24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 118
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
24-Hour Friendly Market Specializing in Dimensional Items Episode 118
Episode 118. A Blessing in Disguise (1)
Maybe it’s because I haven’t taken repair requests for quite a long time.
As I opened the back door of ‘Friendly Repair’ and stepped inside, a cold chill wrapped around my entire body.
…Surely it’s not cold because of Kim Seol’s frigid aura standing in front of the entrance.
I shook my head lightly and took out the Guy Fawkes mask that had been left in my inventory.
Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I used this mask too.
This is also a proper main job of mine, but have I been neglecting it too much?
Appraisal doesn’t take much time so I’ve used it conveniently here and there, but repair inevitably requires time…
No matter how much I make excuses to myself, the fact that I’m a skill favoritism practitioner doesn’t change.
‘This is why Repair is still only level 2.’
It’s worthy of Babel personally issuing a Quest telling me to focus on titles.
Well, going from level 2 to level 3 doesn’t require that much proficiency, so the skill level should rise quickly.
Then the range of what I can repair will also expand.
The slightly annoying thing about Repair and Appraisal is that they can’t be executed without me personally stepping up.
‘Surprisingly, there aren’t that many customers at the appraisal shop and repair store either.’
Once I establish myself, it wouldn’t be bad to only take house call requests.
I took out a mirror.
If I open that door, Kim Seol will be standing in front.
After meticulously checking the mask and robe so that not a single strand of hair would stick out, I did some light stretching.
Come to think of it, Kim Seol doesn’t know that I’m the repair shop owner.
All Kim Seol knows is Lee Hae, who ranked 1st in strategy contribution.
Since I didn’t say anything that could hint at my identity right after the mask broke, the information Kim Seol knows stops right there.
Of course, I didn’t want to provide any information anyway.
Whatever circumstances Kim Seol might have, naturally my feelings toward Kim Seol can’t be good.
No matter how much I repeatedly pressed Kim Seol’s trauma button, there’s no way I could be friendly to someone who pointed a sickle at me saying they’d kill me.
I didn’t expect an apology, and I didn’t particularly want to hear any explanations either.
I should have just collected the repair fee for the Myriad Faces Mask that got broken during their solo rampage.
‘Ah, I should have collected the Myriad Faces Mask repair fee in advance before parting.’
I can’t step forward now to collect the repair fee, and to get the repair fee, I’d have to face Kim Seol again…
‘That’s going too far.’
What story would I have to meet Kim Seol again for?
Kim Seol is better off as someone I cleanly pretend not to know and let pass by as a connection.
It shows how much I wanted distance that I immediately unfollowed on Upstar as soon as I got out.
‘That’s that, and work is work.’
I steadied my breathing and opened the door.
Kim Seol was standing in front of it with an upright posture.
Snow-white skin contrasting with jet-black hair, a simple cobalt blue robe without any decorations.
Even though she was just standing still doing nothing with the robe draped over her, passersby kept glancing at her, so it seems aura really does exist.
Her dry blue eyes looked at me and trembled slightly.
It seemed like she was startled, probably because the mask I was wearing was a terrorist mask.
Kim Seol, who had been blinking for a moment, calmly opened her mouth.
“I inquired about a repair.”
It was her characteristic cold tone of speech.
Even though I harbor some not-so-good feelings, I can’t hide the truth.
She may speak like that, but she’s still damn pretty.
‘Well, enough useless sentiments about Kim Seol.’
Kim Seol didn’t come to see me today. She came to get something repaired, after all.
Just as I was thinking that and about to bow my head lightly, I noticed something strangely irritating.
‘Wait, but why is she using formal speech?’
When she first met me, she immediately started speaking informally?
I was momentarily dumbfounded and speechless, but I soon pulled myself together.
Lee Hae-won, get it together and just serve the customer.
“Welcome.”
I took a step back and spoke kindly.
“Please come in. Are you ‘Snow’ who made the inquiry?”
In a tone higher than usual that even felt light.
This was the voice I had fabricated when I first met Park Ji-woon to hide my identity.
Even though there were no clues connecting the repair shop to Lee Hae, she was someone who had heard my real voice before.
