24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 90

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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 90

Episode 90. Player Entry (3)

Kim Seol stared at me silently without saying a word.

Her complex gaze made it difficult to read her thoughts—whether she was observing me or lost in some deeper contemplation.

Since it didn’t seem like she would answer even if I tried to start a conversation, I found myself staring back into Kim Seol’s eyes.

A desolate impression that revealed no emotion.

In contrast, jet-black pupils where blue mana rippled like waves.

Anyone who met such eyes couldn’t help but feel a sense of mystery…

“What the hell are you babbling about, you crazy bastard.”

“…Excuse me?”

Am I hearing things?

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting. Stop being annoying and get rid of this thing. Unless you want to die.”

It was too clear to be a hallucination, piercing through my eardrums and embedding itself distinctly in my mind.

I stood there dazed, feeling like I’d been struck, before barely managing to collect myself.

Kim Seol, her face openly displaying raw, unrefined emotions, pulled up the corner of her lips in a crooked smile.

“You really have no fear at all. To think you’d brazenly show your face after pulling this kind of stunt on an S-rank Hunter.”

Kim Seol slowly stood up and faced me directly.

She just got up from her seat and stood there staring quietly.

Could this really be someone who had just regained consciousness after being unconscious the whole time?

Her presence was frightening enough to raise such doubts.

‘She’s properly angry.’

I tried to act calm and composed, but I unconsciously took a step back.

‘What reason does she have to be that angry?’

I suppressed my sense of injustice and thought rationally.

Wariness toward me, anger at being trapped without being able to use her abilities even once.

A sense of helplessness at being unable to do anything, and so on.

‘…There are quite a lot of reasons.’

Fortunately, Kim Seol didn’t recklessly pour out her boiling emotions.

The corner of her mouth, which had been twisted as much as her uncomfortable mood, returned to its original position, and Kim Seol seemed to have regained her composure, wearing her usual dry expression.

Kim Seol muttered very quietly.

“I swear on the name of Haebing, I won’t let you get away with this.”

Though spoken in a monotone, it was such a blatant threat that I nearly choked upon hearing it.

Her eyes, staring right through me, gleamed fiercely.

She had just regained consciousness and couldn’t even properly control her mana. As expected, an S-rank Hunter’s aura was on a different level.

It felt as if an invisible, intangible energy was piercing through the air bubble to press down on me.

My legs trembled as if they might give out at any moment, and my throat constricted so tightly I could barely breathe.

But despite this pathetic state, I was thinking something else entirely.

‘It’s the real Kim Seol.’

I know Guk Min-seong would have another fit saying I have no sense of crisis.

But what can I do about finding it fascinating?

The real Kim Seol is right in front of my eyes!

Even though I was suffocating, I couldn’t stop these foolish thoughts.

‘It feels like meeting a celebrity, what do I do!’

I’ve lived my life grateful for all the hard work of S-rank Hunters who protect the nation and its people.

And since my Awakening, I’ve met many S-rank Hunters beyond my station.

But I’m human too, so honestly, don’t I have something like a favorite?

If you asked me if that was Kim Seol, I couldn’t answer “Of course!” but she is the only S-rank Hunter I follow on Upstagram.

I admit it.

No one would believe it, but it’s not because of her appearance.

There’s only one reason I follow Kim Seol.

Because she always shows a consistent “So what?” vibe.

Her resolute attitude regardless of time, place, or opponent, and her cold tone that drips with chilliness.

Those sharp eyes that look down on recklessly charging reporters like they’re insects!

Of course, I hate the outdated nicknames that backward journalists gave her like “Ice Princess” or “Cold City Girl” to the point of nausea.

Still, I can’t disagree with the statement that “no other Hunter suits these nicknames better than Kim Seol.”

She’s truly like a character from a manga or novel.

How can a person use ice magic, have an urban appearance, and even have such a nasty personality?

Before my Awakening, I often thought of Kim Seol whenever I faced hardships and trials.

