Chapter 17—I’m Just a Normal Merchant, But in Babel?! (2)

All I wanted was to open the path for Wolf Fang to clear the 49th floor.

But instead—

“Wow! We talked in the meeting about lacking supplies, and a merchant shows up immediately!”

“It’s like someone sent you straight from hell to help us!”

“A benefactor! A true benefactor!”

… I somehow became a hero.

A hero to a bunch of half-rotten dark mages, each of them decayed in a different spot.

The man who introduced himself as Necros wrapped me in black mist the moment he learned I was a merchant, dragged me here, and now—

I was surrounded by dark mages in various states of decomposition, all staring at me warmly like I was their savior.

Min-seong had said dark mages were murderous, violent, and impossible to talk to.

But these guys—

“What’s your name again?”

“I’m… Lee Hae-won.”

“Great! Ie-he! Love the energy of it! Fantastic meeting you!”

This dark mage—whose arm was basically a skeleton—slung his rotting limb over my shoulder like some overfriendly soccer-club dad excited for young talent.

Even my family wouldn’t welcome me this enthusiastically.

“You must be thirsty. Here. One of our special drinks.”

Necros handed me a cup filled with something thick and black and smiled like he expected me to chug it.

“Drink up!”

“Bottoms up!”

A swarm of decomposing hands gestured for me to drink.

I was genuinely lost.

This isn’t a mineral spring, guys…

Nothing—nothing about this scenario was something I had ever imagined.

The meeting room was dim, thick with gloomy black mist that clung to everything.
A dark basement dungeon with no light.

And then, in contrast, these half-decayed mages sat in a circle with their cups, beaming at me like I was the guest of honor.

Desperate to steer the conversation elsewhere, I quietly set the cup down.

“Uh… do dark mages usually live underground?”

“No, not really. But we’re ‘dark’ mages, after all.”

…Is he saying it’s their racial trait?

I had no idea what I was hearing.

I forced my jaw shut and asked, pretending to understand:

“Then, since you’re ‘dark’ mages… do you only work at night?”

“You! I knew from the start—you’re sharp! Well, not exactly, but we do prefer nighttime. During the day, our puppets usually handle things.”

“W-wow.”

I clapped awkwardly, like I was impressed.

This seemed to deeply move Necros, who puffed out his chest proudly.

Are they too trusting?

For enemies who held the 49th floor for six months against Korea’s best hunters…
They were unbelievably cheerful.

If I stayed with them too long, I’d become weird too.

“Anyway, now that you’re here as our merchant, give us a list of what you can provide.”

“What’s the rush? We’ve got plenty of time.”

Sure, plenty of time for you.
Not for me.

But I kept my face smooth and poked Necros’s arm playfully.

“A merchant can’t make money staying in one place too long.”

“You’ve got big dreams! Huge!”

The circle of dark mages laughed joyfully.

“This is Palenicus, our supply manager. This is our benefactor, Merchant Ie-he!”

“Mm!”

Palenicus gave me a firm handshake—well, a firm skeletal handshake.

“Nice to work with you!”

“Ha… yes. What exactly do you need?”

I had no idea what dark mages used.
Maybe something like those dark mana stones the cultists bought?

But their request was… extraordinarily normal.

“Health potions, mana potions, and antidotes. The more, the better.”

…Oh.

So even dark mages drink antidotes.

But I absolutely could not give them anything helpful.

Not when I was 100% on Wolf Fang’s side.

If I strengthened the dark mages, then Wolf Fang would fail, the 49th floor wouldn’t be cleared, and Earth would be destroyed.

So I answered confidently:

“We’re sold out of potions.”

“What?!”

Palenicus’s eyes widened, and the dark mages behind him murmured anxiously.

To be fair, a merchant showing up without potions was ridiculous.

I pressed my palms together and gave an apologetic look.

“I’ll look for replacements with similar effects. Please wait a moment.”

Sammy, give me three recovery items that are expensive or have vague effects.

***

[⁕ What do you mean by “vague effects”?]

Right. Sammy can’t take a hint.

Items that don’t visibly raise stats but make people feel like they’re energized.

Five seconds later, a list popped up.

*

[> Available Items
– Panakeia’s Blood: 731,040G
– Essence of Ecstasy: 3,900G
– Vita100 (10-pack): 1G

“……”

“What’s with that face? No items?”

“No, actually… something perfect just came up…”

I stared at the list for a long moment.

The prices of the first two didn’t surprise me.

But—

Vita100?

The same vitamin drink they sell in convenience stores for 1,000 won?

How did this end up in the dimensional market?

“He—I mean, he—showed us the items.”

Palenicus didn’t give me time to wonder.
I quickly purchased a 10-pack of Vita100.

