Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 198

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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 198

Still life(14)

I installed magic detection barriers across the entire wall of the Demonian’s Mansion. It wasn’t just a simple intrusion alarm system.

It was a defense system that detected minute magic fluctuations to identify the number and location of intruders, then fired high-compressed magic bullets.

Additionally, I applied ‘reinforcement’ to the mansion’s framework itself, the same technique I had used in the Defense Labyrinth before.

I had expanded the Demonian Mansion into a fortress.

“…I’m tired.”

After finishing all the work, I sat on a bench in the mansion’s front yard.

I looked up at the brightening sky and let out a laugh.

I really am something.

Ridiculously so.

Kang Hyeon is running a restaurant with Yoon Hwa-rim and Lee Jong-soo. Kate is a detective. Ryu Yeon-hwa is a journalist.

The rest of them are all living their own lives too.

But me, only I’m preparing for war again.

Do I desire the battlefield? Or does the battlefield desire me?

“Sigh…”

I stood up, leaning on my staff.

“Are you leaving?”

A heavy voice called out to me. It was Professor Arkal.

Having awakened at some point, he looked at me with a faint smile.

“The mansion has changed quite a bit. The aura of magic power is different.”

“…Yes. I was concerned.”

Arkal looked at me and shook his head.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be taken down by vermin like that.”

Professor Arkal is overflowing with confidence. Though he has absolutely no basis for it.

“But your sentiment isn’t bad. I’ll gladly accept it.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Go and rest. If you want, I could offer you the mansion’s VIP room.”

Arkal glanced sideways at the luxurious mansion.

“That’s alright. I’m used to the duty room.”

“If that’s the case.”

Arkal chuckled and turned around.

Watching his retreating figure, I had this thought.

I don’t dislike that old man anymore.

It seems even people who are completely detestable are hard to find in this world.

* * *

“Haa…”

A sigh that poured out his innermost thoughts.

Im Hae-jun had finished all his preparations. He had coldly sharpened his mind and sorted out his lingering feelings.

The resolve to part ways.

More precisely── the determination to stab her in the back.

His target was one thing only: Seo Ji-woo’s wealth.

To reach the upper ranks of this life game, he needed a lot of money. So from the very beginning, Im Hae-jun had attached himself to Seo Ji-woo’s side through extremely meticulous and calculated planning.

And he had volunteered to be a slave porter.

He endured and waited.

Until Seo Ji-woo’s wealth reached its peak.

Now that ‘time’ had come.

The life game had been going on for quite a while, and Seo Ji-woo had clearly earned over ten million caring.

The labyrinth’s time limit was undisclosed. If he waited a bit longer here and the labyrinth suddenly ended, it would be a disaster.

Therefore, all that remained was execution.

“…”

Walking through a field teeming with monsters, Im Hae-jun looked up at the sky. The scenery he always saw felt particularly cold today.

Why was that?

He hid a sorrowful dagger in his heart.

“Hey, porter. Hurry up and come here.”

Seo Ji-woo’s irritated voice shattered Im Hae-jun’s reverie.

“…Yes, sister. I’m coming now.”

Im Hae-jun answered, trying to appear nonchalant as he followed behind her. But the guilt slowly rising from a corner of his chest was unavoidable.

Although Seo Ji-woo usually treated him harshly, he had grown fond of her despite himself. They had spent far too much time together.

“Haa…”

“Stop sighing already. Are you crazy or something?”

Sighs settled on his heart like frost.

Still, there was no choice now. The labyrinth was real combat. It was something that had to be done. The viewers would want this ‘thing’ from him too.

“Hey. I’m getting a feeling about this place. Get ready.”

In front of some temple-like field, Seo Ji-woo’s expression turned serious.

“Yes…”

“Why is there no strength in your voice? Say it with energy.”

Seo Ji-woo doesn’t know my heart.

“Yes…!”

“Let’s go in.”

The moment the two people stepped into the temple that looked like ancient ruins.

Kurrrrrrrung—!

Suddenly the ground shook violently, and a giant golem soldier rose from the center of the temple floor.

Its entire body was made of blue rock, and red magical light flashed from its two eyes.

Im Hae-jun stepped back in surprise. The intimidating presence was incredible.

