Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 267

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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 267

Reminiscence(7)

I came outside, limping with my walking stick. The village had grown dark before I knew it, but there was no light in Kang Hyeon’s house.

He was shrouded in darkness.

Yes. I am the ‘truth’ that has escaped this repetition. I always exist as truth. No labyrinth can influence me.

A broken human. Humans don’t have the capacity to contain hundreds of years of time. Human lifespan cannot exceed 120 years, and no living being can endure time close to a thousand years.

Brother was always wrong. He always wanted to go out together with everyone.

The repetitions proceeded countless times. Some iterations of Seol Ha-woon understood Kang Hyeon, but other iterations of Seol Ha-woon did not.

The current me is just one of hundreds of iterations.

Just as there are no special humans in this world, the me of this iteration is the same.

It’s a promise for brother. Adding a few more years to these hundreds of years won’t make much difference…

What kind of promise did Seol Ha-woon make with Kang Hyeon? What did Kang Hyeon want from Seol Ha-woon?

I can’t know yet, but there’s one thing that’s certain.

The Kang Hyeon here must not go outside the labyrinth.

“What are you doing?”

A familiar voice called me. Seo Ji-woo was sitting on the bench in front of the supermarket. She held out a melon bar with her puffy face.

“Want some?”

It was an ice cream that Seo Ji-hyuk also liked. I took it and sat next to her.

“Ugh.”

Seo Ji-woo let out a deep sigh.

“…You know. Kate… how should I explain this. If we end up going outside.”

It seemed to be worries and concerns about Kate.

“Is there really a culprit among us?”

“Try not to think like that if you can.”

This death is a fake death. As Kang Hyeon said, we just need to return to the starting point. Kate will definitely come back.

“What are you saying. Even if I try not to think about it, the thoughts come anyway.”

“We’re just experiencing an error.”

“Death isn’t an error though.”

Seo Ji-woo put her hand on her forehead. She clenched her fist tightly while chewing the ice cream.

“People around me always die. That’s not good luck then…”

It was strange self-blame. I wanted to flick the back of Seo Ji-woo’s head. Not just once, but about three or four times.

“Don’t be mistaken. How is Kate someone around you?”

“…What?”

“You’re not a special human. You’re not some tragic protagonist. So there’s no one who dies because of you.”

Seo Ji-woo stared at me blankly. Looking at such Seo Ji-woo reminded me of Seo Ji-hyuk.

It would be natural, but their expressions really resembled each other. The small details were too similar.

“…Having such thoughts itself is a nuisance to Seo Ji-hyuk.”

“Ah…”

Seo Ji-woo nodded quietly. She sniffled and let out a deep breath.

“You’re right about that.”

She stood up abruptly.

“Got it. See you tomorrow. Let’s call everyone and have some unity. I’ll go pick some pine mushrooms. There’s probably no culprit among us. It seems like there’s an outsider in this village…”

“Alright.”

“I’m going.”

Seo Ji-woo left with dragging steps. I also returned to my workshop. I sat in the chair and fell into thought.

However, my stamina quickly reached its limit. It couldn’t be helped with this trash body. I was no longer the body that could go without sleep for days like in the old days.

I slowly closed my eyes.

…The next day, when I woke up from sleep.

Everyone except Kang Hyeon and me was dead.

Drip. Drip.

A world where rain falls. Tae-woo looks at a puddle where water has pooled. He stares blankly at the falling raindrops and the ripples spreading from them.

There’s no reason. Sometimes, such simple natural phenomena are just fascinating.

Water spreading occurs due to surface tension and hydrodynamic reactions when raindrops collide with the water surface.

The moment a water drop touches the surface, the cohesive force between water molecules forms ripples, and these ripples spread in concentric circles as they find balance between gravity and surface tension.

The size of the raindrop. The falling speed. And the depth of the water surface determine the size and duration of the ripples.

It’s a delicate physical phenomenon that occurs in an instant lasting less than a second.

His magic power is different.

Swoooosh…

The fallen rainwater rises up.

