Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 100

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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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Labyrinth Exploration 101 Episode 100

 

DINOSAUR(1)

 

Im Hae-jun looked around the village. There were many civilians bustling about, and there were even children. Perhaps because of this, it felt cozy despite being unsuited for the war situation.

 

“…What are those.”

 

Also, there were scarecrows hanging from the ceiling of every building. In the workshop, elderly people were gathered together carving well-dried wood into arrows, and the breathless sounds of soldiers’ training echoed from the training ground.

 

While walking and taking in the scenery, he eventually reached the hall.

 

Im Hae-jun and the three mercenaries went inside. Seol Ha-woon was standing beside a large strategy board.

 

“You’re here.”

 

Im Hae-jun noticed the map on the strategy board. He quickly fumbled through his inner pocket.

 

“Oh. Hyung. Isn’t that mine?”

 

“Oh right. Come here. We need to make a plan first.”

 

Seol Ha-woon gestured. Everyone gathered around the strategy board.

 

Kim Yong-tae spoke up first.

 

“How about we deal with the crystals closest to our base first.”

 

“No. Rather than crystals we can deal with anytime.”

 

Seol Ha-woon chose a different location.

 

“We’ll strike the crystals that pose a threat to our base first.”

 

Enemy crystals regenerate magical beasts. Therefore, it’s right to remove the knife at our backs first.

 

“These nine crystals located behind us.”

 

Looking at the map, there were nine crystals positioned behind the village.

 

“Yes. That makes sense.”

 

Kim Yong-tae agreed as well.

 

“The prerequisite is reconnaissance, but is anyone familiar with horseback riding by chance.”

 

“I know how to do it somewhat.”

 

It was A-rank mercenary Iroquois speaking.

 

“Then.”

 

Seol Ha-woon took out binoculars. It was the Village Chief’s treasure number one.

 

“I’ll ask you to handle reconnaissance. We need to accurately identify the crystal locations and plan the most efficient route.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Im Hae-jun watched them discussing strategy without hindrance, or rather watched ‘Seol Ha-woon’ giving orders, from a step back.

 

“Considering not just entry routes but also escape routes…”

 

It’s too natural. The way the mercenaries listen attentively.

 

These were people who had considerable suspicions about him, sometimes even complaining openly, but now there wasn’t even a fingernail’s worth of such behavior. How very hygienic.

 

“Yes. Yes. Yes.”

 

Perfect yes-men. They nod as if they have no opinions of their own at all. Especially that Kim Yong-tae guy is like a rabbit with ears perked up, afraid to miss even a single word.

 

“…”

 

In this scene, Im Hae-jun suddenly comes to acknowledge something.

 

There are things in this world that people are born with. There are abilities you can’t imitate no matter how much you want to follow along.

 

Just as a sparrow can’t tear its legs trying to be like a stork…

 

“Hey.”

 

Suddenly Seol Ha-woon pointed this way.

 

“Me, me?”

 

“Of course you. What are you doing. Aren’t you coming over? You’re the one in charge.”

 

“…Oh, right! I’m taking responsibility!”

 

Im Hae-jun rushed over in a hurry.

 

“Listen carefully. First, the reconnaissance route ‘on the map’ is like this. It might change depending on field information though.”

 

“Should I do the reconnaissance?”

 

At Im Hae-jun’s words, Seol Ha-woon tilted his head.

 

“Can you ride a horse?”

 

“It’s been my hobby since I was 4 years old.”

 

“Oh… good. Then Iroquois, Im Hae-jun. You two will go. They’re thoroughbreds so they’ll run pretty fast, but there’s no time to tame them.”

 

With that, he held out some tickets. One to Iroquois, the other to Im Hae-jun.

 

“Tear it when it seems extremely dangerous. You’ll be transferred to this base.”

 

“Wow. Master. Is this a gacha item?”

 

“Yeah. Return it after reconnaissance is done.”

 

“Yes… Oh, right. Master. This, two orbs and some strange fragments. They came out when I smashed a crystal.”

 

Im Hae-jun took out his payment from his pocket. Magic stone fragments and two orbs.

