Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 165

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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 165

 

As world caves in(1)

 

Hissssss…

 

Lee Young-ho escaped from the SUV that was billowing smoke. The vehicle was completely destroyed, but his body was unharmed except for a few broken ribs.

 

“…Fuck.”

 

Some kind of darkness fell like a shadow over the mountain slope in broad daylight.

 

This wasn’t ordinary. It was a type of barrier.

 

Rustle, rustle.

 

Lee Young-ho looked at a spot not far away.

 

Two men and women wearing bucket hats approaching from between the bushes.

 

“Who are you guys?”

 

Then the two conversed in Chinese.

 

“I told you we shouldn’t do this.”

 

“There was no other way.”

 

“He looks pretty picky about his personality.”

 

Picky my ass, I can speak Chinese, you know?

 

“I asked who you are. Answer me.”

 

“Huh.”

 

“What.”

 

Both were startled at the same time. They seemed somewhat careless, but actually had no openings at all.

 

At least four digits.

 

Maybe even three digits.

 

“Do you speak Chinese?”

 

They asked in Korean whether he could speak Chinese.

 

“I wanted to go to Murim too, back in the day.”

 

Lee Young-ho answered while placing his hand on his ribs.

 

“So, I asked who you are.”

 

“Uh… first, we’re sorry. This was the only way we could make contact.”

 

The man took off his hat. He also pulled off his beard. He neatly swept back his disheveled hair.

 

He had a bit of an idol vibe. Those guys with sharp features and prominent noses. That’s actually why his face was familiar.

 

The woman also revealed her face in the same way. They looked so similar you’d think they were siblings.

 

They were probably actual cousins or something.

 

“…Mount Hua Sect?”

 

“Oh. You know us. Yes. I’m Swordsman Hao Xian. This is Archer Mei Lan. We came to investigate the murder case of Sword Instructor Kim Yoon-jun.”

 

“Then why didn’t you just come normally? Why the fuck did you hit someone and cause a scene?”

 

This seemed like that famous Murim-style way of handling things, but experiencing it firsthand was infuriating.

 

“You had a tail following you.”

 

“A tail?”

 

He hadn’t particularly felt anything.

 

“It seemed like they were targeting you, so we did this to take care of them as well.”

 

Lee Young-ho asked Hao Xian.

 

“So. You want to share investigation details?”

 

“We already obtained the details. It’s either murder or suicide, one of the two.”

 

“Suicide.”

 

“Yes. The possibility is low, but a Sword Instructor like Kim Yoon-jun died so cleanly. We can’t rule out his intentional defeat.”

 

Hao Xian walked closer step by step.

 

“If it’s murder, it would be an incredible expert, and if it’s suicide, we need to find the motive. But another murder occurred, didn’t it?”

 

Lee Young-ho nodded.

 

“I just came from seeing the corpse. It’s not certain yet whether it’s the same perpetrator.”

 

Then the two of them stared at him intently.

 

They seemed to want related information.

 

He couldn’t trust them yet.

 

After silence and a staring contest, Hao Xian scratched the back of his neck.

 

“Hmm. Fine. Let’s make a deal. We’ll present information first.”

 

Lee Young-ho gestured for him to speak.

 

“Yes. I’ve met Kang Hyeon’s father before. He was a solid person. But he also went around killing several people.”

 

Kang Hyeon’s name came up immediately.

 

“Among the people he killed were homeless people, heads of households, six-year-old children, and many diverse victims. Mentor Kim Yoon-jun died while investigating him.”

 

Lee Young-ho straightened his back. His ribs seemed to be gradually healing.

 

“So. Do you think the culprit is Kang Hyeon?”

 

Hao Xian pursed his lips.

 

“In my opinion, it’s fifty-fifty.”

 

“50% is quite high.”

 

“No. In terms of probability, about 7%?”

 

“…Then what’s fifty-fifty?”

 

“In the end, it’s fifty-fifty. He’s the culprit, or he’s not.”

 

He chuckled.

 

“First, Kang Hyeon currently doesn’t have the skill to kill Kim Yoon-jun in one strike. Maybe in a year.”

 

“Will he have it in a year?”

 

“Yes. His rate of improvement is ridiculous. Especially swordsmen like us grow rapidly in our early twenties…”

 

Hao Xian was the top disciple of Mount Hua Sect. That meant he was one of the next sect leaders, a direct successor.

