The Shifting Labyrinth
"Did we get them all?"
"Yes, sir. Every single one has been confiscated."
The staff answered the bureau team leader's question with crisp, disciplined bows. Cameras and voice recorders sat stacked in a tall pile before them, and Jin Seo-yoon let out a long sigh as she surveyed the haul.
"You've compiled a list of everyone who submitted these, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. It'll be reflected in their evaluations."
How dare they try to turn the Returnee Training Camp into broadcast material? Worse, if things went wrong, it could end up harming Hunter Lee Ji-hoon.
He's my prize, after all.
Only recently, Orpheus Guild had been attacked — and if something like that happened to him again...
Her brow furrowed.
"What? Aren't they adorable?"
"The illegal filming crew, you mean?"
"Yes. They're at least trying to do something. The low-ranks have to flail around a little, don't they?"
Yoon Do-ha chuckled under his breath. He had no intention of paying them any mind, of course — but he had to admit, their desperate scrambling was entertaining to watch.
"Speaking of which, Hunter Ji-hoon really is a peculiar one, isn't he?"
"Our Ji-hoon's popular. Baek Kang-hyun, Yoon Do-ha, and now me."
"A popular man must be a burden for you."
"Heh. Yeah, right."
And so the conversation between the two S-rank hunters watching the monitors in the control room drifted through the air, cool and cutting.
Meanwhile, at the site of the newly opened first gate, a protest broke out.
"Isn't Team A way too advantaged, with Hunter Baek Kang-hyun on it?"
"Exactly! All he has to do is smash everything in sight!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Then what are we supposed to do? Our team doesn't have a single A-rank!"
Grievances erupted from every direction — but Baek Kang-hyun had already anticipated them.
"Don't worry. Even if Team A clears the course, there'll be a penalty. My raw power will be factored into the scoring."
In other words, if Baek Kang-hyun handled everything himself, his teammates' individual contributions would amount to zero.
"Honestly, even with a penalty, aren't we still getting the short end of the stick?"
Kang Gi-tae jumped in the moment the opening appeared.
"Their team has a bus driver. Ours has to run with sandbags and a log on our backs!"
"Sandbags and a log, hm..."
He'd used that same line earlier in casual conversation — but now that the format was live, he apparently couldn't hide his true nature.
[You're absolutely right, Elder Brother. This is you carrying four sandbags AND a log on your back, running all alone.]
[That's right it is. Just thinking about being a bus driver for those dummies is making my chest tight already.]
Poppy and Choco saw it in completely opposite terms — yet even Ji-hoon had to agree with part of it.
If it's going to be like this, this is going to be exhausting.
Meanwhile, Kang Gi-tae and the other participants only dispersed after the bureau promised that Team A's evaluation scores would be scored as harshly as possible.
"Sorry for the noise, everyone. Let's get together for now."
Nothing much came of it. Naturally, Kim Jin-woo, the A-rank among them, took point as leader. After that, the teams entered their portals in order, starting with Team A.
"Team C, entering now!"
As soon as the call signal dropped, the hunters vanished into the portal one by one, Kim Jin-woo leading the way in descending order of rank: Kim Jin-woo, Lee Min-jae, Kang Gi-tae, Kim Ji-eun.
Finally, Ji-hoon came to a stop in front of the portal.
"You remember what we talked about, right? I'm counting on you two."
[Leave it to me, Elder Brother! We shall do exactly as you command!]
[This Choco understands perfectly too.]
Poppy answered with a confident snap, and Choco, lifting his head from the crook of Ji-hoon's arm, chirped up brightly in turn.
And with a soft whoosh, Ji-hoon too arrived in an unfamiliar space.
Gray walls stretched endlessly upward as far as the eye could see — unmistakably the entrance to a colossal maze. It felt like being locked away in a deep underground prison. Not a single ornament or marker decorated the walls in any direction; it honestly looked the part of a proper dungeon.
"Is everyone here?"
After confirming all five had made it through, Kim Jin-woo spoke again.
"Let's start with a quick sweep of the surroundings. Report anything suspicious immediately. Ji-hoon-nim, Ji-eun-nim — I'd like you two to make active use of your animals and spirits."
