Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 97

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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 097

 

Home Sweet Home(6)

 

I was transported to the waiting room. It was a space equipped with a bed, desk, desktop, and exercise equipment.

 

I’m too tired to even take it all in.

 

[ Re-entry in 11:53:38 ]

 

Now for 12 hours, 2 weeks will pass in the village, and then the attack team and defense team will enter simultaneously.

 

“Ah, my legs.”

 

It feels like my knees are torn apart. My head feels like it’s going to explode too.

 

At times like this, I suddenly hate the world.

 

[NaN message has arrived.]

 

[NaN message has arrived.]

 

[NaN message has arrived.]

 

There are many messages from explorers coming through the NaN System.

 

I don’t even have the energy to check the contents, let alone reply. Just looking in the mirror, my dark circles make me look like a panda.

 

“Let’s just sleep…”

 

I turned on the Dream Bubble. I lay down in the gentle light that softly illuminated the waiting room. I used Sequence to flip the switch in my brain.

 

Click.

 

* * *

 

Open World, NaN World.

 

Seol Ha-woon entered a tavern called [Chrome Oasis]. Tap. Tap. He sat in front of the counter, leaning on his walking stick.

 

─Seol Ha-woon : Tavern Owner. Got any work?

 

─Tavern Owner : There’s no work for a cripple to take.

 

“What?”

 

His manner of speaking is quite rough.

 

Lee Si-ah’s brow furrowed, and Seol Ha-woon twisted his lips.

 

─Seol Ha-woon : Want me to put a hole in your neck to prove it?

 

Quite the mercenary attitude. Completely different from his usual self.

 

-He’s got his edge on

 

-In this kind of labyrinth, you can’t show weakness. He’s doing well

 

-That mustached little shit is so annoying for just an NPC lol

 

─Tavern Owner : Not bad.

 

Whoosh.

 

Seol Ha-woon floated a Mana Bullet in the air. The Tavern Owner’s mustache twitched.

 

He’s scared.

 

─Tavern Owner : Haven’t seen your face before. Aspiring runner? You can’t even run on those legs.

 

─Seol Ha-woon : Try thinking that there might be no need to run.

 

─Tavern Owner : …There happens to be one job for newbies. It’s work that doesn’t require running.

 

The Tavern Owner held out a wanted poster.

 

─Tavern Owner : This guy killed an orphan who was playing at the playground and ran away. It’s a request from the orphanage, so the payment is small even if you complete it.

 

Seol Ha-woon grabs it as soon as he finishes speaking. He doesn’t even look at the details carefully. The reason is probably…

 

-Orphanage..

 

-Is it because Ha-woon is also from an orphanage?

 

-Really unique character. He’s such a stickler but can’t stand things like this.

 

-You’d need an encyclopedia to explain Seol Ha-woon. Production crew, make a Seol Ha-woon encyclopedia!!

 

-Ah Howni, this is so sad ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

 

-Why are there so many people gushing?

 

It means the fandom is growing. Even among the same fans, the side effect of cringeworthy gushing is unavoidable.

 

─Seol Ha-woon : Well then, see you later.

 

─Tavern Owner : If you can make it back, one-legged runner friend.

 

In an instant, Seol Ha-woon fired a Mana Bullet. The magic power grazed the Tavern Owner’s neck.

 

Crash─-!

 

A bottle shattered. The sound echoed in surround.

 

─Seol Ha-woon : I have legs, you know. So I’m not one-legged.

 

A gaze as cold as glass shards glares at the Tavern Owner.

 

─Tavern Owner : …My mistake

 

-Look at this alpha male lololol

 

-Ha-woon god never lets it slide

 

-Damn Ha-woon really has a nasty temper, so nasty

 

-Hahahaha we just need this guy. Without him, we’d only have kids who are way too innocent

 

-Pure entertainment top tier Seol Ha-woon

 

-Only gentle kids my ass, didn’t you see Lee Jun-ho? That bastard was a total butcher

 

Meanwhile, Seol Ha-woon arrived at the orphanage.

 

─Director : Yes. That day was… It was evening when the sun hadn’t even fully set yet…

 

The Director explaining the incident. A child was attacked and killed at the playground.

 

─Director : The bullet I fired grazed his shoulder blade, so there were some bloodstains left…

 

─Seol Ha-woon : Which way is the playground?

