Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 33

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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 (33)

Bad Scent, Good Scent

Tap, tap, tap.

Yoon Seo-jin woke up from her sleep to the small noise echoing in her ears.

She remained half-asleep for a moment, then slowly opened her eyes and examined her condition.

Stretched out legs, comfortably lying back. She was lying down somewhere, with something covering her upper body and blocking her vision.

‘This is…’

When she breathed in, she could smell calm leather. It seemed to have a slight mix of soap scent, and she could also sense the lingering traces of burned mana.

A familiar smell.

‘No way.’

Yoon Seo-jin’s mouth opened slightly.

As she realized that this piece of cloth covering her face was Lee Si-hyeok’s coat, forgotten memories began to surface.

Last night, she had followed Lee Si-hyeok who was secretly slipping out of the restaurant, caught him as he was about to get in a taxi, then squeezed in first and…

‘And, and I definitely threw a tantrum asking to go together…’

Her mind went completely blank for a moment. She vividly remembered the disgraceful behavior she had shown in the taxi, clinging to the annoyed Lee Si-hyeok.

Why on earth did I do that? Why did it have to be yesterday? Using that nasal voice to do such things, something I would never normally do?

‘…No.’

Actually, Yoon Seo-jin had a rough idea of the reason.

It must have been because of what happened at this GateTech Expo.

Thanks to Lee Si-hyeok’s simple advice, Termion’s booth achieved unexpected great success, and even that detestable Pyo Jae-hwan was completely crushed.

So she was excited. She couldn’t help it. The gratitude and fondness she had been harboring in her heart was expressed without her knowing.

Starting from Transport Driver to today’s position. Having continuously watched the process Lee Si-hyeok had walked, Yoon Seo-jin had no choice but to acknowledge it even more. He was an amazing person incomparable to herself who had talent from birth.

‘But…’

Being embarrassed was also unavoidable.

Since graduating from the Magical Engineering Academy, had she ever shown such disgraceful behavior to others? Even to the research team she had worked with for a long time, she had always only shown a cool demeanor.

‘But why yesterday…!’

She got swept up in the atmosphere. She felt like her insides had been completely exposed.

Tap, tap, tap.

The small noise came again.

Yoon Seo-jin calmed her turbulent heart, then listened carefully.

Where was this? Acting disgracefully was one thing, but anyway Lee Si-hyeok hadn’t pushed her away until the end. Then he must have brought her somewhere.

When her thoughts reached that point, she suddenly had an ominous feeling. This… wasn’t this a scene you’d only see in dramas or movies?

Gulp!

Yoon Seo-jin, who had swallowed her saliva, suddenly sat up. The coat that had been covering her upper body fell helplessly to the floor.

And the space that came into view was a place familiar to her as well.

Metal equipment and glass flasks. Documents piled up in disarray and thick books.

And Lee Si-hyeok at the table in the center, deeply focused on something.

It was the research lab at Termion Headquarters.

‘…Of course…’

Yoon Seo-jin’s tension was released in an instant. She let out a quiet laugh and leaned back against the chair. Her body naturally slumped as if the hangover hadn’t fully cleared yet.

Yoon Seo-jin quietly watched Lee Si-hyeok who was consistently absorbed in artifacts.

Didn’t he ever get tired? Preparing for the Expo, preparing for Stage Zero. He must have suffered quite a bit. Yoon Seo-jin knew exactly how meticulous the design of the booth Lee Si-hyeok had constructed was.

It was a design that required tremendous effort. So much that it would be hard to cover with ordinary effort. Moreover, she heard that the given time wasn’t much either, so he must have worked hard day and night.

But now. Lee Si-hyeok’s lips were full of laughter. His previously indifferent eyes were filled with vitality.

Yoon Seo-jin felt a slightly different impression than before.

Maybe my letting loose last night was only natural?

There’s a saying that everything is useless before sincerity, you can never beat someone who enjoys what they do.

Lee Si-hyeok was always sincere. He always enjoyed magical engineering and loved artifacts. He had been like that even before becoming an awakener. Yoon Seo-jin clearly remembered Lee Si-hyeok’s confident appearance when he pointed out the flaws in Termion Hex-9.

So perhaps.

Her showing disgraceful behavior before that sincerity might have been a kind of relief.

Since everything is useless before that, the relief that she could reveal her hidden parts without reservation.

‘…Am I overthinking this.’

Yoon Seo-jin let out a quiet laugh.

Having gotten completely drunk on just two glasses of soju, it seemed like she was making excessive excuses. When just saying ‘it was disgraceful’ in three words would suffice, she seemed to be thinking too deeply about it.

