Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 291

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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 291

Talking to the Moon(3)

“….”

Yoon Hwa-rim had become a wreck. Her eyes were sunken from staying up for several nights, and her lips were parched dry. But it wasn’t important. My physical condition doesn’t matter one bit. What’s important is this problem.

She had solved up to problem 7. That alone put her in the upper ranks of the mage community. But she was stuck on problem 8. This was a completely new framework, entirely different from existing theories. Could other geniuses have solved it? No. This requires a different kind of genius. A genius with a clean mind who didn’t go through an education process centered on standardized magic from the beginning.

Ah. I’m sleepy.

My thoughts keep getting cut off. Ji-woo might be able to solve it. She just does things randomly and suddenly sees the path. She’s lucky too. No, wait. Such thoughts are rude to Ji-woo. Luck is just part of her; it’s an achievement gained through effort. Her talent is the ‘line’ itself. That sense of cutting through space beyond straight lines and curves….

“I need to sleep… I need to sleep….”

My brain isn’t functioning. The flow of consciousness circles strangely. All my nerves are focused only on the problem, but they keep cutting out intermittently.

I have to solve it. Absolutely. Why? Because right now in the mage community, they’re dividing ranks based on how many problems you’ve solved. The community moderators got excited about this kind of event and actually got ‘verification.’ If you submit your solutions showing how many problems you’ve solved, the moderators check them and give you a rank.

【 Level 7 】

KartRider

Level 7 is the verification, and KartRider after it is Yoon Hwa-rim’s nickname.

“Ah….”

This won’t do. Let me sleep a little. Just 30 minutes. If I sleep too much, others might overtake me. Just sleep for 30 minutes and then….

She laid her head down on the desk and closed her eyes.

The last evening of Three Meals on the Island. I prepared a beef party as the last supper. I thickly sliced the highest grade sirloin brought from the unmanned store and placed it over charcoal fire.

The savory smoke rising with a sizzling sound filled the evening air above the boat.

“Wow….”

“The atmosphere is amazing.”

Both the guests and staff all had genuinely satisfied faces.

The atmosphere is quite good indeed. The torches installed on the hull glow softly, and the blue formula orbs hanging on the sails emit an even more mystical light source.

Everyone went crazy taking selfies and landscape photos with their smartphones.

Since everyone likes it, I feel quite proud as the owner of this place.

“Ha-woon. How’s the meat?”

Lee Je-hoon asked.

“Look. It’s perfectly cooked.”

Meat that was crispy on the outside and moistly cooked with juices on the inside. I picked it up with tongs and put it in Lee Je-hoon’s mouth.

Lee Je-hoon chewed a few times, then grabbed his head with an expression like he was about to faint.

“Ah, my head hurts. Ack, ugh….”

He’s overacting.

I chuckled and placed the meat on plates. With fresh vegetables just picked from the garden and homemade soybean paste as accompaniments, the meal setting was perfect.

“Everyone, it’s meal time.”

People who were enjoying the scenery over the sea cheered and returned to start eating.

Meals are the most important. Meals are the filming of Three Meals on the Island.

“…Ah. This is really. I honestly think I’ll keep thinking about this.”

At Kim A-rang’s words, Jin Yu-ha also nodded.

“Right. An experience you can’t have even with money….”

Everyone stops talking and looks at me.

I focused on my eating show. I focused only on eating.

“He really eats well.”

It’s my specialty. It might be my only advantage from an entertainment perspective. I need to focus at my best. If I try too hard to eat deliciously, it might seem artificial, so while maintaining my natural self….

And so the meal ended.

We enjoyed the leisure of the last night.

After filming ended, while the staff were organizing the equipment.

“We’re leaving tomorrow.”

“…To that hell again?”

The two-day break was over. Everyone’s faces hardened.

“It’s okay. I have something prepared. Let’s go down and rest for now.”

I sent them down to the cabin. After laying them down on the bedding, I deployed dream bubbles. I imbued the softly glowing spheres with sleep-inducing formulas.

“Wow. What’s that? Are you planning to release it as the next formula orb?”

I shook my head at Kim A-rang’s question.

“No. This could be addictive.”

“Hmm? That much?”

“Yes.”

As my magical talent and skills improved, the dream bubbles were also enhanced.

The gentle waves flowing from the dream bubbles stimulate the brain’s pineal gland to promote melatonin secretion. Heart rate stabilizes, muscles relax, and the mind sinks into deep tranquility.

