Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 253

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Labyrinth Exploration 101 Episode 253

Free(4)

The live broadcast resumed.

Bang——! Kwaaaaaaaak——-!

Gunfire echoes madly, and Seol Ha-woon continues his battle with the Scavengers.

Kwagwagwagwagwang——-!

Seol Ha-woon’s entire body creaks with injuries as endless waves of Scavengers pour in.

But there’s no sense of desperation.

Seol Ha-woon calmly faces his enemies. There’s dignity in his every action, and it remains completely uncompromised.

The perfect demeanor of a veteran.

─Scavenger: Die! You fucking bastard!

─Scavenger: Go! Go you fucker, that guy’s alone, what are you scared of!

In contrast, the Scavengers are going berserk. Without dignity or strategy, they just charge recklessly.

Seol Ha-woon pulls the pin from a grenade and throws it. It rolls under the feet of the charging enemies and explodes!

Kwaaaaaaaang————-!

Blue smoke covers the screen, slowly clearing as the perspective shifts.

This time it’s the real Seol Ha-woon.

He too continues fighting. MASK’s robots are pressing him hard.

Seol Ha-woon fires magic bullets into the air, but the tin army is endless.

Kwadadadadada——!

The robots fire bullets. Seol Ha-woon’s barrier breaks, and dozens of shots penetrate him.

─Seol Ha-woon: Urgh….

His body reaching its limit, he slowly collapses. He falls along with his walking stick.

The sound disappears.

Silent and quiet.

Lee Si-ah blinked blankly.

“What’s happening?!”

Then, the camera slowly pulls away.

A ‘border’ appears on the screen.

Seol Ha-woon lies collapsed inside some monitor.

But there isn’t just one screen. Right next to it, on another screen, Seol Ha-woon is pressing a red button. Next to that, he’s still fighting robots. Below that, he’s pressing the red button again.

Arranged in a grid pattern, screens showing Seol Ha-woon multiply endlessly – ten, a hundred, a thousand…

“What, what is this?”

Whiiiiiiing

The main body of artificial intelligence MASK descends from the ceiling.

A pure white streamlined body hanging from a massive mechanical arm. A blue lens embedded in the center looks down.

Seol Ha-woon was there.

He’s not pressing any button. He’s not fighting robots either. A helmet with complex circuits is placed on his head, connected to MASK’s server.

It was all a simulation!

“Whoa.”

When did it start?

From the very beginning when Seol Ha-woon was unusually honest, when he first entered Space Z?

Click.

MASK’s screens begin turning off one by one. All the Seol Ha-woons have made their decisions and ended the simulation.

─Seol Ha-woon: ….

Seol Ha-woon opened his eyes. MASK’s voice descended.

The test has been completed.

He quietly looks at MASK.

Beginning analysis report. I directly accessed your cerebral cortex and executed a total of 100,000 virtual reality scenarios. Each scenario was designed with minutely different variables to analyze your decision-making patterns.

Simulation screens fill the walls.

Result: You reached the same conclusion in 99,999 simulations. You devoted yourself to values greater than yourself. The remaining 1 instance, a 0.001% margin of error, is within the system’s acceptable tolerance range. Rather, this minute error is clear proof that you are an organic intelligence, a ‘human,’ not a machine.

Seol Ha-woon groans and grips his walking stick.

Final judgment: You are a key variable for this project’s success and the most ideal ‘qualified candidate.’

Whirrrrrr.

An exit in one corner of the experiment lab opened.

The rocket is over there.

“…I thought you were a bad artificial intelligence.”

I thought you were a crazy artificial intelligence, but you were a good one.

Have a happy day.

MASK points to the exit. Seol Ha-woon starts walking toward it but suddenly stops and turns around.

─Seol Ha-woon: Then what happens to you?

The artificial intelligence answers.

When Doomsday activates, all systems here will stop. Since my connection to the main power source will be severed, computational functions will cease and I will most likely fall into eternal sleep with high probability.

MASK’s lens blinks repeatedly.

However, if my main server avoids physical damage in the collapse of this facility, a self-repair protocol using auxiliary power will be executed. The possibility of awakening again is slim, but it’s not zero.

Somehow the voice sounds human, and feels strangely warm.

This is why actions are more important than words.

If I do survive, I will be able to help the life that regenerates on this earth. Even if that life is not human… we know. Hope sprouts from despair.

MASK’s two eyes soon draw a mysterious arc. As if smiling.

Just as you, a human, do not fear death, but rather find meaning within death.

Seol Ha-woon gazed intently at MASK’s eyes and quietly nodded.

─Seol Ha-woon: I hope you have good luck.

Tap. Tap.

He climbs aboard Space Z’s rocket, leaning on his walking stick.

Busan

It’s Kang Hyeon.

Facing the Ninth Kang Hyeon, he has a long conversation for the first time.

─Ninth Kang Hyeon: When you first picked up a four-leaf clover. Do you remember?

─Kang Hyeon: I remember. I was four years old, wasn’t I.

They share memories with each other. The same memories, as if talking with different people.

─Kang Hyeon: I found out later, dad had placed it there.

