Spring Rain (1)
All ninety-six participants of Labyrinth Exploration NaN gathered in a single studio. For some reason, the background felt familiar.
It was the very first pyramid set where everyone had assembled at the beginning.
“Good to see you all. Everyone is here, right?”
Yu Ji-in, always dressed extravagantly, announced today's topic in an unusually serious voice.
“Today is the day for tier reassignment.”
Tier reassignment.
I had gone through three labyrinths as an F-Tier. It was about time I moved up.
“The results of this tier reassignment will remain in effect until the first vote count is tallied.”
The first tally would be based on the number of votes. It would likely be sorted by vote rankings right after the Situation Labyrinth episodes aired.
For me, that period might actually be a crisis. Until then, Kim Du-gyeom's public image would still be good, whereas I was the one who beat him up.
“This tier evaluation is calculated by combining 40% of the live audience evaluation from the Situation Labyrinth and 60% of the mentors' evaluation scores. Also, please keep in mind that discrepancies may arise between your future rankings and your tiers.”
This meant that if someone had a high vote ranking but a low mentor evaluation, they could end up as [3rd Place, A-Tier], or conversely, [S-Tier, 13th Place].
“I will now announce the S-Tier. There are six in total.”
The number of S-Tier spots had decreased.
Kang Hyun, Ryu Yeon-hwa, Seo Ji-woo, Lee Jun-ho, Jo Woon, Kate
In alphabetical order, they were exactly the kind of people you'd expect to see in S-Tier.
“Now for the A-Tier. There are ten in total.”
Kim Du-gyeom, Kim Dong-ha, Ryu Wei, Yoon Hwa-rim, Im Hae-jun, Jin Ho-jong...
Afterward, the lists for B-Tier (14 people), C-Tier (21 people), and the remaining D, E, and F-Tiers were announced. I became C-Tier Seol Ha-woon.
It was lower than I expected. I thought I'd at least make it to the tail end of B-Tier.
It was probably because I hadn't shown any blatant displays of raw power.
Due to my limited mobility, I had stayed away from the 'hotspots' throughout the labyrinth.
Still, I was the only one who had jumped three ranks straight from F-Tier. C-Tier was a safe zone where I didn't have to worry about mid-term elimination.
The only annoying part was that Kim Du-gyeom had risen to A-Tier. I guess his talent was being recognized.
“Hyung! I-I'm A-Tier!”
Im Hae-jun, who had suddenly appeared beside me, was also in A-Tier.
“Now, your dormitories will be reassigned according to your tiers. But before that, it would be a shame to just move on, wouldn't it? We have a mini-game with prizes on the line!”
Yu Ji-in smiled brightly and snapped her fingers.
“A staring contest!”
A staring contest. Not throwing snowballs, but looking into each other's eyes. This was clearly meant to be another slice-of-life segment.
“You will compete in a staring contest according to a pre-determined bracket. The top six will get a chance to draw a 'Mystery Box' specially prepared by the Labyrinth Exploration NaN team, along with an extra minute of self-PR time. Naturally, your individual PR videos will be uploaded to our official website.”
One minute of self-PR. That was no small reward. We needed votes by any means necessary.
“First, we will draw the matchups! Very fairly, of course~”
The production crew brought out a container filled with ninety-six small balls. It looked similar to a lottery machine.
“Let's draw.”
Yu Ji-in activated the machine, but there was something strange about her hand movements. A faint trace of mana was mixed in.
Meaning, this was by no means a fair draw.
“Everyone whose name is called, please come forward and sit facing each other! Round one: Seol Ha-woon versus Seo Ji-woo! Im Hae-jun versus Kim Du-gyeom! Kang Hyun versus Ryu Wei! Ji Un-yul versus...”
Round one.
Seo Ji-woo sat in front of me. She stared at me, and I stared back into her eyes.
Seo Ji-woo had blue hair, just like Seo Ji-hyuk. A bluish tint was also embedded in her pupils. Even putting aside blue irises, blue hair was a biologically impossible color for a mammal.
Because it wasn't a biological result.
