Chapter 124
The ninth match of the Olympiad, the exploration of the labyrinth has begun.
There are three contestants in this game: me, Soonchan, and senior Kang Shinwoo.
“But can I really compete? Just thinking about cancer, I think Jin-seok hyung will be much more helpful than me.”
While looking around to find out the location, Sunchan sneakily asked.
Labyrinth exploration is a special game in which all kinds of actions such as gathering, hunting, adventure, and clearing are replaced with points.
As it is a game where knowledge is as important as skill, the original participating members included senior Ma Jin-seok, who is called the brain of the 3rd graders.
In other words, Sunchan’s participation was not planned in the first place.
“That worries me too. Why did you change the participating members just before?”
Senior Kang Shin-woo, who was surveying the topography on the opposite side of Soon-chan, secretly asked while immersed in his work.
“I need Sunchan’s defense magic.”
Sunchan tilted his head.
“I don’t think there will be much use of my defense magic to explore the labyrinth.”
As mentioned, labyrinth exploration is a special game in which all activities such as collection, hunting, and adventure are replaced with points.
As it is such a game, the proportion of battle is not that big.
Since the weight of the battle was not large, of course, the need for defensive magic was not so great.
“This is where my defense magic is indispensable… … . What are you trying to catch named monsters in District 3?”
Sunchan said with a smile.
The words he said as a joke were clear expressions and gestures.
“Well, that couldn’t be… … .”
“that’s right. You’re quick-witted.”
Sunchan’s shoulders trembled at my answer.
“… … Are you really catching District 3 monsters?”
“uh.”
“That stupid monster? The three of us?”
“uh.”
“Aren’t you crazy?”
Soon-chan looked at my face with a genuine concern for my mental state.
“You seem serious.”
As if he sensed my sincerity through my expression, Soonchan burst out laughing.
“Is there a chance of winning?”
“If you weren’t there, would I have put you in the starting lineup?”
“I wouldn’t have put… … .”
Sunchan scratched the back of his head.
“No, no matter how hard it is to defeat him… … .”
A look I couldn’t believe.
“Aren’t you overdoing it? Even if we didn’t do that, we would win anyway, so there’s no need to take that risk.”
The named monsters in Area 3 are not intended to be defeated.
A type of deterrence device prepared so that players cannot easily clear Zone 3.
It is impossible to knock it down.
In fact, in all Olympiads, there has never been a single case where a monster deployed in Area 3 has been defeated.
The named monsters in Area 3 are that powerful.
It was only natural that Soon-chan reacted like that, since they said they would take down such a guy without risking it.
“Senior Shinwoo. Senior, please say something.”
Soon-chan turned his gaze to Kang Shin-woo.
The eyes that are filled with the will to stop me somehow stand out.
“senior?”
Kang Shin-woo is cool and calm.
As such, he must have asked for help thinking that he would present an opinion against such an unreasonable operation.
but.
“It will be fun.”
“… … yes?”
I thought wrong.
It is true that senior Kang Shin-woo has a cool and calm personality.
However, he is also a fighter with a warlike and challenging tendency as much as he is cool and calm.
“okay. So, when are you going to attack?”
Would a person with that kind of personality dislike fighting named monsters in Area 3?
“… … Doesn’t Shinwoo-sunbaenim oppose it?”
“Is there any reason to object?”
Senior Kang Shin-woo changed into a warlike look.
“If anyone else had suggested this, I would have objected. However, the person who presented the opinion is Shin Ha-yul, the most competent leader in the world as far as I know. I have no reason to object.”
“that… … .”
Sunchan sighed and lowered his gaze.
Then, he sighed heavily as he looked at me and Shinwoo-senpai in turn.
“but. There’s no way Ha Yul can do something without a chance… … .”
The corner of Sunchan’s mouth slowly rose.
“great. Let’s try something. Before breaking a new record, let’s defeat the first named monster in District 3.”
Sunchan laughed.