 

─Director : I’ll guide you there.

 

Seol Ha-woon and the Director came out to the playground together. The perpetrator’s bloodstains remained.

 

─Director: How will you be able to…

 

─Seol Ha-woon: I’d like to ask for a glass bottle.

 

─Director: Yes.

 

Seol Ha-woon drew his dagger to cut out the asphalt stained with the target’s blood, mixed it with magic power, and dissolved it in a reagent bottle.

 

-That’s a blood technique though ㄷㄷ

 

-Is it difficult?

 

-Anyone who knows blood magic technique

 

-Isn’t there any explainer??

 

This was SilTalk’s weakness. While a great many viewers could exchange real-time reactions and impressions, their knowledge was shallow. Even when experts occasionally chatted, they got buried or cursed at for being long-winded.

 

Lee Si-ah opened the community.

 

[ Seol Ha-woon Blood Magic Technique Explanation ]

 

As expected, an expert post had just been uploaded.

 

…First off, blood techniques belong to the unorthodox side. There’s no separate lineage for them. They’re conceptual rather than systematic. What this means is that performance varies drastically depending on the user, and the way the technique is deployed differs too. So it’s somewhere between techniques and sorcery. Setting aside all this theoretical explanation, it’s just difficult. Pointlessly difficult. But the technique Seol Ha-un used is a tracking-type blood technique. This one’s actually somewhat useful, so mercenaries and police often learn it. But even considering its usefulness, it’s fucking hard. What I mean is… Seol Ha-un might actually be a real genius ㅇㅇ I used to dismiss the whole “Seol Ha-un is a genius” thing as bullshit too. I just thought it was typical broadcasting company hype and manipulation. But blood techniques have such shitty input-to-output ratio that most sorcerers don’t bother learning them. You need as much effort as learning advanced techniques, but all you get is the ability to track people. The fact that he mastered it means it was just easy for Seol Ha-un. In this field, being able to easily learn what others find difficult—that’s what makes you a genius.

 

“As expected.”

 

Lee Si-ah read the comment section with satisfaction.

 

·Agreed, I agree too.

 

·Any mage with some learning would probably think like you.

 

Stop talking shit, you fucking idiot. What the hell do you know? lol

 

·We don’t even know if that’s really blood magic technique, it could just be acting with a script.

 

┗Really, how do these bastards live their lives? If that’s CG and manipulation, you think mages wouldn’t notice?

 

─Director: Yes. Please… stay safe.

 

Having finished his preparations, Seol Ha-woon limps away from the orphanage.

 

But then.

 

─Child: Excuse me! You’re the one who came to get revenge for Raun!

 

Small children appeared from somewhere and blocked his path.

 

─Child: We… we collected something too! If you get revenge for us, we’ll give it to you!

 

Worn coins held out with both hands cupped together. Seol Ha-woon watched quietly, then slowly shook his head.

 

─Seol Ha-woon: It’s not revenge, it’s work.

 

He barely managed to leave like that.

 

Neither warm nor cold.

 

Behind his back, a cute shout rang out.

 

─Child: Good luck! Fighting!

 

Suddenly, a faint smile appeared on Seol Ha-woon’s lips.

 

It only flickered for a very brief moment.

 

Soon Seol Ha-woon froze more terrifyingly than ever before. His two eyes walking through the darkness flashed blue.

 

It was a fluctuation of magic power.

 

A phenomenon that sometimes occurs when a mage’s emotions surge greatly, where the trembling of magic power reaches even the eyeballs. It was also proof that the amplitude of the magic power Seol Ha-woon possessed itself—that is, the ‘strength’ of his magic power—was enormous.

 

-Fuck, that’s scary as hell lol

 

-Why did you edit it like some kind of ghost? That’s creepy as hell lol

 

-Let’s not live sinfully.

 

-Maybe because he’s tall.. the silhouette with the walking stick is so cool..

 

Seol Ha-woon, who had somehow obtained and put on a gas mask, deployed his tracking. Shaking the reagent bottle containing blood magic technique, he passed through the garbage dump-like city, and the moment he reached a decent street.

 

Whirr.

 

The reagent bottle resonated.

