Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 136

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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 136

 

There Is No Rainbow(5)

 

Halfway up Bukhansan. Inspector Lee Young-ho climbed the mountain under the pretense of camping.

 

“The air is so fresh~”

 

While waiting after setting up his tent at the meeting point.

 

Clatter clatter clatter clatter.

 

A sound like an ox cart came from somewhere. It was from the direction of the mountain slope.

 

“…What the.”

 

Some truck was approaching. It wasn’t even an ordinary truck. It even had a robe draped over it, looking like hair.

 

“What, what is that thing.”

 

Lee Young-ho instinctively drew up his magic power.

 

Clatter clatter clatter clatter. The truck that came right up to him looked at him and spoke.

 

─It’s me. Seol Ha-woon.

 

“…Huh?”

 

─It’s Seol Ha-woon.

 

Indeed, listening to it, it was definitely Seol Ha-woon’s voice.

 

“But… what, what is that?”

 

─It’s my Truck Familiar.

 

“No, that might be possible, but why is the truck wearing a wig, no, a robe?”

 

─This truck also has the risk of having its identity exposed. It’s going to become quite famous later.

 

“…”

 

I don’t know what he’s talking about.

 

Even so, wouldn’t a truck wearing a robe stand out more?

 

As if understanding that suspicion, the robe’s color suddenly became lighter. It absorbed the colors of surrounding objects and blended in.

 

“Ah~ Yes. I understand. It has a protective coloration function.”

 

The truck jumped to the spot next to Lee Young-ho.

 

It moves like a person.

 

Anyway, today’s meeting topic is quite serious.

 

Lee Young-ho whispered quietly.

 

“I’ve preserved the corpse.”

 

─Yes. I’m also learning formulas, but the subject matter is so narrow that it’s difficult to find related books. It seems it will take a little more time.

 

“I understand. And, I’m asking this just in case…”

 

Lee Young-ho asked while gauging the truck’s reaction.

 

“Do you think the culprit is inside Mitamnan?”

 

─…

 

Seol Ha-woon was silent. Actually, Inspector Lee Young-ho had already harbored some suspicions.

 

He quietly broached the subject.

 

“Kang Hyeon’s father passed away quite a while ago.”

 

─Is it related to this case?

 

“Hmm… This is also a rumor I heard through the grapevine later.”

 

Lee Young-ho dropped ramen into boiling water. Plop. He continued speaking while watching the noodles unfurl.

 

“Mentor Kim Yoon-jun had requested information investigation about Kang Hyeon’s father from Mount Hua Sect’s informants… Come to think of it, that friend’s father’s memorial day is tomorrow.”

 

─When did you say the memorial day is?

 

“Tomorrow. He’s buried at the National Cemetery.”

 

─Hmm…

 

The truck has a face lost in thought. It’s strange to say a truck has a face, but it really does. The headlights seem to furrow like human eyebrows, which is quite cute.

 

“But does that truck also come out of Mitamnan?”

 

─Yes. It will probably take about 2 weeks, but right now it’s a spoiler…

 

* * *

 

National Cemetery. Seo Ji-woo visited there today, but had to wrap herself up completely with a hat and mask. Her fame was now at a level she could really feel.

 

“Oppa. I came.”

 

She smiled bitterly in front of the tombstone.

 

Seo Ji-hyuk, recipient of the Taegeuk Military Merit Medal. Today was her brother’s memorial day.

 

“But… this is strange.”

 

She narrowed her eyes while taking out a cloth.

 

This tombstone sparkles every time she comes. As if someone had already cleaned it.

 

“Oppa.”

 

Seo Ji-woo knelt down and carefully caressed the tombstone. She chattered to him who was no longer in this world.

 

“I became really famous.”

 

She couldn’t go outside without wearing a mask. Today she opened her mask slightly out of curiosity and nearly died from the crowd that swarmed her.

 

“I don’t think I need to worry about money.”

 

CF inquiries were already pouring in tremendously. Luxury brands were also competing to beg her to please be their ambassador, but she planned to reject them all.

 

“…I’m still annoyed. I suffered so much from being called brainless.”

 

Anyone might be a little dazzled seeing luxury goods for the first time, but she felt like she heard all the insults she’d hear in her lifetime back then.

 

She was always in the top ranks in Magic High’s theory exams, but in all her life she was called brainless, brain king… some crazy bastards even called her brain-dead mage, isn’t that too much of an insult.

 

“I’m going to make tons of money. I’ll earn about 100 billion and spend it lavishly. Ah, no matter how much I make, I won’t give any to father. That crazy human could never become a mage even if trillions were poured in.”

 

“100 billion? I’m envious.”

 

She flinched at the sudden voice and turned to look in that direction.

 

“Ah, Lieutenant Colonel, you came too?”

 

“Yeah. The timing worked out today.”

