Chapter 43
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Tiger's Den (2)
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Fog-shrouded, silent urban heart.
That was Lee Min-jun's first impression of the Maze Garden upon finally arriving.
[You have entered ‘Atlnak’s Maze Garden.’]
[The recommended level here is Star Power Lv. 1.]
‘Recommended level?’
“Don’t go off alone like that, I told you.”
“Yeah. It’s dangerous by yourself.”
“Anyway, is everyone okay….”
As soon as Jung So-hee entered, she started nagging Min-jun, who quickly tried to switch to another topic….
But before Min-jun could finish speaking, So-hee suddenly collapsed with a thud, and the hefty Kim Gun-ho followed with a heavy thump.
“Gun-ho?! So-hee-ssi! Snap out of it! You okay?”
“Ugh… Min-jun… ssi, my head—”
Min-jun hurriedly crouched down, tapping their shoulders to rouse them, but they only writhed in pain, clutching their heads.
[Warning! Beware the poison fog.]
‘Damn, you warn me late.’
Min-jun checked the system message and scanned his surroundings.
Fog blanketed everything.
“Gun-ho! What the hell is this? You didn’t mention any fog!”
“There… wasn’t any… when I was here…. *Cough*.”
“You call that an answer…. Hey! Stay with me!”
As Min-jun straightened their slumping bodies, which were growing weaker by the second, he noticed their whites of their eyes gradually turning black.
‘This?!’
It was the same symptoms as Kim Gun-ho’s seniors he’d seen at the police hospital.
‘They said they were poisoned… was it this fog? Damn it.’
Min-jun hurriedly placed the smaller So-hee on top of Kim Gun-ho and hoisted him up in both arms.
With all the shattered windows, the building interior was no different from outside, so he needed to find an intact indoor space free of the fog to take shelter.
Min-jun began weaving through the city streets in search of refuge.
‘There!’
What caught his eye was the entrance to an officetel’s underground parking lot.
From the outside, all the doors and windows on the ground level were sealed shut.
If he could enter through the basement, it seemed like he could avoid the poison fog for a little while.
‘Not perfect, but the fog’s thinner here than outside.’
Without time to hesitate, he plunged inside. The walls and ceiling of the underground parking lot were covered in soot from a fire,
but Min-jun had no bandwidth to care about that right now.
Who gave a damn if the building had burned a bit?
The only thing that mattered was whether it offered escape from the poison fog.
Confirming the fog was somewhat thinner, Min-jun ventured deeper.
‘Here!’
In the core of the building by the stairwell, he spotted the ‘security office.’
Having verified the fog was markedly thinner toward the building’s core, that room would surely serve as a safe zone for the two without Star Power.
With that thought, Min-jun hurriedly opened the door and stepped into the security office.
Creak.
“Huh? Who’re you, mister?”
“…Uh, hi? I’m… uh, a guest? Yeah, haha.”
…Inside the security office he entered,
a little girl was playing with a pile of transparent stones in one corner of the room.
* * *
The girl’s name was Song Seo-woo.
The eight-year-old girl in the security office said she was playing alone while waiting for her big brother.
“Where’d you come from, mister? My brother said everyone else got caught by the spiders.”
“Seo-woo-ya, I’m not ‘mister,’ call me ‘oppa.’”
“Mister.”
“Oppa.”
“Mister.”
“Oppa.”
“Oppa’s my only oppa. So you’re mister.”
“Sigh…. Fine, call me whatever. Seo-woo-ya, is the candy tasty?”
Min-jun watched Song Seo-woo sucking on a lollipop and asked.
If one hour-long lollipop could win over the owner of this place, it was a bargain.
“Yeah! Brother said not to let just anyone in, but he gave me candy, so you’re not just anyone. You’re a good person.”
“But who’s that mister over there?”
Min-jun glanced at So-hee and Kim Gun-ho lying side by side on the cot in one corner, along with a nameless middle-aged man he guessed was Seo-woo’s father, and asked her.
“That mister’s a good person who saved us too.”
“He saved you guys?”
Min-jun looked again at the middle-aged man’s face. Half of it was scarred and twisted from severe burns.
“Yeah! So we’re taking care of him. Brother says to look after that mister good and always heads out.”
‘Not her dad, then.’
Seo-woo’s situation seemed complicated too, and he wondered if he should ask more,
but for now, he needed to impress her brother, So-hee’s friend. So he decided to inquire about him.
“I see. So when’s your brother coming back, Seo-woo-ya?”
“My brother? Hmm….”
Song Seo-woo pondered for a moment, then looked at the number on her wrist.
26.
The child’s survival time flickered, with only 26 hours left.
“Brother taught me how to read the clock. He’s been gone seven hours, so he’ll be back soon.”
“I see. Hey, Seo-woo-ya, can I see your hand for a sec?”
At Min-jun’s words, the girl extended her tiny hand, and he gently gripped her chubby little finger with his fingertips, whispering inwardly.
