Chapter 279: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 279: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (8)
After obtaining the map of Labyrinthos, Kang So-hyun stood staring at it, mentioning that there was someone he needed to meet next.
As he gazed at the map with a serene expression, he looked no different than usual.
When Baek Seol played a prank, he brushed her off as if she were a nuisance; when the Chairperson asked a question, he answered politely and in detail.
When Aisha cracked a lame joke, he looked at her with cold, unimpressed eyes before shaking his head, and when Lee Ha-ru tried to make small talk, he responded with a smile.
Yet, precisely because his reactions were so indistinguishable from his usual self, the others felt a sense of dissonance.
It was as if something he usually kept tightly hidden from others was constantly rearing its head ever since they entered this place.
It was something that couldn’t be easily dismissed as him simply being strict about the boundary between his private life and how he dealt with villains.
The four members of his party each perceived this “something” differently.
First, Baek Seol saw it as a commonality between them—something he had been losing recently. Consequently, she viewed the side he showed in this dungeon quite positively.
At a glance, he seemed merely violent, but every one of his actions was meticulously calculated. He was in perfect control of the situation.
As he toyed with the villains he had forced into submission, the gaze he directed down at them was unmistakably the kind one would reserve for an object, not a human being.
‘I wonder what exactly our junior has hidden so deep inside?’
Next, the Chairperson viewed it as his trauma.
Given that he possessed information about the future, the fact that he suppressed the villain wasn’t particularly surprising. However, she could definitely sense a feeling of pleasure in his expression as he thoroughly devastated the man afterward.
She knew he didn’t exactly like villains to begin with, but she hadn’t realized his hostility toward violent criminals and thrill-seekers was quite that intense.
The cause was likely the incident where he lost his mother.
‘He’s a child with so many scars. And yet, I suppose I should say he hasn’t turned out too twisted. It’s heartbreaking.’
Aisha, on the other hand, felt a sense of displeasure at his behavior.
This was because she had a faint inkling of why he had brought them here.
Of course, as he had said, there was the issue of compatibility. His friends were far too kind-hearted, so they were highly likely to fall into traps even if they knew they were there.
But that wasn’t all.
He likely realized he had such a violent side to him. And he probably didn’t want to show that side to the people most precious to him.
She had been happy that he finally relied on her, but did it ultimately mean they were just the kind of people he could use to do the things he couldn’t show his “precious” friends?
‘Hmph, just you wait. Soon enough, So-hyun will fall for my charms and regret treating me so carelessly.’
Finally, Lee Ha-ru read a sense of fear in her disciple’s demeanor.
He must hate this place so much that he’s become this stiff.
Logically, it made no sense. When would he have ever visited a place like this?
Nevertheless, Ha-ru believed the reason her disciple was bristling and tense was rooted in loathing and fear toward this location.
He must have hated this place enough to never want to return. It must have been filled with traces he wanted to forget forever if he could.
Yet, because there was a reason he had to come here, he was moving forward, revealing his most hideous side.
What exactly in this place has driven you so hard?
She wanted to ask, but his wounds seemed too deep for her to bring it up easily.
And so, Lee Ha-ru slowly channeled her mana toward him. She sent out mana that carried the familiar scent of plum blossoms, hoping it would calm his tense nerves, even if only a little.
With their different thoughts, they continued to walk through the dungeon.
* * *
In truth, even though Labyrinthos was called a shifting labyrinth, it wasn’t always moving, nor did it change in a completely random fashion.
It was just that the timing and the specific areas that changed were somewhat irregular, and since the scenery all looked the same, it was difficult to distinguish between them.
Put that way, one might think you could just memorize the layout and walk around, but there weren’t just one or two patterns. The place was obscenely vast, and recording every single irregularly changing section of the dungeon was practically impossible.
Above all, why would anyone go through such hell when there was an artifact inside the dungeon that functioned as a completed map?
Yes, the map of Labyrinthos. Once you obtained the “Compass of the Labyrinth,” as it was accurately called, none of that mattered.
