24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 193

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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 193

Episode 193. Blue Sky (2)

“…Is this a dream?”

It’s something I said wanting to deny reality, even though I knew it couldn’t be true.

Right after the loud Gate appearance alarm, I had a gut feeling that I was screwed and just closed my eyes and opened them.

‘I’m here again…’

I was already standing in the middle of a rough rock mountain.

Until just a few years ago, there was about dozens of seconds of leeway after the alarm, so I could escape sufficiently.

But these days, Babel seems to be in a hurry, falling into the Gate the moment the alarm sounds, so there’s no time to even attempt an escape.

I’m already experiencing my third Sudden Gate, which is supposed to be hard to experience even once in a lifetime.

Could it be that I’m actually destined to bring typhoons wherever I go?

Well, what’s really fortunate is that I can go directly to Babel Square through my return skill.

Plus, since the Gate is also under Babel’s influence, my radish status is naturally maintained too.

I put my phone with no signal in my pocket and looked around.

Fortunately, it’s not a place with extreme weather like the Snowy Gate where I met Kusarichi.

Though clouds have gathered, it’s not cold, and the moderately cool wind makes for quite pleasant weather.

It’s exactly the same temperature as the walking path I had just taken to find some peace of mind.

I turned my head left and right, observing the surroundings for a while before muttering bluntly.

“What’s even here?”

I might have felt it was quite a pleasant environment, except for the fact that it’s such a desolate rock mountain where you can’t find even a hint of greenery.

Even though a rock mountain is still a mountain, how can there be only gray-brown rocks like this.

There are trees that have grown firmly through rock crevices here and there.

But since they’re withered old trees without vitality, they’re too far from being green.

Rather, they’re so gray that their bark looks like it would crumble if you just touched it…

That actually created an even more eerie atmosphere.

A ravine with rock walls of heights that seem like they’d appear in martial arts novels, rising endlessly into the distance.

The thick fog between the valleys and the ominous sound of wind just make me feel uneasy for no reason.

There’s not even a path that looks walkable, so it’s no different from being stranded in the deep mountains.

What an extreme environment.

“Is the boss here a mountain goat?”

It would have to be at least that to freely climb these cliffs, wouldn’t it?

I briefly considered whether there might be hoof items.

I quickly gave up since it seemed like it would be a huge problem for human dignity.

I took out a robe from my inventory, put it on, and headed toward the path behind the bumpy clearing.

Running away immediately is one option, but at least I didn’t fall alone.

‘Where is Nam Pu-reum?’

Nam Pu-reum, who was clinging to my clothes and following me around, must have been caught up in the Gate too.

Of course, it’s funny for me to worry about an S-rank Hunter.

Nam Pu-reum would easily kill the field boss and clear the Gate regardless of my concerns.

Like the usual indifferent appearance she shows, she might have already forgotten that she fell with me and could be desperately searching for the boss by now.

But me looking for Nam Pu-reum while wondering where I am is just…

‘She called me sister, so I’m getting concerned again.’

Though no one would know, I’m surprisingly tender-hearted and pure.

Just look at how I think ‘she’s still younger than me’ for the sole reason that our country’s top-tier assassin called me sister.

Anyone would worry about how someone so naive could survive in this harsh world.

Well, it wouldn’t be bad to build some rapport with Nam Pu-reum while I’m at it.

I need to ask about the Gyeonghyeon-dong Gate anyway.

“Whe… re should I go.”

In the quiet ravine where nothing could be heard except the sharp sound of wind, I briefly pondered which direction to take.

I thought about drawing a map with the detection writing tool, but that would be a waste of time.

‘I’ll just wander around looking, and if that doesn’t work, then I’ll draw one.’

Originally, you have to experience the field with your own body.

…Is that a strange thing for me to say?

I stuck my head through a half-tilted rock crevice and reflexively gripped my necklace tightly.

Kinenum’s watch that I clutched with my left hand felt like it was pulsating.

Oh, by the way, it’s absolutely not because I’m nervous about this rock mountain’s eerie atmosphere.

* * *

Surprisingly, Nam Pu-reum was nearby.

Along the wall of the ravine where I thought there was no path at all, there was a precarious and rough trail.

No, if Babel was going to open a place like this as a Sudden Gate, shouldn’t they have at least installed safety railings to make it easy for humans to walk?

Shaking my head at their behavior that didn’t consider Gate localization, as soon as I turned the curved path.

“…Huh.”

I immediately found Nam Pu-reum.

Unlike my expectation that I’d wander around for at least 30 minutes, I was momentarily flustered by the surprisingly quick discovery.

I sensed something strange and stopped walking.

‘Why is she like that…?’

Nam Pu-reum was standing precariously at the edge of the cliff.

An unstable position that looked perfect for diving off the cliff if someone just pushed her.

Nam Pu-reum’s figure, standing motionlessly while looking down at the fog spread below the ravine, was dangerously precarious.

Though carefully approaching an assassin from behind is the easiest way to high-five the grim reaper.

I approached Nam Pu-reum with some inexplicable intuition.

But Nam Pu-reum doesn’t turn around.

Even though I deliberately made footsteps as I approached.

I took a small deep breath and spoke carefully.

“Um, Nam Pu-reum…?”

Nam Pu-reum still doesn’t look back at me, just endlessly stares down at the deep, dark ravine where the bottom can’t be seen.

