Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 153

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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 (153)

 

The Guest I Brought

 

“Wow. That was some fine acting.”

 

A secluded corner of the plaza.

 

Watching Professor Bae Young-min hastily leave from a distance, Lee Si-hyeok muttered admiringly.

 

After the professor left, murmurs began spreading among the people.

 

Everyone was having heated discussions about what had just happened.

 

Shock and astonishment over whether what they saw was real.

 

And shortly after, one person quietly slipped out from the crowd.

 

Stealthily.

 

“Hup…”

 

It was the very freshman who had her phone snatched by Professor Bae Young-min earlier.

 

But for some reason, she seemed to spot Lee Si-hyeok and ran over happily.

 

“Senior Si-hyeok!”

 

“You came.”

 

A youthful appearance.

 

But a familiar voice.

 

Soon she approached right in front of him and pressed a button on her uniform.

 

Then mana lifted from her entire body, revealing her original face.

 

Confirming her appearance, Lee Si-hyeok smiled and greeted her.

 

“It’s been a while, Chae-ah.”

 

“Hehe. That’s right. I wonder how long it’s been.”

 

The freshman’s true identity was none other than Song Chae-ah.

 

Early this morning, after completing the dimensional gate stabilization work, Lee Si-hyeok didn’t immediately return to his lodging, but headed to his next destination for another behind-the-scenes operation.

 

Though he should have been tired from moving without rest, Lee Si-hyeok didn’t stop.

 

The place he ended up visiting was Song Chae-ah’s assistant’s office.

 

Thankfully, she had been conducting research to clear Lee Si-hyeok’s name until late into the night, and Lee Si-hyeok made a request to her, who was startled upon seeing him.

 

—In a few hours, I’ll need you to do some acting at the plaza.

 

It was to make the crack of doubt created by stabilizing the dimensional gate spread even wider.

 

The seeds of suspicion that had spread among people.

 

He planned to wait for Professor Bae Young-min, who would pass through the plaza this morning, and use his reaction in reverse. From observing him while hidden for the past few days, he had an extremely paranoid personality.

 

‘And all roads in Eterion lead through the plaza. Even if it wasn’t morning, Professor Bae Young-min would inevitably pass by the dimensional gate.’

 

Lee Si-hyeok disguised Song Chae-ah to look as youthful as possible.

 

She already looked quite young for her age, but using an artifact made her really look like a student of freshman age.

 

Then, according to plan, he positioned her in the front row of the crowd.

 

He deliberately prepared a conspicuously large smartphone and had her loiter in front of Professor Bae Young-min.

 

‘After that, it went as expected.’

 

No, Professor Bae Young-min showed an even greater reaction than expected.

 

Originally he had only planned to create a flustered appearance, but he even made remarks that properly shattered his ‘shut up’ image.

 

He was glad he had heard about his true nature from Song Chae-ah beforehand. It seemed successful because he had planned more meticulously.

 

“How was my acting! Senior!”

 

Song Chae-ah asked with a bright smile.

 

At some point she had started calling Lee Si-hyeok senior, probably because Lee Si-hyeok had started speaking casually to her first.

 

When one person speaks comfortably, the other side can’t keep saying ‘sir, sir’ continuously.

 

“It was the best. Supporting actress award level.”

 

“Huh? Not lead actress?”

 

Lee Si-hyeok looked at her with a faint smile. That smile seemed to have ‘Is that all?’ written large across it.

 

“Tch…”

 

“The lead actor award should go to someone like Professor Bae Young-min. Don’t you think?”

 

“Oh. That’s true. That bastard isn’t even lead actor level, he’s grand prize level. That thick-faced bastard.”

 

“You really hate him.”

 

“I have to. He’s the mastermind who plotted that ridiculous scheme against Senior Si-hyeok.”

 

Song Chae-ah giggled and held up her smartphone.

 

She definitely seemed more comfortable than before.

 

From her perspective, this was quite a long-awaited meeting, yet she spoke without hesitation, making him recall moments at the expo and cafe when she couldn’t even make proper eye contact.

 

Was it a difference in conversation style, or a difference in familiarity?

 

As Lee Si-hyeok pondered this briefly, Song Chae-ah examined her ‘real smartphone’ that she had hidden in her inner pocket and thrust it forward triumphantly.

 

“Now ArtiNet public opinion is almost half and half too. Until dawn earlier, there were many negative comments about senior… but now it’s almost fifty-fifty. It means it really worked.”

