Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 111
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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 111
BLACK(1)
│Seol Ha-woon Opens SNS Account│
│Seol Ha-woon, Mitamnan’s Biggest Beneficiary…│
│Jemallot Follower Surge Trend│
The next day, articles exploded everywhere. The content was about Seol Ha-woon creating an SNS account.
I wondered if something this trivial was really newsworthy.
But it was a good thing.
[ Recognition Level Up! ]
[ Recognition Grade: 15 ]
[ An additional 60 days of trial version has been granted. ]
My recognition level, which had been stuck, finally went up.
“…Maybe I should have done this sooner.
No, actually starting late might have drawn even more attention.
Let’s think positively, positively.
I checked the address on my smartphone.
“This is the right place.”
The dining location I’d arranged with Kim Yoon-jun.
He definitely said it was a restaurant, but this was just an alley. I looked back and forth between my smartphone and the alley.
“Hmm…”
As I looked around confused, someone who had been sitting nearby like a homeless person suddenly stood up.
“You can go inside.”
He pointed to the alley.
“Ah. Yes.”
It seemed like a security measure.
I went inside. After walking a few steps, surprisingly, it was the interior of a restaurant. A spacious area was completely empty, with only one person there.
Kim Yoon-jun waved at me.
“You’re here.”
“Yes. This is an interesting restaurant.”
“Very private, right? They say it’s a sacred place for idols’ secret dates.”
Somehow that explanation felt a bit awkward for two men to be here.
“Please sit.”
Kim Yoon-jun pointed to the seat across from him. I sat down for now. Various side dishes and beef were laid out in front.
“Should I just eat?”
“Yes. I’ll grill it for you.”
Kim Yoon-jun smiled and placed meat on the grill.
Sizzle──
The color as it cooked was quite beautiful.
He placed the medium-cooked beef on my plate.
“Please eat first. It’ll be delicious.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I took a bite. It melted on my tongue. My eyes widened. I thought it was cotton candy.
“This is… incredibly delicious?”
“I’m glad.”
Kim Yoon-jun cut the cooked meat and served it on my plate. I quickly picked it up and continued eating.
Delicious.
This wasn’t just delicious on an ordinary level.
Clink.
Kim Yoon-jun, who had put down his tongs for a moment, looked at me intently. I also flinched and met his eyes. Had I been eating too greedily?
Suddenly, I felt something was off.
“Your irises… are different?”
Similar, but subtly different.
Specifically, there was a slight difference in the quality of how they reflected light.
“Yes. I received a transplant from a friend.”
I paused while trying to pick up meat with my chopsticks. Kim Yoon-jun chuckled.
“It’s nothing special. I failed while exploring a labyrinth and simply paid the price.”
“Ah… You must have been close friends.”
Kim Yoon-jun picked up his tongs again.
“We still spent more years together. I met him when I was four. He was a neighborhood friend.”
His words as he placed meat in my bowl were quite bitter.
“You must have been deeply saddened.”
“…Actually, it wasn’t as tragic a situation as you might think.”
Kim Yoon-jun slightly furrowed his brow.
“I understand. Everyone thinks that way when they hear my story. They make assumptions about why I received the eye donation. That my friend died in the labyrinth, and I lost one eye in the labyrinth.”
Kim Yoon-jun was seriously recounting his past, but my appetite was growing even more.
It was because of the meat.
I’m not particularly gluttonous. Rather, I’m not at all.
But this was a first.
This taste was a first in my life, or maybe even in death.
“My friend committed suicide.”
I swallowed.
“…Suicide?”
“Yes. He did have an accident in the labyrinth. Both his eyes were tainted by aberrant magic power, and from then on, he suffered from seeing things that weren’t visible.”
Gulp. I put the meat in my mouth. I chewed as slowly as possible.
“My friend couldn’t endure it and committed suicide. I was curious about that. I was annoyed and angry. Just how much agony was he in.”
Kim Yoon-jun laughed as if he found it absurd even to himself.
“So I received the donation. Forcibly.”
“Ah…”
Well, this person didn’t seem to be easygoing either.
“How was it? Those eyes.”
I asked cautiously. It was an unusual enough story to pique my curiosity.
“One was bearable. But my friend had two, so I understand.”
Kim Yoon-jun also picked up some meat to eat.
Chew chew. He ate it like chewing rubber. How could he eat such delicious food like that.
“Ha-woon.”
“Yes.”
A serious tone flowed through Kim Yoon-jun’s teeth.
“This program is more dangerous than you think, or perhaps even more than that.”
Words conveying a warning.
I also calmly changed my expression.
“You’ve probably noticed to some extent as well, Ha-woon.”
“…”
I might know more than Kim Yoon-jun.
Kim Yoon-jun might also know things I don’t.
He’s definitely a good person.
However, I can’t completely trust him yet.
The reason I can’t trust him is purely because I’m not a good person.
“Don’t worry. I don’t want to rashly drag Ha-woon into this.”
Kim Yoon-jun placed meat on the grill.
“Still, it’s reassuring. Having someone as aware as Ha-woon around.”
I listen to his words. While hiding myself, I spy on the suspicions he harbors about this program.
“I’m preparing something. When it’s finished, I’ll contact you then.”
Kim Yoon-jun stood up from his seat.
“What? You’re leaving already? There’s still meat left.”
“I don’t have time. Sorry I can’t stay with you.”
Well, there’s no need to stay with me. It might actually be better since I can eat it all myself.
