Black Market

Sunk into the damp terrain of Yangpyeong, where Blue Mist drifts naturally into the local fog, this concealed trading hub escapes outside notice by blending into its surroundings. The whole site behaves like a sprawling field-type dungeon, and a demonic totem mounted at the threshold sounds the alarm whenever a non-demonic presence draws near.

A demon called Lotto runs the operation, and the bulk of those working the floor are demons as well, yet humans and demons share the space without conflict. The architecture evokes a colossal temple, with carved stone columns, walls draped in moss, and a towering bronze gate that yields only to the strong or to a holder of the proper pass. The hidden purpose of the Stardust Necklace, uncovered by Suho, is to act as that very entry token. Behind the solemn facade lies a noisy, crowded marketplace of booths and mats, with open dealing in dungeon ores and the carcasses of magical beasts, settled mostly in magic stones.

The market functions as a sanctuary for illicit commerce, letting demons and hunters exchange goods and money out of the authorities' reach. Past the main trade floor sits an underground arena, a savage betting venue managed by Lotto where hunters lacking funds can wager their bodies in one-on-one brawls that forbid the use of items. Unlike the Colosseum of the Demon Realm, where demons clashed among themselves, the bouts here pit hunters against hunters while demons fill the seats as spectators.

Healers wait nearby and the fights are not staged to the death, a precaution meant to keep word from spreading about people vanishing in Yangpyeong. To tilt outcomes and pad his profits, Lotto occasionally fixes matches by having his staff slip Mad Blooded Poison into a chosen combatant. Some fighters have even had Star Pieces implanted as experiments sanctioned by the Outer Gods, and a dome-shaped chapel devoted to the Outer God's Cult houses a god statue of incomprehensible scale, a space later identified as the Cartenon Temple.

The demon Lotto presides over the entire enterprise, overseeing both the trade halls and the gambling ring, with a staff drawn largely from his own kind. During the Black Market Arc, Suho infiltrated the place by equipping Vulcan's Horn with Esil fused inside, which let him give off a demon-like aura and slip past the detection totem. Demons carrying large amounts of Stardust can enter exclusive VIP rooms that remain strictly closed to humans.