24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 78

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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 78

Episode 78. A Fucking Unlucky Day (1)

Somehow, my luck had been good since morning.

‘Wait, maybe I shouldn’t have been thinking like this in the first place?’

It’s like something a protagonist would think in the first chapter of some novel before getting caught up in a Gate.

But what can I do when it’s true?

Last night, when I came home soaked and pale, Alessandro was so shocked he looked like he might faint on the spot.

He made such a fuss about how someone with such a big build shouldn’t catch a cold, so we cranked up the boiler and slept.

In the morning, I woke up refreshed in perfect condition, not even a hint of a cold.

Moreover, the special stew Alessandro made from the crack of dawn was exquisite.

As a result, when I left home, I had the generous heart to view everything in the world beautifully.

That wasn’t the end of it.

“You’re coming out after just one day, you must have had a hard time.”

This was what a Babel employee said to me as I nervously passed through the now-completed inspection station after leaving the Tower of Babel.

Hearing the appropriately kind greeting, I was inwardly amazed.

My last outing had been following Park Ji-woon to Babel’s training room.

It seemed he had neatly arranged the entry records right after we parted ways.

‘As expected of Park Ji-woon, quite meticulous in his work.’

I had joined hands with quite a decent partner.

Anyway, it meant it was such a peaceful day that it was hard to believe I had suffered through the world’s hardships until now.

The taste of the newly released ice cream while inside the Tower of Babel was also excellent.

That is, until I entered my small studio apartment.

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

“Hello…”

In the small room with the lights off, I heard a somewhat young woman’s voice.

Someone was sitting boldly on the folding sofa.

Through the thin sunlight seeping between the curtains, I could tell that person was sitting with their legs up.

I tried to gather as much information as that single ray of sunlight would allow while frozen in place.

A fairly small build, wearing a tight black jacket and comfortable-looking jogger pants.

Their face was half-hidden by a hood attached to the jacket and a cap, so I couldn’t see it properly.

And.

‘…They took off their shoes.’

I only moved my eyes to look at the shoe rack by the entrance.

A pair of fairly worn black boots was neatly placed there.

Come to think of it, the feet neatly placed on the sofa were wearing clean socks.

I only blinked my eyes.

‘They broke into my house but took off their shoes…?’

Honestly, there’s no way I wouldn’t be scared with a stranger in my house.

But the fact that this intruder had neatly arranged their shoes like this was so absurd that, honestly speaking, I lost some of my tension.

Only the intruder’s socks shone white while their entire body was wrapped in black.

‘What the hell is this person doing?’

That was the moment.

Crunch.

At the strange sound, I raised my head again to stare at the intruder.

Whether I was frozen or not, the intruder’s jaw was moving busily under the cap brim.

I watched carefully and called out cautiously.

“Um, excuse me.”

The intruder didn’t answer.

But the hand pulling thin potato chips from a bag in their jacket didn’t stop.

As soon as I confirmed the bag I glimpsed, I forgot about being cautious and shouted.

“Moist and Crispy Cream Cheese Sweet Potato Latte Flavored Truffle Butter Potato Chips?!”

It was a snack I had barely managed to get and stockpiled from the autumn season limited edition.

Not only did they break into someone else’s house without permission, but they dared to eat my potato chips without asking?

Fear or whatever, I was so angry I was about to step into the room when—

Whoosh—

I stopped dead in my tracks at the sudden chill I felt.

Dark purple magical power that was faintly visible even in the darkness was wrapped around my ankle.

‘What is this?’

Pressing strongly as if telling me not to move a single step from that spot.

The magical power glowed faintly then soon scattered to the floor and disappeared.

It was a clear warning.

I had met many strong hunters due to unexpected events.

Thanks to that, had I developed some intuition?

I quickly realized that the intruder on the sofa was not someone to be taken lightly.

If they could spread magical power widely in this darkness and move it without any warning to grab my ankle…

‘At least A-rank.’

I remained frozen while calmly assessing the situation.

