Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 219

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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 219

The Child of Beginning (8)

〔Beep beep-〕

Astroal Merchandise is crowded with explorers. Every Friday at 6 PM Korean time, it’s always like this.

“Aro sir. It’s correct that we don’t take food orders from those without membership cards, right?”

An adventurer asked Aro. Aro sternly narrowed his eyebrows.

〔It’s Aro Master.〕

“Ah, yes. Aro Master.”

Beep. Stupid human.

〔Meals and alcohol are for members only. However, if they’re accompanying a member, up to one person designated by the member can make purchases.〕

“Yes. I’ll relay that message.”

The adventurer moved busily, serving food made by the cooking robot.

〔Beep-〕

Thus, Aro came to command humans. He hired them in exchange for Astroal mints and random boxes. Not just one or two, but a whopping three people.

“Your ordered corn cheese firewood chicken is ready.”

〔Beep- beep- beep-〕

Watching the humans submit beneath him, Aro laughed sinisterly.

Muhaha. Entrust your brains to me. Then your lives will become more prosperous.

〔Stupid humans.〕

Dozens of explorers had gathered in the outdoor rest area of Astroal Merchandise.

It was all thanks to Mitamnan.

Aro also watched the screen streaming from the explorer community.

If you let her out,

do you think you can beat me?

Seol Ha-woon’s warning was deeply etched.

“It’s real. That bastard is real.”

“Real, it’s real.”

The explorers shouted “Real Real.” As if “Real” was the only word they knew, “He is real,” “fxxx real dude,” “low-key the realest out here,” and so on…

─Seol Ha-woon: ….

Just as Seol Ha-woon was glaring at the vengeful spirit in the camera.

???: Let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out!!!

The scene of the vengeful spirit screaming rushed in.

“Ugh!”

“Ah, what a shock!”

The explorers screamed, and Aro was also startled, but Seol Ha-woon remained calm.

Hehehehehe

Suddenly, Dokkaebi Fire flew into the ENG camera angle. Floating around. As if it wanted to say something to Seol Ha-woon.

─Seol Ha-woon: …You say you can do it?

Hehehehehe

It seemed to be trying to help with something.

─???: Let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her out let her!!

─Seol Ha-woon: Alright.

Seol Ha-woon nodded, bit down on a cigarette, and lit it.

Ssssssh.

At the same time, magic power sparked and crackled around him like sparks.

─Seol Ha-woon: Here I go.

Click.

He pressed the REC button.

Instantly, Dokkaebi Fire flowed into the camera, and the vengeful spirit came out of the camera.

Red mist spread thickly from the creature.

Hoooooo….

The vengeful spirit breathed out while staring at Seol Ha-woon.

Craaack!

Its neck twisted grotesquely. Crack! Craaack! It was horrifying to watch.

─Seol Ha-woon: Who trapped you? Tell me.

─???: What I desire least in this world is I ah I see I wanted to photograph pretty things in the world….

Since communication was impossible, Seol Ha-woon prepared for battle.

However, Seol Ha-woon’s legs didn’t move. There wasn’t even the slightest movement in his body.

But his magic power surged violently.

Tsssh! Tssssh!

Seol Ha-woon quietly wove formulas, and their fluctuations distorted space.

Tssssh!

Looking closely, Seol Ha-woon had no ‘movements.’

The hand and foot gestures that mages usually make to easily handle magic power didn’t exist.

He was a mage of the purest form, handling magic power in its raw state.

Therefore, his magic power had no limits.

─Seol Ha-woon: Haah….

The moment he exhaled cigarette smoke, the vengeful spirit was fired.

───-!

Long legs cut through the air in a single leap. The target was clear.

────Craaack!

But before the vengeful spirit’s feet could even touch the ground, magic power exploded. Golden threads surged from pre-installed traps, binding the vengeful spirit’s limbs.

An installation-type formula, a variation of landmines perhaps.

Craaack──-!

The golden threads constricted the vengeful spirit. The vengeful spirit stopped, unable to move even a fingertip.

Seol Ha-woon, with the cigarette still in his mouth, emotionlessly met those blood-red eyes right in front of the vengeful spirit.

The vengeful spirit tried to reach out to him, but the golden threads wouldn’t loosen.

Chiiiiik──-

Seol Ha-woon’s magic power made the golden threads more solid and bound the spirit. The vengeful spirit’s soul burned away like ignited paper.

─Seol Ha-woon: Director Jin Yu-seon. Don’t worry.