 

“The fragments are loot so they’re yours, but we’ll take the orbs.”

 

“Yes. What do you use the orbs for? Food supplies?”

 

“No. We made weapons with them.”

 

“…Toilets?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Ah~ Like western toilets? Bathrooms are important after all.”

 

“No. Weapons, you fool, weapons. There’s something called a ballista.”

 

Thanks to the snack boxes, we could utilize nearly 70-80% of the calories from beast bones that are difficult for humans to consume.

 

Instead, since almost all the magical beasts from the eastern region flocked here, we had no choice but to invest the orbs in defensive formations.

 

“Follow me out.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Everyone came outside.

 

“Right. What are those scarecrows, Master? I’m curious.”

 

“They’re transfer scarecrows.”

 

“Transfer…? Is that someone’s name?”

 

“It’s bothersome to explain. Just follow along.”

 

Seol Ha-woon added a new formula to the scarecrow.

 

The scarecrow blueprint was literally a ‘blueprint’, so he added mental visualization like editing code.

 

The coding content was transfer.

 

If any object belongs to the category of ‘scarecrow’, Kesooabi and Yoonsooabi can transfer to it anytime.

 

In other words, if something happens inside the village, Kesooabi and Yoonsooabi on the castle walls would mind transfer to the scarecrows on the village ceilings.

 

“Come on. Mount up.”

 

In the meantime, they arrived at the stable. He brought out the two sturdiest horses among them for Im Hae-jun and Iroquois.

 

Both rode skillfully.

 

“You’re really good at it?”

 

“Well, did you think I was lying or something.”

 

Hehe. Im Hae-jun laughed while gripping the reins.

 

Kieeeeeek…

 

Suddenly, a gloomy sound flowing in on the wind. An eerie and unpleasant resonance like dark fog.

 

It’s the harbinger of a wave.

 

“The 3rd wave will start soon.”

 

“Should we help you too?”

 

“No. Then it would be meaningless. The strike team needs to move while the wave begins. We need to destroy crystals to reduce the burden on the base. It means your roles are important.”

 

Seol Ha-woon looked at Im Hae-jun and the mercenaries.

 

“Yes. We understand.”

 

“Got it.”

 

Everyone nodded seriously, but Im Hae-jun found Kim Yong-tae looking at Seol Ha-woon with such trustworthy eyes to be annoying for no reason.

 

Treat me like that too sometimes.

 

* * *

 

Western Stronghold.

 

Kate received the orb from Kang Hyeon’s party.

 

“Thank you for your hard work.”

 

However, there wasn’t much she could offer. Just a meal, a bed, and steaming hot black tea.

 

“Thank you.”

 

It was a three-person party of Kang Hyeon, Ryu Yeon-hwa, and Lee Sin-hye.

 

They had only hired three porter mercenaries, investing the rest in food packages and premium gacha.

 

“By the way, is the food supply situation here alright?”

 

Ryu Yeon-hwa asked worriedly.

 

“It’s tight, but the food supply team is doing good work.”

 

“It must be difficult. With civilians…”

 

Everyone looked out the window. All the civilians from the west seemed to have gathered here. There were already over a hundred originally, but they kept coming until there were nearly two hundred.

 

“Actually, they’re helpful. The civilians are also moving in an organized manner.”

 

Gathering wild vegetables and herbs, hunting, scouting—the civilians’ roles were significant too.

 

“The location itself was excellent too.”

 

Kate had deliberately chosen this village. The geography was advantageous for defense, and the desperate fortification efforts had succeeded.

 

Ryu Yeon-hwa sipped her black tea.

 

“It’s delicious. Thank you. Oh, right. Were you able to communicate with the S-rank mercenaries?”

 

Kate answered with a bitter smile.

 

“Yes.”

 

“That’s fortunate. Ryu Wei was eliminated. The S-rank mercenary he worked so hard to hire wouldn’t listen…”

 

Ryu Yeon-hwa fiddled with her cell phone.

 

“How did you manage yours, Kate?”

 

“…”

 

She fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.

