24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 235

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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 235

Episode 235. Semi-Annihilation (2)

“So, right now….”
I opened my mouth, then clamped it shut.
Whatever I said would only lead to horrific scenarios, and I had no desire to voice them….
Even if I wanted to assume only a hopeful and beautiful future, in moments like this, I could only contemplate the worst-case scenario.
I wished I could simply deny reality.
Our dimension’s strongest had already turned into the ultimate villain, denying reality itself—I couldn’t afford to do the same.
Kang Yeon-hee sighed deeply as she watched me struggle to speak, my mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
“The entire world now knows about dimensional annihilation.”
“This is seriously messed up.”
“That’s an apt description.”
Alessandro nodded in agreement, his tone measured.
Though measured agreement hardly made the situation any less dire.
My expression must have been grave enough that Kang Yeon-hee glanced at me and flinched.
“I heard that Seo Jae-hyuk was distorting reality, so at first I thought he was just spouting nonsense. But right after he held that press conference, Park Ji-woon came to find me.”
“…Why?”
“For the same reason. Asking when she’d come back. But given the circumstances, the fact that Park Ji-woon came looking for me made it clear that Seo Jae-hyuk’s claims weren’t just empty talk.”
“….”
“And seeing your reaction now, I understand. It seems like it’s true….”
Kang Yeon-hee murmured in a voice tinged with despair.
I couldn’t bring myself to offer any excuse, so I simply turned my head away in silence.
I understood that Park Ji-woon had been desperately searching for me, but how urgent must things have been for him to come immediately after Seo Jae-hyuk’s declaration?
‘That guy usually thinks things through deeply before acting.’
Even if Kang Yeon-hee had her naive moments, a hint that obvious would naturally make anyone recognize the gravity of the situation.
“So what’s the situation outside right now?”
“It’s chaos.”
“Chaos indeed.”
Alessandro nodded as if it were obvious.
“Alessandro, have you been outside?”
“Hm? No, I haven’t ventured out. But I’ve stationed myself at Babel Square and heard plenty from what I’ve witnessed and learned. The situation is far more severe than you’re imagining.”
My assumption was that Seo Jae-hyuk had awakened as a ruthless killer and was slaughtering indiscriminately everywhere, but he’s saying it’s worse than that…?
Rather than ask, I fixed Kang Yeon-hee with a look demanding explanation.
“At the press conference, Seo Jae-hyuk made that bombshell announcement and declared that he would control everything. That he would control every nation possessing the Tower of Babel and prevent annihilation….”
“Is he insane?”
He’s certainly insane right now, so calling him insane here isn’t wrong.
Yet it’s deeply ironic that the very cause of destruction could prevent destruction itself.
Seo Jae-hyuk doesn’t even have the authority to enter other nations’ Towers.
He’s not planning to take his own life either, so something was clearly being viewed through a distorted lens.
“Of course, I—no, rather, all our country’s top Hunters thought the same way. But it seems other nations had different ideas.”
“….”
“You probably already knew this, but our country provided a lot of information to help other nations climb their Babel Towers, right?”
Yeah, that was me….
Without me even confirming it, Kang Yeon-hee continued as if she already knew everything, swallowing a sigh.
“So when Seo Jae-hyuk said he’d take control, nations started supporting him. Especially the smaller countries that couldn’t climb their Towers quickly.”
“…Seo Jae-hyuk is ranked first, so his words carried more weight.”
“Exactly. Of course, more nations rejected it. You know how it is—countries are competing through their Babel Towers. No matter how much help was offered, they couldn’t stomach appearing subordinate to our nation. They said Seo Jae-hyuk was talking nonsense.”
“At least there are places thinking rationally.”
“But there’s more to the problem.”
“…Again?”
The more I heard, the more hopeless everything felt, and Kang Yeon-hee still hadn’t finished.
When I asked back with a troubled expression, Kang Yeon-hee nodded firmly.
“Seo Jae-hyuk is issuing warnings to the nations that refused him. By attacking each nation’s Babel Management Bureau buildings.”
“He destroyed the buildings?”
“Yes, he did. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but…all the major Management Bureau buildings worldwide have been attacked.”
“How badly were they attacked?”
Please, let it have been just moderate damage.
I asked urgently, clinging to false hope, and Kang Yeon-hee answered with a bitter expression.
“…Some buildings have been reduced to dust.”
My vision grew darker and darker.
This is a problem no matter how we resolve this crisis. Can we even restore relations between South Korea and other nations?
It felt so hopeless that I thought it might be better to just let everything collapse and start anew.
“Should I be grateful he didn’t kill anyone? I don’t know….”
I let out a deep sigh and muttered.
It was Alessandro who responded to me this time.
“That’s not it. He’s not killing people—he’s killing society itself.”
I blinked.
I wasn’t startled by Alessandro’s solemn tone as he uttered words that seemed pulled from a modern history textbook.
I was startled because the situation was actually happening, making it feel surreal.
Like a war.
“So what are other nations doing right now?”
“Resource hoarding started long ago. Some nations are even sealing off their Towers, wondering if Seo Jae-hyuk’s instability might be caused by the Tower itself.”
It was adding insult to injury.
Tower sealing orders in a world where even a single Tower on Earth would collapse if it exceeded a one-year grace period.
“What about the situation outside our country? What about ordinary citizens?”
“The government is trying to manage it, but….”
Kang Yeon-hee’s words trailed off.
There’s no way this could be resolved—not when the masses’ Legato is causing such chaos right now.
“What about the streets?”
“The crowds have thinned. It’s the same as other countries. Most importantly, the Hunters are losing faith.”
“….”
The more I heard, the more it felt like we’d fallen into a dystopia.
So to summarize… Seo Jae-hyuk announced the dimensional apocalypse and declared that everyone should come under his command to prevent it.
Some nations agreed, others refused, and those who refused faced retaliation.
So people steeped in anxiety trembled with fear….
‘Is this really happening?’
No, this wouldn’t have occurred if so much time hadn’t passed on the 100th Floor.
I could only curse the Tower’s time flow and the structure of the 100th Floor.
In the end, I even found myself resenting Brother for leaving clues on the 100th Floor of all places.
Then Kang Yeon-hee spoke up.
“When this first happened, I thought he was just going berserk. But it’s not berserk, unnie.”
Her voice had grown somewhat calmer.
“It seems like Seo Jae-hyuk believes everything he’s doing right now is the correct choice.”
Though the content was anything but calm.
I forced my mind, which kept trying to deny reality, to cool down and organize my thoughts.
From our perspective, Seo Jae-hyuk is simply mad, but from his perspective, he isn’t.
He believes he’s lost everything, so he thinks everything he sees is a lie.
Before things spiral into an even worse catastrophe, he’s trying to reorganize the world according to what he believes is right.
His actions don’t make sense, but his methods of handling things are still Seo Jae-hyuk, and his calculations are still Seo Jae-hyuk.
The only thing that’s changed is how Seo Jae-hyuk perceives the world.
‘That’s the most troublesome part.’
You can’t make someone who started thinking from a false premise understand the correct conclusion.
I wish there was a simple ending where one punch would snap him back to his senses.
But he’s absolutely not the type to take that punch….
“So unnie, let’s go out and talk to people.”
“Who?”
“Park Ji-woon and the Guild Masters.”
I agreed with Kang Yeon-hee’s suggestion and moved forward.
Toward the Warp Gate that Alessandro had just carried me out through.
‘Given the situation, they’re definitely gathered in one place.’
I’m not sure what I can do or how to do it, but one of my roles was already determined.
I steeled my resolve, recalling the Records of Observation on Ruin that I’d carefully stored in my Inventory.
‘There’s definitely a dimension that prevented the apocalypse.’
Now that the apocalypse everyone feared so much was right at our doorstep.
Everyone would think there’s nothing they can do, so I’m the only person who could offer them any hope at all.
“Unnie, you’ll be okay, right?”
Just before stepping into the Warp Gate, Kang Yeon-hee asked in a hushed voice.
I started to give a realistic answer, then hesitated.
“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”
This might turn out to be a white lie.
But in this situation, I felt I had to give an answer like that.
‘Everything’s fallen apart—can we even salvage this?’
Even if I wasn’t someone known for being optimistic.

