Chapter 6
“Sophy, gather all my jewels. Right now.”
“Y-Yes…? W-What are you planning to do, my lady? Y-You’re not going to smash them or throw them, are you? His Grace the Duke will be furious!”
Do I look insane? Smashing these priceless gems? Unless I was truly brainless—like the Duke claimed—there was no way I’d destroy them.
But I didn’t need to explain myself. It had already been ten days since I possessed this body, and by now, I’d gotten a decent grasp of this world. I had a good idea of how things were supposed to go.
When I gave Sophy a long, meaningful look, she flinched and bowed deeply, trembling like a leaf.
“U-Understood, my lady! I’ll gather them all—whether you throw them, smash them, or chew them, I’ll do whatever you wish!”
“Why would I go that far…”
Sophy, without even looking me in the eye, hurriedly stuffed all the jewels into a silk pouch and handed it over with shaky hands.
Hmm, not bad.
After a bath and dinner—
I inspected each jewel Sophy had gathered, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning like a fool.
The Duke of Ulmer provided a basic monthly allowance of 500 dalings.
Originally, it was supposed to be 1,000, but due to the character’s prior misdeeds, it had been halved as punishment—a starting condition of this game.
So right now, I only had 700 dalings in hand. Still, even a foster daughter of a fallen noble family seemed to be treated with some level of dignity—there were some pretty valuable gems in my stash.
Best part? The system conveniently showed the appraisal value of each gem.
If I sell everything, I’ll make exactly 20,000 dalings.
A mithril pickaxe would cost me 10,000 dalings, and the entry fee to the Calamari Mine was 100 dalings.
Meaning, I only needed to sell about half the jewels to fully claim the magic stone mine.
This is it. This is the breakthrough I needed.
It finally felt like I had a path forward.
It had been ages since I’d felt this much relief since falling into Arc.
For the first time in a while, I stretched out both legs and fell into a peaceful sleep.
Clatter, clatter.
The carriage rumbled down a shadowy alley.
“Sniff… h-hic… sniffle…”
What was that sound?
“I-It’s so scary…”
It was Sophy—crying.
Despite me saying I’d go out on my own, this loyal maid insisted on coming with me. Now, the darker the alley grew, the more she huddled into a corner like I’d abducted her myself.
“Sigh…”
I let out a deep breath and shook my head.
It’s not like I wanted to come somewhere this dangerous either.
But if I wanted to discreetly sell high-grade jewels and buy a mithril pickaxe, a visit to the black market was unavoidable.
I must protect my reputation, after all.
Jewels owned by nobles couldn’t be sold through regular means.
Selling them openly would signal financial ruin, and in the world of Arc, that meant a massive hit to your reputation stats. Not to mention, due to the Ulmer Duchy’s status as a poor noble house, negative rumors could damage social standing even more.
So gambling with open transactions wasn’t worth the risk.
That’s why, even if it involved some danger, I chose the back alley black market.
[SYSTEM] New Area Unlocked! You have entered the ‘Back Alley’.
In the game, this back alley was a common place to buy magical items or gather information.
Yes, if you neglected your stats, even visiting this place could cause a penalty to your dignity. But in terms of gameplay, the black market was essential.
It was also known for its hidden events—ones even I hadn’t unlocked during my previous runs, only hearing about them through user forums.
You might meet unexpected NPCs or get sucked into bizarre spaces…
But was it always this ominous?
The game illustrations never really conveyed this atmosphere. But the real place? Genuinely creepy.
Clatter. Clatter.
The carriage passed a crumbling wall with grotesquely stacked bricks.
Beyond that point, we began to see more unhinged people swaying as they walked or figures completely cloaked in hoods and robes.
“I-I’m gonna dieee…!”
Eventually, Sophy burst into loud sobs.
…How did she even get hired as a maid?
Back when I played the game, I assumed Sophy’s role was like a standard butler-type NPC. But now that I was here, her very existence seemed to be Arc’s biggest mystery.
As I stared at her with a strange look, the carriage gradually slowed down. I snapped her out of her daze.
“Sophy, your robe.”
“Y-Yes, my lady…”
She quickly wiped her tears and handed me my robe, then wrapped herself up in one as well.
When the carriage came to a stop, the coachman’s voice rang out.
“We’ve arrived.”
As I stepped down, he hesitantly asked,
“Sh-Should I wait nearby, my lady?”
Absolutely not.
I’d had my carriage robbed multiple times in-game at this very place.
And this wasn’t a game anymore—it was real. I wasn’t about to let an innocent person die because of me.
“No. Leave.”
“E-Excuse me? B-But…”
“If I’m not back in three hours, then you can come looking. Now go.”
“Y-Yes! Understood!”
