Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 130
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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 (130)
Dragon Heart
[Special Skill 『Mimicry』 has reached Level 2.]
Finally!
Seeing the message that floated up, Lee Si-hyeok smiled as if he had been waiting for this. He could feel Hyeon Eul-cheong’s puzzled gaze from beside him, but that was only momentary.
He immediately checked the detailed skill description.
[『Mimicry』 – EX Rank (Current Lv. 2)
Your brilliant efforts did not stop at simply surpassing the original. You have pioneered the stage of Legacy Artifacts and can now skillfully mimic even ‘Origin Artifacts’.]
[Your understanding and intuition regarding dimensions increases remarkably!]
[Designs for Origin Artifacts are automatically provided even without conscious effort!]
In an instant, his smiling mouth involuntarily fell open.
Just looking at the description, it might not seem that impressive.
But…
‘This exceeds my imagination.’
For Lee Si-hyeok, who had been separating Gyeongdo Pavilion and giving birth to it as a new ‘space’ – that is, directly crafting Origin Artifacts – the meaning was extraordinary.
Though it appeared simple on the surface.
The calculations and complexity embedded within were on a completely different level from ordinary artifacts.
But the skill would handle all those processes for him?
‘Even if it just provided assistance, it would be much easier…’
This went beyond that level.
Of course, he had no intention of receiving help with everything and relying on the skill, and Lee Si-hyeok planned to lead proactively with his own designs.
But even setting that aside, admiration and amazement surged simultaneously.
“Ha, haha…”
“…?”
As he looked at the message window again and again, letting out joyful chuckles, Hyeon Eul-cheong’s eyes widened as she kept glancing at him sideways.
“Ahem.”
Only then did Lee Si-hyeok clear his throat and avoid her gaze.
* * *
The growth of 『Mimicry』 would not stop here.
Advancing one more step to reach Level 3?
Of course, that would be good too. However, the growth he was referring to now was a slightly different kind of progress. To put it differently, it could also be called utilization.
The Central Plaza of Eterion Magical Engineering Academy.
The Dimensional Gate installed there that connects to Orbes.
‘There’s still some time left before the spaces are connected, but if that succeeds…’
Through this enhanced 『Mimicry』, he would be able to refine the connection to other dimensions more solidly.
Recalling the last appearance of the Dimensional Gate he had seen, Lee Si-hyeok quietly nodded his head.
‘Not much left now. It’ll all be over soon.’
Besides, hadn’t Aila mentioned before that there was something like a dimensional gate at the Canterbury Research Group Headquarters? He had been planning to examine that sometime anyway, so this worked out well.
With improved understanding and intuition, faster discernment would be possible.
As his complex thoughts organized themselves neatly in one corner of his mind, Lee Si-hyeok, having gathered what he needed from the warehouse, entered the main laboratory of Gyeongdo-gak.
Research on other dimensions was good, but there was a top priority task.
Organizing the harvest obtained from the Nari Basin Gate.
‘Besides the Soul Pursuit Harpoon, I obtained quite a lot.’
After drawing the curtains with a swoosh over the window where he could see the golem frolicking in the hot spring and Hyeon Eul-cheong quietly observing it.
Lee Si-hyeok sat in his chair and looked at the various Gate byproducts arranged on the table.
He carefully examined them with tweezers to avoid damaging the materials.
“Coral Branch Activator, this would be good for use in long-range combat artifacts.”
Ideas immediately flashed through his mind like lightning. These were thoughts he’d already had during the collection process, but they had become more concrete now.
Analyzing them one by one like this.
And while proceeding with various treatments for long-term storage, there was one harvest that caught Lee Si-hyeok’s eye at the end.
[〈Dragon Heart〉 – ??? Rank / Legacy of the Great Creator]
Just barely touching it, and even then while wearing work gloves with various protective functions, for just an instant…
Zap!
Goosebumps rose all over his body through his skin. The mana that flowed out for a moment created tremors throughout his entire body. It was a sensation as if his vision flickered before his eyes like being electrocuted.
“…”
Lee Si-hyeok suppressed the scream that almost reflexively burst out and forced himself to swallow his groan. When he first received this, he hadn’t felt such sensations. Was it because the situation was so urgent then?
But facing it like this, the feeling itself was different.
‘This heart is truly the greatest harvest from this Gate.’
Lee Si-hyeok brought goggles from the drawer and put them on.
A translucent display covered his field of vision, and when he looked at the 〈Dragon Heart〉 again in that state, much more began to come into view.
Hidden mana circuits, their unique frequencies, the beating sounds that hadn’t yet ceased… and so on.
These were things originally visible when activating ‘Eyes that Pierce the Essence’, but it was useful in that it could reduce the fatigue somewhat. He could also invest the saved concentration more into the analysis itself.
After some time passed, Lee Si-hyeok removed his goggles and let out a small sigh.
“Huh, this…”
It was because he realized something amazing through detailed analysis.
The identity of the ‘familiarity’ that Lee Si-hyeok had continuously felt when entering the 〈Nest of Life〉, which was completely unknowable when observing it just in passing.
[Mana property analysis complete.]
[This is an artifact with the property of ‘Life’.]
[Sub-classifications: Birth, Growth, Proliferation, Prosperity, Vitality…]
The magnificent life force felt with each heartbeat possessed a warmth that gently enveloped the entire body.
It was remarkably similar to the ‘warm’ nature of his own mana that Lee Si-hyeok had become aware of several times before.