‘Well, whatever.’

Yoon Seo-jin still sat quietly, watching Lee Si-hyeok.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Lee Si-hyeok was slowly assembling the materials spread out on the research table.

Having arrived at the research lab with Yoon Seo-jin a little past midnight, he could now see the sun slowly rising.

Even if she hadn’t been there. Lee Si-hyeok had originally planned to come to the research lab. He had been too busy during the Expo period, so he had no time at all to think about research.

Perhaps because of that, his hands were itching. Materials like magic stones and Gate cores were flickering in the corner of his vision, and he thought he would really die trying to ignore them.

‘Besides, there’s nothing better than this for a change of mood.’

Others would have laughed if they heard this, but Lee Si-hyeok was sincere.

It was his first time working while intoxicated, but he could concentrate better than expected, which was perfect. It even felt like there were no obstacles in his progress.

Lee Si-hyeok assembled the final part of the artifact he was making.

This artifact was one that had undergone simple modifications using the 『Mimicry』 skill to cool his head.

However, the moment he completed it, a message window appeared before his eyes. It was a different message from the ones that had appeared before.

 

[Special skill 『Blooming』 is activated!]

[You have succeeded in ‘perfectly’ crafting an artifact while intoxicated.]

[A new skill blooms according to your actions!]

[Retrieving an appropriate skill…]

 

Lee Si-hyeok’s eyes widened greatly.

『Blooming』.

It was the skill Lee Si-hyeok had acquired when he awakened. It was an awakener’s unique special skill, and it was even EX-rank.

He recalled the skill description he had seen then.

 

[Your talent has bloomed! From now on, you can grow the rank of skills according to your actions. Experience limitless growth!]

 

So crafting an artifact while drunk had become a trigger?

Thump, thump… Lee Si-hyeok felt his heart pounding as he stared straight ahead.

What skill would bloom indeed.

Ding!

 

[Passive 《Clear Mirror Still Water》 is added to the 『Mimicry』 skill.]

[《Clear Mirror Still Water》 – Passive

Your mind is like a clear mirror and still water. No matter what situation arises, you can maintain your mental strength.]

 

“…!”

A brief description. However, the content was clear enough to understand at once.

In other words, it meant that even in situations where he was pushed to the very end, he could demonstrate complete concentration at least when activating the 『Mimicry』 skill.

Indeed, as soon as he obtained 《Clear Mirror Still Water》, it felt like his groggy head had cleared up.

“This is incredible.”

The accumulated fatigue was completely swept away.

Of course, physical fatigue remained, but the fact that his mind had become clear made it no different from an incredible skill.

Why?

Because with this, he would be fine even working all night!

From now on, he could work with a clear mind all day long even without coffee. A pleased smile leaked from Lee Si-hyeok’s lips.

“What’s so amazing?”

Just then, Yoon Seo-jin, who had approached at some point, peeked her head out from beside him.

At her sudden appearance, Lee Si-hyeok flinched and stepped back.

“…When did you wake up?”

“A while ago. Has it been about an hour?”

A whole hour? Lee Si-hyeok swallowed his bewilderment. He had been so absorbed in the artifact that he didn’t even notice she had woken up.

“What did you make? Let me take a look too.”

Regardless of that. Yoon Seo-jin showed no interest in asking questions about the current situation, and instead began examining the artifact Lee Si-hyeok had made first.

Lee Si-hyeok looked at her with a pleased smile at that engineer-like behavior.

“Hey, Si-hyeok. Don’t just smile, explain it to me.”

She had looked over the artifact slowly but couldn’t understand any of it. How long has he been awakened that the skill gap has widened this much? Yoon Seo-jin was amazed but also pouted her lips.

“I added several functions to the Thermion Clearline I advised you about last time. So that not only non-awakened people, but awakened people can also use it effectively.”

It would be easier to understand what functions they were if he showed her directly.

Lee Si-hyeok stepped back and pressed the artifact’s activation button while aiming it at Yoon Seo-jin.

Then a subtle tremor of mana brushed past her body.

“Hm? What did this do? Why suddenly…?”

She suddenly stopped talking and began sniffing. Starting from her arms and then her collar. She slowly smelled herself.

“It smells nice…?”

“That’s right. It’s a popular musk-type fragrance. I added it along with the odor removal function.”

“Crazy. That’s actually possible?”

Yoon Seo-jin was genuinely amazed.

It might seem like nothing special, but implementing such a ‘fragrance’ using only mana arrangement without additives was nearly impossible. Mana was originally famous for its terrible lingering scent.

But to properly blend that harshness and foulness to create a musk fragrance?

It was astounding.

“Wait.”

