24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 239

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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 239

Episode 239. Records of Ruin (4)

‘First, let me assess the situation.’
Every matter demands a proper understanding of the circumstances before proceeding.
What I needed to grasp right now was how Park Ji-woon and Seo Jae-hyuk were currently positioned against each other, and where on earth Nam Pu-reum had disappeared to.
I couldn’t discern the upper floors from the middle of the street, so ascending was my only viable option—but….
“The timing is just… perfect.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, staring at the pale blue barrier enveloping the Baekdan Building amid the crowd.
Even a passing citizen would recognize that as a barrier.
The timing was almost mockingly convenient—in the brief moment I’d resolved to help Park Bo-bae, some nameless foreign Hunter had activated their ability.
The faintly luminous barrier stretched upward along the window frames still lined with glass shards, extending all the way to the rooftop in a sight that would have been spectacular under other circumstances.
‘…I need to get in there?’
This was decidedly unfavorable for me.
And that person appeared to be an S-rank specialized in defense, no less!
Given the circumstances, I could try contacting Park Ji-woon and Nam Pu-reum to confirm the situation.
But who would casually pull out their phone and leisurely check messages while facing off against Seo Jae-hyuk?
That person would be a spy.
Park Ji-woon, with whom I had transaction history, could receive Market messages directly—they’d appear right before his eyes—but….

[Director, how’s the situation upstairs?]
[Director Park Ji-woon, is it a situation we can suppress?]

I sent two messages in a row, but got nothing but silence in return.
It was an unusually long stretch of quiet—completely unlike Park Ji-woon, who normally responded to messages quickly.
So if I wanted to confirm the situation right now, I had no choice but to go up there myself.
“Unauthorized personnel cannot enter!”
That’s what the Hunter who had set up the barrier said.
The employees wearing Babel Management Bureau uniforms readily agreed and quickly began organizing the area around them.
They strictly controlled the people approaching the barrier and guided them to move far away from it.
I was the only one not agreeing.
Well, from other people’s perspective, it was a reasonably sound judgment.
No one knew what kind of clash might unfold inside a building that only S-rank Hunters had entered, so it made sense not to rush in recklessly.
And it wasn’t easy for foreign Hunters caught up in the chaos—especially with diplomatic issues at stake—to step forward.
Of course, if the opponent hadn’t been Seo Jae-hyuk, everyone would have stepped up, saying they’d owe South Korea a debt.
But the opponent was Seo Jae-hyuk, ranked first among Hunters, who had fallen and awakened to another level entirely.
I bit my lip and glanced toward Park Bo-bae.
His unwavering determination to go up hadn’t wavered yet—he was passionately explaining something to the Hunter who had set up the barrier.
…At least I had to get inside before Park Bo-bae received permission.
‘If Park Bo-bae goes first, the meaning of my offer to help him will disappear.’
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t see any way for me to break through a barrier set by an S-rank Hunter.
‘How am I supposed to get in there?’
It was right then, as I questioned myself, searching for an answer to make the impossible possible.

[⁕ You are able to enter, Administrator :)]

“Huh?”
I couldn’t even speak properly, too bewildered.
Because the answer came from none other than Sam-i.
‘I… I have that kind of ability too?’
An ability to ignore other people’s barriers and just pass through…?
I was so flustered by this overpowered development I’d never even considered that I was left dazed.

[⁕ It’s impossible inside the Tower 🙂 But outside the Tower, it’s possible!]
[⁕ Outside the Tower, barriers are created by simulating the Tower’s internal environment 🙂 Therefore, the interior of the barrier is classified as a ‘Tower interior’ where Merchant’s Mark functions normally, so you can enter the barrier without permission, Administrator :)]

…So the inside is classified as if it were an unopened Tower interior, and as a merchant, I can freely enter?
I let out a hollow laugh.
Well, I would’ve only known if I’d actually tried entering a barrier outside the Tower!
So maybe I don’t even die in there?
In that moment, overwhelmed by the fact that my one life had been multiplied into several copies again.

