Die With a Smile (4)

"Those guys. They're Labyrinthins."

Seol Ha-woon's deduction that Jin Ho-seung was a Labyrinthin rested on flimsy evidence. His only proof was that the man was left-handed. But if every single member of Jin Ho-seung's party was left-handed, and they were currently inside a labyrinth, there was no harm in being suspicious.

Lee Si-ah immediately pulled up Jin Ho-seung's PR video.

Though the clip was only a few dozen seconds long, he was undeniably right-handed!

Goosebumps erupted across Si-ah's arms. She immediately began spreading the word on Sil-talk and various other online communities.

Meanwhile, Labyrinth Exploration NaN cut to a commercial break.

“Are they seriously out of their minds?!”

Si-ah tore at her hair. The other viewers were equally furious.

Biting her nails anxiously, Si-ah checked the reactions to the posts she had just uploaded.

Hundreds of comments were already piling up, and the news was rapidly spreading to other forums and social media platforms.

Just then, the commercial break ended. She immediately locked her eyes back onto the screen.

"Lee Jun-ho: ...So. How are you going to verify that?"

Seol Ha-woon and Lee Jun-ho stood facing each other, speaking in hushed tones.

"Seol Ha-woon: I'll use the excuse of getting food. While leaving one person behind as bait. Then they'll show their true colors on their own."

"Lee Jun-ho: Using Ji-woo as bait... I don't like it, but..."

The two agreed on their cover story—pretending to go inside to fetch food—and the scene transitioned as time passed.

Before long, the sun dipped below the horizon, and darkness blanketed the snowy landscape.

"Seo Ji-woo: When are they coming back? Did something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠happen?"

Inside the shelter, the behavior of Jin Ho-seung and his party members was bizarre. They paced in tight circles, repeating the exact same movements over and over.

“It's true! They really are Labyrinthins!”

Si-ah's palms grew sweaty. Seo Ji-woo also seemed to sense something was off and tried to head outside.

"Seo Ji-woo: Mr. Jin Ho-seung. I'm going to step outside for a bit."

Suddenly, they lunged at her. The light vanished from their pupils, and their skin turned a ghostly, translucent gray.

"Seo Ji-woo: What the—!"

Creeeeak.

The Labyrinthin that wore Jin Ho-seung's face unhinged its jaw, stretching its mouth impossibly wide.

"Seo Ji-woo: Holy crap!"

Ji-woo was on the verge of being devoured by the monsters.

Si-ah held her breath, unable to even blink.

Boom!

Suddenly, a heavy impact slammed into the creature. It was Seol Ha-woon's Magic Bullet. The force of the shot staggered the Labyrinthin, slowing its movements.

Whoosh!

Lee Jun-ho burst into the frame next. Slicing through the doorway, he swung his longsword at the Labyrinthin, but the blade passed through its gelatinous body like cutting water.

"Lee Jun-ho: They aren't getting cut?"

"Seo Ji-woo: Hey, hey! What is going on?!"

"Lee Jun-ho: Can't you tell by looking! They're all Labyrinthins! Get out of here first!"

Jun-ho dragged Ji-woo outside, and the battle spilled into the open.

The Labyrinthins rushed them, and the trio channeled their mana to fight back. It was a chaotic, tangled brawl. The howling blizzard whipping around them only heightened the dramatic tension.

Suddenly, the camera cut away.

"Im Hae-jun: Zzz... Zzz..."

A five-second clip of a fast-asleep Im Hae-jun played before the screen cut right back to the battle.

Among the three, Ha-woon was struggling the most. With his crippled leg, close-quarters combat was highly disadvantageous.

“...No way.”

Si-ah's heart squeezed. Was he really going to get eliminated after doing so well? After figuring out the mystery all on his own?

Ha-woon tried to shake the Labyrinthin off, but the creature clung to him like slime, slowly engulfing the left side of his body.

“Ah, no! Dammit!”

Si-ah's face flushed red, completely swept up in the drama.

"Seol Ha-woon: Take this and die."

BOOM!!

A deafening blast roared from her speakers. A shotgun. The scattering magic bullets completely incinerated the Labyrinthin.

"Lee Jun-ho: Hey! I got one!"

"Seo Ji-woo: I tied one down too!"

Jun-ho finished off another Labyrinthin, while Ji-woo bound the fake Jin Ho-seung with her threads.

"Seol Ha-woon: ...Hold him still."

Ha-woon limped over. Stopping right in front of the Labyrinthin, he pinched his thumb, index, and middle fingers together... and BOOM!

