Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 161

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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 (161)

 

Auto Hunt

 

In the end, we decided not to touch Orbes’ statues.

 

As much as I wanted to smash them to pieces…

 

‘Sigh. I don’t want the world to collapse either.’

 

When Lee Si-hyeok glared at Elec, he flinched and averted his eyes.

 

What was he thinking when he combined the cores with the statues?

 

Even hiding them deep in the royal palace wouldn’t be enough, yet he stuck them in plain sight.

 

“Ahem, cough. You there. Stop standing around and quickly check these reports.”

 

“Yes. Please give them to me.”

 

Lee Si-hyeok sighed and received the bundle of reports.

 

Awakener Association Headquarters, Alchemy Society Hall.

 

The pleasant scent of old books permeated the cozy study.

 

Lee Si-hyeok smoothly turned the first page of the report.

 

“Oh ho…”

 

His irritation was brief, as admiration naturally arose.

 

The first page wasn’t filled with long explanations but with short sentences forming a table of contents. It was a page that summarized how this long report was structured.

 

Others might find it difficult, but Lee Si-hyeok could sense how this report would flow just by looking at this table of contents.

 

“How is it? Better than expected, right?”

 

“You’ve prepared tremendously.”

 

“That’s right, exactly!”

 

These reports were the result of the ‘auto hunt’ that Lee Si-hyeok had set up.

 

Before leaving Orbes. A special benefit he had left behind just in case was passed on to the rescued Orbes People, and they were so impressed by Lee Si-hyeok’s achievements that they began research for him.

 

Under the name of ‘World’s Common Goal’, no less.

 

‘I was curious how it would turn out.’

 

Honestly, part of him had been worried.

 

He also had the feeling of ‘how much could they really accomplish?’

 

But when he received the results, admiration came out without him realizing it.

 

“…”

 

Lee Si-hyeok couldn’t take his eyes off the report as he skimmed through it.

 

The surprised voices of people coming through the dimensional gate, the noise of other alchemists bustling about in the Alchemy Society Hall… all of it had long since faded away.

 

Only the sound of turning pages echoed in his ears.

 

He savored each word with calm eyes, reading deeply.

 

The report contained such diverse research that it couldn’t be simply categorized.

 

‘Hmm heh heh… that’s the young Si-hyeok I knew.’

 

Elec, who had been quietly watching that scene, smiled warmly.

 

How many years had it been since they met?

 

Time flows differently between Earth and Orbes.

 

Since Orbes’ time flows several times faster, while less than a year had passed on Earth, several years had already passed here.

 

During that time, like Lee Si-hyeok, Elec had also worried about various things.

 

What if Lee Si-hyeok had changed when they met after so long?

 

What if that brilliant light in his eyes had faded, becoming no different from an ordinary engineer?

 

It was a natural worry.

 

That’s how time works. Everyone kneels before time. Even people who seem like they’ll remain unchanged forever inevitably change under its weight.

 

This is especially true for those who shine brightly.

 

They get broken by those who envy them, collapse alone before goals that are too distant, and fade and fade… eventually losing all their light and becoming no different from others.

 

Elec had been secretly afraid. What if even this shining young man had become like that? Perhaps it was because the last image he saw of the young man seemed too brilliant.

 

Swoosh…

 

Elec smiled softly as he watched the young man savoring knowledge.

 

He hadn’t changed.

 

The young man hadn’t changed and existed just as he was.

 

What a beautiful, beautiful sight this was!

 

Ah, of course there were some changes in that young man too.

 

‘He’s become a bit gentler than before.’

 

That vicious aura that looked so deadly had softened somewhat.

 

When they first met, he really had such murderous eyes.

 

That’s not to say it was bad.

 

It’s just that such viciousness ultimately leads one to self-destruction.

 

Since that brilliance still seemed intact, it could be said he had grown much more.

 

‘He must have met many good people.’

 

Elec chuckled.

 

There was no need to disturb him. He quietly left the study.

 

* * *

 

“Phew.”

 

Lee Si-hyeok let out a light breath and closed the report.

 

He seemed to have read about a third of it, but time had already passed by quickly.

 

‘It’s impossible to read it all at once.’

 

It was far too long.

 

He couldn’t tell how much manpower they had poured into it.

 

Even the contents weren’t something to be taken lightly and required quite a bit of concentration.

 

“I’ll have to read it slowly.”

 

There was no rush. Lee Si-hyeok stuffed the report into his Subspace, then passed through the Alchemy Society Hall and exited through the dimensional gate. It was time to handle the tasks he had postponed.

 

As he arrived at the dimensional gate in the center of the palace, a message window suddenly appeared before his eyes.

 

[The ability ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ of 〈Transcendent Artifice Subspace〉 activates.]

 

[A message has arrived from Sub-administrator ‘Hyeon Eul-cheong’.]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: Excuse me, Administrator. What did you just send? A report? Research materials? It looks like some kind of thesis, is it something similar?]

 

It was a new ability of ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ that he had discovered by chance recently.

 

He thought it could only request and receive items, but when he tried it, he found out they could also communicate like this.

 

Lee Si-hyeok chuckled and sent a reply.

 

[Me: I told you before, right? Orbes. This is a report compiled from there.]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: Oh… may I read it?]

 

[Me: Go ahead. If you can understand it.]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: ?]

 

[Me: What]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: Are you looking down on me right now?]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: ??????]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: Hey, answer me, I know you’re watching]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: Hey, don’t ignore me]

 

It was half serious, half joking, but her reaction is intense.

 

Lee Si-hyeok giggled and sent a short message before immediately closing the window.