* * *

The moment I stepped out of the Warp Gate, what came into view was the imposing structure of the Babel Management Bureau.
Though I didn’t venture outside the Tower often, I always felt the weight of governmental authority whenever I saw the Babel Management Bureau building.
The countless people passing before it, and the Hunters heading straight into the Tower.
I had always been accustomed to crowded streets bustling with activity.
But then.
“…Huh?”
I doubted what I was seeing before me and squeezed my eyes shut.
When I opened them again, the landscape before my eyes hadn’t changed. It was still shocking.
I had braced myself, knowing from what Kang Yeon-hee had told me that it wouldn’t be easy.
An eerie atmosphere with not a single person around—I could accept that much.
But that wasn’t the problem.
The grand Babel Management Bureau building had been split cleanly in half.
“What?”
Am I misunderstanding something right now?
How could a building be cut so neatly in half, and it’s not even stone.
But it was real.
The severed rebar inside the cut surface was exposed bare.
The upper half of the building was tilted slightly, and debris scattered everywhere around it.
Someone had apparently tried to support the building from collapsing on both sides—a thick, sky-blue rope-like structure held the two halves of the building together, though it looked precarious nonetheless.
In other words, the very center of this massive building had been split in two, completely severed.
I’d been shocked many times today, but this time I was truly stunned.
“Right now, this, this is….”
I couldn’t finish my words and stood with my mouth agape.
As if she’d expected my shock, Kang Yeon-hee answered in a calm tone.
“That’s right. The first Management Bureau that Seo Jae-hyuk attacked was ours.”
Seo Jae-hyuk, this insane bastard….

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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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