77 – Crumbling Ice Castle (4)
After the academy raid incident.
Baek Chi-yeol dropped out after deciding that being a searcher was not suitable for him.
After he dropped out, we contacted him from time to time, but we never met him.
The more time goes by like that.
The frequency of contact decreased and the relationship gradually became distant.
It was natural.
They are busy living their own lives.
Because there is usually no point of contact between a searcher and an ordinary person.
Still, I had a vague idea of setting up a place and having a simple meal someday. The period of knowing was short, but friends were friends.
By the way, like this.
I didn’t know that the reunion after a long time would be a public event rather than a private meeting.
“How are you?”
Baek Chi-yeol, who came running from afar, said hello while catching his breath.
“I’ve been fine.”
I also greeted him warmly.
There was no awkwardness.
After we met, it was as if we met the other day.
After that.
We were busy asking each other’s well-being as we moved from place to place.
Baek Chi-yeol quit being a searcher. He
He says he even destroyed his registration certificate.
Stop dropping out of the academy.
If you don’t enlist in the military, you won’t be able to work as a searcher.
“I watched every video of Hyunseong and you appearing. The summons have become very diverse?”
Baek Chi-yeol, who was walking side by side, talked.
“It’s all thanks to Instructor Tak Jae-hwan.”
I also answered appropriately and asked several questions. It was a personal question, like how you’ve been.
There were many conversations without realizing that time was passing.
“More than that, I knew your father was running a company, but I never thought it would be a place to spawn us… When I saw you contacted me, I wondered what it was at first.”
“Oh that? I heard about your academy and asked my father. It helps you and promotes our company, isn’t it?”
As far as I learned through the conversation.
Baek Chi-yeol worked in the sales department for a while and recently moved to the research and facilities management department.
In the middle of a meeting with business partners.
A trivial altercation occurred, and due to the nature of my job, I heard that the department was forcibly moved after being broken up by my father.
What I said then…
Did I mention that bald eagles are nasty nitpicks?
It seems that the customer’s employee was bald. He said he would sue for contempt and made a fuss, but it seemed to be resolved amicably with the restraint of another employee.
I thought Baek Chi-yeol is also living a very difficult life.
Why did you enter the sales department with that job in the first place?
‘This department suits me perfectly. Dealing with people is not suitable for Baek Chi-yeol.’
While exchanging updates like that.
We arrived at the company building run by Baek Chi-yeol’s father before we knew it.
After passing through the lobby on the 1st floor, take the employee-only elevator and go down to the basement. As I moved along the long corridor, there was an iron door with the phrase ‘No entry except for related persons’. Baek Chi-yeol naturally put his finger on the fingerprint reader.
[Baek Chi-yeol. Confirmed.]
This was the Artifact Development and Research Lab.
***
─I almost shot myself thinking it was a woman.
The iron rice bowl saw Baek Chi-yeol and gave a joke.
You seem to have become more playful lately.
···Are you kidding?
Anyway.
It seems Baek Chi-yeol is so small that he misunderstood for a moment. He’s a bit taller than a rice cooker.
“Rice bowl. I met Chichi during the days of the Iron Golem.”
─I don’t remember.
The iron rice bowl has an indifferent expression.
I was working hard on developing artifacts.
Baek Chi-yeol, who had been watching this blankly from behind, asked.
“Is this the golem from last time?”
“Yes. It is now an entity called an android.”
Baek Chi-yeol moved his gaze to the right.
─I won! Forehead!
—Oh! Lost! I’ll hit you on the forehead!
A corner of the laboratory.
Kkaebi and Devil were sitting on the floor playing rock-paper-scissors.
“The appearance of Kkaebi has changed a lot.”
“Because now we are a species called goblins.”
“Your horns are gone, and you look like a human?”
Baek Chi-cheol waved her hand and greeted her when she met her eyes. Kaebi also smiled brightly and waved her hand accordingly.
The two knew each other.
I was possessed during Dalian, so even if you make an exception, I evacuated people together during the academy raid.
“Can’t you show me more summons? It’s amazing because there are so many monsters I’ve actually seen for the first time.”
Baek Chi-yeol asked with his eyes shining as if he was interested in my pet.
I’m asking a friend, but that’s about it.
He summoned a centipede right away.
“Uh… A little centipede… Are there any other monsters?”
The response was poor.
From Noble mtl dot com
Should I show you a cockroach monster next time we meet?
It is said that there is a place where only 1-star insect monsters are gathered in the dungeon owned by the association, so I will have to get a ticket and stop by soon.
While we were talking about miscellaneous things like that, we were doing a parade of summoned beasts.