The most ideal form of sleep induction combining science and magic power.

Even the rough sound of waves would sound like a lullaby to them.

“Even if you ask next time, this is just for this once.”

Sleep is a problem for all modern people. That’s why ‘dream bubbles’ could be more addictive than drugs.

“Come on. Not to that extent….”

Everyone chuckles and then slowly closes their eyes.

Soon, they fall asleep.

I headed to the wheelhouse alone. With my hand on the hull, I activated the sequence. My nervous system connected as one with the boat’s power unit. Now I didn’t need to hold the wheel or control the sails.

The boat became an extension of my body, and I moved the boat with my will.

Whoooooosh───-!

The bow surged up, cutting through the current.

Meanwhile, Professor Lee Yun-se was buried in piles of paper. He, who was obsessed with cleanliness, had pursued minimalism his entire life. He was also obsessed with the workshop where he would continue his research.

Given his personality, the workshop was very spacious and empty, but today it was filled with papers covered with all kinds of calculations and diagrams. Lee Yun-se sat like an isolated island in the middle of it all.

Problem 10.

The professor stopped at problem 10. More precisely, he was ‘stuck.’

“It won’t solve.”

Problem 10 is a very difficult problem. Even for him, one of the greatest minds in the Department of Magic.

Of course, it’s not at the level of unsolved mathematical conjectures or ancient magic interpretation. However, it’s so new and so different from existing academic systems.

If that difference were a useless difference, that is, strange, it would normally be discarded. But this problem definitely has much to learn from.

There have been many attempts in the past to dismantle the framework of existing formulas, but Seol Ha-woon’s approach was incomparably sophisticated and beautiful.

Lee Yun-se picked up his pen again, then gave up.

“….”

He turned on his smartphone. The lab group chat was ringing non-stop.

Usually there’s a separate group chat without the professor, but the graduate students were deliberately chattering in the group chat with the professor. It probably meant they wanted him to tell them some answers.

Even the group chat with colleagues he’d known since childhood was the same. They were all elites who had become something and held important positions in each school, yet they were discussing problem 9.

“…Problem 9.”

Lee Yun-se chuckled.

Problem 9.

These guys are working on problem 9.

I already solved problem 9.

“Haha. Stuck on just problem 9….”

He threw his smartphone away in satisfaction.

He drifted off to sleep.

Thud! Kim Jeong-wook threw down his pen.

“…Ah, this. I surrender.”

Gangnam, Seoul, Zephyrell Sect Korea Branch Office.

This place has been filled with sect members lately thanks to Mitamnan and Kim Jeong-wook.

Since anyone affiliated with the Zephyrell Sect can stay at the Korea branch for free, they’re almost all foreigners. So-called ‘voting tourists’ who came to Korea to vote for Mitamnan.

“Can’t solve it, Branch Manager?”

“I was never a theorist to begin with. I’m a practical mage. Number 5 is my limit.”

“Still, you solved up to number 5.”

“…Are you mocking me?”

Kim Jeong-wook was a practical mage to his bones. His roots were originally not in academics but on the battlefield. Like Seol Ha-woon.

Kim Jeong-wook’s magic techniques weren’t for papers but were honed solely to kill enemies and survive. Like Seol Ha-woon.

In that regard, surely Seol Ha-woon must be my kind of person too….

“What is this intuition thing? What makes that guy’s intuition so special?”

“In the end, he can’t match a mage.”

“…Hah~ I don’t know.”

Kim Jeong-wook chuckled.

“The pinnacle of theory actually can’t become a mage. A mage isn’t someone who runs the existing path fastest. They’re someone who creates entirely new paths. Like Zephyral Mage.”

And Seol Ha-woon is now presenting new theories and horizons. His problem set isn’t simple entertainment. It’s not like a cube for intellectual stimulation either.

He’s presenting the new possibility of ‘formless magic techniques,’ which can’t be explained by textbook theories.

He didn’t present problems he found, but revealed ‘the path to reach problems.’

That’s truly the quality of a mage. The possibility of one who creates rules, not one who follows them.

“…But hey, if they came for tourism, tell them to go do some tourism.”

The foreign mages of the Zephyrell Sect.

There’s plenty to do – pilgrimage to National Cemetery, National Cemetery, Mitamnan filming locations, even Han River cruises, but now they’re sitting in the academy lobby pulling their hair out solving problems.

