Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 34

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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 (34)

As expected

Lee Si-hyeok looked at Lee Gang-mok, who had his head buried on the table.

Fortunately, it didn’t draw attention since other people had all rushed out as work hours arrived. If someone had seen this, it might have caused a commotion.

“Are you alright?”

Lee Si-hyeok carefully shook the shoulder of the collapsed man.

However, Lee Gang-mok only showed signs of distress with his eyes closed, not responding much otherwise.

‘He doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere.’

Then it must be because of the message that appeared earlier. Something about the key reproducing memories from forced labor.

Forced labor… what could that mean.

Though he couldn’t grasp it precisely, Lee Si-hyeok had an intuition that it was related to incidents that occurred in the Gate.

“Huh…!”

At that moment, Lee Gang-mok, who had been lying face down, suddenly raised his upper body.

Lee Si-hyeok heightened his vigilance and looked at him.

“Are you conscious?”

“…”

But no answer came back.

Lee Gang-mok just stared blankly into space with his mouth open. Saliva gradually pooled at the corners of his open mouth, making him look like someone whose soul had left their body.

After a while, he muttered in a barely audible voice.

“Noktonalite… Chronite… Black Steel Rock…”

It was a string of incomprehensible words, but Lee Si-hyeok was able to recognize their identity.

‘Those are… names of Gate byproducts.’

And quite high-quality minerals at that. They were so rare that they were hard to find even in Termion’s warehouse. Naturally, Lee Si-hyeok knew everything from their uses to their characteristics precisely.

However, he didn’t understand why those suddenly appeared.

Lee Si-hyeok asked calmly.

“What about those things?”

“We can’t stop our hands… We must mine…”

“Mining? Are you talking about the Obsidian Mining Site?”

“Yes… We must go there… We shouldn’t be resting like this…”

Lee Si-hyeok’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Could it be that they had undergone group mental brainwashing in the Gate like this? Since the key was said to ‘reproduce’ that time, this speculation made some sense.

At least it was fortunate that some communication was possible. Lee Si-hyeok continued questioning Lee Gang-mok, who still seemed absent-minded.

“Then what happens if you stop mining?”

“If we stop mining… No, no… Then the supervisor will catch us and take us to that deep place… Aah…!”

“Deep place? Are you perhaps referring to the ‘Deep Zone’?”

It was when Lee Si-hyeok narrowed his eyes at the clue that suddenly crossed his mind.

“Kii, kiaaaak…!”

Lee Gang-mok suddenly began convulsing, and eventually started foaming at the mouth. The convulsions gradually intensified.

Thud.

Lee Gang-mok’s screaming stopped as a hand blade struck his neck. Isaac, who had been watching, had knocked him unconscious.

Lee Si-hyeok’s gaze darkened.

Though it wasn’t a proper conversation, he had still obtained quite useful information. He combined clues with clues to derive information from them.

‘First, there exists a device in the Obsidian Mining Site that destroys the minds of those who enter.’

That meant there was a high possibility that the Gate’s clearance wasn’t originally accomplished by the raid team either. With such a powerful device that made everyone lose their memories, it would have been impossible to clear it in that situation.

And Lee Si-hyeok deduced one additional new piece of information.

He looked down at the head of the unconscious Lee Gang-mok while activating his skill.

[『Mana Sensitivity』 is activated.]

[Resonating with the target’s mana to analyze their condition.]

[The skill’s rank is too low for proper assessment!]

It’s fine. Instead of the still low-ranked general skill, Lee Si-hyeok had a special skill.

[『Eyes that Pierce the Essence』 provides assistance.]

[Resuming analysis.]

Like taking an X-ray, the inside of Lee Gang-mok’s head became clearly visible. Mana flowing in various directions. Intertwined blood vessels and mana circuits.

And among them, one circuit with a particularly strange flow.

‘…That’s what’s controlling his mind.’

That circuit must have been responsible for manipulating memories as well.

As Lee Si-hyeok had suspected, the phenomenon that occurred to Lee Gang-mok wasn’t some incomprehensible, ‘magical’ mysterious realm.

