Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 67

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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 (67)

A Familiar Face

“…What?”

Lee Si-hyeok’s eyes blinked.

Did I hear that wrong? Snow Flame Empress?

“A few weeks ago, I received orders from Cha Yu-rim to take full charge of guiding Lee Si-hyeok.”

“Orders, orders?”

“Yes. She said you would definitely come to the Central Records Hall, so I should wait to receive the Dean’s instructions at the right time.”

A few weeks ago would probably be around the time he discovered the classified records at the Snow Flame Empress’s mansion.

Then the Snow Flame Empress had anticipated from that time that Lee Si-hyeok would stop by this place.

Right, that made sense since he had shown interest in front of her, but….

“Just how long have you been infiltrating Eterion?”

The part he couldn’t understand at all was how she could be infiltrating ‘that’ Eterion Magical Engineering Academy.

And even as the Chief Secretary, one of the highest-ranking positions.

However, Bae Jun-wan tilted his head as if puzzled.

“You didn’t know?”

“I had no idea.”

“…Oh my. It seems Cha Yu-rim didn’t tell you in advance. I didn’t expect this.”

He unbuttoned the topmost button of his suit jacket. Slipping his hand through the slightly opened front, he pulled out a letter from his inner pocket and handed it over.

“This is a letter from Cha Yu-rim. I haven’t checked it, but it probably contains the necessary information.”

Swish, Lee Si-hyeok removed the seal from the envelope.

Then, on letter paper with a blue background and red embroidery, a long passage of text was written.

 

[My savior and lifelong benefactor.

This is a small token of my feelings for you….]

 

The opening was quite long. He could tell it was written with care, but since there was no time now, he quickly skipped ahead.

Soon his eyes, moving without rest, found the necessary part.

An explanation of Bae Jun-wan’s identity and this situation.

 

[As I mentioned before, I made various efforts to return to Orbes after coming to this world. One of those efforts was finding like-minded individuals.]

 

“….”

 

[Bae Jun-wan.

He is the same. Though he is not from another dimension like me, he is someone who carries the pain of losing his homeland in the past.]

 

“…Are you from North Korea?”

“Yes. It seems Cha Yu-rim told you.”

 

[Besides him, there are many more who are with me. It might be beyond your imagination.

In this world, there are more diverse people than you know. They are ones who would help you anytime if I asked.

I’ve talked too long.

Anyway, you can trust Bae Jun-wan. The classified records you saw were all obtained by him. If you could give him even half the trust you have in me… wait.

You do trust me, don’t you?]

 

“….”

Anyway, summarizing the content that followed.

It seemed Bae Jun-wan had been infiltrating Eterion Magical Engineering Academy for quite a long time.

It was probably thanks to his awakening ability. Like Song Hyeon-gyu, unique skills specialized in this kind of work could certainly exist.

“Have you finished reading?”

“No, just a moment.”

There was still content left at the very bottom.

This part seemed to have been written after much deliberation, with traces of being erased and rewritten several times. The handwriting was also crooked, clearly different from the other parts.

 

[P.S.:

My child, that is, how is Blackie doing? I hope nothing painful has happened… I’m deeply worried since it’s been so long since we met.]

 

Lee Si-hyeok immediately swallowed hard.

As he stared blankly at the tattered letter paper, Bae Jun-wan spoke as if remembering something.

“Ah, that’s right. Cha Yu-rim asked me to hear your answer and relay it. She said she wrote a question at the end of the letter.”

“…Do I have to answer?”

“Yes. She especially emphasized that above all else.”

“….”

Lee Si-hyeok hesitated and stepped back, conscious of the pocket near his left chest.

A heavy weight and pleasantly warm temperature. In the pocket, Blackie was sleeping soundly, unaware of anything.

‘To be precise, it’s in a comatose state though….’

After pondering for a moment, Lee Si-hyeok finally opened his lips.

“Um, just tell her it’s doing reasonably well. Eating well and sleeping well.”

“Understood.”

At least he told the truth as it was, so it wasn’t a lie.

He was suddenly worried about when he would meet the Snow Flame Empress again, but well, by then wouldn’t Blackie wake up?

“Then let’s move before it’s too late. If we delay any longer, the Dean might notice.”

“I’ll guide you.”

