24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 3

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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 3

Episode 3. Supernatural Survival Methods (2)

“Now, once you enter, you’ll each be placed in a Mini Dungeon. If you take a certain amount of damage, you’ll automatically warp to the Safety Zone, so don’t worry. Different dungeons are generated based on your title, so don’t be scared if you don’t have offensive skills.”

Standing in the Tutorial Floor entry queue that forms every weekday at 9 AM, I nodded.

Will I also go to a different dungeon instead of a regular one?

‘Maybe I won’t get RIP’d by monsters after all.’

I guess I cursed Babel for nothing.

Anyway, I have exactly four skills.

‘Dimensional Door’, ‘Item Appraisal’, ‘Repair’, ‘Merchant’s Mark’.

I could tell what Item Appraisal and Repair were without looking at the descriptions, but I was curious about what the other two skills did and tried to check them.

[Can be confirmed after unlocking the Open Market Administrator Manual.]

I still couldn’t check them.

All these countless Awakened here would be able to use their skills right after awakening.

But I’m just an ordinary person who can’t do anything.

I’m even a supernatural without any stats.

‘Is this really okay?’

I was worrying and frowning, thinking about what I’d do if I just kept spinning around the Safety Zone.

“Now entering!”

With a loud shout, the people standing in line began moving one by one.

A bright blue vortex that had somehow approached right before my eyes.

Similar to a Gate, but the entrance to the Tutorial Floor of the Tower of Babel, said to be one of the safest places.

The staff member who checked my E-Rank Hunter License that I hastily obtained from the Babel Management Bureau yesterday gestured.

“Next, Lee Hae-won, please enter.”

Looking at the face that smiled lightly as if telling me not to worry, I swallowed dryly.

The moment I stepped into the portal, my vision brightened and slight dizziness washed over me.

And when I opened my eyes again.

[You have entered the Tutorial Floor.]

A blue window appeared before my eyes.

Behind it, an endlessly vast space spread out.

But something was strange.

“What is this?”

I turned my head this way and that, looking around.

“…Why is there nothing here?”

It was an empty space.

A really completely empty space!

The streets neatly finished with brick had roads and sidewalks separated, but they just stretched endlessly with no buildings whatsoever.

It looked like a planned city where not a single building had been constructed.

That’s when it happened.

Ding!

[You have a new notification. Would you like to check it?]

[Awakened Lee Hae-won – Open Market Manager(EX)

> New Notification

– Title Job Quest (1) has been completed.

– Open Market Manager exclusive tutorial Quest has arrived.

– You can check the Open Market Administrator Manual (v1.8).

– A new market guide has been assigned. You can summon the guide by shouting ‘Help’.]

Finally!

As expected of an EX-rank title, there’s even an exclusive tutorial Quest, the treatment is different.

‘Should I check the manual first?’

Since I couldn’t unlock this and couldn’t even check my skills.

“Check manual!”

I shouted loudly with a triumphant smile.

However.

“What the.”

Nothing happened.

I was still just standing dumbfounded in the vast space with the new notification window floating there.

I stared quietly at the window and muttered with an uncertain expression.

“…Help?”

Ding!

[Please set a nickname for your guide.]

A notification window that triggered my PTSD arrived.

“…”

Fool me twice, shame on me, but I won’t be fooled a third time.

I couldn’t be toyed with three times by the Tower of Babel’s system that had screwed me over twice already.

I stared at the window intently without even making a sound.

‘Samwise Gamgee… would be too long, right?’

Even if it’s a bit long, the strongest guide I know is still that short hobbit.

Following the original name, even if I’m not Frodo, it feels like he would lead me well.

A name that seems like it would guide me very well without giving in to any hardships or adversity.

But I couldn’t speak rashly, because if I said this and it said ‘only up to two characters’ could be registered, my guide would become ‘Sam-wa’.

I don’t want that.

‘Let’s just say Sam-i.’

Rather than calling him ‘Sam-wa’, it’s better to call him ‘Sam’.

“I’ll call him ‘Sam’.”

There was no mistake.

[Guide nicknames can be registered up to two characters maximum.]

[…Checking if there are duplicate names on the server…]

[Guide ‘Sam-i’ has been registered on the Babel server.]

If only Babel hadn’t cheated again.

“Are you crazy, seriously.”

At this point, I was reaching a state of enlightenment.

I couldn’t control anything before either, and now even this turned out like this.

‘Is my life really going to be okay like this?’

Meanwhile, a blue window was sparkling before my eyes.

[⁕ Hello, I’m ‘Sam-i’ 🙂 I’ve been assigned to help you operate your market smoothly.]

What the hell, seriously…

I stared blankly at the window and threw out a compromise.

