Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 58

Episode 58

"Noona, are you done changing? I changed too, guri!"

The figure entering the room seemed to like the disguise, as he was already imitating the raccoon-kin speech.

Maybe because it was an expensive artifact, he looked quite plausible.

But his attitude, which lacked any seriousness, heightened my anxiety.

'Can that crazy bastard really pull this off?'

I ignored the bastard and walked back to the mirror.

It was to put in the other earring.

Elaine, who had been following right behind me, suddenly stopped.

"Uh..."

His already large raccoon eyes widened even further.

With a ridiculous expression, as if he'd spotted a natural enemy, he asked in a slightly dazed voice.

"Is that you, Shari-noona?"

"No."

"Then who are you?"

I frowned at the bastard's sudden clueless act.

"Are you kidding? I'm your master."

"Ah..."

"From now on, stop with the 'Teacher Apothecary-noona' stuff and call me Master. We can't get caught before the infiltration is complete."

"What, it is you, Shari-noona. Tch."

The bastard suddenly pouted.

At the same time.

[Elaine Griselda feels faint disappointment toward you.]

[Elaine Griselda feels a slight favorability toward you.]

I was dumbfounded by the system windows that popped up out of nowhere.

If it's favorability, it's favorability. Why feel disappointment right before it?

While I was staring at the system windows in disbelief, the bastard spoke again.

"Noona, can't you take off your mask just once?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Here, take this. Raccoon Mask."

Having put in both earrings, I approached him and held out the potion.

It was the S-Grade Invisibility Potion I had shown him once yesterday.

"Raccoon Mask...!"

I'd gone out of my way to call him that since he liked being called Green Mask.

Elaine huffed, his ears turning red, as if he were humiliated.

Unlike my own appearance, dressed up and polished for the first time in a while, his raccoon disguise was quite a pathetic sight.

He was in a shabby robe with holes in it, and he even had manacles with long chains on both hands.

Still, I was relieved he had followed orders and worn it.

"There's something you need to know, Raccoon Mask."

They were shoddy things that would break with a little force, but they were still manacles.

Elaine was fumbling to take the potion, so I put it in his robe pocket for him and spoke in a rapid-fire burst.

"The invisibility potion only lasts for two hours."

"Two hours?"

"Yeah. As soon as we get there, I'm going to sell you to a slave trader."

At that, his raccoon eyes went as wide as saucers.

"Drink the potion as soon as you're locked in the prison; be smart about it. They tend to lock up the raccoon beastkin separately because they smell, so it should be fine to drink it without being watched."

Of course, Elaine was just in disguise, so he wouldn't actually smell.

Although, if they put him where they used to keep the raccoon-kin, the prison would probably stink...

"To a slave trader, you're going to sell me?!"

As expected, Elaine was furious, his white whiskers trembling.

However, his anger wasn't directed at me for turning him into a smelly raccoon, but in a strange direction.

The bastard trembled, glaring at me as if he'd been betrayed.

"How could you do this to me, Master!"

"No, that's how you're going to infiltrate the slave prison."

"Ah, that's true."

He immediately understood and his vicious expression softened.

His quick acceptance left me speechless.

"But, aren't we infiltrating together? What are you going to do, Master, while I'm locked up alone?"

"Who said you're staying locked up? You said you wanted to free your family, you dimwit!"

"Aha. So that's the plan."

I was on the verge of grabbing the back of my neck and collapsing.

"You have something you're good at, Green Mask. First, free your family, and then free as many other slaves as you can. So they're ready to escape at any moment."

"But... the slaves with restraints can't escape even if I do that."

Just as a broken clock is right twice a day, Elaine said something smart for a change.

I nodded and moved on to the next step of the plan.

"In one hour, the slave trader will come to take you to the auction house. That's when you get out of the prison and go to the Black Syndicate leader's room. You know the layout of that building well, right?"

"Yes. The leader's room is at the very end of the top floor."

"Good."

It seemed we were finally getting on the same page.

"For the remaining one hour, you have only one job."

Elaine's job while I was at the auction house wasn't that difficult.

I looked him in the eye and explained, step-by-step.

"When you enter his room, the bastard will be asleep. You just need to take the laurel crown off his head and come out. Easy, right?"

"The laurel crown? That's the one he wears all the time."

"That's right. You have to take that off to remove the slaves' restraints."

The laurel crown that the Black Syndicate leader always wore was a legendary-grade item called the [Owner of the Thorn Crown].

Unlike the main body, which was decorated with ornate laurel leaves, its owner could create as many duplicates as they wanted, which looked like plain gold bands.

By placing a duplicate on someone and chanting an activation word set by the owner, they could inflict pain with an electric current and control the person.