‘Transfer 300 hours.’
“Seo-woo-ya. Say ‘accept.’”
“Huh? ‘Accept.’ Done?”
Her wrist number changed to 326.
It was a tiny fraction compared to his own survival time, but it should give the kid some breathing room.
“Huh? My time went up! Did you give it to me, mister?”
“Yeah, a gift for letting me stay here.”
“Whoa! You’re not just a good person, you’re super-duper good! You can stay here forever, mister!”
This world wasn’t one where kids could survive on their own.
The fact that children who should’ve been protected and raised were struggling to stay alive here stung at his heart,
but Min-jun couldn’t play babysitter forever.
The best he could do was take her to the police hospital.
That was it.
‘They’ll figure something out there.’
As Min-jun thought that,
Swish.
“Who the hell are you.”
He felt cold metal against his throat, and a young voice came from behind.
She’d said her brother was coming soon, and this must be him.
‘But he didn’t trigger my senses?’
He hadn’t sensed a thing, yet he’d been caught off guard.
Of course, he didn’t think that blade posed any real threat to him, but still—getting flanked was getting flanked.
It was shocking.
“You Seo-woo’s brother?”
“I asked who you are.”
“Your hyung here was out looking for someone. My teammates got hit by the fog, had no choice but to come here.”
Min-jun pointed at So-hee and Kim Gun-ho as he explained the situation.
Song Seo-woo, watching, jumped in to defend Min-jun to her brother.
“Oppa, this mister’s not bad. He gave me candy and tons of time!”
“Seo-woo-ya, I told you not to take stuff from strangers!”
“Yeah…. But you’re always suffering to get time. With this, you won’t have to go out for days and can play with me—”
“Song Seo-woo! What do I always say?”
“…Uuung. …Peace… in safety… forget not danger (安不忘危).”
“Louder!”
“Peace in safety, forget not danger!”
“Yeah! Even in safe moments, never forget the peril! How can you bring a stranger in times like these…!”
The boy, acting all grown-up as he scolded his bickering sister, stopped when he saw the time on her wrist.
He seemed shocked by how much it was.
Min-jun seized the moment, showing his own survival time to persuade Seo-woo’s brother.
“Name’s Dan-woo, right? This hyung’s got plenty of time. Means I’m not here to steal yours. Just needed a spot for my friends to rest a bit. Won’t take long. Can you let us stay just a little while?”
As he spoke, Min-jun reached out toward the kid holding him from behind.
A gesture promising time, and signaling he meant no threat.
The boy glanced at So-hee and Gun-ho with a conflicted look, peeked at Min-jun’s eyes reflected in his dagger, then spoke.
“Don’t seem like a murderer…. How many days?”
“Huh?”
“You planning to live here forever?”
“Ah, just till my friends come to?”
“…I don’t need that much. 100 hours is plenty. A true gentleman knows contentment.”
“…”
Min-jun thought the boy’s demeanor was a bit off, but chalked it up to puberty at that age.
Anyway, they reached an agreement.
Only after transferring the promised 100 hours did Min-jun free himself from the blade.
Song Dan-woo ignored Min-jun’s gaze and headed straight to the nameless middle-aged man on the cot, speaking up.
“Rent’s 100 hours for ten days. Oh, and don’t expect honorifics. Seen too many inhuman adults.”
“…Got it. But what’s that you’re doing?”
Song Dan-woo pulled a black stone from his bag with gloved hands and pressed it to the middle-aged man’s hand.
A faint light glowed, turning the stone transparent, and the boy tossed it onto the pile of transparent stones.
Ignoring Min-jun, he repeated the process several times before finally responding.
“First time seeing a mana stone, mister?”
“Mana stone?”
When Min-jun asked back, Song Dan-woo pulled another black stone from his side bag and tossed it to him.
As Min-jun caught it in both hands, a system message rang out.
[Absorbing mana stone.]
[Gained 10 hours of survival time.]
[Star Power experience slightly increased.]
“…!”
Not just the survival time boost from the stone—
his Star Power experience, which hadn’t budged no matter how hard he tried, went up.
Poof—
The stone in Min-jun’s hand crumbled to dust and scattered into the air.
“What… how’d you do that, mister?”
“Do what?”
“The mana stone’s gone.”
“Isn’t that normal?”
“No… normally, after absorbing time, it should just—”
Song Dan-woo picked up the mana stone he’d pressed to the mister’s hand.
It had only turned transparent, its form intact.
“Just turn transparent?”
Min-jun’s mind raced at Song Dan-woo’s words.
The system messages that popped up: two—survival time gained and Star Power experience gained.
And the kid only mentioned survival time.
Meaning only those with Star Power stats could absorb it fully.
Min-jun pointed at the pile of transparent stones taking up one side of the hideout and said to Song Dan-woo.
“Dan-woo-ya. Mind if I clear those out for you?”
He’d struck gold.