 

“Can I check it directly?”

 

“Yes, take it and look.”

 

Swish.

 

Lee Si-hyeok took the phone from her hand.

 

Unlike when it was snatched by Professor Bae Young-min, it came over without the slightest resistance.

 

His eyes slowly scanned the screen.

 

[But I think that crack might be safer than we thought ㅇㅇ]

 

[Edit Post / Delete]

 

[Author: Anonymous

 

In the first place, aren’t all those papers saying it’s a terrorist artifact groundless?

 

Looking at them, they’re all dressed up with plausible-sounding words. But there’s no substance at all. In short, they’re fake papers, and it’s strange that these came from Eterion and curious that they passed Association regulations.

 

What could it be?]

 

[Upvotes 33 / Downvotes 27]

 

“The upvotes and downvotes are definitely about half and half.”

 

“Yes. Until earlier, downvotes were overwhelming. The upvotes suddenly accumulated after what happened earlier.”

 

Lee Si-hyeok was impressed. He clicked on the next post.

 

[Eterion) Why is Professor Bae Youngmin acting like that today lololol]

 

[Edit Post / Delete]

 

[Author: Anonymous

 

Suddenly snatching a freshman’s phone and causing a commotion?

 

What the heck got you so flustered? lololol

 

Ah that’s hilarious, I knew it from the start that they seemed cheap lol

 

[Upvotes 13 / Downvotes 32]

 

This one had far more downvotes, probably because it was too blindly critical.

 

When he looked at Song Chae-ah questioningly, she nodded as if that was correct.

 

“But what does ‘Eterion’ in front of the title mean? It seems to be attached to only some posts.”

 

“Ah, that means it’s a post related to the Magical Engineering Academy. Since ArtiNet doesn’t have separate boards, people attach tags themselves to distinguish them.”

 

“I see.”

 

Lee Si-hyeok checked several more best posts after that.

 

Since he didn’t usually use online communities, there were many unfamiliar aspects like speech patterns, but he could still tell that the atmosphere, which had been filled only with conspiracy theories about him when he checked a few days ago, had shifted in a different direction.

 

‘Well, this much is successful enough.’

 

However, there were also negative posts…

 

[Question) Isn’t it still unclear whether it’s really safe or not? Why has everyone lost interest like this?]

 

[Author: Artifact Emperor

 

Just Professor Bae Young-min? Aside from that person snatching a freshman’s phone, there’s nothing else, right?

 

Even if the rift is stabilized, no one knows if it’s really stabilized or not.

 

In the first place, is there anyone who can understand that bastard Lee Si-hyeok’s technology?

 

We should be suspicious first and see what happens. It’s ridiculous how they’re burying all the hints just because one other incident broke out lol]

 

[Recommendations 63 / Downvotes 38]

 

〔Comments〕

 

[ㅇㅇ123: That’s true ㅇㅇ Professor Bae Youngmin, honestly I wonder if it’s really that big of a deal. It’s not like he didn’t give the phone back, he just borrowed it for a bit. What’s all the fuss about lol]

 

[┕ 123123: But he didn’t return it?]

 

[┕ ㅇㅇ123: For real? Then they deserve the hate lol]

 

[magic369: 2222 I don’t understand how the interest is already dying down]

 

[Korea’s Artifacts Amaze the World: I cannot agree with that. This incident clearly started as someone’s scheme, and there are those who were hurt by this. I have no intention of forgiving that person. I will immediately step forward to punish the mastermind behind this incident, so wait…]

 

“Whew, this person really wrote a long one.”

 

“They’re famous. They always write in that verbose tone. But this is the first time I’ve seen them this angry… It’s interesting, senior.”

 

Song Chae-ah’s eyes widened. Lee Si-hyeok briefly examined the long comment thread, then asked about something he was curious about.

 

“But what’s that ‘post deleted/edited’ thing under the title? Looking at it, it’s not all posts, just some of them. And it doesn’t seem like there are few of them either.”

 

“Oh, that…”

 

But Song Chae-ah swallowed her words for some reason.

 

She seemed to hesitate and gauge his reaction, then said with a slightly flushed face.

 

“…The author of a post can directly edit or delete that post.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“Well, that’s because…”

 

“What?”

 

“Most of the best posts were written by me…”

 

“What?”

 

Really?