‘There’s no harm in being careful.’
Fortunately, today my face was completely covered and I didn’t have to act like a screw-loose person, so I wouldn’t be troubled about my identity.
Kim Seol entered the repair shop and instinctively scanned the interior once.
And soon, realizing there wasn’t anything worth checking inside, she fixed her gaze on me again.
“Please sit over here.”
Kim Seol followed my sweet voice and sat in front of the table.
From now on, I would take a completely business-like attitude.
With that resolution, I went straight to the point.
“Could you show me the item you’d like repaired?”
Kim Seol probably wasn’t expecting any ice-breaking either.
Kim Seol, who had been staring at me for a moment, soon took something out of her inventory.
A pendant with a diamond-shaped dark blue gem embedded in it, and a single glittering silver chain.
What was obviously originally one item was now split into two pieces, held in Kim Seol’s hands.
It was an item unfamiliar even to me, who had encountered quite a lot of Kim Seol’s upstar content.
“Is this the ‘Owner of the Small Lake’?”
“Can you repair it?”
Kim Seol, who had been quietly looking down, asked in a somewhat anxious tone.
Oh, I can feel it.
Those eyes pleading that this item has a very sad story…
Come to think of it, it’s not the cold, contemptuous attitude I saw the entire time I was on the 53rd floor.
Was she unexpectedly the type to be kind to service workers?
‘Not my concern though.’
I ignored those eyes like I would look at Guk Min-seong and extended my hand.
I’ve never seen an item that couldn’t be repaired so far, so the possibility that this can’t be repaired is infinitely low.
“Let me take a look.”
‘Let me start with an appraisal.’
Since Kim Seol brought this necklace so preciously, let me at least check how good it is.
[Master of the Small Lake (A)
A mystical necklace inhabited by the spirit of a clear lake.
Created when a spirit who failed to protect a drying lake prayed for 100 days and nights and received divine power from the king.
Amplifies the wearer’s mana and allows them to read the flow of surrounding mana.]
‘This is unexpected.’
It’s surprisingly ordinary.
The effects are good, but it’s not an exceptionally outstanding item.
Why exactly did she bring this so preciously and ask with such wistful eyes if it could be repaired?
It feels anticlimactic.
I’m curious if it has a Hidden Ability, but that costs money so I’ll pass.
…I was about to, but changed my mind.
I can just include the appraisal fee in the repair cost when I bill her.
She’s the leader of Haebing after all, so she can’t be so broke that she can’t pay a little extra for appraisal fees.
And what if I don’t check here and something happens later?
Things I always thought were “no big deal” always come back as snowballs later.
That’s how it turns into an avalanche, Earth gets destroyed, and the universe explodes.
[6,002G will be deducted.]
An odd amount was deducted, and I stared at the window with a strange expression.
[/Hidden Ability/ When worn, allows conversation with the lake spirit. The spirit’s nature is fixed as ‘good’ and will guide the wearer to the ‘right path’ in times of crisis.]
So basically, I get a good spirit that’s like an auto-floating companion to chat with when bored?
‘At least the universe won’t explode.’
It’s not particularly special ability, so I felt a bit deflated.
Since it was a lake spirit, I had slightly hoped it might have some tremendous Hidden Ability that would match well with Kim Seol’s title.
Still, I’m curious why she carries this around like it’s so precious.
‘But do I really need to know more?’
It’s right to check an item’s Hidden Ability just in case, but ‘why she has that wistful expression’ is probably for personal reasons, so it seems right not to ask.
From the beginning, I didn’t want to hear about Kim Seol’s trauma from the 53rd floor since it seemed tiresome, and I want to maintain the same stance here.
“I’ll repair it.”
I turned my gaze to the necklace.
[Would you like to repair this item?]
[17,100G will be deducted.]
Golden aura flowed out from my fingertips in the form of threads.
Like performing delicate surgery, the golden aura slowly seeped into the pendant.
In the silent stillness where no sound could be heard, only the aura moved subtly.
It was a strange movement that only I, who was using the skill, could feel.
‘Is it because it’s A-rank? It seems to take some time.’
[⁕ It will take approximately 17 minutes :)]
17 minutes.
