24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 224

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. 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 224

Episode 224. A Preview (1)

Park Ji-woon murmured in his characteristically flat tone as he methodically flipped through the documents I had handed him.
“The next floor is a desert, then.”
“That’s right. Ugh, sandstorms roll through regularly, and the heat is absolutely insane. It’s marked on the map, but there are no oases. And there’s this quicksand nightmare, you know? Once you step on it, you’re trapped right there. There’s no secret passage connected to it either—you just get buried alive in the sand.”
I had been chattering away enthusiastically before I abruptly fell silent.
Park Ji-woon had lifted his gaze from the documents and was staring at me intently.
‘How embarrassing.’
I hadn’t really been expecting a response, but I’d been so drained from the desert expedition that I’d wanted to vent my frustrations.
I gulped down the juice in front of me, trying not to show my embarrassment.
Why did this juice taste so good?
Park Ji-woon opened his mouth casually, as if he hadn’t been staring at me intently just moments before.
“It seems we’ll need to dispatch an Assault Team with a different composition than before.”
“Right. But you can’t just focus on the desert. If you look at the next page, there’s something suspected to be a boss monster there. I’ve been three times, and I encountered a different monster each time. A massive scorpion, a snake, and a skeleton. I haven’t actually fought any of them, so I’m not sure which one is the strongest.”
“Were there no sentient lifeforms capable of communication?”
“None. There were no villages either. There might be something underground, but it didn’t show up on the map.”
“Then we’ll need to factor combat capability into the Assault Team composition as well.”
Park Ji-woon nodded slowly and jotted something down on the documents.
“Oh, I found some heat-blocking items at the Market. Would you need any of those?”
“It would be better to first assemble the Assault Team and then decide through discussion.”
“Come on, I’ll give you the lowest price anyway. Just in case, I’ll stock them at Ba-man-jang. If you tell our staff they’re from Babel Nation, they can sell them right away.”
“….”
I flashed a shameless smile and raised my eyebrows.
Park Ji-woon stared at me without much reaction before turning his gaze back to the documents.
Inside the Meeting Room, only the rustling sound of papers turning slowly echoed.
In that moment, I suddenly realized something.
‘This doesn’t feel awkward anymore.’
A few months ago, I would have felt uncomfortable sitting alone while Park Ji-woon silently reviewed documents.
Somewhere along the way, this had become so familiar.
Walking into the Babel Management Bureau had become second nature.
Sitting across from Park Ji-woon to report expedition results, discussing strategy together, offering advice to high-ranking Hunters.
It was so different from before, when I used to shrink into myself and force my spine straight out of nervousness.
Well, it’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but I can say I’ve become confident now.
‘Lee Hae-won, you’ve grown so much.’
The girl who got fired from her Convenience Store job and was floundering has somehow blossomed into someone who now meets one-on-one with the head of the Hunter Management Office.
So much has changed—it’s only natural that I feel a strange sense of unreality.
Park Ji-woon finally lifted his gaze from the documents after a long moment, blinking briefly.
Aside from the imminent 77th Floor assault, he seemed to have only skimmed through the contents roughly.
Park Ji-woon organized the documents methodically before speaking.
“I thought you might be curious about the situation in other countries, so I’ll mention it preemptively. Germany and the Australia-New Zealand alliance have currently reached the 71st Floor, and other nations are reportedly entering the 70s soon.”
It was information I’d been wondering about anyway.
Since I spent most of my time at Babel Square, I knew almost nothing about the international situation.
Still, even though I was trading reconnaissance information I’d gathered through legwork, it felt frustrating not to know anything at all.
Park Ji-woon spent considerable time explaining the assault progress of other nations.
“…Aside from these three countries, all others have passed the 60s.”
“Oh, why those three countries?”
“They haven’t yet fulfilled the trade conditions their governments proposed as compensation.”
“…What did they demand?”
“That information is classified.”
Strict, really strict.
Still, from what I heard, there didn’t seem to be any country whose assault progress was so sluggish it would affect dimensional collapse.
Right, here I am trying to prevent Earth’s destruction.
In any case, visiting Park Ji-woon allowed me to share various information, which was satisfying.
It felt like getting compressed news I’d missed due to being busy, distilled down to the essentials.
After finishing a comprehensive briefing from assault progress to recent Sudden Gate issues, Park Ji-woon closed the documents and spoke.
“Do you have any further questions?”
This was Park Ji-woon’s standard closing line at every meeting.
I’d always answered no before.
Of course, today there was something I wanted to address.
“How is Seo Jae-hyuk doing lately?”
Specifically, the mental health of Seo Jae-hyuk—the one who could become the agent of dimensional collapse.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Whether there are any signs of corruption.”
“May I ask what criteria you’re using to say that?”
“Just things like his eyes losing focus, or showing interest in strange things. No one knows how Seo Jae-hyuk might fall. If he shows any behavior different from usual, that would seem like a risk factor.”
“So far, there’s nothing unusual.”
“Jang So-min isn’t ill, is she?”
“I heard she’s doing fine now.”
“Well, with Seo Jae-hyuk doting on her like that, she should be completely recovered.”
After even checking on Seo Jae-hyuk’s lover’s health with such care, Park Ji-woon placed another period on the conversation.
“Is there anything else you’d like to ask?”
At his composed question, I smiled wryly.
Of course, I had no intention of accepting that period.
‘He’s setting the stage for me, so there’s no need to hold back.’
I had one very important question remaining.
“How is Asmodeus doing?”
“….”
Park Ji-woon didn’t answer, simply staring at me with an unwavering gaze.
His eyes, which normally betrayed no emotion whatsoever, were now conveying something with unmistakable intensity.
Right now, he was saying how utterly absurd this was.
“No, really. I have a feeling I’ll need to ask Asmodeus about something soon.”
Everyone would probably suspect otherwise, but I absolutely wasn’t asking because I wanted to see Asmodeus.
Okay, maybe there was a tiny bit of ulterior motive mixed in!
But I was being completely pure about it—I genuinely had another purpose for asking about Asmodeus.
‘I need to ask about the final floor of the Tower of Babel.’
If Asmodeus had already climbed to the 100th Floor, he would surely know something more.
In truth, I wanted to ask right now, but the principles governing Babel weren’t that simple.
If I knew nothing about the 100th Floor, Asmodeus couldn’t answer me about anything.
So the point was that I needed to set foot on the 100th Floor and see something for myself before asking, so I could extract useful information without frustration.
Park Ji-woon, who had been watching me with suspicious eyes, finally let go of his doubts after I flailed my hands around about thirty times.
“I’m unable to meet right now. Would it be alright if I contacted you again soon?”
“Ah… I have somewhere I need to go. I’ll contact you again.”
Park Ji-woon nodded readily and rose from his seat.
Once I returned from the 100th Floor, I’d probably be able to hear directly from Asmodeus about a ‘success case’ that had escaped the threat of dimensional collapse.
I added out of an abundance of caution.
“I really do have a reason for wanting to meet.”
Park Ji-woon regarded me with eyes devoid of any trust, utterly expressionless.
…I shouldn’t have said that last part.
Just as I felt embarrassed and was draining my juice, Park Ji-woon opened his mouth.
“Ah, and we discovered an item during the Raquan investigation. The Investigation Team is currently examining it, but it appears to require separate appraisal, so we’re requesting your cooperation.”
“Of course that’s possible.”
“Will you go now?”
“I’ll stop by on my way.”
I’m really grateful that Park Ji-woon is someone who doesn’t make a big deal out of things.
It’s not awkward at all to just shift to work talk like that….
I pulled the hood of my Robe over my head and followed Park Ji-woon as he left the Meeting Room.
“Ah, and the residents of Raquan asked me to deliver gifts to the three members of the Assault Team and Lee Hae-won as a token of their gratitude.”
“What is it?”
“Wheat seeds.”
“Ah, wheat seeds….”
Since it was a gift, I should have been grateful, but an unenthusiastic response escaped me despite myself.
And understandably so—they were giving wheat seeds, not flour, to someone like me who had no talent, interest, or experience in farming.
Park Ji-woon added calmly, as if he’d anticipated this.
“They mentioned that if you plant the wheat seeds in land other than Raquan, they’ll bear strange fruit. Kim Seol apparently obtained fruit that restores stamina, and Han Ro-mi harvested fruit that clears the eyes.”
“Then what about Lee Taek-ju?”
“The wheat grew, they said.”
“….”
I found myself wanting to offer some consolation to Lee Taek-ju, who had received the blessing of earth and actually cultivated wheat grains into wheat.
Well, in any case, if it’s a gift like that, I’m curious enough to plant it and see what happens.
‘Where should I plant it?’
The truth was, Ba-man-jang, Babel Square, and Kindly Marketplace all lacked soil.
Since I had no idea what might grow, I couldn’t just plant it anywhere—ideally, I wanted somewhere with decent privacy.
And since it’s a plant, it probably needs sunlight too…?
I spent a long time deliberating while standing in the elevator.
Then, like a sudden divine revelation striking the crown of my head, a single location instantly ended my dilemma.
‘…I need to visit Ganasia.’
A small grave on the Ganaesia Continent.
That place where Remy sleeps gets plenty of sunlight.

