24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 2

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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 2

Episode 2. Supernatural Survival Methods (1)

I was sitting on a creaky bed, glaring into empty space.

Even without turning on a single light, the room was bright thanks to the glow from the notification window.

[Congratulations on ‘Lee Hae-won’s Awakening. Babel supports your climbing journey.]

I knew from Babel Wiki that this was the first notification Awakened ones see.

But seeing it directly was a completely different feeling.

An overwhelming emotion that was on a different dimension from just knowing such a thing existed.

I reached out toward the untouchable window and muttered.

“I’m an Awakened one now too.”

The days of struggling as an ordinary person left behind in a society dominated by Awakened ones seemed to fade away like a dream.

…Well, even if I have a suspicious title I’ve never seen before, the fact that I’ve awakened is real!

‘Actually, when I saw it inside the Gate, it felt a bit dreamlike.’

Staring at the notification window in this empty room made me truly feel that I had awakened.

Perhaps I might no longer have to worry about things like rent or food expenses, and literally enjoy a peaceful daily life.

Was it because of such expectations? My heart kept fluttering with excitement.

‘They said you can check by calling out status window.’

Expressing gratitude to the countless Babel Wiki contributors, I took a deep breath.

This was the moment my life would change.

“Status Window!”

As soon as I shouted without shame, the hologram before my eyes changed instantly.

As I carefully read the status window filled with numerous characters from top to bottom, I muttered with a strange expression far removed from my initial excitement.

“This feels kind of weird.”

———— Awakened Information ————

> Awakened: Lee Hae-won

– Unique Title: Open Market Manager (EX)

– Affiliation: Dimension-Earth I Zone-South Korea

– Awakened Grade: E [Locked]

> Unique Skills

[Dimensional Door Lv.1] [Item Appraisal Lv.1] [Repair Lv.1] [Merchant’s Mark(P)]

> Babel Best Record: None

> Gold Possessed: 0G

> Achievement (1)

——————————————

Seeing a status window that objectively quantified me was a very special experience.

Though I think it would have been an even more special experience if it weren’t so excessively objective that I looked utterly insignificant.

Of course, I already knew that unique title grades and Awakened grades were different.

But E, the lowest among six whole grades?

‘Isn’t that too pathetic?’

But I didn’t even have time to be shocked by that.

“Huh.”

Because something was missing.

I frowned and reread the not-even-long status window once more.

But it still wasn’t there.

“Why don’t I have stats?”

I don’t have stats!

Those very stats that are supposedly indispensable for Awakened ones!

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the status window again, but doing so wouldn’t make missing stats suddenly appear.

I muttered in a deflated voice.

“This can’t be right…?”

Because the standard lines that appeared in Awakened ones’ interviews were predetermined.

‘As soon as I awakened, I felt strength throughout my body! Even though I didn’t exercise, I could feel muscles, and even though I usually had poor stamina, I wasn’t out of breath at all! It felt like my body had completely changed!’

The explanation that followed was about how you could level up and gain stat points each time you completed given Quests.

But right now, I have no stats.

Naturally, I don’t have stat points either.

“Isn’t this a bug?”

If an ordinary person’s stamina is 1, Awakened ones have at least 5 from the moment they awaken.

That’s why ‘Awakened preferred’ became attached to everything from regular job markets to construction sites.

Awakened ones usually feel physical changes after awakening.

Even if you have a unique title unrelated to physical strength, even if you awaken as E-grade, you ‘definitely’ feel changes.

But right now, I’m not feeling any, absolutely any, really no changes at all.

“If I don’t have stats, doesn’t that mean I’m exactly the same as before?”

I thought I’d become a Babel silver spoon seeing my unique title grade.

“An E-grade Hunter with an EX title…?”

What kind of balance is this?

This is extremely unsettling.

What does ‘EX’ mean?

It means ‘extraordinary’ – amazing, outstanding, exceptional, that kind of level.

“Or does it really mean extraordinary?”

Like an NPC in a game or an interview guide assistant at an interview venue?

Thinking that way, the word ‘Locked’ attached after the Awakened grade also seemed like some kind of hopeful clue.

I’ve never seen a locked grade before, but since the title is EX-grade, shouldn’t something come of it?

“…Right?!”

I shouted hopefully and nodded my head.

Spin, hope circuit.

I barely survived death and even awakened, so there are too many things I haven’t confirmed yet to despair.

[> New Notification

– You can create an Open Market Manager account.]

Right, let’s set aside everything else for now and focus on my unique title ‘Open Market Manager.’

A title never seen once in South Korea where over 10 years of data has accumulated.

Until now, Babel had only granted titles related to combat.

Park Bo-bae, whom I met in the Gate, was also someone who had the title ‘White Shield’ and played a tanker role.

But there’s not a single person with a title that smells this much of capitalism.

Nobody would have known that just receiving guidance from a cat and giving it a feather could earn such an unheard-of title.

Belatedly, I regretted whether I shouldn’t have received guidance from the cat.

However, I soon shook my head.

“No way. Thanks to that, I survived.”

If it hadn’t been for that cat, I wouldn’t even be alive right now to worry about this.

‘…Well, that doesn’t mean I’m not anxious though.’

