Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 134
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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 (134)
There Is One Thing
One hour later, at the Republic of Korea Awakener Association Headquarters.
Lee Si-hyeok, who had come to visit in person since he happened to be near the Security Building, let out a faint sigh at the quiet silence flowing through the small conference room.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Did he sense that cold atmosphere? The person sitting close beside him let out an awkward cough.
Lee Si-hyeok narrowed his eyes and shot a sharp glance at him.
“…!”
Then he asked directly to the person whose shoulders were trembling, Lumibra.
“What exactly is wrong with you?”
“…What, what are you asking, child?”
“Hah.”
“I, I don’t really know.”
“You’re not doing this because you genuinely don’t know, and yet you’re telling such an obvious lie….”
Lee Si-hyeok’s voice suddenly turned cold.
A tone so chilling it seemed to touch absolute zero.
“You just want to avoid responsibility, don’t you?”
“…!”
Though he continued to deny it, Lee Si-hyeok could tell just by looking at his eyes. For someone who claimed to have lived such a long life, was this his first time lying? His trembling pupils, his restless lips.
If that shell wasn’t a hairy middle-aged man, it would have been the perfect example of a drama heroine’s expression.
Lee Si-hyeok clicked his tongue and brought up the message he had seen earlier.
A translucent window appeared, covering Lumibra’s face.
[Due to the intervention of powerful mana, 『Subspace』 has been forcibly opened.]
[Target ‘Lumibra’ has escaped from that space!]
A message that had suddenly appeared while he was having a conversation with Security CEO Hwang Eun-ho.
After the brief confusion, seeing this message, he had roughly guessed that Lumibra had finally caused some trouble.
‘But I never thought he would go as far as approaching a Gate.’
When he suddenly heard the news from Team Leader Choi In-hwan, he couldn’t believe how shocked he was.
He thought at most he would just be sightseeing around the city….</
“Didn’t I clearly ask you so earnestly to stay quiet?”
“But, but the result was positive, wasn’t it? From what I heard from that cowardly human, the Gate conquest ended successfully thanks to me….”
“Well, that is true. If it weren’t for you, Lumibra, they would have been short on manpower.”
“Ahem! See, I was right?”
Watching Lumibra smile proudly as if relieved, Lee Si-hyeok shook his head disapprovingly.
He wanted to keep scolding him, but the reason he couldn’t was exactly that.
If she had continued to stay holed up in the subspace, the Gate that appeared in the city center could have led to a major accident.
Either way, since the result was good, it was a bit awkward to say anything more.
‘Plus, the Association tends to provide proper compensation for things like this.’
The fact that Team Leader Choi In-hwan had left them alone and stepped out for a moment was probably to discuss compensation for this matter.
‘…Well, what’s good is good.’
In the end, there was no loss and only benefits.
Lee Si-hyeok shrugged his shoulders and was looking with distaste at Lumibra’s purple dress as she smiled benevolently.
Click.
The door to the small conference room opened and Team Leader Choi In-hwan hurriedly entered. His shirt was soaked with sweat, making it seem like he had been moving quite busily.
Lee Si-hyeok immediately responded.
“Ah, Team Leader.”
“Cowardly human. We meet again.”
“Lumibra, please be quiet…”
“Ahem.”
When he poked Lumibra’s firm side for butting in tactlessly, she instantly became quiet.
Team Leader Choi In-hwan glanced at her, gave a brief greeting, then sat down across from them.
“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting so long. I’ve been discussing this Gate clear with upper management.”
“What did they say?”
“For now, the instruction was to announce the conquest results as they are. That person in front…”
“That’s Lumibra.”
“Ah yes, Lumibra. That it was conquered by Lumibra’s solo clear, that kind of approach. I thought it might be modified slightly to say she conquered it ‘together’ with other Hunters, but it doesn’t seem like it will go that way.”
“Why is that?”
“Because that would be more beneficial. Many citizens have already confirmed Lumibra’s existence, and there are countless witnesses to the moment the Gate was conquered.”
A solo clear of a high-level A-rank Gate.
Countless citizens witnessed that absurd situation.
And there was only one type of being capable of accomplishing such a feat.
“…S-rank.”
“Correct. People will naturally assume Lumibra is an S-rank Hunter. When that happens, news that a new S-rank Hunter has been born in South Korea will spread far and wide.”
“So it’s ultimately a national-scale benefit. Because the number of S-rank Hunters that South Korea possesses increases.”
“Exactly right. Of course, her appearance is closer to, well, European rather than Korean…”
“Viking?”
“Uh, yes. Exactly that feeling.”
When attention focused on her, Lumibra huffed and puffed through her nose.
If it had been her true form, a breath attack might have come out.
Team Leader Choi In-hwan trembled as if frightened.
