24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 190

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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 190

 

Episode 190. Singularity (3)

 

It wasn’t as if his expression changed dramatically upon hearing something tremendously shocking.

 

It was just that very subtly, the loose smile that had been hanging at the corners of his eyes disappeared.

 

‘But damn, that intimidating presence is insane.’

 

My mouth felt parched and I wanted to swallow some saliva, but I thought that sound would be too loud, so I chose to just hold my breath instead.

 

So this was the kind of heavy atmosphere that emerged when someone who had been smiling with playful eyes the whole time suddenly became serious.

 

It seemed he had been watching me quite properly all along.

 

I consciously controlled my breathing and waited quietly like someone who knew nothing.

 

Asmodeus tapped his lips with his slender fingers, then placed his elbow on the table and slowly leaned forward.

 

The gaze pouring down from the now closer distance was even sharper.

 

In the suffocating tension, Asmodeus suddenly grinned.

 

It was an abruptly changed attitude, as if his serious expression from just before had been some kind of joke.

 

“You’ve been roaming the stages and learned quite a lot, haven’t you, Lee Hae-won?”

 

There was a barb in the words he threw out so nonchalantly.

 

Before I could even answer, Asmodeus added in a light tone.

 

“Well, you couldn’t stay ignorant forever anyway.”

 

Then he folded the corners of his eyes into a seductive smile.

 

A red aura leaked from his pupils and hazily filled the office.

 

‘Why is he acting like that?’

 

I remained completely composed even at Asmodeus’s appearance.

 

He should know that charm doesn’t work as long as I maintain my composure with a merchant’s eyes.

 

It felt like he was trying to subtly change the subject because it was a topic he disliked even mentioning, let alone explaining.

 

Was my question about something too difficult for him to handle?

 

I swallowed and calmly opened my mouth.

 

“So you do know, don’t you, Mr. Asmodeus?”

 

“I might know, or I might not know~?”

 

There he goes again.

 

Doesn’t he know that when you answer like that during a conversation with someone, it pisses off the listener?

 

He clearly knew something but had a subtle attitude of not easily giving me an answer, which made irritation and impatience well up.

 

But at that moment, Asmodeus gazed at me with narrowed eyes.

 

“Hmm, quite insolent for someone who’s curious. Lee Hae-won, if you want to hear an answer, you need to show me what you have first, don’t you?”

 

‘Ah, damn it.’

 

I barely managed to swallow the curse that was about to burst out of my mouth.

 

I thought I had grown quite a bit through conducting many transactions, but this guy was on a different level.

 

Well, it was like talking to a giant python.

 

Even just the shadow of that python was as big as a high-rise building.

 

Actually, I came here to get answers, not to give them, so this wasn’t even a situation where I could weigh and consider what to offer.

 

If this were inside the Tower where I wouldn’t die no matter what chaos I caused, I might try to fight back somehow.

 

‘But this is the office on the 8th floor of the flashy Babel Management Bureau in the heart of Seoul…’

 

Then it would be right for me to back down here.

 

After hesitating for a long time, I struggled to begin.

 

“It’s about a title.”

 

“Everyone who receives the dimension’s blessing has a title, don’t they~?”

 

“It’s the title I have. Creator.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Asmodeus reacted as if interested and nodded his head.

 

Since he must have reacted sharply to me because he knew about the Creator, he would at least know that Creator was a title.

 

‘He probably also knows it’s a hidden title.’

 

Or maybe not, maybe he doesn’t know?

 

Anyway, what I needed to do now was carefully approach so that as much information as possible would come out.

 

“Have you ever met the Creator, Mr. Asmodeus?”

 

“Well?”

 

“Could there possibly be multiple Creators?”

 

“Hmm~?”

 

“My brother has abilities similar to mine. I thought he might have a similar title…”

 

“Interesting.”

 

…But all the answers came back uncooperatively.

 

Was he going to give me answers or not?

 

At that moment, Asmodeus’s pure white finger tapped the table.

 

When I reflexively looked up and stared, Asmodeus was gazing at me languidly.

 

“How many roles do you think you can take on in the Tower?”

 

I clearly asked for an answer, but it came back as another question like a Zen riddle.

 

It was even somewhat out of the blue.

 

But this demon must be asking this question to give me an answer, right?

 

Clinging to that thread of hope, I furrowed my brow and answered after much deliberation.

 

“…Hunter?”

 

“Your imagination is lacking, Lee Hae-won. There aren’t only awakened ones on the stage, you know?”

 

Asmodeus spun his finger around in the air.

 

On the stage?

 

What else could I do besides being a Hunter…

 

‘Does he mean to include the beings inside the Tower too?’

 

With an uncertain feeling, I carefully opened my mouth.

 

“Performer…?”

 

“Right, that’s also one of the roles. The fate of the weak who had no choice but to accept their dimension’s destruction.”

 

Oh, sudden disrespect for the dead.

 

I thought of the countless Performers living peacefully in areas where scenarios had ended and kept my mouth shut.

 

Asmodeus folded the corners of his eyes with a look as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

 

But why is he suddenly talking about that?

 

He kept saying incomprehensible things, and I had no idea what he wanted to tell me.

 

“I’ve told you this much and you still don’t understand, Lee Hae-won?”

 

It must have all shown on my face.

 

‘Well, I’d need to have been told something properly to understand it.’