—Magical Engineering.

If you know the principle, you can know the result.

If you know the result, you can understand the principle.

It’s a realm that operates within thorough cause-and-effect relationships.

Though humanity might not know this yet, Lee Si-hyeok could see the complexly tangled circuits inside that head very clearly.

Three strands from the left and two strands downward.

‘These five strands are interfering with normal thinking.’

Then there were roughly two solutions.

Either create an artifact right here to dismantle the circuit.

Or find and deactivate the artifact that would be somewhere inside the Gate, which is the cause of this situation.

First, undertaking the creation of an artifact he had never even considered was certainly difficult. Treading an untraveled path, stepping on unstepped ground naturally brings vague emotions.

Moreover, since the circuit was embedded in Lee Gang-mok’s brain, his life was directly at stake.

But Lee Si-hyeok was an exception.

Hadn’t he already been pioneering a different path from others? He had long since encountered and overcome such fears. New waves could simply be smashed or overcome once more.

However, Lee Si-hyeok shook his head.

Though immersing himself in new research would also be very enjoyable, right now there was something he wanted and was drawn to more.

‘The Obsidian Mining Site must be full of artifacts I’ve never seen before.’

Just creating this absurd mental interference circuit could be considered the extreme of magical engineering. What kind of Gate is it that such things exist there?

Moreover, why couldn’t previous raid teams identify it?

He was curious. He wanted to know. He had to see it with his own eyes.

Lee Si-hyeok decided on his next destination.

* * *

Inje County, Gangwon Province.

A deep mountain valley in the foothills of Seoraksan Mountain.

After leaving the cafe, Lee Si-hyeok arrived without delay at the location where the Gate had supposedly reappeared. There was a huge mansion there, just as he had seen in the street view, and he roughly parked the truck he had brought in front of it.

“Must work… Work, work, work…”

Oh, and he had brought Lee Gang-mok along too.

Initially, he thought this would last briefly and then get better, but contrary to expectations, the condition persisted.

If he sent him back in this state, it would certainly become troublesome. No matter how favorable Chairman Lee Young-hoon had been toward Lee Si-hyeok, he couldn’t remain favorable when his own son had become like this. Well, not that there would be much he could do about it, but he didn’t particularly want to make an enemy.

Apparently, he had even come alone without attendants, saying he needed to show proper courtesy when meeting his benefactor. So since he was going to visit the Gate anyway, he planned to solve this together.

“Boss, his condition has gotten more serious.”

Isaac, who had released his stealth, clicked his tongue while looking at Lee Gang-mok.

“Indeed. There really must be a Gate inside that mansion.”

Lee Gang-mok’s convulsions worsened as they got closer to the mansion, so it seemed to be affected by distance as well.

Lee Si-hyeok approached the large door of the mansion.

As the distance narrowed, the pattern carved in the center of the door came into view.

When he had seen this through street view on the map app, he had thought it looked familiar, and afterward he had succeeded in remembering its identity.

Swoosh.

Lee Si-hyeok pulled out a card-shaped piece of paper from his pocket.

It was the business card he had received from Snow Flame Empress Cha Yu-rim at the Expo.

And in the corner of that business card was drawn the exact same emblem carved on the door. A magic staff in the center, with ice on the left and flames on the right.

‘I don’t know why a Gate appeared at the Snow Flame Empress’s mansion, but…’

Rather, he thought it was fortunate.

After all, if a complete stranger had been living here, the situation would have become quite troublesome, but the other party was someone who had shown favor toward Lee Si-hyeok.

However, there was one problem.

“Still can’t reach her.”

On the way here, he had sent several texts and made multiple calls to the Snow Flame Empress, but she wasn’t answering or even reading them.

“Boss, can’t we just break down the door?”

“Are you crazy?”

“That seems like the simplest solution.”

“…”

Honestly, he was somewhat tempted. They couldn’t just wait around indefinitely.

But just then.

Lee Gang-mok, who had been continuously circling around the area, approached with slow steps and stood firmly in front of the door.

“Lee Gang-mok?”

“Can’t stop…”

And after muttering briefly, he violently slammed his head against the door.

