Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 61

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Even Hastily Made Ones Keep Stacking Up as EX-Rank (61)

Up-up-upgrade

After all the presentations ended.

Since the final voting and result calculation would take place in each team’s research lab, Lee Si-hyeok and his team members returned to their research lab.

Lee Si-hyeok sat down and asked in disbelief.

“…There was something called session voting? Since when?”

“Since the second day.”

“Since the second day? Why didn’t I know?”

“That morning, Association Staff went around to each research lab to explain. They said it was a newly added rule. You weren’t there then, so that’s why you wouldn’t know.”

Ryu Se-eun, who had been watching with strange eyes, interjected.

“Song Hyeon-gyu. A personal message came too.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Right. They notified us by text too, yeah.”

Watching Song Hyeon-gyu respond reluctantly, Lee Si-hyeok swallowed a groan inwardly.

‘They suddenly added rewards…’

He could somewhat guess the intention.

Since the theme of mimicry itself seemed to have caused resentment among participants, they probably wanted to encourage more active participation.

Either way, it was good news for Lee Si-hyeok.

Ding!

Just then, everyone’s phones rang simultaneously.

“It’s a message from the Association.”

“Right. It looks like we go to this site to vote.”

Following the link led to a well-constructed homepage.

It seemed they could vote for the team they liked after watching the presentations here.

“Si-hyeok hyung. We can’t vote for our own team, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Tsk…”

Lee Si-hyeok thought for a moment, then gave his vote to a team from Britain.

Actually, he hadn’t seen all the presentations due to arriving late, but that team’s artifact had such high quality that it left quite a strong impression.

After finishing voting and waiting, Song Hyeon-gyu suddenly spoke up.

“By the way, hyung, where exactly did you go? We couldn’t contact you at all. Do you know how worried we were?”

“Mm. Sorry about that.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize… Everything worked out well thanks to you in the end. I’m just really curious about where you were.”

Eyes full of curiosity. Lee Si-hyeok met that gaze and chose an appropriate answer.

But no matter how much he thought about it, no suitable response came to mind.

‘What am I supposed to say about this?’

I mean.

He discovered a secret passage in the library and entered it, which led to the Restricted Area of Special Experiment Building No. 2.

He went through the rift there to investigate a new substance called ‘ether’, and coincidentally the flow of time inside the rift’s dimension was different from the outside world.

How could he explain that when he finished his investigation and came out, it was already the evening of the second day of the session?

‘Well, I could explain it.’

But this was classified information of the highest order.

If it were just him and the innocent Song Hyeon-gyu alone, he might have considered it a little, but with Park Sang-min from Chronos and Ryu Se-eun whose thoughts were unreadable also present, he couldn’t just say it outright.

“Um… is it perhaps difficult to talk about, hyung?”

Song Hyeon-gyu seemed to notice Lee Si-hyeok’s expression and asked carefully.

“A little?”

“Ah. If that’s the case, you don’t have to tell us. I wasn’t planning to pry into everything anyway.”

Song Hyeon-gyu smiled awkwardly and scratched his cheek, when Park Sang-min, who had been listening silently, suddenly spoke.

“I’m curious though.”

But Song Hyeon-gyu didn’t even pretend to hear him.

That friendly guy was openly ignoring him.

‘He must really dislike him.’

Park Sang-min hadn’t participated in any session activities at all. He had just sat back and watched from beginning to end. So from Song Hyeon-gyu’s perspective, he would inevitably find him annoying.

Lee Si-hyeok looked at Park Sang-min staring intently at him and gave him a slight smile.

After that, it was time for Song Hyeon-gyu to chatter away by himself.

Since there was quite a bit of time left until the voting results were announced, they all had to stay in the research lab.

Song Hyeon-gyu seemed deeply moved by this session, making a huge fuss all by himself.

He kept repeating words of gratitude.

Lee Si-hyeok responded appropriately while feeling slightly awkward, and with Ryu Se-eun joining in here and there, there wasn’t really time to be bored.

