Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 64

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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 064

Runaway(1)

From the moment we came down from Stone Mountain, I had been tracking Kang Hyeon. The situation I was hearing through my ‘ears’ was far too suspicious.

Afterwards, I took advantage of Syndra’s gang entering the dining hall to slip out the back door alone, planted a bomb in their car, and somehow ended up rescuing Kang Hyeon and forming a party.

“Hmm.”

We strolled through the city together. Instead of fleeing outside, we walked deeper in. We were hiding ourselves among the crowds, while constantly searching for useful items to take along.

“…Oh my.”

At a magic shop somewhere in the city, I discovered a book called [Magic Accumulation]. It was a specialized text on neural implants. In this world, implants that could be inserted into the central nervous system had already been developed.

“Magic Accumulation…”

It piqued my interest. Not that I wanted to get an implant myself, but I liked the very method of designing implants. Because it was magical in nature.

If I did it right, I might even be able to handle implants with formulas.

[Basic Magic Implant Design Blueprint]

Formulas are both mental visualization and reality. So if I understood how implants worked, I should be able to manifest them too.

“Will we have time to read?”

Kang Hyeon asked while fingering a book.

I showed the book to the shop owner.

“How much is this?”

The shop owner held up three fingers.

“3,000.”

Surprisingly cheap. I also had quite a bit of cash that I’d received from Seer.

“Then… if I add this and this too?”

I picked out about three more related books.

Honestly, I was desperate.

I had to strengthen my nervous system somehow. The more I used Sequence, the more I learned about it, the more clearly I felt it.

This technology was eating away at human lifespan.

“15,000.”

“If I buy three magic stones too, would you throw them in as a bonus?”

“…30,000 including the magic stones.”

Magic stones must be more expensive.

I paid with a wad of cash. Kang Hyeon also bought three books. They were a novel series.

He asked me if I’d have time to read, but he’s even worse.

We came outside and sat on a nearby bench.

I put the books in my bag and took out the magic-treated carbon fiber plastic I’d bought at the repair shop.

Kang Hyeon showed interest.

“What are you going to do, hyung?”

“Watch. It’ll be pretty amazing.”

I placed a magic stone on the plastic and used it as a medium to inscribe a familiar formula.

The plastic writhed and transformed into a drone. Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened.

“This should last about a week.”

“That long?”

“There’s a magic stone.”

Of course, even without the magic stone’s help, my formulas lasted quite a while. Call it the power of talent. My magic power’s ability to maintain phenomena was exceptional.

But even so, without a steady supply of magic power, two or three days was the limit. To maintain it for more than a week, a magic stone was essential.

“…Amazing.”

Kang Hyeon looked at the drone with moon-like eyes.

“What, do you regret not becoming a mage?”

“No.”

I connected Sequence to the drone.

Now everything this thing saw and heard would be transmitted to me. A much deeper connection than an ordinary familiar.

Whirrrr.

The drone rose into the sky. An eye looking down from above. I shared that field of vision.

…There they are.

“Let’s start moving now.”

We’d picked up a tail from a distance. I hadn’t noticed until I sent up the familiar.

How thorough of them.

“Yes. Where should we go?”

I stood up and looked somewhere. About a 10-minute walk away, I could see a suitable sign.

“Since I’ve put eyes and ears outside, we need to find a place to stay safe inside.”

Kang Hyeon’s gaze followed mine upward.

“…There?”

“Yeah.”

[ Armand HOTEL ]. A hotel sitting alone, somewhat removed from the main street.

“It’s 4-star. Not bad for staying a while.”

At my words, Kang Hyeon looked a bit bewildered.

“Follow me. We’ve already got a tail.”

* * *

Information flowing in like fragments from all corners of the continent. Very minute and faint, but by following those certainly strange pieces, he had found an answer. The reason that suspected the outside from within the world, the logic that deduced the elephant’s form as a blind man.

Seer looked up at the endless sky stretching beyond the high-rises. The etymology of ‘endless’ suddenly felt limited.

“What do you plan to do with those guys?”

Syndra. His sister asked.

Seer answered briefly.

“We’ll throw them into the labyrinth.”

It was both the only countermeasure and experimental spirit born from light curiosity.

If our foundation was a labyrinth, how would they be twisted in a labyrinth within a labyrinth?

“Fine. Whatever way you put it, let’s say you’re right.”

Syndra glared at Seer and continued.

“Though it’s still hard to believe for certain.”

The series of battles had been a process of confirmation and verification. The fraternal conflict between Syndra and Seer itself was never false.

However, if a common enemy had appeared—one that shook the very foundation of the world beyond just the two of them—personal pride and power struggles needed to be set aside.

“Can our struggling actually work?”

“It’s better than not struggling at all.”

Seer’s goal was to prevent them from clearing the labyrinth.

Even Seer didn’t yet know what the purpose of the ‘Labyrinth World’ was, but it would be much better than the ending of sitting still and being annihilated.

“Then… hmm?”

Syndra frowned while looking at her terminal. A message had just come in.

“They failed to capture them.”

“Unfortunate. But we have no blind spots in this city.”

Suddenly Seer’s rimless glasses flashed. A message had been received.

“He confessed.”

Kim Dong-ha. He had confessed the method to escape from the labyrinth.

“What is it?”

“WP.”

“…WP?”

“Yes. If you perform certain actions here, you earn World Points, and you can purchase tickets at the Exchange to return.”