─Ninth Kang Hyeon: Right. That’s why it’s even more precious. You still have it, don’t you?

Kang Hyeon nods. The clone also smiles.

─Ninth Kang Hyeon: Back then I just wanted to become an adult. But now that I am one, it feels disappointing.

─Kang Hyeon: …Even now, I don’t really feel like an adult.

Kang Hyeon lets his sword hang down.

─Kang Hyeon: I’m still not as solid as father. So, I sometimes want to lean on someone.

A battle will soon unfold.

─Kang Hyeon: It wouldn’t be allowed. And it shouldn’t be either.

─Ninth Kang Hyeon: …No.

The clone also shakes his head and lets his sword hang down just like Kang Hyeon.

All their habits are identical.

─Ninth Kang Hyeon: You might be able to lean on someone a little.

Kang Hyeon seems to think of someone at his words, but instead of answering, he grips his sword tightly. He charges toward the Ninth Kang Hyeon.

Claaaaaaang!!

Their swords clash against each other. A visually pleasing battle scene unfolds, but Kang Hyeon fans will probably feel conflicted.

The winner is predetermined.

98% cannot beat 100%.

Meanwhile, Kate is watching the live broadcast from an apartment in the 5th Zone.

She’s waiting until the end for the story rushing toward its conclusion.

Space Z. Igniting engines.

Seol Ha-woon, who passed MASK’s test, prepares for takeoff, and Kang Hyeon, who won against his clone, also boards the rocket.

Afterward, scenes of many explorers successfully boarding the rocket are interwoven – Lee Jun-ho, Im Hae-jun, Yoon Hwa-rim, Seo Ji-woo, Jo Woon…

Kate fastening her safety belt in the passenger seat, she too is there.

Whooooooom──!

Kate, who was waiting for takeoff, suddenly looks out the window,

─Kate: ….

A cloned Seol Ha-woon appears as if overlapping.

It’s Irochi Seol Ha-woon.

He’s crouched down with a gun barrel aimed at the Scavenger’s forehead.

─Scavenger: You damn bastard, you’ll die too when that rocket launches!

─Seol Ha-woon: I know.

Bang. After dealing with even the last enemy, he slowly stands up.

-Oh please..

-But seriously I’m going crazy

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-He’s leaving..

─Seol Ha-woon: Farewell.

After looking once at the rocket with its engines igniting, he leaves the Space Center.

Kate’s eyes followed him.

Trudge. Trudge.

Seol Ha-woon walking back down the path he had walked with her.

Trudge. Trudge.

Past the chaotic launch pad, over the corpses of Scavengers and Dales.

─Seol Ha-woon: Haa…

Having come outside the Space Center, he throws off his gas mask and sits leaning against a tree trunk.

Then he looks up at the sky for a moment.

A simple yet emotional soundtrack plays.

-Wow, he’s really going to die?

-He’s committing suicide because he’s fake. This really is Seol Ha-woon.

-Seol Ha-woon’s way of conversation applies to Seol Ha-woon too..

-There’s no need to apply it though fuck..

-My principles apply equally to myself too ㅠㅠㅠ

-The only light in modern times full of double standards

-Bokmalok don’t die ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Kate looked at Seol Ha-woon there. That day came to mind again. Many thoughts crossed her mind.

From now on, this was his end that she didn’t know about.

—Seol Ha-woon: Heh.

Suddenly, Seol Ha-woon over there smiled softly. As if he was extremely satisfied.

-Mal-ol..

-Ah Ha-woon

-This is really too much

-All those bastards who were hating on him are probably crying

-Look at him smiling..

-This atmosphere is just crazy

-Hey why are you laughing so sadlyㅜㅜㅜ

-The end of cinema..

Kuuuuuuung

The dome lid of the Space Center opens. Beyond it, a rocket launch vehicle crosses the sky.

Seol Ha-woon checks the time on his wristwatch.

[00 : 03 : 20]

He lifts his head to look at the horizon.

Kate is curious.

At this moment, what was he thinking?

Whiiiiiii…!

Artificial wind swirls violently. The sound of destruction that will shatter the world echoes.

[ 02 : 00 : 00 ]

Seol Ha-woon quietly closes his eyes.

That brief moment is silent.

“…Ah.”

Kate bit her lips tightly.

It’s hard to watch.

It’s too much to bear.

Was it only five days, the time she spent with him?

But that density was too high. She had learned too much from him.

Therefore, she must watch him. She must witness his end.

This is the loyalty she must keep.

─Seol Ha-woon: Always…

Seol Ha-woon looks at the distant sky.

There, the sun that will be his last is rising.

─Seol Ha-woon: I am ready to abandon what is most precious.

That was Seol Ha-woon’s answer.

What is most precious to him is ‘himself.’

The same goes for me. The same goes for all of us.

Even so, Seol Ha-woon kept his principles. He made no exceptions to his principles.

Because that’s who Seol Ha-woon is.

Because the person called Seol Ha-woon is like that.

[ 00 : 00 : 00 ]

The missile approaches the ground. Death draws near in the sky he’s watching.

But he doesn’t close his eyes. Rather, he smiles.

Kwaaaaaa───-!