However, as Yoon Seo-jin mulled over Lee Si-hyeok’s explanation, she discovered something strange.

Didn’t he clearly say ‘odor removal function’ earlier?

That perfect person wouldn’t have added such a function for no reason, which means…

“Don’t tell me, are you saying I smell bad right now?”

It was a question asked with half doubt and half belief. But Lee Si-hyeok was noticeably hesitant to answer.

Although no answer had come back yet, that alone made Yoon Seo-jin feel like her heart had dropped.

“It’s not quite a bad smell…”

“But?”

“You do smell a bit of alcohol. And…”

“And?”

Yoon Seo-jin’s voice gradually became menacing.

“…Didn’t you sleep the entire time in the taxi? The road from the restaurant to the company was quite rough. So it seems the Department Manager got a bit carsick.”

“N-no way.”

“Anyway, nothing happened until then, but when we arrived at the research lab, you suddenly said your stomach was churning…”

“…?!”

Yoon Seo-jin grabbed her trembling eyelids and slowly lowered her head.

The clothes she was wearing.

These aren’t my clothes.

“A-ahem. I hand-washed and dried the shirt you were originally wearing. It’s over there, so when you leave later… Huh?”

Before he could finish speaking.

Yoon Seo-jin walked briskly with a face red as if about to burst, grabbed the neatly folded shirt, and flung open the research lab door.

Then she ran away before he could stop her.

“…”

Bang!

Lee Si-hyeok stared at the closed door for a long time, then slowly put down the artifact.

‘Should I not have said anything?’

 

* * *

 

After Department Manager Yoon Seo-jin left.

Lee Si-hyeok cleaned up the research lab and headed to a cafe near the company.

He was going to meet Hunter Lee Gang-mok there to investigate more information about the ‘Obsidian Mining Site.’

He had sent a message early in the morning, and as soon as he said he had something to ask, Lee Gang-mok agreed. It seemed like saving his life last time remained like a debt.

Despite the early hour, the cafe was crowded. Since it was near the company, most were office workers ordering iced americanos like it was the water of life.

“Huh?”

“That person…”

But as soon as Lee Si-hyeok entered, all eyes focused on him.

It wasn’t usually to this extent, but it was probably due to the influence of the expo. Even now, portal sites’ main pages were still plastered with Lee Si-hyeok’s photos.

Fortunately, perhaps knowing Isaac was nearby, no one approached him forcefully.

‘There he is.’

Lee Gang-mok was sitting alone at a window seat.

It felt somewhat awkward to receive more attention than the chairman’s son, but Lee Si-hyeok approached without showing it.

Lee Gang-mok greeted him first.

“Hello.”

“Yes. It’s been a while.”

A few seconds of silence followed. Though they had met like this, honestly, they weren’t in a comfortable relationship. Now that they were face to face, a heavy atmosphere inevitably settled around them.

“Um, what would you like to drink…”

Finally, Lee Si-hyeok was about to ask first, when Lee Gang-mok immediately pushed a coffee cup toward him.

“Please have this.”

This could be considered consideration too. The fact that the son of a major corporation’s chairman had pre-ordered coffee for someone else could be seen as quite significant consideration.

It was certainly different from when he first saw him. Back then, he hadn’t even treated Lee Si-hyeok as a human being.

As Lee Si-hyeok took a sip of coffee, Lee Gang-mok spoke somewhat awkwardly.

“Did the gift I sent suit your taste?”

He was referring to the Korean beef he had sent to his home as a thank you last time.

“Yes, well. Thanks to you, I ate well.”

“That’s good to hear. By the way, you said you had something to ask me?”

At those words, Lee Si-hyeok immediately brought up the main topic.

Since he had no intention of dragging out the conversation, he spoke directly about needing information on the Obsidian Mining Site.

“Hmm, that’s…”

But Lee Gang-mok hesitated to answer. Was it because his memory had disappeared as Yoon Seo-jin had said?

No. From Lee Si-hyeok’s intuitive sense, it was for some other reason. It felt like he was reluctant to talk about it for some reason.

That’s when it happened.

The ‘Deep Zone Access Key’ that he had obtained from the Corridor of Selection the day before yesterday and kept in his pocket suddenly began vibrating.

 

[‘Deep Zone Access Key’ reacts with target 〈Lee Gang-mok〉.]

[〈Lee Gang-mok〉 – Confirmed as a past forced labor subject of the ‘Obsidian Mining Site.’]

[The key reproduces memories from the time of forced labor.]

 

And…

“Ugh. S-suddenly my head…!”

Lee Gang-mok grabbed his head, then thud.

He collapsed helplessly onto the table.

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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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