Once, twice, three times.

—Creeak.

Then the closed door slowly began to open. He hadn’t broken the door; it simply hadn’t been locked in the first place.

“…”

“…”

Watching Lee Gang-mok squeeze his body through the door gap, Lee Si-hyeok and Isaac wore dumbfounded expressions.

After staring at each other briefly, they followed Lee Gang-mok inside.

The first thing they saw was a garden.

A vast green garden spread out before them. Various flowers grew neatly between the spaces. The mansion’s exterior, reached by following the straight gravel path, was also extremely tidy.

“Very well maintained.”

Isaac, walking behind, spoke admiringly.

“It’s not quite at the level of our family clan’s mansion, but this looks like it’s been maintained daily without fail. It doesn’t seem like they hired anyone separately either. Impressive.”

Lee Si-hyeok agreed with his words. Certainly, managing such a mansion daily would require considerable effort.

But…

“There’s something wrong.”

“What?”

“This hasn’t been maintained for a while.”

He noticed when observing the mana in the area.

Throughout the garden, there were numerous lifestyle artifacts based on magical engineering, and their operation was currently temporarily suspended.

Of course, there were other clues besides that.

“Those plants growing at the garden’s edge. See how their leaves are curling? They’re plants sensitive to moisture.”

“…So the time for watering has passed?”

“Right. Plus, the fountain is stopped too.”

“Couldn’t that have been broken from the start?”

“No. If it had been stopped for a long time, there wouldn’t be foam marks around it. But there are, right? It means it hasn’t been that long since operation stopped.”

“I see.”

Isaac answered calmly while swallowing hard.

Only three minutes had passed since entering the mansion. But in that short time, had Boss already figured everything out? As always, it was truly monstrous analytical ability.

Perhaps when forming a party to tackle high-difficulty Gates, it might be most efficient to take just Lee Si-hyeok alone, excluding everyone else.

“Anyway. If my prediction is correct, about two days have passed since the Snow Flame Empress disappeared.”

“Then she must have entered the Gate first.”

“Probably. That’s why we couldn’t contact her. Though I don’t know the reason.”

Lee Si-hyeok finally reached the depths of the garden. Beyond this point bordered Seoraksan Mountain, where densely grown trees created an eerie atmosphere.

And on one side, just as the message had said, a Gate truly existed.

That must be the entrance to the ‘Obsidian Mining Site.’

“I, I have to go to work…”

Whooom!

Seeing Lee Gang-mok rush in without hesitation made it even more certain.

Lee Si-hyeok and Isaac also entered immediately.

The disorienting sensation was brief; repeated deep breathing helped him adapt quickly. Since this was his first time actually entering a Gate, the experience felt fresh.

“…”

Lee Si-hyeok looked around.

A cave dark as pitch, just as the name suggested. Lanterns hung sparsely from the ceiling; without them, nothing would have been visible.

Two people were visible.

“Nocturnal light! Black steel rock! Let’s! Work!”

Lee Gang-mok, bursting with maniacal laughter while swinging a pickaxe he’d found somewhere against the rocks with all his might.

…And Isaac, clutching his head and swaying as if losing balance.

“Bo, Boss…! Graaah!”

He seemed to be trying to resist mental interference.

But as if that was meaningless, Isaac soon developed vacant eyes and brought a pickaxe to start mining beside Lee Gang-mok.

‘As expected.’

However, Lee Si-hyeok wasn’t flustered.

Because all of this was what he had anticipated.

With the level of mental interference he had analyzed earlier, it would have been difficult for Isaac to resist.

Then what about himself?

Flash. A window appeared as if answering his question.

[The 『Mimicry』 skill is currently active.]

[The passive 《Clear Mirror Still Water》 of 『Mimicry』 resists powerful mental interference!]

[You can maintain your mental strength no matter what situation arises.]

After reading the message, Lee Si-hyeok smiled and pulled out the cheap magic stone he had been rolling around in his pocket.

To be precise, the magic stone that had been serving as the target of his 『Mimicry』 skill.

Everything was exactly as expected.

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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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