24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 77

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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 77

Episode 77. The Flower Language of Reconnaissance is Regret (3)

…It hurts.

That was the only thought that came to mind as soon as I regained consciousness.

My whole body throbbed as if every bone had been crushed.

I thought I had experienced quite a lot of pain until now, but this was pain on a completely different level.

Everything hurt so much that I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it hurt.

“…Huh.”

I barely managed to compose myself and took a deep breath, but a groan reflexively escaped.

When I got shot with an arrow in Kona, at least the pain was concentrated in one spot.

Even the simple act of breathing deeply in and out was a burden on my body.

Still, if I had to find something positive about this situation… well, I’m alive.

The adults weren’t wrong when they said life is a blessing.

Life is…

“…I want to eat eggs.”

Seeing as I had the leisure to think of such ridiculous jokes, it seemed like it was time to properly come to my senses.

I let out a hollow laugh, then frowned at the sharp pain that stabbed through my ribs.

Then I realized something I hadn’t noticed yet.

‘But where exactly am I right now?’

This wasn’t the time to be thinking nonsense about dry boiled eggs!

I urgently opened my eyes.

As I blinked rapidly to focus, what I saw were countless schools of fish passing before my eyes.

Their scales glittered, creating a fantastic scene in the dark depths of the sea.

I was staring blankly at the sight, mesmerized, when I soon sensed something strange.

‘…I’m lying down but fish are passing in front of my eyes?’

I bolted upright, forgetting the pain.

I was underwater, but I wasn’t submerged.

A pit in the center of dark black reefs arranged in a circle.

Seawater was hitting a transparent membrane that surrounded me in a perfect circle, but the space I was in was filled with air.

As if I were trapped inside a giant air bubble.

“What is… this?”

I slowly reached out and tried to push the membrane.

I applied force and pushed the fairly solid membrane, but it didn’t budge at all.

‘Is this some kind of magic?’

I’ve never bought an item with this kind of effect.

Did someone save me?

No matter how hard I tried to trace back my broken memories, nothing came to mind as if the memories had been cut away.

I only remembered being hit by some unknown giant whip and losing consciousness as I fell into the sea.

The intermediate process before I was trapped in this air bubble had been deleted.

That’s when it happened.

“…”

I felt a gaze from behind me.

Someone was staring intently at me.

No, not someone but something.

The air became heavy.

The presence was so strong that it was hard to breathe, and I automatically held my breath.

I slowly, very slowly turned my head to look behind me.

I didn’t want to see it, but my body moved on its own.

And.

“…Hic.”

I choked on my breath.

An eye.

It was a giant eye.

Right in front of the thin membrane, a house-sized yellow eyeball was quietly staring at me.

I couldn’t read any emotion from the strangely shaped, horizontally long pupil.

It only reflected my completely frozen figure.

“Hic!”

Hiccups escaped without giving me time to hold them back.

As my body jerked up and down, the owner of the eyeball slowly began to move.

Dark red flesh writhed as it approached the air bubble.

That whip that had knocked me off the reef.

Countless tentacles moved slowly, repeatedly tangling and untangling with each other.

Suckers made squelching sounds as they stuck to and fell off the membrane.

The slime left where they detached was a slimy green color that was clearly visible even in the dark depths of the sea.

Only then did I realize that the reef that had been surrounding the air bubble like a nest was actually freely moving legs.

Even in the not-so-bright depths of the sea, I could clearly see just how massive this creature’s body was.

I intuitively realized.

The scenario for the 53rd floor was.

“Fighting a kraken…”

* * *

Exactly 29 minutes after I sent the message that I had returned from the 53rd floor, a notification rang that someone had come to the information desk.

It was Park Ji-woon, whom I had frantically called.

After confirming that I was fine except for being soaking wet, Park Ji-woon demanded an explanation.

Actually, there wasn’t that much to tell.

I hadn’t spent a long time on the 53rd floor, and even estimating the time I was unconscious, it would have been only an hour or two at most.

However, throughout my explanation, Park Ji-woon had a serious expression and even nodded while continuously writing something down.

I stared at Park Ji-woon’s tablet and couldn’t help but ask.

“What exactly are you writing down?”

“I’m organizing the content you mentioned, Lee Hae-won, and materials to share at the meeting.”

Isn’t it not significant enough information to bring up at a meeting?

There’s just a kraken, it’s huge, and there’s a sunken Titanic.

That’s about all I said.

Park Ji-woon, who had put down his tablet, muttered calmly.

“This is about the extent of the information. There’s a sunken ship underwater, you didn’t encounter any intelligent beings you could communicate with. And there’s a high possibility that a giant squid monster, a kraken, is the scenario boss.”

“It’s a squid. It had 10 legs.”

“Ah, a squid monster. That’s an important point. There’s a huge difference between having 8 legs and 10 legs.”

He’s right, but why does this annoy me so much?

“Thank you. This seems like it will be very helpful.”

“Really?”

When I asked back in a tone that suggested disbelief, Park Ji-woon nodded as if it were obvious.

His attitude suggested that my reaction was the strange one.

“If even Lee Hae-won, who has non-aggression status within the Tower, was attacked to this extent, the hunters participating in the strategy will need to prepare more thoroughly. Just identifying the creature’s characteristics in advance is a big advantage.”