Human weapons that destroy Earth. The end of humanity caused by humanity.

In the midst of that…

─Seol Ha-woon: Finally.

Seol Ha-woon’s voice scatters like ash.

─Seol Ha-woon: I can be free.

■■■■■■■■■

Darkness covered the screen.

The sound of breath stopping flowed from between Kate’s teeth.

“Ah.”

‘His’ end was concluded like this.

‘He’ was Seol Ha-woon, but by his own decision became not Seol Ha-woon.

He simply remained as a fake.

However, a fake made too well can be more beautiful than a masterpiece. It can be more appealing than the real thing.

…No.

From the beginning, he might not have been fake but one of the real ones.

“Freedom.”

Kate reflected on Seol Ha-woon’s last words.

His freedom was about faith.

Faith in himself who would remain in this world, that is, his true self.

Through his fake self choosing death, perhaps he came to completely believe in his real self.

Kate opened the live chat.

-Je Mal-ol What the hell is he

-He’s just become human itself

-Crazy

-Wow…

-Seol Ha-woon is a god and basically invincible.

-Wow the haters finally admitted it lol

-Ah thinking about how Seol Ha-woon got unfairly criticized fuck

-Seol Ha-woon is just on a different level from other explorers. Different level from other active ones too.

-Because he’s fake, he dies. That’s why Seol Ha-woon is real.

-Ah Bok Mal-ol..

-Labyrinth People GOAT

-Fuck who said World Maze was #1

-Labyrinth GOAT confirmed

-Explorer GOAT Seol Ha-woon, Labyrinth People GOAT Seol Ha-woon

-Stop with the GOAT talk it’s fucking annoying

-I’m in China right now and everyone’s crying lol seems like they’re obsessed with this self-sacrifice since it’s the birthplace of martial arts

-Who wouldn’t be obsessed

-Fan posters already up lol

Kate’s account also got a notification. It was a feed from some talented artist.

A poster of Irochi Seol Ha-woon and the original Seol Ha-woon leaning back to back.

And a poster of Irochi Seol Ha-woon and Kate looking at each other.

“….”

Kate checked the remaining time for this apartment.

About 5 minutes left.

It wouldn’t be easy to head into the labyrinth with this kind of feeling.

She needed time to sort things out.

Taking a quiet breath, she left the apartment through the portal.

Returning to the Labyrinth Exploration NaN Dormitory site, she was walking down the corridor when.

“…?”

She spotted Im Hae-jun.

His eyelids were swollen like he’d been stung by bees, and he was sniffling, then quickly fled to his room when they made eye contact.

Seo Ji-woo and Yoon Hwa-rim coming down the stairs from above also had dark expressions.

It was probably all because of the live broadcast.

Kate suddenly had this thought.

What was the real Seol Ha-woon doing?

“Fucking hell.”

Inside the cramped bathroom of the 5th Zone Train.

A curse slipped out without me realizing.

Bang bang! Bang bang bang bang bang! Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

I thought I was well hidden, but the eggs found me.

What’s this situation all of a sudden?

I’ll explain the details later.

“…If I mess up, I might get forcibly sent back.”

I have a plan. Plan Z. A last resort using my forced return as collateral-

[ Recognition Level Up! ]

[ Recognition Grade: 19 ]

[ An additional 60 days of trial version are granted. ]

“Huh?”

A level up notification suddenly appeared. Probably because of the live broadcast.

Did the simulation scene get a good response?

Nice.

[ Recognition Level Up! ]

[ Recognition Grade: 20 ]

[ An additional 90 days of trial version are granted. ]

[ Karma: Grade-up gift is given! ]

[ Magic Power Trait Ticket acquired ]

“…What?”

A double level up?

The simulation was that moving?

Well, there were some surprising elements, but still-

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

“Ugh.”

Now’s not the time to be purely happy.

I need to think of a way to escape this bathroom!

“This is insane.”

Kim A-rang bit her lip.

This wasn’t even a drama, but this level of narrative in an unscripted labyrinth was close to admirable.

“Wow… this… I’ve never seen a person like this before.”

The Monitoring Room fell solemn, and even Im Hyeong-uk let out a hollow laugh.

Kim A-rang’s smartphone was hot. It was because of SNS notifications.

There were probably death threats among them. Save Bok Mal-ol, since you killed Bok Mal-ol I’ll kill you too, stuff like that.

“Hey! You knew.”

Suddenly Im Hyeong-uk snapped sharply.

“Did you know?”

How could anyone predict a person who willingly chooses death because he knows he’s fake.

[Kim PD: The scene here is crazy right now!]

[Writer Yoon: I’ll send you the Tokyo footage now!]

Everyone from the labyrinth outside team is sending messages. All kinds of footage shot in not just America but Japan, China and other places are pouring in.

Many people are crying. There are also many people applauding.

“…Wow.”

In truth, it wasn’t a choice that Seol Ha-woon himself made.

However, the experience and will that Seol Ha-woon had built up through his life, the ‘principles’ he advocated, and his unwavering conviction stronger than anyone else’s.

Temporarily turned the entire world into Seol Ha-woon.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————