It’s short if you consider it short, but too long if you consider it long.
Of course, right now with Kim Seol looking at me with strange eyes, it’s closer to the latter.
First, I decided to handle the payment.
“The cost will be 37,000 Gold. Please make the payment through this terminal.”
I couldn’t guide her kindly with my hand since I was in the middle of repairing, but seeing my gaze, Kim Seol placed her hand on the terminal without saying anything.
[> ‘Friendly Repair’ payment completed
– ‘Owner of the Small Lake'(A) repair fee 37,000G Ι Client: Snow (Region-South Korea)]
The payment completion window quickly appeared, and the repair shop was once again enveloped in silence.
…Do I have to stand here in silent confrontation with Kim Seol until the repair is finished?
Sharing a long silence with someone uncomfortable is a painful thing in many ways.
But I don’t particularly want to make an effort to break this bleak atmosphere either.
But then.
“Excuse me.”
Surprisingly, Kim Seol was the first to attempt small talk.
“How long will it take?”
“About 15 minutes should do it. It won’t take too long.”
It wasn’t small talk.
Right, rather than having small talk with Kim Seol, it would be better to learn how to enjoy silence.
Let me just admire my fingers sparkling with enchanting golden light.
Not long after I made that resolution and lowered my gaze, Kim Seol opened her mouth again.
“There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“In case other customers request repairs, I’d like to pay in advance.”
‘Huh?’
I instinctively curled my fingers.
Fortunately, something as simple as curling my fingers wasn’t enough to cancel the activation of my Repair skill.
I asked calmly in what seemed like a casual tone.
“What exactly do you mean? Is there a specific person you have in mind?”
“He’ll probably come to get his mask repaired.”
“Who exactly is coming?”
I carefully threw out a trap question.
A strange glint appeared in Kim Seol’s eyes, who had maintained a calm demeanor throughout.
“I can’t tell you that. Just know that someone will come to get a mask repaired.”
If anyone else had heard this, they would have gotten angry and asked if she wanted to play twenty questions or something.
Since I was the person in question, I understood immediately.
I had been cursing her for not paying the mask repair fee or apologizing, so honestly, I was a bit flustered.
But right now, we were clearly facing each other as the repairman of ‘Friendly Repair.’
I hid my bewilderment and asked naturally.
“But why our workshop specifically?”
“If that person were to get repairs done, I think he would come to this workshop.”
Well, that’s true.
Kim Seol had made a fairly sharp deduction.
Repair and crafting-related skills are among the most important capabilities in Babel society.
All known awakeners with related abilities either volunteered for guilds, were scouted, or were kidnapped.
The private repair workshops outside the Tower of Babel are just occupied by incompetent nobodies who can’t even repair properly.
From Kim Seol’s perspective, she would have expected ‘Suspicious Lee Hae’ to entrust repairs to a place unconnected to guilds.
While I was grasping the reasoning behind this, Kim Seol added in a small voice.
“I’d also appreciate it if you could tell him I’m sorry.”
I quietly gasped behind my mask.
This woman actually had thoughts of apologizing…?
“Why don’t you do it directly instead of asking me…?”
“I should have done it directly, but I couldn’t.”
Well, she would need to meet me directly to either apologize or have an argument, but I never appeared in front of her.
Kim Seol’s face, with all the venom drained and looking calm, was unfamiliar.
It wasn’t the cold, chilly face I had often seen on UpStar, but somehow strangely troubled.
“I’ll pay 200,000 Gold as an advance payment. If the repair cost isn’t enough, please contact me here.”
I hadn’t even said I would do it, but she decided everything on her own.
Kim Seol rummaged inside her robe and placed a business card on the table.
[Thawing
Guild Leader Kim Seol]
“This is my hotline.”
Having unexpectedly obtained Kim Seol’s direct number, I reluctantly decided to play along.
When I nodded lightly, Kim Seol smiled like someone forcing a smile by only stretching the corners of her mouth.
Kim Seol’s phone number written in neat navy blue letters.
I probably won’t have any reason to call this number.
‘…Right?’
I mercilessly denied the flag I had unintentionally stepped on.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
