Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 53

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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 (53)

Absolutely not!

“You, you insolent bastard…!”

Professor Hong Yong-jin’s face crumpled instantly at the bombshell statement he never could have imagined.

He slammed down the book he was holding and glared at Lee Si-hyeok as if he wanted to kill him.

“Did you just say that seriously?”

“There’s no way I’d joke around in a situation like this.”

However, Lee Si-hyeok just shrugged his shoulders with an expression that said ‘what’s the problem?’

“Ha!”

Hong Yong-jin laughed again as if dumbfounded and pointed to the cover of the book he had put down.

“You’re saying you know everything written in here?”

“I do. Perhaps I might even know it better than you, Professor.”

“…Better than me?”

“Yes.”

An immediate answer that came out without a moment’s hesitation.

Watching Professor Hong Yong-jin furrow his eyebrows, Lee Si-hyeok raised the corner of his mouth in a smirk.

Professor Hong Yong-jin. What kind of person was he?

In the early days of the Gate era when everything was chaotic due to the sudden appearance of awakeners and monsters.

The one who appeared like a comet to straighten out the messy magical engineering field and established the foundational academic system that serves as a pillar of today’s academic world was none other than Hong Yong-jin.

As such, when studying magical engineering in South Korea, one inevitably encounters his literature.

‘The problem is that the accumulated literature exceeds a whopping thousand pieces.’

Perhaps because of this, even searching the entire world, there were hardly any people who had read all of Professor Hong Yong-jin’s literature.

Maybe five people at most?

No, perhaps not even that many.

As the professor had just said himself, even his team members hadn’t read all the books he had written.

However, there was one part that even Hong Yong-jin couldn’t predict.

Namely, that there existed one exception in this world.

An irregular. An existence outside the norm.

“Professor.”

A total of 1,427 volumes. Lee Si-hyeok, who recalled all the literature Professor Hong Yong-jin had published in his mind, spoke in a brazen voice.

“I’ll point out the incorrect parts for you.”

I don’t just stop at knowing.

I’ll go further and prove myself.

“Reviewing research results – isn’t that what a team member should naturally do?”

“…”

Professor Hong Yong-jin didn’t answer immediately. Rather, his face that had been flushed red and blue calmed down, and he appeared to be pondering something deeply.

One might feel anxious about the sudden change, but Lee Si-hyeok maintained a comfortable smile while waiting for his reaction.

It wasn’t a reckless provocation.

‘If I’m thinking correctly, Professor Hong Yong-jin has the temperament of a gambler.’

Just looking at how he was furiously angry until moments ago, one might assume he would unconditionally refuse, but right now he was probably agonizing tremendously in his head.

Though this was the first time meeting him directly, it was possible to roughly guess just from his style of writing papers and academic journals.

He was probably calculating whether to accept the provocation or not.

And the answer that came back shortly after didn’t stray far from Lee Si-hyeok’s expectations.

“Insolent brat. I’d like to punch you right now and tell you to get lost, but I suppose that wouldn’t be appropriate in this day and age.”

“…”

“Fine. Go ahead, to your heart’s content. Prove that you know all the contents of this book, and if there are parts you want to point out, do so without exception. However…”

His eyes glared fiercely.

“If even one incorrect part comes up, you’ll definitely have to take responsibility for what you said.”

“Thank you for accepting.”

When Lee Si-hyeok nodded nonchalantly, he clicked his tongue in displeasure.

“Damn… Then let’s move locations first. I have absolutely no intention of approaching this half-heartedly either.”

* * *

True to his words about not approaching it half-heartedly, Professor Hong Yong-jin properly decided on the test method before getting into the actual work.

Specifically, instead of exchanging questions and answers verbally, he had to directly ‘show’ the process of making artifacts.

Naturally, Lee Si-hyeok had no objections and immediately accepted, and soon the two were able to arrive at an empty research lab on the upper floor.

A brief preparation time.

“…”

Hong Yong-jin, with his arms crossed, watched Lee Si-hyeok checking the research equipment and recalled the theme of the book that caused this test.

[Artifacts achieve maximum efficiency when the constituent materials and the user’s magical attributes are identical.]

This one sentence was the core and conclusion.

The first half of the book consisted of experimental results and explanations to support this sentence.

By now, it was content that was almost common sense.

A hunter who handles fire attribute mana should use artifacts made from fire attribute materials like ‘Solar Remnant’.

Just as a hunter who handles lightning attribute mana should use artifacts made from lightning attribute materials like ‘Current Crystal’.

The theme of this book was a theory considered a finished product, with absolutely no room for refutation.

Perhaps that was why.

When this book was published, it didn’t attract much attention. It was content that other engineers had already thoroughly explored like bone broth.

The reason he bothered to cover it anyway was simply due to a kind of sense of duty that he should probably publish a new book soon.

What he had written down compulsively was precisely this book.

‘…That bastard read all of that?’

Honestly, that alone was hard to believe.

It had been several years since publication, yet that insolent bastard had read a book that sold less than 100 copies?

At first he thought it was definitely a lie, but seeing how he didn’t change his words to the very end, it seemed to be true.

However, it would be one of two things.

‘Either he read it superficially, or he prepared in advance knowing he would meet me.’

It seemed unlikely he had prepared in advance knowing what would happen in the research lab, but eventually his true colors would be revealed.

The reason he changed the test method to artifact crafting was all for that reason. While verbal explanations can easily deceive people, the process carried out by one’s hands has no choice but to be honest.