 

Seol Ha-woon turned to look in that direction. A man was standing there. A giant frame that must be 2 meters tall. Normally someone you’d immediately look away from upon encountering on the street, but not Seol Ha-woon. He turned his steps and tracked him directly.

 

-Is he deliberately luring him in?

 

-Isn’t he following too openly?

 

-What’s he gonna do by luring him in. What can a limping mage do in a 1v1

 

-Agreed

 

-Ah I’m so nervous ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

 

-Kim Dugyeom also got his ass beat, damn lol. I told you not to worry about being right.

 

The target also seemed to notice Seol Ha-woon before long, changing his route to an alley. Seol Ha-woon followed him in.

 

Thud.

 

Seol Ha-woon, who had entered the alley, planted his walking stick and looked ahead. However, the enemy was not visible in his line of sight.

 

A thick voice came from ‘behind’ him.

 

─Assailant: What bastard are you?

 

Seol Ha-woon turned around. A bald assailant covered in tattoos was standing there.

 

─Assailant: I asked what bastard you are.

 

He gave no reply whatsoever. As if the man had neither worth nor qualification for one, he simply extended his finger and fired a mana bullet.

 

Bang!

 

Combat began.

 

The opponent dodged to the side while creating noise, then rushed at Seol Ha-woon again and threw a punch. Fast enough to leave afterimages.

 

Claaang!

 

The giant’s fist was blocked by Seol Ha-woon’s barrier. If Seol Ha-woon had been ordinary, it would have been a sequence where he barely defended against the enemy’s attack.

 

However, immediately after.

 

Instead, a fountain of blood erupted from the giant. Mana bullets were embedded all over his body.

 

“…Huh?”

 

Multiple bullets manifested in just the blink of an eye. Awl-like trajectories that pierced all kinds of vital points.

 

Lee Si-ah was bewildered.

 

─Assailant: What the…

 

Well, it seems the opponent who faced Seol Ha-woon is in the same state.

 

─Assailant: …What the hell are you-

 

Seol Ha-woon places his finger on the forehead of the blood-spitting man.

 

And then…

 

KWANG──!

 

The detailed death was edited out. But since it was the sound of a shotgun firing, his head must have exploded completely.

 

-What the?

 

-Holy shit?

 

-??

 

-How did he do that shit, why are his spells so fast?

 

-????

 

-The sorcery genius is absolutely right ㄷㄷ

 

-Crazy.. that’s high-speed spells. Shit, looks like he skipped several processes entirely?

 

It’s different.

 

From this scene onwards, something is different.

 

Lee Si-ah’s heart trembles. It’s been a while since she felt this intuition.

 

Suddenly, Seol Ha-woon’s beginning flashes through her mind.

 

96th out of 96, dead last.

 

Then he became the typical villain of a survival program.

 

After that, the ‘meme’ called Je-mal-ot.

 

Actually, memes are dangerous images. Because they’re so intense, they’re hard to escape from.

 

Je-mal-ot was also consumed for entertainment on media, communities, and SNS, but through his fatal moves and the Kim Du-gyeom incident leading to today…

 

Now Seol Ha-woon is trying to surpass himself. Without anyone’s help, knocking on the mainstream of the mage world with pure skill alone.

 

-No wonder they’re releasing this labyrinth as a movie

 

-Then I’m off to book tickets hehe

 

-Fuck, from the screen quality they were planning to make this into a movie from the start

 

-Doesn’t next week’s booking start today?

 

It’s a special labyrinth. Even including all previous labyrinths and seasons 1 and 2.

 

Lee Si-ah opened the booking site. The live broadcast had already switched to another explorer’s perspective.

 

She’s not interested unless it’s Seol Ha-woon.

 

“Yongamek Theater.”

 

The best seat available.

 

But the site is already on the verge of crashing. It’s gotten incredibly slow.

 

“…Can’t help it.”

 

Time to show her skills.

 

Actually, most people try to get good seats honestly. She respects those people of course, but shortcuts definitely exist.

 

She directly analyzed the booking site’s API and created an automation script.

 

A method that communicates directly with the server without going through a browser.

 

“Done.”

 

Running the program.

 

The best seat is mine.

 

* * *

 

“…Hey. This guy isn’t replying at all?”

 

Meanwhile, attack team warrior Lee Jong-soo is talking with other offenders in the waiting room. It’s a video call using NaN’s system messenger.

