Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 57

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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 057

Let you down(5)

The next day.

“Seems there was no need to run after all.”

The Tavern Owner of [Chrome Oasis] greeted me as I returned from the orphanage. He chuckled and offered me a glass of beer.

“I disposed of the corpse. You made quite a commotion.”

I drank black tea from my thermos instead of the beer.

“Do you help with cleanup too?”

“After-service. Since we’re the ones who delivered the mission. Disposing of trash is also our job.”

He was a man with thorough professional ethics as a broker.

I asked him.

“Any other work available?”

“…Right away?”

There was no particular reason to rest. Although I had completed the mission, the harvest was only 300WP.

I needed to move busily to buy a ticket.

“I’m not the type to dawdle around.”

Moreover, WP aside, there was something else I needed.

Real combat experience as a mage.

Real combat is different from mere hunting that involves killing monsters.

Human killing intent and hostility are filled with infinite variables and writhe like living creatures. The desire to survive doesn’t discriminate between means and methods.

Simply put, ‘a situation where all brain functions are invested solely in killing the opponent.’

That is real combat.

“Well….”

The Tavern Owner spread his hand. Several wanted posters appeared as holograms from the camera in the center of his palm.

“Pick anyone you like.”

I mainly scanned through violent criminals. Normally one would avoid violent criminals, but my compatibility was much more favorable toward violent criminals.

One guy caught my eye.

[ BICO THE ‘BUTCHER’ ]

[ DEAD or ALIVE ]

Just looking at his face, he seemed like a nasty piece of work. A large man with flesh hanging down below his neck like tires.

The WP reward was exactly 700.

“Bico. What about this guy?”

The Tavern Owner clicked his tongue. His eyes looked at him like he was viewing troublesome filth.

“…Personally, I wouldn’t recommend him.”

“Why?”

“His name is Bico. The butcher. He’s a violent criminal. They say he butchers travelers in a cold storage facility on the city outskirts, and he’s killed several vigilante group members, so even we can’t easily touch him. He’s set up the entire cold storage like a workshop….”

Though he said a lot, I didn’t ask any further.

“I’ll go with this guy.”

The darker and more evil they are, the more they don’t hide their wickedness and accumulate karma, the more they become my prey instead.

It’s a bit perverted, but what can I do.

This kind of compatibility reversal is my talent.

* * *

“Huff, huff, huff…!”

With each step he runs, his flesh jiggles, and metallic sounds flow from his mouth. Blood seeps from his sloshing footsteps.

Bico. A.K.A. the butcher. The serial killer who had reigned as terror in the outskirts of Rainos for quite a long time was now waddling around the cold storage.

“Huff, huff, huff….”

A space densely strung with butchered corpses and slaughtered pigs. Though covered in darkness and nothing was visible, Bico kept running while constantly watching his sides and rear.

Tap. Tap.

The sound of a walking stick coming from somewhere was eerie. Like a scythe digging into his neck, it chilled his spine.

“Huff, huff…!”

Then, a faint light reflected in Bico’s retina. As he opened his eyes wide and ran toward it while breathing heavily, in that instant.

Crunch!

“Gaaaah!”

The ground bit into his ankle. It was a bear trap made of magic power. Bico struggled while clutching his leg.

“Grr, graaaah!”

When he reached out to remove it, thorns sprouted from the bear trap and pierced through his hand.

“Gugh!”

Tap. Tap.

The sound of footsteps on the ground gradually drew closer.

“You, you damn, damn, bas, bastard!”

Bico glared into the darkness and shouted.

Tap. Tap.

Nevertheless, the sound continued flowing eerily without stopping.

Bico waited slowly while sweating like broth.

Tap. Tap.

He calculated the position of the sound. He licked his lips with his tongue while waiting for the timing. Sweat drops seeped into his wide-open eyes.

Tap. Tap.

Now!

He threw the butcher knife.

Thunk. The sound of it embedding into something was heard. It was a pleasant resonance. Bico grinned wickedly.

“Got, got you, got you! You, you bastard!”

“…Pfft.”

Making his joy meaningless, a dry sneer flowed from the other side.

The darkness lifted and sharp blue eyes flashed. A piercing gaze that seemed to penetrate the heart. Bico trembled all over.

“So you can cut through magic power too. That wasn’t a lie.”

He muttered as if impressed. The butcher knife was embedded in the barrier. This much could slice through even a warrior’s body like cutting radish.

“Who, who are, you….”

“Guys like you all say the same thing.”

He gripped the butcher knife in the air with a reverse grip. He intended to drive it straight into his face.

“….”

However, Bico was already bleeding and dying. Dozens of bullets embedded in his belly and the trap that had swallowed his ankle were evidence of his death sentence.

Seol Ha-woon put down the butcher knife. There was no need to dirty his own hands further.

He turned around, leaving Bico behind.

“Where, where are you going…!”

Bico stammers his words. He’s cunning and smart, but doesn’t seem to have high EQ. If one dug into his inner thoughts, there would be some story.

However, there’s no human without a story.

“Where, where… take me, take me too!”

Bico crawled on the floor while caught in the bear trap. Seol Ha-woon placed his hand on the wall as he left the cold storage.

Hiss. Magic power sparked like electricity, and bright blue formulas spread across the entire storage door.

Crackle….

The cold energy of magic power arose. Frost spread rapidly, freezing both inside and outside.