[⁕ That’s not it :)]

Ugh, why!

[⁕ To be precise, I cannot confirm 🙂 The environment has been created to ‘resemble’ the interior of the Tower, but since it is not fundamentally the interior of the Tower itself, whether all the functions possessed by Merchant’s Mark can be used remains uncertain :)]

“Tsk.”
This is a bit much.
I can enter, but I can’t guarantee that invulnerability will be maintained—it’s an incredibly ambiguous situation.
Usually in cases like this, there’s a high probability that invulnerability won’t hold.
I nodded along as if listening to a warning, my gaze fixed on Park Bo-bae, who was receiving healing with a serious expression.
It seemed everyone around him had failed to break his resolve.
‘Let’s go first.’
I hurried toward the back of the building.
The Shadow Knights’ Robe was only B-rank, so any conspicuous action would immediately expose me.
I stopped walking only after reaching a place with fewer people.
Taking a deep breath, I carefully extended my finger toward the barrier.
“Oh.”
My hand passed through the barrier naturally, encountering no resistance whatsoever.
I stepped across the barrier without hesitation.
It may not be invulnerability, but I have Kei’nem’s watch, and if things go south, I can always use Phathala’s Call to escape to Babel Square.
‘Let me try to clean up this mess.’
First, that over there…
“Damn, seriously.”
After climbing the stairs a bit.

* * *

“Gasp.”
I exhaled while looking at the sign indicating the 15th Floor.
Somehow, I felt more breathless than usual.
It wasn’t an illusion—it was real.
The air inside the barrier was subtly different from outside.
It felt cool and dense, heavy in a way that was difficult to describe.
If someone like me, who couldn’t even sense mana, could feel such a difference, it had to be enormous—yet I’d never noticed it because I’d spent all my time living inside the Tower.
Fearing I’d collapse from asphyxiation before even meeting Park Ji-woon, I leaned against the railing and steadied my breathing.
Besides, I couldn’t contact Park Ji-woon anyway in this state.
‘Nam Pu-reum must be somewhere around here.’
Since I’d never conducted a market transaction with Nam Pu-reum, I couldn’t send a message through that channel.
Sending a text message also seemed ridiculous.
But I wasn’t limited to just those two methods!
I frantically rummaged through my Inventory.
“Find Nam Pu-reum for me.”
The Eye of the Discoverer, of course.
It wasn’t even a particularly high-grade item, yet lately it had been earning its keep.
The only issue was that it couldn’t adjust its volume, but if I knew Nam Pu-reum at all, they’d handle it just fine.
…Right?
The eye blinked a couple of times before suddenly zooming upward through the floors.
I didn’t hesitate and hurried after it.
Ah, I should have waited until I caught my breath before asking it to find Nam Pu-reum.
I regretted it belatedly as my breath came in gasps, but the Eye of the Discoverer had no function to read its master’s mind.
18th Floor, 21st Floor, 24th Floor.

