Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 6

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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 006

I Hate Getting Hurt (1)

──One week later.

Mountain Slope Road. Skid marks were violently carved into the asphalt road, and the car body that was once an automobile lay scattered in miserable pieces.

Oil leaking from the engine and some beast’s blood flowed and reached someone’s Black Walker.

“….”

Mage Tae-woo. He looked at the liquid pooling on his feet and lit a cigarette.

It was a traffic accident.

However, it wasn’t an accident between cars, but between a car and a wild beast.

A black bear had charged out from the forest like mad and struck the car. The speed infused with the beast’s unique magic power was hard to follow with the eyes, and the SUV was destroyed like a crushed vegetable, but Tae-woo was unharmed.

There was only one reason.

Because he hadn’t let his guard down.

“Hmm….”

As Tae-woo exhaled smoke slowly, a certain word suddenly came to mind.

“Divine Energy.”

He couldn’t remember the name, but it was something a UDT military soldier had said.

As a mage, Tae-woo didn’t believe in fortune tellers. Shamans were naturally the same. They were nothing but quacks chasing illusions that wavered beneath the shadow of magic power.

Nevertheless, one week ago.

Just one sentence he heard at the bookstore.

‘Be careful of traffic accidents.’

Because of those words, Tae-woo had paid just a little more attention.

Probably a very unconscious vigilance.

Thanks to that fingernail-sized bit of caution, he avoided disaster.

“…Interesting.”

If the illusion called Divine Energy existed, it would probably be intuition borrowing the power of magic.

That nameless soldier definitely had talent.

Tae-woo looked down at the oil stream that had stopped at his feet. He threw his cigarette butt onto it.

Whoosh!

Flames caught in an instant. The spark quickly became fire. The sedan burned in the silence of the night.

The mage’s back had already disappeared into the coniferous forest.

* * *

“Right arm.”

I raised my right arm.

Complete.

To be precise, it wasn’t just the right arm. The blood vessels of my entire right upper body including the chest were glowing vividly.

“Refreshing….”

I finally completed it after hanging on for a whole week. I wanted to exercise during that time, but circuit training alone exhausted my stamina.

My stamina stat was only ‘2’. According to [MoMo]’s stat description, it’s just slightly better than a cat.

I opened the tech window.

「Lower Mana Concentration」Proficiency: 22%

“Only this much?”

Tech proficiency only increases with continuous use. When it reaches 100%, it naturally progresses to mid-lower, intermediate, and so on.

It’s called ‘skill grinding.’

Of course, since [MoMo] has quite high freedom, you can also invest tech points once more for forced mastery. From intermediate level onwards, skill grinding becomes unimaginably harsh, so you inevitably have to invest several more points.

“…One week left?”

I picked up my smartphone.

[ Mr. Seol Ha-woon. We are pleased to inform you of your passing the first screening of Labyrinth Exploration NaN. Mr. Seol Ha-woon will participate starting from the third interview…. ]

The third interview is now exactly three days away-

[ Recognition Level Up! ]

[ Recognition Level: ３]

“?”

A sudden random notification. I blinked my eyes and snapped my fingers.

“Ah… traffic accident?”

Tae-woo had quite an unusual traffic accident.

In the article I saw, it said he collided with some truck, but since it was unbelievable that someone of Tae-woo’s caliber would have a traffic accident, there were quite a few conspiracy theories.

To the public, mages are beings who wouldn’t die even if a plane crashed, let alone from a traffic accident.

[ You have acquired a Tech Point. ]

Anyway, I gained a tech point.

This time, naturally [Lower Mana Manipulation].

[ Lower Mana Manipulation ]■ You can manipulate magic power inside and outside your body more easily.

“Thank you.”

I gratefully put my hands together toward that invisible someone.

I should at least follow them on Instagram as thanks.

Let me see.

[ TAEWOO ]

An SNS already filled with 90 million people. I pushed my sub-account [UDTAUDT__] into that ocean of followers.

* * *

Third round, final preliminary venue.

Main PD ‘Yoon Sa-hyuk’ of 「Labyrinth Exploration NaN」 surveyed the faces of participants gathered on the balcony.

Total of 437 people.

Among them, there are naturally predetermined candidates.

Those who must be predetermined, in other words, those who could never be eliminated even in fair competition, about 20 people perhaps.

“PD Yoon. Shall we start?”

Assistant director Kim A-rang asked.

“Yeah. Let’s begin.”

PD Yoon Sa-hyuk. He rarely showed emotions, and his appearance was as cold and bleak as his personality, thoroughly business-like. His selection criteria were simple.

Exactly three things.

Star quality, skill, past.

Since this program will be broadcast worldwide through OTT, star quality and skill are necessary conditions, but because it’s based in Korea, past conduct is also quite important.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Yoon Sa-hyuk descended the balcony stairs and reached the ground. He accepted the microphone handed to him by the assistant director.

