Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 186

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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 186

Still life(2)

Knock knock. I knocked on the door of the Magic School’s research laboratory that still had its lights on. The door opened and a man with disheveled hair came out.

His eyes widened in surprise.

“…Huh? Security guard?”

He’s a teaching assistant named Silo. It’s awkward for me to face him, but I have something to report.

“I caught intruders.”

“Intru… What? Intruders?”

Silo’s eyes went round.

“Follow me.”

I led the way, leaning on my walking stick. Silo followed behind me. He matched his pace to mine.

“Intru, intruders?”

“Yes. They were using invisibility techniques.”

“That’s forbidden magic.”

As expected, invisibility seems unwelcome in any world.

I guided him to the secluded open ground behind the school’s research building. Two men were tied up with magic rope.

“…It’s real.”

Silo rolled up the intruders’ sleeves. There were strange markings near their forearms.

“Oh no. These are ‘Fallen Council’ bastards.”

“What’s that?”

“They’re cancerous scum who research and abuse forbidden techniques. They’re possessed by evil spirits. How did you subdue them?”

“…I ambushed them.”

Though calling it an ambush is a bit much.

Silo let out a sigh of relief.

“You’ve done something incredibly important. Security guard… what’s your name?”

“Seol Ha-woon.

“Yes. Seol Ha-woon… Seol Ha-woon?”

Silo’s eyes widened as he repeated my name.

Don’t tell me this guy finds me familiar too.

“Are you perhaps the one from this month’s problem?”

“…Ah yes. That’s right.”

“Wow. How did you solve it so quickly?”

“That’s not the issue right now.”

I gestured toward the intruders.

“Ah right. Just a moment.”

Silo pulled out an old leather notebook and quill pen from his pocket. He quickly scribbled letters with scratching sounds.

“I’ve sent messages to Professor Arkal and the police.”

“…Messages are sent like that?”

“Yes. It’s a portable message paper.”

“Ah. I see.”

It seems to be an artifact that transmits whatever you write in the notebook as is. By modern standards, it’s terribly inefficient.

“Now that I’ve reported it, you can rest now, Mr. Seol.”

“…”

I stared at Silo silently.

“…Yes?”

Silo tilted his head.

I glared at him intently.

“…Why are you doing that?”

He suddenly stepped back as if frightened.

He really has no sense.

“Reward. Aren’t you giving me one? I caught two intruders.”

I need to make money.

* * *

I arrived at the pawn shop on the village outskirts.

According to Silo, it’s the ‘most skilled’ pawn shop in the vicinity of this city.

Garion Pawn Shop

For those in need of quick cash

I opened the creaking wooden door. The smell of dust mixed with oil stung my nostrils. Inside, all sorts of miscellaneous items were piled up, and a thin elderly man wearing a monocle stood at the counter.

I placed the jewelry I had acquired at dawn on the counter.

“How much are these worth?”

The Tavern Owner silently examined the items. I quickly looked around the pawn shop. Antiques that looked like broken machine parts were scattered messily on shelves and display stands.

Among them, several items in the corner caught my eye.

They looked like junk on the surface, but they appeared different to my [True Eyes, True Ears].

Magic power flow that circulated inside components then stopped. Tangled or contaminated circuits. Crystals hardened from stagnant magic power.

I could vaguely perceive such parts.

It was proof that I was gradually adapting to my enhanced trait.

“50,000 caring total.”

The Tavern Owner offered a price. About 5 million won in Korean currency. It was less than I expected.

“Isn’t that too cheap?”

“Items of unclear origin are difficult to price higher. It might be different if you told me where you acquired them.”

The Tavern Owner retorted sharply and adjusted his monocle. I glared at him.

“…Ahem.”

He subtly averted his gaze.

He’s not a villain. Just a merchant.

“Then let’s do this. Instead of money, I’ll take items from here.”

“Items?”

“Yes. Exactly worth the value of those artifacts.”

“…Fine. Take a look around.”

