Labyrinth Exploration 101 - Chapter 99
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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 099
Home Sweet Home(8)
“…Woo-hyeon. Isn’t there anywhere decent around here?”
Lee Jun-ho asked while taking out dumplings from his food package to eat.
“It was fine at first. But I didn’t know aerial mobs would appear.”
The owner of the base, A-tier Mage Kim Woo-hyeon, scratched the back of his neck.
“I barely managed to make even this much.”
Kim Woo-hyeon had set up camp in the ruins of an already half-destroyed fortress. He had hired mercenary builders to handle repairs and installed turret formations on each castle wall.
He had some pride in making it well, but….
“What’s that turret?”
“Ah. I get some inspiration from games. It’s an auto turret. It keeps firing magic power until the magic stone runs out.”
“…What about over there?”
Lee Jun-ho pointed to a corner. About a dozen civilians were under tent ceilings. They were three families consisting of parents and children.
“While I was building the base, they just came on their own? They even set up tents as they pleased.”
“…Hmm.”
Lee Jun-ho ate his dumplings.
But that child has been watching since earlier. The dumplings must look delicious.
“Geez. What’s that kid keep staring at?”
Eventually he took out an entire food package and threw it to them. The civilians bowed their heads in gratitude.
“Hyung. Is that okay? I heard those packages are expensive.”
“I mainly bought food supplies over items, so it’s fine. I’m solo playing anyway.”
“Ah… Hyung. Did you break the crystal? I heard something comes out when you break it.”
“Trophy fragments and orbs come out little by little. Nothing special. My fatigue is the problem right now.”
“Aha. That fatigue only recovers when you’re within the crystal’s range, right?”
“Yeah.”
Crystal range. If you look at the sky above the current base, there’s something like a slightly blue barrier surrounding it in dome form.
Fatigue recovers when you eat something, sleep, or rest inside this area.
“Hyung, then I… could I get some food supplies….”
“I came here to give you that in the first place.”
Lee Jun-ho threw a small orb from his pocket. Thud thud. After rolling on the ground a few times, it became half a sack of rice.
“Wow. Is this that orb?”
“Yeah.”
It’s an orb that materializes thoughts. You just roll it while wanting something and that’s it.
“But you have to break one crystal to barely get one orb. The expiration date seems to be about 24 hours too.”
“What happens if you don’t use it quickly?”
“It just breaks.”
“Ah… that’s pretty harsh.”
Ahhh! Delicious! The laughter of the child who ate dumplings could be heard. Lee Jun-ho gestured toward the civilians.
“Send those people somewhere else if possible.”
“Where?”
“Kate.”
“Ah~ I heard Kate hired three S-rank mercenaries, can she control them?”
At 300,000 coins each, she burned 500,000 coins from her own pocket.
“She’ll manage well on her own. She’s nobility after all.”
Lee Jun-ho finished eating the remaining dumplings.
At his waist was a sword sheath tied with string, and his loose martial arts uniform was quite neat.
Kim Woo-hyeon looked at him with admiration, going “Ooh~”
“Hyung. Have you been reading martial arts novels lately?”
He somehow seemed to be resembling a Murim person.
Clang clang clang clang!
Suddenly a bell rang.
“Oh, ah already!”
2nd wave starting.
It meant it was already the 2nd day. Lee Jun-ho jumped up.
“Since I’m here, I’ll help out.”
“I’m fine with it, but hyung, is your fatigue okay?”
“I can just rest for a day.”
* * *
Day 2, night.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeek───-!
“…Ah, those crazy bastards must have changed tactics.”
Yoon Hwa-rim’s base. Yoon Hwa-rim frowned at the monsters’ screams echoing from afar.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeek───-!
“Damn it really!”
She climbed up the castle wall and shouted.
“Hey you bastards!”
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeek───-!
“Stop making that barking noise!!!!!!”
She shouted with veins bulging in her neck. The resonance filled with magic power echoed like an echo.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeek───-!
“Shut your mouth!!!!!!!!!! Hey you fucking bastard!!!!!!!!”
“Leave it. What’s the point of doing that?”
Seo Ji-woo gave a hollow laugh. Yoon Hwa-rim grumbled and glared at the other side.
“…I think it worked?”
The monsters’ cries stopped.
“Oh, you’re right.”
