Chapter 32

“Blaaaargh!”

The moment I stepped out of the warp gate, a hunter spotted me and fell flat on his butt in shock.

The man scrambled to get up—
or tried to.

‘Oh boy…’

His backpack was apparently so heavy that he couldn’t get up right away, so he just flailed sadly like an overturned turtle.

He stared up at me with a face caught between disbelief and misery.

“S-sorry about that.”

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

“W-what the hell! Why are you wearing something like that?! Are you insane?!”

“Well… something like that. Anyway, sorry.”

That apology probably made things worse.
I escaped quickly before he could blow up at me.

The mask I was wearing was a plague doctor mask—
the kind those doctors wore during the Black Death.

The reason I chose such a niche, creepy mask was simple:

“It’s cooler than the masks movie killers wear…”

Coolness is everything.
Every stylish villain in media has a terrifying mask for a reason.

Since I had to move between different places, I decided:

One mask per role.

Visiting Bar Manjang → plague doctor mask
Doing appraisals → fancy Venetian mask
Doing repairs → Guy Fawkes mask
Acting as the “Market Owner” → black mask with a veil
Entering other floors → simple half-mask

I stocked them all in my inventory.

Will I look like a deranged man with too much commitment to aesthetics?
Yes.

Is that better than having my identity exposed?
Also yes.

Maybe people will think the Friendly Market owner just has a hobby of switching masks…

Anyway, with that dumb thought, I reached Bar Manjang.

And immediately felt something was off.

‘Why is it so crowded today?’

Bar Manjang was always noisy—
but today, it was easily twice as chaotic.

I expected foot traffic to decrease because the 50th floor opened.

But instead, hordes of people carrying mountains of luggage were rushing in and out.

I slipped into a corner and observed.

And then I realized—

They were all Aegis Guild staff.

Everywhere I looked, people wearing uniforms with the Aegis white-shield emblem were hauling piles of supplies toward the warp gate.

But here’s what was truly ridiculous:

‘Why are they all coming out of my store?’

They were literally streaming out of the Bar Manjang branch of Friendly Market.

‘Is Kang Yeonhee’s potion business booming THAT hard?’

I mean, good for me—my commission grows too.

Thinking nothing of it, I quietly slipped into the store.

The moment no one noticed me enter—

“……”

Kang Yeonhee stood inside the workshop, looking like she hadn’t eaten in a week.

She looked like a Dementor sucked out her soul.

“…Are you okay?”

Yeonhee slowly lifted her head.

Even though I was wearing a plague doctor mask, she didn’t react at all.
She just stared at me for a long moment before bowing.

How anticlimactic.

‘I mean… I thought she’d at least flinch.’

“You’re not surprised?”

“If you knew how many days I’ve stayed up, you’d be more surprised, unnie.”

Her voice cracked terribly.
I flinched.

Ah, right.
I was supposed to speak casually to her.

“How many days?”

“About three days… with maybe four hours of sleep total. Thanks to potions.”

No wonder she looked half-dead.

“So why are there so many customers?”

“That’s what I want to know. I restock the shelf and it empties. Restock, empties again. It’s so fast I can’t keep up. I was taking a break while the potions boil.”

You call… standing upright like a zombie… a break?

“What brings you here today?”

I wasn’t sure if it was right to bring up work to someone in this state—

But the version of Yeonhee who usually greeted me with a bright “Unnie!” was gone today.

So I stayed calm and got to the point.

“I made your potion shop into a second branch on the 50th floor—Babel Square branch. I came to order potions for steady sales.”

At that, Yeonhee shut her eyes tightly.

“…Okay… but not right now.”

“Why not?”

“Aegis bought out all the A-rank potions. You saw the people outside, right?”

I turned to the window.

Sure enough, the people lined up at the display shelf were all Aegis staff.

“Three days ago, a bulk order came in. Since then, no matter how much I restock, Aegis buys everything. I leave half for general hunters and half for reservations, but even the ones on display are gone instantly.”

Yeonhee’s lips trembled slightly.

I knew she made at least 100 potions daily—
300 if she really pushed herself.

And because of her skill’s penalty, she couldn’t use any automatic process.

Everything was handmade.

Just thinking about that workload made my heart ache.

“Why is Aegis buying so much all of a sudden?”

“Right? This 51st floor expedition—they only came out after three days, and they’re not going back in yet… so why buy everything?”

The more I heard, the stranger it felt.

Aegis exited the 51st floor in three days—
And now they’re buying every potion in sight.

