Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Even Hastily Made Ones Keep Stacking Up as EX-Rank (104)

What is this thing

A few days later.

“Phew, I guess this is good enough?”

Inside the subspace, Lee Si-hyeok muttered with a satisfied smile.

In front of him, a three-story building stood tall against the backdrop of endless darkness.

The outer walls, which appropriately combined metal materials and glass, gave off a sophisticated atmosphere, while walnut-toned wood added coziness here and there.

With warm-colored lighting added on top of that, it was the perfect finishing touch.

‘A research institute!’

That’s right, he had completed the research institute over the course of three whole weeks.

A sense of satisfaction welled up from deep within his heart.

He was even more satisfied because he had built the exterior with a very unique concept.

To think that both sophistication and coziness could be felt at the same time.

Originally, he had planned to pursue only efficiency, but this was the result of changing the design midway through.

Was it right after visiting Cheongyeon Workshop?

That old wooden building sitting alone in the middle of the plateau had looked so peaceful. So he changed it to the idea of getting some healing while he was building anyway.

‘I like it more than I thought I would.’

A result that exceeded his imagination had been born.

It was while he was briefly standing with his arms crossed, admiring the building with satisfied eyes.

A cheerful notification sound rang out and a message appeared before his eyes.

―Ding!

[Hidden condition fulfilled! There is an Achievement currently in progress!]

[You can evolve this Achievement to the next stage!]

[Would you like to evolve it?]

“As expected.”

Instead of being surprised, Lee Si-hyeok grinned as if he had anticipated this.

He had somewhat predicted this from the moment he achieved 『Neat and Tidy Subspace』. The Achievement was still in ‘progress’ status after all.

If the first condition was organizing the subspace, then he had thought that creating something next would also become a trigger.

He nodded his head.

[The Achievement in progress is evolving.]

[『Neat and Tidy Subspace』 → new! 『Extraordinary Subspace』]

[Achievement 『Extraordinary Subspace』

This is amazing. You have gone beyond being the first living being to clean a subspace and have constructed a new building in that space. The mana from the cracks gathers toward the building with its delicate mana circuits.]

[Your strange imagination has shattered the sky and advanced into the distance.]

[Accordingly, your research institute is granted permanent buff effects.]

“Oh.”

If he were to guess the principle, it would probably be…

As a result of delicately weaving mana circuits with various magic stones in the process of designing the research institute, those circuits gradually draw in the mana from the cracks that existed in this subspace.

As he had seen at Danyang County Cliff, mana is bound to be attracted to other mana.

But Lee Si-hyeok, who had been waiting quietly, tilted his head.

Why isn’t it telling me about the permanent buff?

As if reading his thoughts, a new message appeared.

[The research institute currently has no name.]

[Please set a name first.]

Was it because he hadn’t decided on a name yet?

Lee Si-hyeok uncrossed his arms and stroked his chin.

‘What would be good?’

It was quite a difficult part. In the case of artifacts, you could name them based on their characteristics, but buildings don’t really have any outstanding features, do they?

Then it would be better to associate it with Lee Si-hyeok himself or this space itself.

After pondering for a while, he said quietly.

“I’ll go with ‘Gyeongdo-gak’.”

[Confirmed. The research institute’s name has been set.]

Taking from the characteristic of subspace, namely the gap and boundary between dimensions, the character for ‘boundary’ .

The character for ‘diagram’ from the Pale Artist, the alias Lee Si-hyeok had used since long ago.

And the character for ‘pavilion’ , which means building.

That was how the name came to be.

Put together, it would mean something like ‘a building that designs boundaries’.

At first, he wondered if it was too heavy a name, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to fit.

This building built in the boundary called subspace would design many new things.

‘The exterior itself is cozy, so Chinese characters appeal to me more than English.’

A little later, the system seemed to have finished organizing as well, as a notification sound rang out.

At the same time, a message appeared.

[〔Gyeongdo-gak 〕 is granted permanent buff effects.]

[《Permanent Buffs》

1. Concentration

―The gathered mana from the cracks dwells in artifacts. Artifacts created/modified within this space will transcend their original performance by one level.

2. Absorption

―The mana from the cracks, which has assimilated with your nature, contains warmth. That warmth will melt completely into your body.]

[This Achievement is still in progress. (Progress: 66.66%)]

“…!”

Lee Si-hyeok’s eyes widened instantly.

The first buff that appeared was of a type that exceeded imagination.

To think that the gathered mana would dwell in artifacts and raise their performance by one more level.

Of course, he would have to see directly what degree this ‘one level’ expression meant, but it would certainly not be a trivial amount.

It probably meant that the mana absorbed by artifacts would boost their output.

‘But what about the second one, Absorption? What is this?’

The explanation was a bit ambiguous. What did it mean for warmth to melt into the body? He narrowed his eyes and moved his feet toward the inside of the research institute.

When he infused mana into the security door he had installed, the door soon opened.

What was revealed was an interior that was still completely empty.

That was because he had only finished the overall construction, and the installation of internal facilities had to be done from now on.

Lee Si-hyeok stared at that empty first floor, then tried to feel the ‘Absorption’ buff.

But…

“…I’m not really sure.”

