24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 209

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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 209

Episode 209. A Well-Set Flag (5)

They say squalls fall in tropical rainforests where you can’t see an inch ahead.

Though the situation is similar to a squall, I can confidently say this rain is incomparably more fierce than any squall.

Thunder-like sounds pierced my eardrums as if the entire sky would collapse, and it felt like my whole body was being pounded by fierce raindrops.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling—I was actually being pounded.

My crown and shoulders throbbed from the aggressive rain that fell through the darkly blackened leaves that were hard to call green.

The rainfall was so fierce that the ground was unevenly pitted and gouged.

What was truly fortunate was that even though these raindrops carried the unprecedented debuff of magic resistance, they didn’t render items completely useless.

Having lost our way due to the disappeared map, we had urgently taken shelter inside Calish’s Tent.

I don’t know how much we’re getting our money’s worth from something we bought in a hurry.

In the warm comfort that quickly made our rain-soaked bodies drowsy from the continuously pouring rain, Lee Taek-ju, who had been KO’d the whole time, gave a thumbs up.

“Brother, we would have frozen to death in the rain without this, right?”

From calling me brother despite meeting me for the first time to his affable smile, he’s quite a sociable person.

I smiled back without replying.

With only Kim Seol and Han Ro-mi who knew Lee Hae-won’s identity around, it would be one thing, but in front of this new person Lee Taek-ju, I was wearing my brother’s face for the first time in a while.

“You said you made the map too, right, brother? The map we received melted, so we’ll need a new map… Do you happen to have a spare?”

What Lee Taek-ju pointed to was what ‘used to be’ a map beside Kim Seol, now turned into some unrecognizable paper pulp.

‘What would these people have done without me, really.’

I really didn’t want to come, but Park Ji-woon had foresight.

…Though it was originally because I had done a sloppy reconnaissance.

I pretended not to feel guilty and opened my mouth nonchalantly.

“That’s fine since I can just draw it again. So, *cough*, *hack*, *cough*.”

But my attempt at nonchalance failed due to a sudden coughing fit.

Kim Seol frowned and looked at me, her eardrums terrorized by the suddenly echoing vigorous coughing sounds.

‘I’m bewildered too, you know.’

Just from being in the rain for 10 minutes, I’m already showing signs of a cold?

And people can get sick from being in the rain a bit!

Despite clearly building some rapport with me in Laocoön, she was giving me a cold stare as if that had never happened, making me feel inexplicably hurt.

“It would have been nice to know in advance that the rain has magic resistance.”

Even her muttering, as if for me to hear, was clearly criticism.

Unfortunately, I had no magic in my body so I had no idea.

Not particularly wanting to explain that, I ignored Kim Seol’s gaze and wrapped the blanket around myself more tightly.

“Shall I heal you…”

Han Ro-mi, who had been staring blankly up at the air, mumbled as if speaking to herself.

‘Who are you talking to?’

If Kim Seol’s unrelenting wariness toward me was concerning, this side was concerning because I couldn’t guess what she was thinking.

I pressed my stinging throat and tried to speak calmly.

“It’s fine. For now, while I draw the map, I’d like to hear about what the scenario is.”

I’m not a scenario solver, but I need to know the content to provide any kind of help.

‘Then I can say let’s call it even with the reconnaissance.’

Park Ji-woon would then overlook my hasty reconnaissance too.

I took out the detection writing instrument from my inventory.

[Creating a map of the area ‘Raquan’ will take a total of 26 minutes. Do you wish to proceed?]

26 minutes isn’t that long.

Though I had drawn this map before while setting up the tent, having an audience made me nervous for some reason.

As the fountain pen began moving on its own to draw the map of ‘Raquan’, I raised my head to look at the three people.

Lee Taek-ju, who stretched his neck long with interest focused on the unfamiliar item, and Han Ro-mi, still staring into space.

“…Sigh.”

And Kim Seol, who sighed while looking back and forth between the two.

Feeling that she was the only one who would answer, Kim Seol opened her mouth.

