24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 73

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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 73

Episode 73. A Necessary Deal (3)

“…Interesting.”

This was Park Ji-woon’s assessment after hearing the specific plan for preliminary reconnaissance.

He seemed to genuinely find it interesting, but something felt unsatisfying – maybe because his reaction was calmer than I had expected?

It left me feeling somewhat irritated.

I guess his earlier amazement was short-lived.

Gone was the flustered, bewildered appearance from before, and Park Ji-woon had returned to his familiar dry demeanor, silently nodding as he added:

“When I first heard Lee Hae-won’s demands, I thought they were unreasonable, but not at all. This is a deal that benefits Babel, no, South Korea far more.”

‘Well, that’s a relief since you understand.’

Still, I hadn’t expected Park Ji-woon to agree to the deal so readily.

Things were going more smoothly than anticipated, which made me even more suspicious.

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Park Ji-woon chuckled softly.

‘Does he find this amusing?’

While I was taken aback by this unexpected reaction, Park Ji-woon once again wore an expression that said ‘interesting.’

“Lee Hae-won, you’re surprisingly the type who shows everything on your face.”

“There’s a reason I wear a mask.”

I clicked my tongue lightly as I replied.

I had wanted to maintain a sense of gravity, but perhaps it was the brief moment of relaxation that came after the serious discussion.

Both Park Ji-woon’s words and my response carried a certain wit.

To put it nicely, it was like evidence of trust shown to Park Ji-woon, whom I had assessed as ‘trustworthy.’

“Lee Hae-won doesn’t seem to realize how amazing what you’ve proposed is.”

“No, I do know.”

“NPCs in unopened floors… Being able to enter unopened floors in a guaranteed safe situation is truly a dream scenario. Even after floors open, conducting reconnaissance without knowing how many participants will be assigned to the scenario was always dangerous.”

Did he not hear my answer?

Still, the praise being laid on thick right in front of me wasn’t bad.

Rather, it felt like… my pride was rising and my confidence was skyrocketing.

Babel gives a grace period between when one floor is cleared and the next floor opens.

It took a full week from when the 49th floor was cleared until the 51st floor opened, and this time the 53rd floor took ten days.

During that time, no one can enter that floor.

Of course, I’m an exception.

After opening, scenarios start immediately once the required number of people is filled, making reconnaissance dangerous too.

‘Though there hasn’t been a scenario for just one or two people yet.’

Since I’m not just tagging along, I could die during reconnaissance.

It really is something only I can do in the entire country, no, on Earth.

‘Be proud, Lee Hae-won.’

Taking on such an important role despite the inconvenience, showing such initiative.

Brother would shed tears of pride if he knew about my actions.

Just as I was patting myself on the back, Park Ji-woon suddenly asked:

“But why are you going to such lengths, Lee Hae-won?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

Then I shrugged and answered lightly:

“Because I want to have connections too.”

Park Ji-woon raised his eyebrows slightly.

It didn’t seem to be the answer he was expecting.

‘Well, it’s not wrong though.’

If Park Ji-woon, a pillar of Babel, provides conveniences, there would be countless benefits I could gain from operating the market.

Park Ji-woon says this deal benefits Babel much more, but…

‘From my perspective, it’s fairly balanced.’

I’ve arranged a safety measure to filter the flood of attention once.

And right now, I desperately want to obtain even a single line of information about Brother.

“Why did you sell packages to other countries?”

I told him to ask questions after the deal was done, and he’s really asking everything without holding back.

Where did that cautious Park Ji-woon go, who carefully confirmed permission for each question earlier?

When I didn’t respond, Park Ji-woon added:

“That package. The item package that enabled breaking through the 49th floor in one go.”

It felt like I was being interrogated.

Come to think of it, he had said something similar when we first met.

He told me not to provide information to other countries since the Tower of Babel’s resources are directly linked to national power.

‘But to prevent dimensional destruction, other countries also need to climb the Tower…’

As I grumbled internally, I suddenly had a lightning-like realization.

‘Right, it was something no one knew about.’

No one on Earth knows about dimensional destruction.

Neither that dimensions will be destroyed if new floors aren’t cleared within Babel’s deadline, nor that as a result, this dimension will be consumed as a scenario in another dimension’s Tower of Babel.

My reason for selling packages to other countries was for Earth’s sake, beyond national interests.

If the dimension is destroyed, national power and everything else ends.

‘There’s such a lack of crisis awareness.’

Someone who’s supposedly an S-rank Hunter of South Korea doesn’t know this and criticizes me?

I need to tell him about this.

It’s not that I want to talk just out of rebelliousness, but someone like Park Ji-woon should know this for Earth’s benefit.

“Director Park Ji-woon.”

“Yes, what’s the reason?”

“Do you know about the deadline Babel set?”

“Deadline?”

Park Ji-woon asked back as if wondering what I was suddenly talking about.

“Yes, Babel set a deadline for us. If we don’t clear a new floor before that deadline passes…”

I took a breath before continuing:

“The dimension will be destroyed.”

“…”

“And this dimension becomes the stage for scenarios belonging to another dimension’s Tower of Babel. We all die and become NPCs in the scenario.”

Park Ji-woon’s expression became subtly colder.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t as shocked as I had expected.

Isn’t this extremely shocking news?

Instead, Park Ji-woon asked in a calm voice:

“Is that true?”

“Yes, it’s a story I heard from someone whose dimension was actually destroyed.”

“…Is it that person standing behind you now?”

Park Ji-woon’s finger was pointing behind me.

Ah, right.