Cold sweat began to flow down the back of my neck.

Why would such a strong hunter be here?

Information about me is thoroughly shrouded in a Veil.

There’s no reason to doubt Park Ji-woon’s work.

‘Then why?’

Unless they were trying to kidnap or eliminate me, there’s no reason to sneak into my house and wait, right?

Regardless, the intruder was munching on potato chips without any sign of stopping.

After making me this tense, they showed an attitude of complete indifference.

It was absurd how they were eating three or four chips at a time, as if they found them tasty.

This bastard hadn’t even opened just one bag.

This was the third bag.

It was dark, so I only now noticed two empty bags thrown on the floor.

‘…Wait a minute.’

A bastard obsessed with potato chips?

Dark purple.

Few words.

Potato chips.

The few small pieces of information I had were pointing to the intruder’s identity.

I moved my lips and asked the intruder in a small voice.

“…Nam Pu-reum?”

Only then did the intruder slowly raise their head to stare directly at me.

The eyes glimpsed between black hair under the cap brim were glowing with a gloomy purple light.

Plus a straight scar running vertically above the eyes.

Baby fat that hadn’t disappeared yet, cat-like upturned eyes, and short hair swaying at the chin.

…A youthful face that looked like they had just become an adult.

I gritted my teeth and swallowed my scream.

‘Damn, it’s really her.’

The world’s youngest S-rank Hunter.

She only awakened 4 years ago and just became an adult this year, but she’s a Hunter whose growth rate, along with her guild ‘Karma’, rivals that of Seo Jae-hyuk.

It really was Nam Pu-reum.

I should have realized it from the moment I saw that distinctive dark violet mana!

Since she didn’t answer, I just thought she was some crazy burglar – how could I have expected an S-rank Hunter to be occupying my place out of nowhere?

Then again, Nam Pu-reum was famous for being extremely taciturn, disappointing journalists who wanted interviews.

The fact that she’d been an active Hunter for 4 years but had virtually no available information proved that.

‘The only known fact is that she really loves potato chips.’

And even that wasn’t something Nam Pu-reum said directly.

Testimony from some artisan potato chip shop that potato chips were ordered weekly under Nam Pu-reum’s secretary’s name,

Useless articles about how the convenience store in front of the Karma guild building stocked twice the amount of potato chips compared to other branches.

Potato chip bags photographed by paparazzi chasing Nam Pu-reum during her rare public appearances, and so on.

Anyway, I was certain that this girl who had devoured three bags of my potato chips was Nam Pu-reum.

“Why did you… come here?”

Even to my cautious question, Nam Pu-reum gave no answer.

She just peered into the now-empty potato chip bag and blinked.

I was starting to get annoyed.

“Are you conducting a background investigation?”

I asked this because the guild Nam Pu-reum led, ‘Karma’, specialized in background investigations.

In Alessandro’s dimension, it would be the kind of place called an ‘information guild’ where you’d have to memorize secret codes about ravens and such.

Some criticized Nam Pu-reum for casually engaging in such illegal activities because of her young age.

However, Nam Pu-reum’s youth posed no problem for guild management.

After all, Nam Pu-reum’s title was ‘Silent Executioner’.

‘She obviously has the scent of an assassin.’

Nam Pu-reum had simply built a guild specialized in what she could do most easily.

And in fact, after Karma began operating, Babel’s lawless underworld had become somewhat more organized.

But that didn’t justify Nam Pu-reum’s descent upon my studio apartment.

“Who ordered you to investigate my background?”

She was the head of that Karma.

For Nam Pu-reum to come here personally, it would have to be at least a ranker of equal standing.

‘Or someone directly related to a ranker.’

And in my opinion, there was only one person who would suspect me to that extent.

‘It’s Ahn Yeon-seo.’

Ahn Yeon-seo, Seo Jae-hyuk’s secretary and strategist.

I thought she might be suspicious after seeing me panic, but to commission Nam Pu-reum of all people?

It’s not like I did anything openly suspicious in front of her.

