No Plan Is the Plan
The opening scene showed an explorer party fleeing in a panic.
Whoosh—swish—whoosh—
They practically flew between the buildings as they escaped. Familiar faces flickered across the screen. In particular, a shock of white hair stood out instantly.
Fwooooosh!
A torrential rain of mana bullets swept toward them. Ryu Yeon-hwa and her companions executed evasive maneuvers, but before they knew it, they were surrounded on all sides.
They had been herded like rabbits from the very beginning.
—Ryu Yeon-hwa: "...Who are you?"
Their pursuers offered no reply, only tightening the noose. They stepped forward, one pace at a time, with countless gun barrels trained on the group.
Ryu Yeon-hwa lowered her fan, as if accepting her defeat.
—Ryu Yeon-hwa: "We are heavily outnumbered. If there is an issue, take only me. The others are merely my companions—oof!"
At that moment, the enemies lunged, slamming Ryu Yeon-hwa to the ground with a shoulder throw and pinning the rest of her party in the same manner.
—Ryu Yeon-hwa: "Ah, I told you to only take me—urgh! *Cough*. Ah, so heavy. I can't breathe... air, a-air...!"
Ryu Yeon-hwa is actually kind of cute. Despite the gravity of the situation, a faint smile tugged at the corners of Lee Si-ah's lips.
Next, the sign of a restaurant flickered onto the screen.
This time, the perspective shifted to Kang Hyun.
Snap!
Someone snapped their fingers. The sound was exceptionally loud in the audio mix. Kang Hyun glanced in that direction. A mysterious man clad in a black robe was sitting at a table.
The camera lingered on him with heavy significance.
Who is that? Ah, is it an enemy sent by Seer?!
Crunch.
Kang Hyun, however, simply picked up a taco and took a bite without a care in the world. It was the legendary Kang Hyun "mukbang" that so many viewers loved to watch.
Crunch. Crunch.
The appeal lay in how incredibly unappetizing he made it look. When eating unappealingly reached the heights Kang Hyun achieved, it became a form of art in its own right. He was the polar opposite of Seol Ha-woon, who ate everything with infectious gusto.
Chime.
The restaurant door swung open, and a bald, tattooed man stepped inside.
—Ah. There you... are. Where's your friend?
—Kang Hyun: "It seems she was captured."
—That complicates things. That bastard Seer hired a troublesome spellcaster. I heard you killed him? Follow me for now. It's dangerous here. Seer's search party is hunting you.
The bald man gestured to Kang Hyun. Swallowing the rest of his taco, Kang Hyun followed him out.
To Lee Si-ah, the atmosphere felt incredibly suspicious.
—Get in.
There were two vehicles prepared. Kang Hyun climbed into the passenger seat of one.
—Put your seatbelt on.
The bald man kindly buckled the seatbelt for him, and Kang Hyun watched him with a strange look in his eyes.
—Kang Hyun: "You're very kind."
—I've always been.
The man smirked and stepped on the accelerator.
—Kang Hyun: "Are we resuming the mission?"
—Well... who knows?
Who knows.
At those words, the camera zoomed in on Kang Hyun's eyes. An eerie soundtrack began to play as Kang Hyun raised his gaze to the rearview mirror.
Two men in the back seat, and the bald man beside him.
Lee Si-ah could tell.
They were not allies.
The bald man sneered.
—Quick on the uptake, aren't you?
Click. The assailant in the back seat pressed a gun barrel against Kang Hyun's temple.
Kang Hyun gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, but—
—It's useless. Our world possesses superior technology. Ever heard of a synthetic fiber that suppresses internal mana?
—Kang Hyun: "..."
—Don't worry. We won't hurt you. Though, I heard if you lose an arm or a leg, you get Forced Recalled or whatever?
The bald man let out a slimy laugh. As a viewer, even the wrinkles on his face were deeply irritating.
—So stay still before things get any uglier. If you just shut up and—
Just as the man was about to spew more vile words befitting his face—
—!
A sudden, massive explosion shook the entire screen.
Crash! Boom!
The camera shook violently. The vehicle launched into the air like a baseball and tumbled across the ground. The bald man was thrown through the windshield, while the other two inside were thoroughly battered by the impact.
Crash! Bang!
Kang Hyun, on the other hand, was perfectly safe. Thanks to the seatbelt the bald man had buckled for him.
—Kang Hyun: "...Ugh."
