Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 133

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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 (133)

 

Suddenly from the Association

 

“The taste is really quite good.”

 

At those words, Hyeon Eul-cheong looked disapprovingly at Lumibra, who was sitting across from her making clumsy attempts with chopsticks.

 

Though she tried her best to hide it, dissatisfaction quietly leaked from her gaze.

 

“…I’m glad you think so.”

 

She pursed her lips slightly at Lumibra, who was deliciously devouring the dish she had prepared.

 

“Have you learned cooking separately before?”

 

“Not particularly. I just lived alone for a long time, so I naturally picked it up.”

 

“I see. May I ask why you came to live alone?”

 

Though she had no desire to engage in lengthy conversation, the questions kept coming. Hyeon Eul-cheong answered halfheartedly while sighing inwardly.

 

‘Where on earth did Mr. Lee Si-hyeok bring such a person from…’

 

It had already been several days since she encountered this man called Lumibra, or rather this human, in the Main Laboratory.

 

A burly physique, a fierce-looking face. When she heard the soft, gentle voice and warm tone that contrasted with his appearance, she had nearly jumped out of her skin.

 

Because Hyeon Eul-cheong hadn’t even sensed a trace of such a human entering!

 

Lee Si-hyeok had suddenly called her to the Research Lab and introduced him as someone who would be staying with them for a while – how could she not be surprised?

 

She had nearly toppled over while sitting in her wheelchair from shock, barely managing to catch herself.

 

“Could I have another bowl?”

 

“Yes…”

 

While serving fresh soybean paste stew, Hyeon Eul-cheong glanced sideways at that massive frame. Though her startled heart had somewhat calmed after several days, she still couldn’t get used to that incongruous appearance.

 

“Thank you. Could I also have another bowl of rice?”

 

“…Here it is.”

 

“Good child.”

 

When Lee Si-hyeok had introduced him, he said this was the greatest harvest from the recent Gate conquest.

 

She had heard that even compared to the Gate Byproducts that had poured into the Subspace recently, which she had initially sorted, there was no comparison.

 

However, to her now, Lumibra only looked like a crazy pervert. And if she were to add one more thing, a crazy perverted old man.

 

‘Is my skill still insufficient…?’

 

Surely if Lee Si-hyeok said so, there must be something there, but Hyeon Eul-cheong couldn’t even guess just how high a level that might be.

 

Especially when she caught a glimpse of the purple skirt swaying under the table.

 

She was simply helping with Lumibra’s adaptation for the time being, as per his instructions.

 

—Burp.

 

“…”

 

This meal was also part of that assistance.

 

Looking at the completely emptied bowls, Hyeon Eul-cheong asked weakly.

 

“Are you finished eating?”

 

“Yes. Thanks to you, all my hunger has disappeared. In my original body, I couldn’t feel any hunger at all, so this aspect is a bit regrettable.”

 

“Regrettable or not, how about you try washing the dishes yourself this time? You’ve watched me do it several times over the past few days, so you should have a rough idea, right?”

 

“Just leave it to me. Even though I’ve never done it before, I’ll do it adequately.”

 

Smiling brightly, Lumibra swept all the dishes into one arm and stood up from his seat. Watching this scene quietly, Hyeon Eul-cheong pressed her forehead.

 

“…If you go that way, it’s the exit connected to the outdoor hot spring. The sink is in the opposite direction.”

 

“Hm? Is it not allowed to do dishes in the hot spring?”

 

At Lumibra’s gaze that seemed to ask if there was really a law against it, Hyeon Eul-cheong let out an exasperated sigh.

 

“Huh? Of course not! The hot spring is a place to soak your body!”

 

“But still…”

 

“But still what!? Even now, that, what was it called? Golem! That Golem fellow has been bathing in the hot spring water for days!”

 

“That’s exactly why I thought it would be even better. Pure mineral water! Plus, wouldn’t the mana water wash the dishes much cleaner?”

 

Pure mineral water my foot – you’d be lucky not to collapse from drinking that metal water.

 

Hyeon Eul-cheong rubbed her face with both hands and waved her hand frantically at Lumibra, who was about to go outside with the dishes.

 

“Just… just let me do it…”

 

“Thank you. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

 

Only then did Lumibra stop walking.

 

* * *

 

“…Ahem, I do feel a bit sorry.”

 

Having stepped outside the Gyeongdo-gak Annex, Lumibra smiled bitterly as she watched Hyeon Eul-cheong scrubbing dishes vigorously in the kitchen.

