Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 97

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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 (97)

You didn’t have one?

The workshop had a design that appropriately mixed natural wood and steel frame structures.

In the middle of a plateau.

Lee Si-hyeok approached the three-story building with a sign reading ‘Cheongyeon Workshop’. From a modest ranch nearby, a few sheep approached over the fence.

Baaah…

They bleated quite listlessly.

After knocking softly and observing the sheep for a moment, the workshop door soon opened.

A woman who appeared through the gap tilted her head slightly.

“Are you Mr. Lee Si-hyeok by any chance?”

“That’s right. Are you Ms. Hyeon Eul-cheong?”

“Yes.”

It was quite a fresh first impression.

Her clear skin with a white tinge was so pale it was almost ghostly, and true to the character ‘cheong’ (blue) in her name, she had dark blue hair tied down in a single disheveled strand.

While such an appearance might seem quite ghostly, her long eyelashes made her seem rather calm instead.

When was the last time I saw her?

Probably when she had just turned 12. Since she stopped all activities and disappeared after that, Lee Si-hyeok’s memory of Hyeon Eul-cheong remained at that age.

That might be why she felt even more unfamiliar.

“I got a call from Chae-ah. She said you’d be coming soon. Then please come in.”

Saying that, she went back inside the door.

However, Lee Si-hyeok couldn’t move right away. He froze in place for a moment, staring blankly at Hyeon Eul-cheong’s retreating figure.

Creak, creak.

Every time she moved, the low sound of wheels rolling could be heard on the wooden floor.

“…What are you doing? Standing there?”

While he was doing that, Hyeon Eul-cheong suddenly turned her head to look at him.

Her eyes read Lee Si-hyeok’s gaze.

His gaze was directed precisely at Hyeon Eul-cheong’s legs.

At the empty lower body beneath the wheelchair, where two legs should have been.

Hyeon Eul-cheong’s brow furrowed sharply.

“Ah.”

Only then did Lee Si-hyeok come to his senses. Had he been staring too intently?

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to look…”

“Right.”

“…”

“You were trying to look.”

First time seeing a cripple, so you were surprised? Muttering that, Hyeon Eul-cheong quickly went inside the workshop.

He waited while massaging his tense jaw muscles, but she didn’t come back out.

…This is the worst. Lee Si-hyeok sighed.

When he noticed that her lower body, specifically from the thighs down, was missing, it was an unavoidable reaction.

He had never heard about or imagined such a thing.

Because until just before Hyeon Eul-cheong disappeared in the past, both her legs had been completely intact.

‘They could have mentioned this beforehand.’

He felt resentful toward Song Chae-ah for no reason. If she had given him even a few hints, he wouldn’t have left such a first impression.

After a moment, he shook his head and followed her into the workshop.

Just don’t think too deeply about it. After all, he had only come to look at the crafting equipment. He decided to temporarily set aside such personal matters from the past.

Creak, creeak…

Slight noise could be heard with each step on the wooden floor.

The interior of the workshop had quite a unique atmosphere.

How should he describe this?

The overall interior was mostly light brown natural wood. Thanks to that, it reminded him of a typical countryside villa. However, the numerous pieces of crafting equipment visible here and there reminded him that this was indeed a workshop.

Still, it didn’t feel out of place.

If anything, it was harmonious.

Lee Si-hyeok carefully examined the wave tuner on the wall, then headed toward the inner part of the first floor.

Hyeon Eul-cheong, who was waiting there, narrowed her eyes and said,

“Please hurry up. How can your walking be slower than mine when your legs are perfectly fine?”

“…I was looking around at the equipment.”

“Equipment. So what’s your impression?”

“Pardon?”

“You just looked around, didn’t you? How do they look to an EX-rank awakener’s eyes, the things I made?”

“Ah, that impression.”

Lee Si-hyeok thought for a few seconds. He had been worried about leaving the worst first impression, but it didn’t seem to be entirely the case. Her attitude was cooler than expected.

“Well, from what I could see, they were quite good.”

“Quite good.”

“Yes. Both the mana circuit engraver at the entrance and how well the materials were tuned in the stabilizer. Besides, would I even have anything to point out in the first place?”