The ripples form raindrops again and retrace their path.

Tae-woo’s footsteps are the same.

He walks backwards up the stairs of the broadcasting station. Those strange footsteps soon reach Yoon Sa-hyuk’s editing room.

In the corner of that place, Kim A-rang is sleeping. Curled up like a shrimp.

Tae-woo’s attribute is space-time.

He manipulates time and space.

It’s a power closer to divine than a mage, but it’s not as convenient as one might think.

“…”

Tae-woo looked at Kim A-rang.

In terms of time here, only 36 hours have passed, but the time on the other side has accelerated repeatedly to a degree that even Tae-woo finds difficult to fathom.

It’s a perfect error.

Time that multiplies infinitely in a closed space has excessive weight. The moment the labyrinth collapses, the accumulated volume of time will deliver a massive shock to causality.

It’s an aftermath difficult for young explorers to handle.

Therefore, from now on, it’s Seol Ha-woon’s responsibility.

Tae-woo is waiting for his decision.

“Haaaam…”

A refreshing yawn. It was Kim A-rang who seemed to have slept soundly after a long time.

“Oh, I dozed off.”

With her face swollen, she habitually picked up her smartphone.

“—Aaaaah!”

After checking the time, she threw the phone away as if her hand was burned.

“What, what! Why is it noon! What, what’s going on?!”

Then she looked at Tae-woo demanding an explanation.

“It’s noon because it became noon.”

“No, then I’ve already wasted a day and a half?!”

“That would be right.”

Tae-woo answered indifferently while still staring at the screen that showed nothing.

“Still.”

A small tremor occurred in his brow.

“The conclusion will come soon.”

The village had become completely empty. It was only natural. Even the few people who had been there were all dead.

I buried the explorers’ corpses in the forest. It was a tree burial.

Their bodies showed little damage. They had died cleanly with a single strike. The wounds showed a clear difference in skill level.

Im Hae-jun, Seo Ji-woo, Yoon Hwa-rim, Lee Jun-ho, Lee Jong-soo.

When I had finished burying all of them as they slept peacefully.

“Hyung. Good work.”

Kang Hyeon, who had approached at some point, handed me sweet rice drink with a smile. It wasn’t a situation to smile about, but his emotional processing ability was severely damaged.

“…Thanks.”

I drank the sweet rice drink. I sat on a pile of stones and looked at their graves.

Those buried among the mountains and vegetation.

Rest a little longer.

“Now there’s no one left except us two.”

“That’s right.”

Kang Hyeon stared at me intently and asked a bizarre question.

“Why do you think they were killed?”

This guy had reached his limit too.

Your words that adding a few more years to hundreds wouldn’t make much difference were indeed correct.

Because you had already stopped being human.

“They were all talented. They must have figured out who the culprit was.”

Kate’s dying message. The other explorers must have caught on too.

“Right. That’s why they were killed.”

Kang Hyeon nodded. His memories seemed mixed up and confusing.

He let out a faint sigh.

“Hyung. There isn’t much time left.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Yes. It’s actually fortunate. I became stronger faster. I have a lot to do when I get out.”

At those words, I let out an unconscious sneer.

“No. You became weaker.”

Kang Hyeon blinked. His face showed he didn’t understand.

“You became far too weak. That’s why you can’t leave this place.”

“Hyung. I’ll try making dinner tonight. Let’s eat together.”

He was mimicking daily life. Taking out behaviors buried in countless memories whenever needed.

“Alright. Let’s eat together.”

“Yes. We have plenty of ingredients. Jun-ho went fishing yesterday.”

I felt pity for Kang Hyeon. The years he had endured alone were pitiful.

“A little later… let’s meet around 6 o’clock.”

“Sure.”

Kang Hyeon left to prepare dinner. I felt the natural breeze and gazed somewhere.

Whoosh.

Among the swaying leaves, I quietly let time pass.

Then at some moment.

“…?!”

My eyes widened. My heart shook.

“What the…”

Something that suddenly appeared, something that shouldn’t be here.

“Why are you here.”

Chirp.