‘… … I’m sorry for coming out so eagerly.’
It was a smile that he could have because he was ignorant because he didn’t know what kind of trouble he would face in District 3.
“Let’s set all the records that are called records! Gaza!”
“… … .”
The fierce reaction further amplified my sorryness.
After the game, I’ll treat you well for a while.
I sincerely thought so.
* * *
About 3 hours have passed since the labyrinth exploration began.
In the meantime, we’ve completed about half of the raid in Area 1.
Considering that it took more than 6 hours on average to completely clear area 1, it was not a bad speed.
“Aren’t we too relaxed?”
But it’s just not bad speed.
It’s not that fast.
A really fast team can even get into zone 2 in under an hour.
“When I checked the score, there were 16 teams already in District 2.”
In fact, many teams have already entered District 2.
“If the teams collect all the demon plants and magic stones, won’t they be completely gone?”
The magic plants and magic stones that exist in each area are limited.
As materials are limited, the team that enters first has an overwhelming advantage. You can preoccupy the material in advance, or you can monopolize the material to check the team that will enter later.
The same goes for historical sites where you can earn adventure points.
Since all points go to the team that attacked first, the team that attacks first has a much better advantage.
If you do it too late, you may not get any points in District 2.
As Soonchan said, there is a high chance that he will become Nagari.
“You don’t have to worry. I’m doing this because I have an idea.”
But that’s a worry.
I’m not an idiot, and I wouldn’t have thought of that.
There is a reason why the speed of attack is slowing down.
“What are you thinking?”
“First of all, the gathering points you can get in Area 1 are too high. Giving up all of this and going to District 2 would be a huge loss.”
Labyrinth exploration has a typical cascading attack structure.
If you attack area 1, you can enter area 2, and if you attack area 2, you can enter area 3.
And once you enter the next area, you cannot go back to the previous area.
In other words, if you force yourself to enter District 2 first, you cannot return to District 1.
If that happens, it’s practically the same as giving up all the points you can get in District 1.
that’s too much damage
“The points you can get in District 2 are higher than in District 1. Then isn’t it better to go fast?”
As it has a cascading attack structure, the difficulty increases as you go to the next area.
The higher the difficulty, the higher the number of points you can earn.
However, this is only a high ‘average’ score. The story is a little different if you look at it individually rather than average.
“It is true that, on average, the points that can be obtained in District 2 are high. But if you look at the score of the rare materials, there is no difference between District 1 and District 2.”
“aha?”
The difficulty of acquiring materials that can be obtained in each area varies widely. In the case of rare materials, there are only three at most in each zone.
And in the case of these rare materials, the score is high regardless of the zone.
Therefore, if you are aiming to collect rare materials, it is better to target Area 1.
Because the difficulty is low, it is much easier to collect rare materials.
“Such a secret… … . I didn’t know.”
“You don’t know. Soon-chan, you suddenly became the selection.”
Soonchan did not study a single thing about exploring the labyrinth.
It was only natural that there were so many unknowns.
“If you have answered all your questions, move your hand. If you find just one more last thing, you can move on to the next one.”
“Because your hands and eyes were still moving?”
After saying that, Sunchan began to focus on finding the subject again.
Silence fell within the labyrinth.
All three devoted themselves to finding the last material without saying anything.
About 10 minutes passed like that.
“found!”
The long awaited news came. I got up from my seat and approached Sunchan.
“Is this right? glass flower.”
Soonchan pointed to a translucent flower nestled in the gap of the labyrinth.
“that’s right. Good find.”
Literally, it is said that it has a glass-like appearance, so it is a glass flower.
As it looks, it is as fragile as glass, so it is characterized by being broken quickly even with a small impact.
“Looks like you found it.”
Senior Kang Shin-woo approached behind me and Sun-chan.
He is holding a lot of things that look like potatoes in his arms.
“yes. I found it.”
“indeed. You have the appearance you saw in the dictionary.”