Negotiation successful.

I placed pocket watches, machine parts, parchment, bracelets, fountain pens, dolls, and so on onto the counter. Antiques that would become much better with some repair and modification. I selected dozens of items in the worst condition.

“How about this barter exchange?”

The Tavern Owner looked them over and nodded with a bitter smile.

“Are you sure about this?”

“They look like precious items to my eyes.”

“…They would be, if you could fix them. The labor cost of hiring a craftsman would be hundreds of times that amount.”

Returning to the security guard room, I spread the antiques out on the floor.

First, I opened the pocket watch that seemed to be in the best condition. Inside, the springs and magic crystals were tangled in a mess.

I brought out the Craftsman’s Hand Skills.

The mastery book I acquired in Wolryeong Village. As I opened the pages, decades of accumulated skill flowed into me.

“Haah…”

Taking a deep breath, I began.

First, I condense magic power into tweezers form, then carefully disassemble the pocket watch’s components and straighten the twisted magic circuits. I concentrate magic power at the tweezers’ tips to weld extremely fine parts and readjust the magic flow.

Swish swish. I dust off the debris and replace worn parts with ones removed from other intact junk.

Click.

The movement was restored.

Tick.

The stopped pocket watch began moving.

The effect?

【Gotak Pocket Watch】◆ Grade: Rare◆ Overview: An intricately crafted pocket watch with faint traces of ancient magic power.◆ Speed of Thought: Briefly amplifies the wearer’s cognition. Cooldown time 1,440 minutes.

It’s a lower-tier version of Sequence, but somehow I feel like I could sell it for a high price.

I set down the watch with satisfaction and picked up the next antique.

This time, a broken monkey mechanical doll.

【Automatic Monkey】◆ Grade: Rare◆ Overview: A monkey mechanical doll crafted with care by a craftsman.◆ Faithful Errand Runner: Follows the master’s instructions. Performance ability varies according to the master’s magic talent.

I really like the part that says ‘varies according to the master’s magic talent.’

“You’re going to become a genius monkey.”

Since I’m a genius.

Next, a bracelet-shaped accessory.

【Leaking Magic Amplifier】◆ Grade: Rare◆ Overview: An unstable magic amplifier with cracks everywhere and sparks flying.◆ Overload Amplification: Unstably amplifies the user’s magic power, enhancing the next single formula to an unpredictable level.

Silo’s words about being the best pawn shop in the city weren’t false.

I immersed myself in repair work all night long, and at some point.

【Caden Fountain Pen】◆ Grade: Epic◆ Overview: A seemingly ordinary fountain pen, but unknown magic power lingers at the pen tip.◆ Akashic Ink: Consumes magic power to draw reality in mid-air. The drawn substance continues to exist in reality as long as magic power is supplied.

“…Epic.”

Epic.

Epic?

I examined it closely. I blankly raised my hand and drew with the fountain pen in the air.

Swoosh.

The line remained as substance. When I drew a chair, it became a chair, and when I drew a pistol, it became a pistol.

“Wait a minute.”

My head is spinning.

An Epic antique, and its utility is ridiculous. More than any item I’ve obtained so far…

Could it be, am I also Seo Ji-woo from today?

No, what kind of person is that pawn shop guy?

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door. I drew wrapping cloth with the fountain pen and covered the antiques.

Whoosh! The door was torn open first.

Silo was outside.

“…What is it?”

I get annoyed every time I see him. Because he resembles him too much.

Of course, there’s no need to be annoyed just because he resembles someone, but someone who isn’t Seo Ji-hyuk resembles Seo Ji-hyuk.

Silo gave a bitter smile.

“Ah, it’s nothing major. Professor Arkal-“

“I have business.”

It was Professor Arkal. He stiffened his neck, his blonde hair slicked back.

I looked at him.

He wants to look down on me, but unfortunately, he’s not tall enough for that.

“What brings you here?”

“I heard. That you prevented intrusion as a guard.”

“Yes.”

