Chapter 33
[Did anyone else see? Friendly Market stalls spawned overseas;; what is this??]
You know that Friendly Market building that appeared in Bar Manjang?
And the Babel Square building on the 50th floor?
Apparently, that same thing suddenly appeared in foreign towers too.
And they’re selling some “Speedrun Package”?
Rumor says Cha Geundam bought one LOL
Turns out it was legit so he basically cleared 49F for free.
– Stop trolling LOL just admit Cha Geundam is impressive!
– No, did you see foreign gossip? That package is like 20 billion won LOL how would Cha Geundam afford that??
└ Never said he used his own money LOL probably got sponsored.
– Isn’t Friendly Market owned by a Korean? How does a Korean open shops in foreign towers??
└ Global expansion OP LOL
*
[Breaking News: USA cleared the 49th floor]
Government confirmed they bought the Speedrun Package.
Cleared the scenario in 4 days. 1 dead, 7 injured.
Apparently there are 20 subquests you must clear before unlocking the main quest—
and most teams die in those subquests.
But these guys cleared all subquests in an hour.
Then cleared the main quest. The one casualty happened there.
– ?????
– Is this real? Stop lying.
– Japan reportedly just cleared it too. The floor stuck for half a year suddenly got solved LOL
└ 100% because of Friendly Market.
└ “FrMa-god” LOL
*
[Friendly Market clears 29 towers’ 49F within one week of opening]
This is getting scary.
I’m not even talking conspiracy theory—
Seriously,
49F had the whole world stuck, and this store cleared 29 towers in a single week.
Isn’t this a balance issue now?
– Then what about the ones that didn’t clear?
└ Probably countries that can’t afford it
└ Yep. Also countries whose borders are crossed by the tower enter late.
└ Countries that climb jointly need time to pick their participants
*
[Anyone seen the staff at Babel Square’s Information Desk??]
Went to pick up a map and the guy told me “It’s at the main gate” in one line and I almost pissed myself.
Dude is like over 2 meters tall.
Hands are the size of frying pans.
Body like a refrigerator.
Looks like an American military police type, and even his name was foreign.
Alexander? Alexandro?
Why is a foreigner working in our tower’s info desk??
– Must’ve naturalized LOL
– No for real, he looks terrifying
└ If he hits you once your skin will peel
***
…Alexandro’s already famous, huh.
Well, he was a royal knight commander of the Falcone Kingdom, after all.
Of course he has presence.
“He’s actually really nice.”
If that commenter knew the painful backstory that man carries, they’d be crying.
I muttered explanations to a stranger who would never hear them,
then kept scrolling.
I hadn’t been able to go home to my cozy Babel Square apartment for a week.
Instead, I rented a medium-sized one-room apartment right outside the tower.
Every time a Speedrun Package sold, I needed to list a new one.
And I needed to constantly check which towers had cleared 49F.
So yeah… I was basically living as a hermit.
Thankfully, Alexandro seemed to be doing a great job in my absence.
And thanks to money, countries worldwide were clearing 49F like a domino effect.
It was a bit sad that I—a pure, righteous person—was now seen as a shady figure…
But considering Earth’s fate, I’d call it acceptable.
“Did another country clear it?”
Checking the news, I froze.
[Breaking] Unprecedented 7-Guild Alliance Formed…
51F Reattempt Scheduled
Excuse me?
The seven major guilds??
The ones who tear each other apart 24/7??
They formed an alliance?!
I clicked the article in disbelief.
**[Last week, Korea’s top guild Aegis failed their first attempt at clearing the 51st floor.
Following this, an unprecedented alliance of the seven major guilds has been formed.
Guildmaster Seo Jaehyuk stated,
“The difficulty was far beyond expectations.
We concluded that clearing the 51st floor safely is impossible for a single guild.”
The guild alliance will challenge the 51st floor again in three days.
Core elites from each guild will be announced at 8AM that morning.
Industry insiders predict that if this joint expedition succeeds,
cooperative tower climbing may become the new meta.]**
***
Woah.
So that’s why Aegis bought all the potions…
“They were preparing for a joint reattempt?”
My expression stiffened.
Just how hard is the 51st floor?
Seo Jaehyuk is stubborn and prideful.
If even he decided they need an alliance, it must be brutal.
Unless the scenario’s clear condition was
“Act cute to Seo Jaehyuk,”
this wasn’t going to be easy.
‘Damn it.’
I was eagerly waiting for 55F…
This is terrible timing.
“Can I see the 51F info somehow?”
[⁕ You can, if you enter physically.
You cannot view scenario data from outside.
Also, during “Merchant’s Mark” usage, scenario info remains hidden. :)]
Meaning if I go there now, I still can’t see the scenario.
Great.
At 51F, an E-rank like me would get killed by a stiff breeze.
I sighed and stared at Babel Tower outside my window.
Dangerous as it was,
I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Especially because the floor where I might find clues about my brother was getting closer.