For a moment, I felt a surge of anger.

‘No, wait a minute.’

Forcing myself to cool my head and think, another possibility occurred to me.

No matter if Aegis’s Ahn Yeon-seo had commissioned it, I was just an E-rank Hunter.

Even if she asked for an investigation into such a Hunter, there was no way that potato chip thief, who knows what she might do, would comply so readily.

This could be entirely Nam Pu-reum’s own judgment.

The worst-case scenario where she had her guild members investigate and found something suspicious, so she came personally.

Then Nam Pu-reum spoke for the second time.

“Where did you go…?”

Instead of answering, I narrowed my eyes.

I knew she was taciturn, but to the point where the listener couldn’t grasp the gist of the question?

Isn’t this a bit too much?

Nam Pu-reum was still looking at me with an expressionless face.

Her murky violet eyes had a somehow persistent feeling.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As if talking was bothersome, Nam Pu-reum frowned.

Then she stared at me intently and spoke with difficulty.

“Tower of Babel…”

“Excuse me?”

“Where did you go… in the Tower of Babel?”

For a moment, my breath caught.

Did she check my entry records?

I felt dizzy for a moment, but I managed to compose myself.

That couldn’t be it.

These were entry records that Park Ji-woon himself had thoroughly manipulated.

There was no way he would have handed over my entry records to another guild.

So this means…

‘Did she tail me?’

She had purely tailed me, and found it strange that I was away from home for excessively long periods for an E-rank Hunter.

An E-rank Hunter who couldn’t even dare approach difficult scenario floors wouldn’t be away from home this long unless they died.

I spoke as calmly as possible.

“That’s my private life.”

“…”

She wasn’t saying anything, but the pressure was intense.

So this is what it feels like to face an S-rank Hunter without the protection of a safe zone like the information desk.

Come to think of it, I had met Park Ji-woon while he was filtered through items like glasses and gloves.

Nam Pu-reum stood up while still holding the potato chip bag.

Despite her small stature of barely over 160 centimeters, perhaps due to her enormous presence.

I had the illusion that the studio apartment was completely filled.

Standing quietly, Nam Pu-reum neatly folded the empty potato chip bag into a note shape.

Then she stood there blankly and muttered.

“I’m… good at it.”

“…At what?”

I asked back anxiously, but instead of answering, Nam Pu-reum walked toward me.

Nam Pu-reum approached and looked up at me without saying anything.

Murky, melancholy eyes that didn’t match her youthful face that still looked like a high school student.

I wanted to step back, but my feet wouldn’t move as if they were glued to the floor.

I couldn’t tell if it was due to Nam Pu-reum’s mana or the fear that instinctively gripped me.

I could only stare fixedly with those violet eyes right in front of my face.

Nam Pu-reum, who had been quietly staring at me, finally answered after a long while.

“…Torture.”

Tor, ture?

Is she saying she could torture me right now?

Just to uncover the whereabouts of a mere E-rank Hunter?

My blood ran cold and I began to feel dizzy.

Only then did I remember what Park Ji-woon had added before.

‘Information within Babel can be completely hidden, but if someone personally looks for Lee Hae-won, it might be difficult to prevent. I can intervene midway, but I can’t stop the beginning.’

He could have prevented it before Nam Pu-reum appeared before me, but once she had already appeared, he couldn’t help.

No matter how much Park Ji-woon was my backing, I couldn’t avoid Nam Pu-reum’s torture in this situation…

‘…Right, I do have Park Ji-woon.’

All I have to leverage is my backing that isn’t even present here right now.

I don’t know how Nam Pu-reum will react, but it might be better to go all-in rather than endure torture.

After pondering for a long while, I opened my mouth.

“You!”

With an opening that Nam Pu-reum could never have expected.

“….”

Nam Pu-reum blinked as if she couldn’t believe it.

Did this E-rank nobody just address me as ‘you’?

I could read it all in her eyes.

I steeled myself in front of those predatory eyes.

And then I laid my guts on the line.

“You’re just a kid!”

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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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