Labyrinth Exploration 101 - L.E Chapter 12 (Part 2): I AM (4)

### Monitoring Room

Kim A-rang was reviewing footage of the top-ranked participants. For the past two hours, she had been taking notes, analyzing them, and marking editing points.

“Ugh, so annoying. The mentors probably won’t even watch all of this anyway.”

The level test was *technically* the mentors’ responsibility. Right now, they were likely watching this footage and ranking the participants. Or at least pretending to.

However, due to time constraints, they couldn’t thoroughly observe all 96 participants. While the top ranks would naturally be scrutinized, those who took over two hours to clear the labyrinth would be pushed to the backburner.

So, the staff had to pinpoint specific sections and timeframes to provide feedback.

Of course, Kim A-rang also brushes off the lower ranks. With her experience, she has no intention of bothering with those exhausting stragglers anymore.

“Well…”

Maybe I should grab some food. As she got up from her seat, she suddenly felt curious. She glanced at the monitor.

How did that limping guy do?

[ Seol Ha-woon Escape Complete ]

Just then, the escape completion message popped up.

“…Huh? He just finished?”

The record: 3 hours and 22 minutes.

Lee Jun-ho cleared it in 17 minutes, and Kang Hyun finished in 25 minutes. Yet, this guy took a whopping 3 hours to complete the same labyrinth.

Dead last, of course. A staggering 40 minutes behind the 95th place.

“Thought he was a dark horse.”

He even boldly sat next to Kang Hyun earlier, acting all high and mighty.

What a joke.

Snickering in disbelief, Kim A-rang leaned back in her chair, almost lying down, and checked Seol Ha-woon’s record.

“He’s just a nobody…”

Her words trailed off. Her narrow eyes widened slightly. She stared blankly at the screen before sitting up straight.

[ Hits Taken: 0 ]

“What?”

Zero hits taken was plausible. If you moved carefully enough, it was possible to avoid getting hit even once.

But.

[ Traps Triggered: 0 ]

Seol Ha-woon hadn’t fallen for a single trap.

As Yoon Sa-hyuk had said, he even bypassed traps that were impossible to avoid.

“…This is.”

Kim A-rang quickly checked the records of other participants.

[ Hits Taken: 9 ] [ Traps Triggered: 2 ]

[ Hits Taken: 3 ] [ Traps Triggered: 3 ]

[ Hits Taken: 4 ] [ Traps Triggered: 3 ]

[ Hits Taken: 2 ] [ Traps Triggered: 4 ]

[ Hits Taken: 2 ] [ Traps Triggered: 3 ]

[ Hits Taken: 1 ] [ Traps Triggered: 5 ]

While the number of hits taken varied among participants, some had zero hits.

However, no matter how far she scrolled, she couldn’t find a single participant with zero traps triggered.

In other words, Seol Ha-woon was the only one who hadn’t triggered a single trap.

“What is this guy?”

Kim A-rang quickly pulled up Seol Ha-woon’s footage on the monitor. She rewound it to the beginning and started playing it.

“Wow… he’s insanely slow.”

From the moment he entered the labyrinth, every step of his process was long and deliberate. Almost impressively so.

Of course, it was because of his limp. His mobility was abysmal, but his preparation was thorough.

First checkpoint.

Seol Ha-woon identified the enemies from a distance and took down three goblins. Then, he used a spell like a wire to climb to higher ground.

He scanned the entire labyrinth with eyes that seemed to read mana, then descended and limped his way through.

His pathing was chillingly precise.

At spots with enemies, he halted behind walls. He took out goblins from afar, never sparing a glance at traps. Fake treasure rooms flaunting “Hey, treasures over here!” were ignored as if they didn’t exist.

Then, in the corridor leading to the treasure room.

A space patrolled by fifteen goblins, where combat was unavoidable.

“…….”

At that moment, Kim A-rang was speechless.

Seol Ha-woon first used a spell to extinguish the torches. Then, he melted into the darkness and began his stealth operation. Limping, he muttered.

‘Stealth.’

With a military dagger in one hand and a staff in the other, he moved without a sound. Not even the faintest noise escaped him. It was as if the concept of sound itself had been erased from his actions.

This unbelievable silence was likely due to Seol Ha-woon’s spell.

The goblins stabbed by his dagger died like lambs. Not even a death cry escaped them. The group of fifteen goblins was slowly but surely wiped out.

After clearing the area, Seol Ha-woon reached the treasure room door. Most would’ve just opened it, but he meticulously set up a trap first.

Inside the treasure room was a goblin guard, which roared and charged at Seol Ha-woon, only to trigger his trap.

*Boom──*

The power was astonishing.

The goblin guard’s legs were blown off in an instant.

“…Special forces.”

Kim A-rang let out a hollow laugh.

These days, soldiers feel distant to most people. But they undertake missions far more dangerous than explorers. They deal with the remnants of labyrinths or humans who’ve gone mad within them—villains.

Especially the UDT, a special forces unit deployed to fronts around the world where villains from the Middle East, Manchuria, Northern Korea, and Central Asia wreak havoc.

Thinking about it, it’s no wonder he wasn’t ordinary. His movements were decisive, without hesitation. Every action had a reason.

It was the demeanor of a soldier who had walked on thin ice for years. The instincts of a specialist who had survived years on the battlefield, where doubting yourself for even a moment meant losing yourself, still lingered within him.

Kim A-rang began jotting down notes in her notebook.

[ Seol Ha-woon ]

She paused after writing just one line.

If she passed this feedback to the mentors, they might leave comments about Seol Ha-woon. His rank in the level test might even rise.

“…No.”

That shouldn’t happen.

As Yoon Sa-hyuk said, dark horses significantly impact on the show’s qualitative catharsis. Therefore, dark horses must always be underdogs. They must be the unexpected.

In other words, Seol Ha-woon needs to stay at 96th.

3 hours and 22 minutes is more than enough to bury him in last place.

It’s not personal; it’s a PD’s instinct.

Even if she passed this feedback to the mentors, his time was too long to place him anywhere but ambiguously in the 60s or 70s. Rather than being stuck in such a vague position, starting from 96th would be better for both the program’s success and Seol Ha-woon himself.

Definitely.

“This season… is going to be fun.”

A deep smile spread across Kim A-rang’s lips.

Whether it’s her editing in that small room, or the viewers watching the final product on TV or their phones outside.

Season 3 was shaping up to be quite the spectacle.

Dangun

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