 

* * *

 

Lee Si-hyeok quickly followed Bae Jun-wan. In the bluish lighting, hacked CCTVs caught his eye.

“The materials you’re looking for are probably in the 271st section. It’s the last section.”

“How much further?”

“Just about 3 more minutes. The building is quite large, after all.”

The sections they passed were mostly thoroughly concealed so their contents couldn’t be identified.

“The classified records you delivered to the Snow Flame Empress, did you read those too?”

“Yes. I was the one who stored those records in this building in the first place.”

“…So you were the Chief Secretary even then.”

“I had a different position then, but I did have the Dean’s trust. Anyway, it would be better for you to check the details yourself.”

Saying that, Bae Jun-wan suddenly stopped walking.

They had reached the deepest part of the records hall.

The farthest from the entrance, where the two lines of the pentagon’s upper part met.

Standing before the thick security door, he held up his employee card. Beep! A sharp electronic sound rang out, and soon the door opened.

―Clank!

Hissss….

There wasn’t just one or two doors. Clearly at the entrance, they only had to pass through one door and that was it. But here, they had to pass through a total of 7 doors.

How much time had passed? Lee Si-hyeok, who had been waiting on guard, was finally able to enter inside.

“….”

In the cool air, he could smell the metallic scent.

When he turned his gaze toward the ventilation duct where air was flowing, he could see the metallic display cases placed below it.

The overall tone was dark. It was as clean as entering a sterile room, but the atmosphere gave a strong impression of gloominess.

“…It feels like a museum.”

Or an art gallery. The sight of display cases lined up with distances between them reminded him of that.

“It was deliberately designed that way. Since it’s the final section, the importance of the materials stored here is high, but conversely, their number is small.”

Bae Jun-wan, who gave a brief explanation, approached the display case on the right.

“It’s over here.”

Following his gaze, a familiar document caught his eye.

 

[Eterion Magic Engineering Academy Internal Classified Records No. 842-03]

 

It was the same record he had seen at the Snow Flame Empress’s mansion.

However, around it were magic documents in forms he had never seen before.

“These are the documents we failed to retrieve back then. Since they were recorded on magic panels, we couldn’t break through the security.”

“I think I can do it.”

“Excuse me?”

“If it’s this level, I can definitely take them out. Please wait a moment.”

“What do you mean…?”

Bae Jun-wan asked back, seeming quite flustered. For him, meeting Lee Si-hyeok directly was a first, so it was an unavoidable reaction.

Although he had heard so much from the Snow Flame Empress that it was ingrained in his mind, until he saw with his own eyes, it was just imagination.

However, his confusion only lasted that long.

—Click.

Not even 3 seconds had passed.

While he was still following his brief train of thought, the display case’s security was unlocked.

…Wouldn’t he need the employee key that I brought?

Bae Jun-wan, who was about to take out the key hidden under his suit tie, looked at Lee Si-hyeok with his mouth agape.

“How did you…?”

However, Lee Si-hyeok didn’t answer.

No, ‘couldn’t’ would be a more accurate expression.

As soon as he picked up the magic panel, sudden dizziness struck him. Along with a sharp pain, Lee Si-hyeok clenched his teeth hard.

‘…Ugh.’

The headache began spreading in all directions. The mana flowing through his frontal lobe rushed in reverse, causing his sense of balance to become disturbed.

Because of this, he staggered involuntarily, and Isaac, who had been hiding and watching, grabbed his arm.

But nothing changed.

The blue dots appearing in his vision gradually spread, eventually covering everything.

—Whoosh!

And so the space completely transformed.

 

* * *

 

…When he opened his eyes, it was a completely different space from where he originally was.

The moment he confirmed this, Lee Si-hyeok was able to instantly understand the situation that had befallen him.

‘Was it a memory projection type document…?’

It was a method of directly projecting past events onto a document.

The person checking this document could directly observe that time period from the past.

Of course, it wasn’t actually going to the past. It was just observing the recreated events as a third party within a limited range.

‘This is my first time experiencing it directly.’

It was a method Lee Si-hyeok had only encountered through books.

That made sense, since it was originally very costly and had a complex manufacturing method, so it wasn’t used often unless for important matters.

That meant Eterion also considered this incident important.

‘My body… Isaac and Bae Jun-wan will protect it well.’

