Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 59

Episode 59

The hall had dozens of identical-looking doors that were hard to tell apart.

It seemed to be a trick to prevent anyone from accurately grasping the building's internal structure.

We followed the large figure who had led us through one of the many doors, and a narrow staircase immediately appeared, seeming to lead underground.

'Right. This kind of thing has to be in a dark basement.'

When I'd watched users' gameplay videos, the view was completely dark, so I had been flustered when a random, fancy banquet hall appeared.

"The steps get higher as you go down, so please be careful."

At the large man's warning, I held the hem of my dress and began to carefully descend the stairs.

The stairs became narrower and steeper the further down we went.

Just as I was starting to feel like I was navigating a rabbit hole rather than a passageway, wondering just how deep they had dug.

The long journey finally ended.

And the scene that unfolded was a bleak picture of hell.

"Sob. Mommy...!"

"Aargh! Don't do this! Please save me!"

"Master! Take me with you! Master!"

In a quite vast space, countless narrow cages, too small to even be called cells, were stacked high and packed in.

Even that looked suffocating, but each cage held at least five, and at most, nearly 10 non-human races.

I had never seen a scene like this, not even in videos, so I was a bit shocked.

'This... can this all be finished in one hour?'

As I was roughly estimating the number of cages with trembling eyes, a short, fat man ran over quickly from the distance.

[Slave Trader 1]

The man, a slave trader, was so busy his face was slick with cold sweat.

"Hah, hah. What brings you here?"

"This guest is here to sell back a slave."

"Ah. I see. Welcome, welcome."

The slave trader, who nodded vaguely as if he understood, took the chain from the large man.

The large man bowed politely to me, then hurriedly climbed the stairs and disappeared.

He was probably going to get another guest.

I still felt I should memorize the path, so I was watching the passage where the bastard disappeared when the slave trader suddenly spoke.

"May I check what race it is?"

Then, without my permission, he stood on his tiptoes and yanked off Elaine's hood.

"Ugh, it's a raccoon!"

After identifying the race, the slave trader immediately frowned, pinched his nose, and stepped back.

There was no way he smelled, so the bastard's exaggerated reaction was just ridiculous.

"Guest. How much would you like to sell this one for?"

He quickly smoothed over his grimace and asked me to name a price.

"I'd like to put him up for auction."

"The auction, you say? Unfortunately, raccoon beastkin are not very popular, so it's difficult to get a good price for them."

At that, I lifted my chin sharply and looked down on the slave trader.

Perhaps because I was wearing heels, I was taller.

After shooting him a contemptuous look, I recited haughtily, like a princess who didn't know the ways of the world.

"This one is different."

"...Pardon?"

"He's one I kept, so he should start at 10 million, at least."

"T-ten million?!"

The slave trader shrieked in disbelief, then broke out in a cold sweat and groveled.

"Th-that's impossible, guest. How could a raccoon..."

"Goodness! You, you don't know me?"

We were all wearing masks, so of course he wouldn't know who I was.

But I put on a brazen face and kept letting out hollow laughs, as if I were appalled.

"What's the standard here? Did all the slave traders change?"

"Pardon? N-no. I've been working here for five years..."

"Ah, my head hurts. I don't want to deal with a clueless novice like you, so call someone else. Ah, no!"

I pressed my temples as if my head were really pounding, then said confidently, as if I had the solution.

"I'll go to the fourth floor. I need to talk to the boss here."

"Whaat?! G-guest!"

As soon as I mentioned the leader of the Black Syndicate, whom even his own members had difficulty seeing, the slave trader was naturally aghast.

The head of a criminal organization is bound to be cruel and merciless.

He seemed afraid that a problem customer would actually barge in on the boss, as the slave trader's face went pale, and he hurried to block my path.

"I-I understand! I'll put him up for auction right away!"

I, who had been pretending to turn and leave, stopped, as if I were reluctantly agreeing.

And I grumbled like a peak-level, spoiled noble.

"You should have just done that from the start. Ignorant lowlifes."

It was easy, remembering what that bastard Kassel had said to me.

The slave trader, who had been bowing and muttering apologies, finally asked in a subtle voice.

"In that case, how would it be best to introduce this slave?"

On the surface, it sounded like he was asking for a sales pitch, but underneath, he was probing my status.

After all, he couldn't just put an item with no guarantee in front of the high-and-mighty.

It was as I'd expected, so I scoffed, "Hmph," and recited arrogantly.

"The slave kept by the Lord of Nightmares' lover."

I was crying a river internally.

I'd said it with my own mouth, but it was so absurd it deserved to be pulverized.

'Dammit. I might be murdered if we meet again, and she says "lover".'

"I don't know who put you up to this, but when I wake, I will kill you, and I will kill whoever is behind you..."

I still got goosebumps remembering the Male Lead, who had glared at me with bloodshot eyes as if he'd tear me to pieces, repeating it endlessly like self-hypnosis.

