Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 193
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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 193
Still life(9)
James said self-destruction was possible as long as his head didn’t explode, but Seol Ha-woon precisely blew up his head.
He gave him no time to respond, no room to react.
[This kind of car must be a first for you.]
Though the commercial break is playing, the theater hall is in chaos. KakaoTalk is buzzing with activity.
-Seol Ha-woon is really;
-Scary to a frightening degree
-Honestly, he has no humanity at all
-He doesn’t seem human..
-For real, he probably has no friends
-He’s just fucking cool though
There are many reactions calling it satisfying, but public opinion is moderately divided.
In fact, it can’t be helped.
Compared to the human side that Kang Hyeon showed, Seol Ha-woon was too cold-blooded.
Being thrilling and lacking humanity are separate things.
From the beginning, Seol Ha-woon is different from all other explorers in Mitamnan.
No, he’s very alien compared to all other ‘ordinary people’ in this world.
Lee Si-ah thinks it’s a double-edged sword.
If Seol Ha-woon continues to be buried in such battlefields and returns to his active duty days…
“Phew.”
Lee Si-ah sighed and looked at the popular posts on the Mitamnan community.
│Seol Ha-woon doesn’t hesitate to do what must be done.│
Seol Ha-woon has no lingering feelings at all. At times he even seems emotionless. Because he doesn’t think about how his actions will be perceived, he ‘performs’ his duties with cruel thoroughness.
It’s scary how he seems to show more of his active duty self as the labyrinth progresses, but I’m not sure yet if that era will approach with the same charm as the current Seol Ha-woon.
I rather hope his military self doesn’t devour Seol Ha-woon…
* * *
Stories about Mitamnan are being posted on all kinds of SNS and communities.
“Wow. This is crazy…”
This is a variety show with quite high ratings─ Je-hoon’s Guesthouse.
Lee Je-hoon, the winner of Labyrinth Exploration Season 2 and the host, also watched the live broadcast of Mitamnan with his guests.
This time’s guests are idols. Members of the world star group, Suspense.
“Senior. Have you seen Seol Ha-woon in person?”
They all ask about Seol Ha-woon too. That’s how much he’s the hottest person these days.
His followers have already surpassed 20 million.
If it rises just a little more from here, it’ll be more than even Lee Je-hoon’s.
“No. I haven’t seen him yet. But we’ll probably meet someday.”
“Wow… I’m jealous.”
“Um, could we maybe go too later?!”
“If you see him in person, you’ll be too scared to say a word. His aura is different.”
“What? You said you haven’t seen him either, senior.”
“I saw him from afar.”
Lee Je-hoon smiled faintly and got up from his seat.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
The filming had stopped anyway.
During the program recording, filming was interrupted because they were watching another program.
It can’t be helped. Everyone in the industry acknowledges Mitamnan.
Right now, it’s made a mark, no, printed an entire new book in South Korea’s cultural scene.
Swoooosh─
Lee Je-hoon looked at the bathroom mirror. One eye was bloodshot.
The corner of his eye was twitching uncontrollably, and blood was flowing from his nose.
Drip. Drip.
He looked at the bright red blood drops and took out medicine to swallow.
“…Hah.”
The spreading peace of narcotic painkillers.
He sighed and leaned against the bathroom wall.
Just then, a phone call came.
Ring ring ring-
It’s his younger brother. Lee Seo-hoon. Just seeing the name makes him smile.
“…Hello.”
─Oh, hyung!
One of the people Lee Je-hoon loves most in this world. The kid is studying mage abroad in America.
─I postponed my flight time a bit!
“What? Why.”
─I want to watch all of Mitamnan before boarding. You’re watching it now too, right hyung?
This kid is the same. He’s a Seol Ha-woon fan.
“Yeah. I’m watching.”
─Ah, Seol Ha-woon was insane, really.
“You’re abandoning your family to watch that?”
─Abandoning what~ I’ll just be about a day late. Tell mom and dad too.
“…Come a bit earlier. Got it.”
─Okay, hanging up, good work~
His younger brother hung up.
“…”
Lee Je-hoon suddenly has this thought.
Even if I’m fake, you are my family, and I am also your family. We might be able to live that way.
But, precisely because of that…
Lee Je-hoon feared his family’s pain when he would collapse.
In his ears, someone’s voice rewinds.
‘Fakes cannot appear as children. I don’t know the principle, but that’s the law. Precisely, it’s after 70,000 hours from birth.’
The words of some mage about how to distinguish fakes.