The vengeful spirit’s name, Jin Yu-seon.

Seol Ha-woon murmured quietly in a tone filled with some compassion.

─Seol Ha-woon: Soon, that bastard will follow you too.”

Thud──!

He struck the road surface with his walking stick. At that moment, the golden threads blazed like blue flames, and the vengeful spirit slowly faded away.

Whoosh….

It scattered into ash. Layer by layer, its form peeled away.

“WOW!”

“HOLY SHIT~!”

“DAMN~”

Cheers echoed from the front yard. Various languages mixed together.

Again they were saying “real” this and that.

─Seol Ha-woon: Haah….

Drip.

A trickle of blood flowed from Seol Ha-woon’s forehead as he exhaled cigarette smoke.

He quietly looked into the ENG camera.

─Seo Ji-woo: Thank you. For helping.

Seo Ji-woo, who had emerged from reporter Lee Tae-young’s body, had finished preparing to escape with Dokkaebi Fire.

Seol Ha-woon looked at Seo Ji-woo, then pressed the REC button once more.

Click.

─Seo Ji-woo: Ugh!

With a flash, Seo Ji-woo and her party members emerged from the ENG.

─Seo Ji-woo: …That was startling.

Seo Ji-woo got up and looked at Seol Ha-woon, startled with surprise.

─Seo Ji-woo: Are you okay?

Blood was streaming down from Seol Ha-woon’s head.

─Seol Ha-woon: It’s nothing serious.

─Seo Ji-woo: No… you’re bleeding quite a lot.

─Seol Ha-woon: Just a scratch.

─Seo Ji-woo: That’s more than just a scratch… Well, thank you. I survived thanks to you.

─Seol Ha-woon: No need for that. I got evidence thanks to you…

Suddenly, Seol Ha-woon’s pupils gleamed.

─Seol Ha-woon: How many coins do you have?

─Seo Ji-woo: Coins? Oh, these?

She pulled out a bundle of coins from her inner pocket. There were quite a lot.

Seol Ha-woon’s eyes sparkled as he extended his hand.

─Seol Ha-woon: Emergency rescue service. The price is 3 nyang per person. You’re a 6-person party, so just give me 18 nyang.

“Hahahaha.”

“Why is he so obsessed with those coins?”

“He’s really a funny guy.”

“Real Magician, I guess…”

The explorers laughed heartily too.

Aro browsed through the explorer community. Most of the mages were talking about Seol Ha-woon.

│He’s pure… truly TRUE INNOCENT.│

I’ve been researching Seol Ha-woon as a topic for the past two weeks, and today I felt it for certain.

Seol Ha-woon is truly pure and fastidious.

While modern mages refuse refinement out of fear of pain and learn miscellaneous skills, he seems to have already mastered refinement several times over.

Such primitive and technical formula manifestation is impossible without ‘circuit refinement’ as a prerequisite..

─He suffered that much injury and still did refinement? That’s a bit much.

┗Refinement is a process that tests the mind, not the body. Magic power breaks magic circuits, not the physical body.

─Anyone who’s tried refinement even once knows. It’s incredibly painful. Kids these days can’t endure that. They don’t even want to endure it. Increasing follower numbers is more important to them.

─I guess Seol Ha-woon isn’t one of ‘today’s kids’ haha

│Seol Ha-woon understood the essence of magic power.│

Modern mages often rely on supplementary actions like gestures or hand seals under the pretext of controlling magic power more easily.

However, this inevitably causes decreased efficiency in mana operation, that is, massive loss.

The reason is clear. The speed of magic power that can spread infinitely becomes trapped by the speed of the human body.

But Seol Ha-woon is different. He rejects artificial constraints. His magic power doesn’t need crude mediums like gestures or footwork. He operates ‘magic power itself’ with only pure will and mental visualization.

Therefore, there are no limits to his magic power.

Wherever his mental visualization reaches, magic power will arrive without delay and manifest.

He is a mage who pursues only the most fundamental and pure form of magic power, without any techniques or tricks.

I want to say this.

Seol Ha-woon is the ‘archetype of mages’ that modern mages have lost or deliberately turned away from.

│Seol Ha-woon’s combat aesthetics are quite beautiful│

Stillness of the body, yet extreme motion of magic power.

While also calculating all enemy movements and not forgetting perfect efficiency.

This stark contrast makes his combat like art.

I should show this scene to students when I teach later.

─Even professors;

─Wow this old man watches Mitamnan too lol

└Since he’s an old man, he has to follow trends. Can’t lose touch.