‘…Is that so?’

Right, I can’t even swim but I went all the way underwater and found out this much, how admirable of me!

Park Ji-woon needs to praise me a bit more.

“Most importantly, the fact that no intelligent beings were visible is also significant. The probability of it being a simple subjugation scenario has increased. Of course, we should keep other possibilities open as well.”

“You never know. The kraken might be holding hostages…”

“That’s right. Come to think of it, it’s strange that the kraken trapped Lee Hae-won in an air bubble in the first place.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

“Do squids eat meat?”

“…I’m not sure about that, but it’s hard to simply view a kraken as just a squid. Maybe it was saving her to eat last.”

“Hmm.”

Park Ji-woon let out a short hum and began tapping the table in a steady rhythm.

I said it casually, but thinking about it now, I just said I almost became kraken food.

It was fortunate that I ran away immediately without investigating further.

I carefully retraced my memories.

About what I had seen when I regained consciousness in the air bubble, before meeting those yellow eyes.

But why did it keep me alive?

No matter how much I think about it, that’s the part I can’t figure out.

“Maybe the kraken wanted to play with me but failed at controlling its strength?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Park Ji-woon stared at me silently without answering.

It was a hypothesis I confidently threw out as someone recognized by Babel.

But somehow you look like you don’t want to acknowledge it, mister?

“But there weren’t any bones or corpses around.”

“That’s uncertain. They could have drifted away with the current, or it might have been starving because all its prey had run out.”

Why is this person so good with words?

When my face was covered, I could at least maintain my composure by frowning and relaxing my expression to steel myself.

But now that my face is exposed, I couldn’t bring myself to abandon my own dignity.

I just kept my mouth shut and pretended to agree.

“Come to think of it, we can’t even be certain that the kraken created that air bubble in the first place.”

This is also a valid point.

If I had experienced it alone, I would have just let it pass, but going through Park Ji-woon’s brain, it’s being interpreted as an important element with various possibilities.

‘Tsk.’

It’s a bit irritating because it feels like there’s a brain gap.

“Anyway, Lee Hae-won.”

“Yes?”

He called me but then said nothing.

After hesitating, Park Ji-woon finally spoke up after a long while.

“From next time… it would be better to have a hunter who can protect Lee Hae-won accompany you.”

“Ah…”

It’s a suggestion where I can guess why he hesitated.

I’m not particularly upset about being weak, and I acknowledge it myself, so that’s fine.

But needing someone to protect me meant there was a high possibility of my identity being revealed to others again.

Perhaps I frowned without realizing it, because Park Ji-woon calmly added:

“Of course, I don’t mean we’ll randomly assign just anyone to accompany you. First, I’ll accompany you when I have time.”

“Section Chief Park Ji-woon, aren’t you extremely busy?”

“And Chae Geun-dam also knows about the manager, doesn’t he?”

“…”

The fact that Chae Geun-dam knows about Friendly Market was revealed right after clearing the 49th Floor.

Park Ji-woon probably became convinced during the meeting that Chae Geun-dam had ‘met the manager,’ and would have gathered some meaningful information from Chae Geun-dam’s reactions, who doesn’t seem to have a talent for lying.

‘But wait, wasn’t that something you deliberately didn’t ask about?’

I thought it was an implicit secret between us?

I nonchalantly avoided his gaze and spoke up.

“I understand. I’ll think about it.”

“I’d be grateful if you could think about it in a positive direction.”

“That’s a statement with too obvious an intention.”

“Anyway, based on today’s content, we’ll proceed with the 53rd Floor reconnaissance after discussions between the guilds.”

Changing the subject?

What’s fascinating about Park Ji-woon is that he has the talent to sound annoying even when speaking calmly and maturely.

If only my stats were a bit higher, I would have tried hitting him once.

“Oh, and Lee Hae-won.”

“Yes.”

“Please visit the Babel nation when you have time.”

“Why?!”

“You don’t need to be wary. I’ll prepare materials related to Lee Hae-on for you to review.”

I narrowed my eyes.

He has such a calm face after saying something very suspicious.

“Won’t you bring them directly?”

“These are materials organized by the skill of an employee from Babel nation’s archives. There’s no problem when reviewing them inside Babel nation. But if they’re taken outside the Tower of Babel…”

“They’re immediately detected?”

“Yes. It’s a skill that applies even to me as an S-rank Hunter, so I can’t bring them out.”

Having a human alarm detector is sad news.

I don’t understand why they use such a thorough skill to make me personally attend Babel nation.

Even so, it’s not like I have any other choice.

I nodded with difficulty.

“I have to go, I suppose…”

It seems like living comfortably in this world is wrong.

Originally, even in comics and novels, it’s a cliché that people who think ‘I should live comfortably’ can’t live that way.

Maybe my life went in the wrong direction from the moment I aimed for the ‘rich and unknown to everyone’ overpowered meta.

“Don’t worry.”

I gave a helpless smile right to the face of Park Ji-woon, who was calmly muttering in a tone that said to trust him.

What I’m worried about is my life that won’t go as I want, Section Chief.

* * *

And the next day.

My cozy and modest studio apartment prepared in reality outside the Tower of Babel.

As soon as I opened the front door and stepped inside, I froze in place.

“Hello…”

A stranger was greeting me.

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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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