Dinosaur, Part 8
Dawn had not yet broken. Kang Hyun, the first to wake, washed his face clean and climbed into the jeep.
"Oh, you know how to drive?" Kim Dong-ha asked with a grin as he climbed into the passenger seat.
Kang Hyun remained silent. He gripped the steering wheel, his expression sinking into a calm, icy stillness. His face was frozen cold. He was still anticipating Seol Ha-woon, yet remaining deeply on guard against him.
The signal to move out had been given.
Kang Hyun stepped on the accelerator.
"They say it'll take about three hours," Kim Dong-ha said, trying to make himself comfortable. "Hyun, I'm gonna catch some Z's, okay? I didn't sleep well last night..."
But Kang Hyun was far from relaxed. He drove up the mountain path for a while before suddenly jerking the steering wheel to the side.
"W-what the? Why aren't we following them?" Kim Dong-ha asked, looking out the window in confusion. The other jeeps were already pulling away in the distance.
"Hyun. What are you doing?"
"If we follow them, we die."
"Huh? What are you talking about? Hey, we won't clear the quest at this rate. Hurr—"
"Trust me. If you don't want to die."
His tone was incredibly overbearing. At the warning of danger, Kim Dong-ha shut his mouth.
Perhaps it was because of this rare glimpse of Kang Hyun's rough side, but faint squeals of excitement could be heard from the front rows of the theater.
Kang Hyun waited in silence. Without a word, as if calculating the moves of someone invisible.
The reason he was stopped like this was likely...
Scene transition.
On a rocky mountain overlooking the vast mining site, Seol Ha-woon was drinking black tea. In this labyrinth, he seemed to have developed a particular fondness for it.
"You seem to like black tea," Kate said, approaching him.
Seol Ha-woon willingly brewed a cup for her.
A strange tension always lingered between the two. It was a battle of nerves, each trying to seize the upper hand.
"Mr. Seol Ha-woon," Kate called out after taking a sip of her tea. Seol Ha-woon turned to look at her.
"You always seem to keep yourself far away from the center of the battlefield."
Perhaps she was frustrated that Seol Ha-woon refused to share his plans.
Kate was perfect in every way, but she certainly had the makings of a control freak.
"I spent far too long at the center of the battlefield," Seol Ha-woon replied smoothly. "It's about time I retired."
Even someone like Kate was pushed back in front of Seol Ha-woon. She couldn't seize the initiative.
It was likely due to the gap in experience and maturity. After all, Kate was seven years younger than Seol Ha-woon.
"I heard the enemy's scouting party has arrived nearby."
"I know."
Seol Ha-woon didn't yield an inch. His attitude made it clear that whatever she said, he already knew and didn't care.
"...I'll be looking forward to it."
"Please do."
A ripple of laughter spread through the theater.
He deflected Kate's sarcasm without batting an eye. Truly, he wouldn't back down even a single millimeter.
"...Unbelievable," Kate muttered under her breath.
She grumbled as she made her way down the rocky mountain. Perhaps Seol Ha-woon was the only one capable of bringing out that side of her.
No matter who he was paired with, he was a chemistry bomb, dragging out their true colors.
Seol Ha-woon gazed at the distant sky. His face settled into a quiet, heavy stillness, like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake.
Lee Si-ah—no, everyone in the theater—had just seen a very similar expression.
Kang Hyun.
Seol Ha-woon and Kang Hyun resembled each other to a certain extent...
Vrooooom—!
A sudden roar of engines.
The jeeps of Shindra's army rushed up the mountain path. Masked assailants let out wild, maniacal laughter, seemingly thrilled by the impending battle.
"Bwahahaha!"
"Let's go kill some bastards!"
Their dialogue was incredibly cliché, like third-rate villains. Usually, guys like that died before they even reached the battlefield.
Just as that thought crossed her mind—
BOOM!
A blinding white flash filled the screen. A blue explosion suddenly erupted, swallowing the mountain path. The chassis of the vehicles were instantly engulfed in fierce, roaring flames. Metal twisted violently, sending shrapnel flying in all directions.
And that was only the beginning.
BOOM! BOOM!
A chain reaction of explosions targeted every single path the jeeps were taking. A thunderous torrent of fire swept over them like a tidal wave.
BOOM! BOOM! CRASH!
The sound blasted their eardrums.
The sheer force, vibrating through the entire theater, continued for dozens of seconds.
BOOM! BOOM! SCREEECH!
Countless jeeps were blown in half, flipped, shattered, and torn to shreds. Screams cut off abruptly. Some died instantly, unable to even utter a final gasp.
Once again, the perspective shifted.
Seol Ha-woon filled the screen.
It was a tight, single-camera close-up that even celebrities would find daunting, but his skin was remarkably flawless.
BOOM!
The camera slowly zoomed out from the close-up.