But I had no choice but to say it.

Because the most influential person in the capital right now was the Crown Prince, who was about to be reinstated.

"Hup! Th-the Lord of Nightmares...!"

As expected, the slave trader's button-like eyes, visible beyond the mask, shot wide open.

There was no way these people, who lived and died by information, wouldn't know about Kassel, who was marching with the Hailey knights.

"Y-yes, I understand! I will proceed as you've requested, without any problems!"

The slave trader, who had been in shock for a while, finally nodded with a determined expression.

'Name-drop the Lord of Nightmares and jack up the price.'

Step one was done, so it was time to move to the next step.

"Well then..."

The moment I held out a hand to the slave trader.

I suddenly felt a chilling gaze from somewhere.

I flinched in surprise and snapped my head up.

'...What was that?'

I looked around, but it was just others haggling with slave traders, like me.

No one was looking at me.

'Is it Elaine?'

I looked back at him, standing there quite obediently, but he was watching me and the slave trader with great interest.

Our eyes met, and the bastard mouthed.

'Noo. Na. Cool.'

I coldly ignored him and turned my gaze back to the slave trader.

Thinking about Kassel must have just put me on edge.

"Then give it to me."

I held my hand out to the slave trader again and demanded.

"Pardon? Wh-what..."

"I've entrusted you with my goods, so you have to give me an advance. I said he'll start at 10 million, didn't I?"

At my words, the slave trader looked utterly baffled.

He'd probably never seen a problem customer demand money before the auction even started.

"B-but... the auction hasn't even started, guest."

He protested cautiously, his voice full of injustice.

But I, as if I'd been waiting for this, started shrieking and throwing a fit.

"I need the advance so I can buy another slave! This won't do. Just get lost! I'll go to a different slave trader...!"

My thunderous voice instantly drew everyone's attention.

A gang member who had been loitering nearby for surveillance and security sensed trouble and slowly walked over.

In the black market, the noble client is king, and a complaint means death.

"F-five million! I think I can give you about five million!"

The slave trader, frantically shaking his head at the approaching gang member, squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

"A-any more than that is impossible. Not just me, but any slave trader you go to...!"

"Well, fine."

Compared to the fit I'd thrown demanding 10 million coins just moments before, I backed off cleanly.

Of course. Five million in free money, what a windfall.

'I thought even one million would be a stretch...'

The Male Lead's prestige was just that great.

Meanwhile, the slave trader, with an ashen face, took out a blank check issued within the black market.

He wrote '5,000,000 Coins' and the number '38' on it and held it out to me with a trembling hand.

"This is my life on the line. I'm trusting you, Guest 38..."

"Hmph."

I scoffed and deftly snatched the check with the tips of my index and middle fingers.

If his boss didn't kill him today, he'd be killed by Kassel, who would come to wipe out the Black Syndicate later anyway.

I glanced back at Elaine one last time and spoke, deliberately cold.

"Farewell. I'm going."

Do well.

I was glaring at him, warning him.

When suddenly, the bastard covered his mouth with both hands and cried out like a tragic heroine being abandoned by the Male Lead.

"Sob. Master, don't leave me, guri~!"

Crazy bastard.

I turned away from him, utterly fed up.

"Attention! The auction will begin shortly! Guests participating in the auction, please come this way!"

Right on cue, a few gang members emerged from a wide passage and shouted loudly.

I joined the moving crowd and headed that way.

Several gang members surrounded the clients holding number tags, like me.

We followed their guidance into a wide passage, and after walking for a bit.

A spacious, high-ceilinged room appeared, much like the place where the slaves were caged.

Although it was crudely dug out of the ground, the space, set with tapestries, round tables, and chairs, looked quite plausible.

Amidst the softly playing classical music, several servants ceaselessly carried various glasses of alcohol and finger foods.

It felt a bit bizarre, how the screaming slaves' prison and the nobles, who looked as if they were enjoying a luxurious banquet, were separated by just one passageway.

"This way, please, Guest 38."

Suddenly, an attendant, bustling about, guided me.

I followed him and sat down in front of the nameplate bearing the number '38'.

It wasn't that high a number, so it was a seat near the front.

I glanced to the side and saw a nameplate with '12' written on it.

Two people were assigned to each table, but it seemed 12 hadn't arrived yet, as I was alone.

It was then.

[S-Grade Invisibility Potion Effect Duration: 01:59]

A system window suddenly popped up in front of me.

'He's doing well.'

He was just joking around until the very end, but I smiled secretly at his quick movements.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We sincerely welcome you to our auction house!"

Just then, a booming voice rang out from the wide stage at the very front.

A masked auctioneer, just like the people at the tables, was holding a magic tool that looked like a microphone.

[Black Syndicate Member, Auctioneer]

It was, at last, the beginning of the 'Free the Black Market Slaves' quest.