I heard the voice of a researcher exclaiming admiration next to an iron rice bowl where he was producing an artifact.
“What is the principle behind the one you just made?”
─It is a job skill. Just imagine.
“Your job? May I know what kind of job you are?”
─This is Fancy Inventor.
“Fancy Inventor? Even if you know Inventor, Fancy Inventor is an unfamiliar job…”
The researcher showed interest in the iron rice bowl’s job.
I’ll do that too.
It’s a fraudulent job that creates artifacts without any special process.
If you add advanced crafting tools to it.
The quality of artifacts will definitely improve.
“But can you imagine a robot?”
—You mean it.
I was immersed in making the iron rice cooker again.
The researcher next to him called the other researchers. It seemed like they were having a meeting about a job called Fancy Inventor.
‘It won’t be easy to find.’
As much as it is a legendary job.
Duplicate Awakening Stones definitely exist.
However,
The fact that there is no information from the association as well as the internet means that it is an Awakening Stone that is extremely rarely found, such as a divine beast summoner. No matter how much money is overflowing, it won’t be easy to get it.
‘Maybe Fancy Inventor is the first discovery.’
Not sure.
I classified it as an undiscovered Awakening Stone because there is no information, but there may be cases where the information has been obtained before and the information is not disclosed.
Researchers finish their meeting.
The man who seemed to be the oldest came out as a representative and spoke to me.
“Maybe…. Will you come only today and not next time?”
“I don’t know. Bobtong seems to want to come often, but since it could be a nuisance to the researchers, I’m thinking of avoiding it as much as possible.”
“Oh no! What a waste!”
The researcher waved his hand.
“You can come anytime! You can stop by when you need to go to the bathroom! Instead···.”
The researcher, who was speechless, pursed his lips and asked cautiously.
“It would be nice if Iron Rice Bowl could help with our research from time to time… That way, we can support the Hero Academy with good artifacts.”
Not a bad suggestion.
It would have been nice if we could use the lab at any time.
─I don’t care.
Even Rice Tong readily accepted.
And after stopping the production for a while, I talked to the researcher.
─Give me your salary instead.
“Of course! We will take care of as much as you want!”
─About 300 million won is considered appropriate.
Looking at his expression, he seems to be serious.
It was the moment I was about to say something because Bob Tong seemed to have a dim sense of money because he was a summoned beast.
“300 Million? Yes, I will make a suggestion to the boss.”
The researcher accepted it again.
···Was it me who had a dim sense of money?
Somehow, it felt like common sense was being denied.
‘Is that a big help for artifact research and development?’
I don’t know.
The researcher had a desperate expression as if he desperately needed an iron rice bowl. He turned on the light in his eyes to somehow recruit the iron rice bowl and began to persuade Baek Chi-yeol.
‘Well, it’s a friend’s company, so it’s good if it helps.’
Why do you need a rice cooker?
A researcher who explains the reason in detail.
The persuasion continued for about 20 minutes.
After Baek Chi-yeol talked to his father on the phone.
“Maybe I can subtract some money from the money I’m taking…”
I scratched my head and accepted the researcher’s request.
In this way, Iron Rice Bowl became a temporary researcher.
─Please pay in cash.
Babtong says so.
I started making artifacts again.
***
The time Lee Hyun-seong arrived at the lab.
Seo Han-bit was deep in her thoughts in her own room.
“…What the hell was that voice?”
Muttering to himself.
She recalled the eerie voice that flowed from Kim Young-ji’s room.
‘I can’t believe it’s a demon…’
I tried denying it.
No matter how you think about it, the low echo you heard earlier was a voice unique to monsters.
She even thought of asking Kim Young-ji directly.
However, it was judged to be too risky, so I gave up.
‘I think he called me Dad…. Then Yeongji-sama’s father is a monster?!’
As Hanbit began his reasoning in earnest, he took out her notebook. Swish Looking around her head, she found a box piled up in the corner of her.
“Mmm! Definitely here…”
She hurriedly opened the box.
What was inside was a tightly packed wad of paper.
「Hyeonseong’s research materials」
Turn over the paper that says
.
「Hyeonseong-nim’s Favorite Food」
「Hyeonseong-nim’s Favorite Music」
「Hyeonseong-nim’s favorite posture」
·
·
·
「Instructor Tak Jae-hwan’s research materials」
「Instructor Yumi Han’s research materials」
「Children’s Survey Materials」
「Yura-sama research materials」
After going through the same old research materials for a long time, she finally found what she was looking for.
「Youngji’s research data」
Seo Han-bit’s detective play has begun.