This compass didn’t point north; it was a clever artifact that pointed toward whatever you desired within Labyrinthos.
“Fortunately, based on the signal, it doesn’t seem to be very far.”
Judging by the strength of the signal, it seemed they would soon arrive at the area where Old Man Poison Mist resided.
“Everyone, please make sure to take the antidote I gave you before we meet the person we’re looking for. Try not to even open your mouths, and it would be even better if you refined your breathing through your mana.”
“Just who are we going to meet that requires all this?”
“There’s an old man who’s an expert in poisons.”
Old Man Poison Mist.
He was an old man who had made a terrible first impression, but he was also a human who later became my subordinate and worked quite loyally.
— Haha! This old man gets to see such a sight just as he’s about to die! Gya-hoo! Loyalty! I swear… eternal, unchanging loyalty!
…Wait, was that right? Or was he just a crazy old man who enjoyed ruining people with poison?
For the record, despite swearing loyalty, he eventually betrayed and killed me because he was curious if his poison could actually do the job.
Actually, in this dungeon run, I didn’t strictly need to meet the Wildcat or that old man, but if I wasn’t too late for the Gu the old man was creating, there was a child I wanted to save.
One should repay their debts, after all.
When I encountered that child back then, it was already too late as several things had already been mixed together, but now, since I haven’t even graduated from the Academy yet, the child might not have entered the Gu yet.
The place we arrived at after walking was perhaps the most neatly organized spot in the entire dungeon.
It was definitely Old Man Poison Mist’s territory.
That man used to say that poison changes based on the tiniest differences, so he worked really hard at cleaning every area except for the Gu pit.
The moment we trespassed into his territory, we spotted an old man in white clothes who happened to be cleaning at just the right time.
“Eh…? What’s this? Guests…?”
Looking at him, who would ever think he was a madman who had been dragged here after committing mass murder while researching illegal drugs?
He looked like a grandfather you’d find in the countryside, sweating away while farming.
“Oh my, seeing as I don’t recognize any of ya, you must be rookies. There’s nothing here worth stealin’…”
Ah, for the record, that man speaks standard Korean perfectly fine.
That’s all an act.
“It’s been a long time, Old Man Poison Mist.”
“…Eh? You know me…?”
If only he knew.
“Yes, I know you. How could I not?”
“Ah, is that so~?”
As I approached with a smile, the old man, who had been smiling like a kindly soul, slowly pulled several corked flasks from his robe.
“Then this must not be a pleasant encounter!”
He threw a total of three flasks.
The one containing green liquid was an acid poison that would hideously melt anything it touched and create toxic gas. The red one was a hallucinogen that caused simultaneous pain and hallucinations.
Finally, the transparent one was a drug that maximized the effects of other poisons.
That old man hasn’t changed a bit.
— Eh? Why do I strike first if someone acts like they know me? Well, among the people who know my face, do you think there are more who hold a grudge against me or more who actually like me?
He probably thinks I’m the relative of one of his terror victims.
Well, I did feel a tiny bit of nostalgia due to the rose-tinted glasses of memory.
“I guess I was mistaken.”
I cut off a bit of my Innate True Qi and channeled it into the Touch of the Devil, and a swirling storm of demonic energy blew away all of his poisons.
“…Ah? W-what is this…?”
“Old Man Poison Mist. You’re S-rank, but that’s purely because your poisons are dangerous. Your pure combat power isn’t even B-rank. I know you haven’t even finished the Secret Poison to become a Poison Human yet, so stay still and don’t push your luck.”
It was strange.
Just like that Wild Dog bastard, Old Man Poison Mist stared at me with a bewildered expression, as if wondering who the hell I was to know such things.
“I’m actually not as hostile toward you as you might think. Isn’t that lucky? I can’t quite explain it, but I feel a bit of… old sentiment.”
Old Man Poison Mist did end up betraying me in the end, but I received quite a bit of help from this man after leaving the dungeon.