The Exchange. A building that had existed since before Seer was born, its origins unknown. The moment when its true purpose—used by residents like a bank—was finally confirmed.

“Then the answer is clear. We just need to capture them all….”

As Seer turned around saying this, something caught his eye in the lens of his glasses.

Under the sofa.

A very small button that had fallen on the floor of an office that was always kept clean.

It looked like just a button, but if you looked closely… magic power lingered around it.

It was a wiretapping device.

“….”

Seer quietly searched his memory. Some past event rewound in the lens of his rimless glasses.

─Do you like alcohol?

Seol Ha-woon asking if he liked alcohol. The moment Seer turned around to get the snake wine, Seol Ha-woon’s figure was reflected in the window. Dropping a small button and pushing it under the sofa….

The corner of Seer’s mouth twisted.

“You were alive.”

* * *

“That’s the current situation. Do you understand?”

4-star [Armand HOTEL]. I relayed the contents of the wiretapping to Kang Hyeon.

Kang Hyeon asked.

“How did you notice, hyung?”

“I didn’t notice….”

I never believed him in the first place. When a person can’t trust another person, they put all their heart and soul into finding reasons not to believe first.

“Anyway. From today, we cooperate.”

“Yes.”

WP is no longer the objective. The Exchange where we’d purchase tickets will be under surveillance, and explorers will be captured without knowing why they’re being hunted.

“Hyung. What do you think the outside world is like right now? The PD and the writers.”

Kang Hyeon looked around the hotel interior.

“There are probably cameras filming us right now inside here too.”

“They’re probably thrilled that it’s a hit. Must feel like they’re making a movie.”

“…The ratings will be good.”

Kang Hyeon made a subtle expression.

Then, several suspicious footsteps were detected from the 1st floor. Multiple movements confused my mind.

“They’re coming up.”

“Huh?”

Kang Hyeon tilted his head. As I came up this hotel, I installed bombs in every corner and applied formulas to them, connecting my five senses through Sequence.

In other words, the presence around the explosives is also transmitted to me.

The price of such convenient technology was a headache that felt like my head would split.

“…It hurts like hell.”

I drank black tea.

Kang Hyeon fidgeted with his broadsword and asked.

“Hyung. How do you think the enemies will move?”

“They’ll try to hunt the explorers one by one.”

We have no reason to blame them. It’s completely understandable. Rather, we who treat this entire world as entertainment might be the problem.

“How should we move?”

I looked out the window.

“Well. We only need to know one thing. That our opponent is smart.”

Seer is smart. The movements of figures from outside the world that occurred in just one week. A man who used that to doubt his own existence and furthermore became convinced of a ‘world in a jar.’

We shouldn’t engage in a battle of wits.

“No plan is the plan.”

There’s nothing more foolish than making plans against a smart opponent. Using petty tricks against guys with exceptional brains won’t get you anywhere. They’re people who’ve lived their lives only thinking about countering thoughts.

In the end, intuition and instinct. With variables derived from no plan and randomness, we need to commit acts that are hard for him to imagine.

“What kind of no plan?”

“Hmm….”

After gulping down the black tea, I sat facing Kang Hyeon. Snap. I flicked my fingers briefly.

Boom!

A small vibration occurred from the bottom of the hotel.

Weeeeeng!

The fire alarm also activated.

In 5 minutes from now, all the people inside this hotel will evacuate outside. Even if this is a labyrinth, there’s no need to sweep away all the civilians too.

“I’m going to blow up the hotel. From inside.”

Kang Hyeon blinked.

We’re currently staying on the 13th floor. I intend to bring down this entire hotel.

“The hotel?”

“Yeah.”

Thud thud thud thud thud. Thud thud thud thud thud.

Presences violently fluctuate in my ears. The sound of guests escaping. The headache seems to crush my brain.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Thud thud thud thud. Thud thud thud thud.

I wait until they all leave.

Boom!

Just in case there are people who are hard of hearing or slow, I cause one more small explosion.

Thud thud. Thud thud.

The presence of people going down the stairs gradually disappears, and instead heavy footsteps coming up grow thicker.

I opened my eyes again.

“Details later… no, let’s decide not to think about them at all.”

Raising my leather-gloved hand, I asked.

“Ready?”

Kang Hyeon drew his sword and placed it on his knee. Apparently, his ready stance was sword draw.

He answered.

“Yes.”

Press.

I pressed down my thumb as if pushing a detonation button.

Kwa──aaaang!

A sudden vertical vibration occurred. A tremendous explosion surged.

Blasting that destroys the hotel’s structure. A violent act caused by my formula.

Fssssssh──

Debris pours down from the ceiling. In the disintegrating structure, I looked at Kang Hyeon.

Kang Hyeon was calm. There was no change in him whatsoever. No fear, no terror, no joy, not even a sign of agitation. His eyes were just peaceful like a lake.

Transparent, yet a floor whose end cannot be seen.

I am reflected in Kang Hyeon’s pupils. Because he is staring at me.

Is he also trying to peer into my principles?

Like this, from some point on, we have been trying to gauge each other. Trying to understand each other.

We still cannot know anything, we are still nothing but unknowns to each other, but I am certain.

Someday we will know.

You will know me,

And I will know you.

That’s why…

The impatient one loses.

Craaaaaack!

The floor collapsed. The hotel with its balance torn apart crumbled down helplessly like a mere house of matches.

All directions were covered in darkness.

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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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