Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 34

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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 034

Hate you(1)

[ ０: 13 : 00 ]

13 minutes remaining. The end of the tedious Survival Labyrinth was right around the corner.

The inside of the cabin was empty. The chairs we had painstakingly made, the wooden table, even the bed frame—everything had been used as kindling.

There was nothing left to burn now, but fortunately the sound of the blizzard that had been raging until just moments ago was gradually subsiding and was barely audible.

“…Is it over? Did we make it?”

Seo Ji-woo muttered hopefully.

“Hey. Don’t say things like that.”

Lee Jun-ho restrained Seo Ji-woo’s presumptuous words.

I grabbed the door handle of the cabin. It was frozen solid and wouldn’t open.

“Open this for me.”

I pointed to the door for Lee Jun-ho.

“Can’t even open a door? You’re such a weakling.”

Lee Jun-ho strode over and forced it open with strength.

Clatter clatter! Ice chunks fell as the whole thing broke apart.

“I didn’t tell you to break it.”

“…Heh.”

“Oh?! The sun’s out!”

Meanwhile, Seo Ji-woo was the first to run outside. The wolf followed behind her.

“The sun’s out, it’s out~!”

Seo Ji-woo looked up at the clear sun with a bright smile. I easily understood the etymology of the word ‘bright as sunshine.’

Seeing Seo Ji-woo like that reminded me of Seo Ji-hyuk.

Sometimes her innocent appearance, sometimes her serious demeanor—everything resembled that guy.

Family resembles family. Such an obvious premise feels so different to me now.

“Mmph~”

Lee Jun-ho stretched while glancing at me sideways.

“Excuse me. Can I ask why? Why you have that thing.”

He was probably wondering about Seo Ji-hyuk’s dog tags.

“No.”

I shook my head.

The story between Seo Ji-hyuk and me wasn’t something to share with anyone. And it shouldn’t be shared.

Because that would be for his sake.

[ Time has elapsed. ]

Just then, the Survival Labyrinth’s timer ran out.

“It’s over!”

Seo Ji-woo approached with her palm raised. I made scissors. Seo Ji-woo’s face contorted.

“Don’t you know what a high-five is?”

A NaN system window appeared on my retina.

[ You have successfully survived for 360 hours ]

[ ‘Snow Flower’ will be given to the survivors ]

[ Moving to the Waiting Room… ]

* * *

After clearing the Survival Labyrinth, we were transported to the Set Stage.

[ 33 people ]

33 people. More than half had failed this labyrinth. The number of dropouts had increased by about 20 compared to before my regression.

The reason the future changed was surely because of the variable that was Seol Ha-woon—me.

“Oh! Hyung! As expected, you cleared it too!”

“…?”

It was Im Hae-jun. I didn’t expect Im Hae-jun to survive.

He even looked to be in good condition. Did he hibernate somewhere?

“As expected of our hyung!”

“Why am I your hyung?”

“Thanks to hyung, I cleared it too!”

Click. Click.

The sound of high heels echoed in the Set Stage. It was Yoo Ji-in. Making her appearance today as well, she smiled faintly while looking around at the survivors.

“Everyone worked hard. It must have been very difficult, right?”

Most of the explorers who answered had hoarse voices.

Yoo Ji-in nodded as if she understood.

“The Survival Labyrinth is a labyrinth that many active explorers find challenging. External enemies are one thing, but ultimately it’s a battle with oneself.”

I examined the faces of the survivors. Kang Hyeon, Jo Woon, Kate, Kim Du-gyeom… Kim Du-gyeom.

That bastard Kim Du-gyeom survived too?

“Everyone must be tired today, so I won’t talk much. Rest comfortably. As for what kind of item the Snow Flower you received as a reward is and how to use it, please figure that out for yourselves.”

I looked at the pure white, transparent snow-white flower placed in my hand.

【Snow Flower】■ Overview: A flower containing the power of snow ■ Grade: Rare ■ When petals are consumed, cold resistance increases by 1~3.

Cold resistance.

It was an item that raised quite a valuable ‘resistance.’

Resistance varies by character but usually starts between -2 and 2. If someone is sensitive to heat, their heat resistance would be -2, and if someone handles cold well, their cold resistance would be 2, something like that.

Such resistances can’t be easily raised through training, so they’re usually supplemented with loot from labyrinths.

In terms of market value… well, it wouldn’t be less than a thousand or two thousand, I’d say.

“Today’s filming is over.”

Yoo Ji-in smiled benevolently as she announced dismissal. The survivors trudged off to the dormitory, and I headed to the bathroom first.