“Ah. Nice to meet you. I’m Yoon Sa-hyuk.”

Clap clap clap.

Everyone tried to applaud reflexively, but he raised his hand to stop them.

“No need for applause. Welcome, everyone who made it to the 3rd round, the final preliminaries. As you can see, cameras have been positioned starting from this preliminary round.”

Yoon Sa-hyuk pointed to the camera locations. The participants’ heads turned left and right.

Of course, this entire preliminary wouldn’t be broadcast. It was to attach insert cuts of the preliminary passing process when introducing the 96 people in the main show.

“There are 437 people here in total. Only 96 will remain. However, it would be unfair to apply the same standards to everyone. Each of you pursues a different ‘class,’ after all.”

Class. In English, Class.

It refers to the position one will take inside the Labyrinth.

“We’ve made subdivisions that you’re all familiar with.”

Yoon Sa-hyuk lightly stepped on the stage. Then the floor panels lit up brightly and letters appeared.

[ Warrior ] [ Fighter ] [ Archer ] [ Mage ]

Korean, or more precisely, the Korean-Chinese-Japanese classification method.

In global terms, Warrior is Tank. Fighter is Bruiser. Archer is Dealer. Mage is Magician.

Of course, there are more detailed distinctions within each class, but generally speaking, that’s how it is.

“Please stand in your respective classes.”

Everyone moved.

92 Warriors, 137 Fighters, 133 Archers, 75 Mages.

Mages were the fewest since it’s a field where aptitude and talent play a major role, Warriors were avoided because they generally had to ‘take hits,’ and Fighters and Archers were numerous because they received a lot of spotlight and had high salary ceilings.

However, in “Labyrinth Exploration NaN,” 24 people from each position would be selected.

“Now choose the portal that matches your class.”

North, south, east, west. Portals appeared on all four sides.

Warriors took the red portal, Fighters the white portal, Archers the green portal, Mages the blue portal.

They weren’t real portals but replicas, though they functioned properly. Once you went inside, a completely different scenery would unfold.

“Well then. I wish you good fortune.”

* * *

“I wish you good fortune.”

PD Yoon Sa-hyuk left after saying those formal words, but as for me, far from good fortune, I was busy sightseeing.

“…Wow.”

There were that many celebrities.

The trainees likely to rank high were Ryu Yeon-hwa, Kang Hyeon, Lee Jun-ho, Jo Woon of Chinese nationality, Kenta of Japanese nationality, Kate of American nationality…

They were all handsome and pretty. There were more than enough people with superior looks.

But among them, there was one particularly special guy.

Kang Hyeon.

He’s currently evaluated as one of the top candidates, but in the fate line I know, he’s already the guy destined for 1st place.

With features that were soft yet sharp, beautiful yet handsome, he was the perfect example of a celebrity among celebrities, fitting the term ‘face genius’ perfectly.

Contrarians like me dislike this type.

He’ll probably soar from the moment episode 1 airs, right?

“Now everyone, please move along.”

I approached the Mage portal. I felt a piercing gaze from the entrance.

PD Kim A-rang. Since I was the only one limping and using a walking stick, she seemed to recognize me immediately.

I felt unnecessarily self-conscious.

“Please go inside.”

PD Kim A-rang gestured toward the portal with her chin.

“Yes.”

I obediently entered.

Just one step, and then inside and outside switched.

The portal interior was quite spacious. It was like some kind of dome stadium. There was actually a grass field in the center, with stands like spectator seats around its perimeter.

“Hello~”

Someone on the grass field waved at us.

“Wow.”

“Whoa. What? Isn’t that Kim Se-jin?”

“It’s Kim Se-jin?”

Mage Kim Se-jin. A man with brown curly hair and round eyes, nose, and mouth who somehow gave off a poodle-like feeling, and as you could tell from the participants making a fuss, he was quite famous.

“Yes. Nice to meet you. I’m high-ranker Mage Kim Se-jin.”

He smiled broadly and raised both arms.

“This place is really spacious, right? It’s my subspace modeled after a baseball field, or rather, a dome stadium.”

Subspace. It refers to a space made of magic power.

“What you need to do here is simple. If you look around, you’ll notice that you definitely entered through an entrance, right? But there’s no exit.”

Only then did we look around. Indeed, there was no exit anywhere.

“It’s simple. Escape from this place.”

Having finished speaking, Kim Se-jin sat down in a chair on the grass field.

That’s it?

“…”

I blinked, and the participants each glanced around with sidelong looks.

When you don’t know what to do, it’s usually the rule to follow someone who’s doing something.

I also followed their general line of sight.

Seo Ji-woo was there.

A woman with long blue hair tied back like a ponytail. With refreshing looks that would make anyone passing by turn around for a second look, and a stylish red coat.

I know her.

More precisely, I know her family.

Her older brother was my comrade-in-arms.

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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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