-Radiant-

After navigating through the Night Club Renjude, I made my way underground towards the black market. This black market was obviously big enough that it would have many other entrances around this part of the city, but being invisible it was much easier to dismiss random doors opening in a place like Renjude with crowds of people, making it easy to slip down into the black market.

The black market I walked down into was kind of like the central hub for all of the illicit deals and trades in Tri-Heart City. There were obviously other places in the city that did the same kind of things as this black market under Night Club Renjude, but none were as big or as populated as this one.

This wasn't because it was particularly superior to any of the other black markets in any way, but what set it apart from the rest was the fact that The Obsidian Acropolis' subsidiary was set up here, making it the main black market by default.

From what the future message said, this black market mostly dealt with illicit goods and gambling; since with The Obsidian Acropolis here, things that went in and out of the city were easily dealt with through them.

In the end it all came down to customer service and logistics, and The Obsidian Acropolis had the best logistics around. Although their customer service is a bit lacking, I guess when they have to deal with criminals on a daily basis that is an acceptable tradeoff, but as long as the rules are followed their customer service is great from what I had picked up throughout my past life.

Walking through the underground alleys, I could hear people haggling all around me, and shady whispers occasionally brushed past my ears as I walked near some of the stalls set up along the side of the 'roads'.

Surprisingly it didn't smell all that bad compared to some of the black markets I had been through in the past, it smelled closer to neutral, probably the effect of some sort of magic. There were no food vendors around, and I could understand why, if there were no smells then it would definitely affect customer draw in rates. Making the foot traffic feel very focused, only going from place A to B with very little lingering going on.

The entire place gave me a no nonsense kind of vibe, which was probably a good idea when multiple shady organizations all across the city used this place at the same time.

I had to walk further than I would've thought possible before I made it to the place The Obsidian Acropolis was located at. I would've thought that an illegal market taking up this much space within the city would've been found out and dismantled long ago, but I guess only the first half of that equation had been carried out, the city probably just didn't dismantle it for one reason or another.

In any case I was here to do business, so I walked into the large establishment that didn't have a name, but I knew it was the front for The Obsidian Acropolis.

I still had my mask artifact on, which was surprisingly comfy, as I walked into a subsidiary of one of the most powerful organizations in Waroth.

The interior of the building was actually larger on the inside, which was surprising, but I guess not that surprising given the status and backing of those that owned the building. There were intricate designs on all of the furniture and walls, with decorations all over the place, mainly plants, carpets and lights. The main colors all around were deep red, azure blue, tan white and green from the plants.

If I had to describe it simply, it resembled what I could recall of Chinese interior decoration from Earth, though there were obvious differences it was very professional and clean looking. Finding something like this down in an underground black market was certainly a treat for the eyes, and made me feel a bit awkward for having what was basically a ski mask on. But I discarded my emotions as I leaned into my current acting persona.

Walking up to one of the counters arranged around the large main room, I spoke to the calm looking receptionist, "I need a new data chip that's linked to my Acropolis account."

I put a 'secure' Cell on the counter in front of me. I had picked up a couple of them from different stores on my way through the black market. I couldn't exactly trust that they weren't tampered with beyond making them 'secure', but having multiple different cells was a good way to mitigate any potential trouble until I could get them checked out by a specialist. Which was me by the way, it was a skill I had picked up in my past life.

Not that I was some sort of Cell specialist, but I was proficient enough at artificing and engineering to recognize things, I had built my own time machine after all. If I had multiple cells, then I would definitely be able to pick up on if any of them were tampered with, unless they were all tampered with in exactly the same way, which I highly doubted.

The receptionist took the cell without bothering to look at me and said, "I'll need your account username."

I recalled the username of 'my' new account and said, "Primalgold."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The receptionist rolled her chair over to the nearby computer and started typing and clicking away before saying, "Alright, looks like I can link a data chip for you Primalgold. Anything else you need?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I would like to change my username."

She shrugged saying, "Well, you'll have to pay 5000 GC for that."

The corner of my mouth twitched at the crazy price for just a username change, but I forked over the money anyway.

The receptionist took the GC and said, "What would you like your new username to be?"