 

Such a person acknowledged Kang Hyeon.

 

That in just one year, he would surpass a Sword Instructor.

 

“And also-”

 

“You’ve heard enough.”

 

Mei Lan poked Hao Xian’s side. It was a gesture telling him to stop talking.

 

“You give us information too.”

 

“Yes. Regarding Kim Hyeok-jin who died this time…”

 

Lee Young-ho recited Kim Hyeok-jin’s autopsy findings exactly.

 

Mei listened quietly then shook her head.

 

“The cost-benefit doesn’t match. We need more.”

 

“…”

 

Lee Young-ho silently clicked his tongue.

 

Hao Xian pointed to his inner pocket.

 

“If it’s not a matter you can decide alone, you can consult with the person who’s listening.”

 

Lee Young-ho let out a hollow laugh.

 

“When did you notice?”

 

“About 5 minutes ago.”

 

One of the items in the lucky pouch, an emergency terminal.

 

This conversation was being transmitted directly to Seol Ha-woon.

 

Lee Young-ho took out the terminal.

 

─Yes. There was a force trying to retrieve Kim Yoon-jun’s corpse.

 

Seol Ha-woon’s voice-modulated voice flowed out. Lee Young-ho added a comment as well.

 

“I’m estimating that one of the people belonging to that force is DK.”

 

Hao Xian nodded.

 

“…DK.”

 

“It seems like it would be easy for the Mount Hua Sect’s eldest disciple to handle.”

 

“I could catch him with one hand. But you said it’s not just one person, but a faction.”

 

“…Yes. It’s definitely a faction.”

 

Hao Xian tapped May’s shoulder. May raised her eyebrows.

 

“Good. At least the calculation was worth it.”

 

Then he threw some kind of whistle to Lee Young-ho.

 

“At least for now, our Mount Hua is on your side.”

 

“What is this whistle?”

 

“It’s a whistle that calls messenger eagles. I hope we can contact each other occasionally.”

 

As the two were about to turn around and leave, Lee Young-ho hurriedly stopped them.

 

“Wait. You need to pay for the tea before you go.”

 

They flinched and stopped.

 

“You must have received some operation funds, right?”

 

Hao Xian looked at May. May gritted her teeth as if annoyed.

 

“I told you not to hit it.”

 

“…How much is the tea?”

 

Hao Xian asked with a bitter smile. Lee Young-ho pointed to the horribly mangled SUV.

 

“Don’t you know Volkswagen? It’s fully loaded so it costs 300 million, and to get a new one you’d have to wait another year, plus lease fees, hospital bills, and various other costs during that time….”

 

* * *

 

“Ah~ When this time actually comes, I get nervous and don’t want to go. When I’m actually resting, my body feels incredibly stiff.”

 

The day of entering the Labyrinth. Im Hae-jun muttered while stretching, and now there were only 38 people on the set stage.

 

It felt empty compared to when there were 96 people.

 

“Hae-jun. What do you think it’ll be this time?”

 

Kang Hyeon asked. He also seemed a bit expectant.

 

“I’m not sure. It looks like some kind of ruins.”

 

The concrete floor was broken, and ash-like dust was piled up here and there.

 

“Nice to see you~”

 

Just then, mentor Yoo Ji-in appeared.

 

Her outfit was rough military clothing and a bag. A survivalist-style coordination.

 

“The Labyrinth Exploration that started with 96 people is now somehow….”

 

The opening remarks continued at length, and soon she pointed somewhere.

 

“The entrance to the Labyrinth is that!”

 

A half-destroyed abandoned building. Inside it was some kind of rectangular coffin.

 

“Explorers. Please go in and lie down.”

 

Everyone stood in front of their respective coffins and opened the lids.

 

Seo Ji-woo raised her hand.

 

“…Do we just lie down?”

 

“Yes. Please put your equipment in the storage compartment next to you, and lie down.”

 

I put my walking stick in the storage compartment and lay down straight.

 

The lid closed automatically. It seemed to be quite advanced equipment as a digital panel appeared right in front of me.

 

[Scanning user.]

 

Whirr. Whirrrrr.

 

I could hear the sound of some lasers scanning every corner of my body….

