Chapter 62
The day after the scenario on the 51st floor ended and peace returned.
On the 3rd floor of Babel Square, 50th floor—my cozy home.
I stared blankly at the air and murmured softly:
“Mr. Alessandro.”
“Why such a gloomy tone?”
“I’m… screwed.”
Alessandro froze for a moment and turned around.
Then, muttering as if something was strange:
“…Aren’t you a woman?”
Alessandro seemed unable to grasp the meaning behind my words and shrugged as if he didn’t understand me.
Maybe it was the difference in generation or dimension, but Alessandro wasn’t the type to intuitively catch subtle hints.
Instead of explaining in detail, I pointed to the table.
A rare newspaper, almost impossible to see in the 21st century, lay on it. The headline was huge and attention-grabbing:
[Top Contributor to the 51st Floor Raid, Who is ‘Ihae’?]
“Yeah… Ihae. Isn’t that your name?”
“That’s exactly the problem.”
“I see.”
Alessandro, apparently unwilling to show any sympathy, didn’t comment further and began flipping through the papers filled with text.
It was frustrating.
I leaned on the table, muttering:
“Seriously… being the boss is such a pain…”
“This company seems like it should be expelled. The owner is accused of tax evasion and has committed crimes multiple times.”
“Ah, then we should expel them. What crimes exactly?”
“Fraud, illegal gambling, and hit-and-run… What’s a hit-and-run?”
“Messing up someone else’s life and pretending it didn’t happen.”
“Bad guy.”
I answered half-heartedly, glancing at the papers, then suddenly lifted my head in shock.
“No, I’m telling you, it’s upsetting!”
“Even if it’s upsetting, work still needs to be done, doesn’t it? I wonder if it’s right for a mid-level manager to do this work at all.”
“But I gave them a building.”
“That’s true.”
Alessandro, after a small, timid objection, quickly conceded and shifted his gaze.
Realizing that getting F-tier empathy from Alessandro was impossible, I sighed deeply and picked up another document.
We were examining the paperwork Jiwoon Park had requested to expel “blacklisted companies” from operating in Friendly Market.
Maybe because he had experience as a knight commander in the Falcon Kingdom, Alessandro was fairly competent with paperwork.
Of course, seeing him flip A4 sheets with his huge hands—like pot lids—was a little funny.
“Are you just going to let me handle this alone?”
“I… am doing it.”
Alessandro, again scolding me obliviously, made me straighten up from my slouched position.
Though it was a sad situation where my nickname had been revealed at the worst timing, I had work to do.
“Why does work always keep piling up?”
I thought being a building owner would mean just lounging around and enjoying life.
“By the way, a lot of people came looking for the building owner while you were away.”
“Ha, this popularity…”
Even now, so many people were searching for me—being famous was exhausting.
I shook my head and checked my notifications.
[Awakened One Lee Haewon – Open Market Administrator (EX)]
New Notifications: 2
Transaction Alerts: 23
“Friendly Appraisal” inquiries: 4
“Friendly Repairs” inquiries: 7
“Information Desk” inquiries: 11
Looking at the mountain of notifications, I groaned:
“Ugh, I don’t want to work.”
Alessandro, still focused on the papers, quietly spoke:
“Keep sighing like that, and your luck will run out.”
“….”
Wait, this guy doesn’t understand when I say I’m screwed, but somehow learned about “luck running out”?
“Oh, the settlement for the shop fees is done. Check it out.”
That tiny news made me slightly happy.
While I was on the 51st floor, Alessandro had successfully finished the fee settlements.
Finally, I could recover the gold I had lost on the 51st floor.
‘Might as well check my status window too.’
— Awakened One Info —
Awakened One: Lee Haewon
Unique Title: Open Market Administrator (EX)
Affiliation: Dimension-Earth Ι Region-Korea
Awakening Grade: E [Locked]
Unique Skills:
[Dimensional Gate Lv.2] [Item Appraisal Lv.2] [Repair Lv.2] [Merchant’s Mark (P)]
Babel Highest Floor Reached: 51
Gold Owned: 37,952G
Achievements (2)
“Tsk.”
I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.
There was really no need to check.
Unlike other Awakened Ones whose stats steadily increased, the only thing that changed for me was my gold.
Still, my Babel record had reached the 51st floor.
‘Though not by choice.’
I closed the unremarkable status window and checked the accumulated tasks.
[> New Notifications: 2]
Title Quest (7) completed.
Skill ‘Repair’ level increased.
“Whoa!”
“Almost dropped the kid, Ihae.”
Alessandro seemed genuinely surprised like a middle-aged Korean, while I hurriedly clicked the completion notification.
I had worked so hard to clear the 51st floor, yet hadn’t checked the reward!
‘How is this even possible?’
I stared blankly, shocked at my own poor memory.
After all, having a reward is what motivates you to endure unpleasant work.
I had been curious about the triple-question-mark reward just the other day, and now I had completely forgotten.
I stared at the window, full of anticipation.
[Received “Fragment of Memory of ■ whose Name is Not Revealed” as a Title Quest reward.]
“Ugh, this damn—”
“Why are you like this? Your emotions are wild today.”
Thankfully, Alessandro interrupted before I could curse.
Still, I was seething inside.
I had been told to work, but the reward was… what, some vague memory fragment?
Looking at the mysterious item stored in my inventory only made me angrier.
It looked like a simple black orb, neither shiny nor mysterious.
Just a bead.
‘Are you kidding me?’
Well… maybe there’s something inside.
