Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 309

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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 309

My Happy Ending(4)

In front of the kitchen table, Lee Jun-ho sat with his brow deeply furrowed.

Steamed ribs with warm steam rising and neatly arranged side dishes. It was a perfect dinner table, but the main character was missing.

Tick. Tick.

He was waiting for his younger sister while glaring at the passing clock.

“Ah, seriously, why isn’t she coming. So annoying.”

Lee Jun-ho nervously shook his leg. He had already prepared all the food, but where the hell was this kid wandering around.

“…Tsk.”

Still, somehow a faint smile hung on his lips.

The kid who used to be a snotty brat had somehow become a college student, drinking with friends and coming home this late. A ridiculous story that was both disgusting and admirable.

Ding dong─

Finally, the entrance bell rang. Lee Jun-ho jumped up as if he had been waiting and headed to the door.

“Hey, do you know what time it is right now…?”

The nagging he was about to pour out while opening the door wide was cut off abruptly in mid-air.

Lee Jun-ho’s face froze blankly. In front of the door was not his younger sister, Lee Da-on, but someone else.

“…Huh?”

Seol Ha-woon standing with a walking stick. The former winner of Mitamnan looked down at him expressionlessly.

“What. Why is hyung here…?”

Meanwhile, a familiar face peeked out from behind Seol Ha-woon’s back.

“Oppa! I met Mal-ol oppa on the way.”

“…What? Don’t tell me…?”

At that moment, ominous puzzle pieces began to fit together furiously in Lee Jun-ho’s mind.

Met on the way? At this time? Came together all the way to our house?

His complexion turned pale in an instant. Seol Ha-woon shook his head as if anticipating his next words.

“Calm down.”

“This crazy——!”

“You’re loud.”

He covered Lee Jun-ho’s mouth with one hand as he was about to explode. The clueless younger sister happily slipped into the house.

“Oh, steamed ribs~”

Lee Jun-ho looked back and forth between his younger sister sitting cheerfully at the dining table and Seol Ha-woon. His pupils shook as if hit by an earthquake. Seol Ha-woon spoke to him in a calm voice.

“Jun-ho. It’s time to go now.”

Lee Jun-ho was shocked and shook off Seol Ha-woon’s hand.

“What, where are you going! Taking our Da-on where! At this time!”

“It’s not even 10 PM yet.”

Lee Jun-ho looked ready to grab him by the collar, but barely suppressed his anger since his opponent was Je Mal-ol.

“Old man!”

“Listen carefully. I’m not an old man… no, that’s not it.”

Seol Ha-woon sighed and raised his finger. It was a gesture to calm down.

“I definitely said it’s time to leave.”

What nonsense about calming down. Lee Jun-ho’s eyes became bloodshot red.

“Time to leave? Don’t tell me you’re planning to have a formal meeting with the parents now?!”

“…This bastard is really crazy.”

Seol Ha-woon looked Lee Jun-ho up and down as if genuinely dumbfounded.

Kang Hyeon packed his luggage. He filled his expandable backpack for camping and outdoor activities with items necessary for survival.

Compression sleeping bag, portable water purifier, fire-starting tools, formula orbs, etc…

Now that he had finished all preparations, it was time for the last thing.

It was time to say goodbye to the most precious person to him.

“Dad.”

His father looked at him. No, he had been watching him pack the whole time.

“Well… I’m going.”

“Alright.”

His father smiled warmly as he always did. Kang Hyeon shouldered his backpack and waved from the entrance.

“Have a good trip.”

His father waved back the same way.

He was fake, of course. An illusion manifested by the Labyrinth, formed from Kang Hyeon’s own memories.

But seeing him again like this, his feelings weren’t entirely bad.

Rather, they were good.

Your face that I remembered again today, your voice will become fuel and power to endure the time ahead.

Kang Hyeon came outside without regret.

The decision itself wasn’t difficult. He just needed certainty.

In the yard of the detached house, a familiar back was already standing. Seol Ha-woon, leaning on his walking stick, silently waiting for him.

Kang Hyeon unconsciously smiled bitterly.

Looking at that person, he couldn’t have the selfish thought of wanting to be happy alone in this place.

He was a Labyrinth Person. Someone who would disappear the moment this world ended.

Nevertheless, he was trying to move toward his own end. To send me back to the ‘real’ world.

In front of his unwavering figure, staying in comfortable lies was too cowardly. It was something that shouldn’t be done.

“Ha-woon hyung.”

Kang Hyeon called his name.

A fake who came to guide me personally, restored my memories, and pushed my back to return to reality again.

Seol Ha-woon slowly turned his head.

His own reflection appeared in those transparent eyes. He nodded without saying anything. He stood up, leaning on his walking stick.

Creaking knees, limping steps. Each of those uncomfortable movements was rather the most solid trust in the world to Kang Hyeon.

He was like a lighthouse. Because he would never collapse under any wave, never lose his light in any situation, and always point in the most correct direction.

“Let’s go.”

At Seol Ha-woon’s words, Kang Hyeon gladly smiled.

Whoooosh—

Pure white waves crash and wet the sandy beach. Looking at the endless horizon, Seo Ji-woo is lost in thought.

The sunlight sparkling on the water is dazzlingly beautiful in itself. The sea breeze is blue as if it holds color, and the scenery is beautiful as if painted.

She doesn’t want to leave.

No, she doesn’t want to go.

Because her brother is here.

Perhaps even if someone brought her the entire world, it wouldn’t compare to her brother’s smiling face.

Whoooosh—

Seo Ji-woo quietly closes her eyes. Her magic power mixes with her fluttering hair. Even though it’s just contemplation, her mental state is fluctuating.