 

* * *

 

Control room. The production staff urgently shouted.

 

“Here, over here! Please come here!”

 

Kim A-rang also rushed over there frantically.

 

“Hey, hey, why is this like this.”

 

All the monitors were dead. No video was being transmitted.

 

“When did this start?!”

 

“Just now, it’s been like this just now. The internal cameras aren’t moving either!”

 

This didn’t simply mean they couldn’t film.

 

From outside the Labyrinth, they had lost control of the interior.

 

“This is crazy-”

 

“Wait. Move aside.”

 

A somehow incongruous, too calm voice.

 

It was PD Yoon Sa-hyuk. After first calming the staff, he looked closely at the monitor, then tapped the console panel.

 

“It seems the Labyrinth has collided.”

 

It was serious content, but he was too composed.

 

“…Labyrinth collision? That’s a big problem.”

 

“No. It’s fine.”

 

The monitor turned back on.

 

“It keeps flickering though?”

 

It was blinking as if there wasn’t enough power. A very ominous sign.

 

“It’ll be fine.”

 

However, Yoon Sa-hyuk remained calm.

 

“Still. If the Labyrinth collided, there might be a problem with the Forced Return device-”

 

“That won’t happen. Even if it does, we can do it manually.”

 

He placed his hand on Kim A-rang’s shoulder.

 

“PD Kim. Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility for everything.”

 

He said this while smiling.

 

Kim A-rang looked back and forth between his eyes and hand.

 

“…Understood. Still, just in case, I’ll set up monitoring in two shifts with night watch.”

 

“As you wish.”

 

──Tick.

 

For some reason, the sound of the hour hand echoed particularly loudly.

 

The moment it became exactly 6 o’clock

 

“Everyone. Get to work.”

 

Yoon Sa-hyuk returned to his seat and sat down.

 

Kim A-rang stared intently at his back.

 

* * *

 

I opened my eyes.

 

“…!”

 

I gasped for breath like a newborn baby. I clutched my chest and panted.

 

“Hah, hah, hah….”

 

I looked around the interior in a daze. It was still a coffin.

 

Hissssss.

 

The lid opened without delay. Fortunately, there was a ceiling.

 

I stepped onto the ground with both legs. Something felt strange, but I walked with heavy steps.

 

Wait a minute.

 

“…Walking?”

 

Walking?

 

I looked down at my legs in surprise.

 

They’re moving.

 

Not just my right leg, but my left leg is also moving according to my will.

 

“Huh?”

 

I took another step forward.

 

“…”

 

It’s a strange sensation.

 

The thickness of my legs is still thinner on the left side, but I can walk with both legs.

 

There’s no pain.

 

I can bend them and even crouch down.

 

“…Why?”

 

What’s the reason for this? There must be a cause.

 

I wandered around inside in a daze.

 

“Is it an entry effect?”

 

That could be it.

 

When entering a Labyrinth, special rules are sometimes applied, though it’s rare.

 

These entry effects disappear the moment you leave the Labyrinth, which is why some people become ‘obsessed’ with Labyrinths.

 

“…Not bad.”

 

I walked properly for the first time in a while and sat down in the chair. I turned on the laptop on the desk.

 

It was the familiar Windows OS. There were four documents on the desktop.

 

[ Project: Noah’s Ark ]

 

[ Space Launch Pad Observation ]

 

[ Top Priority: Survival ]

 

[ Internal System Status ]

 

Click.

 

I pressed the touchpad.

 

The top three files were all password-protected, and only the internal system status opened.

 

[ Internal System Status ]

 

Air Purification Device

 

Status: Caution | 53%

 

Main Power Generator

 

Status: Unstable | 37%

 

Water Purification Pump

 

Status: Normal | 63%

 

Internal Environment Control

 

Status: Stable | 76%

 

I looked around the space.

 

The ventilation duct in the corner. The manhole-like stairs leading to the upper floor.

 

“Air raid shelter…”

 

That’s the feeling I get.

 

“Does the internet work?”

 

I opened Explorer. I typed the most familiar portal site into the URL.

 

To our beloved humanity.

 

Kakao will be with you until the final day.

 

D – 7

 

“…?”

 

The main gate is strange. There’s no news or anything, just weird phrases displayed prominently.