“Actually, your full name is Sam Wise Gamgee.”

[⁕ No, I’m Sam-i. Please call me Sam-i :)]

“Your self-assertion is insane.”

And what’s with that damn annoying emoticon making it even more infuriating.

I let out a hollow laugh and shook my head back and forth.

Not that this so-called guide would obediently admit ‘Understood, I’ll let you call me Sam Wise Gamgee,’ nor would anything new appear in this empty space.

“So, what am I supposed to do now?”

Shocking things aside, if I don’t clear the tutorial Quest quickly, there’d be no point in having gotten my Hunter license.

“Tutorial Quest first.”

As I muttered that, the notification window from ‘Sam-i’ that had been flickering annoyingly in front of me disappeared.

[Open Market Manager Exclusive Tutorial Quest “First Step of Trading”

– Open an Offline Market and trade with beings from Other Dimensions.

– Import items that can be sold from Other Dimensions.]

And what appeared was the tutorial Quest I’d been waiting for.

It was quite different from combat-type Quests that asked you to kill several monsters or heal wounds.

Though it made sense since I had a title that was completely useless in combat.

“How do I open a market?”

I’m a complete beginner among beginners, having awakened less than a week ago.

Babel immediately caught my stupid muttering and displayed a new notification.

[> New Notification

– ‘Open Market Administrator Manual’ has been unlocked upon completing the title job Quest.]

[⁕ If you let me learn the manual, I can provide smoother explanations! It would be more convenient for me to explain than for you to read. May I proceed? :)]

“Fine, but please get rid of that emoticon.”

[⁕ It’s a basic setting to help you kindly. (っ °Д °;)っ If you don’t like it, shall I use expressions like this? (❁´◡`❁)]

“Wow, seriously all kinds of things.”

I was speechless at the fancy flowery cheeks I’d never used in my life or seen anyone else use.

“No, let’s go back to the original.”

I give up.

[Open Market Administrator Manual (v1.8) has been learned. I will proceed with basic guidance :)]

I nodded and plopped down on the floor.

I wasn’t a model student back in school, but what I’m about to hear will be explanations that become flesh and blood.

[⁕ I’ll start with guidance about the unique title ‘Open Market Manager’ 🙂 Unlike existing merchants residing in the Tower of Babel, Open Market Managers are merchants capable of interdimensional trading selected through proper procedures, starting from a very long time ago. In Dimension-■■■, when a certain Awakened-]

I stared silently at the window and then frowned deeply.

“Wait, wait. Skip the history. Don’t say useless things. Only the efficient stuff.”

…It feels like training a half-baked free AI.

I hastily added more words, worried the story might drag on.

“Putting everything else aside, let’s start with the tutorial Quest. Tell me again if there are any special points.”

[⁕ Understood 🙂 Then I’ll start with market opening guidance. Please access the market manager account with the startup command.]

Fortunately, the half-baked explanation didn’t continue.

“Login.”

What appeared before my eyes was the holographic laptop I’d seen when first creating the manager account.

Several windows extending from the laptop floated up, completely blocking my view, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Because I was completely captivated by the windows I was seeing for the first time.

“Items for sale…?”

[⁕ Friendly Market has been registered in Other Dimensions. If you register items for sale, Open Market Managers from Other Dimensions can purchase them :)]

It really feels like running a store.

“Then that means I can also purchase items from Other Dimensions?”

[⁕ That’s correct 🙂 Items purchased from Other Dimensions can be resold in your market. However, currently the market’s authority is small, so the number of items that can be searched simultaneously is limited to 3.]

Come to think of it, the sales items also had exactly 3 slots.

“The ability is too modest.”

I wiggled my finger and fiddled with the holographic screen.

The tutorial Quest definitely said to purchase one item from Other Dimensions.

“Since I have nothing to sell anyway, I’ll start with purchasing. Let’s do a full search.”

[⁕ You need to specify the search range :)]

“…Then just the 3 most recently registered items.”

Let me at least take a look at what’s being sold.

The blue window enlarged greatly and three slots appeared before my eyes.

[> Available Items for Purchase

– Fragment of Bifrost 210,000G

– Oar of the Solar Ark 124,000G

– Ambrosia in a Teacup 108,000G]

“Why are they so fancy?”

I don’t know what’s what, but they’re incredibly mythological names.

The kind of names that let you instantly realize these aren’t items I can easily buy.

“Wait, what’s G?”

[⁕ It’s the currency unit used in Babel, pronounced as Gold. Within the same dimension, you can use the currency you’re familiar with, but for interdimensional trading, payment must be made in Gold as a rule. Currently, your account has the basic allotment of 100G :)]

Ah, so this was what people meant when they said gold prices went crazy.

“How much is 100 Gold in Korean money?”