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood."
It was calm, seasoned command — and he'd even assigned meaning to Ji-hoon's and Ji-eun's roles rather than sidelining them.
Seems he's conscious of being team leader, in his own way.
Just as Ji-hoon expected, Kim Jin-woo's gaze swept over each teammate in turn.
He's A-rank, but a tracker-type — maybe that's why.
Ji-hoon slowly took in his surroundings. Corridors dead-ending into walls, passages branching off and linking together — the whole place sprawled in a dizzying tangle.
Then, from the hand of Kim Jin-woo, who had drifted to one corner, a faint light leaked out.
Kang Gi-tae didn't miss it for a second — he came rushing over in a flurry.
"Hyung-nim, what was that just now? Don't tell me that's an A-rank skill?"
At some point, Kang Gi-tae had taken to calling Kim Jin-woo "hyung-nim." Kim Jin-woo answered indifferently, not particularly caring either way.
"Yes. I'm detection-type. As far as I can tell, there's nothing notable within a hundred meters."
"A hundred meters? That's insane. Impressive!"
Then Kang Gi-tae turned to Ji-hoon, who had been quietly watching, and offered some unsolicited advice.
"You're a tamer, aren't you? Aren't you going to use your pets? Even just sending them ahead to scout would work, no?"
[What did that punk just say? Scout? Does he take me for one of those Cerberus mongrels?]
"Poppy. Quiet."
Rather than ask anything of Poppy and Choco, Ji-hoon simply activated a skill himself.
Golden Compass.
It was an artificial simulation, but he gave it a shot anyway. There was no reaction.
"He says there's nothing here yet."
"Nothing yet, you say?"
The moment those words left his mouth—
Grrrrruuumble—
The maze began to shift.
"Wh-what the—!?"
"The walls — they're moving!"
Kang Gi-tae and Lee Min-jae shouted in alarm, Kim Ji-eun scrambled to move with trembling hands, and Kim Jin-woo strained every nerve, trying to read the situation.
Only when the walls ground to a halt did something change.
"Now he says there's finally something."
Indeed — Poppy flared his nostrils and turned his head to one side.
[Elder Brother, mana was moving in that direction. But now that the walls have closed, it's hidden from sight again.]
"Thanks, Poppy. Want to fly up and take a look?"
The little griffin shot into the sky, circled to survey the area, and descended again.
[It's a maze, all right. But there's something funny about it.]
"What is it?"
[Since when does a maze have no exit?]
[Wait what? Labyrinth and maze aren't the same thing?]
No, they weren't.
A maze and a labyrinth were two very different things. Even the RPG games Ji-hoon had played back before he went to Hell made the distinction. A maze had an exit; a labyrinth had none — you had to hunt down the boss instead.
"What did they say? No exit?"
"That's what they're telling me, yes."
"Honestly. Is it because they're an F-rank's animals? That's absurd..."
"No... he's right."
Kim Jin-woo activated his skill again and muttered.
"The exit that was there just moments ago... it's gone."
Either that, or the maze itself had grown larger — which would mean it had expanded beyond the reach of his hundred-meter detection range.
"Are you kidding me...!"
When an A-rank said it, it couldn't be dismissed. Kang Gi-tae activated his strength enhancement and drove a fist toward the wall.
"You goddamn pieces of—!"
BOOOOOM—!
A deafening roar, and not so much as a scratch on the wall.
"You son of a—! Damn it!!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Lee Min-jae, watching from the side, joined in pounding the wall.
BANG! BANGBANGBANG!
But the wall didn't budge an inch.
"Hahh... hahh..."
"Whew... aren't we in serious trouble here?"
They couldn't break through the walls. They could find open passages, sure — but the maze could just shift again.
Then Kim Ji-eun stepped forward.
"I-I'll help too!"
"How?"
"W-well..."
she answered in a small voice.
"Here, drink this first. It's not a potion, but..."
It was water she'd made with her water spirit — it looked like clear bottled water.
"This is..."
"It does restore a little. Fascinating."
Kang Gi-tae and Lee Min-jae flexed their fists open and closed. And then—
BANGBANGBANG!