Anyway, the 2nd wave of the 2nd day was ending.
“Ah, I’m dizzy from shouting. Ji-woo. Help me with the 3rd wave too.”
Seo Ji-woo was tied to Yoon Hwa-rim’s base. She had clearly chosen offense.
“Hey. I need to go attack too, you know?”
“Then what can we do. We’re doomed without you!”
Yoon Hwa-rim is an elite mage. She hired mercenaries with decent balance too.
Not just focusing on combat, but even builders and medics. She spent 300,000 from her own pocket in addition to the 400,000 bonus. But aerial mobs appeared from the first wave and ruined everything.
“Still, I need to go outside to bring supplies. I heard you get loot when you break crystals.”
Seo Ji-woo picked up her cell phone.
A total of 11 people obtained this cell phone from premium draws, and they can exchange information in real time.
“Ugh, this is so annoying! I should have gone on offense too. Defense team is way too disadvantaged!”
Yoon Hwa-rim stomped her feet and glared at Seo Ji-woo.
“…What’s wrong with you now.”
“Ji-woo, let’s do it together! You take offense, I’ll take defense!”
“Camera. Camera. There’s a camera here.”
“….”
Only then did Yoon Hwa-rim calm down a bit.
Once you enter the labyrinth, you can’t even see if there are cameras or not, so when things get tough, your true personality comes out.
“Hah… this is really hard.”
Just as Yoon Hwa-rim slumped down on the ground.
Tap tap tap.
Footsteps approached.
Lee Jong-soo’s party entering through the entrance. Three men, three mercenaries, six people total.
“Ah, hi. We need to recover our fatigue. Is there something like a bed…?”
They looked around the interior.
There were broken parts everywhere, and forget beds, even the ground looked insufficient.
Lee Jong-soo gave a bitter smile.
“We’ll just lie down and recover fatigue before leaving.”
“Don’t do that. If you sleep on the ground, your fatigue won’t recover well.”
Seo Ji-woo stepped forward. She pulled out a premium gacha item ‘Tent Generator’. It looked like a shuttlecock case.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
When she shot it at the ground, three simple tents appeared.
“Sleep there.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
The eight party members were about to enter the tents with tired faces when
“Wait, before that!”
Yoon Hwa-rim blocked them.
“Um, could you give us some food supplies? Our mercenaries need to eat.”
She asked with a bright smile. Lee Jong-soo looked to the side. It seemed there was someone else in charge.
Kim Dong-ha.
Yoon Hwa-rim asked him.
“Um, I heard you get loot when you break crystals.”
“Yeah. We do have some. Want to trade for loot?”
“…What? What are you talking about.”
Yoon Hwa-rim’s expression hardened.
“You should just give us the food supplies.”
“Why?”
Kim Dong-ha tilted his head.
“…What do you mean why. You guys need to rest at our base anyway.”
“That’s true, but we almost died too, you know?”
“No… Hey! This is teamwork!”
“So?”
“So what?”
The two glared at each other. It looked like sparks would fly soon. No, they were already flying.
Lee Jong-soo hurriedly intervened.
“Hey, hey hey. Dong-ha. Just give it to them-”
“Wow. This is really ridiculous. Hey. You guys, are you the only ones doing this?”
Yoon Hwa-rim stepped forward as if she couldn’t stand it anymore. With soot on her face, she pointed at the castle wall and said.
“Don’t you see how this looks? If the defense team dies, all the loot and everything disappears! Don’t you guys understand how this works?”
“I know. I know, but you guys get loot just by sitting still.”
“What are you saying! That loot, you have to kill a hundred monsters to get one magic stone!”
Then Kim Dong-ha’s brow furrowed suspiciously.
“…Your mercenaries aren’t skimming off the top, are they?”
“Hey!!!”
Lee Jong-soo quickly grabbed Kim Dong-ha and whispered in his ear. Kim Dong-ha looked disgruntled but handed an orb to Yoon Hwa-rim.
Yoon Hwa-rim asked sullenly.
“…What’s this supposed to be. Am I supposed to eat this?”
“No. Think about food supplies and throw it. Kind of like doing formation visualization.”
“What the…”
Yoon Hwa-rim threw the orb while looking skeptical.
Pop!
The orb became half a sack of rice.
“Wow!”
