Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 70

—————
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 (70)

Under the bed

After returning to reality.

Lee Si-hyeok thoroughly searched the remaining areas of the records hall, exploring for more helpful information.

The place he headed to immediately was the 213th Section.

“Ugh.”

As soon as he entered, the smell of chemical substances stung his nose. Lee Si-hyeok, who stepped back hesitantly at the stench that penetrated deep into his brain, muttered.

“There really are corpses here.”

Counting them, there were quite a lot.

32 bodies per wall section. Since he heard there were over 5 such areas, there would probably be well over 500 bodies.

Meanwhile, Bae Jun-wan opened his eyes wide in bewilderment.

“How did you know about this place?”

“I saw it in the projection documents earlier.”

“B-but there shouldn’t be any information related to this place in there?”

How could that be? He turned his gaze away from Bae Jun-wan, who was muttering that.

It was natural that this information couldn’t be obtained from the existing documents. However, Lee Si-hyeok knew about it only because he had heard it from Ryu Se-eun.

—Click, click!

“Why are you taking photos again?”

“I think I’ll need them soon. Are you worried by any chance? That you might be implicated too?”

“…No. Knowing but turning a blind eye is also clearly wrong.”

Lee Si-hyeok finished taking photos after going around a total of 9 areas. A scene reminiscent of a morgue.

It felt slightly unsettling that he had filled his gallery with corpse photos, but for the sake of the sacrificed people, he soon dismissed the thought.

“Mr. Lee Si-hyeok. There’s one last matter I need to inform you about.”

As he finished searching and was about to go outside, Bae Jun-wan stopped when they reached the entrance.

“What is it?”

“Since you’ve seen the documents, you probably already know that Pyo Jae-hwan and the Dean are behind everything. But their plan isn’t completely finished yet.”

He quietly lowered his voice.

“Chronos Industry. They’re plotting something to coincide with the seminar period. And that timing is…”

“It would be the final session.”

“…In my estimation, the final session… Huh?”

“I know about it too. I can roughly guess.”

What those bastards plan to do in the final session.

‘They’re probably planning to cause another dimensional rift.’

And on an enormous scale incomparable to before.

Then they could throw all the high-ranking engineers participating in the seminar into it, and at the same time, they would definitely retrieve the club members they had put in earlier and were letting ripen.

Having sacrificed their own club members, there’s no way they’d just leave them alone, right?

They would definitely try to retrieve and research them again, and the probability was high that it would be during the final session when all participants gather.

In other words.

Pyo Jae-hwan intends to sacrifice everyone here.

All for his own greed.

‘I don’t know what he’s relying on to do this.’

Even excluding the Dean, there must be tremendous backing behind him.

“You’d better prepare in advance too. I’m not planning to just sit still either.”

“…Are you saying I might get swept up in it too?”

“Yes.”

“Ha, haha. Just what are you planning to do…”

At Lee Si-hyeok’s firm answer, Bae Jun-wan gulped.

To dismiss it as just youthful determination, he had heard things. Hadn’t the Snow Flame Empress talked his ear off about it?

A man who absolutely keeps his word no matter what happens once he speaks it.

While he was admiring this, Lee Si-hyeok offered a brief farewell.

“Then I’ll go ahead. I have a mountain of things to do too.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your hard work, yes.”

Then Lee Si-hyeok left without looking back.

Bae Jun-wan watched his retreating figure for a long time.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Central Records Hall.

There were two people secretly watching Lee Si-hyeok slowly walking out from not far away.

“How about it. Did you see, did you see?

“Ugh, wait. Just wait a moment.”

One person poked the other’s ribs urging them, but immediately got a listless response.

And after examining Lee Si-hyeok’s face through the 『Vision Enhancement』 skill for a moment, this time they let out a short groan.

“Hmm.”

“You saw! How about it? Doesn’t it seem right?”

“No, well…”

“No, no, no. Look more carefully. I’m certain, okay? Ah, really!”

At the still listless reaction, the person who had been urging, Yoon Seo-jin, pounded her chest. Her face showed she was very frustrated.

And for good reason, since she had already been following this participant called ‘Choi Hyeok’ for two days.

When she met him at the library, she thought something was suspicious, and when even his presentation at the first session ended with crazy results, her suspicion deepened.

‘Si-hyeok, I won’t be fooled this time.’

With that mindset, she had temporarily set aside the session to other team members and was just following his tail around.