‘Think about it. Do you have memories from that time?’
Lee Je-hoon searches through his mind.
However, he has no memories of his childhood.
What was I doing when my younger brother was born. He couldn’t even recall that memory.
‘…There isn’t any.’
‘That’s proof you’re fake.’
What distinguishes real from fake is ultimately memory.
What do we remember as we live? And what do we want to remember?
At some point, Lee Je-hoon went to find the mage again and made a request.
‘When I die, I want my family to not remember me. Is that impossible?’
The mage answered.
‘There’s no wish that magic can’t fulfill. It’s just that the outcome is unpredictable.’
Lee Je-hoon loves his family.
That’s why he hopes his death won’t torment his family…
“Oh! It’s starting!”
Lee Je-hoon came out of the bathroom.
The commercial break had just ended, and the live broadcast was beginning.
─Jo Woon: What, what are you doing!
─Lee Jun-ho: What are you doing.
─Yoon Hwa-rim: …
After Seol Ha-woon shot and killed James, the explorers interrogate him.
-From their perspective, it must be like a bolt from the blue
-Hahaha well, I did suddenly shoot him dead
-Mal-ol-haem is really a scary person..
But Seol Ha-woon’s attitude remains unchanged.
─Seol Ha-woon: He’s an enemy. If I had told you in advance, it would have given him time to respond.
─Jo Woon: Enemy? What kind of enemy are you talking about!
─Seol Ha-woon: A psycho group that desires eternal life. The culprits behind this zombie incident.
─Jo Woon: Do you have evidence?! Evidence!
─Seol Ha-woon: It’s my intuition.
In this moment, even while receiving everyone’s hatred, however briefly, Seol Ha-woon doesn’t waver in the slightest. He endures all their hatred pouring down on him. Rather, he devours it.
-Normally you’d be pretty annoyed by that lol
-Jemal-ol just doesn’t care at all
-That guy is just a machine. A machine.
“But senior, not all explorers are like Seol Ha-woon, right?”
The guest asked.
“Why?”
“Well… he’s too scary.”
Lee Je-hoon chuckled.
“Of course. Jemal-ol is particularly cold-hearted even among explorers. Not everyone is like Jemal-ol, and they can’t be.”
He continued while looking at Seol Ha-woon on the screen.
“Seol Ha-woon is special because he’s Seol Ha-woon. Just like how Ye-won is special because she’s Ye-won…”
* * *
LA Plaza.
Kim Jeong-wook, who had bought a cup of rice at some point, was watching the live broadcast while munching away.
Fortunately, the conflict was brief, and Kate’s group successfully escaped from the maintenance room.
─Seo Ji-woo: There are only 4 people. Wasn’t there one more?
From the ventilation duct, Seo Ji-woo asks Kate’s group.
The party members’ faces darken.
─Seol Ha-woon: I killed him.
─Seo Ji-woo: …Huh?
─Seol Ha-woon: He was on Eldia’s side.
─Seo Ji-woo: Ah… was he?
─Seol Ha-woon: Now you guys go to Esmos.
Seol Ha-woon sends them away first, and alone, he briefly gazes at the ‘substance’.
─Seol Ha-woon: Haah…
He exhales deeply and tries to do something. The moment he places his hand on his chest and opens his eyes again.
A real bullet is gripped in his hand.
“Huh?”
Kim Jeong-wook’s eyes widened greatly.
It’s a concept.
An independent concept unique to mages.
He had somehow awakened his own ‘domain’.
Seol Ha-woon fired that bullet.
──-
The bullet flies slowly.
-How could that even work lol
-So fucking cute lol
-What’s that? Is that also a formula?
The ‘substance’ emits magic power. It’s the same wave that blocked Kate’s party’s full assault, but…
Thunk.
The bullet penetrates through all waves and obstacles to lightly tap the substance.
──—!
From just that much pain, the substance screams. The zombies also become much more frenzied and gather toward the substance.
Seol Ha-woon watches that scene before turning away.
-What the hell is that
-Did it actually break through?
-What happened? No one to explain?
Kim Jeong-wook thinks that probably no one can explain it.
It’s a concept unique to the mage named Seol Ha-woon.
Esmos Ship
─Seo Ji-woo : Over here! Everyone, come this way!
On the Esmos, the returned explorers are guiding survivors.
─Lee Jong-soo : Everyone come this way! Hurry! I’ll help you!
-When the hell did Lee Jong-soo join lololol
-Jong-su cracks me up every time I see him lololol
-Ah Lee Jong-soo damn he’s here already lolololol
The number of civilians gathering one by one is quite large.
