24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 176

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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 176

 

Episode 176. Problem Solving (1)

 

Inside the car heading to the Management Bureau’s safe house.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk remained quiet the entire time without saying a word.

 

He might be feeling anxious about whether I could really save his lover who was on the verge of death.

 

Or he might be troubled, pondering over the things I had said at the Management Bureau.

 

Well, he must be feeling restless, so I should understand.

 

‘Ugh, this is suffocating.’

 

I was suddenly loaded into an S-rank Hunter’s corporate vehicle and seated side by side in the back seat with no consideration for me whatsoever.

 

…I won’t bother mentioning that Ahn Yeon-seo, who was driving, kept glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

 

I deliberately kept my gaze on the car window, blankly staring at Seoul’s scenery, when

 

Seo Jae-hyuk’s voice, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, reached my ears.

 

“Are you really certain that I will fall to corruption?”

 

“…”

 

I turned my head to look at Seo Jae-hyuk.

 

He still maintained his expressionless face, showing no emotion, but his eyes held a complex look he couldn’t quite hide.

 

‘So he was just pretending to be calm inside.’

 

Well, he was already mentioned as a risk factor, so if he showed his agitation there, it would only cause unnecessary anxiety.

 

Maybe he didn’t want to ruin his image, but whatever.

 

For something casually thrown out, the weight of the question was quite serious.

 

He told me not to discuss the dimensional destruction outside, so now he’s asking about it indirectly.

 

I cautiously glanced toward the driver’s seat and whispered.

 

“Isn’t this something Ahn Yeon-seo shouldn’t hear?”

 

Sure enough, Ahn Yeon-seo’s gaze in the rearview mirror met mine directly.

 

Ahn Yeon-seo was blinking frantically with confused eyes.

 

Her earlier look of ‘Why is Lee Hae-won, Guk Min-seong’s friend, riding with the guild leader?’ had changed to ‘What is this about, guild leader?’

 

But Seo Jae-hyuk asked dryly.

 

“Is there some problem?”

 

“Ahn Yeon-seo didn’t sign a contract.”

 

“…She has a confidentiality contract regarding all facts she learns through me, so it’s fine.”

 

That just sounds like she’s completely bound to Seo Jae-hyuk in a negative way?

 

I glanced at the rearview mirror just in case, and saw Ahn Yeon-seo frantically rolling her eyes, flustered by her superior’s words.

 

Perhaps reading Ahn Yeon-seo’s expression without looking, Seo Jae-hyuk added indifferently.

 

“You can trust her. Ahn Yeon-seo is the brain of Aegis, someone who shares all plans with me. So she’s someone who must know for future plans.”

 

Of course, even saying that doesn’t make me any less anxious.

 

I casually shifted my gaze beyond the car window and asked.

 

“You’re talking about a Babel contract, right?”

 

“That’s correct.”

 

At the firm answer, I finally decided to relax a bit.

 

‘So Ahn Yeon-seo is the brain of Aegis.’

 

It’s something I already knew, but getting confirmation from the Aegis guild leader carries different weight.

 

If that’s the case, then Ahn Yeon-seo needs to know for the Seo Jae-hyuk purification project to proceed smoothly.

 

“I think there’s a possibility.”

 

Then I have no choice but to continue the conversation.

 

Ahn Yeon-seo’s brow furrowed strangely through the rearview mirror, but I ignored it and continued speaking.

 

If Seo Jae-hyuk spoke, it would violate our contract terms, so if I wanted to share this story with Ahn Yeon-seo, I had to explain it myself.

 

“Quentin was also someone who had absolutely no interest in war, politics, or any other evil acts. But after being influenced by the Tower of Babel, he made the decision to absorb all cities into Berylsha’s Tower of Babel.”

 

“It sounds like you’re saying I could make such a decision too.”

 

“It’s something we don’t know. Someday Babel might give Seo Jae-hyuk a reason why Earth must be destroyed. Then it would only be a matter of time before you go from the dimension’s strongest to the dimension’s traitor.”

 

“Huh? Uh…?”

 

This reaction came from Ahn Yeon-seo, not Seo Jae-hyuk.

 

I had suddenly turned a major corporation’s chairman into a global traitor, so it was an understandable reaction.