Thud—

The moment I passed the 24th Floor stairwell, a dull, thunderous boom echoed from above.
The impact was substantial enough that the entire building seemed to shudder, and dust began trickling down from the ceiling.
My heart seized in alarm.
If I were an ordinary civilian, I might have fled, hidden, or shown panic.
‘But I have no choice—I can’t!’
There was no time for hesitation; I had to ascend quickly.
In that instant, the shrill cry of the Eye of the Discoverer rang out from one floor above.
Thank heavens it wasn’t far!
I bolted up to the 25th Floor in a single bound.
I arrived, struggling to suppress my ragged breathing, only to find that all the walls separating the corridor from the rooms had been obliterated, leaving everything wide open.
A vast, empty expanse that resembled a grand hall with a low ceiling.
In one corner, the Eye of the Discoverer was asserting its presence.
Sunlight streamed through the shattered windows—an otherwise ordinary scene.
‘…But there’s nothing here?’
The fact that Nam Pu-reum was invisible remained a mystery, though the reliable Eye of the Discoverer wouldn’t have deceived me.
They had said that when something is in concealment, it normally can’t be found.
‘Is it invisible only to people?’
Well, there was no time to unravel such questions.
I hesitated about where to direct my gaze, then simply muttered toward an arbitrary spot.
“Nam Pu-reum.”
Two seconds of silence.
Then the air beside the ceiling light, which had been empty, rippled like water.
Nam Pu-reum emerged from concealment, blinking slowly.
Her small, angular face displayed both bewilderment and exasperation simultaneously.
“What is this?”
She was pointing at the Eye of the Discoverer.
I casually ignored the question and gestured for Nam Pu-reum to come down.
With a sullen expression, she grumbled under her breath but descended lightly without making a sound.
“What’s the situation like upstairs right now?”
Going up myself would be far too dangerous, so asking her was the safest approach.
Nam Pu-reum stared at me for a moment, then blinked.
From the way she scrunched her nose, reluctant to answer, I could tell this was no simple challenge.
“Is it very serious?”
When I gently stroked the crown of her head, Nam Pu-reum’s sharp expression softened in an oddly peculiar way.
‘…Is she really not a cat?’
Wasn’t this practically a wartime situation….
Nam Pu-reum, appearing satisfied and even offering a faint smile, replied flatly.
“Park Ji-woon is holding the line.”
“How?”
“Illusions.”
I had doubted how Park Ji-woon, who rarely fought, could even hold his own in combat—but surprisingly, he seemed to be enduring quite well.
“But Seo Jae-hyuk is breaking through the illusions too quickly.”
Apparently not.
Nam Pu-reum’s brow, which usually concealed his emotions so well, was visibly furrowed.
Nam Pu-reum let out a short cough before continuing.
“Park Ji-woon has his limits too.”
So Park Ji-woon was continuously creating illusions to counter while Seo Jae-hyuk was rapidly dispelling them—essentially an exchange, then?
“Then what’s all this noise?”
“Seo Jae-hyuk is destroying the illusions.”
…So that’s why it’s so loud right now.
I looked at Nam Pu-reum, whose face was full of questions as if asking why I had come, and asked him instead.
But wait.
“Why are you even here?”
Isn’t an assassin supposed to stay close to their target?
Nam Pu-reum rolled his eyes upward.
“Drawing aggro….”
“…Ah, drawing aggro?”
“Timing the strike.”
Given an assassin’s nature, an ambush was better than a frontal assault, and with Seo Jae-hyuk’s attention focused on Park Ji-woon right now, it might be a decent choice.
But.
‘Can Nam Pu-reum really ambush Seo Jae-hyuk when even Park Ji-woon can’t beat him?’
I imagined it briefly, but I was deeply skeptical.
He wouldn’t exit as pathetically as Park Bo-bae, who had been hurled to the ground, but Nam Pu-reum, who already looked quite exhausted, didn’t seem like he could pull off a successful ambush.
To land a decisive blow on Seo Jae-hyuk, something more was needed.
An overwhelmingly powerful attack—something anyone could see was strong….
At that moment, a name came to mind.
“…Asmodeus.”
That being who cherished Park Ji-woon, who was steadfastly holding on right now.
She had climbed through that hellish Tower and proven her strength.
I quickly opened the message window.

[What if we had Asmodeus attack?]

Only an irregular existence could suppress the now-strengthened Seo Jae-hyuk.
I waited for a reply, trying to suppress my impatience.
Well, even if no reply came, I could just go ask in person.
‘I haven’t gotten replies until now, so getting one this late is a bit…’
Then, an unexpectedly swift reply arrived.

[> New Message
– That’s impossible. | Park Ji-woon, Director (Dimension-Earth)]

“Damn it, why!”
But it wasn’t the answer I’d been waiting for.

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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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