‘Hmph, let’s see.’

Far from pointing out incorrect parts, it would be difficult to even satisfy his standards during the crafting process.

Hong Yong-jin had absolutely no intention of accepting someone the Association had parachuted in.

‘Absolutely not!’

* * *

“…”

Whirrrrr!

“…”

Clack, tap, tap.

“…”

Click. Clank!

“…”

Hong Yong-jin’s resolve began to crack about five minutes after Lee Si-hyeok started working.

Hong Yong-jin, who had been watching the work process with narrowed eyes, unconsciously swallowed.

‘What is this.’

The artifact that bastard was making looked far too familiar.

An elongated magic staff.

The end of the staff was split into a U-shape, with an ice-like transparent blue crystal embedded on the left side, and a red flame stone positioned on the right side.

“You bastard, what are you making right now?”

“Didn’t you tell me not to speak?”

When he asked as if entranced, Lee Si-hyeok slightly raised his gaze.

“…How inflexible. I meant don’t try to solve everything with words, but adding explanations during the crafting process is fine.”

“Is that so?”

A hint of laughter flickered in Lee Si-hyeok’s smile.

…Damn bastard, he probably knew everything and asked on purpose. While Hong Yong-jin’s expression crumpled, Lee Si-hyeok lifted up the artifact he was crafting.

“Emberice. Actually, Professor, you would know this better than I do.”

That was correct.

Emberice was a magic staff that Hong Yong-jin himself had directly crafted for Snow Flame Empress Cha Yu-rim after receiving her commission in the past.

Hong Yong-jin hadn’t failed to notice this either.

Having directly undertaken the crafting, and with the Snow Flame Empress still using that staff to this day, there was no way he could mistake it.

Still, the reason he deliberately asked was…

‘…It’s too perfect.’

This wasn’t simply an expression like ‘well made.’

To the point where it was ambiguous to evaluate by such standards, the Emberice that Lee Si-hyeok was crafting resembled the artifact Hong Yong-jin had completed in the past with perfect similarity.

It meant he had literally copied it perfectly.

Various questions crossed his mind in an instant.

Hong Yong-jin chose one of them and asked Lee Si-hyeok, who was immersed in his work again.

“Why did you choose Emberice? Is there a special reason?”

“I thought it was most suitable for the book’s theme.”

“Suitable for the theme?”

“Yes. Not all combat-type awakeners, that is, Hunters, possess unique attributes in their mana. Attributes are special traits that only a few Hunters are born with, aren’t they?”

Lee Si-hyeok continued speaking while operating the mana condenser.

“Among them, the Snow Flame Empress, who handles both ice and fire attributes, is even more special. So I chose Emberice, the artifact of someone who can best display that specialness.”

“…”

“Besides, since it’s an artifact that you directly crafted, Professor, I thought it would be easier to explain compared to other artifacts.”

Easier to explain – hearing those words, Hong Yong-jin inwardly gasped.

Usually, in front of an artifact’s original creator, one would try to avoid artifacts of similar form as much as possible.

No matter how you make it, they inevitably become comparison targets, and creating a finished product that surpasses that is also extremely difficult.

But easier to explain?

Was he saying he’d take on all the risks for such a simple reason?

Having held a professorship for a long time and seen countless students, Hong Yong-jin found Lee Si-hyeok even more incomprehensible. This was a type of human he’d never seen before. The documents provided by the Association clearly stated he had lived an ordinary life, didn’t they?

Though his specs were slightly above average, that was it.

They weren’t impressive enough to catch Hong Yong-jin’s eye.

‘…This is driving me crazy.’

Feeling his evaluation of Lee Si-hyeok gradually changing, Hong Yong-jin continued watching the work with an uneasy mind.

Clatter, whirr!

He watched with burning eyes, trying to find any lacking aspects, but there wasn’t a single mistake, let alone any waste.

Even seemingly trivial movements all had purpose. He controlled even the position of his fingers one by one, processing magic stones with detailed yet smooth movements in between.

By now, it even felt superior and more efficient than the Emberice crafting process he himself had undertaken in the past.

Just as Hong Yong-jin’s thoughts gradually changed from ‘What is this guy?’ to ‘Oh, look at this?’

“It’s complete.”

Lee Si-hyeok presented the finished Emberice.

Hong Yong-jin approached closer, unfolded his arms, and slowly examined the staff.

‘Certainly.’

As Lee Si-hyeok said, it was perfectly suited for explaining the book’s theme. The Snow Flame Empress’s two magical attributes, and the artifact’s materials of the same attributes that support them.

An artifact that could maximize efficiency and performance to the highest degree had been born.

This alone proved that Lee Si-hyeok had perfectly read and understood Hong Yong-jin’s book. The theories from the book were naturally incorporated throughout.

Though that didn’t mean his hostility had completely subsided.

Just as Hong Yong-jin, who had been observing for a while, was about to look at Lee Si-hyeok with surprised eyes.

—Swish.

Lee Si-hyeok suddenly reached out and took away the Emberice that Hong Yong-jin was holding.

“Hm?”

He sent a puzzled look at this unexpected action, but Lee Si-hyeok paid no mind and attached machines to both sides of the Emberice’s U-shaped section.

Then when he activated the power, force was applied to the machines and the U-shaped parts began to spread apart in opposite directions.

Crack, crackle…

Fissures appeared in an instant.

“W-wait a moment. What are you doing? Don’t tell me…”

And without time to stop him, crack!

The staff broke in half.

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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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