 

─Who? Seol Ha-woon?

 

“Yeah.”

 

The defense team that returned from the labyrinth is actively communicating with the attack team. Except for Seol Ha-woon.

 

Actually, calling it communication, most of it is just whining.

 

About how hard it was digging, how they should have joined the attack team instead, how the mercenaries don’t listen at all…

 

Anyway, the defense team members are mages Yoon Hwa-rim, Kim Woo-hyeon, Ryu Wei.

 

Warriors Jo Woon, Lee Jin-kyung.

 

Archer Kate!

 

And so on, but most are concentrated in the west with only one person in the east.

 

“The east is like Je-mal-ot.”

 

─Why did he choose a place with civilians? He got a lot of votes this time.

 

Kim Dong-ha tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

 

A low-grade mercenary costs 5,000 coins. The defense team gets a 400,000 coin bonus, meaning they can hire 80 people for free.

 

─Instead of worrying about civilians, wouldn’t it be better to spend money hiring mercenaries? Or spend a fortune like Kate hyung.

 

Kate also set up a base in civilian territory, but spent an enormous amount of coins including S-grade mercenaries.

 

“…Ah~ that’s it.”

 

Lee Jong-soo snapped his fingers.

 

─What’s ‘that’?

 

“Looks like he didn’t spend any of his own money. Like a miser.”

 

─Hmm… that’s a bit much. I spent quite a bit too.

 

Kim Dong-ha’s eyebrows furrowed. Lee Jong-soo also shook his head.

 

“Hey hey. Then should we just leave Je-mal-ot’s side alone?”

 

They had already formed an attack team. Lee Jong-soo, Kim Dong-ha, Lee Seok-hoon. An elite team of three from the top 10.

 

─Leave it alone?

 

“Yeah. It’s more convenient to move from the west anyway. Moving between bases.”

 

This labyrinth is a group project with 50 people together.

 

Just reading those words makes it look like hell, but it means the attack team’s role is as important as the defense team’s. The monster respawn will only stop if they destroy the enemy’s crystal.

 

“Leaving it alone doesn’t mean abandoning it, we’re just entrusting the east to Mal-ot-gat alone.”

 

─Hmm…

 

“What’s there to think about. He’ll handle it well. It’s Je-mal-ot. These days he’s all god-god-god. Je-mal-gat, gat-mal-ot, gat-gat-ot…”

 

For Lee Jong-soo, honestly, he’s been feeling a sense of crisis lately. Kim Dong-ha probably feels the same.

 

It’s time to start checking Seol Ha-woon.

 

Honestly speaking, ranks 1-4 are solid. Only up to Kang Hyeon, Lee Jun-ho, Kate, Seo Ji-woo.

 

The remaining ranks can change anytime. Even Ryu Yeon-hwa is wilting these days just for being friends with Kim Du-gyeom.

 

Anyone in the top 10 could aim for debut.

 

─Okay. I’ll talk to the other kids too.

 

Kim Dong-ha probably feels the same way, just not saying it out loud.

 

“Alright. See you later.”

 

─Yeah.

 

Lee Jong-soo, who ended the video call, checked his messenger again.

 

“…Always acting like he’s so great.”

 

Seol Ha-woon still hasn’t replied. He hasn’t even read it.

 

Hanging around with Kang Hyeon and Lee Jun-ho seems to make him think he’s on their level, but he’s totally not? There’s no way he could be?

 

Those two are fundamentally different from us.

 

Most importantly…

 

“You don’t suit Seo Ji-woo at all, you know?”

 

A crow trying to follow storks while even coveting an unreachable star.

 

Lee Jong-soo ran his fingers through his hair and turned on his desktop. He searched for ‘Jong-soo’ on communities related to Mitamnan.

 

Jong-soo always looks so clean and neat, I like that lol How does he stay so neat when he’s sweating buckets

 

Wasn’t Lee Jong-soo an elite Warrior too? He was pretty famous among Warriors at least.

 

Jong-soo isn’t quite at Murim level yet though.

 

There were quite a lot of posts related to Jong-soo.

 

“If I really do well…”

 

Debuting wasn’t just a dream.

 

Lee Jong-soo spent a long time searching for Jong-soo.

—————
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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