“Wow. This looks like a top-grade golem? We’ll make a fortune if we catch it.”

Seo Ji-woo drew lines of magic power into the air. Im Hae-jun also tensed up and drew his bowstring.

“Hae-jun, shoot first!”

“Yes!”

Im Hae-jun cleverly targeted the eyes and joints.

The golem soldier was also a type of golem. That meant its sensory organs and joints were weak points.

Swaaaaaaash!

The magic arrow struck the golem soldier’s left eye.

Groooooooo——.

The golem soldier let out a bizarre low sound and threw a punch at Im Hae-jun.

Seo Ji-woo didn’t miss that opportunity. She fired hundreds of ‘lines’ in a grid pattern.

Charrrrrrruk!

A net of magic power wrapped around the golem soldier. It thrashed its body around, but the net didn’t scatter.

“…I bind you.”

An incantation to amplify magic power. Seo Ji-woo’s pupils turned blue.

Kwaaaaak. The net tightened around the golem soldier. The golem soldier’s magic power was ‘extracted’ by the net.

Groooooooo——.

A pained scream mixed with agony. Im Hae-jun shot an arrow toward the creature’s remaining right eye.

Having lost both eyes, the giant soldier flailed its arms wildly before collapsing miserably.

Kuguugugung…!

In the center of the temple, it crumbled and decomposed into blue stone fragments.

“Phew. We finally got it.”

Seo Ji-woo sat down heavily on the ground, breathing roughly. Her forehead was drenched in sweat. It seemed she had consumed considerable magic power.

Glancing around.

Im Hae-jun, reading the situation, gripped the hammer he had hidden in his back pocket.

“Ah, I’m tired. Really… I think I used up all my magic power. I can’t move anymore.”

She leaned against a nearby fallen stone pillar and closed her eyes.

Im Hae-jun hesitated.

“…”

He was about to strike the back of her head with the hammer, but somehow a better method seemed to have presented itself.

“…Then, get some rest, noona. I’ll keep watch.”

He spoke as naturally as possible.

Actually, the best way for a mage to recover magic power is through sleep.

“Really? Can you handle it?”

“Of course~”

“Haaaam… Alright. Keep a good watch.”

Nodding, Seo Ji-woo stretched a wire between the pillars. A comfortable hammock was quickly improvised, and she lay down on it and closed her eyes.

Soon, she fell into a deep sleep.

Shiiik. Shiiik.

Regular breathing sounds could be heard. A line of drool slowly trickled from her half-open mouth.

Im Hae-jun swallowed dry saliva and approached her. His heart was beating like crazy.

“…Hoo.”

He was nervous.

Did it really have to be this way? He thought so, but there was no choice.

This was a labyrinth, after all.

A merciless labyrinth with no blood or tears.

Im Hae-jun clenched his fists tightly.

What would the viewers think of me?

Cruel Im Hae-jun? A cold-hearted thief? A merciless architect?

Perhaps they might think I’m the protagonist of this labyrinth.

YouTube compilation videos lasting 30-40 minutes titled “Im Hae-jun’s Meticulous Plan, Sad but Inevitable” might be uploaded, and voting rankings might skyrocket.

But.

I don’t hope for such things. I don’t even want them.

I’m just… fulfilling my duty.

“This is my job. My profession.”

Im Hae-jun muttered to himself and extended his trembling hand. He placed his hand on Seo Ji-woo’s forehead.

She didn’t move at all. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…

This was the skill usage condition. He had to keep his hand pressed against the opponent’s forehead for a full 3 minutes.

It was an incredibly difficult condition, but Seo Ji-woo was almost unconscious.

177, 178, 179, 180!

[Skill: Theft Used]

[Seo Ji-woo’s Caring: 20,329,102]

Seo Ji-woo’s owned caring appeared. It was an incredibly large amount.

Im Hae-jun’s eyes widened greatly. He licked his lips with his tongue.

The promised 30%? Or maybe a little more? Should he steal it all?!

“…”

Im Hae-jun harbored evil thoughts for a moment, but then looked at Seo Ji-woo’s face.

A face sleeping peacefully. A serene expression, unaware of anything.

He had been incredibly annoyed all this time, and if possible, he had wanted to hit her at least once.

But now that it had come to this, his heart ached. It felt like being stabbed repeatedly in the chest with an awl.

