Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 255

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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 255

Free(6)

What’s changing isn’t the train, but the scenery. The internal shaking is merely a sophisticated device to deceive us.

That was also the reason the NPCs kept failing. The derailment they wanted was impossible.

Because this train wasn’t running in the first place.

─List of Selectable Magic Power Traits─

A trait selection window appeared before my eyes.

MoMo’s magic power traits were so expensive I couldn’t even dream of them, and since I didn’t know them in detail, I needed to understand them clearly.

I activated the sequence. I accelerated my thoughts and scanned through all the traits spread before my eyes.

Efficient Combustion: You can consume stamina instead of magic power.

Mana Circulation: The recovery efficiency of magic circuits increases.

Emergency Treatment: The more severe the injury, the more amplified the formula’s effect becomes…

…

Primordial Attunement: Your body synchronizes with the flow of magic power. You acquire mana affinity.

I want them all, but among these, the most essential trait is Primordial Attunement.

【Primordial Attunement】

■ Grade: Unique·Magic Specialized

■ Your body synchronizes with the fundamental waves of mana.

■ You acquire high-level mana affinity. You can handle natural mana more easily and skillfully.

Mana affinity. In other words, a trait that helps handle magic power itself more familiarly, with the highest versatility and utility.

[You acquire the trait ‘Primordial Attunement’!]

At that moment, the world brightened. The mana particles floating in the atmosphere sparkled like the Milky Way.

A mystical phenomenon.

I can see without even trying to look. My gaze makes mana move. I don’t need hand gestures or even mental visualization.

I manipulate the flow like that, sending it to the bathroom’s ventilation duct.

I transferred my neural network to the magic power. My vision also moved along that stream.

Swoooosh───.

The magic power advances.

It passes through the narrow ventilation duct like a breeze and reaches the engine room hidden in this underground.

“…Found it.”

There’s an engine. A combination of rusted machinery and magic power, motionless.

Mana contacts it and taps the interior. It grasps the framework.

My will becomes the blueprint, and pure mana particles become the parts.

Blue magic power condenses to weave circuits, creating pistons to build a power source.

Magic power enters the heart of the engine.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Heartbeat-like sounds gradually arise from the repaired engine. The stopped gears mesh together with friction sounds. Hot magic power flows like blood through the pipeline.

Kuuuuung!

A roar announcing revival.

Engine reconstruction successful.

“Kuk…”

I frowned at the headache. The act of imbuing my consciousness into mana particles required extreme concentration.

It’s called a headache, but it feels like a blade is tearing through my skull.

I endured it with gritted teeth. There’s still much work left to do.

I had already set the ‘trigger’ to separate the train and freight car, but from now on, the NPCs had to move according to my will.

Kwaaaaaa───!

When Seol Ha-woon caused the explosion, Ilron was caught in the shockwave and sucked into the freight car. The scenery of the freight car, where he arrived tumbling with his whole body thrown about, was different from expectations.

“Ilron!”

“…”

He stood up with Jane’s support. He looked around the space in a daze.

Blue flames clinging to and burning on the freight car’s walls. Children’s crying voices. Heat blazing as if to melt steel frames.

However, the explosion’s impact was concentrated only on the freight car’s exterior, while the interior was cleverly mitigated.

“…”

Ilron belatedly understood part of Seol Ha-woon’s intention.

“Ilron, what happened?”

“…First.”

He looked at the children.

“Hide the kids.”

While saying that, he wiped the blood flowing on his forehead. The wound had already healed.

An NPC’s body recovers quickly. They too are bodies of the maze, so they don’t die.

That’s when it happened.

Sssssssss─

“Huh?!”

Some magic power moved freely in mid-air. It was an airflow made of mana, but it condensed precisely to form some kind of engineering shape.

“What is this…”

Ilron hurriedly examined it.

Probably a signal from Seol Ha-woon, or important information.

“…It looks like a blueprint.”