He immediately drew back the curtains and called to Hyeon Eul-cheong beyond the window.
“Hmm…”
Soon, at Lee Si-hyeok’s request, Hyeon Eul-cheong gently placed her hand on the heart and felt its mana, then chose appropriate words.
“How is it? What kind of feeling do you sense?”
However, she who had been trying to explain magnificently with engineering terms, soon hesitated at Lee Si-hyeok’s question and gave a different answer.
“If you’re asking about the feeling… should I say it’s familiar?”
“Familiar?”
“Yes. When I first came here to Gyeongdogak last time. I told you then that my mind became strangely comfortable and calm, right? It’s exactly that feeling. Warm and cozy.”
At the expected answer, Lee Si-hyeok opened a message window. One of the constant buffs of [Gyeongdogak] appeared in his vision.
[2. Absorption
―The mana of the gap that has assimilated with your nature holds warmth. That warmth will melt completely into your body.]
What this meant was that the warm mana that had only been injected into her through the buff was being felt exactly the same way from this dragon heart.
If so, Lee Si-hyeok’s analysis became even more certain.
“Um, isn’t there anything else I can help with? Since I am the sub-administrator after all…”
“There isn’t.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
Hyeon Eul-cheong, who had been looking at the materials on the table with sparkling eyes, pouted her lips at Lee Si-hyeok’s words and went back out to the hot spring. Through the drawn curtains, he could see her quietly grumbling.
He understood her feelings, but Lee Si-hyeok had things to do. He didn’t want to let this realization and concentration he had just gained be interrupted.
“Life, life indeed.”
Come to think of it, it was also a property that contrasted with the ether called ‘Destruction’.
While thinking about that, he suddenly remembered that Blackie had devoured the ether and was still unconscious.
Lee Si-hyeok glanced at the creature still sleeping soundly in his front pouch and headed to the research lab right next door.
―Beep! The door is opening.
Unlike the main laboratory, this place filled with giant test tubes contained the corpse of the large figure they had discovered on the second floor of the cabin inside the Gate not long ago.
At that time, the system had said.
[You have discovered a victim of 〈Arena of Blood Combat〉.]
That meant it was originally a person who had been living in the Gate dimension.
Lumibra had called such people ‘Hunters’ born in the 〈City of Hunters〉, and had even added that they were creations and artifacts of the Great Creator.
At that time, it had stopped at just about that level.
But when he recalled the fact that this Great Creator could see the future and knew that Lee Si-hyeok would come to that Gate someday.
“…”
He had slightly different thoughts.
That corpse was an artifact of the Great Creator.
If so, could it really be a coincidence that this corpse had been discovered by Lee Si-hyeok?
Perhaps the Creator who knew the future had designed it in advance with some purpose so that only Lee Si-hyeok could discover it?
‘What if even Lumibra’s final self-sacrifice was all part of the Creator’s design?’
Lee Si-hyeok’s gaze, which had been staring at the corpse floating in the liquid of the test tube, suddenly became calm.
If it were him.
If he had been the Creator.
He definitely wouldn’t have sent a Hunter to that cabin without any reason.
That place was certainly filled with traps that could never be passed unless one was an outstanding magical engineer.
Yet the fact that he sent his Creation there must have contained a clear reason. That cabin was also a place completely unrelated to clearing the 〈Arena of Blood Combat〉.
His brow furrowed as the connection between the 〈Dragon Heart〉 and that corpse began to become visible.
Two things that seemed unrelated were connected to each other through thread-like clues.
Clank.
Lee Si-hyeok approached the experiment chamber and climbed the stairs connected to its lid, carefully opening the closed chamber.
Hiss… Along with the sound of air escaping, the scene inside came into view.
In the middle of a viscous liquid, the sight of a large corpse floating.
“…”
He brought the 〈Dragon Heart〉 he had taken from the Main Laboratory over the open lid.
If he released the strength in his hand like this, the heart would fall helplessly and splash into the liquid.
After that, the preservation liquid with opposite reactivity would melt it the moment the heart touched the surface.
Of course, since it was a heart with powerful mana, it wouldn’t reach the point of complete decomposition, but it was obvious that its properties would be contaminated.
A scene that would make others shout if he was crazy.
However, Lee Si-hyeok opened his hand holding the heart without hesitation.
Whoosh.
Splash!
The moment it touched the liquid, a strange corrosive sound was heard and the heart bubbled violently. Even so, he wasn’t shaken.
Without wavering, he continued to stare down at the bottom of the experiment chamber.
The Dragon Heart and the Hunter’s corpse.
Recalling the common point that both were artifacts of the Great Creator.
That was the moment.
Hissssss!
The bubbling foam grew madly large and covered the entire experiment chamber. The foam grew so large that it was impossible to even examine the inside.
The splashing droplets slightly melted Lee Si-hyeok’s lab coat, and just as he was hurriedly going back down the stairs.
[The spirit of 〔Lumibra〕 bound to the 〈Dragon Heart〉 reacts to the Hunter’s body.]
[Reclaiming the lost vessel. The soul is materializing…]
[Success.]
From inside the foam-filled experiment chamber, a human presence was suddenly felt. A powerful and intense existence that couldn’t be felt anywhere else.
At the same time, a low voice was heard from inside.
“Child, are you there?”
That pleasant voice was a familiar tone to Lee Si-hyeok as well.
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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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