 

I checked other sites too.

 

Humanity’s journey ends here now, but we remember us who cried, laughed, got angry, and enjoyed ourselves.

 

D – 7

 

“…Hmm.”

 

I went to YouTube.

 

Recording Humanity, YOU

 

Recording you and humanity.

 

Service termination, D-7

 

I have some idea of what’s going on, but more accurate information is probably on that site.

 

Wikipedia

 

Earth’s Final Day D-7

 

As the final moment of human civilization approaches, Wikipedia’s knowledge storage function will also terminate in 7 days.

 

Even in this chaos, we express deep gratitude to all contributors who worked hard to record and edit until the very end.

 

Your contributions will be preserved until the last moment that this humanity is maintained.

 

We hope that these records will somehow, someday remain and continue to exist somewhere.

 

References: [History], [Humanity], [2058 Nuclear War Crisis]

 

“Nuclear war…”

 

The most probable human extinction scenario that we all could expect.

 

I clicked on that document.

 

2058 Nuclear War Crisis The decisive event that cut off the lifeline of human civilization. Essentially the extinction of modern humanity and the 6th Great Extinction 1. Overview A war that broke out in 2058 and destroyed the entire world, the worst in human history. 2. Background In the mid-21st century, competition for hegemony among major powers over limited resources reached its peak. The food and water crisis caused by climate change, intensification of localized proxy war conflicts, and the introduction of AI-based automated warfare systems worked in combination, and international tensions headed toward a critical point… 3. Development The direct trigger of the war is presumed to be a malfunction or hacking of an automated retaliation system that occurred during some localized military conflict in July 2058. When the first nuclear attack signal was detected, each country’s nuclear war response protocols executed chain nuclear retaliation attacks within just a few minutes according to pre-programmed scenarios. “That day the sky burned twice. First with flash, then with ash.” – From an anonymous survivor’s memoir The capitals and industrial centers, military bases of major powers disappeared from the map within hours. In addition to direct damage from nuclear explosions, massive fires and radioactive fallout covered the entire Earth, which was the prelude to the nuclear winter that would soon follow… 4. Results and Impact • Astronomical casualties: Accurate counting is impossible, but it’s estimated that over 70-80% of the world’s population died from direct and indirect effects within years after the war broke out. • Complete collapse of civilization systems: All infrastructure supporting modern civilization including nations, society, economy, communications, and logistics were destroyed or paralyzed, and only networks maintained by magic power barely survived. Survivors were driven to primitive-level survival competition. • Destruction of Earth’s environment: Due to widespread radioactive contamination and nuclear winter that lasted for years, the ecosystem suffered irreversible damage. Agriculture became nearly impossible, and countless animal and plant species went extinct. • Doomsday: The global automatic retaliation system, nicknamed ‘Doomsday’, that some country had built in 2058 was initiated.

 

In other words, everyone died because of nuclear war, and only networks powered by magic remained intact.

 

That was why the internet was working.

 

“What’s this Doomsday thing?”

 

I checked that document.

 

Doomsday The most horrific legacy of the 2058 nuclear war. In the chaos of war, or intentionally left undestroyed, some country’s global automatic nuclear strike system began its final countdown. This system is presumed to be programmed to simultaneously launch thousands of remaining nuclear weapons across the entire Earth after a set time—10 years at the time—regardless of whether there are surviving areas. Both whoever made it and whoever didn’t destroy it. The small number of surviving humans made desperate efforts to stop Doomsday but failed, and ultimately humanity met its end by a booby trap they had set up decades earlier. This is the direct cause of the current Earth’s final day, [D-7] situation.

 

I understood.

 

In 7 days, thousands of nuclear weapons will crash down on this place. Their power cannot be withstood in something like an air raid shelter.

 

This is different from a Survival Labyrinth where you just need to endure quietly.

 

“Escape Labyrinth.”

 

You have to move directly and escape from death.

 

I stood up. Both legs felt awkward, but I’d adapt quickly.

 

“Hmm…”

 

I looked at the full-length mirror on the wall. I was wearing white training clothes.

 

There was a wardrobe nearby. The moment I threw it open, a bitter feeling washed over me.

 

“…Ha.”

 

Something that naturally made me let out a hollow laugh first, like a persistent connection.

 

It was a military uniform.

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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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