Labyrinth Exploration 101 - L.E Chapter 49 (Part 1): Cliché Melody (3)

The dawn of the next day.

I stayed up late last night browsing the community and SNS, but I woke up early as usual. Even during my time eating rice through [MoMo], I always kept my wake-up and bedtime consistent. [T/N: 쌀먹 (ssalmeok) – literally “rice eating,” slang for grinding in games to earn real money or valuable items]

It’s a habit ingrained in me since my military days.

“Hmm.”

Yawning, I stepped out of the lodging. I was especially hungry today. Mentor Yu-yul had ordered me not to eat anything.

Apparently, I could choke on vomit if I got it wrong.

“Huh?”

While walking down the hallway, I spotted a familiar back of the head. It was Kim Doo-gyeom.

“Who’s this? Isn’t it our last-place contestant?”

I slapped my hand down on that rude head of his. Kim Doo-gyeom flinched, his body trembling for a moment. He swatted my hand away and turned around.

“…….”

He glared at me without a word. It felt like his mask was starting to slip, just a bit.

“Tch. You should’ve tried harder, don’t you think? You’re barely hanging onto B-tier now.”

“…….”

Kim Doo-gyeom stayed silent. The way he ground his teeth was pretty ferocious. Menacing, even.

Not that it scared me one bit.

I grinned at him.

“What? What’re you gonna do about it? Oh, did you watch Episode 3?”

“Why the hell are you doing this to me?”

*Why the hell are you doing this to me*—?

I was dumbfounded.

Sure enough, perpetrators never consider the victim’s perspective. I was curious, though. How many times, and to how many people, had this guy heard someone ask, *Why are you doing this to me*?

And every time, I bet Kim Doo-gyeom answered like this:

“Because I feel like it.”

*Crack.* Clenching his fist, he roughly turned and stormed down the hallway.

“…Little sh*t. Should’ve brought some gum to stick in his hair.”

Smacking my lips, I headed outside.

“Hey, Ha-woon hyung! Up early again today, huh?!”

It was Kim Woo-hyun, the mage. The school lunch kid who tackled the Situational Labyrinth with me. He was heading out for morning exercise, greeting me with a lively bounce.

“Yeah. Morning.”

“Yep! Be careful on your hike~!”

For some reason, I’ve been getting a lot of friendly vibes from people lately, but there’s no need to go out of my way to get close.

I climbed the back mountain.

At the spot I’d arranged with Yu-yul, she was already there, fiddling with her smartphone.

“You’re early.”

Yu-yul tilted her head up. Her eyes, slightly buried in her plump cheeks, looked at me.

“Seol Ha-woon.”

“Yes.”

I approached, leaning on my cane. She scanned me up and down.

“How far do you think you can go?”

It was a sudden, somewhat abstract question. But I was used to this kind of cryptic talk. Officers in the military loved pulling this stuff.

I answered shortly.

“To the end.”

“…Hah.”

Yu-yul let out a scoff, as if she found it absurd, and gestured to the ground.

“Sit.”

“َAlright.”

She pulled out a Gemstone Thread.

“…Mentor, how much is that worth?”

Even at a glance, it looked valuable, and my [MoMo] didn’t react to it. There were only two possible reasons.

Either it was as common as a pebble, or it was an item too high-grade to measure.

“Its value can’t be quantified.”

Yu-yul’s answer was loaded with meaning.

Well, it didn’t matter to me either way.

If she really was Tae-yul, I couldn’t afford to overthink. I had to milk every ounce of knowledge from her while I could. A mage’s private tutoring was something you couldn’t put a price on.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

I sat on the grass. Secretly, I unwrapped a 【Super Precious Candy】 from my pocket and popped it into my mouth. Then I raised my arms. Yu-yul lowered the Gemstone Thread onto my skin. The moment it touched, I nearly passed out.

It wasn’t just *more painful than my first experience*. Was it twice as bad? Three times? Far worse.

“Don’t imagine or anticipate the pain that’s coming.”

“…Yes.”

There was no need to fear. Pain that didn’t kill me would only make me stronger.

“Begin.”

“…….”

Yu-yul gave the signal. I crystallized and amplified the mana in my circuits.

“—Guhk!”

An indescribable pain surged through me. It felt like my body was being crushed, or stretched like spaghetti. It was an agony that shattered the very concept of *me*.

But I endured.

*Slurp, slurp.* Moving my tongue.

*Slurp, slurp.* Licking the Super Precious Candy.

A sweetness bloomed in my mouth. A sweetness that neutralized the pain. A sweetness that kept me whole.

I wouldn’t break.

Not by my own hand, at least…

* * *

Yu-yul looked at Seol Ha-woon.

He writhed like a pathetic worm, yet somehow clung to consciousness. There was no sign of giving up.

He was a tough one. But in the world of mages, this level of grit was common enough.

Yu-yul herself had undergone twelve refinements.

In gaming terms, she was a monster who’d beaten single-digit enhancement rates twelve times. That’s what it took to be called *tough* in this world.

Mages, by nature, had to be accustomed to pain—or better yet, know how to enjoy it to some degree.

[Not bad, right?]

A telepathic voice flowed into her ear. Yu-yul crossed her arms and looked up at the sky.

“…Nice weather.”

Population: 931. Those called *mages* in this world bore a special duty. A calling they shouldered the moment they were recognized as mages.

To identify and manage those with the potential and aptitude for magic.

The method of management was left to the mage’s discretion.

[What do you think?]

Mages. Revered and glorified by the media, each one was a walking tactical nuke.

A living, thinking, willful nuclear weapon—how terrifying a notion.

Thus, the Magic Association constantly scouted mage candidates. But those deemed mentally unstable or with excessively volatile talents were *dealt with*.

For the stability and peace of society.

“He’s worth keeping an eye on. Not many can endure the Gemstone Thread to this extent.”

The Gemstone Thread was magic itself. Not a mere *object*.

A Catalyst that forcibly opened the veins of a circuit and amplified mana flow. A condensed spell in the form of a gemstone.

As such, it caused pain most humans couldn’t withstand.

“But.”

She gazed at Seol Ha-woon, murmuring softly.

“He’s got the look of a rebel.”

“Guh, kuhk…!”

Seol Ha-woon. This one would never follow anyone. He wouldn’t serve, couldn’t be tamed, and *shouldn’t* be tamed.

“No destination in sight.”

He’d burned down the stable long ago and was galloping across the wilderness alone. A prized steed who only realized his true worth after breaking a leg.

[Physiognomy isn’t magic.]

“It’s science.”

Yu-yul nodded. Seol Ha-woon resembled the person she despised most.

Tae-woo. He was like that wolf of a man.

“Kuhk…”

Seol Ha-woon convulsed, drooling blood and saliva. He looked rather pathetic sprawled out, but the thickening of his body’s circuits was vivid.

He’d completed his second refinement less than a month after his first.

Yu-yul murmured softly.

“He could be a candidate.”

* * *

Dangun

I'm currently Translating the following novels: "Labyrinth Exploration 101" & "The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring " If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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