He executed them one by one at point-blank range with his shotgun technique.

"Seo Ji-woo: Wow! Nice! Is that a new skill—huh?!"

Then, as if completely exhausted, he collapsed forward onto Ji-woo, their bodies tangling slightly.

In any case, Ha-woon had fainted, so Ji-woo and Jun-ho carried him back to the cabin.

Just as the viewers were catching their breath...

"Im Hae-jun: Zzz... Zzz..."

Another five-second clip of Im Hae-jun sleeping flashed on the screen.

Inside Seol Ha-woon's cabin.

Jun-ho and Ji-woo tended to Ha-woon together. His collapse was due to mana exhaustion. They performed emergency first aid, unbuttoning his shirt to cool him down, and Ha-woon slowly regained his composure.

"Lee Jun-ho: I'm really leaving."

"Seo Ji-woo: Gosh, you stubborn bastard."

Despite ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ji-woo's protests, Jun-ho insisted on leaving the cabin. Ji-woo handed him a large chunk of venison as a parting gift.

"Seo Ji-woo: I didn't catch it, but he probably would've given it to you anyway."

"Lee Jun-ho: ...Right. Thanks."

Whoosh. The screen faded to black as Jun-ho vanished into the swirling white of the blizzard.

A massive caption filled the screen. 100 hours remaining.

On the frozen plains, which had grown exponentially colder, the remaining explorers fought to survive.

However, Si-ah's attention was locked entirely on Ha-woon's party.

"Seo Ji-woo: It's freezing out there. This is insane. I think it's way colder than yesterday."

"Seol Ha-woon: It'll probably keep getting colder."

"Seo Ji-woo: Then what do we do now?"

"Seol Ha-woon: ...There's nothing else we can do from here on out. You, nail this to the wall."

Sensing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the unnatural drop in temperature, Ha-woon began completely winterizing the cabin, nailing animal pelts to the walls to seal out the draft.

"Im Hae-jun: Zzz... Zzz..."

Hae-jun was still sleeping underground. Like a hibernating squirrel, he had become Sil-talk's ultimate source of comedy. Every time he appeared on screen, the chat flooded with endless 'lmao's.

"Kang Hyun: We have to maintain our body heat."

Kang Hyun was also gathering animal hides to construct a makeshift tent inside his cave.

With barely three days left, the blizzard raged relentlessly like a scene from a disaster movie. The temperature plummeted to unfathomable depths.

"Im Hae-jun: Zzz... Zzz..."

Hae-jun slept underground, Ryu Yeon-hwa held out in her volcanic hot spring, and Kang Hyun burned animal fat inside his cave.

Tick, tick. A montage of various scenes played out to the sound of a ticking clock.

Finally, with less than a single day remaining.

"Lee Jun-ho: ...I'm going to freeze to death at this rate."

Jun-ho sat curled up in a desolate, empty ruin. He tried to spark a fire by striking his sword, but even that failed him.

His food and firewood were long gone, and even his padded jacket was frozen stiff, coated in a layer of frost.

Sil-talk was a complete warzone. For context, 'Kang-Blockhead' was a derogatory nickname for Kang Hyun, coined because of his occasional airheaded moments. Variations included 'Stone-Blockhead,' 'Dumb-Blockhead,' and 'Blocky.' On the flip side, 'Kill-Junho' was Lee Jun-ho's derogatory nickname, stemming from the time he killed an intruder who broke into his house when he was thirteen.

The fans of the top two contestants always had it rough like this. For Si-ah, she felt quite relieved that Seol Ha-woon was her ultimate favorite.

"Lee Jun-ho: Haa..."

Jun-ho ran a hand through his hair in frustration before finally standing up. He left his desolate shelter and trudged through the blinding blizzard until he reached a familiar place.

It was the cabin.

The only sanctuary he knew.

Knock, knock.

He tapped on the door, but it didn't open. Jun-ho raised his hand to knock again, but hesitated, quietly gritting his teeth.

Perhaps his pride wouldn't allow it. He turned to face the freezing blizzard once more, but...

A warm light and gentle heat bathed his back. The cabin door had opened.

Jun-ho looked back.

"Seol Ha-woon: Come in."

Seol Ha-woon gestured toward the interior of the cabin. Jun-ho's eyes trembled.

"Lee Jun-ho: ......"

Letting out a soft sigh, Jun-ho finally stepped inside.