“Blueprint?”

“Sa-hyeong! Please check this out!”

He pointed the blueprint to Sa-hyeong, who was an engineer.

Sa-hyeong’s eyes widened as he scanned it up and down.

“This is an engine?”

Engine.

Then Ilron’s hair stood on end. His brain spun tautly in the flames of the burning freight car.

“…Engine.”

Ilron nodded resolutely and gestured to the group.

“Let’s go out.”

“Now?”

“Yeah. The eggs probably won’t be hostile toward us anymore.”

Seol Ha-woon had deceived this train.

The train would mistakenly think that the NPCs in the freight car were hostile toward Seol Ha-woon.

Therefore, from now on, they just needed to act.

“Pretend to search for Seol Ha-woon while gathering parts to build an engine.”

We had been taking over this freight car while increasing our numbers. It was a kind of infiltration.

In this situation, if we attached an engine to the freight car, the freight car could function as another train.

“Everyone, move!”

Since only NPCs could stand against the murderer…

Click. Click.

Kate was still scrolling in the dormitory. The live broadcast had already ended, but she had become momentarily addicted to the internet. The aftermath sweeping the outside world was that enormous.

│His Decision│Labyrinth Exploration NaN│

180 million views · 8 hours ago

His Decision. Seol Ha-woon’s finale had exceeded 100 million views in just 4 hours, and was approaching 200 million views in 8 hours.

Now finally… I can be free.

Kate watched his final moments repeatedly. For a long while, as if analyzing them.

“…”

Soon she let out a light sigh and opened SNS. Here too, it was all Mitamnan. Tons of cuts edited by viewers had been uploaded.

Naturally, Seol Ha-woon had the most screen time.

Don’t you… have any regrets?

Dale asking about regrets.

I’ve decided not to.

Irochi Seol Ha-woon answering.

And,

…Won’t you have any regrets.

The AI MASK asking the same question about regrets.

I’ve decided not to.

Seol Ha-woon’s answer, not a single syllable different.

This scene was retweeted in all kinds of languages, with tens of millions of likes.

“This account…”

Next was an edited cut with nearly 100 million likes, and the ID was familiar.

@Seolsia

Seol Ha-woon, On What’s Precious

“She’s working hard.”

Seol Si-ah. A famous Seol Ha-woon fan that Kate also knew about.

This cut she had personally edited was a split screen.

First, on the right screen, Irochi Seol Ha-woon waiting for death appeared.

Sitting against a tree stump, he lifted his head and smiled.

Anytime…

Then it paused briefly, the left screen played, and the real Seol Ha-woon appeared.

I had precious memories. There were precious people too. So many things left my side.

MASK’s coercion to choose between the red button and blue button.

I embraced all those things. That’s why…

This Seol Ha-woon also lifted his head and smiled.

I, who remember them, am the most precious.

He pressed the red button without hesitation.

On the right, Irochi Seol Ha-woon continued.

…I’m prepared to abandon what’s most precious.

Saying he was prepared to abandon even his most precious self.

His narrative was perfectly assembled through his actions.

Besides this, there were countless other edited versions.

Scenes edited to make Seol Ha-woon and Irochi Seol Ha-woon look at each other and smile…

“…”

Kate paused for a moment.

Kate. Did you think I wouldn’t know?

Here With Me. With a wistful pop song playing, Irochi Seol Ha-woon spoke to Kate beyond the rocket gate.

Scenes were edited to blend between those lines.

‘So, is reality a bit different from the simulation?’

‘That’s why the enemies were able to track you down. Terrain isn’t just walls or mounds. The tiniest elements on the ground, even the direction of the wind and position of sunlight, can either kill you or save you.’

That day when he had saved her from the highway gang.

Again, Seol Ha-woon spoke to Kate.

If you hesitate like that, you won’t be able to kill anyone.

Other scenes rushed in like waves.

‘Stab the throat. Right here exactly.’

