Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 320

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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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320. Playing Dead

Turtle Breathing Technique.

It was a combination of unfamiliar words I was hearing for the first time, yet strangely it didn’t feel unfamiliar.

It was like meeting someone who had been a regular convenience store part-timer in a previous life after reincarnation, unable to look away due to a strange sense of déjà vu.

‘What is it? What was it? I know this, don’t I?’

Serena’s mind felt ticklish. While Serena focused on the ticklish sense of déjà vu, others were curious about the meaning of the unfamiliar term.

“Turtle Breathing Technique? What’s that? Do you know, Young Master and Count?”

“I’ve never heard of it!”

“I’ve never heard of it either. Is it knowledge from another world? Did you obtain it from the labyrinth?”

When the two most knowledgeable people in the lobby declared they didn’t know, people’s expressions, especially Olive’s, changed strangely.

“Even Young Master and Count don’t know? It must really be knowledge from another world obtained from the labyrinth!”

I learned last time that another world means a different world. So what is the Turtle Breathing Technique?”

“Right! Tell us quickly! Quickly spill your survival secret!”

Olive grabbed Ying’s collar, who hadn’t gotten up from her seat yet, and shook her vigorously.

Even while being shaken as Olive pleased, Ying’s breathing remained steady and her expression didn’t change.

“Ah.”

For some unknown reason, Ying began speaking in a very annoying tone, and Ralph, who had been holding his head like Serena, brightened up.

“I know the Turtle Breathing Technique! I remembered!”

“What? How does Knight know something that even Young Master and Count don’t know?”

“If Ralph knows it, could it be knowledge passed down only in Huji? Huji is such a closed and mysterious country, so that’s possible!”

When Ralph said he knew the Turtle Breathing Technique, the intellectuals’ attention focused on Ralph.

Ying was so taciturn that she wouldn’t give satisfying answers, which was frustrating, but there was no such worry with Ralph.

“What is the Turtle Breathing Technique?”

Ralph answered Count Randy’s question vigorously.

“The Turtle Breathing Technique is a survival method that slows down heartbeat and breathing to endure in places with insufficient air, or to disguise oneself as a corpse for survival!”

Hearing Ralph’s refreshing answer, the memories in Serena’s mind also cleared up refreshingly.

Serena was shocked by the flood of memories from her previous life pouring out like a burst dam.

‘Right, the Turtle Breathing Technique! I saw it in martial arts novels. I’m not certain, but Ralph’s explanation is correct.’

The curiosity about what the Turtle Breathing Technique was had been resolved, but new questions arose.

‘Wait, this world has the Turtle Breathing Technique too? If I go to another continent, is it a martial arts world?’

Serena immediately dismissed the thought she had. There was only one continent where humanity lived in this world.

Since it was a world where gods actually existed, heavenly beings were still manipulating various parts of the world, and unknown lands would rise from the outer seas only to disappear the next day.

There were also unknown lands estimated to be larger than the continent where current humanity resided.

‘But they said no civilization was discovered.’

So that Turtle Breathing Technique was really out of place. The fact that Ralph knew it when Grey and Count Randy didn’t was also strange.

“There’s such a thing? I’m really hearing this for the first time!”

“Count Ralph, which book did you see it in?”

“Huh? Not from any book, but it appeared frequently in adventure novels, though the trend has passed recently.”

He said the Turtle Breathing Technique appeared in adventure novels read for entertainment. Moreover, it was commonly used and the trend had passed.

“What~ It’s in books but Young Master and Count didn’t know?”

“It’s unfair! There’s no way such absurd boasting written in such trivial books could be real!”

“They’re not trivial books! Adventure novels contain dreams, hope, and useful information that helps in life!”

When Grey treated his favorite novels as trivial books, Ralph got indignant. Then he turned his head to Ying and brightened up.

“So the Turtle Breathing Technique was something you could really do! I want to learn it too!”

‘There’s no way it’s really the Turtle Breathing Technique.’

As Grey said, it was absurd boasting. It was definitely a lie Ying made up to hide her secret.

Regardless of what Serena thought, Ying shamelessly lied.

“I cannot pass it on. It’s a secret technique not to be transmitted to unworthy vessels.”

“What does that mean?”