─Im Hae-jun : This many people….
─Seo Ji-woo : Everyone! Please pay attention, survivors, if possible, could you please broadcast once with this terminal? There must be people still hiding who don’t trust us yet!
To save survivors, everyone is desperately working hard.
But Seol Ha-woon is nowhere to be found here.
Kim Jeong-wook can predict his movements.
Cosmos A-Sector Core Laboratory
Scrape scrape. The laboratory ceiling is cut by magic power, and a person lands from above.
Eldia. With half her body covered in burns, she has managed to survive.
-Wow she’s fucking tenacious
-She was alive after all
-What’s with those burns, so scary;;
-She seems to be the final boss of this labyrinth
She enters the supervisor’s office and looks at the main computer where data is stored.
─Eldia : …Phew. It’s safe.
Just as she takes a step forward in relief.
Tap.
The sound of a walking stick.
Eldia startles and turns to look.
In a corner of the supervisor’s office, a long-haired man buried in the inner darkness.
Seol Ha-woon’s blue eyes are shown in close-up.
-Wow fucking chills;
-Now it’s getting scary as hell lolololol
-He really doesn’t show mercy till the end
-Seol Ha-woon seems more like the final boss lololol
-His variable control is just insane level
-Isn’t this too scary? They said he’s a UDT that catches ghosts but he’s scarier than ghosts fuck
─Seol Ha-woon : You’re badly injured.
─Eldia : …Thanks to you. How grateful.
─Seol Ha-woon : I’ll tell you in advance. There are no meaningful clues in the data you’re looking for.
Seol Ha-woon is very cold.
Even from Kim Jeong-wook’s perspective, it’s enough to give him goosebumps.
─Seol Ha-woon : If immortality were really possible, I’d truly want to give it to you, but unfortunately zombie mutation is the end.
Eldia glares at him while placing her hand on the supervisor’s control panel.
─Eldia : Idiots like you wouldn’t understand this data even if you saw it.
─Seol Ha-woon : Truck is smarter than you.
─Eldia : You still trust that incompetent engineer? You’d be better off trusting a dolphin-
─Seol Ha-woon : No. An actual truck. Even a pile of scrap metal would be smarter and more thoughtful than you.
Eldia grits her teeth and places her hand on the main computer.
─Eldia : You’re planning to abandon this ship anyway. In that case, leave it to me. With just this data, I can open a new horizon for humanity that you can’t even imagine-
─Seol Ha-woon : The reason I’m not killing you right now is.
Seol Ha-woon continues emotionlessly.
─Seol Ha-woon : Curiosity. I’ve always wanted to ask. Why do humans who aren’t even human-like do such things.
-This seems like genuine curiosity. Seol Ha-woon must have seen tons of villains
-Is Seol Ha-woon immersed or is he acting?
-Seems like half and half
-They say when you fall into a labyrinth like that, you get immersed whether you want to or not.
─Eldia : Fine. I’ll tell you. I’m only twenty-nine. I was born into one of the most prestigious families in the star system, graduated from a university representing the interstellar community. I became the youngest supervisor at just 17. Do you even know how great an achievement that is?
Eldia looks at the data with her eyes while reciting her past with her mouth.
─Eldia : I thought I could accomplish more, greater things. But then, I was told I had a terminal illness. Even replacing organs and periodically washing my brain would only give me 5 years at most. I was 24 then.
-Terminal illness;
-She’s doing all this shit just to save herself?
-Fucking pathetic.
-Just die
─Eldia : Ridiculous. In an era of traveling between stars, to be struck down by a mere disease… Someone like you whose tomorrow is guaranteed wouldn’t understand. The reason I want this substance is.
Eldia explains in one sentence why she turned this place into hell.
─Eldia: To grasp my tomorrow.
A sociopath who killed hundreds of thousands of people to save herself.
─Seol Ha-woon: Now, what about the data?
─Eldia: What did that Truck say?
─Seol Ha-woon: He said you’re a smart person so you’d acknowledge it. Also, he thanked you. Said he graduated from university with your scholarship.
─Eldia: …Tragic.
Suddenly, a brief flashback is inserted.
─Julione: She’ll acknowledge it. If she’s the Supervisor Eldia I know.
It’s a conversation between Julione and Seol Ha-woon.
Julione seems to still believe in the ‘goodness’ that remains deep in Eldia’s heart.