Once the coachman departed, I guided Sophy into a narrow side alley.
The scene that unfolded before me was almost identical to the map I’d seen in-game, and soon, I spotted a familiar building.
Creak.
As I pushed open the old, worn-out door, a terrible burnt smell wafted out.
Inside, an old man with a long white beard flowing to his collarbone greeted us.
“Who’re ya?”
He didn’t really want to know who I was.
I knew what I had to say, so I recited the password for trade.
“I came to mingle blood with the devil.”
“Eek…!”
Sophy screamed beside me in horror.
She must’ve thought I was making some wicked pact with a dark sorcerer. She was so shaken, she looked ready to faint.
“Hmph…?”
The old man glanced between us like he didn’t trust either of us and then grunted.
“Follow me.”
The sound of his staff thudding against the floor echoed with surprising weight.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that it might turn into a deadly weapon at any moment—but maybe that was just my imagination.
We followed him through the shop until we reached a wall, which turned out to be a disguised door.
“Go in here. Talking too much can cost you your life, so be careful.”
It was the exact same line from the game.
A strange feeling washed over me as I pushed myself and Sophy through the hidden passage.
Unlike the dingy shop outside, the hidden corridor inside was lavishly decorated.
Every single item along the hallway screamed wealth and luxury.
But…
I want to break it all…
Smashing all of this would relieve my stress and probably boost my stats too. Ugh, was I already a slave to the system?
Barely holding back the urge to destroy everything, I shoved open the door at the end of the hall.
And there he was—just like in the game.
The man known only as the shady shopkeeper, Bin.
“Welcome, customer. Heh heh. What can I do for you today?”
The man greeted in a slick, overly enthusiastic voice.
“Welcome, customer. Kukuku. What business brings you here today?”
This must be Bin, the suspicious shopkeeper of the black market, always introduced like this in the game.
“Appraisal and purchase.”
I dropped the silk pouch full of gemstones onto the counter with a soft thud. The man’s bushy eyebrows twitched as he opened the pouch and began examining the contents.
“Oh my… these are quite valuable gems. Hoho! Some high-grade nobles must have been very generous with their darling daughter.”
I smiled lightly, not bothering to correct him.
“You’ll take them, right?”
“Of course. But you do understand, this is the black market. We take our cut.”
“I know. Let’s just skip the haggling.”
His eyes widened slightly, then crinkled as he broke into a grin.
“Oh ho! A decisive one. I like it.”
He pulled out a scale, checked each gem, and began scribbling down numbers on a pad.
A few moments later, he passed me a slip.
“Appraised total after the market’s fee: 10,230 dalings. Cash or token?”
“Token. I need it to buy something else in the market.”
He nodded and handed over a small, black metal coin with an unfamiliar crest engraved on it. The weight felt oddly heavy in my hand, even though it wasn’t very large.
“We don’t use names here, but if you’re looking for the pickaxe… you’ll want to visit ‘Shady Rick’ in the weapons quarter.”
He scribbled something on a scrap of paper and handed it to me. A crude map.
“Take this. And careful where you wander. The black market isn’t forgiving to lost lambs.”
I nodded silently and turned, grabbing Sophie—who had been quietly shaking behind me—by the arm.
“Sophie, let’s go.”
She squeaked in response and followed me out as if on autopilot.
Back out in the gloomy corridor, Sophie finally spoke.
“A-are we really not going to get arrested for this…?”
“We won’t. Probably.”
She whimpered again.
I followed the directions on the scrap of paper until we arrived at a shop that looked more like a weapons hoarder’s shack than a legitimate storefront. The door creaked open with a loud groan, and a burly man with a thick beard eyed me from behind the counter.
“Rick?”
“Who’s askin’?”
“I need a mithril pickaxe.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. Then he glanced down at the black token in my hand.
“…You’ve got the coin. That’ll do.”
He stomped off into the back of the store and returned moments later with a gleaming silver pickaxe. It had an almost magical shine, like moonlight trapped in metal.
“One of a kind. 10,000 dalings.”
I placed the token on the counter without a word. He grunted in approval.
As I lifted the pickaxe, I saw the [SYSTEM] message appear in my mind.
[SYSTEM] Item Acquired: ‘Mithril Pickaxe – Unbreakable (Special)’
[SYSTEM] Side Quest Updated: ‘Claim the Calamari Mine’
I couldn’t hold back a grin.
This was it—the first real step toward gaining power and breaking free from this cursed narrative. With the pickaxe in hand, I could now enter the hidden dungeon and mine the magical ore required to upgrade my stats.
My heart raced. Finally… finally I was no longer stuck playing the villainess waiting for ruin.
I was carving a new path now.
Next stop: Calamari Mine.
And from there—
The real game would begin.
