Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 30

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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 030

Snow Flower(5)

The first broadcast of 「Labyrinth Exploration NaN」. The day that quite a lot of the public anticipated and core fans desperately awaited.

Lee Si-ah sat in front of the TV, calming her pounding heart. She had set up a laptop and tablet beside her.

[ What pizza today? Do-re-mi pizza~ ]

“Hurry up.”

Don’t give me that chicken pizza nonsense. I have no intention of eating while watching. It’ll just ruin my concentration.

After about 5 more minutes of commercials passed.

[ With your hands, select the nation’s explorers. ]

[ The world’s first labyrinth conquest, explorer audition program. ]

[ Labyrinth Exploration Now and Never ]

[ Now, the first page opens. ]

Finally, the live broadcast began. Lee Si-ah clenched both fists tightly.

The opening started with Yoo Ji-in first. She stood on a stage with majestic mist flowing around her, looking at the camera with a smile.

──Hello, everyone. I’m Yoo Ji-in, mentor to the explorers.

Against a black background, blue particles faintly floated around her.

──From today, you will meet explorers with unlimited potential.

When Yoo Ji-in gestured lightly, the particles transformed into crystals that sparkled.

──They will explore the depths of the labyrinth, fight the labyrinth’s mysteries, seize victory, experience defeat, and show you everything they have.

The faces of explorers appeared within the blue, transparent crystals. Kang Hyeon, Lee Jun-ho, Seo Ji-woo, Ryu Yeon-hwa, Jo Woon, Kate… They were all familiar faces to Lee Si-ah.

──From now on, please watch the fierce competitive stage that will unfold here.

The screen focused on Yoo Ji-in again.

Her expression became a bit more serious, and she spoke in a lower voice.

──And remember. Your heartfelt support will determine the explorers’ futures.

The crystals shone brilliantly. The faces of all 96 explorers flashed across the bright blue surface.

──Then…

With Yoo Ji-in’s smile, the screen gradually blurred,

──Let’s begin.

The opening ended.

The following scene was the set stage with 96 chairs arranged.

─Wow. Amazing.

─It’s huge. Ah, those are the chairs.

The first appearance was two people, a man and woman.

If it’s a tradition of the Labyrinth Exploration series, the first participants to appear are usually nothing special.

─Your name is Lee Dong-hyuk…

─Yes. I’m Lee Dong-hyuk. I’m 22 years old.

─Ah. I’m 23. I’m Kim Yoon-seo. It’s a bit awkward, right?

─Ahaha, yes. I know you, Kim Yoon-seo.

─Oh really?

─Yes. You’re a mage, right? You do YouTube?

While they were having trivial conversation, the screen immediately changed.

A passage in the set stage. Kang Hyeon was walking through it with heavy steps.

[ Unaffiliated Kang Hyeon ]

Along with the subtitle, Kang Hyeon’s third preliminary video appeared as an insert.

The scene of him perfectly completing the warrior preliminary and receiving high praise from the staff.

─Wow.

─Wow.

Kang Hyeon, who inspired admiration with his appearance alone, sat in a chair without hesitation.

[ 10th place ]

He was being modest.

“He is handsome though.”

Then four other unaffiliated explorers entered, but Lee Si-ah wasn’t particularly interested. They looked like school kids. They all got intimidated as soon as they saw Kang Hyeon and couldn’t say anything.

Tap──.

Suddenly, an unusual sound mixed into the audio. Lee Si-ah’s ears perked up.

A camera angle moving from bottom to top.

Tap.

Tap.

A walking stick struck the set stage. Long legs limped. The screen moved up a bit more, revealing a long-haired face.

It was Seol Ha-woon!

─Ah~ That person made it too.

─Do you know him?

─I saw him during the mage preliminaries.

The participants chattered about him, and Lee Si-ah’s heart pounded.

He was exactly as she’d seen in the still photos.

A person with a strange decadent beauty. Someone whose eyes were somehow deep and dark, and though it’s a cliché expression, seemed like a man who would harbor some sad secret.

[ Seol Ha-woon ]

He sat right next to Kang Hyeon in 11th place. Unlike the other explorers who had distanced themselves to avoid Kang Hyeon.

──Participant Seol Ha-woon. He wasn’t bad. He has talent.

He also had an insert cut. It was an evaluation from the high-ranker mage Kim Se-jin, who was in charge of the 3rd preliminary round.

