Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 279

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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 279

Youtiful(5)

The memorial service has ended.

We called out the names of the victims one by one, burned the registry, and brought all the remains outside to arrange them neatly.

“There really are a lot of them.”

83 sets of white bones. People who couldn’t find freedom even in death, shrouded in magic power.

This is how war and invasion are carried out.

“The loot remaining is like this.”

One revolver stained with resentment, a magic core that had been condensed for a long time inside the monster’s body, a long cloth imbued with magic power, and dozens of small magic stones.

“Master. How should we divide these?”

“First, let me appraise them a bit…”

Appraisal is surprisingly not difficult. Magic power flows inside the loot, and the better the loot, the smoother that circulation.

Of course, not all of them are like that.

Some loot accumulates magic power. However, natural formulas form in the accumulated parts. These are called ‘natural formulas’ and are high-value items worth their weight in gold.

Also, some loot radiates magic power. Radiation means there’s a set lifespan, but sometimes it absorbs external magic power to create an exquisite circulation, becoming infinite power.

You can’t do good appraisal by interpreting in only one direction like this.

In that regard, I have confidence. I’m very strong at observation and interpretation. Originally, [Good Eyes, Good Ears] is that kind of trait, and my perception itself is 11.

“This revolver will have the highest value.”

As a single item, the revolver would be the most expensive, but.

“Next would be this piece of cloth.”

“Eh~”

Im Hae-jun shook his head back and forth.

“Who do you take for a fool~ Anyone can see the magic core is second. Are you filming with that camera right now?”

The guy is still holding the camera. He zooms in and out repeatedly, pretending to threaten.

“Be quiet. This cloth piece has six strips, and three strips would be worth as much as the revolver.”

“Master, do you want to fall into ruin?!”

Zoom in-zoom out, zoom in-zoom out.

I ignored him for now.

“Third is this magic core. Fourth is the magic stone fragments. We can distribute based on this cloth.”

“Since they’re somewhat practical items, it feels a bit unsettling.”

Kang Hyeon fiddled with the revolver.

“Just sell it.”

A revolver stained with resentment. It fires curses and grudges as bullets. From the image alone, it seems like it would suit me, but even I don’t want to own something a war criminal used so blatantly.

“I’d like to have some of this cloth piece. It’s good stuff, right?”

Lee Jun-ho picked up the cloth piece.

“The magic power is very dense. Try wrapping it around your sword. You won’t need a sheath or whetstone anymore.”

“Oh. Then can I take three strips of this?”

Everyone nodded. Jun-ho wrapped the cloth tightly around his sword blade. It definitely had a certain feel to its appearance. Like a cursed sword or something like that.

“…Is that cloth really good stuff?”

Im Hae-jun suddenly showed interest in the cloth.

“I don’t lie.”

“…What about Hyeon hyung?”

“I…”

Kang Hyeon also picked up the cloth.

“I’ll take the remaining cloth too. Is that okay?”

“…”

Im Hae-jun suddenly bit his nails. Now that they said it was good, he seems to want it again. Such a simple guy.

“You take the revolver.”

I hand over the revolver, the most expensive single item, to Im Hae-jun, and sweep up the magic core and magic stone fragments.

“Ah… the cloth… uh…”

Im Hae-jun fiddles with the revolver while constantly glancing at the cloth pieces.

“It’s already too late, you fool.”

Vrooooom──

Just then, car sounds were heard. Multiple association vehicles appeared.

This is a mandatory process after conquering a dungeon. Especially when there are this many byproducts, completion reporting is essential.

“…Nice to meet you.”

Three men in neat black suits. Sturdy builds and sharp eyes at first glance. They were field agents from the Explorer Association.

They seemed to recognize us, but spoke in as official a tone as possible.

“We’ve already heard the general details. You’ve done good work.”

“Yes. Please handle the recovery.”

The Explorer Association strictly manages remains like these. These bones would probably be the most valuable if treated as loot.

However, under international law, human byproducts cannot be used magically, so the association recovers and transparently disposes of them.

“Thank you for your hard work. There will be follow-up contact from the association.”

The agents quickly gathered the remains and left, never once acting familiar until the end.

They were true professionals indeed.

“…Oh right!”