 

The S-ranks she had hired were three—Ellis, Kellinik, and Min Seok-jae.

 

Ellis had been friendly from the start, but Min Seok-jae and Kellinik were problems.

 

“How should I put it…”

 

Kate quietly recalled the past.

 

“…Hahaha! So I’m telling you, the punch I threw back then is still carved into the rock! It’s practically a tourist attraction.”

 

Dark night. Around the blazing campfire in the village’s open ground, S-rank mercenary Min Seok-jae was chattering away.

 

“That’s amazing. Even at your age.”

 

“Hey, you punks! What’s age got to do with it?! Back in my day…”

 

Min Seok-jae was a human who would never do what he was told. He ignored menial tasks as beneath him and refused difficult work claiming it would hurt his body, the bastard.

 

Up to that point, it was understandable. Someone could have a shit personality. If only he would show his true worth in combat situations.

 

But.

 

“So I’m telling you. I grabbed that customer by the throat and said.”

 

Min Seok-jae was a highly contagious tumor. He had a bad influence on the other mercenaries Kate had hired. Together with another S-rank, Kellinik, he had gathered a dozen B~C rank mercenaries to form a faction.

 

“Ten times. Fuck, I immediately demanded ten times the price, didn’t I?”

 

“Wow!”

 

“As expected of big brother.”

 

“I didn’t plan to go that far at first…”

 

Kate glared at him.

 

A human slacking off for 24 hours straight. While others were working themselves to death, even using formulas, until the blood vessels in their eyes burst, working like oxen without resting for even a second.

 

Kate strode toward him.

 

“I had no choice. Well, I… Oh my. Our master is here.”

 

To Min Seok-jae, who was looking at her like a dried-up fish, Kate said.

 

“Min Seok-jae. I have a proposal.”

 

“A proposal? What proposal. If you’re going to say something stupid, get lost.”

 

“A fight. Let’s do this.”

 

“A… what?”

 

Crack! A mana spear blazed up in her grip.

 

“What are you talking about, no, wait-”

 

She struck him directly.

 

Kuooooo──!

 

Magic power scraped violently, emitting heat. Min Seok-jae defended with one hand but was sent flying far away.

 

“…Huk.”

 

“Ugh!”

 

The mercenaries were greatly startled and stepped back.

 

Min Seok-jae let out a hollow laugh.

 

“Well~ not bad, mmph!”

 

Kate trampled the road surface and leaped. She swung her long spear in succession.

 

Buuung. Buuuung.

 

The sound of cutting through air. Min Seok-jae hastily drew his sword.

 

Kwang──!

 

At the moment of collision, magic power exploded. The rage burning at her crown greatly swelled her magic power.

 

“Wait a, minute-”

 

Thud! Bang!

 

“Hey, wait!”

 

Kwaang!

 

She struck down relentlessly. Eyes wide open, she didn’t care whether this dog-like human lived or died. He wasn’t even human to begin with.

 

YOUGODDAMNBASTARD, GOTOFXXXINGHELL──!

 

“Wait, I said wait!”

 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

 

“Aw, shit!”

 

She pounded him like crazy. For Min Seok-jae, caught in a surprise attack, there was no time to respond. Let me breathe, let me.

 

He barely escaped using the high-grade instant coordinate teleporter on his forearm.

 

“Haa… Haa…”

 

The target—the bastard had disappeared. Kate exhaled rough breaths and looked to the side.

 

“You’re the same.”

 

Kellinik. Another S-rank mercenary who had been watching from the side.

 

“…Your eyes are scary, customer.”

 

Kate’s whites were blood red. They were so severely bloodshot they almost looked like demon eyes.

 

“Haha. Well, this is interesting. Alright, customer.”

 

Kellinik let out a hollow laugh and raised both hands. Kate swung her long spear and aimed it at him.

 

“Don’t grin, before I beat you up.”

 

“…I wasn’t grinning, I was smiling, but whatever~”

 

“Speak properly. Don’t drag out your words.”

 

Kellinik nodded.

 

“Okay. Okay. Alright. Let’s cooperate and continue proper base life, okay? Hahaha. Hahaha.”