He couldn’t actually feel any changes.

He wondered if this also applied to artifacts, but seeing that there was an expression about the body, that didn’t seem to be the case either.

In the end, he shook his head vigorously and came outside.

He would have to learn gradually. It wasn’t something that would last just a day or two, but a research institute he would be with for life.

Anyway, now all that remained was filling in the internal facilities. It was finally time to utilize the crafting equipment he had seen at Cheongyeon Workshop.

However, there was something he had to do before that.

‘Let me go outside for a bit.’

It had already been three weeks since staying inside the subspace.

Of course, only 7 days would have passed on Earth, but he couldn’t stay holed up any longer.

The convenience food was running low, and he was even starting to smell bad. Even though he had lightly washed himself daily with cleansing tissues, that was just a temporary measure.

Lee Si-hyeok threw off his smelly research coat and opened the exit to the subspace.

* * *

Whooom!

A rift in the air spat out his body.

Looking around where he emerged, he could tell it was the large warehouse in Pohang.

After assessing the situation, Lee Si-hyeok immediately started moving.

‘Home first.’

Go take a shower and gather some daily necessities.

Then he could stop by the mart to prepare food.

This time with fresh materials instead of convenience food.

He had built a separate annex on the first floor of the research lab to serve as lodging, so he could handle meals and accommodation there.

The moment he organized his thoughts, left the warehouse, and arrived at the parking lot, Lee Si-hyeok’s steps came to an abrupt halt.

‘…Where did my truck go?’

The truck he had parked had vanished without a trace.

Faced with this sudden situation, Lee Si-hyeok frowned and pulled out his smartphone.

He should contact someone…

“Ah.”

But Lee Si-hyeok hesitated as he pressed the power button on his smartphone.

Come to think of it, the battery had already died long ago. Thanks to being a mana battery, it would last at least a few months, but perhaps because of that, he had forgotten to charge it even more.

Moreover, since there was no signal inside the subspace, he hadn’t felt the need for it.

What to do about this.

The first thing that came to mind was finding Association staff working at the research complex. Since this facility was state-owned, the Association had assigned quite a few employees here.

He immediately put this into action.

He knew all the locations, thanks to the map that Deputy Han Da-hee had given him when he first came here.

If he remembered correctly, they were split evenly between two buildings.

He first arrived at the first building and went to find the Association’s office.

But something strange occurred.

“…?”

The office door was firmly locked.

And in the middle of it, a piece of paper was attached with hastily scrawled handwriting.

[Out on field work. Please contact the Awakener Association.]

Lee Si-hyeok stared blankly, then had no choice but to turn around and head to the next building.

However, the exact same situation unfolded.

[Temporarily returned to Association Headquarters. Contact the Awakener Association.]

What’s this about?

The entire office went on field work?

Not just one team, but both teams?

It was far too strange a situation. Usually, wouldn’t they leave a few people behind?

In the end, he set aside the option of finding Association staff.

There would be no point in searching further.

Instead, he’d enter any open office, ask them to call the Association, then say he was Lee Si-hyeok so Team Leader Kim Seung-hyeon should come out immediately…

“What are you doing? Aren’t you making the call?”

“Oh, no. I apologize for the intrusion.”

…He was about to, but abandoned the plan since no one would believe him anyway.

If a call suddenly came from an unknown number claiming to be that Lee Si-hyeok, would anyone really believe it? The Association wouldn’t be receiving such prank calls for the first or second time.

“Huh? I understand, then. But this is amazing. To think the day would come when I’d see that Lee Si-hyeok in person.”

It was an employee in the office he had randomly entered.

The employee looked extremely surprised, and Lee Si-hyeok was also surprised by the current situation.

“I’m just a person, you know.”

“Still, amazing is really amazing. I heard you visit our research complex often, but I never thought I’d actually have a conversation with you.”

“…May I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead. It’s an honor.”

“Those Association staff members who were in this building. Do you know where they all went? It seems like the entire office staff went on field work.”

“Oh, that?”

The employee clapped his hands. Did he know something? Lee Si-hyeok waited expectantly for what came next.

“I don’t really know either!”

“…”

“According to rumors, some serious incident broke out within the Association. They were all called in because of that.”

“An incident?”

“Yes. I think it was somehow related to our research complex? Anyway, that’s why people from the Association swarmed over and swept through once.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, rumors are just rumors. I don’t know the details either. But couldn’t you find out right away by contacting them, Lee Si-hyeok?”

“My phone battery died…”

“Huh? Then why didn’t you use my phone earlier?”

“I didn’t think they’d believe me.”

“Not believe you? What do you mean, ah.”

He blinked and sighed as if he understood.

In fact, he also had no communication line with the Association. Originally, only a very few people in the research complex had direct lines.

But if he suddenly called and claimed together that this person was really Lee Si-hyeok, the Association would immediately hang up.

“Ahem. Then there’s nothing I can really do for you.”

“Could I just ask you for one favor?”

“Oh. Is there something I can help with?”

“Could you please call a taxi?”

“A taxi? Why a taxi…”

“My car disappeared.”

“…”

He couldn’t add any words to the employee who was looking at him as if asking what on earth he was talking about.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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