24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 28

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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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Dimensional Item Specialty 24-Hour Friendly Market Episode 28

Episode 28. Friendly Appraisal (1)

Do you know that when people get too nervous, they develop habits they never had before?

“Why are you shaking your leg like that?”

I didn’t want to know.

“I’m anxious.”

“Hmm, this place seemed peaceful. What exactly are you so afraid of?”

“A civil servant.”

“What’s a civil servant?”

I raised my head to look at the questioner.

A middle-aged man with a semi-bandit visual, having cleanly shaved his bushy beard and tied his long hair back, was looking at me with pity.

“It exists, something like our country’s knight commander.”

“Hmm, then you must be involved in some trouble. It’s not easy for a knight commander and an ordinary merchant to get entangled.”

‘That’s what I’m saying.’

I just wanted to do some PR because of my title, but was that so offensive, South Korea?

Even while cursing, I couldn’t leave South Korea, but today I really wanted to leave.

“Is that knight commander strong?”

“Strong, very much so. If he pressed down with his finger, I might become flat like a piece of paper.”

I let out a deep sigh, recalling the gaunt face of Park Ji-woon, the 3rd-ranked hunter.

Unlike other S-rank hunters who all formed guilds and filled their own pockets, he was someone who took the radical step of voluntarily working as a government civil servant.

His past was completely unknown, so no one knew what he did before Awakening.

His battle records in scenarios or Sudden Gates weren’t disclosed either, so no one knew how he fought – South Korea’s hidden master.

But since top-ranked guilds never went against the Babel Management Bureau’s decisions, that alone proved Park Ji-woon’s abilities.

Such a person had ‘personally’ sent me a summons, and I had been ignoring it for over a week.

‘And I’m still ignoring it even now.’

I couldn’t go because I was scared.

I had absolutely no intention of getting involved with an S-rank hunter!

I want to live thin and long, not thin and short.

“Don’t worry. I can protect you.”

The knight commander of a ruined country boldly declared he would protect me from such a person.

Unable to crush such kindness, I raised my head and smiled.

“Thank you, Alessandro.”

Alessandro lightly patted my shoulder as if telling me not to worry.

This middle-aged man who seemed three times bigger than me was the person I had designated as the middle manager of the 2nd branch.

He was Alessandro Hale, the knight commander of the Falcon Kingdom, which had been the stage for the 49th Floor.

Alessandro looked neat, unlike our first meeting.

After receiving the comfortable bed I had prepared and quality meals, his health was slowly recovering too.

As for the question of how I brought someone who wasn’t even from our dimension here… I could only say that the capable AI Sam-i found a strategy for me.

Anyway, unlike Kang Yeon-hee who had lived humanely in Korean society, Alessandro had watched his country fall and lived as a drifter in dimensional rifts, so he immediately accepted my proposal to give him a place to settle.

He even said he would work by dedicating his life first.

Of course, I didn’t ask for his life.

‘What would I do with someone’s life anyway.’

He probably thought that way after seeing his own house that I had prepared as middle manager welfare, thinking he could really end his drifting life.

Then Alessandro hung his head and muttered weakly.

‘Someone like me, who stands on the corpses of countless others, doesn’t deserve to stay in such a warm place.’

With a miserable expression, Alessandro quietly shed tears.

Alessandro, who had lost everything and was left alone, probably didn’t even have time to cry.

Alessandro, who wanted to end his life but had no one to remember his homeland, so he endured all that time with his exhausted body.

As someone who usually doesn’t get swept up in others’ emotions, I couldn’t guess what emotions Alessandro was crying with.

I just silently offered clumsy comfort and stepped back.

‘What did I say back then.’

[⁕ You answered: ‘If Alessandro’s friends or family are watching from heaven, they’d be happy. Originally, friends and family are glad when you do well. Here, it’s south-facing with a wide view.’ :)]

…Huh, how did Alessandro hold back from hitting me?