 

Lieutenant Colonel Lee Seok-jun. He who was once Seo Ji-hyuk’s superior smiled while taking off his hat.

 

Seo Ji-woo was glad to see him, but glared at him for no reason.

 

“Are you really not going to tell me who it is?”

 

This person definitely knows. Who the friend that Seo Ji-hyuk wrote about in his letter is.

 

Lee Seok-jun shrugged his shoulders.

 

“What are you going to do if you find them?”

 

“I should at least hear their story.”

 

“If your brother wanted to tell you, he would have written it in the letter long ago.”

 

“What?”

 

“So wait. Until that person comes to find you.”

 

“…What are you talking about?”

 

Lee Seok-jun chuckled while looking at the sulking Seo Ji-woo.

 

“Ji-hyuk considered even what that ‘friend’ didn’t want you to know. He didn’t just think about you.”

 

“…”

 

Seo Ji-woo pondered Lee Seok-jun’s words and clicked her tongue.

 

“You’re making me speechless. I’m leaving.”

 

She visits often, but still, like siblings, when she actually comes she doesn’t have that much to say. That makes it even more frustrating.

 

Couldn’t he have just stayed there forever.

 

“Oh right.”

 

Lieutenant Colonel Lee Seok-jun said while placing chrysanthemums on the tombstone.

 

“Kang Hyeon, that handsome kid was here too.”

 

“What? Kang Hyeon? Where?”

 

“There. Over there.”

 

“Oh… Yes. Thank you. Take care.”

 

“You too.”

 

Seo Ji-woo walked to where the colonel pointed. Kang Hyeon was really there. Like herself, he was bundled up covering his whole body, but anyone could tell it was Kang Hyeon.

 

Why is he here again?

 

Seo Ji-woo approached him.

 

“Hey!”

 

When she raised her hand high, Kang Hyeon turned around.

 

“Why are you here? Did you come to hang out?”

 

He pulled down his mask halfway.

 

“My dad is buried here too.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

Seo Ji-woo looked in front of Kang Hyeon with surprise.

 

On the tombstone were written the three characters ‘Kang Yoon-seok’, his birth date, and the date he died in the line of duty.

 

Date of death in the line of duty.

 

More than anything, that date caught Seo Ji-woo’s eye.

 

“S-sorry. I didn’t know.”

 

If he was an explorer who worked for the country, he could likewise be buried at the National Cemetery.

 

Seo Ji-woo opened her eyes as kindly as possible.

 

“Um… can I ask?”

 

She normally wouldn’t ask, but the date of death was exactly the same as Seo Ji-hyuk’s.

 

Just maybe, on the off chance, could there be a connection?

 

Then Kang Hyeon’s eyes drooped. As if recalling some distant past, the air turned cold and settled chillingly.

 

He said.

 

“I killed him.”

 

Seo Ji-woo blinked blankly and unconsciously asked back.

 

“…Huh?”

 

“They say people die when they’re forgotten from people’s hearts. But I didn’t visit for 5 whole years.”

 

“Hey, hey you… even so, how can you say it like that.”

 

Just say you’re an unfilial son. Your word choice is too creepy.

 

“You. Did you come to see your brother?”

 

“Yeah. You know too, right?”

 

“Yeah. This broadcast episode was interesting. You said he was friends with Mal-ok hyung.”

 

“Not friends, classmates. Most people probably didn’t know. Everyone just knows my brother died in the line of duty, but they’re not interested in things like which UDT class he was in…”

 

Seo Ji-woo was chattering about this and that when she suddenly froze. Only then did she look at Kang Hyeon’s eyes.

 

It was a look that said ‘please leave.’

 

“…Ah sorry. I should read the room. Good work. I’m going.”

 

As expected, he’s a guy with clear boundaries.

 

Many fans call him a retriever, but absolutely not. Rather, he resembles a wild beast. A tiger or wolf would be perfect.

 

Kang Hyeon waved his hand at Seo Ji-woo.

 

“Take care. See you later.”

 

“Yeah yeah. I’m going…”

 

Seo Ji-woo left with her hands shoved in her pockets.

 

Left alone, Kang Hyeon silently gazed at the tombstone. He traced in his heart the face, name, and all the moments shared with the person who rested eternally beneath this cold stone.

 

Whoooosh——-

 

Suddenly, wind blows. The lush grass blades sway as if whispering, and Kang Hyeon slowly closes his eyes.

 

Darkness where nothing can be seen. A crack forms like thin paper tearing, and beyond it, his father looking at him.

 

Father.

 

Father.

 

I sometimes feel like I’m drifting away from this world. Like grains of sand that seem graspable but ultimately slip through my fingers, my everything becomes endlessly distant.

 

Father.

 

What did you hope for, what did you want?