Inside the completely overturned car after the chaos settled, Kang Hyun furrowed his brow in pain.
Even in pain, he looked incredibly handsome. It was obvious why he had so many fans.
No, that wasn't what was important right now.
—Ah, fuck, goddammit, what motherf—
One of the surviving men spat out a curse, but—shhhk! A bolt of blue mana pierced right through his forehead.
Who was it?
The entire theater held its collective breath.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of a cane tapping against the ground drew closer.
Lee Si-ah unconsciously clutched her chest, and Kang Hyun on the screen looked back through the shattered mirror.
A man clad in a black robe.
The very man who had been in the restaurant with Kang Hyun just moments ago was walking toward them—limping!
Thump. Thump.
He stopped slowly in front of the car. Looking down at Kang Hyun, who was hanging upside down from his seatbelt beyond the shattered windshield—
He pulled back his hood.
—Seol Ha-woon: "You alright?"
Seol Ha-woon.
He smirked, tossing out the words with casual indifference.
—Seol Ha-woon: "The seatbelt saved you."
A collective gasp rippled through the theater.
It was an exclamation of awe that they couldn't hide or suppress, slipping past their lips before they could stop it.
"Whoa..."
His presence was on another level. Of course, in terms of pure looks, Kang Hyun was objectively superior.
But this situation, the dialogue, and that smirk combined...
Lee Si-ah thought it was easily one of the most perfect entrance scenes of all time.
Without giving the audience a moment to savor the lingering excitement, the scene shifted immediately.
—Shindra: "What do you plan to do with them?"
Shindra asked "him".
Lee Si-ah's eyes widened. Had they been working together from the very beginning?!
—Seer: "It's simple."
Seer. Despite being a mere NPC in the labyrinth, he was a famous figure who had even been documented on the User Wiki. He replied while looking up at the endless sky stretching beyond the glass window.
—Seer: "I will throw them into the labyrinth."
He meant he would cast the explorers into a labyrinth within the labyrinth. It was an incredibly dangerous scheme.
—Shindra: "Fine. Let's assume you're right, whatever the case. Though it's still hard to fully trust you."
It seemed they didn't fully trust each other yet. The rumor that the siblings had a terrible relationship appeared to be true.
Then again, how could siblings born only a year apart ever get along?
—Shindra: "Will our struggling actually accomplish anything?"
—Seer: "It is better than not struggling at all."
"Struggling." Lee Si-ah found his choice of words strangely melancholic.
He seemed like a perfectly calculated, intellectual villain, yet his demeanor was always tinged with sorrow.
—Shindra: "Then... hm? They say the capture failed."
—Seer: "A pity. However, we have no blind spots in this city."
As Seer stood up, something caught the reflection of his glasses.
Beneath the sofa.
A tiny button lying on the office floor.
It looked like an ordinary button, but upon closer inspection... it was infused with mana.
—Seer: "Ha."
Seer used telekinesis to lift the button. Staring at it, his lips twisted into a smirk.
—Seer: "So you were alive."
Lee Si-ah swallowed hard.
The owner of that button was probably—no, definitely—Seol Ha-woon.
No matter how brilliant or cunning Seer was, there was an explorer on their side who thoroughly doubted and countered that brilliant NPC at every turn.
Seol Ha-woon and Seer.
Their battle was far from over.
Traffic to the broadcasting station spiked. Kim A-rang leaned back in her chair, wearing a goofy grin.
"Must be that scene~"
Trending topics, live chats, and online communities across all social media platforms were flooded with discussions about Episode 10 of Labyrinth Exploration NaN. Aside from those who had intentionally cut themselves off from the internet to watch it in theaters, practically the entire Korean peninsula was talking about it.
"Hey, PD Kim. What do you think the viewership ratings will be?"
Im Hyeong-uk let out a dry chuckle as he scrolled through his smartphone. Kim A-rang spun her chair around.
"I'm expecting 60% for the 20-to-49 demographic. We are the icons of the MZ generation."
"...Whatever you say."
"And that's not all."
Seol Ha-woon's votes were skyrocketing. Not just in the profile popularity polls, but in the weekly voting as well.
"Don't go advertising that he's the PD's pick... tsk. But honestly, I'm not really in the mood to celebrate."
Im Hyeong-uk sighed.
"I keep thinking of Mentor Kim Yoon-jun. He used to always bring coffee and cake at times like this."
"...Ah, seriously."