Bewildered, I turned my head to look at Alessandro again.

“Do you have something to say?”

“No. Should we continue working?”

I shook my head and turned my gaze back to the numerous documents in front of me.

Alessandro, who had been staring at me intently, also didn’t add any more words and started shuffling through documents again.

“This shop looks decent too.”

“Hmm… It’s a weapon specialty store. But there are many weapon specialty stores. Here, there are already 12 of them.”

I compared all 13 sheets including the document I just received, then pulled out one and held it out.

“Weapons for long-term use are often traded on other platforms. What people want to get from places like this are often consumables, so a business like this one that handles a lot of bullets, arrows, and bombs would be good.”

“That makes sense too.”

Alessandro quietly agreed.

I pushed the approved application to one side and buried my head in the remaining documents again.

It had been 3 days since the 50th Floor opened, and this was the second day of reviewing applications for the 50th Floor, but I still hadn’t finished deciding.

Only 13 businesses had received approval stamps, meaning there was still a lot of work left to do.

This was all because nearly a thousand application documents had come in.

‘I need to do this to complete the side quest.’

Who knew everyone would be so interested in our building.

‘How honored I am.’

Just as I unconsciously opened my mouth wide to yawn, Alessandro said in a caring voice.

“If you’re tired, go get some sleep. I’ll do the basic sorting.”

This person sometimes treats me like a young nephew even though he knows I’m his superior.

But.

“Should I do that?”

Lee Hae-won is an opportunist who doesn’t miss chances like this.

I put down the documents and stood up abruptly.

Maybe because I couldn’t sleep and was buried in documents all day, I was tired enough to faint at any moment.

That’s when it happened.

My vision turned bright white, so I squeezed my eyes shut.

Our Sam-i had definitely brought new work without caring about the administrator’s fatigue.

But I couldn’t keep my eyes closed forever, so I opened them with the feeling of crawling into hell.

“Huh?”

I was a little surprised.

[> ‘Friendly Appraisal’ Inquiry 1 case

– ‘Weapon (Unknown)’ Appraisal Request Ι Client: White Sword (Region-South Korea)]

For the first time since the 50th Floor opened, an inquiry had come to the appraisal business.

* * *

‘Friendly Appraisal’.

The appraisal business I opened on Floor 1.

For reference, the repair business is also called ‘Friendly Repair’.

It’s obviously just rotating debt, but what can I do about my terrible naming sense?

Giving up my honey-sweet afternoon nap, I headed to Floor 1 properly wrapped in my robe, mask, and Anonymity skill.

“There really are a lot of people.”

Three days since the 50th Floor opened, this place had already emerged as a new hot spot following Ba-man-jang.

Unlike what Chae Geun-dam mentioned, everyone seemed curious about the towering building and was busy looking around the businesses on Floor 1.

‘Should I call this the Babel Square branch?’

Anyway, even though it was a business the system made me create, I was still somewhat nervous since the first inquiry had come in.

This was the first time I’d properly appraise someone else’s weapon since Chae Geun-dam’s weapon.

Moreover, Chae Geun-dam’s weapon was S-rank so I spent a ton of Gold appraising it, but I couldn’t ask for money in that solemn atmosphere, so that doesn’t count.

This would truly be my first official appraisal.

[⁕ You’ve already appraised the ‘Fifth Shadow’s Veil’ and ‘Gab’s Horn Statue’, so this would be your fourth appraisal :)]

“Ugh.”

Please, tactless AI, just keep your mouth shut.

Following the secret passage I’d built separately on Floor 1, I opened the back door of ‘Friendly Appraisal’.

I’d set up the repair and appraisal businesses so that when someone made an inquiry at the entrance, I could immediately go down and meet them.

‘So that person must be my first customer.’

Seeing the figure hovering around the closed shop, I finally felt a sense of reality.

‘I have no idea what kind of customer this will be.’

With Chae Geun-dam, I wasn’t scared because I knew his public image.