Sil-talk's reaction was mostly positive, though a fair share of users complained about why Ha-woon was helping him. They were likely fans of other high-ranking contestants.

Ha-woon served Jun-ho some food, and Jun-ho thawed his near-frozen body in front of the fireplace.

"Lee Jun-ho: Thank you."

Ha-woon merely shrugged without a word.

Time passed.

"Im Hae-jun: Zzz... Zzz..."

It was Hae-jun.

This guy seriously does nothing but sleep.

Whoosh!

A caption appeared alongside the howling of the wind. There was truly very little time left.

But the blizzard raged with unprecedented fury. The camera showed nearly a third of the surviving explorers failing just short of the finish line.

"Seo Ji-woo: What do we do? We're out of firewood."

"Seol Ha-woon: Everyone, break down whatever furniture we have."

Ha-woon's party was also in a tight spot. They smashed every piece of furniture in the cabin and threw them into the fireplace, desperate to keep the fire burning until the storm passed.

Ruuuumble!

Like a scene from an apocalyptic disaster film, the blizzard sounded as if it were tearing the very fabric of space apart. The deafening roar filling her room made Si-ah instinctively pull her jacket tighter around herself.

"Seol Ha-woon: Get closer. We can't let our body temperatures drop."

"Kang Hyun: ...Haa."

"Im Hae-jun: Zzz... Zzz... Ugh... Zzz..."

"Yun Hwa-rim: I'm going crazy, I want to cry..."

It was a desperate struggle for all the remaining explorers to maintain their body heat. At the end of that fierce battle against nature...

The blizzard gradually began to die down. The deafening roar that had threatened to swallow their ears vanished entirely.

"Seo Ji-woo: ...Is it over? Did we do it?"

"Lee Jun-ho: Don't jinx us."

With Ji-woo's classic death-flag line, the cabin team was the first to open their door.

Warm sunlight spilled over them first. A gentle breeze caressed them like a soft touch, and the snowy landscape sparkled in brilliant white.

“Wow...”

Si-ah gasped in awe.

"Seo Ji-woo: The sun is up! It's up!"

Ji-woo ran out onto the warm snow, jumping up and down in excitement. The camera briefly focused on Ha-woon, who was watching her with a strangely wistful gaze.

"Seo Ji-woo: It's over!"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠survival labyrinth's timer finally ran out. Ji-woo approached Ha-woon and held out her palm for a high-five.

Ha-woon's face was shown in a tight close-up, filling the screen like the protagonist of a movie.

Remarkably, his skin was completely flawless, without a single blemish or wrinkle. It was so pale and clear that it made one wonder what skincare routine or dermatological treatments he used. With a faint, enigmatic smile, he reached out and presented something to Ji-woo.

It was scissors. As in rock-paper-scissors.

"Seo Ji-woo: Wait, don't you know what a high-five is?"

With Ji-woo letting out a dumbfounded chuckle, the screen cut away from Ha-woon's party. Next came a montage of the other survivors—Kang Hyun, Im Hae-jun, Ryu Yeon-hwa, and the rest—looking up at the clear sky with bright smiles.

“What a beautiful ending.”

This is what Labyrinth Exploration NaN is all about.

Just as Si-ah was about to lose herself in the emotional afterglow, Ha-woon appeared on screen again. This time, he was in the interview room.

“Whoa. There's more.”

The writer asked him a question.

"Writer: You tracked down contestant Seo Ji-woo right before she was about to be eliminated. Is there a particular reason you went out of your way to save her?"

Ha-woon answered.

"Seol Ha-woon: A particular reason... to save her?"

"Writer: Yes. After all, this is a competition. It would be more beneficial for you if a strong competitor got eliminated. Yet, you even formed a team with her."

"Seol Ha-woon: ...I'm not really sure."

He claimed he didn't really know. Yet, as he spoke, his expression and voice carried a hint of shyness.

The writer changed the question.

"Writer: After the blizzard stopped, you were teasing Seo Ji-woo. Was that because you felt you two had gotten closer?"

"Seol Ha-woon: ...Yes. A little bit."

At that moment, Ha-woon smiled brightly. It was the very first time he had shown such a warm, gentle smile. The exhausted, sharp edge he always carried vanished completely, replaced by the magical aura of an innocent boy.

“Oh my god.”

Si-ah quickly checked Sil-talk. As expected, the chat was in absolute chaos.

Although the interview quickly transitioned to Kang Hyun, the cascading waterfall of posts was filled with nothing but talk of Seol Ha-woon...