│Perhaps we’re living having forgotten far too many things.│

Seol Ha-woon’s immobility is never stagnation. Rather, it’s an extreme form of concentration to infinitely expand his magic power. It’s the essence of mana operation that transcends the constraints and limits of the physical body, communing with the world through consciousness and magic power alone.

His class is different from the countless modern mages who patch on various miscellaneous abilities like rags to pursue temporary strength.

It seems Seol Ha-woon has been silently, fiercely and painfully pursuing the mage’s inherent power, that is, the extremes of pure magic power concentration and mental visualization.

The essence of mages that we had forgotten, which he obtained through such means, is being shown to us again through this program…

To active mages, especially veteran ones who are somewhat aged, Seol Ha-woon seems to evoke a certain romance and nostalgia.

* * *

WINTER’S FAVORIT

I opened the door to the tavern.

〔Welcome. This is Winters Favorite〕

A robot greeted us from behind the counter. Its voice tone was slightly lower than Aro’s, and it looked a bit more cunning.

First of all, it only had one eye, so its impression wasn’t great. There’s a reason Aro has two eyes.

When it’s different from humans, the uncanny valley occurs.

I’m something of a robot expert.

“Let’s sit down first.”

Eteu brushed off the dust piled on the chairs. I sat on it.

〔At Winters Favorite, you can purchase or sell items.〕

A translucent hologram panel appeared in the air. Most were drinks and equipment.

I took out the orbs I had obtained from the recent battle.

“How much would these items sell for?”

〔Experience conversion complete: Total 10,357 XP〕

In this maze, experience points themselves seemed to be currency. I looked back at Eteu.

“That price is the best you can get in Zone 1.”

“Yes. Let’s sell them then.”

I sold them immediately.

“Mr. Eteu. Have a drink.”

“Just water is fine for me.”

“Two glasses of water.”

〔Yes. Understood.〕

Eteu watched me carefully and opened his mouth.

“Well… to be honest, there are only small fries like us in this Zone 1. Including me, of course…”

“Does it change when the zone gets higher?”

“Yes. There are quite a few superhumans who have abnormally enhanced their bodies with experience points.”

Eteu lowered his voice and continued with a warning tone.

“I belonged to a family called Carbonera. Those guys live entrenched in District 3, so even their enforcers are very powerful.”

“What about you, Mr. Eteu?”

“I… to be honest, I was initially one of the adventurers kidnapped by them. Back then I had no choice but to join because I didn’t want to die… but that was 3 years ago.”

He rambled on about his circumstances.

“Actually, my child is sick in the outside world. I have to earn money like this to save the child… Of course, it’s an excuse…”

It was all true. If even a bit of lies were mixed in, the bomb would have exploded.

This human is still precariously balanced on the gray boundary. Meaning he’s not a complete villain.

I looked at Eteu.

“You’ll be grateful later that you stuck with me.”

“Uh… did I, did I stick with you, Mr. Ha-woon?”

I pointed to the adhesive bomb on Eteu’s back.

“Ah, yes. It’s attached…”

Eteu lowered his head with a resigned expression.

〔Here’s your water.〕

The robot brought out two glasses of clean water. We drank in silence.

“Oh right. If you want to go to District 2, ask this robot. It gives entrance cards.”

Eteu pointed at the robot.

“Hey robot. How do we get to District 2?”

The robot beeped as if it had been waiting for this question.

〔Visitors to Winter’s Favorite must stay at least one night before being permitted to move to the next district. The room price is 5,000 experience points〕

“That seems expensive.”

“…Yes. But they absolutely won’t negotiate. If you act like some bargaining maniac, they treat you like a troublemaker and start shooting. This thing’s crazy.”

Even being called crazy to its face, there was no particular reaction.

“We’ll just buy it.”

I purchased the accommodation without hesitation.

〔Here is your room key.〕

“Then I’ll wait outside…”

Eteu tried to quietly back away. I glared at him.

“…Of course I’ll come along.”

We entered the inn room together.

The moment I saw the interior, I suddenly got a headache.

“The robot really is crazy.”

“…I told you so.”

There were two beds in the room, but their condition was terrible.

The sheets were covered with mysterious stains that could be feces or blood, and the floor was littered with all kinds of waste, contaminants, and other nauseating things.

This thing needs to learn how to do business from Aro.

Click.

The door even locked. A red timer appeared above it.

〔 8 : 00 : 00 〕

“You pass by staying here for 8 hours.”

