Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 278
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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 278
Youtiful(4)
〔YSN 9 PM Comprehensive News〕
Anchor: There’s a mysterious subspace that’s been spreading by word of mouth among hunters and explorers recently. It’s an alien trading post called ‘Astroal’. The equipment obtainable from random boxes sold there shows excellent performance and has become a hot topic among explorers. Reporter Kim Jin-woo has covered this story directly.
An Astroal invitation is shown in close-up.
Reporter Kim: This is an invitation that allows entry into a subspace called ‘Astroal’. Nothing specific is known about what kind of space it is, but currently explorers are desperate to get this invitation. It’s because of a product called ‘Random Box’ that they sell there.
An explorer shows off a sword with mysterious colors, and the reporter interviews him.
3,182nd ranked Swordsman ‘Black Dog’: This is an SSR grade Echo Sword that came from a random box. It’s from the Astroal series.
Magic power rises from the blade like a heat haze.
Reporter Kim: Echo Sword. An SSR grade item from the Astroal series. Every three swings creates an echo, and a fourth strike is deployed.
Swish swish swish. The moment he slashed through the air three times, sword aura was released once more, shattering the mannequin.
Black Dog: The feeling when I first drew it… my hair still stands on end. Ah, I sold my previous sword right away. That was worth 2M (2.7 billion won), but this weapon will obviously get better over time.
Named series. In other words, magic power dwells in masterpieces. This is what explorers unanimously say.
Reporter Kim: High ranker Black Dog acquired this weapon from a ‘Random Box’. Like this, Astroal’s equipment is known to exhibit special abilities like high-grade loot, beyond simple refined items. But even Black Dog doesn’t have one thing.
Namely, an Astroal VVIP membership.
Black Dog: I’m an early member. So I get free invitations every week. I can’t give them to others though. I have to go to Astroal myself. But if you become VVIP, you can get 3 or more invitations per week.
The VVIP membership with supposedly amazing benefits. Just applying costs money, but the waiting list exceeds hundreds of people.
Black Dog: From what I hear, there are even mages among the VVIPs. Well, it’s just rumors for now.
Scene change. An interview with equipment appraisal expert ‘Dr. Han Ji-won’ from the South Korean Hunter Association.
Dr. Han Ji-won: Historically, items made by creators called masters have had their value and performance rise above that of loot. For example, works by Master Yoo Tae-hyeon, who made the legendary famous sword ‘Dragon Slayer’, are still traded at astronomical prices in auctions.
Astroal series items. 〔Astroal Compass〕 and 〔Dreaming of Snow Globe〕 etc. are shown in close-up.
Dr. Han Ji-won: However, Astroal is different from masters. Usually masters only create one category, but the loot here guarantees high-level quality without being limited to specific styles and categories. Since individual items are even bundled as numbered ‘Astroal series’, there’s plenty of possibility they’ll become more refined over time…
Explorer community posts titled 〔Looking for Astroal Invitations〕 are briefly shown.
Reporter Kim: Yes. Like this, Astroal is shaking up the domestic explorer market landscape along with numerous mysteries. What exactly is the identity of this mysterious shop? This has been reporter Kim Jin-woo…
“…So.”
Seo Ji-woo swiped down on Yoon Hwa-rim’s smartphone. The scenery of ‘Astroal’ that the news had just been talking about appeared before their eyes.
“You’re saying that’s here?”
Yoon Hwa-rim and Seo Ji-woo had visited Astroal.
“Yeah! This is it! Everyone here are explorers!”
All the people coming and going were explorers. There wasn’t a single so-called ‘muggle’.
“Ji-woo. Mages like us must never fall behind. I don’t know about swordsmen and such, but mages must definitely follow trends.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
Seo Ji-woo had obtained an Astroal invitation thanks to Yoon Hwa-rim.
“But this isn’t illegal, right?”
“Come on. Don’t you know the Subspace Special Act?”
The Subspace Special Act.
Commercial activities conducted in subspaces where the owner cannot be specified don’t violate any laws. If human rights violations including murder occur frequently inside, the association directly designates it as a labyrinth and handles it, but Astroal is far from such places.
“I know about it but… this place seems expensive.”
“Random boxes are expensive though”
“How much?”
“One costs a C-grade loot. Or you can buy with points too.”