You are the great Hyeon Eul-cheong, after all.

“…It doesn’t sound sincere.”

“I’m not the type to make things up.”

“Well, fine. I don’t need to create unnecessary suspicion either.”

Of course, Lee Si-hyeok’s eyes did catch some minor shortcomings.

But wasn’t he visiting as a guest right now?

He knew when and where to be tactful. Even if he didn’t mention it now, he could personally fix it later.

“I heard from Chae-ah earlier that you’re planning to set up a new research lab. Is that right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then before we look around the other floors. First, please tell me what your previous research lab was like. I need to know that to help you with the new research lab.”

“Oh…”

Watching Hyeon Eul-cheong take out a notebook from the table and prepare to take notes, Lee Si-hyeok quietly admired her.

Definitely a professional attitude.

Lee Si-hyeok was inevitably somewhat inexperienced in this field. Even though he had dreamed of magical engineering, he had never actually thought about setting up a research lab.

He had no money, time, or leisure.

So his concerns had been somewhat deep, but having her ask first made things feel much easier.

However, Lee Si-hyeok trailed off.

“But when you say previous research lab, well.”

“…What are you hesitating about? It’s not anything else, just tell me what the facilities were like.”

“Actually, the thing is, I’ve never had a personal research lab.”

“You didn’t have… a personal research lab?”

Hyeon Eul-cheong’s eyes widened. An expression that said, did I hear wrong?

“How does that make sense? Even I, who was A-rank, had the Association build me an entire research institute when I was 9? Though I was in the upper ranks of A-rank…”

“The Association contacted me too. But I declined.”

“No, why? Why?”

“I just thought it wasn’t particularly necessary. It felt premature, you could say.”

That’s how it was back then. Since he had just awakened, his priority was learning his immediate abilities first.

“Wow, you could make such a choice… No matter what, still. You weren’t just someone with an unusual awakening rank, I see now.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“That’s up to the person receiving it. Then where did you do research until now? You said you didn’t have a research lab.”

“I used a research lab provided by Termion Corporation. It was about medium-sized.”

Ah, there. Answering like that, Hyeon Eul-cheong scribbled something in her notebook.

“Then anyway, you’re starting completely fresh. You have to design the research lab from start to finish.”

“That’s right. Though I do have some ideas for the design already.”

“Still, why did you specifically come to my workshop?”

“Because what fills a research lab is ultimately the crafting equipment. I wanted to reference anything useful from Cheongyeon Workshop.”

Hyeon Eul-cheong nodded her head.

Then she moved her hand to press a button on the wheelchair, and with a whirring sound, the wheelchair began moving forward automatically.

Following her, he slowly toured the first floor space.

Various manufacturing equipment came into view.

“At your level, you probably already know most of this, but these manufacturing equipment aren’t all the same. Even among them, their purposes are divided in countless different ways.”

People often make the mistake of thinking all manufacturing equipment is basically the same.

This is especially true for engineers who haven’t yet shed their novice status, because they’re at a level where they can’t really feel much difference no matter how good the equipment they use.

“But ultimately, what determines the finest artifacts includes what kind of equipment was used in the manufacturing process.”

They say a craftsman doesn’t blame their tools, but that depends on the situation.

As he had once discussed with Chairman Lee Young-hoon, Lee Si-hyeok believed there was no field that relied on equipment as much as magical engineering.

Well, even without such things, Lee Si-hyeok’s hands themselves were the finest equipment and strongest tools…

Still, having them would be much better than not having them.

Creak.

Hyeon Eul-cheong’s wheelchair stopped.

She pointed to a name plate attached to one side of the first floor.

 

[Material Processing Zone]

 

“The first zone. This is where the most basic equipment in the research lab is located. It’s a space for melting, cutting, and refining materials. Also for adjusting their properties.”

Furnaces, precision cutters, mana grinders, and such.

 

[Component Manufacturing Zone]

 

“Then we need to actually put the processed materials to use, right? You can think of this as where artifact crafting begins in earnest.”

In terms of 〈Phazesis〉, this was the process of constructing the basic frame with Nemesium alloy.

