Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 66

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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 (66)

Central Records Hall

The session progressed quickly.

First, they had to select the properties of the two artifacts. This was decided through a drawing.

As a result, ‘Repulsion Force’ and ‘Absorption Force’ came out.

“Huh? This is a bit? Difficult, isn’t it?”

As Aila muttered, these were troublesome properties.

Repulsion force that bounces back impact, and absorption force that takes it in completely.

Fusing these two opposing properties together was Lee Si-hyeok’s team’s goal.

However, Professor Hong Yong-jin, who had complaints about Canterbury, surprisingly didn’t seem worried at all.

“What’s the problem? Isn’t this kind of thing what you do best?”

“….”

In fact, Professor Hong Yong-jin had seen Lee Si-hyeok’s skills once before the seminar started.

At that time, they had gone through a process quite similar to the current session. Fire and ice. He had created ‘Emberice’, an artifact that fused opposing magical properties.

Having known this from the beginning, Professor Hong Yong-jin was rather at ease.

“It seems I’ve taken in one good disciple.”

“When did I become your disciple?”

“Just now.”

“Good grief….”

Anyway, unlike other teams that were hesitating, Lee Si-hyeok’s team quickly began their work.

This time, unlike the first session, there were no competitors, making it somewhat easier.

‘Once everything’s finished, they said they’d score it with a measuring device and wrap up.’

―Clatter, thud!

As he was carefully processing the materials, at some point Aila had come to his side and started observing.

Next to her, other research team members were standing in a row, looking like a penguin family.

“Is there something you’re curious about?”

“May I? Ask questions?”

Aila looked up at Lee Si-hyeok. He felt that her braided blonde hair suited her quite well.

“Ask anything. That’s why we became a team.”

“Here? The left circuit has proper? Lubrication, but what about? The right side?”

“Ah, the reason this is like this is….”

Lee Si-hyeok explained clearly without showing any signs of annoyance.

Mainly Aila would ask questions and let out admiring exclamations like ‘Ooh?’, then the team members standing behind her would diligently take notes.

Since the Canterbury members handled most of the miscellaneous tasks, they worked together very well.

What he felt through this was amazement.

‘…She absorbs things faster than I thought.’

Aila Fairchild. Her comprehension was exceptional.

She must have been invited to the seminar because she already had deep knowledge in magical engineering, but it wasn’t simply at that level.

“Ho? Look at this girl?”

Even the strict Professor Hong Yong-jin let out admiration.

Of course, she couldn’t compare to Lee Si-hyeok. Naturally, she fell far short of him, but at least among those Lee Si-hyeok had seen, she belonged to the quite excellent category.

Director Yoon Seo-jin. No, perhaps she might even surpass her.

‘If she had focused only on proper research, the academic world might have been different from now.’

If she turned her attention, which had been focused only on strange research, to genuine magical engineering, quite a lot might change.

“You do have at least some eye for people after all.”

While spending such busy days.

[A response has arrived from Eterion. They say they will open some of the Central Records Hall to Mr. Lee Si-hyeok.]

Finally, the contact he had been waiting for arrived.

Lee Si-hyeok, who confirmed the message from the Association Staff, took off his work gloves.

And as he finished preparing to leave after entrusting the work to Aila, Professor Hong Yong-jin, who had returned from his meal, asked.

“Hmm? Where are you going?”

He hesitated for a moment before answering.

He couldn’t say he was going to the Central Records Hall.

Hong Yong-jin was a professor who had taught Yoon Seo-jin and Pyo Jae-hwan in the past. In other words, there was a high possibility he was related to the incident to some extent.

Although there was the proposal he had made after passing the test recently, wouldn’t it be premature to bring it up already? Lee Si-hyeok, making that judgment, chose appropriate words.

“I have business at the dormitory. I might be a bit late.”

“Is that so? Alright. Don’t be too late.”

Professor Hong Yong-jin waved his hand dismissively.

Fortunately, he looked like he didn’t suspect anything.

* * *

The Central Records Hall is located at the exact center of Eterion Magical Engineering Institute, as its name suggests. It seems to have been designed that way from the beginning, without even an inch of error.

Therefore, there was no great difficulty in arriving there.

“Ah, you’ve arrived. I’m Kim Seung-guk, in charge of guiding Mr. Choi Hyeok.”

