Chapter 36 - Choice and Investment

Choice and Investment

“Why are they looking for us?”

“If I go there, they’ll make me do something strange again,” Ghost replied. “Just tell them you haven’t seen me today.”

Ghost gave him a high-five and disappeared, leaving Il-hyun scratching his head.

Il-hyun took the elevator on the left building and went down to the basement where the research facilities were located.

Inside the spacious facility, hundreds of researchers were busy working, and all kinds of high-tech equipment and computers were lined up.

It was too wide and complex that he had to stop a passing employee and ask for directions.

“Sorry, I heard you were looking for me?” he said.

The employee recognized him immediately. “Oh, yeah. The boss is over there,” the employee pointed.

Il-hyun followed the direction the employee pointed him to and found a familiar face.

It was Choi Eun-chae, head of research at Aegis.

She wore a white gown and was accompanied by four other researchers.

“Oh!” Choi Eun-chae greeted the approaching Il-hyun. “You’re here!”

The other researchers who were reporting to her left the room.

Choi Eun-chae and Il-hyun greeted each other in a friendly manner. They have met a few times at Aegis after their first impressive meeting.

When Il-hyun asked why she called for him, she smiled confidently.

“I have some good news.”

“Good news…?”

“Yeah! Well… But where is the Ghost?”

“He can’t come… he’s sick.” Il-hyun quickly made a rough excuse.

However, Cho Eun-chae saw through it at once. What is this fool thinking he could deceive her?

“Hyung, tell him that if he doesn’t come until tomorrow, I’ll blow an EMP shot in his face.”

Il-hyun burst into laughter.

“Anyway,” Choi Eun-chae continued as she walked ahead, Il-hyun following close behind. “Let’s get to it.”

The two walked a little distance, into a large, curtained area.

Among the many complex installations and items in the research lab, he found a dazzling object that looked very familiar to him.

At first glance, it looked like a tall, thin glass rod emitting white light and shining brightly.

Il-hyun immediately recognized what it is.

“This…”

“Yes. Core fragments.”

A fragment of ether core that Il-hyun handed over every once in a while when the research time asked him.

The elongated rod was made of core debris, and the core inside it was shining brightly.

“In the past, it was a fact that the core was an object that could not be physically broken. That changed when you appeared. Seriously, I don’t know how you made it possible, but anyway, these broken core fragments lose a lot of their internal holding power and become easily deformed… but the external power… would you like to try it with your sword?”

Il-hyun nodded at Cho Eun-chae’s words, but he hesitated a little bit.

“Would it break?”

“Try it.”

Il-hyun pulled his sword and raised it high before bringing it down heavily.

Caen!

“What?!”

The mighty swing didn’t even scratch the slender rod.

His sword, which could easily slice through tough monster skin, did not work.

Rather, it was Il-hyun’s hand that shook from the impact.

Cho Eun-chae looked proud.

“Amazing, isn’t it? The more ether it contained, the harder the reaction is. It has excellent shock absorption, and its strength is superior than any other material ever found.”

“This… that’s great!” Il-hyun admired it sincerely.

It was a huge discovery.

Honestly, when he took it to the research team for the first time, he thought it had no practical value. They were just fragments, after all.

However, the team found a practical use for it. In such a short time, too.

After all, he couldn’t expect less from the best research team in the industry.

Choi Eun-chae continued speaking.

“But there is still a long way to go. The fragments are unstable; they cannot hold ether as before. If you store core in it for a while, the rod will soon explode. It’s like pouring water into a broken jar,” she explained calmly.

It was a great looking discovery, but there were still many problems.

The full-form core can contain a large amount of ether, but a container made of broken pieces could not.

“Even if we just keep the ether in this, the ether soon becomes unstable and creates a reaction that breaks the rod from the inside. We need to solve this problem.”

While she was talking, the rod suddenly shattered and ether poured on the floor. Sharp fragments splattered everywhere as the rod exploded for seemingly no reason.

“Ugh! It broke again!” Choi Eun-chae frowned as she pulled small pieces of glass out of her clothes. “As you’ve seen, we’re still far from our desired result. But if we can stabilize the container and the ether… I’ll get another Nobel Prize next year.”

Il-hyun laughed. “You deserve it!”

“If you think so,” she replied casually. Il-hyun found her confidence amazing.

“Anyway,” she continued, “because it’s still unstable, I need a lot of core fragments to continue my research.”

Il-hyun now understood why she called for him. He liked the sound of where the conversation was going. It sounded like a win-win situation for both of them.

Choi Eun-chae took a big box from one corner. Despite the box’s size and appearance, it seemed not too heavy.

The metal box was placed on the table and was immediately opened.

“Oh my gosh…” Il-hyun remarked at the beautiful sight in front of him.

The box was full of square objects that shined brightly with white light.

A huge amount of ether core was before his eyes.

“President Ryu Jin-tae increased the budget for this project. I did try hard to persuade him, but even I didn’t expect that it would be this much.”

Choi Eun-chae said, staring at Il-hyun with a smile on her face.

“The core rating is not high – all rank E,” she continued. “The goal is to achieve stabilization, so it does not make sense to use high-ranked cores immediately.”

“You want me to eat all this… no, you need me to break the containers, right?”

“Yeah, you don’t want to do it?” she teased.

“No! No!” Il-hyun immediately shook his head. His mouth was watering.

Choi Eun-chae turned around to find another object as Il-hyun stared at the core inside the box.

Suddenly –

She placed another box on the table!

“Here’s one more!” she announced happily.

“No way!” Il-hyun was astonished.

Jiiing!

To make matters worse, Il-hyun received a text message on his phone right at that instant.

The core settlement of the last B0 gate was over, and he is being asked to take his share of the core.

“Uh… Why are you not eating yet?” Choi Eun-chae asked him.

For the first time, Il-hyun worried about overeating.

* * *

Ryu Jin-tae and Lee Soo-yeon faced each other in the conference room.

He placed papers on the desk between them.

She picked it up and started reading, her eyes widening at each word.

“This…”

“Yeah, I had him investigated. I know you and Jin-seong are his team leaders, but in a situation like his, I had to get involved…”

The papers were filled with information about incidents involving Kang Il-hyun.

He stared at Lee Soo-yeon.

“It’s completely accurate. We spoke with witnesses, and such, there are no signs of fabrication.”

“Wow… this is great…”

“I’m happy, but we have a problem,” Ryu Jin-tae scratched his head.

“He can invalidate an Ace Monster’s ability’ his summons completely ignored Jin-seong’s [Stop] ability; he single-handedly caught the foreign man in the site, one whose rating is still unknown… Maybe Il-hyun’s abilities are far beyond what we thought possible.”

There was silence in the conference room after Ryu Jin-tae’s words.

Then, he asked her.

“Do you think we can trust him?”

Lee Soo-yeon thought deeply for a moment.

Really, Il-hyun’s tremendous abilities are beginning to surpass common sense.

Is it appropriate to keep a monster growing?

Lee Soo-yeon’s expression hardened. “I believe him.”

Ryu Jin-tae leaned back in his chair and spoke calmly. “Okay, then let’s not worry about it anymore.”

“First of all,” he continued, “please change the terms of his contract and increase his percentage of core settlement. Since he had a predatory instinct, it’s proper to give him more. At the company level, we’ll begin setting aside core for research purposes. Team A will be driven hard. You will have to get more cores. Understood?”

“I do not know. The other team members will complain.”

“Haha, that can’t be helped.” Ryu Jin-tae laughed as he stood. Lee Soo-yeon stood up with him.

“We will make him stronger. I hope your eyes are right.”