──Above all else, that person’s technique is…

The footage from the 3rd preliminary round faintly came to mind, but it cut off in the middle. It was editing deliberately designed to leave viewers wanting more.

“What? Show me more.”

Then famous explorers from various agencies appeared.

Lee Jun-ho climbing relentlessly to take 1st place, mages Seo Ji-woo and Ryu Yeon-hwa who already had solid recognition, American golden spoon Kate, Jo Woon from China, and so on.

Before long, all 96 spots were filled.

Then Yoo Ji-in appeared again.

──Now we will begin the level test.

The level test is a Straight Line Maze. All 96 people enter the same labyrinth simultaneously to be ranked.

─Ah~~

─Ah, I didn’t warm up properly today.

The explorers’ reactions were varied. Some laid groundwork, others smiled with anticipation, or froze up with nervousness.

Suddenly the camera zoomed in somewhere.

Seol Ha-woon and Kang Hyeon.

Seol Ha-woon asked Kang Hyeon.

─Are you confident?

Informal speech. You might think they knew each other, but looking at Kang Hyeon’s reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case.

─I just have to try. Are you alright, Seol Ha-woon?

Kang Hyeon glanced at Seol Ha-woon’s leg.

Seol Ha-woon smiled leisurely and countered.

─I gained something in exchange for what I lost. It means I’m fine even with my leg like this.

Was it a battle of wills?

Or groundwork to become friends with each other?

──Everyone please get ready.

Meanwhile, the level test began.

All 96 explorers were transported to the same labyrinth, and from this point on, Lee Jun-ho had the most screen time.

─It’s goblins.

Lee Jun-ho discovered the goblins, smirked, and charged. Sword light flashed in the darkness. The goblins’ heads fell helplessly like ice cream cones.

Lee Jun-ho ran like he was sprinting in track and field. Even when he hit traps, he endured with his body or cut through them.

Swift blade cutting through chaos.

After that, the perspective switched, and between segments of famous participants like Ryu Yeon-hwa, Kang Hyeon, Seo Ji-woo, and Yoon Hwa-rim, less famous participants were interspersed like side branches.

And.

─Tap. Tap.

Again, that familiar sound returned.

Seol Ha-woon. The man with the walking stick stopped as soon as he spotted goblins. He immediately crouched and aimed at the goblins with his finger.

Bang.

An actual Mana Bullet was fired. It was the same technique from his 1-minute self-introduction video.

He killed three goblins, then climbed up using wire to survey the labyrinth.

─Found it.

The words “found it.” His subsequent development matched his words.

Seol Ha-woon didn’t trigger a single trap, nor was his presence detected by goblins. He avoided combat as much as possible. More precisely, he resolved situations without initiating combat. Among dozens of goblins, perhaps only the very first one properly saw his face.

They all died from Mana Bullets fired from long range.

─….

He arrived at the passage.

The final path swarming with goblins. A stage where combat was inevitable, quite difficult for a limping mage.

Lee Si-ah focused as if watching a movie.

How would Seol Ha-woon solve this? What would he show?

─Scatter.

He first released his technique. A mist-like current extinguished all the torches in the passage.

─…Intent Concealment.

Immediately after, he quietly murmured and walked without any sound.

Even tapping his walking stick made no echo. His footsteps were the same.

An extremely precise Presence Elimination Technique.

What came next was even more unexpected. He pulled out a military dagger from his back pocket.

In other words, close combat.

Moving stealthily forward, he stabbed a goblin in the back. The goblin, pierced through a vital point, died instantly. It was swept away without even letting out a death cry.

“Wow…”

From the viewer’s perspective, it was tension like watching a spy thriller.

Lee Si-ah swallowed and turned on Labyrinth Exploration’s [Real-time Talk].

-Wasn’t he a mage? He’s stabbing them to death with a knife

-So much for being UDT lololol

-That’s a presence elimination technique. It’s pretty difficult

-He’s limping but killing them all.

-Why are the goblins dying so easily? Don’t they usually make a lot of noise? They’re not even screaming, is this fake?

Seol Ha-woon, who had turned the passage into a mass grave before long, soon reached the treasure room.

But before opening the door, he first set up traps, and that meticulousness shone once more. The goblin guard protecting the treasure got caught in the wire trap and had its lower body blown away.

Kwaaaaang!

-That person is really ruthless,,

-He’s limping. Since he’s a mage, one mistake means game over.

-You gotta prepare to an almost excessive degree to survive lol I like it though?