 

I quietly turned my gaze away from the rearview mirror.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk’s profile as he looked straight ahead was calmly composed.

 

Still, somewhere he seemed unable to shake off the shock, his face not free of confusion.

 

I quietly studied Seo Jae-hyuk’s face and asked.

 

“Have you ever felt like you were influenced by something during your conquests so far?”

 

A brief silence passed.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk slowly shook his head.

 

“Never.”

 

“Even knowing that your lover was cursed?”

 

“…”

 

This silence lasted a bit longer, but Seo Jae-hyuk calmly shook his head once more.

 

“No. I just… thought it was a problem I could solve someday. I held onto the hope that I might be able to save her by climbing the Tower.”

 

It seems I revealed my identity at a surprisingly appropriate timing.

 

If I had been just a little later, he might have fallen to corruption while stubbornly refusing to climb the Tower or anything else.

 

Just as the Tower of Babel stimulated Quentin’s ‘desire for research,’ it could also stimulate Seo Jae-hyuk’s ‘desire to save his lover.’

 

“Can you completely escape that influence by climbing to the very top of the Tower?”

 

“…That’s also something we don’t know.”

 

Now that we know the Tower of Babel, which we thought only provided us with unconditional benefits, was actually a precursor to dimensional destruction.

 

It’s time to abandon the idea that climbing the entire Tower would bring wealth and honor.

 

Now we must climb the Tower without knowing what kind of reward we’ll receive when we reach the top.

 

I couldn’t even give Seo Jae-hyuk a hopeful answer that he might escape the influence of corruption.

 

I calmly lowered my gaze and answered.

 

“We don’t have a choice. Maybe we’ll find out when we climb the entire Tower?”

 

I was murmuring calmly when

 

‘Ah, wait a minute!’

 

Suddenly something struck me like lightning.

 

There isn’t a single person around us who has climbed the entire Tower.

 

But what if it’s not a person?

 

I happened to know one demon who had climbed the entire Tower.

 

‘There’s Asmodeus!’

 

That demon who made a contract with Park Ji-woon to watch something interesting, Asmodeus!

 

An existence I hadn’t thought of at all came to mind, making me feel like a light bulb had suddenly turned on in my head.

 

Asmodeus had definitely climbed to the very end of the Tower, so he could surely tell us what’s at the end of the Tower.

 

Of course, Babel would try to impose restrictions to prevent us from getting accurate answers.

 

‘Well, I can just interpret it tactfully.’

 

Asmodeus finds me surprisingly interesting, so he’d at least answer my questions.

 

‘And well…’

 

He can make people happy just by looking at him, and well…

 

I was recalling those deep eyes that made me strangely embarrassed when

 

“…Um, are you finished with your conversation?”

 

Ahn Yeon-seo asked in a somewhat uncomfortable voice.

 

Only then did I realize the car had stopped in some quiet alley.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk, who had been trying to maintain his composure the entire time, murmured in a somewhat trembling voice.

 

“We’ve arrived.”

 

“…Then shall we go?”

 

I deliberately answered in a nonchalant voice and pulled up the hood of my robe.

 

Right, whatever I do first.

 

‘I need to finish the deal cleanly.’

 

Right now, saving Seo Jae-hyuk’s unnamed lover comes first.

 

* * *

 

The safe house was located in a quiet residential area on the outskirts of Seoul.

 

A two-story detached house that looked so ordinary from the outside that you’d never think it was a safe house.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk and Ahn Yeon-seo entered first, and just as I was naturally following behind them.

 

‘Whoa, what’s this feeling?’

 

The moment I stepped through the front door, an extremely heavy pressure crushed down on my body.

 

‘I can’t even breathe?’

 

The force pressing against me from all sides was no joke, as if my entire body had been frozen solid, to the point where I couldn’t even reach out to call the two of them.

 

Forget about taking a step, I couldn’t even breathe – isn’t this an assassination attempt?

 

“Are you alright?”

 

When I didn’t follow, Ahn Yeon-seo, who had been walking one step ahead, asked urgently.

 

‘You should have told me it was this kind of place.’

 

I couldn’t answer her question and just glared at her with that meaning, making Ahn Yeon-seo flinch.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk, who belatedly turned around, made an ‘oops’ expression.