“Crazy.”
“Ji-woo, you brought what I told you to bring, right? Follow me!”
Yoon Hwa-rim headed to ‘Astroal Bank’ first. In an elegant space that looked like something from a movie, a penguin robot was standing.
“Hello!”
The two stood in front of the robot. Yoon Hwa-rim smiled slightly.
“It looks cute.”
〔…〕
The penguin robot showed no reaction. It just blinked its round lens.
“Hello.”
〔…〕
No words. It seemed somewhat shy.
“Excuse me?”
〔…Welcome to Astroal.〕
It seemed like its words got tangled somehow.
“Ah. Yes. This friend is here for the first time, you see? I’m also here for the first time.”
〔Welcome.〕
“Is there perhaps a waiting list for membership-“
〔Immediate registration is possible.〕
“…What?
Astroal held out a pen and paper.
〔…A special event has been activated. Due to a system error, empty spots have appeared in the queue. Immediate registration for both of you is possible. Please write your names.〕
“Wow. Amazing. As expected of Ji-woo!”
Yoon Hwa-rim shook Seo Ji-woo’s arm excitedly. Seo Ji-woo also felt somewhat proud, but frowned for no reason.
“Did you bring me here because of this?”
“Hey~ just, you know, killing two birds with one stone~”
The two filled out application forms.
“Ji-woo. Now take out everything you prepared.”
“Okay.”
Seo Ji-woo took out a loot box. These were items from the loot obtained in recent labyrinth explorations that she planned to dispose of personally.
They were clean items with all tax reports completed.
“Please appraise these.”
〔Yes.〕
The penguin’s eyes suddenly flashed red and beeped. Yoon Hwa-rim flinched.
“Huh. Why?”
〔Free appraisal event winner. Congratulations…〕
I faced the sealed door.
Shamanic magic made of red talismans and sacred rope. Its complexity would take any ordinary mage half a day to decode, but my eyes are different.
【Right Eye Right Ear】.
With it, I perceive the world more ‘correctly’.
The moment I activated the sequence, the world’s colors faded, and only the flow of magic power became clearly visible.
The tangled web of shamanic magic like a spider’s web – within it, I instinctively grasped the most crucial knots and vulnerable links.
I reach out my hand.
I touch the shamanic magic.
I grasp it.
But I don’t destroy it with force.
I simply untie the knots.
Srrrrrrrrk──-!
Magic power crumbled and wind swirled violently. At the same time, the door’s seal was dismantled.
Clank.
“It’s open.”
“Wow.”
Lee Jun-ho and Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened.
♬♪~♩♪~
Im Hae-jun immediately played background music.
“Everyone. Je Mal-ol has dismantled the seal. Without any tools, just observation and hand gestures. Of course, the information I provided must have been a great help.”
♬♪~♩♪~
It’s thumping shorts background music.
“…It’s noisy, so turn it off. Come in.”
We went inside.
“There’s nothing here?”
At first glance, it seemed completely empty.
No structures at all, just a desolate space with rough concrete flooring poured on the ground.
“…No. There is something.”
It appears differently to my eyes.
Afterimages swelling up like heat haze. Vengeful spirits that couldn’t properly form their shapes.
A child crouched in the corner, an old man reaching toward empty air, a woman silently weeping while leaning against the wall – dozens of vengeful spirits were trapped in this place.
“Th-there is something? You’re saying there’s something here?”
“Many.”
“…These are our, our ancestors who suffered unjustly.”
Im Hae-jun seemed scared, but he pulled himself together with his camera tone of voice again.
─Mom… I miss you.
─It hurts… it hurts so much…
─Please save me, please…
─I don’t want to die! I said I don’t want to die!
Echoes of death throes. Their final moments were melted into the entire space.
Throb. A headache comes on. The resentment of the dead causes pain to the living.
However, for me, this is nothing new.
“I’ll go first.”
“No, let’s move together.”
“Mages are supposed to stay in the back.”
Lee Jun-ho and Kang Hyeon stepped in front of me. The two drew their swords and watched the surroundings.
“They’re probably under here.”
“…Probably under this concrete, the people we’ve been searching for are here.”
Im Hae-jun stole my line. I let out a hollow laugh.
“It looks like an ordinary space. But I can feel very great sadness. Sob sob.”