Thanks to him, there were more than a few matters I handled with ease. And after I told him not to kill civilians without a reason, he only performed his beloved poison terror attacks on heroes.
And despite being a bit of a nutcase, he was good at reading the room. If he felt the opponent was likely to spare him, he would cooperate on his own.
“What is it you want…?”
“You know that Gu you’re making, Old Man? I want to see the materials you’ve prepared to put in there.”
“Why would you…?”
Oh boy, why is this old man acting like this again? I’m sparing him because he’s usually quick on the uptake.
“…Is not something I need to be curious about! Of course! Yes! How could this old man not show you that! I must have had a momentary lapse into senility!”
Right. He’s a bit of a psycho, but he’s not completely lacking in intuition.
“Oh, and you can try to ambush me from behind with poison if you want, but I’ve already given them antidotes, so it’s probably best you don’t. I’ve done enough sparing you for old time’s sake, right?”
For the record, Old Man Poison Mist’s poisons cannot be cured with commercially available antidotes, but they can be cured with the one I made myself.
I had forced him to research an antidote in case my allies ever got poisoned.
“But of course! The place where I’ve gathered the materials for the Gu is this way!”
Well, I like how fast he moves.
If the one I’m looking for is safe, I think I’ll feel a bit better.
…Anyway, if I’m too late, there’s nothing I can do.
My benefactor… well, calling him that is a bit much. My bene-canine? Bene-wolf? Anyway, hoping the one who showed me grace was still safely there, I decided to follow behind him.
* * *
So, this is the story of what happened after I was tortured by that Wild Dog bastard and then kidnapped by Old Man Poison Mist.
Well, honestly, after I threw myself into the Gu pit to escape the Wildcat and the old man, I thought I was a dead man for sure.
My mana circuits were scorched, so I had no way to purify the thick miasma, and even if I tried to run, there was no way to escape in a state where I had lost an arm and a leg.
All sorts of poisonous insects and mixed-up monsters were eyeing me as prey, and I wondered how on earth I could survive.
I worried that Seo-ha would be anxious, waiting for me without eating. On the other hand, I also thought that perhaps the karma for everything I had done was coming back to me now that the brainwashing had weakened due to being separated from Seo-ha.
Anyway, I couldn’t just wait for death, so I tried to crawl away with my remaining limbs, but those monster bastards wouldn’t let their new prey go.
Just as I was about to give up, thinking how powerless I was without artifacts or reinforcements and that this was the end—that fellow appeared.
As if he were the king of this wretched pit, he seemed to have maintained his sense of self despite clearly being mixed with monsters and poisonous insects.
A giant wolf.
With ashen fur that was tattered in places, the wolf, who hadn’t lost his nobility despite being merged with countless things, was looking at me.
After dealing with all the monsters that were trying to eat me, he blocked my path.
In truth, even then, I thought he was going to eat me.
Even when he carefully licked my wounds and gently bit me so as not to hurt me, carrying me to his nest where the miasma was relatively weak, I thought he was just tasting me and treating me like a packed lunch.
However, far from eating me, the fellow caught a cow-shaped monster and pushed it toward me, or if I seemed to be in pain, he would growl worriedly and lick my wounds repeatedly.
It was about three days into our strange cohabitation that I finally accepted he had no intention of harming me.
He was so smart; he even found herbs for me and observed what I ate well by changing the prey he brought, taking care of me.
He even let me huddle against him at night, thinking I might be cold.
Perhaps he was a search-and-rescue animal before he was thrown into the Gu?
I still don’t quite know why he, who sank his teeth into other monsters without mercy, was so kind only to me, a human, but regardless, he was unmistakably my benefactor.
Still, I couldn’t fully trust him, because if he ever intended to become the “Complete Being” of the Gu, I would be a dead man.
The condition for the Gu to be completed was that only one of the creatures put in by the practitioner must survive.
I thought there was no way we would both make it out alive.
Well, as it turned out, it was true that we didn’t both make it out alive.
If there was one thing that differed from my expectations…
It was that the one who died was him, and the one who survived to become the Gu was me.