Could there be a more suitable item for a slave trader?

However, as powerful as it was, the method to take it was simple.

Just subdue the owner of the main body and take it off.

I had originally planned to give that to Elaine, in place of 'Belisser's Eye' which I couldn't give him right away, but...

'That would be a disaster.'

I shuddered, looking into his eyes, which held a crazy innocence even in the midst of a serious strategy meeting.

"That thing is cursed, so don't even think about touching it!"

"Cursed?"

"...Yeah. So just bring it back carefully and wait at the hotel. I'll take care of making the slaves escape after that."

"...What if that bastard isn't asleep? What do I do then?"

Elaine asked back, for some reason, with an unconvinced look.

"...I'm scared of that bastard, Master."

He wore a rare, serious expression.

I scanned his raccoon face, but there was no sign of joking.

I guess. He was born and raised there, so he must have seen all sorts of atrocities committed against the slaves. It was only natural.

'He seems his age when he's like this.'

This unexpected other side of Elaine gave me a chilling, uneasy premonition.

But, as long as the goal was to rescue his family, it was a necessary task.

"I guarantee you, that won't happen. That bastard will be asleep."

I said, full of confidence.

His subordinates would be all over the building anyway.

Unless something major happened, like a monster stampede, the bastard wouldn't bother to lift a finger.

"Elaine Griselda. You're good at stealing, aren't you."

"..."

"It's nothing, it's an easy job. Besides, you'll be invisible because of the potion. Even if he wakes up, he won't be able to find you."

"Noona..."

"As long as you don't get sidetracked by whatever is in there!"

I reached out and placed my hands on Elaine's shoulders.

And I patted him firmly a couple of times, as if in encouragement.

To make sure he wouldn't even think of getting sidetracked.

Thwack, thwack.

"Do that, and you'll be able to get out within the time limit without anyone seeing you. Mark my words."

"Ugh."

"I don't care what kind of amazing treasures are in that bastard's room, just bring the laurel crown. Got it?"

If you're late because you stole something else, you'll die by my hands.

As I whispered through clenched teeth, Elaine finally nodded.

And he added.

"Master, you're so intense, guri."

"Shut up and take my hand."

The opening time for the black market was fast approaching.

I snatched Elaine's hand, not the chain, and tore the teleport scroll I had taken out.

Shushushuk.

The hotel room in front of me immediately distorted...

We soon arrived in front of a dark, concrete-colored building.

The building entrance was crowded with carriages and people, as if many had already come to wait.

Jjeolgeureok.

For fear of prying eyes, I quickly let go of Elaine's hand and grabbed the chain.

We waited for several minutes, standing apart from the long line.

The time must have come, as at some point the line shortened quickly and the crowd disappeared into the building.

"...Let's go."

When most of the people who were going in had gone, I pulled Elaine toward the now-empty building entrance.

"Invitation, please."

One of the large figures blocking the entrance held out his hand to me.

I immediately placed the invitation from the developers on it.

'38.'

Inside the invitation, there was nothing but a number.

The burly men, who had been sharply examining the invitation, the list, and me, soon gave me a round tag with a number on it.

"Do not lose this."

With that, the guards moved aside and cleared the path.

'38.'

It was my name for as long as I was inside the black market.

After passing through a narrow, dark hallway for a while, a large, wide hall, like a banquet hall, appeared.

It was so clean and ornate, it was hard to believe it was the den of a criminal organization.

It seemed to be a waiting area for the auction, as masked, well-dressed people were drinking champagne carried by servants and getting in the mood.

A few of them had brought someone in chains, like me, but they soon disappeared one by one, following a large figure who had appeared without a sound.

'They must be the ones who manage the slaves.'

Before long, a large, masked figure appeared before me and asked.

"What brings you here, Guest 38?"

"I'm here to sell this slave back and buy something new at the auction."

I spoke quite haughtily, as if I had done this many times before.

The large figure nodded at my words and scanned Elaine, who was standing obediently behind me, from top to bottom.

"A beastkin?"

"Yes. I bought him here, but he's impossibly insolent. And he stinks so much of wild animal, my nose hurts so much I can't even sleep!"

"I see. We are deeply sorry that our product did not meet your satisfaction, guest. We will take care of it immediately, so please follow me."

The large figure took the chain from me with a rather polite gesture and held it.

But unlike the politeness shown to me, his hand leading the slave was rough.

Jjeolgeureok!

The slave I was selling stumbled, as if about to fall, from the strong pull, and was dragged ahead.

In that instant, the white whiskers poking out from under the hood were trembling, as if flapping their wings.

I smiled, feeling a little apologetic.