If a child with high mana affinity lived exposed to dense mana from an early age, the mana would dye them. They would naturally end up with blue hair without ever needing to dye it.
It was practically child abuse.
“...”
Seo Ji-woo's lips twitched. Watching her struggle not to blink reminded me of the old Seo Ji-hyuk.
Ironically, we had had a staring contest back then, too. They called it 'blink-prevention training' and made us monitor each other.
A shitty but nostalgic memory.
Without realizing it, a smile slipped onto my face. Seo Ji-woo flinched.
“Why—why are you laughing? What are you smirking at?!”
“...What, punk.”
The camera caught Seo Ji-woo. I stood up from my seat, and—
“Ah, I didn't even care about winning anyway. I didn't care at all...”
Seo Ji-woo muttered to herself as she walked away.
Round two.
This time, it was Lee Jun-ho.
“Why don't you just close your eyes already?”
Lee Jun-ho suggested I give up, his lips trembling. His eyes were already bloodshot.
It had already been twenty minutes.
“I can do this all day.”
“Ha~ what's with this bluffing~?”
“You're the one bluffing. Your eyes are literally pooling with tears.”
“...That's just because I suddenly thought of something sad.”
For the record, my eyes are excellent. The free trait [Good Eyes, Good Ears] proved it. Here, 'good eyes' carried multiple meanings.
Lee Jun-ho leaned his face closer to mine.
“I'm a warrior who underwent mana training. Do you really think I'll lose?”
“...A mana-trained radish? Do radishes undergo mana training these days?”
Lee Jun-ho chewed on my words before furrowing his brow.
“A radish... what the hell are you talking about?”
The camera caught Lee Jun-ho. Just now, he had blinked ever so slightly.
“No way!”
Lee Jun-ho stood up, looking utterly cheated.
“Isn't this a foul? He suddenly started saying some weird, nonsensical garbage!”
Round three.
My third opponent was Ryu Yeon-hwa.
This natural white-haired girl was a fairly famous and promising spellcaster, but this was our first time face-to-face.
“Hello. I am Ryu Yeon-hwa.”
“I'm Seol Ha-woon.”
I threw casual speech right at her from the start. Ryu Yeon-hwa's temple twitched.
“...Isn't this our first time meeting?”
Ryu Yeon-hwa hated casual speech upon first meeting. She was a sheltered girl who valued etiquette and was unnecessarily fastidious—essentially, a pampered young lady style.
She was the perfect opponent for me.
“It's not our first time.”
“...What are you talking about?”
Ryu Yeon-hwa glared at me with a hostile expression, but I calmly continued.
“We met. Back then.”
“Back then?”
“At Aqua Cube.”
“...”
Ryu Yeon-hwa's expression froze.
Ryu Yeon-hwa was a well-known club lover. She didn't go often, but she enjoyed it about two or three times a month. A little rebellion from a sheltered princess, so to speak.
It was a pretty famous rumor among the Labyrinth Exploration NaN fandom.
“...Why are you bringing that up? There are cameras here.”
Ryu Yeon-hwa whispered urgently.
“You always book a VIP table. Must be nice to have so much money.”
“Shh. Shh. Shh.”
“Close your eyes first. Then I'll shut up. You're already in the upper ranks even without that extra minute of PR.”
“...Ha. So that's how you want to play it?”
She grit her teeth.
“Do you know what my motto is? Strong against the strong, weak to the weak. Blackmail like this—”
“I even know your MD's name.”
“...like this...”
“You should be careful around him. Who knows? He might do something weird using your name.”
In fact, Ryu Yeon-hwa would eventually get caught up in a scandal. Although she was framed, it was a rather nasty drug-related issue.
I held up three fingers.
“I'll give you three seconds.”
The moment the words left my mouth, Ryu Yeon-hwa blinked.
Round four, the final match.
With only one victory left to secure, my final opponent was Kate. She was clearly not going to be easy.
“...”
Her lips were tightly sealed. Her eyes were raised sharply today, looking fiercer than usual.
She was definitely not someone who would throw a match.
Maybe it would be better to say absolutely nothing this time.
“...”
“...”
We glared at each other.
