24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 200

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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 200

Episode 200. Blue Sky (9)

“What did you say?”

“How would I know that you’re curious about that? I can’t read minds.”

“No, do you really have to say it out loud for me to know?”

“People originally need to speak to understand each other. Keeping your mouth shut and expecting me to understand your heart is nothing short of another form of violence, you know.”

Alessandro put on a stern expression and raised his spoon, launching into a speech.

It wasn’t wrong, but strictly speaking, this was closer to ‘this seems important, so I should probably just tell him tactfully.’

The content was too important to hide.

Since his expression would turn gloomy whenever he remembered that time, I deliberately didn’t ask first.

‘Ah, really, I’m too nice for my own good.’

If I had thrown away all consideration and pressed him then, I would have gone there, naturally!

But his confident expression, as if he had imparted some life wisdom, made me lose the will to argue further.

I turned my gaze away from Alessandro, who seemed to have no intention of hiding anything honorable.

Instead, I calmly scooped up a spoonful of hot stew broth.

“Please tell me in detail how you ended up there. Starting from when you discovered the advertisement flyer.”

“Starting from when I discovered the advertisement flyer, hmm…”

Alessandro finally put down his spoon and looked upward.

Alessandro’s expression grew somber as he traced back the difficult memories.

Kang Yeon-hee also seemed to tense up, stopping her eating and rolling her eyes.

Only Nam Pu-reum seemed completely unconcerned with the situation, clattering away as she diligently picked at the side dishes.

Only after a long while did Alessandro begin to bring out the memories of that day.

“Honestly, my memory of that time isn’t clear. I was almost half out of my mind. It was such a difficult time that I think I erased the memories myself. However, what I clearly remember is the phrase written on the advertisement flyer.”

“What did it say?”

“‘An invitation sent only to those who have lost everything.'”

It couldn’t have been a more appropriate phrase.

Alessandro, who had lost the foundation of his life, the honor he had built up, his life’s purpose, and his will, would have been qualified to receive that invitation.

“I picked up the paper that came toward me as if showing off. At that moment, a line appeared beneath my feet.”

“A line?”

“A thin golden line appeared and stretched out toward the void. As soon as I saw it, I walked along that line without hesitation.”

Ordinary people don’t follow something unknown as if bewitched.

But Alessandro at that time wouldn’t have been an ordinary person.

In that monochrome space where there was nothing to do but walk, with no direction or gravity, if he had discovered a new possibility that seemed to beckon him with light.

‘I would have followed it too.’

“Where did that line lead, and how far?”

“Very far. I don’t know how long I walked. I just remember walking endlessly, passing hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of objects.”

Alessandro paused for a moment and caught his breath.

“Then suddenly a door appeared.”

“Suddenly?”

“I suppose it was at the end of the golden line. Just an ordinary wooden door that didn’t look particularly special. At first I thought it was floating like the other objects, but the golden line was passing through the center of that door.”

Despite saying he didn’t remember anything, hearing such detailed explanation, I could picture the scene Alessandro had witnessed like a painting.

A door that suddenly appeared in the middle of a black and white world, and a golden line shining brightly as if this was the final destination.

Imagining it, it might have been somewhat eerie, but he probably thought he naturally had to enter.

“Did you go in?”

It was Nam Pu-reum who asked back.

Come to think of it, the sound of Nam Pu-reum’s spoon had stopped at some point.

Nam Pu-reum blinked her clear eyes and added quietly.

“Weren’t you scared being alone?”

I thought she was just picking at her food instead of listening to the story, but she had been quietly absorbed in Alessandro’s tale.

The fact that he had been alone for such a long time seemed to have caused gentle ripples in Nam Pu-reum’s heart.

Alessandro gazed at Nam Pu-reum quietly and answered calmly.

“I was too exhausted to be scared. I had nowhere else to go, so there was no other choice.”

“Ah.”

Nam Pu-reum finished her turn with a short interjection and buried her nose in her bowl again.

Alessandro slowly scrunched his face and chuckled while muttering.

“But you look much younger than me, yet you speak so casually to me?”

Right, Nam Pu-reum does have that bad habit of speaking informally to adults and then just going about her business when corrected.

At times like this, I should point it out and educate her properly so she grows up with good character, but I’ll talk to Karma directly about Nam Pu-reum’s counseling.

“So, what happened next?”

Right now, satisfying my curiosity is more important.

Don’t get hung up on strange things and just tell me the next part of the story, mister.

When I looked at Alessandro with eager eyes, Alessandro sighed and continued his story.

“Inside the door was an ordinary house. No, I should say it felt more like a guild office… At first I suspected it might be debris too. But inside there was color, and there were people.”

“People, you mean the broker?”

“Exactly.”

“What kind of person was the broker?”

Alessandro took a sip of water and tilted his head.

Alessandro, who seemed unable to remember clearly, frowned and pondered for a while before shaking his head.

“I wonder if I should call it a person.”

“What did it look like? Like a blue one-eyed creature, or like a golem?”

“No, no. It seemed to have human form. But whenever I tried to look closely at its face, it kept becoming blurry.”

“Do you think it’s not human because you couldn’t see it properly?”

“It’s not that feeling, Hae-won. It was a being so mysterious that I couldn’t believe it was human. It didn’t introduce itself, just asked me something.”

“What did it say?”

“It asked if I didn’t want to stop walking in a colorless world anymore.”