But there was no immediate way to know what kind of customer had come.

‘Sam-i, they can’t harm me in any way inside here, right?’

[⁕ That’s correct 🙂 On the 3rd floor of this building, and in ‘Friendly Repair’, ‘Friendly Appraisal’, and the ‘Information Desk’, no approach of any kind is tolerated.]

If you’re going that far to reassure me, I guess I can go meet my first customer with peace of mind.

I took a light deep breath and opened the door.

“Welcome, are you ‘White Sword’ who just made an inquiry?”

The person who quickly turned their head was wearing a pure white robe pulled deep over their face, making it impossible to guess their gender or age.

The only information I could gather was their tall height, which seemed to easily exceed 175 centimeters.

Since there were so many people curious about my market, I was starting to feel suspicious about whether they might be targeting me, when—

“Ah, yes yes. Are you the owner?”

They replied in a gentle female voice with quite a kind tone.

My philosophy is that people who are nice to strangers, especially employees, are good people.

I responded in an equally kind tone, pointing toward the inside of the shop.

“Please come in.”

What I’d prepared inside was just a table and two chairs where we could sit facing each other.

After gloriously losing the 5-day design war, I’d given up on interior decorating for the repair and appraisal businesses.

White Sword seemed a bit flustered by the interior that wasn’t just lacking in extras but was downright bleak, looking around and letting out an awkward laugh.

Even shameless me was starting to feel embarrassed.

‘But having just what you need is enough.’

Customer chair, my chair, table to put weapons on, and me, the appraiser.

I equipped my shamelessness again and asked nonchalantly like a merchant.

“You came for weapon appraisal? You didn’t write the weapon type in your inquiry.”

“Ah, since you’ll see it directly. But what’s different about this place compared to other appraisal businesses?”

I flinched involuntarily at the question that strayed from the main topic.

‘This person’s purpose for coming here isn’t just appraisal, is it?’

Seeing them blatantly ask about the shop, I had a faint suspicion they might know something.

From asking about differences with other appraisal businesses, it seems Chae Geun-dam hasn’t been blabbing about it outside.

Actually, our country has quite a few various appraisal businesses.

But this place is like a magic shop that finds hidden abilities in weapons that even their owners don’t know about.

Since this would be a question I’d keep hearing while running Friendly Repair and Appraisal, I tried to suppress my suspicions and answered.

“Besides basic rank and description, we appraise hidden abilities here.”

“Really?”

What I felt in the voice mixed with laughter was closer to interest than expectation.

“Shall we take a look at your weapon?”

“Here it is. Ah, but is it possible there might be no hidden ability?”

‘That voice sounds strangely familiar somehow.’

I ignored my intuition setting off warning bells again and nodded.

“That’s possible.”

The woman placed something wrapped in cloth on the table.

From the dull sound it made, it seemed to be a fairly heavy weapon.

I tried to think nothing of it and unwrapped the cloth around the weapon.

Soon a mace with a pale golden handle and white orb attached revealed itself.

The light gently emanating from it was the same golden color as the handle.

Except for the white cloth tied in a knot at the bottom of the grip, probably for better grip, it looked like an extremely expensive weapon.

‘This weapon looks strangely familiar somehow…?’

It can’t be.

I pushed my anxiety far away and slowly placed my hand over the handle.

But as soon as I confirmed the weapon’s name through appraisal, I froze solid.

[‘Judge of Holy Light’ (S)]

An S-rank weapon worth hundreds of billions that an ordinary person could never possess was in front of me.

And I knew very well who the owner of this weapon was.

‘It’s Lee Hwa-yeon.’

Lee Hwa-yeon, leader of ‘Baekdan’, the 2nd ranked guild.

“Does my weapon have a hidden ability too?”

Whether she knew my feelings or not, Lee Hwa-yeon asked in a sly tone.

I swallowed my burning anger.

‘That bastard Chae Geun-dam told her.’

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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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