Labyrinth Exploration 101 - L.E Chapter 30 (Part 2): Snowflower (5)

All 96 were transported into identical labyrinths. From here, Lee Jun-ho dominated the screen time.

─”Goblins, huh.”

Spotting them, Lee Jun-ho grinned and charged. A flash of steel—goblin heads toppled like ice cream cones. He sprinted through traps, tanking or slicing through them.

Like cutting through tangled hemp with a sharp knife. [T/N: Original text uses a Chinese idiom meaning solving a complex problem swiftly/decisively.]

The perspective shifted to other stars—Ryu Yeon-hwa, Kang Hyun, Seo Ji-woo, Yoon Hwa-rim—interspersed with lesser-known faces.

Then—

*Thud. Thud.*

Again, that familiar sound returned.

Seol Ha-woon. Pausing his cane, he froze upon spotting goblins. Crouched, aimed a finger.

*Bang.*

A mana bullet—the same spell from his intro video. Three goblins dropped dead. He then scaled a wire to survey the labyrinth.

─”Found it.”

The words matched his actions.

Seol triggered zero traps, left no trace. He avoided combat—or more precisely, resolved situations without engagement. Of dozens of goblins, only the first three had glimpsed his face.

The rest died to silent, long-range mana bullets.

─”……”

He reached the final corridor.

The final stretch, teeming with goblins—a stage where combat was inevitable—brutal for a limping mage.

Ishia leaned in.

How would he handle this?

─”Spread.”

First, he emitted a spell. Mist-like mana snuffed out every torch in the passage.

─“…Concealed Intent.”

Then, utter quiet.

Not a sound as he walked. No echo from his cane. No footfalls.

Flawless presence concealment.

Next came the surprise: a military dagger drawn from his back pocket.

Close combat.

Stealthily, he stabbed a goblin through the spine. Instant death—no scream.

“Whoa…”

Like watching a spy thriller.

Ishia gulped and opened the [ Live Talk ] feed.

-Wasn’t he a Mage? He’s stabbing them to death with a knife
-Said he was UDT lololol
-That’s a stealth spell. Pretty advanced stuff.
-Limping but slaughtering everything.
-Why are the goblins dying so easily? Aren’t they usually big babies? They’re not even screaming, is this staged?

Seol turned the corridor into a graveyard, soon reaching the treasure room.

But before opening the door, he set a trap—a move that paid off. A goblin guard triggered it, its lower half obliterated by a wire.

*KABOOM!*

-Dude’s ruthless.
-One mistake as a limping mage = death. Can’t blame him.
-Overprepared = survival lol. I like him.

Then, the timer appeared.

[ 2:55:15 ]

“…2 hours and 55 minutes?”

Ishia blinked. Lee Jun-ho had cleared this in 15 minutes.

The real-time chat exploded.

-3 HOURS?
-Bruh.
-Took him FOREVER lololol
-No choice, right? One leg’s busted…
-Still, 3 hours is overkill lol. Editing trick? Thought he did it in 30 mins.

Before Ishia could process it, the perspective shifted to Kang Hyun.

[ 23:15 ]

At 23 minutes, Kang Hyun dispatched a guard and grabbed the treasure. As he stepped out—

─”Wha—?!”

He fell right into a trap beneath the door.

But he wasn’t alone.

Lee Jun-ho, Ryu Yeon-hwa, Seo Ji-woo—every elite, every nobody—all fell into the same trap.

─”Argh!”
─”Sh*t!”

They crashed through the gaping floor. Below, goblins swarmed.

*Ke-ruk ke-ruk!*
*Ke-re-eek!*

Surrounded by the horde, the explorers faced the creatures in their own ways.

Lee Jun-ho stole the show. Grinning, he swung his sword like a blender, mincing everything. A goblin’s air rifle nailed his shoulder—he didn’t flinch, just decapitated it.

─”Fun.”

He let his sword hang.

A slaughterhouse. Blood dripped from the blade like rain.

…The perspective shifted again.

A hand picking up the treasure—a teacup. Seol Ha-woon.

After securing it, he paused at the exit.

─”……”

A long, weighted stare at the door.

Different from the others. A silence that hooked viewers.

“No way?”

Ishia’s eyes widened.

Seol had detected every trap so far. Could he—?

─”Hah.”

A laugh. He’d figured it out.

He picked up a stone, infused it with mana. Blue energy coiled around his fingers.

*Plunk.*

He placed it where the treasure had been. Then turned to the exit.

─”Correct.”

What was “correct”? Murmuring, Seol strode out—unscathed.

*Gulp.*

Ishia swallowed.

*Step. Step.*

His limping steps were slow-motion tension incarnate. And then—he exited safely.

The trap that swallowed everyone else? Never triggered for him.

──”Kim Se-jin: Seol Ha-woon is the only mage… who perfectly solved my advanced spell’s ‘correct answer.’”

The interrupted interview from high-ranker Kim Se-jin resumed at last.

Puzzle pieces clicked.

──”He thinks flexibly. Questions everything, counters meticulously. His grasp of spell structures is exceptional. His intuition for mana flow? Beyond words.”

A clip played: Seol escaping the third round’s grassy field dimension.

While others fixated on the grass, only Seol noticed Kim Se-jin’s position, deducing the “center of gravity” to break free differently.

──”However, compared to other Mages, he has fewer accomplishments. Less experience as a mage. The leg injury’s a permanent penalty—a shame.”

*Thud. Thud.*

Back to the present.

A man exiting the labyrinth alone, unharmed.

──”He’s someone who always needs more time. So he’s slow. But brilliant.”

His final results flashed in the empty labyrinth.

[ Hits Taken: 0 ]
[ Traps Triggered: 0 ]

A flawless run—no hits, no traps.

[ Time Taken: 3:22:13 ]

Yet the slowest of all 96.

──”…A slow genius. That’s how I’d describe the mage Seol Ha-woon.”

As Ishia expected, Seol was anything but ordinary.

Dangun

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