Does this person know him as Choi Hyeok? Upon arriving at the records hall, a man who introduced himself as the head of the External Cooperation Office extended his hand for a handshake.

“I’m Choi Hyeok.”

He roughly grasped and shook it. The man then began asking various questions.

“This is your first time at the Central Records Hall, right? This is also your first time at Eterion?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, then… Ah. Let me explain as we go in. The records hall is bigger than you’d think.”

The Central Records Hall was a large pentagon-shaped building. It might be similar to that building called the Pentagon in America. It definitely gave off a strong sense of being closed off.

“I heard that Mr. Choi Hyeok achieved tremendous results in this seminar. So as a reward for that, you requested access from the Dean?”

“That’s right. There are things I’m curious about.”

“What might those be?”

“Do I have to tell you?”

The supervisor opened the security door. As they entered inside, air that was cool to the point of being cold enveloped his entire body.

“Of course you have to tell me. The areas opened to Mr. Choi Hyeok this time are quite limited. You might be asking about places outside those areas.”

“How many areas are there?”

Lee Si-hyeok buttoned up his research coat. It was cold like a freezer.

“17 areas out of a total of 271.”

“…Isn’t that too few?”

“I can’t help it either. It’s a matter the Dean instructed. In the first place, opening the Central Records Hall to outsiders is an exceptional occurrence.”

After passing through an entrance full of various security devices, a long corridor came into view.

Befitting a pentagon building, from the entrance there were two main corridors, left and right. Various areas could be seen densely arranged throughout these corridors.

“Then let me guide you to the open areas. They’re close to the entrance, so it won’t be too far.”

The supervisor pointed to the right corridor with his hand. Due to only blue lighting dimly illuminating the area, shadows fell across his face.

Lee Si-hyeok followed slowly while shivering from the cold.

“How are the areas arranged?”

“Well, by order of importance. Usually, easily accessible information is near the entrance. The farther you go, the harder it becomes to access the information.”

That means they’re only going to show him unimportant areas.

“Is there only one entrance? Just the one we came through?”

“Yes. So you see the end of that corridor? Going down the left and right corridors, the part that becomes the central vertex of the pentagon. That’s the highest security area. But, Mr. Choi Hyeok. Why are you so curious about everything? Do you perhaps have other business at the Central Records Hall?”

“….”

The supervisor’s steps suddenly stopped. When he turned his head, his eyes glinted momentarily in the dim view.

“Please answer me, Mr. Choi Hyeok. You keep doing this, so it makes me anxious.”

“…What other business. I just have a curious personality.”

“Ah, that’s right, isn’t it? So you must have been curious about the Central Records Hall too. Sorry for being suspicious. The Dean told me to check carefully if there was anything strange.”

“It’s fine. More than that, could you please turn off the air conditioner?”

“Are you cold? But I can’t help it. Sorry about this too.”

Whirrrr… Amid the echoing sound of the air conditioner, the supervisor’s voice mixed in. He was wearing short sleeves.

“This is the records hall, you know? There are many important documents stored here. They need to be kept dry for proper preservation.”

“I don’t think so.”

Lee Si-hyeok muttered.

“What? You don’t think so?”

“Most important documents would be stored as mana files anyway, wouldn’t they? Then the surrounding environment wouldn’t really matter.”

“…”

“Well, even if there are paper documents by any chance, there would definitely be at least one management artifact.”

“…”

“Then the air conditioner has nothing to do with it. Even if we turn all of these off, nothing would happen to the documents.”

“…”

“Supervisor?”

“…”

Whirrrr…

“…”

“Could you please say something…”

—Beep.

Suddenly, such a notification sound echoed nearby.

When he looked up wondering what was happening, he could soon tell it was the sound of the air conditioner turning off.

—Beep.

That sound began to spread. The nearby air conditioner turned off, then the one next to it, and then the one next to that. All the air conditioners in every area turned off one after another.

Beep, beep, beep.

The short notification sounds repeated endlessly.

Overlapping and overlapping sounds. The notification sound that had only felt cheerful became eerily bizarre as it overlapped endlessly.

It sounded like someone screaming, or perhaps like a cassette tape being stretched out long.

The noise stopped only after 10 minutes. During that time, the supervisor and Lee Si-hyeok didn’t exchange a single word.

Lee Si-hyeok asked with sunken eyes.

“Is it all over?”

