Chapter 140: Ch-140: Forging an Identity
"Hmm, who’s calling me?" Victor raised an eyebrow as he heard his phone ringing. He was an orphan, and since he was poor, he also had no friends, so no one ever called him. Victor brought out his phone and saw an unknown number.
"Hello," Victor said.
"Hi, is this Mr. Vanglory?" asked the voice on the other side.
"Yes, speaking. Who is this?" Victor asked, as he didn’t know who was calling him while he was relishing his newfound net worth.
"Hi, Mr. Vanglory. This is James from the American Bank. I wanted to talk to you about your account," said the voice on the other side of the phone.
"Oh, okay. Is everything alright?" Victor asked as he was startled by the call and thought something bad had happened to his account.
"Yes, everything is fine. Actually, we wanted to set up a meeting with you to discuss your account," the banker on the other end said.
"Okay, sure. What is this about?" answered Victor, sighing in relief that nothing bad had happened.
Just think about it: becoming an almost-billionaire only to have it stolen from you immediately afterward. That was a tragedy worthy of driving someone to despair. Thank God it hadn’t happened.
"Well, we noticed that you have a significant amount of money in your account, and we wanted to go over some options with you," the banker said.
"Oh, I see. Yes, I earned a large sum of money recently."
"Yes, we saw that. Congratulations, by the way," the banker said.
"Thank you," said Victor, feeling quite pleased about it, though he replied calmly.
"Hmm, we do have to ask about the source of your funds," the banker said in a serious voice.
"I sold some items from the game at the World Trade Center. Do you need me to send the documents?" Victor asked.
"Yes, a picture of the invoice will be enough," the banker on the other end said.
"Sure."
Victor pulled the slip from his back pocket, snapped a picture, and emailed it to the bank.
"Did you get it?" Victor asked.
"Yes, we have received it," the banker said in a much more respectful tone and continued.
"We would like to send you a Black American Bank card, and we need to confirm your address."
"Okay, that’s fine. I can give you my address, but I’m buying a new house, so it’s going to take some time," Victor said calmly and heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side.
"Great. We have some excellent properties under our bank that you could take a look at," the banker said excitedly, and Victor snorted.
"Alright, send the agent and mail me the addresses," Victor said as he disconnected the call.
Amber, who had been silent this whole time, asked, "Victor, what is a bank?"
Amber’s question nearly made him fall to the ground, and then he thought, ’Oh, right. The game world doesn’t have banks.’
"Banks are places where everyone keeps their money," Victor said, which caused Amber to frown.
"How come? Why would someone keep their wealth with someone else? Aren’t they afraid of it being stolen?" Amber asked with furrowed eyebrows, and then remembered something. "Oh, right. I read in a history book that banks existed before our world underwent evolution."
Victor, who heard her words, nodded.
After the invasion of mana, the banking system had collapsed, and most nobles stored their wealth in their own private vaults. In fact, it wasn’t only the game world—banks on Earth had also perished. Who, in their right mind, would store magical and rare items in banks when the currency had shifted from digital money to physical assets such as cores, weapons, and gold coins?
What if the bank steals a powerful artifact, and runs away or kills the original owner with his own treasure. There has been such incident which was the catalyst for the fall of banks on Earth.
"Let’s go to the Black Market first," Victor said as Amber nodded and followed him.
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The Black Market.
A world separate from where laws and morals existed, and the only place where criminals and ordinary people could coexist.
That was where they were currently headed.
Taking the train all the way to the outer edge of the city, they quickly got off at the second-to-last stop and headed toward an obscure location.
"This is the place," Victor said as he found himself standing in front of a large metal door.
-Bam! -Bam! -Bam!
Knocking on the door three times, he patiently waited.
-Klang!
Shortly afterward, two burly individuals wearing neat suits emerged from behind the door and scanned his body several times.
’They’re Awakeners.’
Victor narrowed his eyes.
Turning his head toward the individual on the left, the burly man on the right nodded and spoke in a deep voice.
"What might you be here for?"
"I heard you sell dragon eggs."
"We do indeed sell them. What kind of dragon are you looking for?"
"The kind that can swim."
Turning to face each other, the two burly individuals nodded and signaled for them to enter.
"What was that?" Amber asked.
"It’s the password to enter," Victor replied.
"I see."
Amber nodded her head. She had never visited the Black Market in her world, and this was her first time coming to one.
There were two ways for an individual to enter the Black Market.
One was through a recommendation letter given by a higher-up in the Black Market, and the other was by knowing the secret code. He had gained access to this place in his past life through a recommendation, so he knew the password.
"We’re here."
-Klang!
Opening a similarly large metal door to the one at the entrance, the two burly men stepped aside and allowed them to enter.
It was a completely different scene from what someone would have expected upon hearing the words ’Black Market’.
When you imagined what a black market would be like, you would instantly think of words such as ’filthy’, ’dangerous’, ’dirty’, or anything synonymous with ’unpleasant’.
However, expectations and reality often differed, and this Black Market looked exactly like a night market. The only difference was the items being sold.
Walking along the road and passing by the numerous stalls, he could see a wide variety of products on display. From firearms and human organs to human slaves, everything was being sold here. Even items from the games had recently become part of the market.
Making their way toward a secluded area of the Black Market, Victor quickly approached a rather inconspicuous-looking wooden shop and entered. There was hardly anyone inside except for a middle-aged man at the counter, who looked up with raised eyebrows.
"You guys do what’s advertised here?" Victor pointed at the signboard.
The man looked at Victor and then at Amber and was momentarily stunned by their appearance.
"Yeah, of course we do. What kind of document are you looking for?"
"An identification card for her."
Victor pointed at Amber beside him, who stood with her arms crossed beneath her ample chest.
"Oh~ That’s one of the easiest jobs." The young "shop owner" acted as though it were no big deal.
"Don’t screw this up. If it doesn’t pass official inspection, you’re taking the fall," Victor said.
"A-Ahem... the ID will be legitimate. I’ve got tons of shell companies. I’ll just use one of them and make it for you."
Hearing his reply, Victor felt a little more at ease.
"...How much?"
"Two hundred thousand dollars. No bargaining."
"Do it fast. I’m in a hurry," Victor said impatiently.
"Ma’am, your name?" the shopkeeper looked at Amber and asked.
"Amber Goldburn," Amber said indifferently.
The shopkeeper nodded.
"Wait a moment. I need a picture first."
The shopkeeper brought out a camera, took Amber’s picture, and then said as he walked inside,
"Alright, alright, it won’t take long!"
"Hurry up. We’ll wait here. Here’s the money up front."
Victor waved his hand, and a small pile of gold coins appeared.
"Awakeners!"
The shopkeeper cried out as he looked at Victor and Amber with increased wariness.
"Don’t try anything, or we’ll kill you," Victor said.
Amber casually waved her hand, and frost immediately began forming across the desk.
Gulp.
The shopkeeper swallowed hard and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice before hurriedly retreating inside.
Seeing the payment made the shopkeeper work even faster. He paid no attention to anything else and focused solely on finishing the job.
After about an hour, an ID printed with Amber’s personal information was completed, and it looked exactly like a genuine one.
The whole process had been surprisingly smooth, and both of them were satisfied with the result.
Amber grabbed the ID and quickly left with Victor.
"Now can we buy a house?" Amber asked Victor looking at Victor expectantly. Victor just smiled and agreed.
"Yes, let’s go to the address the bank agent gave us," Victor said as they quickly hailed a cab.