Kate really was a beautiful person, now that I looked at her. How was her skin so perfect? Did she use something like a [Mysterious Care Set] too?
The staring contest had already surpassed forty minutes, but the situation remained unchanged. Kate seemed determined, keeping her eyelids open even as her cheek muscles twitched.
Suddenly, a comedy show I watched this morning came to mind.
“Miss Kate.”
Kate remained expressionless. I moved my mouth as if chewing on something and spoke.
“Can I spit?”
I moved my lips, pretending to spit. *Ptooey.*
“...You crazy—”
Her eyes blinked in sheer disgust.
“Whew.”
It wasn't a foul. I hadn't actually spat, after all.
By hook or by crook, I had made it onto the winner's podium.
The six winners were Kang Hyun, Seol Ha-woon, Kim Woo-hyun, Ji Yeong-ho, Ryu Wei, and Kim Du-gyeom. As expected, except for Kang Hyun, they were all A to C-Tiers desperate for self-PR. But this bastard Kim Du-gyeom was truly persistent. He had managed to climb up here too.
“Everyone~ please choose a door and go inside!”
Yu Ji-in pointed to the doors next to the set. There were exactly six of them.
Kim Du-gyeom chimed in with a fake, beaming smile.
“How should we decide the order? How about Rock-Paper-Scissors?”
“Go play that by yourself in front of a mirror.”
“...”
Kim Du-gyeom's expression soured.
Just then, Kang Hyun stepped forward with a slightly amused expression.
“Does everyone here happen to know Go-Back-Jump?”
Go-Back-Jump. It was similar to the 3-6-9 game, but on multiples of three, you had to choose between 'Go', 'Back', or 'Jump'. 'Go' kept the order the same, 'Back' reversed the direction, and 'Jump' skipped the next person.
“Go-Back-Jump...?”
Kim Du-gyeom looked puzzled. Kim Woo-hyun raised his hand.
“I know it.”
I nodded as well.
“I know it. Let's go with that.”
“Yes, I don't mind either.”
“Sure, let's do it.”
Since Ryu Wei and Ji Yeong-ho were also fine with it, the order-deciding game was set to Go-Back-Jump.
“We're going straight in without practice. Starting with Ha-woon Hyung, going to the left.”
Kang Hyun waved his arms as he chanted the intro. He seemed strangely excited.
“Go-Back-Jump, Go-Back-Jump~”
I went first.
“One.”
Kang Hyun followed.
“Two.”
Then Kim Du-gyeom.
“Back!”
“...”
Silence.
Since it was 'Back', it was Kang Hyun's turn again.
I looked at Kang Hyun.
“Ah.”
Kang Hyun realized too late, his face turning into a picture of utter despair. I was dumbfounded.
“What are you doing?”
You were the one who suggested it.
“Ah...”
“What do you mean, 'ah'?”
“...Ah.”
Just as Kang Hyun let out a silent sigh.
Sensing something off, I glanced back at Kim Du-gyeom. A sly, despicable smirk was carved onto his face.
This bastard knew the game.
We'd been tricked.
In the end, I won the Go-Back-Jump game. Kim Du-gyeom came in second. I had even equipped my Reinforced Compressed Rimless Glasses out of sheer determination not to lose to that bastard.
Meaning, I had literally amplified my nervous system just to win a silly game of Go-Back-Jump.
“...Phew.”
“Ha-woon Hyung. You're really good at this.”
Kang Hyun looked at me with an envious expression.
“You're just terrible at it.”
“...Ah.”
It was an unnecessarily hurt reaction.
Anyway, I was the first to choose a room.
It was a room painted entirely in pink. Four mystery boxes sat on a table.
The writer spoke.
“You can choose one of the four boxes and do your self-PR.”
“Understood.”
Which one should I choose? Which one? As I pondered, a sudden thought struck me.
“By any chance, can I choose later?”
“Pardon?”
The writer tilted her head in confusion.
“Later? What do you plan on doing?”
There was bound to be something quite good inside these mystery boxes. The Labyrinth Exploration NaN production team was famous for being generous.
However, it wouldn't matter if I opened it a bit later.
“I will...”