After a while, their phones rang once more.

“Oh, it’s up!”

The voting results had been announced.

Just as Lee Si-hyeok was about to check his phone following Song Hyeon-gyu, the research lab door burst open and an Association Staff member entered.

And hearing what followed, there was no need to check his phone.

“Congratulations. You were selected as 1st place with 116 votes out of 119 total votes.”

A 97.5% approval rating.

They had taken 1st place with nearly unanimous support.

The remaining 2.5% was probably Ray Wen’s group, so it was fair to say that everyone had chosen Lee Si-hyeok.

‘That’s a relief.’

He had expected it to some extent, but there had been some anxiety too.

Lee Si-hyeok had a meticulous personality. As you could tell from how he persistently stuck to things when given a single theme, he preferred to put considerable effort into his work.

But this time, hadn’t he finished it in a short period? He couldn’t help but worry inwardly.

Still, seeing such good results put his mind at ease.

To achieve the desired results in the position he had dreamed of so much. Lee Si-hyeok felt a sense of pride in one corner of his heart.

“Now we need to give you the promised rewards. For the 1st place team, each team member will receive individual rewards. Do you agree?”

“So from 2nd place onwards, it’s not individual rewards?”

“Yes. They might be disappointed, but ultimately giving one reward per team is also a way to encourage unity.”

But 1st place gets special treatment, is that it?

“First, starting with team member Song Hyeon-gyu…”

The employee was about to take out a tablet to show them.

“Wait a moment.”

Song Hyeon-gyu, who had been pondering something, suddenly raised his hand.

“What’s the matter?”

“I want to transfer my reward to hyung… no, to the team leader.”

“…?”

Lee Si-hyeok blinked and stared at Song Hyeon-gyu.

“Hey, what are you suddenly…”

What on earth was he talking about?

But Song Hyeon-gyu’s face looked resolute.

“No. Hyung, please stay still. I’m doing this because I’m genuinely grateful to you.”

“Song Hyeon-gyu? Could you explain in detail what you mean?”

“Exactly what I said – I want to transfer all the 1st place rewards I should receive to the team leader. If it’s impossible to receive two rewards simultaneously, please upgrade the team leader’s reward to something better than originally planned. Adding my share to it.”

“Upgrade?”

“Yes. Is that not possible?”

“No, it’s not that it’s impossible…”

“Please.”

The employee holding the tablet in an awkward position opened and closed his mouth. What was this sudden situation? Just as he was bewildered, this time Ryu Se-eun spoke up.

“Then I’ll transfer mine to the team leader too.”

“…You too?”

“Yeah. Song Hyeon-gyu’s words aren’t wrong either. I don’t really need rewards or anything like that.”

Lee Si-hyeok looked back and forth between the two of them rapidly.

‘Why are these kids suddenly acting like this?’

Are they still young and don’t know how the world works?

Even those famous researchers participated more actively in the sessions because they coveted these rewards, but they’re transferring them to me without even hearing what they’ll get?

Of course, looking at Ryu Se-eun, it seemed like she was more interested in the situation itself rather than just feeling grateful, but still.

As Lee Si-hyeok and the employee stood there dumbfounded, Song Hyeon-gyu and Ryu Se-eun’s heads whipped around toward Park Sang-min.

“…?”

Park Sang-min flinched in surprise. Hot gazes poured down on him.

“Are you just going to stay quiet?”

Naturally, Park Sang-min had been watching the whole time, so he knew what was happening. But what was the intention behind that question? Eventually, unable to bear the stares, Park Sang-min clicked his tongue and spoke.

“…Damn it. Do whatever you want.”

Song Hyeon-gyu smiled with satisfaction upon hearing the answer.

“Did you hear that? Then please add the rewards for all three of us to the team leader’s.”

“Ha, haha. Well, this is….”

The Association staff scratched his head. Then after exchanging contact with someone for a moment, he nodded.

