24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 170
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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24-Hour Friendly Market Specializing in Dimensional Items Episode 170
Episode 170. How to Protect the Nest (6)
This is exactly like a free gyro drop.
…No, at least on a gyro drop your body is secured in place.
The feeling of my body suddenly plummeting downward due to gravity was truly horrifying.
And every time I blinked, all sorts of lethal magic that Quentin had set up came pouring down.
I was a bit startled by the various colorful magic spells raining down on me, but surprisingly, it didn’t hurt.
He said it was lethal magic, not attack magic, so it must have been magic that kills instantly without any pain.
‘I got lucky.’
…Or maybe it’s a bit funny to call this luck?
Anyway, after falling endlessly for about 30 seconds as if there was no bottom.
At some point, the falling speed began to gradually slow down.
And soon my feet touched a hard ceiling.
“Huh?”
Wait, hold on.
My feet touched the ceiling?
I looked up in bewilderment… no, I looked down.
My feet were definitely stuck to the ceiling, but my hair was flowing downward following gravity’s influence.
Thank goodness Brother’s hair is short.
Actually, it wasn’t that fortunate either, since the hem of my robe kept flowing down and wrapping around my head, constantly blocking my vision.
Only after putting the robe into my inventory could I examine where I was now.
“…It is spectacular. It is spectacular, but…”
A circular wide space that seemed to have a diameter of dozens of meters.
The floor was several meters below in the distance, and the Tower of Babel rising from the ceiling pierced through the floor.
So it felt like a black cylinder was packed tightly in a round space.
Seeing an old lamp placed upside down near the ceiling, I let out a hollow laugh.
Since the Tower of Babel was rising from the bottom of Berylsha, this could happen.
…Though it’s the first time I’ve experienced such a situation, so I keep feeling bewildered.
It felt like becoming a bat hanging completely upside down.
“Alright, Lee Hae-won.”
I slowly took a step.
My hair and clothes were affected by gravity, but only my body seemed opposite – even when I lifted my feet, my balance didn’t waver.
Walking about ten steps closer, the exterior of the Tower of Babel I saw was ominously sinister.
The dark red aura emanating from the entire tower writhed in a steady rhythm like the pulse of a living creature.
“Ugh.”
It was disgusting just to look at.
Moreover, the air itself was sticky and heavy.
It felt like my body was drooping as if something rotten was being constantly injected into me.
If I had brought Silvester along, he would have definitely cut ties with me and put me on Florabon’s blacklist – that’s how much unpleasantness swept through my entire body.
I slowly walked around the perimeter of the tower.
As if Quentin had sat here doing research, dozens of notebooks filled with dense writing were stacked up.
And on one ceiling, a giant magic circle made of complex and bizarre patterns was completely filled in.
All glowing ominously in dark red.
Anyway, coming here was my choice, but the disgust the space itself gives is too overwhelming.
“Ah, I want to go home.”
I deliberately let out a complaint and moved further forward.
Then I saw a door.
Compared to the massive size of the black tower, it was small enough for only one person to enter.
A plain black door with no patterns was naturally open as if welcoming guests.
“What’s this?”
I took a step toward it while muttering suspiciously.
It was quite different from South Korea’s Tower of Babel, which could only be entered through portals without an entrance.
The reason I came to check Aetheria’s Tower of Babel was quite productive.
Aetheria is already a destroyed dimension, and in the current timeline where the scenario is progressing, it’s a dimension just before destruction.
I wanted to see what the Tower of Babel looked like just before a dimension’s destruction, having had such a terrible dark red influence on the dimension’s strongest person.
Observing the Tower of Babel at this time would surely contribute to South Korea’s infinite development.
Yes, this is also research.
Just as I made up my mind and boldly grabbed the door handle.
A bright red notification window appeared before my eyes.
[※ Warning: Creator’s entry has been detected.]
[※ According to security regulations, the Creator is prohibited from entering the Tower of Babel in a staged dimension.]
“…”
I froze while still gripping the handle.
When people are too shocked, they can’t say anything.
I read the threateningly flashing red notification window once more, but I couldn’t understand it.
‘Creator?’
Did something go wrong with the Babel System?
My unique title is ‘Open Market Manager’, not ‘Creator’.
Moreover, messages from the system within the Tower of Babel have the header ‘Babel System’.
But this… seemed like a warning someone was sending directly to me.
[※ Warning: The Creator’s entry into the Tower of Babel may cause tower collapse.]
[※ According to security regulations, if the Creator attempts entry, they will be forcibly expelled from that floor.]
“Wait!”
I hastily removed my hand from the handle and stepped back.
As soon as I did, the bright red messages that had been threatening me disappeared instantly.
“…What kind of situation is this?”
So assuming this tower isn’t crazy from being influenced by Quentin.
‘I’m actually the Creator.’
…If I open this door and enter during scenario progression, the tower will collapse?
“Whoa.”
I just came thinking to bring some information to the Babel Management Bureau, but I got hit with an unexpected new fact.
I urgently shouted.
“Sam!”
[⁕ I am Sam-i :)]
“What does the Creator title do? Am I the Creator?”