 

In truth, she already knew where dishes should be washed. How could she not know after watching for several days? Of course at the kitchen sink, with clean water, using detergent.

 

She had long since figured out that it needed to be done so meticulously.

 

Yet she had deliberately pretended not to know, and there was a reason for it.

 

“I should go outside once.”

 

This space that was both vast and narrow, warm yet mysterious.

 

She wanted to escape from this ‘Subspace’ and visit the dimension called ‘Earth’ once.

 

Of course, this place was as mystical a space as the 〈Nest of Life〉 where she had lived, but it couldn’t compare to a dimension she was experiencing for the first time in her life.

 

Though she wasn’t aware of it, this curiosity was partly a reflection of the personality of the Great Creator who had brought her into being.

 

In other words, an irrepressible curiosity was drawing Lumibra outside this space.

 

Splash, splash!

 

“Wahaha! Wahaha!”

 

Calming her excitement, Lumibra quietly crossed the hot spring where the Golem was frolicking about making strange noises.

 

She reached the edge of the Gyeongdo Pavilion grounds and stopped at the boundary where space was separated from space by the Origin Artifact.

 

Just before Lee Si-hyeok left, saying he had business to attend to.

 

He had certainly asked Lumibra to stay quietly in this subspace.

 

And the underlying meaning probably included not to go anywhere near other places.

 

But…

 

‘As long as I don’t cause any problems, it should be fine.’

 

Lumibra was confident she wouldn’t cause any trouble.

 

Her power was such that even those called Hunters on Earth wouldn’t dare to challenge her.

 

She could just sneak out like this and sneak back in.

 

A smile bloomed on Lumibra’s lips at what seemed like the most perfect plan.

 

Whooom.

 

As she waved her hand through the air, gaps began to form in the mana circuits that composed the space.

 

This was another ability that Lumibra possessed.

 

No, in a way, it could be seen as a power that was fundamentally connected.

 

Life.

 

The most magnificent ability of all – to give birth to something and sustain it.

 

Through this, infinitely fusing and creating mana, then crushing everything with sheer overwhelming output – that was Lumibra’s signature.

 

Kwajiijik!

 

[『Subspace』 is being forcibly opened.]

 

[Accordingly, this news will be delivered to administrator ‘Lee Si-hyeok’.]

 

“…?!”

 

Lumibra paused momentarily at the last message, but soon erased his expression and pushed his body through the rift.

 

‘Ahem. Child, I’m sorry about this.’

 

It was already too late to turn back.

 

* * *

 

Somewhere in Seoul.

 

Team Leader Choi In-hwan, head of the Association Operations Control Team, was suffering from a headache due to an A-rank Gate that had suddenly appeared.

 

“Phew….”

 

He exhaled cigarette smoke filled with worry as he glared at the Gate that had opened in the middle of the street.

 

A high-tier A-rank Gate that had appeared without warning just a few hours ago.

 

Just because they’re both A-rank doesn’t mean they’re all similar in level. Among them, the danger level is determined by mana measurement readings, and this Gate could be considered extremely high difficulty.

 

But the problem was that there had been no warning signs before this Gate appeared.

 

“It seems like these kinds of Gates are increasing lately. Like that Nari Basin Gate last time.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Team Leader Choi In-hwan nodded in agreement at the words of the A-rank Hunter who was smoking beside him.

 

What were Gates like for the past 20 years?

 

After accumulating certain data, most were predictable, and they could prepare and prevent them in advance accordingly.

 

But lately, that’s becoming increasingly impossible.

 

This time was the same.

 

A Gate had already occurred once in this vicinity, and he had received reports that all the Hunters in the area had been deployed there. Since he heard they were in the middle of clearing it, it would take quite a while for them to come out.

 

“I wonder if personnel can arrive in the meantime….”

 

Time was running short.

 

There was still plenty of time until the expected Gate break, but with the current trend of prediction error margins gradually increasing, they couldn’t afford to be complacent.

 

Moreover, since the Gate had opened in the middle of the city, if they didn’t handle it in advance, citizens would be in danger.

 

“Isn’t there any guild you can contact, Hunter? You said you were going to call earlier.”

 

“There isn’t, there’s nothing. I called around everywhere but they’re all busy. You heard, right? The frequency of Gate appearances has increased nationwide.”

 

“That’s… true.”

 

“By the way, Team Leader, don’t you have any Hunters you can call? If it’s Association-affiliated, there are those Radiant Guardians too.”