From the peak of the rocky mountain, Seol Ha-woon looked down at the destruction he had wrought.
His eyes held a mixture of inexplicable solitude and emptiness. His pupils glowed blue as he quietly observed the distant scene.
He was remotely activating such a devastating explosive spell.
Whoosh...
A wind thick with the scent of gunpowder swept over him, fluttering his clothes and messy hair.
Yet, there was no sign of joy on his face.
Perhaps he knew that Kang Hyun, at least, would not fall for his trap.
Inside Kang Hyun's jeep.
"This is Kang and Kim. We have survived. Proceeding forward."
Kang Hyun belatedly drove onto the mountain path.
The already rugged mountain had turned into something far more horrific due to the simultaneous explosions.
Screeech...
Kang Hyun drove a bit further before coming to a stop. It was a route scorched by the explosions.
"Hyun. Let's keep going this way," Kim Dong-ha suggested. "The places where the bombs already went off should be safe, right?"
At Kim Dong-ha's suggestion, Kang Hyun looked over at him.
"So that's what you think, Dong-ha."
"...Huh?"
"Then it's definitely not safe."
Kang Hyun simply waited in place, quietly contemplating another way.
Before long, the other jeeps arrived.
It was the rear guard.
Just as Kim Dong-ha had thought, they chose the path that had already exploded...
BOOM!
Once the rear guard had fully entered, a second explosion erupted. An even more violent torrent of fire incinerated them completely.
It was the meticulous calculation of the designer.
Only after watching his allies get blown to pieces did Kang Hyun move his jeep.
"Starting now."
He suddenly closed his eyes as he drove. Had he found a way to bypass the traps?
"Rear guard, please follow my vehicle."
It seemed Kang Hyun had read the 'scent' and 'traces' of mana left behind by the recent explosions.
The traps would no longer work on him.
...Back to Seol Ha-woon.
A rapid succession of scene cuts followed.
The two were gradually drawing closer to each other.
Having requested the main force to strike first, Seol Ha-woon looked down at the troops who had managed to break through his traps.
Shindra's army, including Kang Hyun, advanced swiftly.
Snap.
He snapped his fingers. The camera panned up to the sky.
A drone that had been hovering in orbit suddenly plummeted toward the ground at ultra-high speed.
Screeeeech—BOOM!
BOOM!
An airstrike. It wasn't CGI or special effects; it was a bombardment fueled by Seol Ha-woon's mana, scorching the earth.
BOOM!
The vanguard's formation was shattered in an instant. Seizing the chaos, Kate's spears and gunfire rained down upon them.
At that moment, Seol Ha-woon looked somewhere. A single spot on the ground, quite far from the rocky mountain.
The scope of his sniper rifle zoomed in on that location.
It was Kang Hyun.
Kang Hyun and Seol Ha-woon were looking at each other.
It was an immense distance, but ironically, it didn't feel far at all.
Both of them surely knew.
That to you, and to me, this gap is a distance that could be crossed as easily as reaching out a hand...
Kang Hyun leaped. It was closer to flight—a maneuver that defied gravity.
Seol Ha-woon's response was simple.
He pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
A figure gliding up from the ground, and a bullet descending from the mountain. The two trajectories flew toward each other, intersecting in a blinding flash. In that breathtaking moment—
Kang Hyun reached Seol Ha-woon first.
However.
He stopped right in front of Seol Ha-woon's nose. He merely held his sword, refusing to slash down.
"You managed to stop."
A compliment to Kang Hyun, who had pierced through everything to reach him, yet chose not to swing his blade.
Seol Ha-woon, always so cold, coughed up a mouthful of blood and smiled. It was a devastatingly beautiful smile.
The entire theater was utterly spellbound.
The proof was that even the Kang Hyun fans in the front rows were dead silent.
"You've linked the spell formula to yourself."
The camera slowly panned back from the close-up of the two. The entire rocky mountain was shown from a distance.
A massive magic circle. As Seol Ha-woon's blood dripped onto it, it gradually began to glow with a brilliant blue light.
"Yeah. A spell that costs the caster's life has quite the kick. It's already too late. It was over the moment you chose to target me."
Kang Hyun said nothing.
The battle on the other side of the mountain was already tilting toward their defeat.
As if making up his mind, Kang Hyun sheathed his sword and turned around. Seol Ha-woon slumped down, watching his retreating back.
And just as Kang Hyun faded from view—
Sigh.
He let out a deep sigh, then suddenly did something bizarre.
Slash!
He drew a military dagger and sliced open his own arm.
After spilling a pool of blood onto the ground, he walked off in the direction Kang Hyun had gone.
Huh? Why? Why on earth?
While everyone in the theater was left in utter confusion, the battle concluded, and Kate and Kim Du-gyeom returned.
"Mr. Seol Ha-woon? Where are you~?" Kim Du-gyeom called out.
