Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 42

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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 042

Believer(2)

The meeting entered a brief lull. No one said anything.

Kate, who had stepped away, was making tea, while Lee Jun-ho and Kim Woo-hyeon stared into space. They were probably communicating through the NaN System. Since they could send messages to each other.

It must be full of gossip about me.

I got up from my seat and went into the bathroom.

“Um… Ha-woon.”

Not long after, Kim Du-gyeom followed me in. I knew this would happen.

I looked at him while washing my hands.

“If I did something wrong…”

Again with the pitiful act, the good guy act. It’s so disgusting I feel like the kimchi fried rice I ate yesterday might come back up.

“I’ll try my best to do well…”

I shook the water off my hands and looked at Kim Du-gyeom.

“Hey.”

“…Yes?”

I have a philosophy.

There’s no need to treat someone who’s not even human like a human being.

“You fucking bastard.”

I started with profanity right away.

“…”

Kim Du-gyeom’s expression hardened.

“Who the hell are you to talk to me?”

For me, this was testing his threshold for provocation. How far do I need to push before this bastard reacts? How much do I need to poke before he takes off that disgusting mask and shows his true colors?

“I won’t say it twice. Scout, if you don’t give it to me, I’ll hunt you down first thing when the labyrinth starts and beat the shit out of you.”

“…What about the broadcast?”

“You think I give a shit about the broadcast? Didn’t you watch episode 2, you son of a bitch? Huh? Asshole.”

The corner of Kim Du-gyeom’s mouth trembled.

It wasn’t fear or terror. Rather, this bastard was feeling the exact same emotion as me.

If I had to express it in one word, fucking annoying.

In two words, fucking irritating.

“Pretty harsh language for someone ranked 96th. Beat me up? Do you even have the skills for that?”

Cracks appeared in Kim Du-gyeom’s mask. I could see the crumbling fragments falling from his face.

I grinned.

“Yeah. Feel free to look forward to it.”

“…”

Kim Du-gyeom looked up at me. I looked down at him. After a brief staring contest, he sighed.

“Fine. Scout. Nothing’s going to change just because you do that. Oh, you know that anyone below 50th place gets eliminated in the midterm vote, right?”

“Fuck off.”

I stuck out my middle finger. My finger touched the tip of Kim Du-gyeom’s nose. Kim Du-gyeom breathed hotly in that position, but turned around without any particular reaction.

I chuckled.

“…Interesting.”

There are no cameras in the bathroom, you see.

A sociopath with a clear purpose is definitely something different.

* * *

“…Hyung. What are we going to do?”

In the conference room after Seol Ha-woon and Kim Du-gyeom left. Kim Woo-hyeon asked Lee Jun-ho.

“About what.”

“Shouldn’t we stop him, even if we have to duel or something? If Seol Ha-woon becomes the scout…”

Kim Woo-hyeon has a weak personality. That’s why he’s afraid of Seol Ha-woon’s military-style unilateral decisions and dogmatism. Without even experiencing it, he’s already scared.

“I couldn’t even clear the Survival Labyrinth, so I really need to clear it this time, hyung…”

“Hey. Don’t worry about the labyrinth. It’s me and Kate. With two S-tier members, even someone ranked 96th could clear it just by eating bread.”

Despite his words, Lee Jun-ho doesn’t doubt Seol Ha-woon’s abilities. He just doesn’t like being pushed around by him.

“…Right?”

“Yeah. So just focus on getting your screen time.”

“Okay…”

Kim Woo-hyeon still looked anxious.

“…Hyung. Or should we just strike first?! Oh, you don’t have to get involved, hyung. I’ll try it.”

“Stop it. You can’t handle him.”

“Why not, he’s ranked 96th. I know lots of attack techniques too!”

96th place. Honestly, Lee Jun-ho finds that ranking ridiculous.

“He’s much stronger. More than 96th place.”

Seol Ha-woon is someone who endured the gunfire of the battlefield. Someone who managed to return alive from the battlefield where Seo Ji-hyuk died.

While he was showing off about being valedictorian of Explorer High School, Seol Ha-woon was going back and forth to actual battlefields, killing people. Lee Jun-ho smelled too strong a scent of blood from him.