I tried to calm down and checked the orb’s info.
[Fragment of Memory of ■ whose Name is Not Revealed (??)]
■■ did ■■ to ■■■ of ■■ in order to ■■.
[Dimensional Gate] viewable at skill level 3 or higher.
“Argh, damn it! What is this!”
A complete failure.
Seeing the explanation covered in black squares, I shouted.
Alessandro carefully covered one ear.
“Congratulations,” he said.
I ignored the dry, off-target congratulations when suddenly—
knock knock knock-
A careful knock broke the comic-like atmosphere.
Alessandro’s eyes flashed, sensing an unwelcome guest.
“Hey, put the knife down, sir.”
When did he even pull a knife?
Who else could be on the restricted 3rd floor besides Alessandro and me?
I opened the door without suspicion.
“Unnie, I’m here! Wow, this place is amazing! There’s no door, but I could come in? It’s like Platform 9¾!”
As soon as the door opened, Kang Yeonhee burst in, smiling brightly.
Her appearance seemed scruffy, as if she had lost weight drastically compared to a few weeks ago. I asked casually:
“Were you sick?”
“No, not really. I’ve been tasting a lot of new potions lately, so my stomach’s full and I haven’t been eating well. Maybe that’s why I lost weight?”
Ah, it was an unintended potion detox.
I managed to calm my boiling frustration over the ridiculous memory fragment reward.
“What are we doing today?”
“Work, the boss called you.”
“Ehhh.”
Kang Yeonhee pouted slightly in disappointment.
I had called her up to the 50th floor to re-evaluate registered companies.
Since this was a fairly mundane reason to summon her, I guided her inside quietly.
Then, pointing at Alessandro who was still unsure whether to sheath his knife, I introduced them quickly.
“This is 25th floor administrator Kang Yeonhee. She’s an alchemist and younger than me. This gentleman is the 50th floor administrator, Alessandro Gale—”
“Haile.”
“Alessandro Haile. As you can see, he’s a refugee.”
Concise, clean introduction.
Yeonhee glanced at him and awkwardly bowed.
Alessandro was wary until I reassured him five times, and only stopped when I yelled for him to quit.
A few minutes later, we sat around the table and began carefully comparing Babel’s blacklist and the registered companies list.
“Unnie, it’s crazy! Everyone’s asking who ‘Ihae’ is.”
Yeonhee couldn’t hold back her words.
“That figures, of course.”
“Is it true you went to the 51st floor? I saw the news and was shocked.”
I wished it were a dream, but I had wandered the Ganasia Continent too long. There was no energy left to lie.
“Wow… me overturning the potion stand really caused a butterfly effect…”
Yeonhee muttered absent-mindedly, her hands pausing mid-air.
‘Wait, did I actually knock it over?’
Seems like her memory had been slightly altered.
Alessandro gently tapped the table, and Yeonhee reflexively started checking the papers again.
Her focus, of course, didn’t last long.
Her eyes brightened as she asked:
“Then, unnie, will you go to the 53rd floor too?”
“Why would I go there?”
“You were amazing on the 51st floor, not going to the 53rd would be a national loss!”
“My personal losses would be huge.”
“Don’t you have any patriotism?”
“I almost died several times.”
“Ah… then that won’t do. Almost dying… must have been scary.”
“But I didn’t die, which means there must be a way to survive, right?”
I shook my head at their polar opposite answers and continued flipping through papers.
“Anyway, I won’t be gone for long from now on, so don’t worry. No trouble in the market, right?”
“Nope! Except that people keep… coming every day…”
Had I really neglected the market?
Yeonhee looked bitter, so I subtly avoided eye contact.
I felt grateful that she wasn’t blaming me.
‘Ah, right.’
I remembered I had an item that could cheer Yeonhee up.
I opened my inventory casually and said:
“I brought you a gift.”
“A gift?”
I handed the item I had prepared to the confused Yeonhee.
“What is this?”
“Mixture Herb.”
I had obtained it from the tortoise beastman, Gilead’s garden, “with proper payment.”
The word “mixture herb” made the eyes of an alchemy-obsessed human sparkle with madness.
You could see a mix of awe and delight.
I didn’t expect such a reaction, but I was glad she liked it.
“This was such a fuss, even Hanromi wanted it.”
Of course, I didn’t fail to mention my contribution.
People naturally want recognition for what they do.
Regardless, Yeonhee hugged the herbs, nearly crying.
“Unnie…”
“Let’s boost sales with this. These potions are too cheap right now.”
I tried to cut the emotional scene with practicality, but Yeonhee didn’t seem to care.
“I’ve been researching a potion recently, but maximizing its effect was difficult…! I think I can make a more powerful, special potion than the usual A or B grades! I’m so excited! Can I go try it now?”
“That won’t do. You have to finish reviewing the papers first.”
“…Ah.”
Yeonhee nodded sheepishly, flipping through the papers but clearly distracted.
Her mind was already in the potion mess.
Then Alessandro, who had been quiet for a while, lifted his head.
He seemed to want to say something.
“Speak.”
Hesitating despite my generous patience, Alessandro finally asked quietly:
“Don’t I get anything?”
“Yes.”
“…Really?”
“Really.”
Alessandro stared blankly at me and lowered his head.
Seeing that big guy shrink like that made me…
‘Shiver-inducing.’
I shook my head.
Ah, right.
At that time, I had no idea that, at that very moment, a fierce meeting was happening in Babel about “Who exactly is Ihae?”