“Still, this is an event that came out after a long time. Since the Imuet Mage’s will 5 years ago.”

“…Ah, that brings back memories. I was a newbie then so I just did tons of menial work.”

The Imuet Mage, who loved riddles in life, left very difficult magic technique problems in his will, and hid part of his inheritance in the location revealed by solving them.

Such interesting events come out occasionally.

“Well… I’m going to sleep.”

Kim Jeong-wook lay down on the sofa.

Screeeeeeech!

The ship’s hull cutting through the water screamed. Every time house-sized waves crashed over the bow, the world seemed to shake, but the mana-infused storm showed no signs of subsiding and pushed me even more fiercely.

“Can you see it?”

I didn’t let go of the camera. There was no reason to. The camera was fixed to the ship’s mast with telekinesis, capturing all of this scene.

“…It shakes but doesn’t break.”

It can shake. It can be precarious. It can even fall.

But as long as it doesn’t break, that’s fine. Because I can get back up.

Craaaaaash───!

The waves pounded the hull like mad, but I set my goal. Once I decided on a goal, I couldn’t look back.

Just toward that distant, calm horizon─ pushing forward against the rough current.

Like that, how long did I spend the night?

Finally.

“…Arrived.”

I broke through the mana disaster. The sea became calm.

“Haah….”

I sat in the chair and fell asleep in that position.

I burned myself white.

Caw caw. Caw caw.

One morning when seagulls were chirping.

“Huh? What! Everyone come out!”

Kim A-rang, who came out to the cabin first, smiled brightly and shouted. The staff and guests also hurriedly followed her up.

“…Wow!”

“We’ve arrived!”

The storm had stopped as if it were a lie. The sky was clear without a single cloud, the calm sea sparkled like jewels in the sunlight, and land could be seen not far away.

“Ha-woon!”

“Ha-woon!”

Everyone rushed to Seol Ha-woon. Seol Ha-woon was asleep in a chair by the railing.

“…Ha-woon. Are you okay?”

Kim A-rang grabbed Seol Ha-woon’s shoulder and turned him around. His complexion was pale white. He exhaled a breath with a face that had become very sickly overnight.

“…Hospital.”

Hospital. Seol Ha-woon said hospital. At that moment, Kim A-rang’s hair stood on end.

This was someone who never complained once or acted spoiled during the entire filming period. He wouldn’t even show ordinary injuries. If he was mentioning hospital, this meant it wasn’t just ordinarily serious!

“Uh, uh! 119! Call 119! Everyone quickly call 119! Tell them to send a helicopter!”

…That night.

Seol Ha-woon was safely hospitalized, and as always, the hospitalization information was leaked and an article appeared.

│[Exclusive] Seol Ha-woon hospitalized due to injury while filming Mitamnan spinoff variety show!│

Labyrinth Exploration NaN cast member Seol Ha-woon was urgently transported to a nearby hospital tonight due to injury while filming a spinoff variety show…. The production team stated “there was a minor injury during filming but he has now regained stability,” but they remain silent about the specific content of the variety show or the extent of the injury, increasing fans’ worries.

[Comments]

─Wow, while other members were filming variety shows, what kind of extreme survival did he film alone?

─Amazing lol Can’t abandon that soldier mentality;

─This guy just seems to love battlefields lol His body gets restless and he can’t stand it.

─The type who deliberately chooses only difficult paths.

─At this rate, isn’t he really going to die… I’m worried.

─As expected of Je Mal-ol. Even his rest is extraordinary.

─But isn’t that almost self-harm level?

─That’s a real explorer. Cool how he doesn’t settle.

─Looks even more amazing compared to the other kids.

─Please take care of yourself, hyung ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

─Damn, from what I heard they filmed some Old Man and the Sea thing

─This guy definitely has mental issues lol

─Probably because of PTSD.. If he doesn’t temper himself with hardship, he can’t shake it off. It’s pitiful.

─It’s also sad.. Take it easy sometimes

─Even if he just relaxed and enjoyed life, no one would say anything lol The 1st place person works the hardest.

─Ha-woon, that’s not the problem, damn it, how do we solve the problems you made? Hyung, I’m stuck from number 5. If I solve number 10, there’s about 300 million won prize money, right?

─You can really see Seol Ha-woon works hard at everything. The person whose body hurts the most….

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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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