He could see mana induction winders and CNC engravers among other equipment.

“From here on, the zones themselves become relatively smaller. The required space decreases a bit compared to the previous stages. Of course, the effort that goes into them is incomparable.”

It was just as she explained.

The following [Mana Circuit Construction Zone] and [Final Assembly Zone] gradually became smaller in scale. If the previous ones were about the size of an apartment floor, these were now about the size of a single room.

“…”

After carefully looking around those zones as well, he went up to the second floor with Hyeon Eul-cheong.

There was an elevator for wheelchairs, so there was no inconvenience.

But the second floor looked distinctly different from what he’d seen so far.

Unlike the first floor which was divided into multiple sectors, this was a solid construction consisting of only one zone.

However, it was divided into different rooms with different roles.

“This is the [Practical Testing Zone]. You can practically test completed artifacts here.”

“Those divisions into rooms?”

“Because each room handles different tests. That first one you see is a test chamber, which measures pressure, heat, or mana reactions…”

The durability test room next to it literally only tested how much destructive force something could resist.

This [Practical Testing Zone] was a space for confirming various practical capabilities like this.

“So those five zones we’ve seen so far are all there is?”

“No, if you go up to the third floor, there’s one more. The [Maintenance Zone], but that’s all simple equipment so there wouldn’t be much point in seeing it. It’s also connected to my bedroom.”

“I see.”

Lee Si-hyeok inwardly swallowed his admiration.

He had seen various research labs before, but this was the first time seeing such a detailed workshop.

Naturally, his heart couldn’t help but race. Moreover, the fact that it was located in such an unknown countryside was quite romantic.

“How do you find it after looking around? If you want, I can examine each piece of equipment and explain them in detail. I did receive a request from Chae-ah.”

Hyeon Eul-cheong turned her upper body in the wheelchair to look at Lee Si-hyeok.

“For now, I’d like to recommend the Practical Testing Zone.”

“The Practical Testing Zone?”

“Yes. The other places are important too, but this one is the most complex. The space itself has to be the largest in the research institute, and there’s a lot that goes into it accordingly.”

However, Lee Si-hyeok raised his eyebrows and pondered for a moment.

As Hyeon Eul-cheong tilted her head at this behavior, he slowly answered.

“I don’t think there’s a need to examine the zones separately.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve already grasped a certain portion. What equipment would be needed, and what should be added. Things like that.”

He said ‘a certain portion,’ but it was actually close to most of it.

Every single detail down to the finest points. In the brief moment of quickly passing through those zones, Lee Si-hyeok had been simulating all of it in his head.

Hyeon Eul-cheong looked genuinely surprised and asked.

“Then you practically don’t need my help, do you? If you’ve already finished all that in such a short time?”

“That’s not the case.”

“…?”

“There was something that caught my eye in the middle, and I’d like to hear detailed information about it.”

The Component Manufacturing Zone.

More precisely, the ‘Core Manufacturing Line’ within it.

There, Lee Si-hyeok had discovered equipment of considerable level.

To the extent that he wanted to install it in his own research lab immediately.

When he mentioned this, Hyeon Eul-cheong immediately nodded and guided him there.

Ding!

They arrived at the first floor before long.

Just as they were about to head toward the Component Manufacturing Zone.

“Oh right. Wait a moment.”

Hyeon Eul-cheong suddenly stopped as if something had occurred to her.

“Did I leave that on the third floor?”

“…?”

“Ah, I just remembered I left something in my bedroom. Please look around the first floor for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Then she took the elevator back up.

First floor, second floor.

Lee Si-hyeok’s eyes gradually narrowed as he watched the changing floor numbers.

And when the number changed to 3.

—Flash.

 

[Artifact 〈Phazesis〉 detects an anomaly.]

[Confirmed powerful mental interference attempt within a 30m radius.]

[Analyzing in detail…]

[Analysis complete. Confirmed that the opponent’s ‘mental interference attempt’ has already succeeded.]

[Location: Cheongyeon Workshop Building 3rd Floor]

[Be suspicious of others’ actions.]

 

“…”

In an instant, Lee Si-hyeok’s gaze sank to its depths.

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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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