“It cannot be transmitted to those who are not worthy vessels. The Turtle Breathing Technique doesn’t suit you. Fill yourself with what suits you.”

“Yes! I understand!”

Ralph didn’t grieve over not receiving the Turtle Breathing Technique and answered vigorously that he would learn what suited him.

“Zero, who did you learn it from? Is it knowledge from another world obtained from the labyrinth?”

“I learned it from a hero.”

“A hero?”

“In the past, there was a hero who fought against beasts that blasphemed against gods. The hero taught knowledge from his homeland to companions who achieved great deeds together and transmitted it simultaneously. Do not transmit to those lacking virtue, and do not transmit to unworthy vessels.”

“What’s that supposed to mean now.”

Olive expressed dissatisfaction.

If it had been Serena before fainting, she would have narrowed her eyes wondering what that meant.

The current Serena, who had recalled some martial arts-related knowledge thanks to the Turtle Breathing Technique, understood what Ying meant.

‘It means don’t teach those lacking character, and don’t teach those without talent either. Usually in martial arts novels, masters go around saying this when choosing disciples to their liking…’

Serena slightly furrowed her brow.

‘A hero of this world said that? The worldview doesn’t match.’

Ying explained to the group the same meaning that Serena remembered. Grey, hearing the meaning of the unknown characters, nodded as if agreeing with the content.

“It’s the educational philosophy of one who has reached mastery in a field. Very profound.”

“Is this possibly the same hero who spread the saying that red-furred beasts are three times faster that you mentioned before? Since the hero only said it to companions, it’s possible that without official records, it circulated among people and adventure novelists used it as material.”

“Hehe, they say the principles of the world are contained in songs children sing.”

Grey tapped his shoulder with his staff and looked up at the sky with profound eyes.

The lobby ceiling blocked the space between the sky and the old man. But in Grey’s ash-colored eyes, it seemed like he could see the sky in his heart.

Grey and Count Randy accepted Ying’s lies more generously than expected.

It was a way of thinking Serena couldn’t understand.

‘What. Why are their thoughts so flexible. Old Man, you should be jumping around telling her not to talk nonsense. Why are you suddenly pretending to be a sage.’

Serena thought Ying’s lies were too obvious, but everyone in the lobby was fooled by the lies the archer told without even wetting her lips.

“What~ So Zero Ying’s survival secret was playing dead. Olive is a little disappointed~”

Olive stretched and climbed onto a capsule to sleep.

People who had escaped the danger of the Ghostly Voice organized luggage stored in corners or tended to the unconscious prince.

Serena also returned facilities temporarily stored in the warehouse to their original locations. Even after completing the facility installation, Serena didn’t open her left eye.

The Ghostly Voice’s attack had made her realize where she should spend the shop coins she had collected.

‘I need to defend the lobby.’

The lobby was a safe zone publicly declared by the Minotaur God, and she had been at ease after perfectly conquering the 1st layer.

But the Ghostly Voice’s attack made her realize the lobby wasn’t a perfect safe zone.

‘Thanks to the mana-absorbing floor, I caught the Ghostly Voice easily. I should buy other traps too, and first replace the door.’

The current lobby door was a wooden door with weak durability made by the alchemist. Still, being a door, it could block the Ghostly Voice, but if it had been a monster or person with substance instead of the Ghostly Voice, it would have broken pathetically.

The shop window listed door products in a row to match Serena’s desires. Naturally, doors with proper defensive functions were expensive.

‘Wow, a guillotine door that automatically attacks unauthorized intruders for just 10 shop coins!’

The blade falling refreshingly from above was attractive.

But for Serena, who had memories of her previous life, guillotines were as disturbing as revolutions.

‘Even with automatic intruder recognition, 10 coins is too expensive for just a falling blade.’

She looked at other doors, but doors with intruder recognition or attack functions started at a minimum of 10 coins.

‘Since they’re treated as magical tools, it can’t be helped. Hmm. I should look at sturdy ones.’

Serena currently possessed 18 shop coins. If she caught the 44th floor Labyrinth Rat Leader, it would be 19.

Since she wanted to keep about 10 coins for emergencies, the shop coins Serena could spend were at most 9 to 10 coins.

‘Should I have postponed upgrading the money tree in the orchard. No, the more money the better.’