‘But don’t just stab—strike accurately and forcefully with the concept of crushing through the bone.’

Seol Ha-woon teaching how to kill people surely and quietly.

I know myself better than you do.

Kate following behind Seol Ha-woon, fighting together inside the urban area….

‘The heartbeat near the chest was strange. Of course, it could have been an ordinary heart condition.’

‘Ms. Kate. Never underestimate human malice.’

Two people fleeing from Jeremy who had prepared a suicide bomb.

Thud!

Kate falling with a thud in the underground where the failed Dales lurked.

Seol Ha-woon extending his hand to Kate, and Kate getting up without taking that hand.

But it’s not ‘real.’

Such scenes scattered like flowing water, showing the density of their time together.

So… I should stay here.

With Seol Ha-woon’s smile as the last scene, Kate cut off the video midway.

Now that she looked, the title was [Teacher].

Teacher, what nonsense. Even as she muttered this, she couldn’t help but sigh.

The editing itself was the problem. Why did they edit with such high quality, when the production team would take most of the copyright fees anyway.

Kate looked at her watch.

“The time is already….”

She had dawdled for too long. It was time to return to the Labyrinth.

Time passes.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Outside the bathroom, the eggs were still pounding on the door. The old door shook as if it would burst, but it wouldn’t actually open.

Because I was pulling the door handle with telekinesis.

My magic power energy far transcended the kinetic energy of these egg bastards.

Kuuuuuuung!

They rammed the door more and more violently. Through the slightly opening door gap, the forms of the faceless creatures could be glimpsed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But there was no need to be shaken. They couldn’t damage this train.

It was a rule of this Labyrinth. If they couldn’t open it by force, they couldn’t break it either.

Therefore, I simply waited.

──Just then.

Push!

Human shouts burst out from outside the door.

Crash!

With a heavy sound, the thunderous door pounding stopped. Instead, the sound of eggs being bounced away echoed.

I opened the gap slightly.

The NPCs from the freight car appeared, armed with steel pipes and wooden planks. They maintained formation and pushed back the eggs.

Creak.

Someone threw open the bathroom door. It was some hairy NPC.

“Inside, inside!”

He gestured toward the interior.

“Over here!”

It was Ilron. I joined them, walking with my walking stick going thud-thud.

“Did you succeed?”

“Yes. We made the engine.”

“Then… ah, my knee.”

I had been in too cramped a space for too long. I grabbed my left knee and snapped my fingers.

Snap!

The flames in the freight car all died down at once.

“Listen carefully.”

I explained the next plan to Ilron.

“Soon, the connection between the freight car and the train will be severed.”

Dismantling the connection. In other words, this train and the freight car would be separated and become ‘separate entities.’

It was very possible. The train was a murderer that was one body with the maze, but the freight car strictly belonged to the NPCs.

“Then you won’t be reset even when you reach your destination. You’ll break free from the framework. From then on, you’ll become the new train and….”

I thought of the remaining guys. Whether Kang Hyeon, Lee Jun-ho, Kate, Seo Ji-woo, Jo Woon, Ryu Yeon-hwa, Im Hae-jun….

Except for Im Hae-jun, they were all reliable guys.

“…just transport my siblings to the next platform.”

To an old man like me, everyone was young.

I wasn’t that old, but anyway, that’s how it was in Mitamnan.

“You guys go back to the freight car. If you stay here, you’ll be reset.”

“Then what about you….”

Ilron asked me.

“The plan is complete.”

From now on, the NPCs would definitely succeed even without me. They would help the next comrades and connect the maze.

“Whether I can hold out or not is just an option.”

I would try to survive until this train reached its destination, but looking at the big picture, my survival was merely secondary.

“Because that’s the meaning of the advance team.”

Finding paths and making paths. Building bridges so the follow-up team could cross safely.

If the final foundation stone of that bridge had to be myself, there was no reason to refuse.

Because that was the purpose of the advance team.

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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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