A very small cry called to me. That child ran toward me with a bright smile.

Chirp chirp.

A pure white body that chirped like a chick. The fox I had taken in at the beginning of this maze.

It had come looking for me.

Chirp. Chirp. Looking at the fox snuggling into my arms, I let out a hollow laugh.

“…Right.”

My head finally cleared.

While hundreds of years repeated inside here, time was also flowing outside. It hadn’t stopped.

I didn’t know how long it had been, but time had passed anyway, and the fox had crossed the ‘boundary’ to enter this place during that time.

Looking for me.

“You’re repaying the favor.”

Chirp chirp.

Perhaps this was the final variable that the previous Seol Ha-woon had been waiting for.

I put the small fox into my coat’s inner pocket.

Time passed. Kang Hyeon and I lived as usual. We ate together every day, and the two of us resumed construction on the watchtower. I was the supervisor and Kang Hyeon was the worker.

“It’s all finished.”

Looking at the completed watchtower, Kang Hyeon wiped the sweat from his forehead. His face looked proud, but inside was empty.

He was probably just following the actions of himself from his memories.

“How is it. Is it different from before?”

Kang Hyeon pondered before answering.

“I’m not sure.”

“Then, is this the last time?”

“Yes. It’s the promised cycle.”

“Let’s change that promise. Wait just one more cycle.”

Kang Hyeon laughed out loud. From his smile, I learned one more thing.

“Have I said this many times before?”

“Yes. I listened up to twice. But I don’t think I can anymore.”

The reason was that Kang Hyeon had reached his limit too.

It was fortunate.

My fox friend had come at the very last moment.

I sat on the backyard lawn. Kang Hyeon also sat down next to me. We looked up at the sky together.

“But hey, why did you agree to the promise?”

“…Because you’re my hyung.”

Kang Hyeon’s answer was quite touching.

“I wanted to believe in you, hyung.”

It meant that deep down, his faith in me still remained even now that he had become a monster.

“The meteorite will come soon.”

Kang Hyeon had said I always failed. It meant that even when I intercepted the meteorite, the village still repeated.

We were trapped in a maze that was far too complex.

“What was the method you found?”

“…There’s an exit. At the very moment we reset, a rift occurs. I’m going to run toward that place.”

“Very physical. Kate was killed because she discovered that rift?”

For Kang Hyeon, who could run over 100 meters per second, it was the optimal method.

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“Right. But this time will probably be a bit different.”

A meteorite formed in the sky above the village. A red dot rising from the edge of the sky. Watching it slowly descend, I smiled.

“Different?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

Kang Hyeon said that we always returned to the ‘starting point.’ That it was such a repetition.

However, now there is an external presence here.

A living being that ‘wasn’t there’ at the starting point. A friend who has run alongside me from the very beginning of the maze.

That adorable creature that cannot be modified or removed has interfered.

Therefore, I am certain.

───-!

The magic power condensed in the watchtower surged toward the meteorite. The structured formula perfectly carved up the meteorite.

Whoooooosh….

The meteorite fragments fall like debris. They paint the sky pure white as they descend throughout the village.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Stone fragments crashing down everywhere. Calm flames bloom from parts of the village.

We quietly watch that spectacle.

No matter how long we wait, wait and wait again, we don’t return to the starting point.

It doesn’t repeat.

“Hey. Old man.”

Kang Hyeon turned to look at me. I also met his eyes and smiled.

“From now on, it’s just you and me. There won’t be any repetition.”

Error responds to error.

“You must never leave this place.”

Kang Hyeon’s expression twitched. It was a face with an error.

The Kang Hyeon here is very powerful, but complex judgment or calculations are impossible. Because countless long memories and time are tangled together.

“…If I can’t leave, then you can’t leave either, hyung.”

“I can gladly accept that.”

The current Kang Hyeon is a disaster. He’s far more dangerous than all the villains I’ve encountered combined.

He must never be taken outside.

“Let’s just travel together. For a long time.”

If I can contain you who have become a monster, I can sacrifice myself easily enough.

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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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