Senior Kang Shin-woo slightly shone as if the glass flower was mysterious.
“It looks like Shinwoo-senpai also found the Galanseok.”
“okay. I just found it.”
What senior Kang Shin-woo is holding in his arms is Galanseok.
It looked ugly like a potato, but it was a magic stone.
“Good timing. Could you give me this?”
I was handed a galanseok by Kang Shin-woo.
“Is it enough for six?”
“yes. Enough.”
I buried six galanite around the glass flower.
“Why are you burying the magic stones you excavated so far?”
Sunchan tilted his head while squatting beside him.
It’s the expression that I don’t know what I’m going to do.
“As the name suggests, glass flowers are characterized by weak strength like glass. Petals, leaves, stems, and roots are all sensitive to shock.”
“… … to the root?”
“uh. So, if you just dig up the ground, the shock will shatter it from the roots. Not to mention the glass flowers embedded in the hard ground like this labyrinth.”
When digging the ground, it is torn to shreds to the root while being buried in the hard ground.
“aha. Then, is that gallanite a means to safely collect glass flowers?”
“uh. Galanite has the effect of softening the surrounding soil. Making the ground soft like that and slowly pulling it out is the safest way to collect it.”
“I didn’t know that trash magic stone had such an effect.”
“I knew it first.”
Senior Kang Shin-woo also seemed surprised.
“It is natural that you do not know. There is no point in finding out.”
The lowest of the lowest.
A garbage mana stone, Galan Stone, that cannot be treated as a stone.
Since it is treated like a stone, no one knows what kind of power this magic stone possesses.
Probably more than 90% of existing mages don’t know that galanite has this effect.
Unless you’re interested in magic stones like me or the blue mage lord, you’ll never know.
“Anyway, if you use Galanseok like this… … .”
I planted a total of six magic stones around the glass flower in a suitable location.
“done. Then please step back for a moment. You will lose your foot if you stay here.”
“okay.”
“i get it.”
The three of us took about five steps back.
“Now all we have to do is wait.”
And about 3 minutes passed.
“Oh oh. done.”
At that moment, the ground turned into mud and began to flow.
“It’s not at the level of mud, it’s become a swamp? The effect is good for the galanite theme. Isn’t it possible to artificially create a swamp by planting a lot of galanite?”
“Is it possible. In fact, many places have made swamp arenas that way.”
“omg. really?”
Sunchan’s eyes trembled in surprise.
“I am surprised. I was taught that it is a stone that is of no use to anyone.”
“There is nothing in the world that is completely useless. ah. no Sunchan is with you.”
“What is this bastard? wanna fight Do you want your stomach to know how useful I am?”
Soonchan took a boxing stance and jabbed into the air one after another.
“okay? Shall we go together then?”
“… … uh?”
Soon-chan shuddered at my bright smile and bright answer.
“… … Big hum. They’re watching me because I’m playing. I know you are lucky.”
Then he cleared his throat and turned his gaze to the glass flower.
“oh. Isn’t it okay to gather soon?”
I laughed involuntarily at Sunchan trying to quickly change the topic and get out of an unfavorable situation.
“At this rate, it would be deeply embedded in the ground, right? take it out?”
“stop. I’ll do it. I need a trick when collecting glass flowers… … .”
It was when he dissuaded Soon-chan and took a step closer to Yuri Flower.
Shyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
There was the sound of something flying through the air.
A sense of cold mana felt at the same time.
‘Icicle Lance?’
Five ice lances were coming towards us.
“I thought it went smoothly.”
Soon-chan’s eyes lit up and he cast an octagon-shaped defense magic.
The shield perfectly blocked five Icicle Lance shots.
An ice spear that is destroyed and turns into mana remnants.
“Healing camp is over. It was nice to be comfortable.”
Nine men and women appeared from the labyrinth passage far away.
“Hand over the glass flower.”
It was a united team that formed a team for ‘plunder’, one of the identities of labyrinth exploration.