Crocodile tears.
“Ha. My heart is welling up with emotion.”
Im Hae-jun, who had been filming every corner with his camera, suddenly stopped. The angle was fixed on somewhere.
“Here. There’s a revolver dropped here!”
Finally, Im Hae-jun also discovered a clue. A pistol and around it, rotted and crumbling bloodstains.
“Let me take a look.”
“Don’t pick it up.”
I stopped Im Hae-jun from picking it up.
“…Why?”
Im Hae-jun tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t tell me, you want more screen time? This is my channel.”
“You can have all the screen time. War criminals have a characteristic.”
“…A characteristic of war criminals?”
“Yeah. Excessive loyalty.”
Blind loyalty that transcends religion. A violent structure that destroys individuals for the sake of the group.
“The higher-ups ordered to dispose of ‘everything’.”
Destroy all evidence.
That evidence wasn’t just the ‘Koreans’ who were test subjects.
“…The person in charge here must have known too. That he himself was also evidence.”
“No way… What, what is it!”
At that moment, the revolver moved on its own.
Swoooosh, it scraped up the concrete floor and was grasped in someone’s hand.
A dark figure.
A humanoid anomaly that definitely wasn’t there before.
It flashed its eyes red and gripped the revolver.
And then…
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
のために
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
Whispering voices echo from all directions.
“Aaahhh!”
Im Hae-jun screamed but never let go of his camera.
Good spirit.
“You might be destined to be a YouTuber.”
“Kyaaak.”
He alternates filming that thing over there and me with his camera. Incredibly dedicated.
“Hyung. Let’s get ready.”
“Ah~ It’s vacation but things are getting troublesome again.”
Kang Hyeon and Lee Jun-ho gripped their swords.
This was a dungeon from the start.
Dungeons and labyrinths are different. Labyrinths are rifts, but dungeons refer to eroded spaces.
The cause of erosion is monsters. Among monsters devoured by magic power, those that could typically be called game-style ‘bosses’.
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
For His Majesty the Emperor
“Get ready. I’ll divide the loot fairly.”
Kang Hyeon drew up his magic power. Lee Jun-ho let his long sword hang down.
“I’ll provide cover.”
Im Hae-jun also resolutely picked up his bow. I wondered where the camera went, but he had already set up a tripod at a good filming angle.
“Everyone get ready!”
You really are destined to be a YouTuber.
“Everyone. Did you enjoy watching the boss battle~?”
The boss battle ended easily. It was a monster that had been around for quite a long time, but we were a proper 4-person party.
It would have been strange if it was difficult.
“You all must have seen the power of my explosive arrows too.”
The battle scene editing will probably only favor Im Hae-jun.
Still, since he didn’t faint, he deserves to take that much image credit.
“The subscribers probably learned about this through news or articles before this video… There was a truly sad incident here.”
It’s perfect material for an article.
“Now we’re going to hold a proper memorial service! After the memorial service ends, we’ll have individual interview time and hand over the remains together with the Association folks.”
The content is really substantial, Hae-jun.
“Let’s prepare.”
We hang bells and sacred rope all around the space where the bodies are buried, and erect a monument with the names of all who died unjustly.
We learned the victims’ names from the ‘roster’ obtained from the boss monster’s remains.
“Hyung. Is this enough wood for the fire?”
Kang Hyeon set down a pile of tree branches.
“Yeah. That’s enough.”
Whoosh──!
I lit a fire with magic power.
“Wow. The fire is blue. Hehe.”
Im Hae-jun laughed like an idiot.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
The blue flames spread thinly, and the spirits filling this place gradually take shape.
I unfolded the roster and recited their names.
“Kang Yun-hwan. Geum Seok-hon. Kim I-ju. Na Seong-ho. Park Kyung-suk.”
The other guys closed their eyes and clasped their hands together, while the camera continued filming us.
“Park Chan-hyeong. Yoon Hwa-seol. Seong Ja-yeon…”
Suddenly, I had this thought.
If I had been alone, it might have been quite difficult.
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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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Inurondo
Looks like Astroal’s top pick is Seo Ji-woo. That said, I hope he still follows basic logic and bans her from loot boxes. Would be a shame for her to manipulate probability and rob the MC’s hard work in crafting loot.