The pungent stench. The suffocating smell of mold. And above all, mysterious bugs crawling openly across the floor and walls.

I looked around at them and searched my memory.

There must be a skill useful for this situation in 「MoMo」…

【Clean Wave】

■ Grade: Rare

■ Description: Creates a mana wave imbued with purification power to clean a space thoroughly.

■ Hygienic Cleanliness: Decomposes or pushes away physical contaminants like dust, filth, bloodstains, and other harmful substances within the space using mana waves.

■ Sterilization and Disinfection: Disperses fine mana particles to neutralize or eliminate harmful bacteria and viruses within the space.

■ Post-Processing: Temporarily provides psychological stability to subjects remaining in the purified space and slightly recovers mental fatigue.

Skill found.

Now I sediment this into my ‘concept’ and manifest a wave of mana through mental visualization.

Swoooooosh──!

A wave occurred in mid-air. The steep current instantly swept through the interior of the room.

The filth was swept away by the water flow and disappeared. The stench was clearly purified. The bugs crumbled like dust. The bedding was washed clean like new.

Even the mold growing on the walls was purified, and the entire room filled with a gentle soap fragrance.

“Wow. What kind of person are you, Master?”

Eteu’s way of addressing me was upgraded once more to ‘Master.’

“Well then, let’s rest comfortably now.”

I lay down satisfyingly on the now-clean bed. I also turned on dream bubbles on the ceiling.

My whole body is tired from overusing Sequence.

Let’s rest quickly.

* * *

“Mal-ol is doing well as expected.”

Monitoring Room. The production team was watching both the Maze Labyrinth and the live broadcast simultaneously.

“PD Kim. This scale of labyrinth is the last one, right?”

“Well, that’s right.”

Kim A-rang nodded at the junior writer’s question.

Once this Maze Labyrinth ends, the endlessly expanding Mitamnan will begin converging toward its conclusion.

“It’s a shame. Honestly, when there was a lot of work, I had many complaints…”

The junior writer smiled bitterly.

“I thought that saying about being happy when you can actually work was just old-timer talk? But looking at it now, that’s not the case.”

“Still, we can’t hold onto Mitamnan forever.”

Kim A-rang looked at the monitor.

Seol Ha-woon was lying comfortably in the inn room, asleep.

“…Writer Kim.”

“Yes?”

“But you know. Have you ever thought about this?”

“What kind of thought?”

Kim A-rang’s voice dropped to a low tone.

“Could there be a Labyrinth Person among us?”

“…Huh?”

The junior writer’s expression went blank. She looked up at Kim A-rang. Kim A-rang had a much more serious face than expected.

“Are you trying to write a web novel?”

Kim A-rang chuckled.

“…Just, well. It could happen.”

“Come on. What could happen?”

“It’s not impossible. Our program creating labyrinths makes sense? Rather-“

“We don’t create labyrinths.”

They turned around startled at the sudden voice.

PD Yoon Sa-hyuk. He approached with instant coffee clutched in one hand.

“We control existing labyrinths. Simply put, we ‘puppeteer’ them.”

Yoon Sa-hyuk placed his hand on the monitoring console.

Click. Click. It switched from sleeping Seol Ha-woon to busy Kang Hyeon.

“The reason explorers can bring back what they acquired in labyrinths as loot is because of that. In effect, our explorers are growing in ‘real labyrinths.'”

At Yoon Sa-hyuk’s meaningful words, Kim A-rang forced a smile.

“…Didn’t you used to say it was magic whose principles you didn’t know?”

“PD Kim, did I just explain the principles? I only stated the ‘results.’ I don’t know the principles either.”

Yoon Sa-hyuk shifted his gaze to look at Kim A-rang.

“PD Kim. Focus only on broadcasting for now.”

Just then, the junior writer, perhaps sensing an unusual confrontation, hurriedly left saying she needed to go to the bathroom.

“Don’t think about novel-like ideas like Labyrinth People or whatever.”

Kim A-rang’s brow furrowed slightly.

“…Are you worried I might take on a second job? Besides, web novels are allowed as side work anyway.”

“I’ll pay you money you couldn’t earn writing a thousand or ten thousand novels.”

Yoon Sa-hyuk placed his hand on Kim A-rang’s shoulder.

Squeeze. He continued speaking while gently embracing her.

“Season 4 should be done by PD Kim. Following in my footsteps.”

Following in my footsteps…

For some unknown reason, it was a voice tinged with strange sadness.

—————
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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