“…Got it.”

Kim Woo-hyeon pouted his lips.

“Yeah. Go meditate or something.”

Lee Jun-ho let out a light sigh and smoothly drew the long sword from his waist. It was a habit when he was stressed.

The blade reflecting the room’s lighting. Blue sword light seeped into his pupils.

Lee Jun-ho thinks blankly.

Swords are beautiful.

Cutting. That act is also beautiful. Not complicated at all, just the simple art of dismantling an object’s structure.

The cross-section cut by a sword is like a flower bud. Aesthetics bloom within elegance. Perhaps, it’s the purest form of beauty.

Lee Jun-ho ran his finger along the blade.

“Hyung. You’re bleeding.”

“…”

Blood beaded slightly on his index finger. Lee Jun-ho was tense. Even if he pretended otherwise, Seol Ha-woon was a source of stress for him.

Lee Jun-ho doesn’t understand what kind of person Seol Ha-woon is. He doesn’t understand the principles and basis of his actions. He doesn’t know what happened with Seo Ji-hyuk either.

Conversely, Seol Ha-woon seems to know him too well. His eyes seem to peer into his depths, making it hard to meet his gaze for long.

A person who reveals not even a fragment of himself while seeing through others. There must be some intention behind this trolling too…

Just then, Kim Du-gyeom returned. Seol Ha-woon was standing behind him.

“Well, I had a talk with Seol Ha-woon.”

Kim Du-gyeom’s complexion was somewhat dark. Just from his expression, it was easy to guess what kind of conversation it had been.

“I think it would be good for Seol Ha-woon to become the scout. For the team’s success…”

[ Now then, let’s start voting for the scout! ]

Yoo Ji-in from beyond the monitor interrupted as if she had been waiting.

Yoo Ji-in suddenly demanded a ‘vote’ and smiled brightly.

[ Each team, please write down and submit the name of your desired scout! ]

Seol Ha-woon’s expression hardened, and Kate nodded with satisfaction.

“Now we have to vote. We have no choice.”

* * *

The development changed again. Originally, the scout was decided internally within the team.

Was it Yoo Ji-in’s arbitrary decision, or the production crew’s judgment that this scenario would be more interesting?

After a brief vote, Kim Du-gyeom was elected as the scout. He pretended to gauge my reaction, while the other 6 members let out sighs of relief.

I remained still.

Either way, I wouldn’t trust Kim Du-gyeom’s information, and what I said was still valid.

I’ll interfere with full force.

With whom?

Kim Du-gyeom.

[ All 12 teams have completed scout selection. ]

[ Scouts cannot bring any electronic devices or magic devices with them. ]

Scouts must solve everything with their natural physical abilities alone. The Labyrinth that scouts enter is in a pre-opening state, so electronic devices and magic devices must not be used.

They grope around in the twisted world to obtain fragments of information.

[ I’ll announce the scout list. ]

Yoo Ji-in on the monitor spoke. I glanced at Kim Du-gyeom. Kim Du-gyeom had an almost tearful expression.

Naturally, since the camera was filming.

[ Plaza scout Kim Du-gyeom, Luxury Hotel scout Kang Hyeon, Casino scout Im Hae-jun… ]

* * *

[ 05 : 00 ]

A timer appeared before his eyes.

“Haah…”

Kim Du-gyeom, who had entered the Labyrinth, let out a heated sigh. He gritted his teeth tightly before even exploring the Plaza.

“That fucking bastard.”

He threw off the suffocating mask first.

“Should I just kill him, that damn bastard…”

He couldn’t contain his anger. That cripple who would have had his head smashed in if they’d met outside. Fuck, should I just kill him right now? Should I just crush his face while pretending it was an accident?

“Fucking bastard, damn bastard, fucking bastard.”

Thud. Thud. Thud. After venting his anger by stomping on the innocent ground, he belatedly looked around.

──Wooooaaah!!

──Congressman!! Please look over here!!

There were many people. It was literally a sea of humans.

“What the fuck, why are there so many people.”

On the central platform, some politician-like guy was visible, and behind him sat his wife and daughter. Security guards filled the area around them.

