Chapter 8
Store Opening Event (1)**
The day after clearing the 36th floor with the “Violent Suppression” guild—
I woke up early in the morning and headed straight to the Tower.
Compared to the previous quest—completing 100 transactions—
this new quest looked much easier.
‘If it’s doable, I should finish it quickly.’
The goal this time was to establish an offline branch.
The “mid-level rest station” meant the neutral area on the 25th floor of the Babel Tower—
a hub where Awakeners freely came and went from floors 1 to 24.
“So why is an open market telling me to set up an offline store?”
***
[⁕ Gaining various trading experiences as an Open Market Manager is extremely important.
Think of it as Babel’s special consideration for you :)]
“Special consideration my foot.”
It sounded like Sam thought I was being treated like some kind of VIP.
I didn’t even have the strength to argue.
Let Sam daydream if it wants.
I shook my head with a sigh just as Hunters armed with all kinds of gear began to appear.
Meaning: I was now very close to the Babel Tower.
‘I hope I clear this quest quickly.’
It took a whole two weeks to finish the second quest.
Considering how much sweat I shed, I could probably flood the Tower.
…Meanwhile, I looked like a grubby little pauper.
Since I’d been stuck grinding quests, I couldn’t do any part-time jobs,
and Sam kept warning me not to exchange gold for money.
[⁕ You will need a lot of gold while doing title quests, so please delay converting it to cash :)]
*
The result?
I earned over 100 million won in real-world value but didn’t have a single actual won in my wallet.
I wanted to join the split of the Jade Ring money, but Sam blocked that too.
It said my 36th-floor trading might be flagged as an “anomaly,”
and leaving a suspicious trace would be dangerous.
Then couldn’t it have told me in advance how much gold I needed?!
It wasn’t even like I needed much—
Just 500,000 won would’ve been enough…
‘When this quest ends, I’m exchanging ALL the remaining money.’
I calmed my boiling frustration with practical thoughts.
If I exchanged it into cash, maybe I could move from monthly rent to a deposit-based lease.
My landlord had been pestering me nonstop about when I’d leave—it was stressing me out.
Since I needed to visit the Tower often, I had to stay in Seoul.
And now that I lived alone, I didn’t need a two-bedroom.
I wanted to stay realistic and not dream too big.
“…Is a deposit-based lease considered humble?”
I clicked my tongue at my own contradiction when Sam spoke again.
*
[⁕ By the way, how did you obtain the griffon feather? :)]
“My brother’s keepsake.”
I answered shortly while stopping at a crosswalk.
I thought Sam only explained the Market manual,
but apparently its AI had grown a bit.
‘Pretty advanced for an artificial intelligence.’
It had dragged out a memory I tried not to think about.
Come to think of it—
If I moved out, my brother’s presence would completely disappear along with the apartment.
‘So the feather wasn’t his last trace… it was the house.’
My eyes stung faintly as memories surfaced.
After our parents died in a car accident,
my brother practically raised me alone.
But that brief moment of sentiment was cut short when Sam spoke again.
*
[⁕ Griffons are quite dangerous monsters and usually appear only on high Tower floors.
They only start showing up around the 50th floor :(]
“Could be— Wait, WHAT?”
The 50th floor?!
“That’s impossible.”
I muttered blankly.
It was the stupidity of someone realizing a fact they never considered.
Korea had cleared the 48th floor six months ago
and had been stuck on the 49th floor ever since.
Meaning: no one had ever reached the 50th floor.
Even as someone who practically lived on Babel Wiki,
I had never seen any record of a “griffon feather”—
or even a griffon.
‘Why did I never question what the feather was?’
I just thought it was a pretty feather and never bothered to look.
“…Is that really true?”
[⁕ I cannot lie :)]
*
Yeah… it’s not like Sam gains anything from lying.
‘Then where did my brother get this feather?’
I considered whether he bought it on the Awakener Market,
but that made no sense.
No country in the world had cleared the 49th floor,
meaning griffons had never been officially seen anywhere.
And more importantly—
When my brother brought the feather home, he said:
“This is today’s loot.”
My brother didn’t lie.
Especially not to me.
After our parents died when I was eight,
he didn’t have time to despair.
He had to protect and raise his clueless little sister.
A brother like that would never lie about something like this.
‘What on earth happened…?’
Are they saying my brother somehow reached the 50th floor?
And a person capable of doing that…
died in a C-rank Gate?
“This… I need to look into this.”
I turned and walked toward a convenience store.
Inside, I easily found what I needed and emptied my pockets to pay.
If the modern world couldn’t reach the 50th floor—
then I would ask someone who could help.
A polite cat I knew—
one whose affection I maxed out with just a single churu.
***
* * *
[Manti, I got chicken-flavor churu today, not salmon. Want to try it?]