─Seol Ha-woon: She won’t be able to. Once someone has completely stepped to that side, they can never come back again.
Seol Ha-woon sighs and shakes his head.
─Seol Ha-woon: Corrupted people cannot face their corrupted selves. So, they must know before they become corrupted. They must escape.
Words that perhaps all viewers should take to heart.
─Truck: …That might be true. But I still believe in human goodness.
─Seol Ha-woon: I disagree. I… believe in human malice.
Human malice.
In Seol Ha-woon’s expression as he says this, sadness settles like fragments.
-Just how many villains must he have seen
-His job was catching and killing villains
-For real, rankers who capture and investigate villains say their faith in humanity just disappears
─Seol Ha-woon: The data you want doesn’t exist.
Returning to reality, he interrogates Eldia.
─Eldia: It might seem that way right now. But if I’m given just 6 more months, no, just 3 more months, and if I can get more test subjects-
Bang!
At her shameless demand for time, Seol Ha-woon immediately fires a bullet.
─Eldia: Kugh!
Eldia staggers and collapses against the wall. Leaving a trail of blood, her entire body slides down.
-Good shot damn
-Ah so satisfying
-If only there were more Labyrinth People like that, no worries.
-lol but the trio of losers is getting completely humiliated by just one person who’s right lol
-A protagonist more villainous than villains, this is a hit
─Eldia: Haa, haa, haa… Keurgh!
She gasps for breath. Coughs up blood violently. As if she absolutely cannot accept it, she clutches her wound tightly and spits out words that barely make sense.
─Eldia: I… did nothing… wrong. Why… like this… at such a… young… age… what exactly… did I do… wrong…
Seol Ha-woon doesn’t even glance at her corpse. He simply sets something with the Supervisor’s Circuit Board.
「Wormhole setup complete」
「Destination: Black Hole」
Afterward, he walks away leaning on his walking stick and quietly gazes at space.
Alternating between looking at the vastness of space and his own infinitely small hands.
─Seol Ha-woon: Haa.
For some reason, he lets out a melancholy sigh.
-The vast universe, my infinitely small self, and the people I killed with my own hands. He might be thinking of such things.
“What? Is he a soldier?”
The vast universe, my infinitely small self, and the people I killed with such hands…
Kim Jeong-wook deeply resonated with the unnamed user’s KakaoTalk message.
Esmos Ship.
─Robot: Total civilians 223. Total explorers 39. Boarding complete.
As the survivor confirmation process nears completion, Seol Ha-woon returns after fulfilling his duty.
─Im Hae-jun: Master~
─Julione: Good work.
─Seol Ha-woon: Yes. Will you be leaving now, Julione?
─Julione: Yes. I’ll take the spaceship and go request rescue. Together with this guy.
Julione puts her arm around the robot’s shoulder.
─Im Hae-jun: Wow~ Amazing~ As expected of the captain~
─Julione: And… I was originally going to take this with me.
Julione picks up the Truck at her feet and hands it to Seol Ha-woon.
─Julione: Since you gave me the robot, I’ll give you this instead. It was originally yours anyway.
-Will he accept it?
-no way they’d accept it lol
-As if Seol Ha-woon would accept such a toy lol
-He’s a cold bastard with zero affection
-Jemallot doesn’t accept gifts from Labyrinth People
But as if to deny all those expectations.
─Seol Ha-woon: Yes. Thank you.
Seol Ha-woon tucked the truck under his arm, and Julione smiled as she watched him.
─Robot: Ship separation preparations are complete.
─Julione: Shall we watch then?
The explorers and survivors gather together, standing on the observatory of the Esmos Ship.
─Robot: Separating the Esmos Ship.
Whirrrrr. The mothership and warship separate, and Esmos moves away from Cosmos.
─Robot: The mothership is generating a wormhole.
──!
The mothership’s energy fluctuates as it forms a ‘wormhole’. Before long, the mothership disappears beyond the wormhole.
At that moment, Seol Ha-woon and Kang Hyeon silently look at each other. Seo Ji-woo suddenly puts Im Hae-jun in a headlock. Kate quietly falls into thought alone. Lee Jun-ho, Jo Woon, and Yoon Hwa-rim don’t look too pleased, as if thinking of James.
─Robot: Complete.
The robot looked around at everyone and said.
─Robot: Congratulations on your survival.
Cheers erupted.
Not just from those on screen, but from LA Plaza as well.
Everyone was going wild, throwing beverages, popcorn, and such.
The sun had risen at some point, making it quite a sight to behold.
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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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