It was hilarious watching Kim Du-gyeom act with such a sweet, innocent tone. Out of everyone there, he was the only one putting on a show.
"Huh?!"
Kim Du-gyeom discovered the pool of blood Seol Ha-woon had left behind.
"Miss Kate!"
Kate rushed over. Examining the sheer volume of blood, she muttered bitterly.
"Yes... It seems he was Forced Recalled."
Afterward, Kate and Kim Du-gyeom withdrew.
They flew back to Estin Corporation in a helicopter sent by Seer.
"You have returned...?" Seer greeted them, tilting his head. His eyes searched for one more person—Seol Ha-woon.
"It's just the two of us."
"...I see there was an unavoidable loss of personnel. My condolences. You both did well."
Somehow, his voice sounded relieved that he was gone.
A chilling soundtrack began to play.
"Before that, would you care for a drink?"
"No, thank you."
Seer poured whiskey into a glass. The camera zoomed in on the ice cubes. Reflected on their surface was Seer's expression, cold enough to freeze the air.
"The excavation of the labyrinth will be completed soon. Aren't you curious about what lies beyond?"
"Congratulations."
Clap, clap. Kim Du-gyeom clapped his hands, and Seer took a sip of his whiskey.
"However, before I send you on your way... there is one thing I am curious about."
Honestly, Lee Si-ah didn't care about this conversation at all. Her mind was still entirely occupied by Seol Ha-woon. Why did he fake his death?
Forget Seer, just show me Seol Ha-woon!
"Where exactly do you come from?"
"...?"
The loaded question slipped from Seer's lips.
The entire theater momentarily froze.
"Huh? What do you mean, where?"
What is wrong with that idiot Kim Du-gyeom? Is he a complete moron?
"I am asking about your place of origin."
"Ah~ We... came from somewhere pretty far away."
"Beyond the Outer Sea?"
"The... Outer Sea?"
Seer's sharp eyes darted between the clueless Kim Du-gyeom and the silently tense Kate, who seemed to have realized something.
"I keep track of all political affairs on this continent. It has been a habit of mine since childhood... Childhood. Come to think of it, even those memories feel doubtful now."
A bitter murmur, questioning his own memories.
"But recently, strange things have been happening. Not just in Raynos, but in other cities as well. People with unfamiliar names, whom I have never seen before, have been popping up like mushrooms after a rain."
Clink, clink.
The ice clinked against the glass.
"At first, I thought it was merely a coincidence... but I sat down and thought deeply about it, just for a brief moment. Before going to sleep, like a fleeting dream."
Seer suddenly looked out the window, taking in the view of his world.
"As I chewed on it... it felt like a familiar development. It was so familiar that it felt incredibly out of place."
Lee Si-ah swallowed hard. She was starting to understand. The puzzle pieces were falling into place in her mind.
The reason Seol Ha-woon had faked his death.
The reason for the suffocating tension that had lingered between Seol Ha-woon and Seer all this time.
"So, I decided to give voice to a hypothesis that has been haunting my mind—one that I absolutely did not want to admit."
Darkness clouded Seer's face. Lee Si-ah's heart pounded.
The eyes of hundreds of people in the Yongsan IMAX (CVG) theater were fixed on Seer, a mere NPC.
"I pondered it hundreds of times. Actually, it wasn't pondering—it was an effort to deny it."
Suddenly, the camera framed him head-on.
"But in the end, there was only one hypothesis that could serve as the answer. The truth that remained after eliminating all impossibilities."
At this point, it felt as if Seer was looking right through the screen at the audience in the theater.
"That you all... are beings from a higher dimension..."
Words that felt directed at everyone sitting in the theater right now.
"Let me ask you."
The hidden side of Seer, which only Seol Ha-woon had anticipated.
"Am I... a Labyrinthin?"
It was a shocking ending.
Seol Ha-woon had refused to trust Seer until the very end, and Seer had succeeded in deceiving everyone except him.
This... is a masterpiece.
"Ah..."
Lee Si-ah's throat tightened. It felt as if her heart had skipped a beat.
Though Episode 9 had already ended, the theater remained dead silent. Many people just sat there, frozen in their seats.
As the credits began to roll, Lee Si-ah picked up her smartphone.
The online community she frequented was blowing up. Social media was flooded with nothing but talk of Labyrinth Exploration NaN. The trending topics were dominated by Seer, Seol Ha-woon, and Kang Hyun.
Just then—
The theater doors suddenly swung open.
Whoaaa!
A wave of clamor and cheers rushed in first, followed by bodyguards who entered to clear a path.
What's going on?
As Lee Si-ah tilted her head in confusion, a man walked in.
Lee Si-ah recognized that face. Her eyes widened.
"Hello, everyone."
It was Yoon Sa-hyeok, the original creator and main PD of Labyrinth Exploration NaN.