I wasn’t alone with Park Ji-woon right now.

Alessandro, suddenly pointed out, looked at me with bewildered eyes.

I almost burst out laughing, but I maintained my serious concept and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. Alessandro is someone who luckily survived from a dimension that reached the 49th floor.”

“I see…”

Park Ji-woon, drawing out his words, stroked his chin.

He appeared calm, but who knows what complex thoughts he might be having inside.

This definitely isn’t the kind of story you can just listen to lightly and brush off.

After pondering for a while, Park Ji-woon opened his mouth dryly.

“Then it would be better to request cooperation from overseas Towers of Babel. From now on, it would be better to officially announce that requests should be made directly to Babel Nation.”

…Was he really thinking hard to handle work?

I was the one who lost the point of argument due to his businesslike attitude.

“But wouldn’t that be like officially acknowledging that Friendly Market is related to Babel Nation?”

Park Ji-woon shook his head at my concern.

“Even so, being connected to a nation is much safer than to an individual. It’s more advantageous for protecting Lee Hae-won’s identity, and we can show only as much of Friendly Market’s capabilities as we want.”

I had no choice but to agree with his quite realistic and convincing explanation.

Well, it would be more convenient for the nation to step forward cleanly first rather than me personally snooping around other countries’ Towers of Babel, right?

By the way, there was something that bothered me.

I stared intently at Park Ji-woon who was still stroking his chin.

No matter how bland and boring a person is, I expected him to be surprised like when he was startled seeing my face for the first time earlier.

“Section Chief Park Ji-woon doesn’t seem surprised.”

“About what?”

“You seem unfazed even after hearing that dimensions will be destroyed.”

“Ah.”

Park Ji-woon let out a short sigh and nodded his head.

He really seems completely unfazed, which makes him look strange.

“Isn’t this normally something to be extremely surprised about?”

Park Ji-woon answered nonchalantly.

“I had a vague idea about it.”

“Ah, I see… How?!”

This time I was extremely surprised.

I briefly thought that my facial muscles must be incredibly active since I wasn’t wearing a mask, but Park Ji-woon’s answer was more important than that.

‘How does he know that?’

Even I, who went all the way to the Dimensional Market and saw all kinds of species, wouldn’t have known this story if I hadn’t met Alessandro?

Abandoning the cautious atmosphere I’d maintained, Park Ji-woon leaned back at my bluntly asked question.

A hesitant expression somewhere.

I stared at Park Ji-woon’s brow as if I would bore through it.

Park Ji-woon, who had briefly avoided that gaze, met my eyes again.

Then he asked carefully.

“Could you perhaps come with me to another place for a moment?”

* * *

‘Maybe I saw wrong when he smiled at the information desk earlier?’

I thought while looking at Park Ji-woon’s back as he walked ahead.

The Park Ji-woon who sat facing me and talked had shown confusion, surprise, and some human aspects too.

Is it because his dark circles are hidden?

No, even with glasses on, dark circles are still clearly visible.

As soon as we left the information desk, Park Ji-woon put on cold silver-rimmed glasses and perfectly fitting leather gloves, completely erasing his human expression as if it never happened.

The Park Ji-woon I’m seeing now is just the universal image of ‘Section Chief Park Ji-woon’ from the media itself.

“This way.”

At the low voice, I broke from my thoughts and shifted my gaze.

The place Park Ji-woon brought me to was a training ground where hunters belonging to Babel Nation trained.

Perhaps because it was government-operated, there were traces of age here and there, but it was a cleanly maintained facility.

Park Ji-woon strode inside.

“I ordered the CCTV to be turned off and the interior to be cleared, so you can take off your robe.”

“I’ll just keep it on.”

“If you wish.”

Park Ji-woon nodded without argument and stood in front of me.

An appropriate distance of exactly 3 meters apart.

The way he clasped his hands together and rubbed his left thumb looked somewhat nervous.

‘Park Ji-woon? Nervous?’

It was a theory I couldn’t believe even after thinking it myself, so I chuckled inwardly, when.

Park Ji-woon asked in a serious tone without any trace of humor.

“Do you know the reason why I always wear glasses and gloves?”

“I don’t.”

“The public knows that I have poor eyesight and mysophobia, but that’s not true.”

Of course it wouldn’t be.

Those two are definitely items.

So that’s why he took them all off when I demanded he ‘disarm.’

I asked nonchalantly.

“Those seem like items too. Defensive items? Restraints?”

“Correct.”

I stumbled backwards and hit the right answer.

Then they’re for controlling Park Ji-woon’s ability.

‘What is Park Ji-woon’s ability?’

Come to think of it, even among high-grade hunters with well-known titles, Park Ji-woon was only known as a ‘government-affiliated hunter.’

Moreover, not even one of his skill names was known.

Park Ji-woon didn’t explain further and slowly began removing his glasses and gloves.

I could see a bright red aura settling in Park Ji-woon’s pupils without the lens filtering them.

As soon as I, who had always been protected at the information desk, saw Park Ji-woon’s bare eyes without the lens filter.

‘Creepy.’

My hair stood on end.

Wouldn’t it be fair to say that if you personified the word ‘suspicious,’ it would be Park Ji-woon?

What was I trusting to follow Park Ji-woon all the way here, to a place that isn’t safe for me?

The moment I thought that, Park Ji-woon’s shadow began to ripple.

The shadow that writhed and rose up soon took human form.

Jet-black hair and bright red pupils.

In the form of a chillingly beautiful woman.

And that woman smiled wickedly.

“Hello, so it’s you? The child of ■■ ■■■ ■■.”

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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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