…Isn’t that a question that could only be asked if one knew what kind of place the dimensional rift was?

From that one question alone, I was convinced that the broker was not an ordinary human.

After all, being able to open a door from inside the dimensional rift to the outside was already an ability beyond human scope.

“What did you answer?”

“What answer was needed? It was just a matter of nodding.”

Alessandro laughed lightly, but the temperature of his laughter was cold.

Kang Yeon-hee’s expression, sitting beside him and quietly listening to the story, was rigidly frozen.

Actually, even though Kang Yeon-hee and Alessandro had become close while managing the market in my absence, she probably hadn’t heard such detailed circumstances.

Even I was feeling gloomy, so Kang Yeon-hee, with her soft tofu mentality, must feel even worse.

Kang Yeon-hee and I opened our mouths at the same time.

“It must have been really difficult, Alessandro.”

“Weren’t there any trading conditions or anything?”

Why did you have to say such warm words at that moment, Kang Yeon-hee?

Feeling awkward for no reason, I shamelessly added.

“Surely there wasn’t no price for getting you out of the dimensional rift.”

“There was.”

Alessandro lightly patted Kang Yeon-hee’s shoulder as if grateful.

Then he hesitated and drew in a breath.

If it was the price for being released from the infinite prison called the dimensional rift, they surely would have demanded something tremendous.

If I assume Brother got trapped in a dimensional rift, and Brother needed to pay a price to escape, I need to know about it.

If Brother doesn’t have the ability to pay it, I’ll have to help.

I have more than enough money, and I can get anything from the market, so it would be good to prepare in advance.

However, Alessandro’s answer was very different from my expectations.

“It asked for memories of the person I loved most.”

Very different indeed.

I blinked and sighed.

“…Huh?”

“I heard correctly. The broker asked me for memories of someone I loved.”

“Your wife? A child? Who was it?”

“I can’t remember at all.”

Ah, he gave his memories as payment to escape the dimensional rift, of course.

Alessandro, who had been muttering calmly, soon lost his composure and became agitated.

Unable to hide his wavering gaze, Alessandro just moved his lips before adding with a heavy heart.

“I don’t even know who I loved or how precious what I lost was. I must have had someone I loved since I escaped from that rift, but in my greed to survive, I sold that precious thing.”

“….”

“It must have been a memory precious enough to pay with my life. I’m filled with regret for forgetting it, but I don’t even know who I should apologize to.”

This was the first time since our first meeting that I’d seen Alessandro so overwhelmed with emotion.

‘Ah, this is quite sad.’

Kang Yeon-hee already had tears welling up and was on the verge of sobbing, and Nam Pu-reum seemed to sense the mood as she put down her spoon and chewed her rice silently.

Even I, who usually don’t get swept up in the atmosphere, was at a loss for words.

Alessandro would probably never be able to fill that empty corner of his heart.

As if trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, Alessandro spoke in a casual tone.

“Whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate, the broker seemed quite pleased with my memories.”

For something said casually, the content was far too heavy.

But I couldn’t help but feel curious.

‘Why?’

Why did they take memories of all things as payment?

It’s a heartbreaking story, but honestly, those memories would be useless to anyone else.

I couldn’t hold back and asked the question.

“Did you ask why they wanted something like that?”

“I didn’t ask, but they told me anyway. They said they liked to observe, so they wanted to give me an opportunity.”

That answer didn’t help me at all.

Why do I always fail to resolve my questions immediately and only end up with more questions?

If life had difficulty levels, mine definitely wouldn’t be easy or normal mode.

“By the way, I thought you might be curious about the location of that office.”

“…Oh, I am curious.”

Having observed me for over a year, Alessandro had properly grasped my tendencies.

Alessandro smiled as if he had completely forgotten the weight of the story he’d just told.

His face looked mature, as if he was being considerate so we wouldn’t get swept up in emotions too.

Though he was acting as something like a live-in chef, he was indeed someone who had more life experience than me.

“Unfortunately, the alleys were so densely packed that I don’t know the exact location. But instead of a sign, there were three silver bells hanging in a row. That was unusual, so I remembered it.”

“Vertically?”

“Horizontally. Three bells in a straight line above the door.”

It was distinctive enough that I could probably find it even without a sign.

Perhaps noticing that I looked somewhat satisfied, Alessandro nodded.

“Do you remember anything about which alley it was, even roughly?”

“Hmm, I walked for quite a while through dirty alleys after leaving the office.”

Dirty alleys?

‘Were there dirty alleys in the Irregular Dimensional Market?’

Though it was like a wholesale market, it had paved roads with neatly arranged stalls.

I hadn’t searched the entire 75th floor, but I hadn’t seen anywhere that could be described as ‘dirty alleys.’

Then, Alessandro mentioned a very important clue.

“When I came out of the alleys, there was a large river.”

“…A river?”

“I crossed a bridge and was wandering around when I met you.”

As soon as I heard that, I remembered the large river that Manti and I had only watched without crossing.

The other side of the river where I couldn’t see what was there properly.

The broker’s office was right there.

I just hadn’t crossed because something happened at the stall, but it wasn’t a place I couldn’t go!

I quickly asked the question in my head.

‘When does it open?!’

As if it had been waiting for my question, Lee Hae-won’s dedicated AI, which had been working well lately, displayed a notification.

[⁕ The Irregular Dimensional Market is scheduled to open in 8 days :)]

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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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