Even the door Serena had removed was an item made with money and resources. Both labyrinth currency and real money were better the more you had.

‘Good. I’ll go with this.’

The princess who purchased the item slowly rose from in front of the shrine. People curious about what the princess had asked the Minotaur God for gathered near Serena.

“Princess, what did you pray for this time? A ghost repelling device?”

“Won’t the Minotaur God lift Will’s curse?”

Serena walked past the guide and old man who were getting ahead of themselves toward the door. The quick-witted guide rapidly deduced what the princess had requested from the god.

“Princess asked for a sturdy door! A door that blocks even ghosts! A sacred door!”

“Listen seriously. Due to this incident, I earnestly requested the Minotaur God to bestow upon us a door that will safely protect us.”

If you always create excitement and draw cheers, sometimes you need to express things seriously and plainly in report format to avoid getting boring.

Serena expressed false gratitude to the Minotaur God and installed the purchased door at the lobby entrance with a reverent expression and posture.

“The Minotaur God has answered our request and bestowed this door upon us. Never forget to be grateful to the deity each time you pass through this door.”

When the princess gestured, an iron bar door was installed at the lobby entrance. It looked sturdy enough to Serena’s eyes, but it apparently didn’t satisfy Brute and Bear.

“Huh?”

“Duri says she could tear it apart with one hand.”

Wasn’t it too weak-looking for a door received by praying to a deity? While Brute and Bear thought so, Labyrinth Adventurer and Old Man were horrified.

“What are you talking about! You absolutely can’t break that! You can’t even bend it!”

“Is that the door I’m thinking of right now?”

“Wow, did the Minotaur God bestow a labyrinth door upon us?”

“Can’t break it. Absolutely not.”

That’s right. The door Serena purchased was the dirty and despicable door from inside the labyrinth that absolutely wouldn’t open without a key and couldn’t be destroyed either.

‘If we can’t break it, then enemies can’t break it either.’

The tragedy of seeing treasure chests through the iron bars but being unable to pass between them or bend the bars.

Installing those tragic iron bars as the lobby door made it an incredibly reliable security device.

“Cough. I should be able to slip through the gap. Huh? I can’t get out. Cough.”

If you think you can pass through just because there’s empty space between the iron bars, you’re mistaken!

Just like labyrinth iron bars had predetermined walls that could be destroyed, there were bars you could pass through the gaps and bars you couldn’t.

If it was an iron bar set to be impassable, you absolutely couldn’t pass through even if your body was paper-thin.

Like walls, you couldn’t distinguish between the two by appearance, so experience was needed to tell them apart.

‘Even incorporeal spirit monsters can’t pass through iron bars, so that says it all.’

“Wow, Princess. You received something amazing. But attacks can pass through these gaps. We’ll need to install another door.”

“I also received an additional door from the Minotaur God.”

Surprisingly, the iron bar door cost only 1 Shop coin. It seemed cheap because it was common in labyrinths.

So Serena purchased another door as well. An otherworldly artifact that could be bought from the shop window, though she didn’t know why it was being sold!

“You can check and talk to people outside the door using this screen here. Press this button to open the door. You can also open the door using this card.”

It was a metal door with a locking device that could use card keys and a video phone as a set.

Serena entrusted one of the two card keys to Lavenda, the lobby manager.

Lavenda trembled with the grace of the Minotaur God and the princess, shedding tears profusely.

“Sob, I almost caused a big disaster, yet you trust me like this. Wah. I’ll risk my life to protect the lobby’s safety!”

“Don’t risk your life.”

Since the pale face of Mysterious Stranger soaked in blood still appeared in her dreams, Serena earnestly pleaded with Lavenda.

Grey, curious about the card key’s mechanism, took the card from Lavenda and kept opening and closing the door.

The continuous sound of the door opening was noisy, but the people in the understimulated lobby liked it, saying they’d know immediately when someone entered since the door was so loud when opening.

‘I made a good cheap purchase.’

Iron bar door for 1 coin, and the otherworldly artifact door with video phone for 3 coins.

The princess’s single eye, pleased with her substantial shopping, caught sight of Archer sitting in his regular spot, rewrapping his bandages.

It might have been her imagination, but the area of bandages wrapping his shoulders seemed to have increased by about one layer.

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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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