Right then, the time taken appeared as subtitles.

[ 2: 55: 15 ]

“…2 hours 55 minutes?”

Lee Si-ah tilted her head for a moment. She was sure Lee Jun-ho had taken about 15 minutes to get this far.

The real-time chat was already in chaos.

-2 hours 55 minutes?

-What?

-That took fucking forever, didn’t it? hahahaha

-He has no choice but to be slow;; He can’t move one leg..

-No but still, 3 hours is way too much lol what’s with the editing trick? Looks like it was done in 30 minutes

While Lee Si-ah was stunned, it switched back to Kang Hyeon’s perspective.

[ 23 : 15 ]

23rd minute. Similarly, Kang Hyeon, who had dealt with the Goblin Guard in the treasure room, caught his breath and picked up the loot. Then, as he trudged out, an incident occurred.

─Ugh, uwaah!

He fell right into a trap beneath the door.

It wasn’t just Kang Hyeon.

From elite explorers like Lee Jun-ho, Ryu Yeon-hwa, and Seo Ji-woo, to everyone whose names I barely knew, they all fell into the exact same trap.

─Aaaaah!

─Urgh!

They plummeted through the gaping floor. In the underground where they fell, goblins were swarming everywhere.

Keruk kerruk!

Kerreeek!

Surrounded by the horde, each explorer faced them in their own way.

Lee Jun-ho was particularly spectacular. He actually seemed to enjoy this situation, laughing as he swung his sword. Like a blender, he sliced through everything in all directions. An air gun shot by one goblin struck his shoulder, but he didn’t care at all. He simply took another step forward and severed its neck.

─This is fun.

Lee Jun-ho let his sword hang down.

The scene where goblins’ limbs were scattered and strewn about. Blood dripped from the sword tip like raindrops, drop by drop.

…The perspective changed again.

An angle of hands picking up a teacup as loot. This time it’s Seol Ha-woon again.

Having similarly retrieved the loot, he paused as he tried to go outside.

-…

He silently stares at the door. For quite a while, meaningfully.

It’s a slightly different reaction from the other explorers. A silence that makes observers anticipate something.

“Could it be?”

Lee Si-ah’s eyes widened.

Seol Ha-woon had seen through every trap so far. Then perhaps, this time too…?

-Ha.

Seol Ha-woon smiled. As if he had figured something out!

He picked up a stone from the ground and infused it with magic power. Swish. Blue magic power flowed from his palm.

Thud.

He placed the stone where the original loot had been. Then he looked back at the exit again.

─Correct.

What could be correct? Seol Ha-woon murmured quietly and walked majestically toward the exit.

Gulp.

Lee Si-ah swallowed.

Step. Step.

His limping gait was slow motion itself, and in the mysterious tension, he… safely left the treasure room.

The trap that had swallowed all the other explorers didn’t activate. It didn’t exist for him alone.

──Kim Se-jin : Mage Seol Ha-woon is the only one… the only mage who got the ‘perfect answer’ to the advanced magic technique I devised.

High-ranker Kim Se-jin’s interview, which had been cut off earlier, finally continued.

The pieces fit together like a puzzle.

──He has flexible thinking. He meticulously doubts any problem and thoroughly breaks it down. His ability to grasp magic techniques comprehensively is outstanding. Not to mention his intuition for seeing through the flow of magic power.

Seol Ha-woon’s third preliminary round footage of escaping from the grass field and subspace plays briefly.

All mages focused only on the grass field, but Seol Ha-woon alone paid attention to Kim Se-jin’s position, eventually discovering the truth of ‘center of gravity’ and escaping differently.

──However, he has fewer achievements compared to other mages. He lacks experience as a mage. His irreparably damaged leg is too unfortunate a penalty.

Tap. Tap.

The screen returned again.

A man walking alone with his walking stick, exiting the labyrinth without a hair’s worth of injury.

──He’s always someone who needs more time. So he’s slow. Slow, but very smart.

In the empty labyrinth, his final results appeared.

[ Times Hit 0 ]

[ Trap Exposure 0 ]

Perfect results, not allowing a single hit and not falling for a single trap.

[ Time Taken : 3 hours 22 minutes 13 seconds ]

However, the slowest speed among all 96 people.

──…A slow genius. That’s how I’d like to describe the mage called Seol Ha-woon.

As Lee Si-ah had expected, Seol Ha-woon was a character far too removed from ordinary.

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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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