The first objective that came to mind was VIP protection. It was obviously about protecting that politician.

──Everyone! Do you remember what I told you at ■■■! Do you remember when I said I would protect ■■■ from you!

A thunderous cheer arose as if resonating with the politician’s loud cry.

“Shut the fuck up.”

He covered his ears first. Kim Du-gyeom, frowning deeply, walked through the crowd while thinking of scenarios where he could be active.

There were several suspicious people in the crowd. Entities with magic power wavelengths different from ordinary humans, carrying weapons in their clothes.

The objective itself seemed to definitely be preventing the politician’s assassination.

Kim Du-gyeom looked around quickly.

Suddenly, the edge of some concrete building peeked out. It was quite far from the Plaza, but he quickly ran toward it.

“…!”

He hurriedly hid behind a tree. There were armed people near the abandoned building.

Definitely here.

There’s something here.

In other words, I’m claiming this place.

[ 2 : 00 ]

Only 2 minutes were left. Even professional scouts couldn’t find out much within 5 minutes anyway. He just needed to pretend to work hard.

Kim Du-gyeom ran in place frantically. While pretending to run around busily and working up a sweat, he observed the building and the surrounding area.

Since he’d need to run straight here as soon as he entered.

* * *

“…In the center of the Plaza, someone was doing what you might call an election campaign? It seemed like the objective was to protect that person.”

Kim Du-gyeom, who had returned to the conference room, conveyed exactly what he had seen and felt.

“And also, there were people with unusual magic power wavelengths mixed in the crowd. You’ll understand immediately when you meet them directly. Most were wearing hats and hoodies…”

He casually described their appearances while pretending to have observed carefully.

“I’ll draw the Plaza I saw for you.”

He took out paper and pen and sketched the scenes he remembered.

Kim Woo-hyeon was impressed.

“Du-gyeom hyung, you draw well.”

“Art is my hobby…”

He smiled shyly while transferring the Plaza’s structure onto paper.

“There was someone who looked like the security team leader right next to the person giving the speech, and his wife and daughter were sitting in chairs behind him… It was incredibly spacious.”

Kim Du-gyeom described the Plaza’s appearance, the key figure giving the speech, and the overall spatial layout.

There were no lies in this drawing. It would be broadcast on TV.

Kate nodded with satisfaction.

“We should divide up the areas of responsibility.”

“Ah, Kate.”

Then Kim Woo-hyeon pointed somewhere.

“But that person… seems to have absolutely no intention of cooperating.”

Seol Ha-woon. He was thoroughly keeping his promise. He was sitting in the conference room’s rocking chair, enjoying tea time.

Kate shook her head.

“Ignore him.”

“Ignoring him is fine, but if he interferes with us-“

“For VIP protection, let’s place 4 people in the Plaza and 3 around the perimeter.”

Kate took out a pen and divided the Plaza into sections like a pizza.

“Then I’ll take here.”

Lee Jun-ho was first to point to the upper right section. It was close to the abandoned building that Kim Du-gyeom had noted.

“Here, there were quite a few suspicious people here…”

Kim Du-gyeom quickly mentioned a different location. It was the opposite lower left section.

“Really? Then I’ll go there~”

Lee Jun-ho, who liked fighting, was led this way. Being S-tier, he would voluntarily try to take on more difficult tasks.

“I… I’ll take responsibility for this area.”

Kim Du-gyeom naturally acquired the upper right area that Lee Jun-ho had marked.

Kate asked him.

“By any chance, was there a place to snipe targets from a distance?”

“Uh… well… I couldn’t check that far. I was focused on remembering just the Plaza itself. I’m sorry.”

He lied with an innocent face.

Why would I tell you? I need to go first and grab the broadcast screen time.

“It’s okay. This much is enough.”

“That’s a relief then…”

Afterwards, the team members discussed with each other, debating their assigned areas and movement methods, and Kim Du-gyeom glanced somewhere.

Seol Ha-woon sipping his coffee.

If possible, he’d like to slice him up with a sword right now, but he had to endure it.

Let’s just draw the character for patience three times in his head. Anyway, he’s a dimwit who won’t make it into the top 50 and will drop out, so he’ll disappear on his own…

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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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