And seeing Aegis fail made me anxious.
After a long, messy internal debate, I got off the bed.
‘The reattempt is in 3 days…’
Which means right now, the 51st floor is empty.
Perfect for someone with the Merchant’s Mark.
Even if I can’t see the scenario info,
I can at least inspect the environment.
A basic scouting trip should be fine.
And if 51F is structured like 49F—
where self-clearing is impossible—
maybe there’s something I can do to help later.
I quickly packed my things and shoved everything into my inventory.
I don’t know how I—someone extremely introverted—
ended up going on solo reconnaissance missions like this,
but…
“Let’s go take a little walk.”
There was never really another option.
***
51st Floor
I’m insane.
That was my first thought after stepping through the warp gate.
Actually, I’d been thinking it ever since I left the apartment,
but being here made the insanity official.
This was way beyond a “little walk.”
But I was here now.
Adjusting my white half-mask, I took in the air of the 51st floor.
Unlike 49F—which dumped me in front of a fortress in a barren wasteland—
this floor was full of towering trees.
But it didn’t feel natural.
The leaves were yellowing at the tips,
branches drooping and brittle.
The trees looked unhealthy—
but not neglected.
Each trunk had a crude wooden tube or bottle stuck into it, filled with white liquid like sap.
Someone had tried to treat them.
Like a patient ignoring symptoms for too long,
then getting emergency treatment.
So the 51F setting was… dying nature?
I opened a new message:
[New Message
– That place used to be a brilliant city of magitech.
Airships gliding through the sky powered by magic stones—
a breathtaking sight indeed.
A civilization where magic and machinery intertwined like art.
Ι –Manti (Dimension – ■■)]
That is definitely not where I am.
I thanked Manti and sighed as I looked around.
The airships and machines he described?
Nowhere in sight.
Even those treatment tubes looked handmade.
Maybe the 49th floor is the same in every dimension,
but 51F differs depending on the world?
If so, the griffon feather might not be on 55F after all.
“…I’m screwed.”
I searched for signs of life.
I followed a trail where someone had walked before—
yet the forest was eerily silent.
No birds.
No insects.
I walked for ages.
‘Where is everyone?’
I didn’t want to walk 20,000 steps until my legs swelled.
Good thing I brought something.
I mounted my magically powered vehicle,
the “Nocturne Gart Genius”—
or “Noc-Ga-Cheon” for short—
and sped forward.
Still no one.
“…Is this place deserted?”
Maybe I dropped into the wrong spot?
[⁕ Merchants do not spawn at the scenario’s starting point.
You are placed in a zone where merchants can operate. :)]
Oh.
“Well, thanks for THAT info—
that would’ve helped earlier.”
So that’s why I landed in the dark mage hideout on 49F too.
The system sees “merchant” and throws me wherever I could theoretically do business.
Great.
Just as I thought that,
I spotted black smoke rising far away.
‘A signal fire?!’
It couldn’t be, but it looked primitive.
I yanked Noc-Ga-Cheon’s controls and sped toward the smoke.
If there’s smoke, there’s people.
After a minute, a village fence appeared.
Relief washed over me.
Maybe I could finally learn something.
I reached the entrance and—
“…A human?”
It was a beastman village.
A towering bear-headed man—easily three meters tall, huge human-like legs—pointed a spear at me.
Behind him, squirrel-tailed beastmen, wolf-faced beastmen, hoof-footed beastmen…
All armed, all watching me with hostility.
I froze.
I was expecting humans.
Instead—beastfolk.
The irony of me, who texts with a talking cat, being caught off guard like this…
Apparently I’m more narrow-minded than I thought.
While I was mentally spiraling, the bear-man spoke.
“State your identity.”
His voice was rough and full of pressure.
I shrank back but forced myself to straighten up.
I’d dealt with Falcone knights—this was fine.
If I introduced myself as a merchant, maybe they’d relax.
I smiled politely.
“Hello, I’m Haewon Lee, a traveling merchant. What is this place?”
“Traveling?”
He scoffed and ignored my question entirely.
I was just a harmless merchant!
Why the attitude?
Before I could explain further, he cut me off again.
“A human selling goods here, huh. There’s a potion buyer inside. Go there.”
The words were informative—
but the tone dripped with contempt.
What did I do?!
My friendly merchant persona felt utterly wasted.
‘Are they hostile to humans?’
Considering he specifically said “human,” probably yes.
And I didn’t know the scenario storyline.
Not like I could risk my life asking about it.
I knew I should stay quiet and observe.
But seriously—why was I, beloved by dark mages, being treated like trash?
I couldn’t resist asking—
“Um… why are you—”
“Just take care of your business and leave.”
He shut me down instantly, glaring coldly.
Cutting someone off mid-sentence in Korea is basically a declaration of war.
Normally I’d respond sharply—
but his three-meter-tall presence silenced me.
He added quietly,
“This place is not kind to humans.”