The bottles I pulled out of my inventory were exactly the convenience-store type.

“Ooh? What’s this?”

“This is a golden elixir that boosts vitality. Please try one.”

Palenicus eyed it suspiciously.

To show good faith, I cracked a bottle open and gulped it down.

After hesitating, Palenicus drank too.

“Do you taste the sharp sourness?”

“…It’s surprisingly good.”

I nodded seriously and unleashed the most majestic nonsense I had ever spoken.

“According to ancient alchemy texts, strong sourness awakens the nervous system and refines mana flow. This potion is made with techniques found only in the tomes of high magi and grand sages.”

“Ooh…?”

“Of course, things have evolved. This version was refined further by the grand alchemist Kaan Yeoni using modern alchemy.”

Yes.
I name-dropped Kang Yeon-hee.

“But I don’t feel any immediate effect…”

“Of course.”

My firm tone made him flinch.

“This potion is nothing like cheap potions. It works deep, deep in the user’s core. You can’t reach mastery in one day, but slow, steady improvement makes a master.”

“Is… is that so?”

“Absolutely. In fact, a recent paper from the Magic Tower showed that consistent consumption increases mana condensation. And they confirmed the same effect happens for dark mages too.”

He didn’t understand a word, but as I kept talking confidently—

“I see…”

Palenicus’s eyes became the eyes of someone being pulled into a pyramid scheme.

I grabbed his brittle, flaky hand solemnly.

“There is one problem…”

His decaying hand shed a little dust, but I ignored it and held his hand tighter.

“I am the only one selling this potion. And it takes a long time to make, so I cannot guarantee when more will be available.”

“What?”

His innocent eyes shook.

“I believe someone as discerning as you will put this potion to great use.”

Silence filled the dungeon.

Then—

Palenicus raised a stack of shining gold coins.

“I’ll take them!”

Dark mages behind him yelled:

“Palenicus! Buy them all!”

“Mana condensation means increased dark mana condensation! That’s good for us!”

Jackpot.

The enthusiasm was unreal.

“How much?”

“It’s usually 100 gold per bottle… but since you’ve all been so kind… I’ll give you 98 bottles for 7,000 gold.”

“Ie-he, you’re a true merchant!”

Palenicus happily shoved more gold my way.

I quietly counted the huge pile of coins and sighed.

I didn’t even manipulate them that much…

How did these people manage to hold the floor for six months?

Now I understood why Falcon fell.

Alessandro… What opponents were you even fighting…?

When I finished counting, a thought hit me.

How do I complete a transaction with an NPC?

Until now, all my customers were awakened humans.
I assumed NPCs weren’t eligible.

Maybe I’d have to physically hand them items one by one—

But right then—

***

[> Transaction Notice – 1 Item
‘Vita100’ (100) sold.
Buyer: Palenicus (Dimension–Earth | Zone–Korea | 49F Performer)

In the same moment, 98 bottles of Vita100 appeared neatly on the table.

“Excellent! Everyone, let’s drink our Vita100!”

…NPCs count as official dimensional market customers?!

And—

Performer?

Was that because they acted out a scenario role?

How far did the dimensional market authority reach?

While I was still processing it, two cold, decaying hands suddenly grabbed mine.

Palenicus and Necros looked at me with pure gratitude.

“Thank you, Ie-he. You truly saved us.”

They squeezed my hands sincerely.

Despite everything, I answered honestly.

“Thank you as well.”

I meant it.

***

“Sorry we couldn’t welcome you properly. Come by again.”

“Of course!”

I answered more brightly than I had all day.

Because I was finally leaving this basement.

I made a ton of money, didn’t help them at all, and stayed perfectly safe.

Yes, morally questionable, but necessary.

Next time, Wolf Fang would have cleared the floor and the scenario would reset—
so no one would remember me anyway.

As I packed my things, I casually asked,

“By the way, shouldn’t there be monster waves? It’s quiet.”

No special reason behind the question.
Maybe I wanted Wolf Fang to have an easier time.

“Oh, they go out every hour. First squad just deployed. Second should head out soon.”

The moment he finished speaking—

DONG—

A heavy bell rang, loud enough to reach the basement.

I winced, but Necros smiled brightly with that unsettling half-rotten face.

“They’ve departed.”

Then—

RUMBLEEEEEEE—

A deafening roar shook the dungeon.
Strange, monstrous cries echoed from above.

The ground trembled as countless monsters marched across the surface.
Dust drifted down from the ceiling.

This feels… really bad.

“H-how many… monsters go out?”

Necros answered with a cheerful smile:

“Probably around a thousand?”

…What.

Please, Wolf Fang… Don’t die.