 

Belatedly, Min Seok-jae came trudging back. He was grinning, somehow looking satisfied.

 

“Wow~ our customer’s got some skills. But hey, teleportation devices are damn expensive-”

 

Kate twisted her waist at that moment. A strike with killing intent. She hurled her long spear at Min Seok-jae.

 

“…Oh my.”

 

Kwaaaaaaa────!

 

A somewhat large explosion occurred.

 

“It ended well.”

 

Kate, finishing her recollection, answered while drinking black tea.

 

“More than that, the problem is food supplies.”

 

The civilians are actually the problem. Even if we just get rice with orbs right now, it’s only half a bag of rice per orb. That’s not even enough for one day. Meanwhile, hunting mountain beasts is difficult even for 2-3 animals per day.

 

Even if we save the stored food supplies to the maximum… three days ahead is the limit.

 

“I see. Isn’t there any way?”

 

Ryu Yeon-hwa also hardened her expression seriously. Kang Hyeon thought silently.

 

We could reduce the mouths to feed.

 

The easiest method would be to kill the civilians. If we’re obsessed with civilians, this base becomes unsustainable.

 

However, it must not be spoken aloud.

 

The content of the education he received, the ‘code’.

 

Grooooo…

 

The air suddenly changed. An eerie sound flowed in.

 

“The 3rd wave will start soon.”

 

Kate stood up from her seat.

 

“Everyone, prepare to depart.”

 

Offense and Defense have different time slots. Taking advantage of the gap when magical beasts attack the base, the offenders must attack and destroy the crystal.

 

If they fail to do so, they will eternally just defend and fail.

 

* * *

 

Thu-du-du-du-!

 

The automatic crossbow made from orbs, the ballista fires dozens of arrows in rapid succession.

 

A weapon enhanced with my Destruction Enhancement Technique. Its performance is certain. A total of four ballistae are showing tremendous cost-effectiveness.

 

“…More enemies are coming!”

 

However, the number of arrows is limited, so we must not waste them.

 

I preheated my magic power. Behind my back, hundreds of bullets materialized in the air. I fired them all.

 

Shwaaaaa──-!

 

Combat continuing amidst the bombardment.

 

Tedious but desperate. The number of magical beasts multiplies day by day. More today than yesterday, more tomorrow than today.

 

Gradually, my magic power recovery speed can’t keep up.

 

If I hadn’t trained the civilians as Akiman advised, if I had rashly converted orbs to food, I would have struggled quite a bit.

 

“…It seems to be over for today.”

 

How many hours had passed like that?

 

When everyone was exhausted, when my dark circles covered my eyes, the morning sun rose.

 

Now it’s time to sleep.

 

By the way, I sleep in the same dormitory as the soldiers. This is to maximize the effect of Dream Bubble.

 

“Royal Inspector!!!”

 

Sergeant Hyeon Dan appeared from outside the castle wall. She, who had filled her basket full today as well, said while running quickly.

 

“Person! I found a person while gathering herbs! Someone carrying something like a sword! It was heavy so I roughly hid them and came back!”

 

“Yes. Mobile unit.”

 

I called out to the elite forces who were about to change clothes.

 

“Please take care of it.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Despite being tired, they answered energetically and departed with Hyeon Dan.

 

Judging from the description, it’s probably an offender.

 

Im Hae-jun was also discovered this way by Sergeant Hyeon Dan.

 

First, it’s important to keep offenders alive. They’re also combat power.

 

No matter how pathetic or stupid they are, we must help them.

 

If we save even one person, everyone becomes more comfortable. That’s group work. If you kick out one person because you’re annoyed, if you let them drop out, it ultimately results in everyone’s loss.

 

“…Royal Inspector!”

 

Without delay, the mobile unit came running with a man on their back. I recognized his face.

 

“Do you know this person?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The guy I worked with in the Cargo Labyrinth in the early part of Mitamnan.

 

“He’s a Warrior. Bring him inside.”

 

A-tier Warrior, Lee Jong-soo.

—————
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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