When looking at the barbecue restaurant owner’s face telling me to scrub the black grill until it turned silver, when meeting unreasonable customers who brought empty bottles asking for a 50 won discount in advance, when seeing convenience store owner’s KakaoTalk messages saying if I wanted to eat expired food, I should buy it just before expiration.

The kind of attitude I admired when I wanted to tell them to shut up but couldn’t.

“Why aren’t you paying attention when someone’s talking to you?”

Oops, I got lost in nostalgic memories and ended up ignoring Kim Seol.

Though it wasn’t intentional, Kim Seol seemed displeased at being ignored and took another step forward.

Revealing killing intent as if she might pierce me with an ice spear at any moment.

I swallowed hard and calmed myself down.

‘She can’t get out of there anyway.’

Since she’s trapped in the air bubble right now, she won’t be able to directly harm me.

Besides, I showed her Brother’s face, which is much better than mine, through the Mask of All Things.

For now, the top priority is to calm her anger and build a positive relationship.

I tried to ease Kim Seol’s wariness by wearing Brother’s characteristic gentle smile that would make anyone’s hostility disappear.

“Ms. Kim Seol, I’m not an enemy. You can lower your guard.”

“Ha.”

Kim Seol was sneering at me.

‘Wow.’

She really sneered at me.

For some reason, I felt so moved that my throat tightened.

Kim Seol asked back with suspicious, cold eyes.

“What reason do I have to believe that?”

What could I do here to ease Kim Seol’s wariness?

After brief consideration, there was only one conclusion.

Even if I suffered losses, right now I had nothing to offer but the truth.

‘I have no choice but to be honest.’

Since I couldn’t reveal my true identity, there was no other option but to logically explain that I wasn’t an enemy here.

I placed my cup on the heater and clasped my hands together.

It was a strategic action taken thinking this might look more sincere, but Kim Seol frowned instead.

“I understand your suspicion of me. But if I were an enemy, would I have saved you, Ms. Kim Seol? When I first found you, your lips were purple—if I’d left you alone, you would have died from hypothermia.”

“S-ranks aren’t that weak.”

“Do S-ranks not catch colds?”

“We don’t.”

Ah, I didn’t know that…

She even snorted as if it wasn’t funny at all, making cold sweat start pouring down.

Then let me try a more constructive reason.

“Why do you think I took first place in contribution on the 51st floor? Because I helped the raid team from behind in every way possible. Whatever kind of existence I am, it’s certain that I’m helpful to raids.”

“What proof is there that you’ll be helpful here too? What exactly am I supposed to believe in you for?”

“First of all, the fact that I saved you thinking you’d be at maximum strength on the 53rd floor shows my intention to help.”

“Saved me? When I’m trapped in this barrier?”

“I didn’t do that. I’m currently looking for a way to break through that air bubble too.”

“How are you going to prove that you weren’t the one who trapped me in this barrier? Don’t tell me you’re going to say you discovered me by chance in this ocean?”

Is this a pressure interview?

Since she keeps nitpicking every word I say, we’re making no progress in our conversation.

I can understand why S-rank Hunters don’t trust others since they have so many enemies, but at this rate we’ll be stuck arguing semantics all night.

‘Should I drop Park Ji-woon’s name?’

But if I mention Park Ji-woon’s name here, it would openly reveal that I’m connected to the Management Bureau.

From what I’ve said so far, she can naturally guess that I’m Korean, but dragging the Management Bureau into this feels a bit burdensome.

Am I really going to end up filling a full party like Min-seong said?

Anxiety began to creep in.

‘No, that won’t do.’

It’s time to prove that I’m also someone who recognizes danger.

Since I don’t like the idea of selling out Park Ji-woon, I decided to gain trust through a method only I could use.

Just because I’ve been handling slime mucus all this time doesn’t change the fact that I’m Earth’s only market manager.

And dimensions have all sorts of bizarre and extraordinary items.

“I’ll show you proof that I’m not lying.”