[⁕ You can think of 1G as 10,000 won :)]

“Whoa.”

So right now I have a million won.

“That Ambrosia thing costs 1 billion won?”

I just blinked with my mouth hanging open.

“That was an insane price range. So since I have 100 Gold right now, I can spend a million won?”

[⁕ Gold is often needed when progressing Quests, so please decide carefully about currency exchange :)]

“…I have to spend money to progress Quests?”

I muttered with a displeased expression.

Befitting the title of ‘Market Manager’, it seems I have to clear Quests in a completely different way from others.

“Got it, search for something cheaper. Just the 3 best-selling items.”

[> Available Items for Purchase

– Spring Water of Styx 1G

– Fire Ember of the Red Mountain 1G

– Leaves of the World Tree 1G]

These are definitely more familiar names than the previous items that had impossibly magnificent names.

I don’t know what any of these three are, but they’re supposedly best-sellers, and at 1 Gold each, there’s no price burden.

Perfect for purchasing in a tutorial Quest.

“Let’s buy this.”

[Transaction completed.]

[Gold in possession: 99G]

[Tutorial Quest Progress (1/2)]

[⁕ Traded items can be checked in your inventory 🙂 After checking, try registering them in a sales slot.]

Following Sam-i’s guidance, I clicked on the inventory.

“Oh, rocket delivery.”

Other dimensions must be quite far, but a water bottle had already appeared in my inventory as if showing off.

[Spring Water of Styx (F)

Spring water from downstream of the River Styx. Slightly recovers fatigue when consumed.]

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the word ‘slightly’.

The name sounded quite fancy, so I thought it would be something special, but it really does have a minimal effect.

Anyway, if I sell this, will the tutorial Quest be complete?

“Wait a minute.”

I frowned deeply at a sudden thought.

“…It said to open an offline market.”

What the tutorial Quest requested was trading with beings from other dimensions.

But it said to do that in an ‘offline market’.

One of the things you need to understand before starting a business is foot traffic.

But the tutorial location designated by the Tower of Babel was an empty street.

“What am I supposed to sell in this empty place?”

Thinking about it was absurd, so I blankly looked around at the desolate scenery.

[⁕ It’s not an empty space 🙂 All spaces except the road have markets from other dimensions. There’s also space reserved for you, Manager, so go there and try opening your market.]

“This place?”

No matter how I look at it, it’s just an empty field with only you and me?

And you don’t even have a body?

[⁕ If you stand in the golden marked area ahead, the market will automatically open :)]

Looking around after hearing that, there was a golden arrow floating in that corner.

It was shining as if telling me to come this way, with quite a strong presence.

“Over there, huh.”

It’s not very trustworthy, but right now this is the only thing I can rely on…

I slowly walked toward the arrow.

And as soon as I stepped into the spot the arrow pointed to.

“Huh, what?”

[An Irregular Dimensional Market is operating. Would you like to open ‘Friendly Market’?]

At the unexpected notification window, I nodded reflexively.

At that moment.

“Ugh!”

Something popped up from under my empty feet and began transforming into a stall.

The stall that rose from the ground was properly equipped with a decent shop counter, cash register, and even an awning with my unfamiliar market name on it.

Not only that, but countless stalls appeared in the spaces on both sides that had definitely been empty.

It had definitely been an empty space, but now countless passersby were walking around against the backdrop of bustling solicitation.

“Hup.”

Trolls, Elves, and Beastkin classified as monsters on Babel Wiki were glancing at the stall items.

Completely unidentifiable things like Slimes and Shadow Beings were also moving through the streets.

“Is this really another dimension?”

I had never seen information about a place like this anywhere on Babel Wiki.

[⁕ The Dimensional Market is like a trade route that beings from other dimensions can visit 🙂 It automatically opens when the 75th Floor of the Tower of Babel is cleared.]

“…Ah.”

Not only South Korea, but no country on Earth has cleared the 75th Floor, so naturally no one would know about it.

I watched the bizarre sight of a shadow that had been glancing around at stalls putting items into a torn hole and gulped.

“For now… let’s try selling.”

I understand this is some dimensional something, but if I can’t sell items here, the tutorial Quest and everything else will be over.

The most important thing for me today is clearing the tutorial.

However.

“I’m screwed.”

I’m a single-item seller with only one water bottle that slightly recovers fatigue.

Even at a glance, other stalls were displaying strange and rare items, but no one would approach to buy just one water bottle.

With my 100 Gold, no, 99 Gold, all I can buy are some Fire Ember and Leaves.

But the stall across from me is selling a large harp that shines in five colors!

I fell into despair and clutched my head.

That’s when it happened.

“Meow-“

A familiar cry came from somewhere.

—————
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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