Im Hae-jun snapped his fingers as if remembering something.

“Hehe. And now there will be an award ceremony for everyone who participated in this filming.”

He fixes the camera and pulls something out of his pocket, extending it forward.

“One Astroal invitation!”

I was momentarily dumbfounded, but Kang Hyeon and Lee Jun-ho showed interest.

“The person who helped the most with this video is…”

Im Hae-jun looked at me.

“Je Mal-ol! I’ll give it to Seol Ha-woon!”

He hands over the invitation.

“It’s good stuff.”

Clap clap clap clap. Kang Hyeon and Lee Jun-ho applaud.

I…

“…”

I’m speechless.

“Don’t tell me Master doesn’t know what this is either?”

“No. I know, but…”

I accepted the invitation for now. An Astroal invitation. So this is what it looks like.

“Huh. I had a really hard time getting that, so use it well~ Master. Well then, we’ll be going too.”

I stopped the guys who were about to get into the camping car one by one.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“…Huh?”

The three guys tilted their heads.

“We need to build the workshop. This is just the beginning.”

Everything up until now was just leveling work, ground preparation.

We began construction in earnest and built one workshop building in three days.

A clean 3-story building without any frills. The frame was made from forest trees, and the exterior walls were carved from mountain rocks. This was possible thanks to the [Haunted Tool Set] and the workers.

“…Hmm.”

I looked around the inside of the workshop.

Half of the 1st floor is a study, and the other half is a lounge. The bookshelves in the study are still empty, but I’m thinking of filling them only with formulas I’ll personally collect.

The break room was furnished with a plush sofa and coffee table brought out from subspace, a massage chair, and the still-growing ‘snow flowers’.

The 2nd floor was entirely dedicated to a mage training room for studying spells and self-improvement, while the 3rd floor was planned as personal space, though it remained unfinished.

Meanwhile, news articles about this incident had gained quite a bit of attention.

[Labyrinth Exploration NaN quartet recovers Japanese colonial period remains in mountain area…]

[Dozens of remains discovered at workshop site… What tragedy lies hidden behind them?]

[Im Hae-jun exclusive interview: “Details will be available on the ‘I’m Hae-jun’ channel launching at the end of this year…”]

[Explorer Association considers awarding commendations to Labyrinth Exploration NaN quartet]

I sat in the study on the 1st floor, gazing out the window.

The morning sunlight sparkled blue. Flowing like ocean waves. This was a phenomenon caused by mana responding to infrared rays.

Suddenly, I recalled what Tae-yul’s personality had said in the previous labyrinth.

‘Do not trust me.

Her words telling me not to trust her still remained vivid in my mind. And suspicious as well.

What could she have meant?

Yoo Yul is Tae-yul. But could even the her I encountered be called ‘real’?

If her magic involved manipulating memories and materializing them, then the current Yoo Yul might also be a created being.

I couldn’t know yet.

However, she would surely be connected to Labyrinth Exploration in some way, big or small.

And whether I trusted her or not, there probably wasn’t much someone like me could do about it.

Tae-yul was that kind of mage. Compared to her, almost all of humanity would be muggles.

“…”

I stood up from my seat. Tap. Tap. I walked out to the break room, leaning on my staff.

I had wanted to rest alone for a bit.

“Haah…”

A sigh rose from deep within my core.

“Aren’t you guys going home anytime soon?”

The three workers wouldn’t leave.

Im Hae-jun was practically melted into the sofa, tapping away at his game console, Lee Jun-ho was doing push-ups on the floor, and Kang Hyeon was sitting in a chair reading a novel on his tablet.

By the way, the internet worked here too. I had applied for a mana link in advance.

“…Oh, boss.”

Im Hae-jun glanced at me briefly before fixing his gaze back on his game console. Lee Jun-ho wiped his sweat and stood up, saying:

“I’m going to the stream for a bit.”

“Don’t come back, just go for good.”

He left with a whoosh.

“Boss. Where did you buy this sofa? I need to get the same one.”

“…I just ordered it.”

These were furniture pieces I had ordered from Aro. According to him: [The sofa woven from premium mana fiber embraces your body like sitting on clouds, and the solid wood table holds both nature’s warmth and coolness simultaneously, automatically cooling or maintaining warmth when you place a cup on it. Each piece of furniture is a masterpiece designed to relieve explorers’ fatigue.]