“Amazing, right? It works for other things too. Like if you want to make a ship-”
“Excuse me! Staff members!”
Yoon Hwa-rim quickly called the cooking mercenaries.
“Take this rice and cook some food… You guys go sleep quickly. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep comfortably.”
She pointed to the tents with a gentle tone again.
“Me and our staff have work to do. We’ll wake you up when it’s meal time. You mercenaries too.”
“…Alright. Thanks.”
Lee Jong-soo’s team of six entered the tents. Yoon Hwa-rim muttered ‘These orbs are amazing…’ and pulled out two orbs from her pocket.
Loot she had obtained during the waves.
She didn’t know how to use them before, but now she learned how.
“Hehe. So this is food supplies…”
Yoon Hwa-rim laughed mischievously. Complaints from Lee Jong-soo’s team leaked out from inside the tents.
Watching all of this, Seo Ji-woo pressed her throbbing temples.
“This really is a group project.”
* * *
“Huff… wheeze…”
Im Hae-jun was almost in a state of exhaustion.
During the journey eastward, he had won five battles and achieved remarkable feats like breaking two crystals, but unfortunately got caught in a trap.
Monster Forest.
A damn forest where no matter how much you walk, walk, and walk again, you just go in circles around the same place.
“…The base is to the west. There are many to the west… to the west…”
Mercenary Kim Yong-tae kept repeating those words. He probably didn’t know what he was saying either.
His mind seemed to have already snapped from the microwave-like scorching heat.
“Ah…”
Im Hae-jun’s legs gave out. Without realizing it, he slumped down on the ground.
The mercenaries were the same. They just wheezed without saying anything, then one by one, two by two, slowly collapsed.
“Get up…”
They couldn’t sleep.
If they slept in this situation, they would definitely die.
“Get up…”
Im Hae-jun’s eyes closed first as he said this, and his body collapsed. His face touched the dirt.
Puff. Sand rose up with each breath.
…Step. Step.
Suddenly, footsteps seeping into his ears.
His ears perked up, but he had no strength to move.
With fatigue that felt like his body and mind were melting away…
“!”
Im Hae-jun opened his eyes.
“…Huh?”
This is strange.
It’s comfortable.
It’s pleasant.
The ceiling is clean, and there’s even a blanket.
“What’s this.”
[ Stamina : 73 / 100 ]
[ Fatigue : 66 / 100 ]
His condition shown by the system also looks fine.
Both were almost at 0 before.
“You’re awake.”
A sudden voice. Im Hae-jun startled and looked in that direction.
It’s a woman.
“Where… is this place?”
Im Hae-jun swallowed. The woman just smiled.
Could it be, a fateful encounter?
Did I come to another world?
A hero?
“You’re up.”
Then, this time a very familiar voice. Im Hae-jun lifted his head to look in that direction.
“Huh? Master?”
Seol Ha-woon was standing leaning against the wall. He chuckled.
“Eat your meal and come to the hall. Together with the mercenaries.”
Then he walked outside, leaning on his walking stick.
“Meal… meal?”
The nurses brought out a food tray. Healthy barley rice, clean water, meat, and even snacks. Im Hae-jun’s eyes widened.
“Huh. What’s all this?”
“…Did you perhaps injure your head?”
The nurse asked with a serious expression.
“No, no. I’m just curious where this kind of food… came from!”
“Ah~ Actually, this is a special meal we only serve to you folks. You’ll have to repay us.”
“…Ah. I see.”
The nurse who smiled brightly got up from her seat and said.
“If there’s anything uncomfortable, please let us know anytime~ Enjoy your meal~”
“Yes.”
Im Hae-jun picked up his spoon and chopsticks first. Swallowing his saliva, he put meat on top of rice and ate it.
“Wow.”
Even this is delicious enough to bring tears to his eyes, but the real ‘kick’ is the snacks.
This chicken leg-shaped snack. He’s always been fond of snacks, but this wouldn’t be out of place even on a cooking show-
“The eastern region was the right choice.”
From beside him, words mixed with laughter flowed over. It was mercenary Kim Yong-tae.
“Ahem!”
Im Hae-jun straightened his shoulders for no reason. He also straightened his back.
“…What did I tell you?”
He spoke with confidence and pride.
“My strategy was correct.”
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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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