“…Huh. Are you really keeping someone like that under you, Si-hyeok?”
“Not really under me, just a colleague.”
At his attitude of speaking as if it was nothing special, Team Leader Choi In-hwan swallowed hard once again.
Before leaving the small conference room, he had already heard directly what kind of relationship Lumibra and Lee Si-hyeok had.
An artifact he had recently obtained by chance, or so he said.
That alone was more than enough to be shocking.
‘No matter how I look at it, she looks like a person…’
No matter how he looked at it, she could only be seen as human.
Moreover, she was emanating such overwhelming magic power – could that really be possible for an artifact? No matter how powerful an artifact might be, it couldn’t surpass humans.
But the man before his eyes was emitting more powerful mana than any Hunter Choi In-hwan had ever seen in his life.
There was another surprising point.
“Please stop breathing so heavily. It’s hot.”
“…Sorry about that. I’ll restrain myself.”
“Yes.”
Even with such a figure before him, Lee Si-hyeok was treating him comfortably as if it were nothing.
Literally the relationship between an artifact and its owner.
Just as an artifact could never dare threaten the Creator who brought it into existence, Lee Si-hyeok was scolding that imposing Big Guy as if he were completely at ease, even with him right in front of him.
When they brought someone called Lumibra directly to the Association to face Lee Si-hyeok, Choi In-hwan nearly jumped out of his skin seeing how he started reading Lee Si-hyeok’s mood.
‘This is EX-rank…’
He had only heard about it from his colleague Team Leader Kim Seung-hyeon, and this was only the second time seeing it directly, yet there were countless surprising aspects every time he witnessed it.
“So, are you finished with what you wanted to say?”
Team Leader Choi In-hwan suddenly snapped back to attention at the voice he heard.
“Ah, no. We need to provide compensation for this incident… but honestly, we’re also at a loss now.”
“Excuse me?”
At a loss? What could that mean?
“While I was away, I had many discussions with upper management. However, we can no longer think of any reward that would satisfy Mr. Lee Si-hyeok…”
“Ah.”
Only then did Lee Si-hyeok nod his head. Because he realized.
That he had received far too many things from the Association up until now.
And that those rewards were being upgraded to increasingly better things.
‘Well, at this point, it would be difficult to figure out what to give.’
Having gained enormous benefits from this incident, the Association also had to put something equivalent on the scales.
But there were no more weights left in the Association’s treasury to place on those scales.
The scales had already tilted too far toward Lee Si-hyeok’s side.
“So we don’t know what to do about this…”
Come to think of it, it was the same for Lee Si-hyeok.
Having gone through various incidents and obtained the 〈Soul-Pursuing Harpoon〉, 〈Dragon Heart〉, and even created Origin Artifacts, there were hardly any things left that would be useful to him at this point.
Unless it was something completely new, he could now obtain whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He could easily get things by requesting them from the Association normally too.
“There is one thing.”
So Lee Si-hyeok thought for a moment and then spoke.
Because something had suddenly crossed his mind.
“Would it be okay if it’s not necessarily something material?”
“By material, you mean what exactly?”
“Like the magic stone samples I received before, things like that.”
“Ah, of course. If there’s something you want, please tell us anything. We’d also welcome something like exclusive exploration rights to the Nari Basin Gate from this time.”
“Then.”
Lee Si-hyeok spoke clearly.
“I’ll tell you next time.”
“…Excuse me?”
Team Leader Choi In-hwan’s face, which had been filled with anticipation just moments before, was now colored with bewilderment.
Lee Si-hyeok glanced at Lumibra and then raised the corner of his mouth in a grin.
“It’s not something I need right away. I think there will be a day when I’ll need it next time, so I’ll let you know then.”
“…?”
Team Leader Choi In-hwan tilted his head in confusion, but Lee Si-hyeok didn’t explain further. Various plans and postponed matters crossed through his mind in succession.
‘This is a good opportunity.’
When was it recently?
He recalled the small memo paper he had written at Hyeon Eul-cheong’s Cheongyeon Workshop. He had thought about it while recording his future plans back then, but who would have thought he’d resolve it like this.
It would be very useful once a little time passed.
“Then I understand. Please feel free to tell me anytime.”
Soon Team Leader Choi In-hwan made a small note and stood up from his seat.
When Lee Si-hyeok followed suit and stood up, Lumibra beside him hurriedly got up and ended up knocking over his chair backward.
“Ah, seriously.”
“A, ahem.”
While they were cleaning that up for a moment, Team Leader Choi In-hwan’s voice could be heard.
“Ah, there’s one more thing I need to inform you about.”
There was a slight tension mixed in his voice.
“The Guardian of Light.”
“….”
“That person, no, the investigation of that traitor has been completed.”
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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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