Kim A-rang's brow furrowed.
"Just work. Bury yourself in work. It's not like he'll come back to life if you mope around..."
"You're so cold, PD Kim. So damn cold. I envy you."
Im Hyeong-uk smacked his lips and shuffled back to his desk.
"Cold? I'm just keeping professional and personal lives separate..."
Kim A-rang went back to work.
She wanted to spend more time reading the reactions to Seol Ha-woon, but she had to edit Seol Ha-woon's highlight reel to upload to YouTube.
—Seol Ha-woon: "That's the situation right now. Do you understand?"
Inside a room at the 4-star Armand Hotel, Seol Ha-woon and Kang Hyun were holding a tactical briefing.
—Seol Ha-woon: "Anyway, starting today, we're cooperating."
—Kang Hyun: "Yes."
Who on earth spread those rumors about them fighting? They look so friendly.
Lee Si-ah sipped her cola as she watched the two.
—Seol Ha-woon: "Shh."
She stopped drinking her cola.
Seol Ha-woon had just told her to shush.
Pitter-patter—
Suspicious footsteps reached Seol Ha-woon's ears. Kang Hyun didn't seem to hear them at all.
—Seol Ha-woon: "They're coming up."
—Kang Hyun: "...Do you hear something?"
—Seol Ha-woon: "Yeah. They've been setting up bombs and spells on their way up... My head is killing me."
Seol Ha-woon took a sip of black tea. At this point, she was genuinely curious about how it tasted. He was definitely going to land a black tea or coffee commercial later.
—Kang Hyun: "Hyung. How will the enemies move?"
—Seol Ha-woon: "They'll try to hunt down the explorers one by one."
—Kang Hyun: "How will we move?"
—Seol Ha-woon: "Well. We only need to know one thing."
Seol Ha-woon's lips curled as he thought of someone.
Seer immediately came to Lee Si-ah's mind.
Seer when thinking of Seol Ha-woon, and Seol Ha-woon when thinking of Seer—their expressions were identical.
If I remember these details, I'll easily get a trending post later. I need to make some GIFs as soon as I get home.
—Seol Ha-woon: "That our opponent is smart."
Seol Ha-woon never underestimated his enemy.
—Seol Ha-woon: "No plan is the plan."
But since Seer was the same, Seol Ha-woon chose not to make a plan.
It meant he wouldn't even give Seer a chance to counter.
—Kang Hyun: "What kind of 'no plan'?"
—Seol Ha-woon: "Hmm..."
Seol Ha-woon finished his black tea.
He was always relaxed, composed, and self-assured. He didn't look like someone being hunted at all. He was the kind of person who made you feel completely at ease just by being on your side.
He wasn't called "TruthSpitter" for nothing.
Snap.
He snapped his fingers.
Boom!
A vibration shook the entire camera angle violently.
—Seol Ha-woon: "We're going to blow up the hotel. From the inside."
Lee Si-ah's jaw dropped. It was certainly a method even Seer would find hard to predict.
Wait, isn't that suicide?
Kang Hyun blinked.
—Kang Hyun: "The hotel?"
—Seol Ha-woon: "Yeah."
Seol Ha-woon quietly closed his eyes. The external sounds filtering into his ears were transmitted to the theater audience as well.
Pitter-patter...
It was the sound of civilians evacuating. He was determined to avoid unnecessary casualties.
—Seol Ha-woon: "We'll figure out the details later... actually, let's just not think about them at all."
He raised his gloved hand and asked,
—Seol Ha-woon: "Ready?"
Kang Hyun drew his sword and rested it across his knees.
—Kang Hyun: "Yes."
As if waiting for that exact moment, Seol Ha-woon pressed his thumb down.
BOOM!
A massive explosion violently seized the camera. The sheer destruction unleashed by Seol Ha-woon's spell was immense.
Crumble—
Debris rained down from the hotel ceiling like water. A heavy shockwave twisted the support beams.
CRASH!
Amidst the collapsing, detonating building, Seol Ha-woon looked at Kang Hyun. Kang Hyun looked back at Seol Ha-woon.
There was no agitation in either of them. Far from fear or dread, they were as serene as a placid lake.
Two people who were strangely similar, yet so vastly different.
Rumble!
The hotel collapsed, swallowing the entire screen in darkness.
It was a sequence spectacular enough to serve as a season finale.
Lee Si-ah could already predict the explosion of reactions in the live chat.