 

What is the reason you left me in such an ambiguous life…

 

Kang Hyeon opened his eyes. He looked at ‘him’ who had been reduced to merely a tombstone.

 

“─What are you doing.”

 

Someone’s voice pierced his ears. Kang Hyeon slowly turned his head.

 

Seol Ha-woon, he casually threw a towel.

 

“Wipe yourself. Don’t just stand there doing nothing.”

 

“….”

 

Kang Hyeon picked up the towel and looked at him silently. He only asked with his eyes.

 

Seol Ha-woon answered the silent language.

 

“There are many people I know here. When I walk around, I see them one by one. There are superiors, subordinates, and classmates too.”

 

He tapped the road surface with his walking stick. A faint sound of grass being pressed down rang out.

 

“Aren’t you curious? Why did we choose this profession knowing we would die?”

 

“…Because we think we won’t die. Everyone thinks they’re special.”

 

It’s a delusion everyone has.

 

They overestimate the existence called ‘me.’

 

Maybe it’s a suicide prevention protocol implanted in all humanity.

 

“I’m different from people who are already dead. Bullets will miss me too. At first, you’d think like that. But…”

 

“Not at all. You realize it every time people next to you die.”

 

Seol Ha-woon continued the words instead.

 

“When that bastard superior died, no one laughed. Even though we’d thought hundreds of times that we wished he would die.”

 

Such a matter-of-fact tone.

 

“Death comes too suddenly. Even if you wrap magic power around your whole body, your body explodes if you get hit by a missile. If you let your guard down and step wrong, dozens of tons of bombs devour your lower body.”

 

While telling stories of the battlefield, he faintly smiles with worn edges.

 

“You die becoming flesh barely clinging to bone fragments. Magic power particularly preserves bones. But I… was really lucky.”

 

He took out a chrysanthemum from between his clothes fluttering in the wind.

 

“…Why flowers?”

 

“Why? I bought them.”

 

Then he bent only his right knee with difficulty and offered the flowers to his father’s tombstone.

 

“For your father.”

 

Instantly Kang Hyeon’s expression hardened. He unconsciously clenched his teeth. The corners of his eyes trembled.

 

“….”

 

He quietly looked at Seol Ha-woon. Seol Ha-woon didn’t avoid his gaze either.

 

Whoooosh——-

 

From somewhere, another wind blows.

 

Suspicion follows from reactions. No matter how accustomed a person is to hiding themselves, there are memories that cannot be hidden. There are untouchable reverse scales that cannot be endured.

 

Seol Ha-woon blatantly touched that,

 

and Kang Hyeon said to Seol Ha-woon.

 

“…Hyung.”

 

Seol Ha-woon tilts his head. His long hair falls following his gaze.

 

“Want to eat soup rice? I know a place that’s really good.”

 

Seol Ha-woon’s eyes widened as if slightly surprised, but he soon nodded.

 

“Sounds good. Now?”

 

“This time is perfect. If it overlaps with lunch or dinner time, there will be too many people.”

 

“…Let’s go. Lead the way.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Kang Hyeon steps forward first, and Seol Ha-woon follows behind, leaning on his walking stick.

 

The two match each other’s pace.

 

Though they walk side by side like this, there’s a sense of discord in their steps that doesn’t quite align.

 

Is it a clear dissonance?

 

Or perhaps just a harmony that’s off by one beat?

 

It’s still impossible to know.

 

* * *

 

Late at night.

 

Kate gathered all the evidence she could collect. In this cramped dormitory, she obtained recordings of the unit members from that time.

 

—That bastard’s been acting strange lately.

 

—Who?

 

—That son of a bitch.

 

Conversations of people no longer in this world. They were voicing their suspicions about ‘That fxxxing dog.’

 

Dog wasn’t slang or code, but Hound. It referred to Seol Ha-woon’s nickname at the time.

 

—…Try telling the Colonel.

 

—The Colonel only protects that bastard. But no matter how I think about it, he’s too dangerous.

 

—He doesn’t seem interested in the Labyrinth though. Was he always the type to covet leftovers?

 

Kate doesn’t like certainty.

 

But.

 

—I can’t reach Tommy.

 

—The last person who met him was…

 

—That son of a bitch! It’s that bastard! That son of a bitch killed Tommy!

 

If all the fragmented truths are focusing on one person.

 

If everyone is suspecting him.

 

─The Colonel is in danger!

 

─We need to tell him! Right now!

 

The recording cut off around that time. She looked at the black tea in her teacup. Staring at the cold, red surface, she picked up a ‘card.’

 

2024 ROOKIESEOL HA UN#PRISM1 of 1

 

Seol Ha-woon’s Prism Rookie Card, shimmering with rainbow colors, the only one of its kind in the world.

 

“Did you…”

 

Looking into Seol Ha-woon in the card, Kate murmured.

 

“Kill them?”

—————
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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