 

“It’s a space protected by magic power, so it might feel a bit overwhelming for Lee Hae-won.”

 

Seo Jae-hyuk muttered in a tone that didn’t seem particularly apologetic and lightly gestured with his hand.

 

Only after the golden magic power flowing from his fingertips touched my body could I finally release my blocked breath and grumble.

 

“I would have prepared if you had told me.”

 

“…I was too frantic to properly pay attention to you, Lee Hae-won. I can only apologize.”

 

I lost all fighting spirit as soon as I heard his response.

 

Right now he’s a candidate for the cause of Earth’s destruction and is on the verge of saving his lover, so expecting him to look after my condition might have been greedy.

 

Right, if I had honestly confessed that I was an E-rank Hunter, this wouldn’t have happened.

 

I waved my hand dismissively and gestured with my chin.

 

“It’s fine, where is your lover?”

 

Seo Jae-hyuk’s expression hardened instantly.

 

Then, without any answer, he strode into the house.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk’s face was expressionless as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, but his urgent emotions were clearly revealed in his quick steps.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway and hesitated for a moment.

 

“I’ll open it.”

 

It was Ahn Yeon-seo who opened the door instead of Seo Jae-hyuk, who couldn’t bring himself to open it and hung his head low.

 

The room that was finally revealed was decorated entirely in white.

 

‘What, this isn’t even a hospital.’

 

There’s no reason for it to be this colorless.

 

White curtains, white wallpaper, white bed sheets.

 

Even though it was late at night, the lighting reflected off the entirely white background, making the room as bright as if it were morning.

 

And in the center of it all.

 

“This is my lover.”

 

Seo Jae-hyuk’s lover was lying on the bed literally like a corpse.

 

A woman with such pale skin that it looked almost bluish.

 

Long hair neatly arranged on the pillow and pure white clothing that looked somewhat like hospital gowns.

 

The woman lay motionless in the center of the bed as if deeply asleep.

 

Various medical equipment beside the bed was connected to her body, but the equipment itself was powered off.

 

Well, she’s under a boss’s curse, so what use would modern medicine be?

 

‘He must have tried every possible method to save her somehow.’

 

It was a scene where that desperation could be felt, making my heart feel heavy somehow.

 

If I just kept watching quietly, I felt like I might get swept up in Seo Jae-hyuk’s emotions and burst into tears…

 

No, I wouldn’t cry, but it was the kind of scene that would make me feel like I had to make a tearful expression.

 

I turned away from Seo Jae-hyuk with his sad eyes and immediately opened my inventory.

 

[Clear Tears (EX)]

 

The description window was completely covered with squares, but it was exactly that item that said it could ‘lift all curses.’

 

It was a precious item I obtained by offering the Spirit King’s summoning magic circle to the market in another dimension.

 

Knowing how hard it was to obtain, I hesitated for a moment.

 

“This is it.”

 

I immediately held out the item to Seo Jae-hyuk.

 

The Clear Tears that came out of my inventory was in the form of a transparent orb.

 

It was so clear and transparent that every wrinkle on my palm holding it was visible through it.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk’s hands trembled finely as he received it, unbelievably so.

 

Even his face showed such strong hope that his previous expressionlessness seemed unbelievable.

 

Enough to make Ahn Yeon-seo, who had been quietly watching the situation from behind, startle and make a sniffling sound.

 

“You should be able to lift the curse with this.”

 

I spoke calmly, then grabbed Ahn Yeon-seo’s arm and stepped back.

 

It was time for him to reunite with his lover who had been racing toward death for so long, so it was proper for us intruders to step back this much.

 

‘No, would it be proper to go outside entirely?’

 

But I’m curious about what will happen when he uses that.

 

I silently watched Seo Jae-hyuk’s back.

 

After fidgeting with the orb for a long time, Seo Jae-hyuk seemed to make up his mind and slowly bent over the bed.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk slowly brought the Clear Tears near his lover’s heart area.

 

Just when I was hoping the curse would be lifted and life would return, bringing vitality back to her pale skin.

 

Seo Jae-hyuk didn’t embrace his lover, but turned around with a hardened expression.

 

And then.

 

“…It says it won’t work.”

 

He muttered with a despairing expression as if he might die at any moment.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I cannot use this.”

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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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