Bico would become a frozen human inside here.

I don’t feel even a bit of sympathy.

He’s a Labyrinth Person, but he’s such scum that freezing to death would be a good end for him.

[ Wanted Criminal Elimination ]

■ WP + 700

* * *

Jeka, the owner of Chrome Oasis, has been benefiting from a mage who appeared out of nowhere recently.

“What the hell does that guy do?”

“I don’t know the details.”

Name: Ha-woon. Gender: Male. Job Class: Mage. All other information unknown.

He hunted wanted criminals for five days. He tracked down and killed only serial killers and human trash that were troublesome even in Rainos. Thanks to him, there’s been quite a lot of talk about him in the city lately.

“Strange guy. Seems like he only picks jobs that don’t pay well.”

Jeka nodded at the runner’s words.

Besides hunting vicious criminals and bounty hunting, there are plenty of profitable requests. Yet he’s a man who strangely obsesses over criminals.

“Jeka. You know what?”

Another runner said while fiddling with his beer mug.

“Similar things are happening in the Eastern Region too.”

“Eastern Region?”

“Yeah. Some guys using swords came and are causing a stir… Their names are also two or three characters long.”

“…Is that so.”

Jeka brushed it off as nothing special. Strange things always happen in the Labyrinth. That’s just how this world is.

Clang.

Just then, the door opened. The runner who looked that way first chuckled.

“It’s the corporation. They’re amazing at finding people. You making bank, Jeka?”

People wearing sunglasses, clearly from downtown.

“Making bank my ass. Have you ever seen me take a percentage?”

Jeka always goes case by case. He only takes fees in absolute values. His mindset is that taking too much leads to trouble.

“Come on. Corporations give brokers separate rewards.”

“Well, that’s… network maintenance costs.”

Meanwhile, two suited men wearing gas masks sat at the counter. Jeka asked them.

“What can I do for you?”

They asked while removing their gas masks.

“I heard there’s a decent mage around here.”

* * *

Hunting criminals was easy. Of course, I did encounter a few guys stronger than my ‘usual’ self, but thanks to my innate Karma, it wasn’t difficult to handle.

It’s probably the unique difficulty adjustment of [Labyrinth Exploration].

The saying “the world is vast and there are many masters” doesn’t apply in the Labyrinth. Because the Labyrinth is a limited space.

There’s a high probability that my current level is in the upper ranks even from a world-wide perspective.

Anyway, the WP I earned rolling around for a week was 5,000.

I earned quite a bit if you could call it that, but I needed much more.

Even more than the 10,000 WP price of the ticket.

【Carefully Cultivated Tea Leaves】■ Grade: Rare■ Description: Tea leaves carefully grown in a good garden.

This is the tea leaf sack I received from the Orphanage Director. It weighs almost 10kg, and to bring this to the original world.

[ Spend 1,000 WP to store in inventory. ]

I have to invest WP like this.

If I’m too greedy, I’ll end up like a monkey clutching a banana in a hole, but there were that many tempting items.

Besides this tea leaf sack.

【Snack Box】■ Grade: Rare■ Description: Refines ingredients into various flavored snacks. All toxins from the original ingredients are removed.

This is a box-shaped item I looted from some criminal.

If you put ingredients in here, they’re all refined into snacks. Any ingredient works. Rotten, soft, melted – it turns everything into snacks.

It even removes toxins, so it’s an item that would double, no, triple or quadruple survival chances in emergency situations.

The required WP is similarly 1,000.

【Pony Projector】■ Grade: Rare■ Description: Can summon a pony by inputting magic power. The pony is maintained for a short time, and requires 24 hours of magic charging after one use.

Next is the Pony Projector.

The design looks like a car key, but when you inject magic power and turn it on, it projects a beam and summons a pony.

I found this through network shopping. I asked the Chrome Oasis Tavern Owner to place a proxy order.

This one is also 1,000 WP.

These three items alone consume 3,000 WP.

So now I was thinking I should probably aim for a big score rather than bounty hunting, when.

“Would you like to take on a new job?”

The Tavern Owner asked with good timing. I silently sipped my black tea. It was a gesture telling him to continue.

“Word about you has been going around lately. The corporation came looking.”

Then he handed me some documents.

“…Corporation?”

“Yeah. Mages like you are always the talent corporations are looking for.”

I took the documents.

[ Estin Corporation’s Proposal ]

■ WP 3,000

A 3,000 WP Quest. They say they’ll tell me the detailed mission content when we meet, but it’s much more than beating up five vicious criminals.

“Think it over and go check it out. You’ll be able to earn more than catching trash here.”

“…Right.”

There’s no need to hesitate or think it over.

I immediately stood up from my seat.

“Mage sir.”

Jeka called out to me as I was about to leave. He seemed a bit regretful.

“If you go this time, I don’t think I’ll see you for a long time. Where are you from? Do you have an island in the Outer Sea or something?”

Outer Sea. Outer Waters.

Does this world call beyond the Labyrinth that?

“It’s nothing special. Just curious.”

Jeka was a man with a lot of curiosity. It was probably a broker’s typical personal information question.

“…It’s better that you don’t know.”

That’s all I answered.

Your world is a labyrinth. You’re not real, just a byproduct that will disappear with the Labyrinth.

Sometimes, the truth is painful enough to not want to accept.

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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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