Then one of her close team members followed along, curious about what she was doing…

“Why can’t you recognize him!”

“No, team leader. No matter how I look, it’s not him.”

“Still… you’ve seen Si-hyeok quite often. I know you encountered him frequently coming and going at our research institute, right? Right. Didn’t you even greet each other?”

“Yes, we did. That’s why I think it’s even more not him. The Si-hyeok I know isn’t like that.”

The team member withdrew the skill and looked at Yoon Seo-jin.

Then they spread their fingers and touched their own face.

“…What, suddenly?”

“Face.”

“Face?”

“Yes. Si-hyeok doesn’t look like that.”

What are you talking about? At the sudden words, Yoon Seo-jin frowned and looked straight ahead. There, Lee Si-hyeok was walking after exiting the entrance.

“That person doesn’t seem ugly either?”

“Well, objectively speaking, that’s true. His features are sharp, and his nose bridge is quite nice too. But we have to compare him to Si-hyeok.”

“Hmm, certainly.”

Come to think of it, he does seem a bit inferior.

Si-hyeok is much taller than that person, and if we compare faces too… No.

“What are you saying, really. He probably changed his appearance with an artifact!”

“That makes sense.”

“You’re supposed to be from the First Research Department and you can’t even think of that?”

“Team leader, you’re the department head of the First Research Department and you’re doing this.”

“Ahem.”

“Alright, let’s really say that person is Si-hyeok. What’s so important about it that you’re doing this? Our session is busy enough to die.”

At those words, Yoon Seo-jin’s lips moved wordlessly. Because it hit too close to home.

Honestly, the reason she was doing this? She herself didn’t understand it well either. If even she was in such a situation, how much more so for others watching?

“Just, somehow…”

“Somehow?”

“I don’t know. I’m just curious!”

Actually, there was a reason it lingered in his mouth.

The student named ‘Ryu Se-eun’ who had been on the same team as Lee Si-hyeok in the first session. She should definitely be someone he was seeing for the first time, and a person he had no memory of.

Yet somehow he felt a sense of déjà vu. As if he had known her for quite a long time.

And one more thing.

‘…Why did she go to the Central Records Hall?’

She too was well aware of the strict security at the Central Records Hall. It was a place where no student could enter, and even most faculty members couldn’t freely come and go.

But why did that man?

Yoon Seo-jin unconsciously bit her lips tightly.

One record that would be stored deep in the records hall flashed through her mind.

Pyo Jae-hwan, that damned bastard’s experiment.

There she had lost all four of her team members, and only she alone was able to return alive…

But she couldn’t explain all these reasons to her team member.

‘The Dean.’

Because that damn old man had silenced her. The power of being the Dean of Eterion Magic Engineering Academy was so formidable that even Yoon Seo-jin would find it difficult to resist.

Of course, there was the option of telling Chairman Lee Young-hoon of Termion, but her responsible personality wouldn’t allow her to pass off her own affairs in such a way.

In the end, Yoon Seo-jin had no choice but to dig into this alone with her shoulders drooping.

“Uh, Team Leader.”

“Hm?”

“That, that person. I think he’s looking at us?”

“Huh? Hey, hide! Quickly!”

―Swoosh, swoosh! The two people who had been watching from afar quickly hid themselves in the bushes.

“Wow. That really startled me. We weren’t discovered, were we?”

“…Surely not.”

“Right, that’s true, isn’t it? It’s not like we came here with just our bare bodies.”

The two had activated stealth artifacts that Termion was developing. Though they were prototypes, wouldn’t that actually make them safer?

‘Even if it’s Si-hyeok, this would be difficult.’

Since she was confident in the performance she could be proud of herself, she was certain they wouldn’t be discovered. Still, she couldn’t help feeling anxious.

“Anyway, since you followed me out here, watch for a few more days. Then we’ll soon know the truth.”

“Truth, what truth. Well, I understand for now. Even though it’s childish, going around like this makes me feel like I’ve returned to my childhood innocence.”

“I’m being serious here.”

“Yes, I’m sure you are.”

 

* * *

 

A few days later, the second session was completed.

Fortunately, Lee Si-hyeok was able to return to the research lab in just one day, and continued working on the artifact that Aila had been working on.

As a result.

“Team Hong Yong-jin and Canterbury Paranormal Phenomena Research Group. As measured by the testing equipment, you have reached the maximum measurement limit of 1,000. Therefore, you have been judged to have the highest performance!”

