller and shabbier than I remembered. Had it always been like this? Before the regression I had only been a few times, and after that I had dealt through the guild, so the memory was hazy.

"Well, I mean. It was more than ten years ago."

"Hm?"

"Nothing. It's nothing. Let's go in."

The moment we stepped into Danhong Corporation, the door gave a tinkling, old-fashioned chime. The inside was far older and smaller than it had looked from outside. It was also incredibly desolate.

Desolate didn't cover it. At a glance, it didn't look like anyone lived here; it felt like a rat might come shooting out at any moment. In the empty space sat one or two pieces of furniture that looked a hundred years old.

I was sure we had come to the right place...

"Is anyone here?"

The emptiness made my voice boom and echo.

"What is this? Is this even a shop?"

"It definitely is."

"But it was weird. Compared to what you described... how do I put it. The whole street felt dead."

At Gyeol's words, I swallowed hard.

I had felt it too, and I had tried hard to ignore it. Dongmyo, which should have been a thriving commercial district under An Sa-hong, was far too quiet.

Did I get the timing wrong?

Which meant either An Sa-hong had not awakened yet, or he had, but this was before he became famous. Cold sweat started to run. If it was only before he got famous, I could bluff my way through... but if he had not even awakened yet.

Damn it. I can't clearly remember when he got famous. I only knew that he was famous. Shit!

This disaster was courtesy of the pre-regression memories I had been worried about all along not being accurate. I shouldn't have acted like I knew. This mouth of mine. What do I do, what do I do?!

"Are you customers?"

A calm man's voice cut through the silence.

Where is that coming from?

It was a small building, but the voice seemed to ring from every direction, and it startled me.

"Ah, yes! We're customers!"

"I see. Might I ask you to wait a moment?"

There it was again. There seemed to be some kind of device installed inside the building. A skill? Right—it could be An Sa-hong's skill.

Tak. Tak.

From inside the small door straight ahead came the sound of dress shoes.