Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 14

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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 014

Gotta Fight(1)

[ 1-Minute Self-Introduction ]

[ Unaffiliated Kang Hyeon ]

“I’m warrior Kang Hyeon. My favorite food is ramen. Actually, I like all kinds of noodles without being picky. I don’t really have a nickname. My weapon? …Yes. The weapon I use is a broadsword.”

He suddenly pulls out a sword from his waist and shoves it toward the camera. It’s a sparkling, polished broadsword.

“It’s a treasured sword my father gave me as a gift.”

He says this while grinning like a complete fool.

“Here, the blade is sharp, right? Both sides are sharp.”

He shows various parts of the broadsword to the camera. Is this a self-introduction or a sword introduction?

“The good thing about both sides being sharp is attack flexibility. Both slashing and thrusting are effective and…”

[ 1-Minute Self-Introduction ]

[ YNG Im Hae-jun ]

“Hello! I’m Im Hae-jun! I’m an archer! Although I’m C-rank right now, it’s because I made a lot of mistakes during the level test! I actually think one mistake can’t define me! Well, it wasn’t just once but about three times, but the real ranking is decided by you, the people!”

Some guy has a ribbon attached to his chest. With curly hair, he looks like a small dog. I know who this is too. Im Hae-jun, who starts from the 50s and settles into the top 10, a decent ranking pick.

“My main weapon is this, a curved bow! The range is short but it’s very powerful. And I’ve often been told I’m like a gift! That’s why I put this ribbon here! Your votes are, if you vote for gifts, gifts will, no. Your votes are gifts to me!”

[ 1-Minute Self-Introduction ]

[ Jeiros Seo Ji-woo ]

“I’m Seo Ji-woo. I’m a mage. I… I use a Formula called ‘Line.'”

Seo Ji-woo. A familiar face to me. She’s very stiff. Both her gestures and way of speaking.

“Line. Not the good kind of line. Ha.ha. Line. Just line.”

She seems to have worse camera anxiety than even me.

“I’ll show you.”

She even cracked her voice while drawing the line. The Magic Power in her grip shot up in multiple streams like some fanfare.

“Ugh! Ah, shit! Wait-“

One minute over.

“…Are you really only filming this once?”

I asked while watching the reference video. The assistant director and writer across from me shrugged their shoulders.

“Phew…”

I didn’t think much of this when watching it on TV.

But now that I have to do it myself, my chest feels a bit heavy.

“You don’t need to be nervous. You saw it. Everyone just does their own thing. That realness is what’s good about it.”

“Yes.”

I was encouraged by the assistant director’s words.

“Ahem.”

Actually, I had prepared the self-introduction to some extent.

“Nice to meet you. I’m mage Seol Ha-woon. Due to an accident during operations, I was discharged, but I want to challenge the second act of my life here. Of course, I believe nothing comes for free. I came here to seize things myself. I won’t avoid any difficulties.”

Hahaha.

I tried to laugh heartily but hesitated.

The expressions on the assistant director and writers in front looked terrible.

Did I do something really wrong?

“Shoot, try shooting.”

Suddenly someone appeared from behind. It was PD Kim A-rang.

Shoot? I tilted my head.

“Shoot. The thing you shot goblins with.”

“…There’s no target though.”

“Shoot at the camera lens. This is all Formula-treated. Lower the output a bit. While asking for votes.”

“Uh… yes.”

Since it’s Kim A-rang, I feel uneasy for some reason, but I should do as told for now.

“Dear national scouts.”

I extended my finger.

“Please vote for me.”

Bang.

A Mana Bullet fired and hit the camera lens.

[ Your Appearance increases by 0.1 due to the camera treatment effect. ]

* * *

…After the 1-minute self-introduction filming ended.

I arrived at the dormitory. The participants’ dormitory was also inside the portal of 「Labyrinth Exploration」, and dormitory quality was differentially assigned according to ranking.

81st~96th place [F-tier] is 1st floor,

61st~80th place [D-tier] is 2nd floor,

41st~60th place [C-tier] is 3rd floor,

21st~40th place [B-tier] is 4th floor,

11th~20th place [A-tier] is 5th floor.