“Fake.”

This world is fake. And fake is nothing more than fake.

Seo Ji-hyuk… her real brother would never want her to stop here and settle down.

“Do you want to stay.”

Suddenly, a question like grains of sand settled by her ear. Seo Ji-woo looked back there.

It was Seol Ha-woon. Since when had he been by her side.

“…”

Seo Ji-woo couldn’t answer. He had brought her the memories she had forgotten in this place. He had awakened her to the fact that this place was fake. He had thrust the cruelly vivid reality before her eyes.

“Answer.”

At the urging voice, Seo Ji-woo burst into laughter.

“…Pfft. No. Just.”

Even so, she couldn’t resent him. She shouldn’t either.

“I’m worried about you.”

Rather, it was strange. How could Seol Ha-woon be like this.

You should be someone who wants to leave even less than I do.

If I leave, you’ll disappear too.

“There’s no need to worry.”

Seol Ha-woon was calm. As always, the same Je Mal-ol as ever.

Seo Ji-woo didn’t know Seol Ha-woon deeply. They hadn’t spent long years together. But he was a comrade-in-arms that her brother, Seo Ji-hyuk, had trusted.

She too had spent time with him exploring the labyrinth, and the density of that time was by no means shallow.

Though he was a man with one leg already broken, she knew all too well how solid his back was, how sincere and transparent his heart was.

“I simply make my choices. Always, constantly. Without any regrets.”

Even in a world that would stop if she left, he said he was fine. Even though he was destined to perish along with this world, he said he had no regrets at all.

Even if he was a fake created by the labyrinth, he was still ‘Je Mal-ol’.

That fact weighed heavily on Seo Ji-woo’s heart.

“…Yeah.”

That’s why I have to leave this place.

“Let’s go. Together.”

I am crossing the sea. Sitting alone on a well-made ferry, cutting through the current without rest.

I’m moving forward guided by a compass. Only the faint waves flickering at the needle’s tip serve as milestones for this journey.

“…It is fascinating though.”

My soliloquy scattered, mixed with the sound of waves.

It’s not boring. I’m watching dramas and variety shows on the tablet I brought, and surprisingly, they’re all to my taste.

This labyrinth seemed to be filled with things suited to me, down to such small details.

“….”

But sometimes when I look at photos posted on SNS, laughter escapes me without knowing.

Seo Ji-woo and Seo Ji-hyuk leaning on each other’s shoulders. Scrolling through their feeds, there are plenty of photos taken with me too.

Honestly, I don’t want to leave these happy memories either.

This place is so perfect and peaceful, a world where everything I wished for has come true.

However, it’s something that must be done.

I, no, we must not remain in something fake.

There are no exceptions. This is a promise we made in a world where labyrinths exist.

It’s a principle that must be upheld.

“…I’m here.”

How much time had passed? The faint silhouette of an island appeared in the distance.

The boat had somehow arrived at the beach there.

I stepped onto the road surface, leaning on my walking stick. I advanced again, following the compass’s waves.

I passed the endlessly spread beach and cut through the dense jungle that seemed untouched by human hands.

Cutting through vines and climbing over rugged rocks, only toward where the compass pointed.

At night I lit campfires to drive away beasts, and during the day I walked receiving the pouring sunlight with my whole body.

Meanwhile, the compass’s waves grew stronger and stronger. The compass plate in my hand trembled slightly. My heart also beat fiercely as if resonating with it.

It meant the destination was not far away.

Kate packed her luggage. Being a Power J, she considered almost every variable and purchased an off-road amphibious vehicle close to a tank, stuffing it with all kinds of daily necessities.

“So we’re leaving now?”

Percival, leaning against the front door, asked. Kate had cleared all her schedules and decided to embark on an indefinite journey.

Kate looked back at Percival and smiled.

“Yes.”

“I see.”

He didn’t ask further. Kate gave Percival a light nod and went outside.

In the passenger seat of the car parked in front of the mansion, Seol Ha-woon was already waiting for her.

He asked.

“Are you alright?”

“…I’m fine.”

Kate looked out the car window at Percival, still standing there seeing her off.

“You said it yourself. This world is a world for me, and that person is Percival for me. In this world… there’s no real daughter of Colonel Percival.”

Her tone sank bitterly.

“I knew it too. Unconsciously. That I was taking the place of that child… ‘Adel’ who might have become my friend. No, that I wanted to.”

Kate looked at Seol Ha-woon in the passenger seat while fastening her seatbelt.

“I have to accept myself. Like you do.”

Vrooooom—.

The camping car glided smoothly onto the road. Seol Ha-woon took out a compass from his chest and placed it on the dashboard.

While driving, Kate suddenly felt curious about something.

“But, what if.”

It was a somewhat frightening thought.

“If there was an explorer who accepted that this was fake but still didn’t want to leave.”

She glanced at Seol Ha-woon.

“You would….”

The question wasn’t completed, but Seol Ha-woon looked back at her.

“What do you think I would have done?”

A cold voice like a well-honed blade. Kate didn’t ask further. She felt she knew without asking.

The Seol Ha-woon here was someone who willingly accepted even his own annihilation for clearing the labyrinth.

If there was an explorer who ignored his will and stubbornly insisted on staying….

In any case, he was a ‘guide’.

Whether living or half-dead, guidance would be carried out. Just throw them out the door and that’s it.

I doubt there would be such an explorer.

It’s hard to imagine, but if there was.

“…We’d have no choice but to pray for their soul.”

Just draw R.I.P in our hearts.

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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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