[⁕ I’m sorry. Access to that information is restricted :)]
“No, what do you even know, seriously!”
Sam-i, who should know about the Tower of Babel, kept her mouth shut again.
She wasn’t an AI that gave proper answers originally, but not helping even in this situation was frustratingly maddening.
However, from the response that access to that information was restricted, it wasn’t like there was nothing to infer.
I stepped back and pondered seriously.
‘Is the Creator important?’
Until now, Sam-i had often frustrated me by saying access was restricted.
Each time, most of the things I asked about were directly related to Babel’s sphere of influence.
‘So that means the Creator is someone who has enough influence on the Tower?’
The word ‘Creator’ has never appeared even once in my status window.
But perhaps the hidden attribute of the Open Market Manager could be Creator.
Though I don’t know what they create.
“This seems to be getting bigger and bigger in scale…”
I let out a deep sigh.
At least it wasn’t a wasted trip, I suppose that’s something to be thankful for.
I’m learning things one by one somehow, but the catch is that I haven’t really figured out anything properly.
“In the end, I can’t enter the Tower.”
I tried to calm my complicated thoughts and looked around more.
If there’s nothing I can find out about the Creator’s secret right now, I should at least finish the support work I was doing.
I headed toward where Quentin’s research notes had been piled up earlier.
If I had peace of mind, I would have looked through each title one by one to find what I needed, but…
“Ah, whatever. I’ll just take them all.”
I swept all the notes into my vast inventory.
At least one of these should have records about the Tower of Babel’s changes.
Then, I discovered a hole in the wall that I hadn’t noticed earlier.
The hole beyond where the notes had disappeared was clearly an exit.
Unlike the difficult way I had entered, the passage leading to a fairly decent corridor looked like something Quentin would have used frequently.
Since Quentin is fighting with Chae Geun-dam, there shouldn’t be any chance of running into him.
I can’t stay here forever anyway.
“Let’s go…”
I muttered weakly and headed toward the passage.
If I feel like I’m going to die, I’ll just go home.
Just a few minutes ago, I had something called a sense of mission.
Now, maybe because my head is complicated, I have more of a “whatever happens, happens” mindset.
I tried to forget the word ‘Creator’ that kept shaking my head and moved forward.
I think I unknowingly passed through some kind of magic circle in the middle.
I expected it would lead to another underground exit of City Hall, but at the end of the passage was another room.
Very antique interior, with high-end furniture that was clearly gleaming with polish.
But strange objects that only an insane eccentric would collect were scattered about in disorder.
“…Is this Quentin’s room?”
I muttered while gazing at the dawn light seeping through the purple curtains.
The scenery visible beyond the curtains was just sky.
It seemed higher than the tower Lee Hwa-yeon had jumped from after breaking the window, so it was probably located at the highest point in Berylsha.
“No wonder he came and went more often.”
He did exactly the kind of thing that would drive someone crazy, Quentin.
I crossed the ownerless room and stood by the window.
The sky that had been too dark to distinguish when I parted with Chae Geun-dam was now dimly brightening.
And in the distance.
Boom-
A thunderous sound coming from one direction.
I squinted and stared in the direction of the sound.
I could see Quentin floating in the sky and Chae Geun-dam confronting him, very small in the distance.
Chae Geun-dam’s honest and upright magic power and Quentin’s ominous magic power were violently colliding in the sky.
Though I couldn’t see clearly due to the distance, Quentin’s magic power was devouring the dawn sky like a dance.
Anyone could see that Chae Geun-dam was struggling to hold on.
Realizing this, I muttered seriously.
“Wait, the sun has risen.”
My trip to the Tower of Babel felt like only about 30 minutes.
But somehow time had played tricks, and dawn had broken in the meantime.
Green and Theowald had definitely said they would complete the Engine before dawn broke.
Then by now, Seo Jae-hyuk and Lee Hwa-yeon should have joined Chae Geun-dam and completed the total conquest of Quentin…
“They’re not done yet?”
This would mess up the entire plan.
Creator or whatever, I can’t watch Chae Geun-dam die before my eyes.
I took out the spirit necklace I had banished to my inventory, quickly put it on, and opened the window.
Then I immediately shouted.
“Silvester, help me land!”
“Are you insane!”
I jumped out the window at the same time as the startled Silvester solemnly shouted.
The gentle spirit’s energy wrapped around my entire body, washing away the unpleasant energies that had been clinging to me.
My freely falling body settled onto Silvester’s warm back, and as soon as I floated in the air, I urgently added.
“Quick, to that workshop where they were making the Engine-”
But I couldn’t finish my sentence.
The moment I pointed toward Green’s house.
“…Were you waiting for them?”
Since morning was beginning to come to Berylsha, which wasn’t fully bright yet.
The sky that had been stained dark red with Quentin’s magic power had already disappeared.
Like the sun rising by pushing away the dawn, intense and overwhelming light covered the entire sky, brightly illuminating Berylsha.
And cutting through the golden light.
Silver magic power, cold yet gentle like moonlight, drew a huge semicircle and charged toward Quentin.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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