 

Team Leader Choi In-hwan stamped out his cigarette with his foot. He briefly recalled the image of the Guardian of Light that Lee Si-hyeok had pulled out of thin air not long ago.

 

“The current situation isn’t favorable, so they can’t come. Same goes for the others.”

 

The other Elite Hunters had suffered severe mental injuries from the previous ‘Pale Artist Recapture Operation’ while fighting against China’s Absolute Dream Guild.

 

Although Lee Si-hyeok had treated that as well, it wasn’t a complete cure and required a recovery period. Unfortunately, the end of that recovery period was still a few days away.

 

‘Come to think of it, everything is related to Lee Si-hyeok.’

 

He inwardly admired that influence.

 

“Ah, this is really a big problem. This number of people seems far from enough.”

 

“What do you estimate the chances of success to be?”

 

“Zero percent, obviously. A dozen or so A-rank Hunters can’t do anything. Especially when the Gate is high A-rank, not low A-rank. Maybe if there was even one S-rank Hunter.”

 

Well, if a Professional Exploration Team had brought information about the inside of the Gate beforehand, this number might have been possible, but without even that, it was literally a dilemma.

 

It was the moment when the two men were about to light their second cigarettes in the face of this bleak reality.

 

Step, step.

 

“…?”

 

“Hm?”

 

An intense presence was felt from the opposite side of the road.

 

As they turned their heads simultaneously, someone was walking gracefully through the reporters who were setting off flashes.

 

“Damn, my eyes are stinging. There are always people who take pictures like that even when told to evacuate.”

 

The Hunter who spat out smoke grumbled, but Team Leader Choi In-hwan quietly watched the Giant Man walking over while holding his breath.

 

Only then did the Hunter also sense something strange and blink his eyes.

 

“…What, what is it?”

 

He was just walking silently.

 

However, an enormous presence emanated from that gait.

 

An insanely overwhelming aura, as if it would crush this entire area.

 

Thud.

 

The cigarette fell helplessly from the Hunter’s hand. The giant figure casually moved aside the police line and approached, but Team Leader Choi In-hwan could only swallow his saliva and couldn’t easily speak.

 

Because he, being a Hunter and combat-type awakened individual, was also receiving that oppressive mana directly.

 

Finally, the Giant Man stopped in front of them.

 

He didn’t speak first, and to him who was quietly staring at them, the Hunter desperately squeezed out his voice and asked.

 

“Ex, excuse me, are you a Hunter?”

 

“…A Hunter? Are you asking about me?”

 

“Yes, yes.”

 

The man asked back with an incongruous tone and voice while tilting his head, but no one paid attention to that.

 

After a moment, the man smiled faintly and answered.

 

“That’s right. If I am a Hunter, would I be able to take a look at that Gate?”

 

“Do, do you mean conquering it?”

 

“Ah, yes. Conquering.”

 

“If that’s the case… that’s correct… Do you happen to have a Hunter License…?”

 

The Hunter’s voice stopped there.

 

The gaze of the man staring intently at him felt terrifyingly frightening. Even the exemplary Team Leader Choi In-hwan couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.

 

Dragon Fear.

 

A single mana circuit engraved in the man’s heart was causing powerful mental manipulation that ordinary minds could never endure.

 

“Let’s go in. We’ll follow behind and provide support…”

 

The man smiled brightly.

 

With a completely mismatched smile on his face, he leaped into the Gate with a loud thud!

 

The mana that had been pressing down on the space suddenly lifted.

 

While Team Leader Choi In-hwan and the Hunters exchanged glances, quickly thinking of contingency plans for the emergency situation.

 

Whooom!

 

The Gate rippled once more.

 

In barely a few minutes’ time.

 

What emerged from the Gate covered in blood was…

 

“Hmm, it wasn’t as much as I thought it would be.”

 

It was that Hairy Man in the purple dress who had just entered the Gate moments before.

 

Without a single wound on him, soaked only in the blood of monsters, he muttered as if disappointed.

 

* * *

 

“Huh?”

 

After finishing his conversation with the Security Company representative, Lee Si-hyeok tilted his head as he rode the elevator down.

 

On the smartphone in his hand was a message from the Association.

 

There were messages requesting an urgent meeting in desperate tones from both Team Leader Kim Seung-hyeon, with whom he was usually on friendly terms, and Team Leader Choi In-hwan, whom he had recently gotten to know.

 

‘What’s suddenly happening at the Association?’

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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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