Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 130

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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 130

 

In the house(17)

 

When Supervisor James was destroyed, Lee Jun-ho was momentarily dazed. Time seemed to stretch out.

 

Trembling. His blood-stained eyelids twitched convulsively. What did I just see? James’s head exploded.

 

Was it real?

 

Lee Jun-ho repeatedly closed and opened his eyes, then picked out the brain fragments that had gotten into his ears.

 

“What, what have you done!”

 

Jo Woon tried to rush at Seol Ha-woon, but Lee Jun-ho blocked him. He asked on Jo Woon’s behalf.

 

“What did you do?”

 

His face kept contorting, and his breathing was ragged.

 

He didn’t know why.

 

But a fiery rage was surging up. James, who had smiled foolishly when opening the Gate and excitedly explained the warship’s structure while guiding them, flashed by like a revolving lantern.

 

It was an emotion Lee Jun-ho himself couldn’t understand.

 

Supervisor James was probably the same kind of Labyrinth People, not much different from the countless ones he had killed in Situation Labyrinths.

 

Just because they had been together for three days?

 

“….”

 

Yoon Hwa-rim was the same. She, who was always bright, became coldly subdued at times like this instead.

 

And….

 

“Blood, splattered on me.”

 

Kate, her hair soaked with blood. She glared at Seol Ha-woon with a complexion like glass. Seol Ha-woon also stared back at her blankly.

 

She wasn’t angry because he killed the supervisor who had been with them, but because blood had splattered on her.

 

It was quite an unusual reaction.

 

“…He was a comrade who helped us from the beginning until now.”

 

Kate seemed to realize her mistake belatedly and corrected herself.

 

“He’s an enemy. If I had warned you beforehand, it would have given him time to respond.”

 

“Enemy? What kind of enemy are you talking about!”

 

Jo Woon gripped his spear shaft. His jaw was trembling violently.

 

Kate asked calmly.

 

“What do you mean by enemy?”

 

“A psycho group seeking immortality. The culprits behind this zombie crisis.”

 

“Do you have evidence?!”

 

Jo Woon is a warrior who cannot tolerate injustice. He’s quite rigid and inflexible.

 

“Evidence that everyone can accept!”

 

“Oh, come on….”

 

Kate found it tiresome to listen to. She already had tinnitus from the sound of the exploding head.

 

“It’s my intuition.”

 

Seol Ha-woon looked at James’s blood-stained terminal. A certain name was written in the communication list on the lit screen.

 

[Eldia]

 

With his senses heightened from dealing with monsters like Eldia, encountering such an amateur actually created a reverse sense of unease.

 

How could a fellow supervisor not know a famous person that even Julione knew?

 

“Intuition? Are you calling that an argument?”

 

Jo Woon still acted as if he couldn’t accept it. Lee Jun-ho squeezed his eyes shut.

 

Whoooosh!

 

Suddenly Kate swung her spear. The sharp Sharpness Enhancement cut through Supervisor James’s outer garment. There was a magic bomb around his waist.

 

Beep. Beep. Beep. It ticked as if it would explode at any moment.

 

“…Huh?!”

 

Jo Woon’s eyes widened. Lee Jun-ho quickly drew his sword. In that instant, the bomb was cut into three pieces, and the countdown stopped.

 

Kate let out a sigh.

 

“I did think his jacket was excessively thick from the beginning.”

 

“….”

 

Seol Ha-woon silently looked at her.

 

It was a lie. Those whose goal was immortality from the start wouldn’t think of self-destruction.

 

Kate had somehow planted the bomb on James’s body. She had created obvious physical evidence.

 

Because persuasion was bothersome.

 

“Was he planning to blow up with us if things went wrong?”

 

Kate continued leisurely. Lee Jun-ho alternately looked at James’s body and Kate.

 

“…Was this bomb really on James originally?”

 

Kate casually deflected his suspicion.

 

“Jun-ho, you saw it too. And since when have we been speaking informally?”

 

A correcting tone. Her complexion froze frighteningly. Lee Jun-ho smiled broadly in contrast.

 

“Then. Should I call you Your Majesty Kate?”

 

Kate silently tilted her head.

 

She doesn’t start fights herself, but she doesn’t avoid fights that come to her. Because even bowing down once would damage her family’s prestige.

 

On the other hand, Lee Jun-ho just confronts. He doesn’t think much about the consequences.

 

Their compatibility was the worst.

 

Kate’s gaze stretched coldly, and Lee Jun-ho’s eyes curved like a fox’s.

 

“Both of you. Please stop.”

 

When the two ‘real’ people were about to clash, Jo Woon, who had been stubborn, started trying to stop them instead.

 

“Enough.”

 

Seol Ha-woon casually threw down the rope.

 

“Either way. If you want to stay here with the corpse, I won’t stop you.”

 

Jo Woon quickly picked up the rope.

 

“…Understood, Mr. Jemarawoon. Where should we go?”

 

Seol Ha-woon flinched.

 

“Jemarawoon? What’s that supposed to be?”

 

“My pronunciation got twisted.”