“Understood, then. At the request of Song Hyeon-gyu, Ryu Se-eun, and Park Sang-min, we’ll proceed with upgrading Team Leader Choi Hyeok’s reward.”

The employee approached Lee Si-hyeok, who was standing there in a daze.

“Let’s go. I’ll explain the reward after we move to another location.”

* * *

Since they had decided to transfer all rewards to one person, only Lee Si-hyeok had the right to hear about them.

For that reason, Lee Si-hyeok and the employee moved to a reception room prepared on the top floor.

Ding!

―The doors are closing.

The two people boarded the elevator.

Watching the floor numbers rapidly ascending, the employee spoke first.

“I never expected this. For team members to step forward and transfer their rewards themselves. In all my life, I never thought such a thing would happen.”

“…You’re right about that.”

“How do you feel, Lee Si-hyeok?”

“….”

Lee Si-hyeok.

At that form of address, Lee Si-hyeok’s eyes grew cold as he stared at the employee’s back.

Right now, Lee Si-hyeok was thoroughly disguised as a person named ‘Choi Hyeok’. Since no one had discovered this yet, the only ones who knew this fact were….

“Did the Association tell you?”

It would only be the Awakener Association that had invited him to the seminar.

As if his guess was correct, the back of the employee’s head nodded slightly.

“That’s right. You don’t need to worry though. Even among the staff here, only a very few know this fact.”

That meant this employee held quite a high position.

“So, about the question I asked?”

“You mean the question about how you feel?”

“Yes. I’d like to hear it. How the person involved feels.”

A smile played around his lips that were slightly visible.

“Honestly, I was a bit surprised. When I learned that Lee Si-hyeok was participating in the seminar, I naturally expected you would perform well. But not only that, but team harmony too?”

“….”

“It’s not easy, after all. Usually, the higher-grade creators or researchers tend to control their team members with force. But Lee Si-hyeok was different, wasn’t he?”

“….”

“Of course, I didn’t witness the process myself… but even though I understand you were away from your seat in the middle, to achieve this much. Moreover, without revealing your identity. Well, the more I think about it, I can only describe it as truly remarkable.”

Lee Si-hyeok, who had been listening quietly, stuck his hands in his pockets.

Actually, to be honest, there wasn’t really any particular effort made for harmony.

Of course, it was true that he had tried various things like dividing the team in half on the first day and conducting information gathering, but it was hard to see that as anything particularly remarkable.

So why did this result come about?

‘Because we took first place.’

Since the results were good, the situation was good too.

Although Lee Si-hyeok usually valued process over results, this was logic he couldn’t particularly deny. On top of that, there was also the help from Hyeon-gyu stepping forward.

Since he disliked exaggerating the situation like this, Lee Si-hyeok spoke honestly.

“As for how I feel, well, I’m naturally pleased. But it’s not like I did everything alone as much as you think. The team members deserve credit too.”

But the employee suddenly started laughing.

“This really is just as I heard. Lee Si-hyeok.”

“Pardon?”

“You know Team Leader Kim Seung-hyeon, right?”

Of course he did. He was the team leader of the Association’s Grade Assessment Team who frequently exchanged contact with Lee Si-hyeok.

“I often heard about Lee Si-hyeok from him. Since we have a personal connection.”

“What did he say?”

“That you’re modest. He also said you have many serious aspects that don’t match your young age. Besides that, he told me many other things about your eyes and such… Seeing Lee Si-hyeok directly like this, it seems there wasn’t a single wrong part in what he said.”

The employee spoke in an excited tone, though he tried not to show it.

He felt like he shouldn’t have asked. Somehow he felt embarrassed.

“….”

Clunk.

―The doors are opening.

“Ah, we’ve arrived. Let’s get off.”

The employee walked ahead down the corridor, and Lee Si-hyeok followed behind.

They entered the reception room like that.

The employee who had brought hospitality tea sat across from Lee Si-hyeok and opened his mouth.

“Anyway, we’ve had various long conversations, but this is what’s important. What we’ll give you as a reward.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————