Seeing how these guys were lounging around, it seemed to be true.

“The high mana concentration makes reading easier too.”

Kang Hyeon smiled slightly. Beep beep. Beep beep. Annoying sounds came from Im Hae-jun’s game console. I noticed the coffee and drinks on the table, along with snacks and clothes scattered all over.

I ran my hand through my hair. I pressed firmly on my throbbing temples.

“Fine, just go home already…”

One more day passed after that.

Kang Hyeon returned to the Labyrinth Exploration NaN dormitory. Though his vacation wasn’t over yet, he had personal schedules starting tomorrow.

“…”

He lay on his bed and picked up his smartphone.

“I have a lot of money.”

He had checked his account out of boredom and was quite surprised. Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred millions, billions… The settlement had been processed incredibly quickly.

Kang Hyeon moved his finger to check the news section of a portal site.

[Man in his 20s murdered in the heart of Gangnam… Sword killing. Perpetrator remains at large]

[Serial killer? Eighth victim found using identical method]

[Police form dedicated task force for serial murder case… Profiler deployed]

[“Perpetrator is former explorer” according to expert analysis]

Murder cases had been occurring frequently recently. For Kang Hyeon, this was puzzling. It was also irritating.

Kang Hyeon had temporarily stopped his act of eliminating fakes. The fakes he had eliminated had several other reasons beyond simply being fake.

“Someone is copying me.”

Kang Hyeon had that thought. His complexion turned coldly dark.

He exhaled a cool breath and put down his smartphone.

He turned on the TV.

He suddenly remembered the episodes he had missed. He probably hadn’t watched since the apocalypse episodes.

Click.

He accessed the OTT service.

Seoul. Some apartment with a long name that Kim A-rang had recommended, saying it had good security and was home to quite a few celebrities and rankers.

“…”

I stood in that place where the Han River was visible through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Someone whose only lifetime assets had been a phone and MoMo items had bought a house like this.

“…I’m not exactly happy though.”

I wasn’t sure if this was just being spoiled, but I didn’t feel like I was floating on air.

Rather, it felt too abundant. Excessive.

It didn’t seem like a space that suited me.

Perhaps it was inevitable since I was a human with limited lifespan.

Rattle rattle rattle rattle.

Then Truck moved. Truck spun around on its own, scanning the house.

I asked Truck.

“Is that you, Aro?”

Truck raised its camera and answered.

[Yes.]

Aro was also developing. He could now connect his core to external machines. A kind of remote control.

Right now he was accessing my truck and using it like his own body.

“What’s the matter?”

[There are facts I must inform you of. Seo Ji-woo, Yoon Hwa-rim, Im Hae-jun, Kate, Lee Jong-soo, Kim Dong-ha. These six people have become members of Astroal. Kate purchased 30 random boxes and got nothing from all of them, while Seo Ji-woo acquired one SSR-grade item.]

“Is that so?”

Astroal was developing independently. The pace was quite steep.

Subspace itself had also grown.

Originally, living beings could only stay for 8 hours out of 24, but this had extended to 8 hours and 53 minutes, and the area had likewise expanded.

This was thanks to me, the skill’s owner, making progress as a mage.

“That’s unfortunate for Kate. 30 boxes is almost the limit.”

Peep.

A cry came from inside my coat pocket.

Peep.

It was the fox.

The one that had been in the labyrinth had somehow ended up coming out with me.

At the very least, a living creature couldn’t be loot. That would mean it wasn’t originally from the labyrinth, so I planned to try raising it. I was also curious about where it had come from.

“…Should I just watch the live broadcast?”

The Apocalypse Maze had been postponed.

I still don’t know what Bok Mal-ol is.

There were many rumors, but I deliberately didn’t listen because I hate spoilers.

I sat on the sofa and turned on the TV.

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Genre: Reality TV, Survival, Thriller

“What kind of thing was it?”

For the world to be in such an uproar.

I clicked on the episode where Bok Mal-ol appears.

Clatter clatter clatter clatter.

Beep.

Truck and Fox naturally climbed onto the sofa and sat next to me.

—————
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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