 

How twisted does it have to be for all the syllables to be wrong?

 

“…Everyone move. To Esmos.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Jo Woon went up first. Next Kate, Yoon Hwa-rim….

 

“James was carrying a bomb on his body?”

 

Lee Jun-ho muttered to himself as if asking Seol Ha-woon for his opinion.

 

“The supervisor was your enemy from the beginning. Don’t get too attached.”

 

“….”

 

He swept his hair back. He grabbed the rope while exhaling roughly.

 

Left alone, Seol Ha-woon glanced at James’s terminal.

 

The terminal surely contained solid evidence that James was in league with Eldia, but he left it as it was.

 

She was definitely alive somewhere, listening to this conversation.

 

* * *

 

Kate’s group crossed over to near the ventilation duct through the tape on the ceiling, and Seo Ji-woo’s gravity field gently caught them.

 

“…Why do you all look like that?”

 

There was no answer. Their complexions were also dark.

 

Seo Ji-woo looked around unnecessarily, checking the number of people.

 

“There are only 4 people. Wasn’t there one more?”

 

I answered.

 

“I killed him.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“He was on Eldia’s side.”

 

“Ah… Is that so? Well….”

 

There was no need to be blunt from the start. I could have explained things step by step.

 

However, the imbalance between my magic power and stamina is too severe.

 

My stamina, which is ridiculously insufficient compared to my magic power, causes excessive fatigue, and fatigue makes people irritable.

 

The mages that appear in media usually don’t have good personalities.

 

Most of them might be for this reason.

 

“Now you all go to Esmos.”

 

I sat on the edge of the ventilation duct. Kang Hyeon looked at me.

 

“What about you, hyung?”

 

“I need to touch it. The substance.”

 

“From here?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Kang Hyeon stared at me quietly, then nodded.

 

“Yes. Please come quickly.”

 

His face is strange. A kind exterior with an empty feeling lurking within.

 

“…Right.”

 

As the group crawled away through the ventilation duct, I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath, recalling the teachings of the mage Tae-woo.

 

“Haah….”

 

My concept.

 

I embed my mental visualization within it.

 

What I desire, the deception I want to manifest in reality── penetration.

 

A bullet that ignores all obstacles and definitely hits the target I aim for.

 

——Thump.

 

My heart shattered. That kind of contraction occurred. I clutched my chest and bent my upper body forward. While exhaling rough breaths, I lifted my hand.

 

There was a bullet.

 

A reality that the being called Seol Ha-woon brought into this world.

 

I removed the pistol’s magazine. I inserted only one bullet into the chamber. Click. I pulled the slide to load it and extended the barrel.

 

The target is beyond the front sight, the jar in the research facility too far from this ventilation duct.

 

Toward the substance trapped inside that jar, aim.

 

Fire.

 

──-

 

The bullet flies slowly. It’s actually slow. About the same speed as an arrow. It can’t be helped. It’s a bullet that projects the excessive concept of ‘definitely hitting the target.’

 

The more you wish for, the more destructive power decreases.

 

Thunk.

 

The bullet touched the substance.

 

———!

 

Immediately, the waves became intense. Concentric circles like heat haze rippled greatly around the substance.

 

This is probably the first physical pain it has ever felt in its life.

 

———-!

 

I heard the substance’s scream. At the resonance that tore through the research facility, the zombies on the ground also shook their bodies frantically.

 

“….”

 

Sometime ago, I had seen a similar scene.

 

In that desert where children were confined and used like human batteries, which Seo Ji-hyuk couldn’t bear to endure….

 

“…Wait a little longer.”

 

Soon, I’ll set you free.

 

* * *

 

Esmos warship.

 

“This is the place! Everyone, come here!”

 

Survivors who heard the broadcast are gathering one by one.

 

“So many of them….”

 

Im Hae-jun looked around at them with wide eyes. There were far more than expected, almost hundreds of people.

 

How did they survive for 3 years?

 

“Everyone! Please pay attention!”

 

Then Seo Ji-woo shouted loudly. Next to her, Truck was holding some kind of microphone.

 

“Survivors, if possible, please broadcast once with this terminal. There must be people who still don’t trust us and are hiding!”

 

“…Yes. I’ll go first.”

 

A middle-aged, plump man raised his hand. Truck handed him the microphone.

 

“Ah. Ah. Are you listening, everyone? My name is Romeo.”

 

──Ah. Ah. Are you listening, everyone? My name is Romeo.

 

The voice was amplified and echoed. Seo Ji-woo almost smiled at the completely unsuitable name Romeo, but forcibly suppressed it.

 

Now is not the time for that.

 

“I am a pathetic husband who abandoned my one and only wife. When my wife was dying, I was prepared to become a monster together with her and be together forever.”

 

“….”

 

Good thing I didn’t laugh.

 

He really is Romeo. This is why you shouldn’t have prejudices about appearance.

 

“But even as my wife was turning into a zombie, she restrained herself and left me a note asking me to live. So if there are any of you who, like me in the past, feel ashamed of your survival, it’s okay. You didn’t survive shamefully, but proudly. Everyone, please come to the Esmos ship….”