Cracks finally began to spider across the wall. Before long—
KRAKA-BOOOM!!!
They succeeded in smashing through one.
"Yes! With me around, everything's A-OK!"
The moment Kang Gi-tae yelled triumphantly at the breached wall—
Grrrrrrumble—
The maze began shifting again.
"You gotta be kidding me!"
Curses flew at the wildly rearranging walls from every direction — and Ji-hoon watched it all unfold.
Then he lifted his head toward whoever was observing this from somewhere out there.
Having fun?
He clicked his tongue at his own muttered question.
"What the..."
Jin Seo-yoon murmured, staring at the monitor.
"Did he just look at us?"
Yoon Do-ha asked back.
"He looked right here, didn't he?"
"Yes. Hunter Lee Ji-hoon just—"
A split second later, Ji-hoon withdrew his gaze.
Am I imagining it? That dimensional sensor relay shouldn't pick up anything short of some serious mana.
Jin Seo-yoon narrowed her eyes. Yoon Do-ha checked the camera feeds for a moment, then spoke up again.
"How about watching some of the other teams instead of Team C?"
"People other than Lee Ji-hoon, you mean?"
Jin Seo-yoon smiled cynically. In the past week alone, a full two S-rank gates had appeared. Do you have any idea how extraordinary that was?
In ten years, barely a handful of S-rank gates had opened in South Korea.
Which meant some variable definitely existed right now. And the only variables Korea had seen lately were the steady stream of returnees coming back — plus one F-rank named Lee Ji-hoon, who had been present at both of those S-rank gates and returned without a single scratch.
"Then by all means, Guild Master Yoon Do-ha, you go watch the other hunters."
"What, did you fall in love or something? Hahaha."
Waving off his joke, Jin Seo-yoon straightened up in her seat.
"Whether he's worth falling for — that's what we're about to find out."
Grrrruuumble—
The maze shifted yet again.
"Oh, come on, seriously?!"
They'd barely smash through a wall or two before the whole thing rearranged itself. Kim Ji-eun's stockpiled spirit water was running dry, too.
"Hahh... hahh..."
"Whew... let's take a breather."
Kang Gi-tae and Lee Min-jae were reaching the limits of their stamina.
"Tch. Detection still isn't picking anything up."
Kim Jin-woo ground his teeth. Who knew how many hours it had been? Sweat poured off him like rain, and Kim Ji-eun hung her head, saying she could no longer maintain her connection with her spirit. Everyone was exhausted to the bone.
Hmm...
Poppy, who had been trotting ahead, turned back and barked up at Ji-hoon.
[Elder Brother, there's simply nothing here. It's a completely empty space. I suspect some faction out to frame you is just swinging wildly at shadows...]
No traps. No monsters. So what exactly was this maze demanding of them? Why inflict such pointless fatigue?
[Elder Brother, should I just smash the whole thing? One flap of my wings ought to do it.]
Poppy offered. But Ji-hoon shook his head. Instead, he said:
"Hey, everyone."
He called the team to a stop.
"What is it?"
"Did your little buddies find something?"
"Ji-hoon-nim, what is it?"
His teammates were already dead on their feet — and Ji-hoon smiled at them, saying he'd thought of a solution.
"Let's eat."
At those words—
"...I'm sorry, what?"
Kim Ji-eun blinked first.
"Eat...?"
Kang Gi-tae let out a baffled, hollow laugh, and just as Kim Jin-woo and Lee Min-jae were about to demand what on earth he was talking about—
"Is everyone hungry?"
Ji-hoon had already plopped down on the floor. Spread out beside him was the cheese and beef jerky he'd packed from home.
Munch munch—
"The maze is going to shift no matter what, smashing it gets us nowhere, and even A-rank detection can't see a thing. We're better off holding out until the support team arrives. Or just waiting for the maze to change again."
Utterly carefree, even in a situation like this. And among those watching him—
"PUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Yoon Do-ha, in the control room, burst out laughing.
"All that boy ever thinks about is food. Aigoo."
Jin Seo-yoon shook her head, the kidnapping incident flashing back through her mind.