“Yes. There were more air conditioners on than I thought. But aren’t you hot, Mr. Choi Hyeok? You’ve buttoned your research coat all the way up.”

“Being hot is better than being cold.”

“Is that so?”

I prefer being cold. Following the supervisor who muttered this, they could reach the first area.

However, most of the things in the area were simple research materials that students had worked on. Content that could be found without necessarily visiting this place.

“Let’s go to the next one.”

Next, the one after that, the one after that.

Still, the materials Lee Si-hyeok wanted were nowhere to be found. The incident that had occurred at Eterion in the past.

To be precise, it would be ‘Eterion Magical Engineering Academy Internal Classified Records No. 842-03’.

“Can I really only look around here?”

“Yes. The Dean said no.”

“I’m curious about the innermost area over there.”

“No, no way.”

The supervisor was stubborn. He was definitely hiding something, but there was no way to find out.

‘Should I just have Isaac infiltrate?’

It would be something Isaac could do.

Or another method would be to disable all the CCTV, knock out the supervisor, and then go in.

Lee Si-hyeok seriously considered this while watching the supervisor fidgeting with the air conditioner remote.

‘…I need to find something this time.’

However, he couldn’t help but hesitate a little.

Eterion Magical Engineering Academy was one of Korea’s top specialized academies. As such, if he caused trouble now, there would definitely be considerable consequences to deal with.

It was while he was frowning like this.

Creak… clunk.

The sound of the entrance door opening could be heard, and someone was walking this way.

“Who is it? There’s no one who should be coming except Mr. Choi Hyeok?”

The supervisor went out to the corridor with curiosity. There, a middle-aged man in a suit was walking steadily.

“Oh. Chief Secretary?”

“…Chief Secretary?”

“He’s the Dean’s Chief Secretary. What brings you here?”

The distance with the middle-aged man narrowed.

He spoke to the supervisor in a low voice.

“Kim Seung-guk. This is the Dean’s instruction to return to the External Cooperation Office.”

“What? Then what about guiding Mr. Choi Hyeok?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Ah…?”

The supervisor stepped back hesitantly, looking flustered.

“But this is my assigned task…”

“This is a matter decided by the Dean.”

“Oh, my. Understood. Should I just return?”

“Yes.”

The supervisor left the building with a bewildered expression. He took one step, then quickly looked back, repeated this several times, and finally went completely outside.

‘What the hell is this?’

Lee Si-hyeok quickly organized the situation in his mind.

Ever since entering the Central Records Hall, incomprehensible events kept repeating. From the supervisor’s creepy attitude to the hopeless situation.

And now the person in charge suddenly changed?

Things had become even more complicated. Just as Lee Si-hyeok was about to send a signal to Isaac, the newly arrived Chief Secretary spoke to him.

“Is there something you want to check in the inner area?”

“…Yes. But I heard it’s a restricted area. Something about having to follow the Dean’s instructions.”

“You mean this.”

Click, the Chief Secretary took something out of his pocket and pressed a button. It was the play button of an analog recorder.

Crackle, crackle…

—No matter what happens, absolutely do not let anyone approach Area 271. The same goes for the other areas, but that place is absolutely off-limits.

—You keep saying it’s safe, it’s safe, but last time some rat-like bastard snuck in and stole classified information. Don’t let your guard down. Understood?

—Good answer. Still, you’re more trustworthy than Kim Seung-guk. You’re the only one I place my trust in.

—Go there without delay and tell Kim Seung-guk. In preparation for any possible situation, you’ll take over the guidance.

‘The Dean?’

As soon as he heard it, the voice of Eterion Magical Engineering Academy’s Dean came to mind.

He had heard it directly only once. During the brief speech when the seminar started recently. But the recorder played exactly the same voice.

“…Is it okay for you to let me hear this?”

He couldn’t know the details, but he could at least understand that the Dean was really hiding something.

Was it okay for this person called Chief Secretary to let him hear this?

“It doesn’t matter.”

However, the Chief Secretary only answered in a consistent tone.

“Because I don’t intend to follow it.”

As soon as those words ended.

He applied force to his hand. Crack. With a small crushing sound, the analog recorder was instantly destroyed. Smoke rose and fragments fell to the floor with thuds.

“What is this…”

Toward Lee Si-hyeok, who was on high alert, he politely bowed.

“Let me introduce myself properly. I am Bae Jun-wan, working under Snow Flame Empress Cha Yu-rim.”

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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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