 

“Well, after you asked me at dawn, senior, I got a macro program. A macro is a program that lets you run multiple fake accounts and spam posts all over the bulletin board…”

 

“So you manipulated public opinion with that?”

 

“Ma-manipulated public opinion? I was just trying to help you, senior.”

 

“Huh.”

 

He could understand her feelings.

 

After all, she had stayed up all night conducting research alone to help Lee Si-hyeok.

 

From the Expo to Hong Yong-jin’s teaching assistant position. She must have done this as repayment for all the help she’d received, but it was quite bewildering for Lee Si-hyeok.

 

‘You didn’t need to go this far.’

 

Lee Si-hyeok let out a hollow laugh and looked at ArtiNet once more.

 

Now that he looked, most of the best posts really were ones presumed to be uploaded by Song Chae-ah. Anonymous posts.

 

“Did you also boost the recommendation count?”

 

“No, no. That was done by other people. I just pushed through with sheer volume…”

 

Thinking about it, it wasn’t a bad thing.

 

It meant achieving the original purpose more effectively.

 

Of course, there was a slight error in saying public opinion was split fifty-fifty, but what mattered was that thanks to this, cracks had spread in people’s faith.

 

“You worked hard. Thanks.”

 

“…Huh? Really? You mean it?”

 

When Lee Si-hyeok chuckled and returned her phone, she blinked and asked back. She seemed to never have imagined she’d be praised for doing something she wasn’t instructed to do.

 

“Well, it’s not like you did anything wrong. Besides, from what I can see, you seemed prepared to get banned from ArtiNet for this? Isn’t that right?”

 

“Th-that’s right. Once the bulletin board calms down, the moderators will probably ban me… It might even be a permanent suspension…”

 

Song Chae-ah let out a deep sigh.

 

“But it doesn’t matter. I was planning to focus only on magical engineering like you anyway, senior. Now that I’ve entered under Professor Hong Yong-jin, I should focus even harder.”

 

“Good thinking.”

 

Lee Si-hyeok smiled as if he found her admirable.

 

The crowd that had been bustling in the plaza was gradually thinning out. Heated up by the morning news, and now that everyone who was going to gather had gathered, they were probably dispersing again.

 

‘Then I should start moving too.’

 

There were still a few days left until the lecture.

 

There were several things to do before then, one of which was meeting Professor Hong Yong-jin.

 

Once the dimensional gate connected, there would be things to discuss regarding Orbes, and having come this far, it didn’t seem proper to go straight to the lecture without any greeting.

 

Professor Hong Yong-jin took pride in considering himself Lee Si-hyeok’s mentor.

 

Of course, Lee Si-hyeok didn’t think much of it.

 

“Chae-ah, are you going straight back to the assistant’s office?”

 

“Why? Do you have another task for me?!”

 

Watching Song Chae-ah clench her fist resolutely, Lee Si-hyeok shook his head.

 

“It’s not that. I’m going to see the professor, so I wondered if you’d like to come along.”

 

“Ah, I see. That sounds good. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him too.”

 

That’s when they were about to start walking.

 

As he lifted his foot, Lee Si-hyeok’s hand, which was thrust deep in his pocket, caught his smartphone, and he suddenly felt a faint vibration.

 

When he took it out to check, there was a text from Yoon Seo-jin.

 

[Si-hyeok]

 

“…?”

 

Lee Si-hyeok’s eyes narrowed at the unusual tone.

 

[If it’s not urgent please come quickly there’s something]

 

[Right now the guest Si-hyeok brought;]

 

[Professor Hong Yong-jin is blocking them for now come quickly to the special research building]

 

…What?

 

Messages full of typos as if extremely urgent.

 

Sentences sent in several parts at that.

 

‘The guest I brought… that would be the Snow Flame Empress?’

 

A few days ago, in preparation for Orbes that would be connected through the dimensional gate, he had departed from the grand mansion with her and arrived at the Magical Engineering Academy.

 

However, due to consecutive busy matters, he had completely forgotten and told her to look around on her own without paying attention…

 

Suddenly, a very ominous thought crossed his mind.

 

The special research building where Professor Bae Young-min had fled earlier.

 

And the fact that they were urgently blocking something with the guest Lee Si-hyeok had brought.

 

“…Let’s go to the special research building.”

 

“Huh?”

 

She asked back, but no answer came.

 

The moment Song Chae-ah tilted her head at the sudden words and turned to look at Lee Si-hyeok.

 

Thud!

 

He kicked off the ground and started running.

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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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