 

What’s with making it incomprehensible and then shifting the blame to me?

 

Asmodeus stared at me intently and slowly blinked.

 

As I watched Asmodeus’s red pupils disappear and reappear in the silence, Asmodeus casually added.

 

“It means ‘Creator’ is also one of the roles.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

I sighed, but I still couldn’t tell what he was trying to say.

 

The more we talked, the more it felt like I just had more questions.

 

I finally couldn’t stand the frustration and leaned forward over the table.

 

“Can’t you just tell me directly instead of speaking in circles?”

 

“Did you think it would be that easy to figure out what Babel has placed a prohibition on~? If you thought so, you’re more naive than you look.”

 

“A prohibition?”

 

The word prohibition suddenly brought to mind the trade prohibition list.

 

The numerous prohibition items that were all covered with squares so I couldn’t tell what was what.

 

The things that Babel had blocked so I couldn’t see them.

 

‘Even Sam-i’s occasional silent protests?’

 

Sam-i’s rude attitude of cutting off conversations saying he couldn’t answer or didn’t have permission was probably also because of that prohibition.

 

[⁕ That’s not true 🙂 I simply don’t know much about information other than market operations :)]

 

…Oh, I heard your explanation well.

 

I made a subtle expression while staring into space, then snapped back to my senses.

 

‘Get it together, Lee Hae-won!’

 

Stop getting lost in other thoughts when you’re not even charmed by his face.

 

I don’t know when I’ll be able to meet Asmodeus again, so I need to ask as many questions as possible while I can.

 

I opened my eyes clearly and threw out my next question.

 

“There was a Creator in your dimension too, wasn’t there, Asmodeus?”

 

It wasn’t really different from asking if he’d met one, but this time a proper answer came back.

 

“There was.”

 

“Was that person also a merchant?”

 

“It wasn’t human.”

 

Of course, since Asmodeus is strictly a demon, that dimension would have far more demons than humans….

 

“That’s not what’s important. Was that being also a merchant?”

 

“Well, if you had to say?”

 

Another half-assed answer like that….

 

“Since it did sell things?”

 

My anger flared up for a moment, then quickly cooled at his additional words.

 

At this point, I could statistically consider Asmodeus’s vague answers as ‘Yes’.

 

He just can’t give ‘clear’ answers while going on about some prohibition, but it seems like he’s subtly letting me know.

 

So then, there’s a high probability that the Creator in Asmodeus’s dimension was also a ‘merchant’.

 

The fact that Open Market Administrator has Creator as a hidden title is likely common to all dimensions.

 

‘I should ask Manti about this later too.’

 

After all, you need to cross-verify wherever you go to properly confirm facts.

 

Alessandro couldn’t even climb the Tower of Babel, so there’s a high chance he’s ignorant about the very existence of Awakened ones.

 

‘Can I ask the Performers too?’

 

But I don’t have high expectations.

 

Their dimension has already been destroyed, and the Tower of Babel has disappeared too, so they probably wouldn’t know even if I asked?

 

As I was making various assumptions and wracking my brain, Asmodeus tapped the table.

 

“Yes, and?”

 

“Could you focus on the conversation a bit? Lee Hae-won, you think quite a lot, don’t you?”

 

“I suppose I do.”

 

“That’s not a compliment, Lee Hae-won. I’m letting it slide because you’re cute, but these kinds of conversations cost me separately too~”

 

“…To Babel?”

 

Asmodeus didn’t answer and just blinked lightly.

 

It was a sign of affirmation.

 

It meant he was paying some kind of separate price to answer my questions.

 

‘Why would he go that far for me?’

 

Before I could ask back about my doubt, Asmodeus struck first.

 

His eyes had become a bit more serious than before.

 

“How do you think the Tower gets filled?”

 

“Well, isn’t it Babel that provides it?”

 

“It provides the basic framework. The stage and story, roughly.”

 

“Basic framework?”

 

“This is as far as I can tell you. Think hard with that small, cute head of yours, Lee Hae-won.”

 

Asmodeus leaned back against his chair as if he had nothing more to say and quietly stared at me.

 

I looked into those red eyes that completely captured my face and felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

 

Asmodeus had been mentioning ‘stage’ repeatedly since earlier.

 

As if telling me to think carefully about that word.

 

There are various roles that Babel assigns.

 

Performers and Hunters, who are part of those roles, go on stage to complete scenarios.

 

‘Babel only provides the stage and story?’

 

Then that would mean it only provides the scenario and the place where the scenario unfolds.

 

After that, it’s up to the Hunters who will take the stage to develop the story.

 

And planning the stage for how the Hunters will proceed with the story is….

 

“I’m not in a role that goes on stage.”

 

At my words, Asmodeus stretched his lips into a long smile.

 

As if the direction I was thinking was correct.

 

The back of my neck bristled and my mind went cold.

 

Creator.

 

When I thought about just that one word, it was a simple problem.

 

I thought it would be a creator who makes things like Kang Yeon-hee, but the scale was much bigger than expected.

 

I’m not participating in scenarios, but rather in a role behind them.

 

I wasn’t just any creator.

 

“I’m in a backstage role.”

 

I was a ‘production director’ who had to oversee the entire production process so that one scenario could flow properly.

 

And the next question that came to mind was just one.

 

‘Brother, what are you?’

 

What kind of title do you have exactly?

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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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