“The scenario name is ‘Do Not Wake’.”

[Main Scenario ‘Do Not Wake’ (Dimension-Raquan)

+

An ancient god sleeps in this dimension.

Though a benevolent god who looked down upon all places visible from high above, the humans below did not know gratitude.

The humans of Raquan resented the god for a long time, and eventually made the god withdraw its gaze.

The god put itself to sleep and refuses to wake up.

Nevertheless, someone is trying to wake the god.

+

Scenario Objective: Prevent the god from encountering continued resentment.]

I carefully read through the scenario content that Kim Seol had kindly written down.

Why do other dimensions like gods so much?

Is there no religious freedom to begin with?

“You don’t mean physically caressing it, right?”

“…Right?”

Kim Seol burst into a hollow laugh as if asking if I was joking.

Still, now she’s even bursting into hollow laughter instead of looking at me coldly—Kim Seol’s personality has mellowed a lot.

Prevent the god from encountering continued resentment.

‘Does it mean don’t wake it up?’

Then the point of this scenario is the part about ‘someone trying to wake it’.

When I came alone for reconnaissance before, I didn’t meet anyone.

Even though I have the Merchant’s Mark, so there should have been something nearby that I could trade with.

I skimmed through the scenario content once more while my hand busily drew the map.

Simply interpreted, it seems like it would end if we stop whoever is trying to wake the god and let the god continue sleeping.

But Babel wouldn’t demand such a simple approach.

The stories Babel puts on stage are stories where you can’t cleanly draw lines about which side is right and which side is wrong.

They even tend to meaningfully hide the actual substance of scenarios.

“Why did they resent the god?”

We need to doubt everything we can doubt.

“Maybe it was tormenting people?”

“But it’s specifically stated as a benevolent god who looked down upon all places. Scenarios may speak ambiguously but they don’t lie, right?”

“Hmm, then maybe the god caused trouble for people contrary to its intentions.”

Lee Taek-ju blinked and muttered.

Kim Seol, who had been quietly listening with her arms crossed, also joined the discussion.

“We’ll have to meet the locals to find out. Both the reason for resentment and the reason for trying to wake it.”

“Once the map is complete, we’ll know which direction people live in.”

“We’ll have to meet them and find out. How they feel about the god.”

“Oh, and we need to think about what ‘continued resentment’ means too.”

“True, we need to check whether it’s just words or means some ‘something’ that actually exists.”

…It’s surprisingly confusing how well Kim Seol and I communicate.

Kim Seol’s eyes had already sunk coldly.

It wasn’t wariness toward me, but the gaze of someone facing the present to solve the scenario.

This is probably Kim Seol’s true appearance as Haebbing’s guild leader and as rank 3.

Was she being wary earlier because she saw me after a long time?

Or is she being shy because I appeared with Lee Hae-on’s face instead of Lee Hae-won’s?

“Since we don’t know anything, we’ll have to directly confront everything to find out.”

Saying it like that makes it sound like I didn’t learn anything during reconnaissance…

‘I did manage to convey that there’s a tropical rainforest, rain, and a village.’

I grumbled inwardly and pouted.

Well, whatever.

For now, the important thing is the scenario that needs to be resolved by breaking through that torrential rain outside.

I muttered while looking at the village that was gradually taking shape in one corner of the map.

“What’s certain is that this dimension’s god is human-like.”

“Why?”

Behind Kim Seol who was waiting for an answer, Han Ro-mi, who had somehow regained her focus, was staring at me intently.

Looking at Han Ro-mi’s strange expression, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Because they fell asleep on their own so they wouldn’t have to hear resentment.”

* * *

The three heads looking down at the completed map didn’t move an inch.

Raquan itself isn’t a large dimension so there’s nothing much to see, yet what are they all staring at so intently?

Raquan is a place with a simple structure.

One thick line cutting through the middle of the map.

The line labeled ‘Parbho River’ was dividing all of Raquan in half.