I had been holding it in for the last three days.

I went straight into a toilet stall, but there was no toilet paper. All the other stalls were the same.

“…Ah, shit.”

What are these broadcasting station people doing not putting toilet paper in here?

Just as I was about to leave, I ran into someone entering the bathroom.

Lee Jun-ho.

Perfect timing. I silently held out my hand. It meant to hand it over.

Lee Jun-ho looked at me with a somewhat displeased expression. I also furrowed my brow.

“What.”

“…This. Shouldn’t Ji-woo have this?”

“Then you give it to Seo Ji-woo.”

“…”

Lee Jun-ho fidgeted with his lips before taking out the dog tags. I snatched them away and stuffed them in my pocket.

“…Were you two comrades? In the UDT.”

Lee Jun-ho asked casually.

I replied briefly.

“None of your business.”

“Why did you pretend not to know?”

Lee Jun-ho muttered to himself with dissatisfaction.

“When you know what kind of person Ji-hyuk hyung is to Ji-woo.”

“None of my business.”

Seo Ji-woo is none of my business.

She resembles Seo Ji-hyuk but she isn’t Seo Ji-hyuk. The guy I owe, the guy who owes me, the guy I could call my only friend, is Seo Ji-hyuk, not Seo Ji-woo.

“What the fuck kind of bullshit is that? None of your business?”

Lee Jun-ho suddenly blocked my path with an angry face. He looked ready to grab me by the collar, but I was familiar with those eyes. They weren’t scary at all. Rather, they were cute.

Lee Jun-ho still had a strong childish air about him.

“….”

I quietly glared at Lee Jun-ho. His pupils wavered faintly.

I said.

“…It means you’re being a busybody right now.”

Actually, Lee Jun-ho isn’t normal either. A destruction maniac, or murder maniac with darkness inside. Despite debuting as 2nd place, he spends his free time wandering mercenary districts looking for entertainment, then dies from a black call.

He’s empty somewhere inside.

In some ways, he resembles me.

“Move.”

“….”

Lee Jun-ho stepped aside. I thought he’d leave, but he went into a toilet stall. Guess he was holding it in too.

“Hey. There’s no toilet paper in there.”

─….

No answer. Lee Jun-ho didn’t come out. No, he couldn’t come out. It was probably already in progress.

“Should I bring some?”

─….

“Guess you don’t need it. I’m leaving.”

─Br, bring some please.

I chuckled and left the bathroom.

─Where are you going!

Lee Jun-ho’s desperate voice held me back.

I replied briefly.

“I need to get toilet paper, don’t I.”

─…Ah.

* * *

Returning to the dormitory, I lay down on my bed. My whole body was exhausted, but today was the broadcast day for Labyrinth Exploration NaN.

I should watch the first episode.

Though it’s actually episode 2, not the first.

[ Labyrinth Exploration NaN ]

The opening for episode 2 just ended.

“The level test must have been episode 1.”

The beginning starts right after the level test. It shows the participants exploring their dormitories.

─Seo Ji-woo : Wow, it’s really spacious.

Seo Ji-woo looks around her dormitory in admiration, but what’s so spacious about it? It looks about five times bigger than mine.

After that, some participants’ daily lives quickly pass by.

“Oh, that’s me.”

Seol Ha-woon in NaN uniform walks along the walking path. Limping, using his walking stick.

“…Why is the camera saturation like this?”

The video is very gloomy. It seems like they deliberately applied a bleak filter, and except for the walking stick, there’s no other sound. I’m sure I talked to myself a lot.

I turned on the real-time talk on my smartphone.

-Is that Seol Ha-woon guy the UDT?

-Something about his atmosphere is weird compared to everyone else

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Instead, the screen time was more than I expected. The scene changed to the library, and someone approached Seol Ha-woon who was studying magic formula books.

It was Yoo Yul.

─Yoo Yul : Studying? Everyone else is resting or chatting at the cafe, why are you alone?

Yoo Yul asked Seol Ha-woon various questions then sat next to him.

─Yoo Yul : Well then. For you who’s studying alone while everyone else is playing, I’ll give you some mentor tutoring

Most of the conversation was edited, and it went straight to the main point.

─Yoo Yul : First, try doing Mana Breathing.

─Seol Ha-woon : Mana Breathing….

─Yoo Yul : That’s right. Try it.

─Seol Ha-woon : …I don’t know how

─Yoo Yul : You don’t know?

Yoo Yul frowned at Seol Ha-woon, who didn’t even know Mana Breathing existed.

─Yoo Yul : Bullshit. Then how did you open your circuits.