I didn't hesitate and said, "Shadow Thief."

I nodded my head at the cool name, but the receptionist said, "Sorry, looks like that username is already used. Anything else?"

Ugh, of course that's taken. It was so cool though. Fine, I guess I'll go with option two.

"Radiant Thief."

The receptionist nodded, and after entering in the name said, "Looks like that one's not taken. Is that the name you want?"

"Yes."

The receptionist acknowledged my answer and went back to her computer typing things in and messing with my cell, all while leaving me standing there.

Finally she completed whatever she was doing and turned back to me, "Alright, I've changed your username and linked your account to this data chip." She slid back the Cell, presumably with a new data chip inside, "That'll be another 5000 GC."

Of course it is. Is that their base price for everything?

I grumbled internally while handing over the money. It wasn't like I was poor or anything, but it was the principle of it.

"Is there anything else sir?" The receptionist was a bit more formal after being given so much cash.

"Hmm, yes. But not here. Could you point me towards where I can gamble around here?"

"Of course sir." She proceeded to tell me where to go while typing something into her computer, "When you get to the door, make sure to tell them Sylla sent you."

I nodded and started following her directions.

"Oh! Just in case you weren't aware, the door is one way. You won't be able to come back once you go through."

"That's alright." It's not like I have any reason to come back here at the moment.

As I walked along the ornate floors and hallways, I thought. She probably gets some sort of bonus or something for sending people over to the gambling den. Not that it matters much to me though, but I guess telling them that she sent me and getting on the good side of the receptionist here isn't a bad idea. Though it does seem like more trouble than its worth.

I shook my head at the thought. I'm supposed to be practicing how to be more social this time around. Maybe that's the missing link in the other Radiant's plans. But let's be honest, probably not.

I shrugged off my unusually pessimistic thoughts, and opened one of the seemingly more used doorways in the hall I was walking down.

Despite its used appearance, the door didn't creak or make any noise as it swung along its hinges. Opening into a small room with two guards playing a card game on a table.

The two guards looked over to me as I opened the door, one of them standing up, probably his turn to do things by the look the other guy gave him before he stood up.

"You need something?" The guard crossed his arms.

"Yeah, Sylla sent me here. Said I could get to the gambling hall from here?"

A look of understanding and a bit of a smirk came across the guard's face, "Ah, she sent you. You must've been given some premium pricing, heh." He shared a look with his fellow guard that also smirked.

"Premium pricing?"

The guard waved his hand at my question, "Don't worry about it, just a joke."

It definitely doesn't feel like a joke, but I have better things to worry about.

"Whatever. So is this place supposed to be the gambling hall? It certainly doesn't look like it."

"Heh, no. Just a moment."

He motioned towards the other slightly plump guard that was sitting down. They cracked their knuckles before standing up and starting to cast some magic towards a nearby wall.

From what I could sense with my mana sense, it seemed like he was interacting with some sort of magical interface hidden beneath the plain wall. What the guy was doing wasn't complicated at all, but despite me being able to sense everything that he was doing, I was sure that I wouldn't be able to do whatever he was doing.

The magical mechanism/interface was seemingly checking and rechecking whatever the guy was doing, and was constantly sending pings of mana towards the guy, probably to verify his identity or something similar.

In any case, it didn't take long before a hidden doorway opened on the opposite side of the room from where I had walked in from. However, behind this hidden door wasn't a hall or room or anything similar, it was a black void that was very similar to the central Dungeon's entrance.

The guard that had been talking to me spoke up, "Well there you go. Just walk through there and you'll be at the gambling den."

I squinted at the black void skeptically, "Usually spatial portals aren't black voids like that. Is there something special about this one?"

This time the other guard spoke up, "You must be new in this city. All portals within the central Dungeon's domain are like this. It's a bit creepy not being able to see the other side, but on the bright side it's almost impossible to detect, which is great for us."

My eyebrow raised, "Interesting."

"Alright, move along. We can't have this portal open for too long."

I nodded and walked towards the black void. Indeed, it was a bit creepy compared to a normal portal, but I guess I was going to have to get used to it if I was living in Tri-Heart City.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.