“Haah…”

Im Hae-jun entered the number. Exactly 30% only.

“I’m sorry.”

Leaving those words behind, he turned around. He trudged away, leaving Seo Ji-woo alone.

Trudge, trudge.

He bit his lips hard.

Ji-woo noona. Now our connection in this labyrinth is over.

I’m sorry.

I intended to deceive you from the beginning. It’s okay if you hate me. I can accept it.

I’m originally that kind of person. Actually, I’m colder than I look.

Take care.

And── 5 minutes later.

“…”

Seo Ji-woo opened her eyes in the hammock. She quietly looked around. Im Hae-jun was nowhere to be seen.

“…That bastard. He really hesitated for a long time.”

She smiled slightly and checked her owned caring.

He really took exactly 30%. She had been thinking of giving him up to 40%.

“What a funny guy.”

Ah, when did she find out? She knew from the inn where they caught that twin-headed snake.

While sleeping on the floor, he kept talking in his sleep strangely.

‘I’m Im Hae-jun… my job is thief… just wait a little…’

‘Smile for now… the final victor is me… labyrinths are originally like this…’

‘Seo Ji-woo… caring… only 30%… I’ll take… 50% is too much…’

He was spilling all his inner thoughts through sleep talk like that, so how could she not notice?

At first she was annoyed, but watching him quietly, his actions were so clumsy and cute that she just left him alone. 30% was also a proportion she could easily share.

“He should have taken more. Too kind for his own good.”

Seo Ji-woo shook her head and put her hand in her pocket.

“Use it well, Hae-jun. It’s a gift from noona.”

Fluttering her coat, she walked in the opposite direction from Im Hae-jun.

Trudge trudge.

Capturing Seo Ji-woo’s retreating figure in the angle as she walked away…

“Hae-jun’s going to wail when he watches the broadcast later, isn’t he?”

The Writer burst into laughter while looking at the monitor.

“He’s already crying, look over there.”

Kim A-rang pointed with her chin at Im Hae-jun on another monitor.

Im Hae-jun on screen was walking while crying loudly. Though it was a betrayal he had steeled his heart to execute, now that he had succeeded, it seemed he felt more sorry than relieved.

“But that guy, even while crying, he absolutely won’t look back.”

Im Hae-jun was crying while endlessly muttering.

─Im Hae-jun: Sob sob… Sniff… Still… Still, I made a lot of money… 6 million caring, yes… Sob sob…

Just then.

Im Hae-jun suddenly hid behind a tree. He stretched his neck out and stared somewhere. There was a duo in robes.

─Im Hae-jun: …Those people somehow look like they have a lot of money.

Im Hae-jun’s swollen eyes flashed sharply.

It seemed his bandit instincts had finally awakened, albeit belatedly.

* * *

Professor Arkal’s personal workshop.

I completed the formula here. Even after compression, the scale was quite large.

The destructive power was expected to be slightly less than a small nuclear bomb.

My skills were still quite lacking to manifest atomic bomb-type weapons.

Perhaps I would need to go through one more ‘refinement’, that painful process.

Knock knock.

At the knocking sound, I opened the door. Silo was standing outside.

“…Come in.”

“Wow.”

He looked amazed as he saw my formula floating throughout the workshop’s air.

“This is really… like magic.”

“It’s still far from enough. But this formula can burn those bastards to ashes in an instant.”

As if they never existed in the first place.

However, before that, a curiosity arose.

“By the way. Do you know what magic this school is keeping?”

“Ah… Yes. I know.”

“You know?”

At Silo’s words, I frowned.

“Yes.”

Silo’s face became quite serious. That expression resembled Seo Ji-hyuk too much.

“A door.”

At that moment, I wondered if I had heard wrong. I tilted my head and asked again.

“A door?”

“Yes. It’s a door.”

A door. He was talking about a door.

Suddenly, memories in my head spread.

My last memory just before my body shattered.

That metaphysical door I encountered in some underground place.

Looking back now, I can’t even remember its form, but only the concept of ‘door’ remains intensely in my mind.

“To open that door requires tremendous magic power. With one individual’s magic power, it’s absolutely impossible…”

Silo’s voice awakened my mind.

“It’s a door that connects dimensions.”

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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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