1st~10th place [S-tier] is 6th floor.

It’s almost like a caste system, but what can you do. It’s a Labyrinth Exploration tradition.

The labyrinth doesn’t have the luxury of considering the feelings of lower ranks. You’d get eaten by goblins while being considerate.

“…This is pretty good?”

But from my perspective, it’s actually better. Even the last place room is much bigger than my current studio apartment.

There’s even a bed. Not just a mattress, but a proper bed frame too, so this is almost like a hotel room.

“So this is that uniform.”

Several uniforms were hanging in the closet. The same jacket, top and bottom, and necktie sets filled it up.

From now on, it’s dormitory life here.

“Ah, I’m hungry.”

When will they give us food?

I was touching my stomach when I opened a shelf. There was cup ramen.

“Oh~”

Good sense.

“Is there a pot…”

While looking for a pot or coffee pot, I suddenly had a thought.

Ah right, there was that.

I took out a cup from my pocket.

It’s loot from the level test labyrinth I just cleared.

Surprisingly, the loot from the 「Labyrinth Exploration」 series belongs to individuals. Even if you don’t make it to the debut team, if you somehow clear labyrinths one by one, it means you can leave with a solid profit.

【Goblin Cup】■ Overview: A mysterious cup crafted with goblin craftsmanship.■ You can quickly control the temperature of liquid in the cup using Magic Power.

By the way, this is [MoMo]’s system. Among them, it’s the effect of my trait 【Good Ears, Good Eyes】.

[NaN]’s system doesn’t have that kind of emotional function.

I wonder if there’s some connection between the two.

I poured water into the [ Goblin Cup ]. I set the temperature to the hottest setting and poured it twice into the cup ramen.

Steam was rising vigorously.

“I don’t need a separate coffee pot.”

* * *

Strength　　│　2(-5)　│　F　　Stamina　│　2(-5)　│　F　　Agility　│　2(-5)　│　F　　Endurance　│　2(-5)　│　F　　Magic Power　│　11.5　│　D+　Perception　│ 　9　　│　B　　Mental Power　│ 　9　　│　B　　Appearance　│　7.6　 │　C+ 　Luck　│ 　6　　│　C+

After eating, I made plans to look around the dormitory grounds.

The grounds have not only dormitory buildings but also [Shooting Range], [Mountain Trail], [Gym], [Combat Arena], [Library], and quite a lot more. It’s supposedly the optimal environment for participants to develop themselves or something like that.

I need to move around somewhere anyway.

While there are no cameras in personal spaces, meaning the dormitory, cameras are installed throughout the grounds like CCTV. They capture quite a lot of scenes showing how people spend their holidays too.

So I put on my uniform properly and walked along the walking trail. I glanced at the cameras hidden in the bushes.

Please film me a lot. So my Appearance stat goes up.

“…Hmm.”

Where should I go?

I debated between the [ Library ] and [ Gym ], but I’m a mage after all. I should stick to my concept.

Let’s go to the library.

[ Library ]

The library on the dormitory grounds was quite spacious. At least much larger than the military base library I’d been to before.

“…Wow.”

Exclamation marks flashed in my eyes. There were tons of magic power and formula books.

The kind that would cost millions of won each to buy outside due to magic copyrights.

“This was a goldmine.”

I excitedly limped back and forth between bookshelves. I examined everything from the covers and selected one book.

[ Standardized Magic Book – Ian McKenion ]

“This looks good.”

It’s a standardized magic book written by a famous mage named Ian McKenion.

I quickly sat in a chair and was looking through it to see if there were any useful formulas.

“Studying?”

A voice quietly settled down. I looked up.

“Ah~ Yes. Hello.”

It was mage mentor Yoo Yul. She looked at me and furrowed her brows.

“Everyone else is resting or chatting at the cafe, why are you alone?”

“…Hmm.”

So there was that option.

Chatting at the cafe. And socializing.