They were able to take first place without much difficulty.

‘Second place was around 639 points, I think?’

With a gap of about 350 points, it was truly an overwhelming score.

When the results were announced, he wondered if Ray Wen, who had been dejected until now, would object somehow.

“Wow, does that guy have no pride?”

“Look at him acting like that until the very end.”

“The Chinese engineering team, I didn’t see them that way. It’s disappointing.”

Due to the attention from those around him, he couldn’t even make a peep and just gave up.

Naturally, since it was a measuring device prepared directly by the Association, and a calculation method that other participants had even completed preliminary checks on.

Denying this would be tantamount to denying everyone present.

Anyway, thus the time came to part ways with the Canterbury research group.

“Good work, Aila.”

“Yes? You too, Team Leader?”

“Professor, won’t you say a word? Even so, we were on the same team.”

“…Good work. Your skills are better than I thought. If I have a chance to visit Britain next time, I’ll drop by.”

“Oh? Ooh? That sounds good?”

“Tsk tsk, if only that way of speaking wasn’t there, it would have been much better.”

In the end, Professor Hong Yong-jin was also in a mood to acknowledge Aila and the research group members.

After finishing greetings and organizing various things, late evening had arrived before they knew it.

The sunset that had colored the sky disappeared, and it was time for moonlight to begin circling in the dark sky.

“….”

When he arrived at the dormitory garden, he could see people moving busily. They would all be returning to their rooms after finishing their meals.

Whether they had become close during the seminar, or had known each other from before. Though he didn’t know exactly, he could also see people sitting on benches chatting quietly.

Lee Si-hyeok watched them for a moment, then began to move his steps.

His dormitory was Building B Room 505.

However, the place he soon arrived at was not Building B, but Building C.

Whoooosh…

Standing under the streetlight, the cool night breeze touched his skin.

He approached the security office near the entrance and presented his ID card.

“I came to move some luggage briefly.”

“Yes. You may go up.”

Though it was the female dormitory, they didn’t block him particularly strictly. It seemed to be because there was so much coming and going for research meetings and such during the seminar period.

―The door is opening.

Shortly after, Lee Si-hyeok got on the elevator and went straight up to the 7th floor.

Walking and walking again. When he reached the dead end of the 7th floor corridor, a nameplate hanging at the entrance caught his eye.

 

[Building C Room 707. 3rd Year Ryu Se-eun]

 

707.

At the sight of that number, also known as a symbol of luck, appearing twice, Lee Si-hyeok wore a bitter smile.

―Click.

While thinking various thoughts, when he entered the password that Ryu Se-eun had written on the memo into the door lock, the door finally opened.

“….”

The room was dark and gloomy. There wasn’t even a single mana lamp that a student of that age would typically use, and the bedding was almost like new, as if she didn’t sleep well.

Silent and empty.

While feeling such impressions, Lee Si-hyeok opened the third drawer under the desk.

“…A bracelet.”

Just as Ryu Se-eun had said.

A beaded bracelet with pure white orbs densely connected was lying alone in the spacious drawer.

He didn’t bother to think more about it. Lee Si-hyeok immediately put the bracelet in the bag he had brought, then began to slowly examine the room.

‘What is this.’

However, there was nothing particularly eye-catching.

Surely Ryu Se-eun had asked him to take care of the things in the dormitory room?

Then, for a moment, something caught Lee Si-hyeok’s ki sense. Without missing it, he activated 『Eyes that Pierce the Essence』.

―Whoosh!

He felt his vision brighten and the surrounding mana came into view at a glance.

Under the bed.

The ominous mana he had felt from Ryu Se-eun was hiding there, holding its breath.

‘She probably left traces on purpose.’

Lee Si-hyeok approached and carefully moved the bedding. When he lifted the pillow and blanket that seemed never to have been used, a small gap became visible.

Clunk!

When he put his hand in there, the mattress automatically flipped over and opened.

‘Paper?’

Inside were two files with thin papers bundled together, but they were flipped over so the titles weren’t clearly visible.

By the way, is this the end?

If it’s just this much, there’s no need for me to handle it personally….

“….”

Lee Si-hyeok’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

 

[Global Artifact Seminar: Session 3 Large-Scale Mana Rift Generation Proposal]

[Chronos Industry Property. Hidden Asset List 31 Types]

 

Those were the titles written on the flipped files.

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