“I’ll leave through the back gate. We can’t be seen together under any circumstances. Eat as much as you want before leaving. I already paid. Since you’re here, take the membership card too. It’s a famous restaurant.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
I ate heartily. Actually, it wasn’t really heartily.
I should take that membership card.
“We.”
Suddenly Kim Yoon-jun spoke. He was still there. I thought he had left.
Kim Yoon-jun smiled looking at me with my mouth full of meat.
“We might become friends. After this broadcast ends.”
I swallowed the meat with a gulp.
“…Yes. At least our age range matches better than with the other explorers.”
Kim Yoon-jun is probably in his early to mid-thirties. He’s a zodiac cycle apart from most explorers, but only 5-6 years different from me.
“That’s right.”
Kim Yoon-jun turned around.
I suddenly called out his name as he was leaving.
“Kim Yoon-jun.”
“…?”
Kim Yoon-jun looked back at me.
I was about to say something, but swallowed it instead.
He’s a sword master of Murim’s Volcano Sect. A much stronger person than me.
“Never mind. See you later.”
“Yes.”
Kim Yoon-jun left with a smile.
* * *
Night at a penthouse overlooking Seoul’s Gangnam at a glance.
─Yoon-jun. Did you receive the documents I asked for last time?
Kim Yoon-jun is on a call with someone.
“Yes. I received them well.”
─But what are you planning to use those for?
“It’s nothing serious.”
Kim Yoon-jun examined the document contents. It was as expected.
─I see. Well then, I’m watching Mitamnan well, mentor.
“Haha… Thank you.”
─Yes!
Kim Yoon-jun hung up and put the documents in his personal safe.
“…Sigh.”
He sighed and picked up his smartphone. With a complicated mind, he browsed SNS and discovered Seol Ha-woon’s Instagram.
@Seolhaun
A brand new account that seemed to have been created just yesterday. Kim Yoon-jun browsed Seol Ha-woon’s feed. The still cut of him walking through Rainos with his walking stick was quite stylish.
Seol Ha-woon is an excellent mage. As a mentor and as a ranker, Kim Yoon-jun feels good whenever he discovers such juniors.
It revives his original intentions, so to speak.
I too had times when I overflowed with passion like them, when I believed infinitely in my talent.
[Congratulations on opening your Instagram account.]
He sent a DM to Seol Ha-woon.
[Thank you.]
A reply came quickly too. Kim Yoon-jun was about to send a reply to the reply, but.
Tap tap-
Some creature knocked on the penthouse window. It was a hawk. Kim Yoon-jun noticed a note tied to its leg.
“A messenger hawk?”
Though nearly obsolete recently, it was still commonly used communication in Murim.
Kim Yoon-jun opened the window. He untied the paper from the leg of the hawk that flew in with a flutter.
“…”
His expression darkened as he read the letter. After carefully pondering each sentence, he soon stood up.
He grabbed his coat and went outside.
* * *
The day the explorers return from vacation. I’m doing my usual dawn training.
Today it’s actually more enhancement than training.
Nervous System Enhancement.
[ Intermediate-Low Perception Enhancement ]■ Proficiency 51%
[ Intermediate-Low Cognitive Expansion ]■ Proficiency 52%
[ Intermediate-Low Nervous System Enhancement ]■ Proficiency 17%
This is my current perception tech tree.
Despite using sequences until my head nearly exploded, it only rose this much.
[ Tech Points: 5 ]
To avoid sudden death, I need to raise it quickly.
I invested tech points: 1 in Perception Enhancement, 1 in Cognitive Expansion, and 2 in Nervous System Enhancement.
From intermediate-low level, each tech point only fills 50% proficiency. From intermediate level, it’ll probably be 25%.
[ You acquire Intermediate Perception Enhancement. ]
[ You acquire Intermediate Cognitive Expansion. ]
[ You acquire Intermediate Nervous System Enhancement. ]
With the one remaining…
I checked my Magic Power.
[ Intermediate Mana Manipulation ]■ Proficiency 23%
[ Intermediate Mana Concentration ]■ Proficiency 17%
[ Intermediate-Low Mana Memory ]■ Proficiency 53%
My Magic Power side is already at intermediate level. It rises well on its own without investing Tech Points.
Only Mana Memory is at intermediate-low, so let me match it up.
[You acquire Intermediate Mana Memory.]■ Magic Power itself learns the linking process of mana.■ You can very easily remember the flow of Magic Power and gain reproducibility.
“There’s still a long way to go.”
To explain it MoMo-style, most characters’ recognition levels usually stop around 30. They get ‘locked’.
It’s that kind of upper limit where you have to break through Achievements like ‘Be recognized as a Mage’ or ‘Earn Murim’s respect’ to raise it further.
Tap. Tap.
I came down the Mountain, leaning on my walking stick.
“Ah, I’m hungry.”
I was going to the Dining Hall to eat, but.
“…Hm?”
Staff members are running past. Extremely urgently. Quite a lot of explorers are following behind them. Among them, I can see Im Hae-jun’s face too.
Everyone has incredibly serious expressions.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap. I walked as fast as possible and caught Im Hae-jun with Telekinesis.
“Ah, what the!”
Im Hae-jun turned around irritably.
“Hey. Im Hae-jun. What’s going on?”
“Ah, Master!”
“Hyung-nim!”
Lee Jong-soo was next to Im Hae-jun too. Jong-su already had tears welling up in his eyes.
“What is it?”
Im Hae-jun said urgently.
“Kim Yoon, Mentor Kim Yoon-jun was murdered last night!”
When I heard those words, I wondered if I wasn’t fully awake yet.
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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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