“I came to commend you.”

“For commendation… just give me money.”

“Money?”

“Yes.”

“Ha. Good that you’re easy to understand.”

Arkal chuckled and pulled out a luxury wallet from his inner pocket.

“Here.”

He held out all the bills from inside the wallet.

[Acquired: 30,000 Caring]

I gratefully accepted it.

“How did you subdue the intruders?”

“I ambushed them.”

“Ambush?”

“Yes. I’m actually a military veteran.”

“…Military veteran? Ha!”

Arkal snorted with satisfaction.

“Well then. No matter how much of a guard, to become affiliated with Emerek, you’d need that kind of background. Keep up the good work.”

The professor left with an annoying chuckle, and Silo watched my reaction.

“Um, Mr. Seol. The person who subdued the intruders this time will be announced as Professor Arkal… is that okay with you?”

“Yes. It’s fine. I just need to receive money.”

“Really? Phew…”

Silo let out a sigh of relief.

I asked him.

“But why do you work under such a person?”

“Um… excuse me, this.”

He naturally changed the subject and held out a paper.

It was a familiar technique. Even this behavior resembled him.

“This is a paper I wrote, but I can’t seem to create the formula. The concept is barrier magic that forms walls, could you take a quick look? Just look at it like solving that problem…”

I skimmed through the magic circle that Silo had developed.

My eyes activated.

The formula’s form and approach were good, but there was a fatal error in the middle process.

“This part. You seem to have applied the correlation between attributes too minimally.”

I pointed to the relevant section with my finger.

“Fire and earth. When overlapping these two attributes, you must consider the parts where they amplify each other.”

Silo looked at the magic circle while listening to my words.

“The formula breaks because there aren’t enough circuits.”

Before long, his eyes gradually widened.

“That’s right! Correct! If I add circuits here.”

Swish swish. He drew lines and looked up at me.

“This will work. Wow… did you learn this knowledge by yourself, Mr. Seol?”

I silently brushed my hair.

Honestly, I still lack theoretical knowledge.

Seol Ha-woon is a mage whose intuition overwhelms theory.

The more I learn theory, the sharper my intuition will become. I won’t be able to explain my formulas with my own theories.

Because I’m a deformed genius born from MoMo.

In Murim terms, I could never become orthodox – an extreme heretical sect.

“May I visit you from time to time?”

Silo asked cautiously.

“From time to time?”

“I won’t be too bothersome. Oh, I’m twenty-three. You can speak casually to me.”

I looked at him. His fingertips clutching the paper were trembling. He seemed quite nervous.

“…Do as you please.”

I had no choice but to answer that way.

* * *

The next morning.

I injected magic power into the monkey doll.

Oook! Ooki-ook!

The creature busily climbed up the tree.

I’m planning to leave the daytime patrol to that thing.

I hate walking. It puts too much strain on my knees. I’d rather fight a few times instead.

“Nngh.”

I sat down on the park bench.

These groaning sounds come out naturally these days. I’m deeply understanding why elderly people say “oh my, oh my” every time they sit down.

“…So you were here.”

A voice drifted over just then. I turned to look in that direction.

It was the Kate-lookalike. The friend I had given the answer to yesterday’s problem.

“What’s the matter?”

She hesitated for a moment, then sat in the seat in front of me.

“My name is Erica.”

“So?”

“Please teach me.”

“…What.”

“How did you derive that number yesterday?”

I looked at her for a moment.

Evaluation revised. She’s not Kate. Her personality is completely different.

“Why should I-“

“I’ll pay compensation. As much as you want.”

“…”

This woman’s entire face looked like money to me.

Her hair looked beautifully woven with bills.

“100,000 Caring. Paid in advance.”

Erica’s eyebrows twitched. She stared at me intently.

Did I ask for too much?

“For reference, I was born with the destiny of being an educator.”

“What kind of destiny? I know a bit about astrology and such things too.”

“I don’t believe in destiny and such.”