I rummaged through my inventory and pulled out an item.

Kim Seol frowned as if wondering what I was suddenly doing in the middle of our conversation.

“This item is called ‘Bird That Hears Truth.'”

A roughly carved wooden canary figurine, the ‘Bird That Hears Truth’ was an item I had purchased while Kim Seol was sleeping earlier.

“It’s a lie detector.”

“….”

[Bird That Hears Truth (A)

A canary figurine carved from sacred wood.

It listens to the wearer’s words and determines their truth, responding with beautiful canary chirping when truth is spoken.

However, when lies are detected, it warns with sharp crow cries.

When placed on the shoulder, it automatically equips and will never fall off unless the wearer removes it themselves.]

Can you believe it?

Other dimensions have lie detectors too.

I placed the figurine on my shoulder and shrugged.

Kim Seol was still watching me with eyes full of suspicion.

“This item makes beautiful sounds when the wearer tells the truth and makes crow cries when they lie.”

As soon as I finished speaking, pleasant bird songs filled the tent.

Kim Seol flinched at the clear bird sounds, like those you might hear when waking up early in a forest retreat.

Now that I’ve verified the item’s authenticity, it’s time to prove my innocence.

“I am not Kim Seol’s enemy, and I want to help clear the 53rd floor. I did not create this air bubble. I only discovered it by chance while passing nearby. The reason I saved Kim Seol is because she truly seemed to be in mortal danger from hypothermia.”

As I explained my circumstances in detail, the figurine responded with beautiful singing.

“I even follow Kim Seol’s Upstar account.”

Cautiously confessing my fandom was a bonus.

Regardless of what I said, Kim Seol just listened to the beautiful bird sounds echoing unrealistically with a strange expression.

I can clearly see various thoughts crossing her face.

Should I believe him?

How can I trust that this item really has such an effect?

She’s probably thinking something like this.

Then I just need to clear away her doubts.

“Let me try lying once.”

I shrugged once and muttered.

“I brought Kim Seol here with bad intentions.”

Caaaaw- Caw- Creaaak-

The scream-like noise was so terrible that even crows would run away in fear, making Kim Seol irritably cover her ears.

I expected good performance since it’s an A-grade item, but I didn’t know it would cry out so loudly.

“Since that’s ambiguous, should I try something more definitive?”

Something more absurd and obviously false would be more certain.

“Kim Seol doesn’t know how to use magic. Kim Seol is blonde. Kim Seol is a man. Kim Seol is an alien. Kim Seol is currently doing somersaults in the air.”

Creeeaaaak-

As I rattled off lies like a machine gun, the Bird That Hears Truth let out bizarre screams.

Since it was crying right next to me, it was terrible noise pollution that made me naturally frown.

Kim Seol’s expression contorted, as if she couldn’t believe it was really a lie detector.

‘More importantly, is this really a bird?’

Judging by the sound when I told the truth, it seems to be bird sounds, but do crows in this dimension really cry like this?

While I was spouting nonsense yet seriously pondering this, Kim Seol urgently shouted as if she couldn’t stand listening anymore.

“Stop, stop!”

“Do you believe me now?”

When I stopped talking, the figurine also became quiet.

In the suddenly quiet tent, Kim Seol looked down and pondered for a long while.

But I knew what answer Kim Seol would give.

Since she’s trapped in an air bubble and not in the best condition, the decision Kim Seol would make in this situation is obvious.

“I won’t suspect you for now.”

Though her expression still held hostility, compared to before, it was a gaze that suppressed killing intent as much as possible.

‘I thought so.’

“Lee Hae.”

My goodness, she even called my name.

Indeed, whatever the task, things go well when there’s mutual trust.

It feels like a situation where we should shake hands and strengthen our resolve, but it’s regrettable that we can’t do that because of that air bubble.

I was satisfied with grinning and making light conversation.

“I thought I was going to die of fear.”

Caaaaw-

The tactless crow cried out like it was calling out my lie.

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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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