Once I reached the 25th floor, I sent the message and looked around.
Messaging someone you’ve traded with—
this system was really handy.
Even if the other party wasn’t human but a cat.
For now, I pushed the griffon feather mystery aside until Manti replied.
Today my mission was simple: open a store here.
“Oh.”
The moment I stepped onto the 25th floor, something felt off.
It looked nothing like what I expected.
First of all—
it was unbelievably crowded.
“No wonder people call it Babel Plaza.”
I thought people exaggerated when they called the 25th floor the Tower’s plaza.
But as the hub connecting floors 1 to 24,
it really was packed wall-to-wall.
Lower-ranked Awakeners farmed stats by repeatedly clearing reset floors…
but still—
‘How are there THIS many people?’
It was overwhelming.
I looked around, feeling oddly out of place.
Inside the massive hall, various facilities were set up everywhere.
‘It’s literally a highway rest stop.’
In the center, a giant pillar glowed blue—
the warp gate where people queued endlessly.
Some were even stumbling out, vomiting, like they ran from a monster.
And along the walls were bases belonging to top guilds.
Probably forward bases for their raid teams.
Their banners hung above, and guild members greeted newcomers like receptionists.
“…So where exactly am I supposed to set up?”
I blinked in disbelief.
There was no space.
I thought being “Open Market Manager” meant I’d be the only one allowed to sell things here.
But—
“Freshly brewed potions! Only 3 gold!”
“Jerky for long raids available!”
“Tips for conquering floors 1–24, only 1 gold!”
“Need emergency armor? We got it!”
“…”
There were almost as many stalls as people.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Every inch of space that wasn’t a walkway
was occupied by people selling goods—
potions, food, armor, information, everything.
***
[⁕ Only an Open Market Manager can open an actual, legitimate store here 🙂
Try finding a good spot.]
…So I really was supposed to set up something special, right?
Even if I looked totally unimpressive,
I still had an EX-rank title.
After wandering around for a long time, I finally sighed.
There were empty spots.
But…
“…That spot is really perfect.”
A black-haired alchemist was selling potions using three folding tables—
right next to the warp gate.
Everyone exiting or entering would see it.
“A prime location, seriously.”
If I sold potions there, I could sell thousands daily.
But I wasn’t heartless enough to destroy the livelihood of a hardworking early-morning vendor.
[⁕ Do you like that spot? :)]
I answered casually.
“I do. It’d be best to build there. Once that guy packs up and goes home, I’ll build—”
Before I even finished—
[12,000G has been deducted.]
[Opening Friendly Market Branch #1
Location: Earth Dimension – Korea Region – Babel Tower 25F]
“What? YOU—YOU CRAZY…!!”
KU-GOOOOONG—
A deep rumbling sound came from somewhere.
Before I could process what was happening,
the ground under the alchemist began to rise.
“W-WHAT IS THIS?—!”
His voice grew smaller as he went up.
A perfectly rectangular sky-blue wall shot upward like an elevator.
Windows and doors formed automatically,
and the building stopped at about two stories tall.
A neat, pastel-blue, boxy building had appeared out of nowhere.
His three neatly arranged tables full of potions?
Now sitting on the roof of the new building.
Since a building suddenly appeared among the market stalls,
everyone around stopped and stared.
“What the—?”
“Did a building just appear out of thin air?!”
People froze mid-step.
The alchemist, now stranded on the roof, looked down in disbelief.
“WHAT—WHAT IS HAPPENING—?!”
I stared blankly and murmured,
“You… absolute maniac…”
I’d forgotten for a few days that Sam had zero interest in getting user approval before acting.
***
[⁕ From Babel Tower’s perspective, every other seller here is illegally occupying space :)]
If you’re going to say something like that—
could you NOT smile?
It claimed it was helping me, but it kept stressing me out instead.
“I told you I wanted to build it AFTER he shut down! Are you stupid?!”
[⁕ You said you liked the spot.
So I interpreted it as your approval to proceed :)]
“…”
I had forgotten the cardinal rule when using free-tier AI:
You must teach it EVERYTHING.
I swallowed my anger.
“Sam, from now on, do NOT act unless I approve it first.
Ask me, and wait for OK.”
[⁕ Yes. I will follow the manager’s instructions.
Memory updated :)]
At least it responded properly.
Maybe if I trained it more, it’d stop causing disasters.
Meanwhile, on the roof, the alchemist who lost his entire store screamed pitifully.
“My… my potions… I made them this morning… w-waaaah…!”
Loud, miserable, heartbreaking cries.
Ah, my conscience.
[⁕ If you open the store, the quest will be completed :)]A
And Sam still had the nerve to remind me.
“My potions… waaahhhh!”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“This is insane.”
How could I possibly open a store like this, you clueless guide?!