 

[Me: Good luck]

 

[「Sub-administrator」 Hyeon Eul-cheong: Areyoucrazydoyouthinkican’tunderstandthat13!%@#%]

 

The notifications kept ringing incessantly until I passed through the dimensional gate and arrived at the Engineering Academy.

 

* * *

 

When I arrived at the plaza, an astonishing scene unfolded before me.

 

People had formed a circle and were watching someone in the center.

 

“Damn it! Let go of this! Hey! Hey!”

 

It was Professor Bae Young-min, held by both arms by Hunters. He seemed to have been caught while trying to cross the dimensional gate and was struggling in the middle of the plaza.

 

“Hey, you crazy bastards! Do you know who I am?!”

 

“We know. Professor Bae Young-min of Eterion Magical Engineering Academy.”

 

“You know that and still…! Do you think you’ll be safe after this, you bastards!”

 

Thud! Thud!

 

Professor Bae Young-min struck the Hunter’s back hard with his elbow.

 

The Hunter’s expression grew increasingly grim.

 

Eventually, something had to happen.

 

“Calm down!”

 

Whoosh!

 

“I said calm down!”

 

Whooom!

 

“I told you to calm doooown!”

 

Thump!

 

Unable to tolerate the obstruction of official duties, the Hunter lifted Bae Young-min and slammed him down.

 

As if accustomed to such situations, the Hunter gave Bae Young-min a zero-gravity experience before slamming him into the ground.

 

“Ugh, uuugh…”

 

Bae Young-min’s body, which had fallen with a loud crash, twitched intermittently.

 

At this point, I felt more pathetic than anything.

 

Last time he was humiliated by the Snow Flame Empress with a forced exposure show, and he had no idea his confidential research paper had been stolen.

 

“Professor Bae Young-min of Eterion Magical Engineering Academy. You are under arrest on charges of terrorism and sedition conspiracy, as well as causing national chaos through the spread of false information.”

 

You have the right to remain silent, and you have the right to an attorney…

 

While reciting these words, the Hunter put specially made handcuffs on Bae Young-min’s wrists. Even from that shock, his consciousness wasn’t completely lost as Bae Young-min twisted his body wildly.

 

“Ugh. Why are you doing this to me…”

 

“You can ask that when you arrive at Association Headquarters.”

 

“Damn, damn it…!”

 

The people looked confused.

 

They had suddenly seen Professor Bae Young-min being subdued, and then heard something they never could have imagined.

 

They whispered among themselves.

 

“Hey, was what we just heard real? Terrorism? And what’s this about sedition?”

 

“If it’s spreading false information… is it related to Lee Si-hyeok? The conspiracy theory that’s been popular lately originally started from Professor Bae Young-min’s research paper.”

 

“Whoa. That’s creepy.”

 

However, they didn’t seem to have reached the truth yet.

 

‘Of course. The fact that the conspiracy theory Bae Young-min spread was actually something he was planning himself would be hard to believe even if you knew it.’

 

Still, once the news started broadcasting, everyone would find out.

 

Lee Si-hyeok quietly slipped away from the crowd and headed to Professor Hong Yong-jin’s office. He had heard that the alchemists and acquaintances who had come from Orbes were there.

 

It was to prepare for too many people gathering because of the spectacle.

 

Click.

 

When he opened the door and entered, there were three people already there.

 

Team Leader Kim Seung-hyeon and Team Leader Choi In-hwan from the Association.

 

And Professor Hong Yong-jin, the owner of the room.

 

Lee Si-hyeok first greeted the two team leaders who bowed their heads as if they had been waiting, then sat across from them next to Professor Hong Yong-jin.

 

When he quietly asked the professor, he said the others were in the adjacent room.

 

“First, let me apologize.”

 

It was Team Leader Kim Seung-hyeon. When he bowed first, Team Leader Choi In-hwan beside him also bent his waist. Professor Hong Yong-jin’s expression became strange as he watched them apologize formally.

 

“Our Association failed to protect you, Mr. Lee Si-hyeok. We tried to stop the conspiracy theory somehow… but it had already spread too much, so we couldn’t handle it properly. We can only say we’re sorry.”

 

I understand. It wasn’t a small-scale issue but something that spread to the entire nation, even globally – how could they control that?

 

The Association wasn’t some violent organization, and it would have been impossible without resorting to Jeolmong Society-style murder and destruction.

 

“And… we never imagined Professor Bae Young-min was making such plans. We had no idea he was in cahoots with our Hunter Lim Jae-hwi. For this too, we apologize once again.”

 

“So if there’s anything you want, please tell us…”

 

“It’s fine. Really.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

When Lee Si-hyeok waved his hand dismissively, the two team leaders looked at him in confusion.

 

However, Lee Si-hyeok continued indifferently.

 

“I didn’t know about it either. And I heard Hunter Lim Jae-hwi was from the Special Inspection Department, so you couldn’t have known, right?”

 

“No. We should have conducted more thorough internal investigations…”

 

“That’s true. But what can we do about something that’s already passed?”

 

“…”

 

“In the end, there was no damage at all. It was actually beneficial.”

 

Thanks to it, I finished the lecture more effectively.

 

Because of that conspiracy theory, people’s attention was actually more focused.

 

“The Orbes People’s adaptation will be much easier. Originally, people would have had strong resistance, but thanks to Professor Bae Young-min’s crazy stunt, their favorability increased due to that backlash psychology.”

 

“There was such… an effect.”

 

Team Leader Kim Seung-hyeon expressed his inner admiration.

 

Turning misfortune into fortune. Did he turn even this crisis into an opportunity?

 

It was truly remarkable.

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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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