─Seol Ha-woon : Just….

─Yoo Yul : Just?

─Seol Ha-woon : It just worked when I tried.

Then Yoo Yul’s narration was mixed in.

──If he doesn’t know Mana Breathing, normally his circuits shouldn’t have opened.

It was an interview cut.

A pitch-black room. Yoo Yul sat in a chair and spoke.

──But participant Seol Ha-woon’s body already had circuits opened. Quite a lot of them too.

-Is that uncommon?

──Of course it’s uncommon. That’s why I asked.

It switched back to the library.

Yoo Yul asked me.

─Yoo Yul: How many months has it been?

─Seol Ha-woon: Three… and a half months? Around four months.

At that moment, I glanced at the live chat.

-3 months? That’s possible in just 3 months?

-Total bullshit lol I go to Magic School, even with talent it takes at least a year.

-That military concept is weird

-UDT has a mage curriculum lol He definitely learned there and is pretending to be a genius lol

-Why the hell are they showing the last place guy for so long, are they kidding me, screen time hog damn

At least saying four months was fortunate – if I’d said one month, I really would’ve been treated like a pathological liar.

“Hey. Go away now.”

Being called a screen time hog made me feel self-conscious for no reason.

Fortunately, the scene of me training with Yoo Yul was completely edited out, and from then on it showed the participants’ daily dormitory life.

Jo Woon and Lee Jun-ho sparred once more, Kang Hyeon did mana training at the gym, Ryu Yeon-hwa and Seo Ji-woo studied formulas, and Im Hae-jun shot arrows at the shooting range.

Such days passed by in an instant.

─Yoo Ji-in: Nice to meet you. I hope you all rested comfortably?

The next task – it’s the Cargo Dungeon’s turn.

Things are getting interesting now.

─Yoo Ji-in: First. The participants appearing on the screen above, please come up to the platform.

[ Lee Jun-ho, Seo Ji-woo, Ryu Yeon-hwa, Kang Hyeon, Kate, Jo Woon… ]

The level test ranks 1-12 stepped onto the set stage platform, and Yoo Ji-in explained the team draft.

─Yoo Ji-in: From now on, you must select a total of three team members.

Wow. The reactions of the other explorers were captured in close-ups one by one. My face was also briefly shown.

─Lee Jun-ho: B-tier rank 24. I’ll pick mage Kim Woo-hyuk.

Level test rank 1 Lee Jun-ho’s first choice. It was somewhat unexpected, but there wasn’t much reaction in the live chat.

-Jun-ho can do whatever he wants.

-He just needs someone to support him anyway.

-Couldn’t he be a one-man army? His combat power is top tier.

-Yeah Kim Woo-hyuk is a promising buffer-type mage. Should work well with Lee Jun-ho

─Seo Ji-woo: A-tier. Warrior Kim Dong-ha.

─Kang Hyeon: I’ll pick A-tier mage Yoon Hwa-rim…

First the privileged A Team was completed, then it was the underprivileged B Team’s turn.

─Im Hae-jun: I’ll pick rank 96 mage Seol Ha-woon.

At almost the very end of team selection, Im Hae-jun picked me.

Actually, this guy had no choice but to pick me. I was the only mage left.

─Yoo Ji-in: Now I’ll reveal the task.

-Looks like cargo?

-Yeah that still cut is probably coming

-lolol looking forward to it

Everyone seemed to have caught on to some extent. Well, the Cargo Dungeon is the most popular one.

─Yoo Ji-in: It’s cargo escort. This task is a cooperative mission between A teams and B teams.

Yoo Ji-in belatedly announced it was a cooperative mission, and then the joint team draft proceeded, but there wasn’t much to see.

─Ji Woon-yul (A12 Team Leader): Yes, I choose B1 Team.

A12 and B1, A11 and B2, A10 and B3, they were paired up like that.

─Kang Hyeon (A4 Team Leader): A4 Team chooses B12 Team.

Only Kang Hyeon’s final choice raised question marks.

-?

-?

-??

-Why did Kang Hyeon pick B12??

-What’s this.

-In places like Cargo Dungeons, mages are usually the most important. So having a mage ranked 96th is disadvantageous on a completely different level than having warriors or martial artists in the lowest ranks. That’s why it’s puzzling. Why did Kang Hyeon pick B12? Especially when the rank 96 mage is disabled and has extremely poor mobility.

-What’s with this essay writer, did you rent the whole place

“Just watch.”

I chuckled leisurely and leaned back. I was quite confident about this Cargo Dungeon.

Whether it was screen time or performance, whatever.

“Hehehe.”

—————
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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