Aegis should already have its own potion production line.

Something wasn’t adding up.

‘What is going on?’

I bit my lip, thinking hard.

Something felt horribly wrong, but I couldn’t identify it.

“Unnie?”

Yeonhee called, and I looked up.

She blinked at me in confusion.

“And… why are you wearing that mask?”

“Oh, this? To hide my identity.”

“Fair enough. You look like a villain here to destroy the place.”

Half-dead as she was, Yeonhee managed a weak laugh.

I didn’t take it personally.

After all, I had already destroyed one person’s dignity today.

But then—

Suddenly—

My expression froze.

“…Oh no.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I… uh… forgot to turn off the gas stove…”

“That is important, yes.”

Yeonhee nodded solemnly.

But unlike her calmness, emergency sirens exploded in my head.

Because something extremely important hit me:

Babel Tower’s rule.
If a floor is not cleared within a year, that dimension is destroyed.

‘Lee Haewon, how could you forget THAT?!’

Korea’s tower was fine.

But the rest of the world?

Every other country had been stuck at the 49th floor for ages.

Except Korea—because I blew all my gold to rush-clear it.

Meaning—

Earth’s countdown to destruction was almost over.

I immediately called Sam.

[⁕ Yes? You called? :)]

‘You said I could access other Babel Towers, right?’

After finishing the latest quest, I saw a message saying new Open Market functions were unlocked.

[⁕ Of course 🙂
You can access all Babel Towers within the same dimension.
Currently accessible Babel Towers on Earth: 37.]

Thirty-seven.

Not as many as the number of countries,
but definitely not few.

If even one of those 37 towers fails to clear the 49th floor—
Earth becomes the stage for another dimension.

And I have zero desire to live in a world like that gray wasteland I saw.

“This is bad.”

“Yes, very bad. Go turn off your stove.”

“Y-yeah, have fun working. I’ll go handle that stove.”

Of course, the “stove” was the least important part.

Ignoring Yeonhee’s worried stare, I logged into the Market immediately.

Thankfully, I didn’t need to search manually.

My past purchase records were neatly saved:

“Re-purchase same item — 37 units.”

[⁕ Due to price changes, purchasing 20 units costs 102,387G. :)]

“…Why is it so expensive?!”

I swear I bought them for around 80,000G before.
Prices must’ve skyrocketed.

But I couldn’t ignore this.

[Gold Owned: 369,024G]

I stared at my carefully saved gold.

I couldn’t afford all 37 at once.

‘Fine. Sell one, use the money to buy another, repeat.’

Holding back tears, I clicked re-purchase three times.

[Gold Owned: 61,863G]

My hard-earned money…!
My sweet gold…!

Vision blurred with tears, but I forced myself to focus.

Money can be earned again.

And these will definitely sell.

After all, Korea’s reaction after clearing 49F had been insane.

No reason other countries would be different.

‘So how do I access the other towers?’

Do I have to go myself?

If the Avengers had known saving the world was this annoying, they would’ve quit.

[⁕ You can set up “temporary stalls” in other regions 🙂
No manager required.
Sales link directly to you.]

“Beautiful.”

No reason to hesitate then.

Next to the bubbling potion cauldron was an empty chair.
I dragged it over and summoned my hologram laptop.

Sam neatly opened the temporary stall settings.

Shop name, banner, and sales items—
Time to fill them in.

‘Disable inquiries. Obviously.’

Temporary stalls were tiny, like night-market vendor stands with a little banner.

[> Friendly Market Temporary Stall Inventory
— 49th Floor Speedrun Package: 200,000G]

Shop Name: Friendly Market Temporary Stall
Item: Speedrun Package
Banner Text: Time to think.

‘People need an explanation.’

So I typed:

[Hello, this is the Friendly Market.
To assist hunters around the world stuck on the 49th floor, we are selling the “49F Speedrun Package.”
We do not accept inquiries of any kind.
To purchase, simply press the purchase button at this stall.]

Long, but legal disclaimers are always long.

Then Sam displayed the final confirmation:

[⁕ Establish temporary stalls at all 37 Babel Towers (25F)?]

“Yes.”

Across Earth, in all 25F Bar Manjangs, my stalls would now suddenly appear.

People were probably screaming already.

I let out a long sigh.

The crisis wasn’t solved—
not yet—
but the most urgent part was handled.

Then, a thought I’d never considered before hit me.

‘What happens when someone actually clears all 100 floors?’

What does Babel reward?
What happens to a dimension afterward?

No one knew.