 

* * *

 

The core of the mothership filled with zombies. The ceiling connected to the ventilation duct is cut by magic power, and one person lands through the gap.

 

Eldia.

 

“…Phew. You’re safe.”

 

She looked at the ‘substance’ from afar, then stood in front of the supervisor’s office. Eldia’s own authority had already been blocked, but she expected this. She opened the door with another researcher’s authority she had prepared in advance.

 

Hissss.

 

Beyond the gate, she finally reached the precious data.

 

Just as Eldia took two steps toward the supervisor’s main computer.

 

Thunk.

 

A chilling presence arose. Like a cold wind, someone’s gaze rushed in. She looked back at that place.

 

In the corner of the supervisor’s office, a long-haired man buried in the darkness of the internal CCTV’s blind spot.

 

Seol Ha-woon.

 

His two eyes holding a walking stick glowed bluish.

 

“You’re badly injured.”

 

In the spaceship explosion, Eldia’s half body was burned. She suffered irreversible burns on her face and body.

 

“…Thanks to you. How grateful.”

 

“I’ll tell you in advance. There are no meaningful clues in the data you’re looking for.”

 

Coldness permeated every word and action of Seol Ha-woon.

 

“If eternal life were truly possible, I’d really want to give it to you, but unfortunately, zombie mutation is the end.”

 

Eldia glared at him and placed her hand on the supervisor’s circuit board.

 

“That’s—”

 

At that moment, Seol Ha-woon fired his pistol. Bang! A mana bullet aimed precisely at her head, which Eldia deflected with magic power.

 

“How cowardly. I won’t fall for it twice.”

 

One corner of her mouth twisted.

 

“Idiots like you wouldn’t understand this data even if you saw it.”

 

“Truck is smarter than you.”

 

“You still trust that incompetent engineer? I’d rather trust a dolphin—”

 

“No. The actual truck.”

 

“…What?”

 

Eldia’s expression crumpled.

 

“Even a mere scrap metal would be smarter and more thoughtful than you.”

 

“Ha.”

 

Eldia let out a hollow laugh, but soon hardened her expression.

 

“You’re planning to abandon this warship anyway. In that case, leave it to me. With just this data, I can open new horizons for humanity that you can’t even imagine—”

 

“The reason I’m not killing you right now is.”

 

Seol Ha-woon cut off her words.

 

Eldia looked at him, at the man standing before her.

 

Still, a human difficult to read.

 

“Curiosity.”

 

Villains. The behavioral principles of those who commit acts unimaginable by ordinary people’s common sense.

 

“I’ve always wanted to ask. Why do humans like you do things that aren’t even human-like?”

 

The lives Eldia had taken numbered in the tens of thousands. Just for her own advancement, she had dragged an entire city into hell.

 

She certainly falls into the category of villain.

 

“…You’re curious about that? It’s just good to live long.”

 

Seol Ha-woon’s eyes sharpened.

 

Eldia looked back and forth between Seol Ha-woon and the data.

 

For this data, she needed to buy as much time as possible.

 

“Fine. I’ll tell you. I’m only twenty-nine.”

 

She fidgeted with the circuit board using her hand with bones half-exposed.

 

“I was born into one of the most prominent families in the star system, and graduated from a university representing the interstellar region. I became the youngest supervisor at just 17. Do you even know how great an achievement that is?”

 

Taking in the data with her eyes, she reflected on her own time that had already passed.

 

“I thought I could accomplish more things, greater things.”

 

When she graduated university as valedictorian, when she was appointed as the youngest supervisor of the Cosmos Ship, when she received praise as a genius who would lead space.

 

She thought it was all nothing special.

 

She mistakenly thought they were just passing steps, mere footsteps traversing the life of the great person called ‘Eldia.’

 

“But then, I was told I had a terminal illness. Even with organ replacements and periodic brain washing, five years was the maximum.”

 

Everything collapsed in an instant. All of my career.

 

The connections, wealth, honor, and even the endless ambition I had built up until then.

 

It was all thrown into the depths, into the abyss.

 

It had always been a life that shone like a star.

 

“I was 24 then. Ridiculous. In an age of traveling between stars, to be struck down by a mere disease…”

 

Magic power cannot heal human diseases. Rather, diseases can sometimes be caused by magic power.

 

“Someone like you with a guaranteed tomorrow wouldn’t understand.”

 

Eldia’s left eyeball flashed. An eye that couldn’t close because the eyelid was gone.

 

She recalled the past.

 

Her childhood secretly reading books in Mother’s Study, university nights spent immersed in research all night long, the platform where she presented her first thesis before professors.

 

“The reason I want this substance is.”

 

Those days that had been so ordinary, those times I mistakenly thought were merely stepping stones to achieve my dreams, were actually precious ‘life’ that was extremely dear to me and would never return again…

 

I realized it too late.

 

“To hold onto my tomorrow.”

 

Eldia’s burned lips drew a faint arc. Like a dying star, it was a smile complexly stained with despair, madness, and hope.

—————
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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