It’s quite an important factor for getting votes. If I stick close to top ten guys like Kang Hyeon and Lee Jun-ho, I’d definitely get caught on camera.

I think I need to do some socializing too.

“Ah~ Then I should also-“

“That thing, isn’t it quite difficult? Ian McKenion. He’s famous for having dirty formulas.”

Mage Yoo Yul pointed at the magic book.

“Right. I don’t really know about the dirty part, but there are a lot of formulas.”

“It’s a magic book.”

“…Yes?”

“Since it’s a standardized magic book, it has to have a lot of formulas.”

“…Yes. That’s right.”

Standardized Magic. Literally, standardized formulas. For mages who can’t form solid Mental Visualization and can’t emit creative intuition, these are formulas deployed by memorizing magic circles.

That doesn’t mean they’re exclusively for inferior students. Rather, these standardized magics help mages utilize more diverse formulas.

For example, I can complete Mental Visualization about weapons and battlefields quite easily. Because they’re core elements that constitute my life.

However, I find it difficult to embody formulas that might be used for other things like cooking or playing music. That’s exactly when these [Standardized Magics] fill in the lacking visualization.

Simply put, they skip the Mental Visualization process.

“How pathetic, whenever I see things like this. Magic isn’t history, yet they do it by memorizing.”

On the other hand, Yoo Yul seemed displeased with such standardized magic and rested her chin on her hand. Her plump cheeks puffed up like steamed buns.

Her eyes suddenly tilted sharply.

“Rather than this. Haven’t you read theory books?”

“I’ve only read one theory book.”

“One book?”

“Yes. Because I don’t have money.”

“Which one?”

“Um… this one.”

I took out the theory book from my bag. My only theory book, Tae Hyeok’s Magic Basics.

At that moment, Yoo Yul’s expression turned cold.

“…Where did you get this.”

I don’t know why, but her questioning voice was as sharp as frost.

“I borrowed it from a bookstore.”

Right now, my skin is trembling.

“They wouldn’t easily lend out magic books like this.”

Is it because my perception is relatively high, or because my magic power exceeds 11, or maybe because of my trait?

“I became friends with the bookstore owner. I should promote it when I get the chance.”

“…Promote? Which bookstore.”

Every time she speaks, every time our eyes meet.

I feel that ‘magical resonance’ again.

“David Bookstore.”

In an instant, the taut tension dissolved too anticlimactically.

“…I see.”

Pfft. She smiled and sat in the seat next to me.

“Then. For you who’s studying alone while everyone else is playing, I’ll give you mentor tutoring.”

Suddenly? I do feel that way, but there’s no harm in accepting.

“Ah then I’m grateful.”

“Good. 96th place Seol Ha-woon. How much do you know about mage attributes?”

“The origin of a person, they said.”

“Right. So attributes are divided into innate and acquired. In that regard, you shoot guns?”

“Yes. I was a soldier.”

“…A soldier?”

She opened her eyes wide. Then she let out a hollow laugh as if realizing something.

“Aha. So that old man…”

That old man.

Probably David Han.

Do they know each other?

“You. Can you show me your circuit?”

“Yes.”

I raised my right arm.

“Wow. You’re really skinny. Are you sick somewhere?”

She held out her own plump arm. It was much thicker than mine.

“It’s because I have digestive issues.”

“Digestive issues?”

“Yes.”

“Digestive issues…”

She looked around, glancing left and right. She seemed to be checking if anyone was watching.

“Here. It’s a Spirit Elixir. It should help someone scrawny like you.”

It should help someone scrawny. Somehow, when this person says it, it sounds more convincing.

Whatever the case, ignoring someone’s goodwill wouldn’t be polite either.

“Thank you.”

I casually accepted the Spirit Elixir, but my eyes nearly popped out. It was such a good item that even the [MoMo] system reacted to it.

【Premium Spirit Elixir】■ Overview: A very well-made Spirit Elixir. Precious materials have been properly blended.■ Grade: Rare■ If the total sum of Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Durability stats is 10 or below, 1 stat point will be distributed among them.

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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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