The closer I got, the more certain it became that something was strange.

I frowned when I discovered an abnormal phenomenon in Nam Pu-reum’s back view that I casually observed.

‘…Shaking?’

That Nam Pu-reum is shaking?

Nam Pu-reum’s small shoulders, hidden by her loose black hoodie, were trembling slightly.

Nam Pu-reum, who had invaded my home and threatened to kill me, is trembling on a cliff?

There’s no way Nam Pu-reum suddenly has acrophobia.

It doesn’t seem like she’s doing that because of the cold either, since it seemed like a different kind of trembling.

This is not ordinary.

“Hey.”

I gave up on the careful approach and strode right next to Nam Pu-reum.

I cut off all the words and started with ‘hey’, but Nam Pu-reum still showed no reaction.

Same thing when I took another step closer and looked at her face.

Nam Pu-reum’s eyes weren’t examining the ravine’s terrain or looking for the field boss, but staring at somewhere completely different.

Empty space.

A single point in the empty space where nothing exists.

To be precise, the entrance to the pitch-black abyss created by the deep valley.

And Nam Pu-reum’s eyes looking at it were frozen with very heavy and chilling fear.

Instinctively realizing ‘this is really screwed’, I hurriedly reached for Nam Pu-reum’s shoulder and shouted.

“Hey, Nam-.”

No, I was about to shout.

The moment I opened my mouth, uncontrolled mana began pouring out wildly from Nam Pu-reum’s fingertips.

It’s the same dark violet ominous colored mana I’ve seen before, but it’s definitely different from that time.

It wasn’t the clear mana that directly revealed clear purpose and the owner’s will.

Mana without boundaries that seemed to spread hazily and dye everything around it.

In other words, mana leaking out because its owner couldn’t control it.

Even I, who has no mana, know what this means.

[When mana doesn’t take proper form and spreads hazily like fog, it’s a precursor to rampage.]

Content I had read on one side of Babel Wiki was being reproduced right before my eyes!

‘No way, Nam Pu-reum is going on a rampage?’

Are you insane?!

Even if it were just Guk Min-seong’s level, I would have scoffed, but this is an S-rank Hunter’s rampage.

Moreover, in the few seconds before I could even decide whether to run away or try to handle the situation, Nam Pu-reum’s mana began reaching out to me.

The mana that touched my skin like poisonous fog caused a tingling numbness.

Or wait, is it not numbness but the feeling of being poisoned?

I don’t know, but I can tell that Nam Pu-reum is one step away from killing the precious Market Administrator he swore to protect with an S+ rank contract.

The moment Nam Pu-reum’s mana flowed down my throat, Nam Pu-reum, who had been standing like a corpse, slowly raised his arm.

I wanted to shout and stop him, but breathing itself was difficult because my throat was blocked by mana.

I took in Nam Pu-reum’s actions while feeling the threat to my life completely.

Nam Pu-reum hung his head low and raised his trembling arm, stretching it straight forward.

And the moment he turned his palm upward, a black dagger appeared above his empty palm.

An ordinary-looking dagger with nothing special about it except that the blade was black.

Nam Pu-reum’s weapon, ‘Shadow’s Whisper’.

But it can’t be ordinary since it was chosen by an S-rank assassin.

I only know his alias as the Silent Executioner and that he specializes in assassination, but nothing is properly known about Nam Pu-reum’s skills.

There are no recorded videos or reviews of how Nam Pu-reum fights, so I could only guess ‘Does he just slice and dice?’

But then.

“….”

Dozens of replicated daggers floated above Nam Pu-reum’s head.

‘Crazy, an assassin is doing sword rain attacks.’

The ‘Shadow’s Whisper’ wrapped thickly in Nam Pu-reum’s characteristic dark purple mana gleamed sharply.

An overwhelming aura that seemed to reveal the owner’s emotions as if wanting to rush toward somewhere at any moment.

My surprise at discovering that the assassin I thought was melee could also do ranged attacks was brief.

Nam Pu-reum threw himself off the cliff without any change in expression.

The mana that had been heavily pressing down on the surroundings along with Nam Pu-reum plummeted down the cliff following its master.

At the same time, the unfriendly mana that had been blocking my throat also withdrew its presence.

As soon as my breathing cleared, I hurriedly headed to the edge.

No matter how much Nam Pu-reum is an S-rank Hunter, right now he’s fallen into a Sudden Gate and has those eyes, so I can’t just leave him alone….

“Nam Pu…! reum…?”

I hurriedly lay down and looked down the cliff, then lost my words completely.

Until I saw him crouched in the air and floating up, I had resolved to somehow make Nam Pu-reum come to his senses.

However, in the one second I blinked once.

‘Damn, crazy Nam Pu-reum….’

One of the rock mountains that had been towering before my eyes was collapsing with a tremendous roar.

“…Please, Sam-i, this is a dream, right.”

[⁕ No, it’s not :)]

Ignoring Sam-i’s cheerful answer that contrasted with the painful reality, I looked down at Nam Pu-reum.

Nam Pu-reum was floating in the air while drawing up all his mana without reserve.

As if he intended to collapse this entire Gate.

His straight forehead, which had shown no expression, was now completely distorted.

He was angry at everything all by himself even though no one was attacking.

Nam Pu-reum apparently intends to turn this place into the Chasm of Death.

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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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