“What…”

Believing in something and being born with it are separate matters.

Erica nodded.

“100,000 Caring. Fine. But there’s a condition.”

“Tell me.”

“If your solution is forced-“

“I’ll give you a refund.”

“Good.”

Deal made.

She spread out the magic formula diagram for problem 8 again.

“Please tell me.”

“You want the method I used, right?”

“Of course.”

“It’ll probably be very different from your method. To me, magic circuits are just ‘paths.'”

“So?”

“Just because there’s no path doesn’t mean people can’t go there. Magic power is the same.”

I took out my fountain pen.

“I’ll visualize it for you. When I solved this formula, I didn’t weave magic power into lines.”

I dot points in the air. Then, I gesture. I blow them away with wind.

“Like a flower bud spreading pollen.”

A technique for circulating magic power in non-linear forms.

Efficiency pushed to the extreme, skipping over all the complex parts.

When you complete a formula this way, the magic power forms numbers.

237

“…”

Erica looked at my solution. She rolled her eyes as if dazed, then opened her mouth.

“What… what do you do for a living?”

“What else, I’m a security guard.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I’m protecting you all.”

* * *

Monitoring Room.

“…PD Kim. Seol Ha-woon is trying to take on a scholar image too?”

The Junior Writer spun around happily in her chair.

“I don’t know~”

Rather, Kim A-rang stretched indifferently.

“Huh? What don’t you know?”

“Whether to edit it or just broadcast it as is.”

“We should just broadcast it. Our Ha-woon is a genius!”

“…He’s a year older than you and you’re calling him ‘our Ha-woon.'”

“Well, still-“

“You know mages. They can’t stand being lectured.”

Kim A-rang is a former mage. Therefore, she knows how much Seol Ha-woon’s method just now deviates from the ‘standard.’

It’s Seol Ha-woon’s unique intuition.

Of course, there’s no absolute truth in the world of mages, but standards do exist.

Seol Ha-woon is not standard. Completing formulas by scattering magic power – it’s an unheard-of innovation.

“He might get cursed at for being heretical.”

“Come on. It’s Jemal-ol. Won’t he win in the end?”

“…You think Jemal-ol can beat double or triple-digit ranked mages?”

“Those people would just find it cute. You know, it’s only the mediocre ones who nitpick.”

Now that I think about it, that’s true.

“Yeah, well… let’s just enjoy it. There aren’t many labyrinths left anyway.”

The viewers hope that Mitamnan will continue infinitely, but eventually it must come to an end.

Nothing lasts forever.

Kim A-rang simply wants Seol Ha-woon’s story to reach a perfect conclusion.

96th place.

Starting from the bottom,

1st place.

She hopes it stops at the peak.

“Oh! PD Kim! The weekly voting results just came in!”

The Junior Writer pointed at the messenger. Kim A-rang’s eyes fixed only on the topmost part.

Nothing beyond that was necessary.

[ Weekly Voting Rankings ]

1. Seol Ha-woon

2. Kang Hyun

Finally, Seol Ha-woon had reached the ‘end.’

“Woooooah!”

While the Junior Writer was making a fuss and other PDs and writers were shouting,

“Congratulations.”

His voice pierced her ears. Kim A-rang quietly turned her head.

“This time PD Kim beat me.”

PD Yoon Sa-hyuk.

He smiled. From that beaming face, memories of their past together suddenly flashed by.

The distant rookie days, the man she happened to meet on the subway on her first day to work. Back then, she didn’t know he would become her mentor. She didn’t know they would be together for so long.

He taught her everything about this profession when she was a greenhorn. From baby steps until she could barely stand up and run. Until she could keep up with him.

“Congratulations. I can trust you with Season 4 too.”

The cheap canned beer they used to drink together after long overtime work, the encouragement he would casually offer so she wouldn’t crumble under pressure, his thoughtful and human side hidden behind that indifferent expression…

“…Yes. Thank you.”

Kim A-rang still remembers it all.

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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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