* * *

“Remy, you’re truly the best….”
I embraced the grave and murmured in awe.
The grass, warmed to a pleasant warmth by the sunlight, tickled my cheek.
There was only one reason I was praising Remy right now.
The harvest was insane.
I had simply dug a little beside Remy’s grave, planted the wheat grains that Gontawa and his people had given me, and watered it slightly.
I thought wheat would grow, but some bizarre tree sprouted instead, and in an instant it bloomed and bore fruit.
The whole process took less than five minutes.
I had planned to eat a sandwich and warm my body leisurely while telling Remy various stories, but there was no time for that.
The moment I picked the fruit and attempted an Appraisal, I decided to praise Remy immediately.
“How is the effect ‘skin barrier improvement’?”
Is this fruit Korean-made?
Seeing a description like ‘skin barrier improvement’—which seemed to have K-beauty marketing written all over it—I decided I should list this fruit on the Open Market.
All sorts of items have various effects, but I’ve never seen one with such a unique effect before.
And there’s no harvest limit.
It means I can keep harvesting as long as I keep it planted here.
Then it’s bound to be a cash cow item even if I sell it on Earth.
But what made me happiest was for a different reason.
This fruit was the final item among the 1,000 types of goods for the Open Market that the Title Quest had demanded from me!
I had wanted to complete the Title Quest before heading to the 100th Floor anyway, so I could go with a clean conscience.
I grinned widely and registered the fruit on the Open Market.

[> New Notification
– Title Quest (9) has been completed.]

Finally.
“Finally!”
Remodeling, middle manager designation, registering 1,000 items.
After all this time, I fought and won.
I wondered when I’d ever finish all of this, but I actually pulled it off.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
I reflexively shouted upon seeing the notification window that Sam-i immediately displayed.
“Double blessings!”
As expected, Remy is the best.

[⁕ Your Dimensional Door Skill has risen to Level 4 🙂 Would you like to check it out?]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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