Both the anticipation of possibly becoming a unique existence and the anxiety of potentially being a dud arose simultaneously.

But nothing would change just by staying still like this.

I stared at the status window for a while before muttering quietly.

“Let’s try making an account.”

At that moment, a laptop-shaped hologram appeared before my eyes.

But it wasn’t an ordinary laptop you’d normally see.

“Whoa…”

The laptop screen popped up large in the air like a popup.

The semi-transparent hologram with a blue tint didn’t stay still but rippled slightly as if floating in water.

When I reached out and moved my hand over the laptop, the hologram pieces that made up the laptop scattered smoothly.

It was an unrealistic and fantastical sight.

“Wow…”

An exclamation escaped me without realizing it.

As if my touch was a trigger, a beautiful notification sound rang out at that moment.

Ding!

Soon after, a window that popped up like an advertisement welcomed me.

[Creating an Open Market.]

[Please decide on a name for the market.]

Well, regardless of doubts or anything.

‘If they tell me to do it, I have to do it.’

I was instantly caught up in contemplation.

When it comes to markets, what comes to mind is Carrot Market, the secondhand trading platform I’ve been using constantly.

‘That would be copyright infringement, so obviously I can’t use it.’

I’m someone with the worst naming sense, to the point where my Carrot Market nickname is ‘Friend Lee’.

It was just a simple nickname I came up with because my brother kept calling me “this friend, really” as his catchphrase, but even deciding on that took forever.

They say there’s been no precedent of awakening abilities disappearing in the past 10 years, so I’ll probably keep using whatever I decide on now.

If that’s the case, I should come up with something that looks impressive and amazing.

“Friend Lee…”

I was muttering, wondering if I could just slightly modify my Carrot Market nickname and make do with that.

[Would you like to register as ‘Friendly Market’?]

“Yes? No?”

[…Checking if there are duplicate names on the server…]

[‘Friendly Market’ has been registered on the Babel server.]

[Please set an administrator nickname.]

Did it just hastily decide on the market name because I said “Yes” first?

No, isn’t it standard practice to ask “Are you sure you want to do this?” one more time for things like this!

“…This doesn’t make sense.”

I was muttering in disbelief when the notification window made another ridiculous claim.

[Administrator nicknames can be registered with up to two characters.]

[…Checking if there are duplicate names on the server…]

[Administrator ‘Lee Hae’ has been registered on the Babel server.]

[This nickname will be used as a unique nickname on the Babel server.]

“Wow, damn it!”

They’re incredibly fast at processing things!

I slammed the bed and shot up.

My name is Lee Hae-won, so if they were going to do that, they should have used my full name!

What the hell is ‘Lee Hae’ supposed to be!

Having been scammed twice by the Babel System, I slammed my hand against the wall and let out an irritated sigh.

The fact that no one had taken the rare two-character nickname, and that I happened to mutter that particular phrase, couldn’t be anything but fate’s prank.

“…”

Come to think of it, I heard that the most common type of nickname used in awakener-exclusive communities is random combinations of letters and numbers.

Who would have thought there’d be such rules only for administrator nicknames…

‘Should I consider myself lucky for getting a rare two-character nickname?’

I tried to think positively and pronounced my market name that had been rushed through.

“Lee Hae’s Friendly Market.”

Hmm, now that I actually said it out loud, it’s kind of…

“Ah, it sucks.”

It sounds like a market exclusively for elderly people who kindly embrace and understand everything.

I’m not someone who lives and dies for style, but this definitely doesn’t seem right.

I should try to find a way to change it somehow.

[Once set, nicknames and market names cannot be changed.]

“Those Babel scammer bastards…”

I gritted my teeth and grabbed my hair once more.

I got a title with no guides, no stats, a ridiculous market name and nickname, and I can’t even change them.

All I have is emptiness and laughter bursting out from sheer absurdity.

[Please set a market access startup phrase.]

I quickly shut my mouth.

I couldn’t lose my human dignity again with another weird phrase.

“Log in…”

The moment I cautiously muttered with suspicious eyes, the window in front of me changed.

[Accessing administrator account for Open Market ‘Friendly Market’.]

My anger instantly subsided, and I began to anticipate what kind of window would appear next.

Since it’s called a ‘market’, would a shop-like window appear like in games?

As I mentioned, it’s a title with absolutely no precedent to be found, so there was nothing I could guess.

After a short while, instead of a unique window, what appeared before my eyes was an unexpected Quest.

[An Open Market Manager exclusive job Quest has arrived. Would you like to check it?]

“…Quest?”

If I had to imagine, it would probably be something like “sell items.”

With my experience from Carrot Market’s 52-degree manner temperature, it might not be that difficult.

As I was spreading my wings of imagination like this, the Babel System revealed the Quest to me.

[Title Job Quest (1)

Enter the Tutorial Floor of the Tower of Babel.

Reward: Open Market Manager Exclusive Tutorial Quest Unlock, Open Market Administrator Manual Unlock]

…But I don’t have any stats?

I obviously know I’ll have to kill monsters on the Tutorial Floor, right?

I vividly imagined myself getting torn limb from limb by monsters the moment I entered the Tutorial Floor and squeezed my eyes shut.

Then I drew up rage from my core and unleashed a Lion’s Roar.

“Babel, you fraud-!”

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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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