First, where we are now is right south of the river.

The temple I discovered when I came to scout before was right south of the river, and it’s even not far from our current location.

Across the river, there were two settlements.

One was a village called ‘Gontawa’ situated along the riverbank, and the other was an unnamed village existing deep inland, quite far from the river.

However, the unnamed village on the inland side had an unclear outline.

“What’s this place?”

“That’s strange…”

Lee Taek-ju and Han Ro-mi expressed their opinions simultaneously.

It looks strange to me too.

The detection writing instrument doesn’t need ink, so why is only this place drawn so faintly?

Is it a hidden village, or is it drawn faintly because it’s ruins?

‘Anyway, I’ll have to go see for myself.’

Everything only becomes certain when you confirm it with your own eyes.

“Should we split up and move?”

“Yeah, we need to visit the temple and we need to go to Gontawa too.”

“I think it would work if we split into pairs, Guild Leader?”

“We should.”

“How should we split up? I was thinking I could go with hyung.”

Kim Seol and Lee Taek-ju’s conversation was instantly proceeding to picking sides.

I hurriedly waved my hands.

“Wait, I’d appreciate it if everyone could acknowledge that I’m not a scenario participant.”

“But you came with us…”

Han Ro-mi whispered half-audibly.

…She’s right, so I have nothing to say.

“Lee Taek-ju, you’re coming with me.”

“Why!”

“Why? I brought you because you and I have good compatibility.”

“Of all things, the optimal combination with the Guild Leader!”

Whatever kind of relationship he has with Kim Seol, the fearless Lee Taek-ju cried out despairingly.

Lee Taek-ju had the title ‘Son of the Earth’.

Even Guk Min-seong passing by would know he’s a mage who uses earth-attribute skills.

Since it’s a place with lots of rain and muddy ground, Kim Seol who uses ice-attribute magic and Lee Taek-ju who uses earth-attribute magic do have good compatibility.

“But the rain has magic resistance, so what are you going to do?”

“Ah, right. If we two go together, we’re just two mages who can’t use magic…”

Lee Taek-ju looked up at Kim Seol with a dazed face as if he’d been hit.

It would be meaningless even if Kim Seol created an ice ceiling overhead.

Even that is made with magic power, so it would all be negated by the rain.

Lee Taek-ju’s case is the same.

So this was a floor where you had to run around on your own feet without relying on magic power.

Unless you find another way to solve the rain problem.

And based on my experience so far, that method can probably be confirmed during scenario progression.

‘Until then, well… I’ll have to make do with my body.’

I took out the things I had bought earlier from my inventory and held them out to the two people.

“At least take these for now.”

Lee Taek-ju, who grabbed them with a smiling face, asked with a voice full of expectation.

“Oh, what’s this? It looks like a raincoat and umbrella? What kind of items are they?”

“They’re a raincoat and umbrella.”

“What’s the effect?”

“They’re just a raincoat and just an umbrella.”

“…”

Kim Seol stared at me as if asking if I was joking, but I was shameless.

Well, I can’t stop the rain either.

The only means to block the rain right now are the sturdy raincoat and umbrella procured from South Korea.

It was then that Lee Taek-ju, who was rustling around adjusting his outfit while wearing the raincoat, raised a question as if something was strange.

“But if we can’t use magic power anyway, wouldn’t it be fine for me to go with hyung?”

Wow, Lee Taek-ju.

You really hit the ‘core’ issue.

It’s a rational point since everyone’s magic power is blocked.

But I firmly shook my head.

“No, we’ll have to talk to strangers, so think carefully. It’s right to separate the two people with good social skills.”

“Who would that be?”

“Who do you think?”

I didn’t bother adding words and just rolled my eyes to look at the two hunters standing on either side.

Kim Seol who responds aggressively to any single word, and Han Ro-mi who doesn’t say anything and just blinks her eyes.

Lee Taek-ju, who had been looking back and forth between the two people, declared with resolute eyes.

“I’ll go with the Guild Leader.”

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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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