Lee Si-hyeok calmed his gaze and looked around.

It was a familiar yet quite unfamiliar scenery.

“Is this Eterion?”

Looking at the students passing by, it seemed to be correct.

Moreover, even though he deliberately spoke aloud, no one was conscious of him. As if nothing was there.

It seemed he had entered a mental state, just as he had studied.

In this respect, he felt a clear difference from Orbes, which was an imitation world.

Orbes was also a world that perfectly recreated the past. However, that place was a method where the complete physical body moved, and the spatiotemporal scale itself was on a different dimension.

Whooom…

He moved his body without hesitation.

Now that he knew he wasn’t being perceived, there was no reason to hesitate.

With each step he took, mana fluctuated strangely, and soon Lee Si-hyeok was able to find the building he was looking for.

Special Experiment Building No. 2.

“It seems it hasn’t been closed yet here.”

Students and professors were coming and going sporadically.

Entering through the central entrance, a well-maintained marble corridor appeared.

Based on the existence of the secret passage he had discovered before, the past Ether Society’s club room should be right in this building.

Then the basement connected to the secret passage.

The club room would likely be right above that.

‘I should look around the first floor.’

Having decided on his route, Lee Si-hyeok began moving without delay.

Then, in the most secluded spot, he discovered a research lab.

 

[3rd Year Club Room: Ether Society]

 

Lee Si-hyeok checked the inside through the small window. There was only… one person. Fortunately, it was a familiar face.

‘Pyo Jae-hwan.’

A male student who appeared to have his eyes half-open, making it unclear whether his eyes were open or closed.

He was quite tall, slightly hunching his waist while writing a research report.

Based on the name tag on his white research coat, that guy seemed to be the department manager at the time.

Was this before the incident occurred? Where were the other students?

It was the moment Lee Si-hyeok, who had been observing Pyo Jae-hwan intently, felt puzzled.

“Ah, today’s lunch was delicious. Don’t you think so, guys!”

“I didn’t think so. I don’t know why we suddenly went to eat tteokbokki.”

A group of students could be seen approaching from the opposite end of the corridor. The quiet corridor suddenly became bustling.

“You always want to eat pork bulgogi!”

“That’s not true. I also like pork cutlet.”

“Ugh, this guy!”

“Haha. Guys, let’s not fight…”

“Why? It’s fun. Leave them alone.”

Six people in total.

However, among them, there was one recognizable face.

‘…Department Manager Yoon Seo-jin.’

It was Research Department Manager Yoon Seo-jin, his former workplace superior with whom he had become quite close.

He knew she had been part of the Ether Society in the past, but actually encountering her like this felt different.

Prying into the past of someone he was meeting in the present and building current relationships with inevitably created somewhat complex and subtle feelings.

What kind of events had she experienced here?

The distance with the approaching group narrowed. Their noisy voices could be heard even louder.

Yoon Seo-jin spoke with a worried tone.

“By the way, I wonder if Jae-hwan ate? He said he was busy with some report to write.”

“Hmm, who knows? He probably didn’t eat. Given Jae-hwan’s personality.”

“True. That guy’s problem is being too much of a pushover.”

“Agreed.”

“Even in the Student Council, she’s always thinking about helping other kids. Honestly, our club would have collapsed long ago if it weren’t for her.”

Kind, so kind. Yoon Seo-jin muttered this and brushed past Lee Si-hyeok.

Lee Si-hyeok gazed at the smile on her lips for a moment, then looked at the opening door.

“So we brought snacks, Jae-hwan!”

“Ta-da!”

The club members entering the club room one by one, led by Yoon Seo-jin.

After five students had entered first, when only one remained.

“…?”

Lee Si-hyeok’s thoughts momentarily stopped when he confirmed that face.

The familiar smile on that face.

…Did I see wrong?

As his pupils shook from the sudden shock.

She, who had stopped in front of the door, slowly turned her head and precisely ‘looked’ at the place where Lee Si-hyeok was.

It was a position without even an inch of error. The eyes directed toward this place were precisely gazing at Lee Si-hyeok’s face. Those were the same eyes Lee Si-hyeok had seen just a few days ago.

But, how?

Such questions led to muttering.

Lee Si-hyeok unconsciously let out a sound.

“Ryu Se-eun.”

Why are you here?

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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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