NOVEL NEXT Chapter 57
057 – The Room You Can’t Leave If You Don’t Do It #2
Wring wring wring wring wring-.
The sound of machinery echoing in the basement was so loud that Seoga-eul couldn’t sleep at all.
As she rolled her eyes, Yu Yeoreum was pedaling away on a cheap exercise bike.
“Hey, it’s so loud I can’t sleep!”
Seoga-eul snapped in irritation.
She was annoyed that while Hanam-jin, the guy, didn’t fulfill her request to bring a TV, he had given Yu Yeoreum exercise equipment.
‘Do I really have to listen to that buzzing sound all day today?’
This morning, the boy had brought her water and food and said, “I’ll be going into the Great Labyrinth from today, so I might not be able to come here for a while.”
That meant Seoga-eul had to spend 24 hours alone with Yu Yeoreum.
‘If only Ying-ing was here…’
It had been quite some time since the fluffy cloud creature had stopped coming to this basement.
Every time Yu Yeoreum saw the cloud creature Ying-ing, she would get scared like a cat with its fur raised, which was why Ying-ing began to avoid the basement.
Thinking about this, Seoga-eul started to dislike Yu Yeoreum even more.
‘I feel like I kidnapped her for no reason. I can’t even return her now.’
Wring wring wring wring wring-.
The exercise machine kept going round.
Soon, sweating profusely, Yu Yeoreum got up and started stretching. Then, she began to wipe herself down with a towel, and Seoga-eul felt a bit anxious watching her.
‘Wait, how is she maintaining that body after not eating anything for days?’
Even Seoga-eul, who was female like Yu Yeoreum, thought her physique looked amazing.
For a high school boy in his prime, it would be like poison.
What if Yu Yeoreum, with that body of hers, clumsily flirted by spreading pheromones?
Could the pervert Hanam-jin resist that temptation?
If that happened, Yu Yeoreum might seduce Hanam-jin into bringing all sorts of goodies here to live a lavish life in this basement.
Just imagining it made Seoga-eul grind her teeth with jealousy.
Perhaps Yu Yeoreum was aiming for that all along.
How could a girl, not knowing the meaning of modesty, expose her armpits, chest, and belly so casually in front of a boy?
Seoga-eul was almost convinced that her thoughts were correct.
‘She always seemed clueless, but secretly, she must have been planning to seduce boys to live comfortably, right? That’s genuinely creepy and annoying.’
Determined not to let this go on, Seoga-eul strongly craved ‘some kind of concept.’
And she succeeded in grasping that concept.
‘Got it!’
Seoga-eul decided to instill that awakened concept into Yu Yeoreum.
Transferring the concept required substantial understanding of the subject, but after spending a few days with Yu Yeoreum, she had grasped her well enough.
In Seoga-eul’s mind, Yu Yeoreum was like a sneaky cat.
Pretending to be disinterested while subtly flirting.
Like the saying goes, a quiet cat gets on the stove first; she would pretend not to and then suddenly cause trouble.
Seoga-eul determined to transfer a new concept to Yu Yeoreum, binding her with it.
“Yu Yeoreum, you have a mosquito on your shoulder.”
Smack!
As she touched her shoulder, Seoga-eul transferred the concept.
“Did you just want to hit my shoulder? How childish, you.”
“Tongue out!”
When Seoga-eul stuck her tongue out, Yu Yeoreum could only frown, not knowing what was about to happen next.
But after about five seconds, Yu Yeoreum’s face turned bright red.
“…Huh…!”
Then, after checking herself out, she dove under the blanket, and Seoga-eul couldn’t hold back her laughter.
“Buhaha! How’s that? Suddenly embarrassed about your body, huh? How does it feel!”
“…What did you do to me?”
“What do you mean, what did I do? I taught you modesty as a girl! I infused you with the concept of ‘modesty!’”
“…Modesty?”
Since Seoga-eul had the concept of a ‘graceful lady,’ awakening the derived concept of ‘modesty’ wasn’t difficult for her at all.
Now Yu Yeoreum would be modest like a traditional bride from the Joseon Dynasty, so she wouldn’t be able to seduce boys with that harmful body.
“Now you won’t even be able to flirt clumsily. Take that! You’re going to realize just how undignified you’ve been in front of boys and reflect on it!”
Seoga-eul wanted to quickly show this out-of-place shy side of Yu Yeoreum to Hanam-jin and tease her about it.
She hoped Hanam-jin would come back to this basement soon—
Thinking that, Seoga-eul suddenly got angry.
‘Why do I have to wait for him to come?’
# # #
They said exploration of the Great Labyrinth requires at least two people.
Forming a team of four was the most common.
Our team was no exception.
Team leader Jang Hyeon-ah was a 21-year-old woman with bleached blonde hair, like a dazzling flower.
She even wore a choker, indicating she paid quite a bit of attention to fashion.
“They said she’s a veteran with a Level 3 ‘Vibration’ concept, right?”
This ‘Vibration’ was quite useful during exploration of the Great Labyrinth, making her an outstanding explorer right after graduating from Yeongsa High School.
Jang Hyeon-ah placed her palm on the floor and sent out vibrations.
Drdrdrdrdrdrdrdr-.
“There are no monsters ahead.”
She seemed to have a sense like an ultrasonic detector.
She detected the vibrations of monsters.
I suddenly became curious.
“Vibration Unni, by the way, how did you awaken your Vibration concept? It feels like a really rare ability.”
It was pure admiration.
But instead of Jang Hyeon-ah, the model girl turned to me, seemingly about to have a fit.
“Wow, calling her Vibration Unni? What kind of way of speaking is that to the team leader? Do you not know it’s rude to ask awakened individuals about their reasons for concept manifestation!?”
“Name: Jeon Som-i
Possession: ‘Slippery Lv.2’ – Slippery like a top-notch loach.
Condition: ‘Annoyed’ – Very angry that you, not Wang Ja-hyeon, joined the team. Ready to nitpick everything.”
Model girl Jeon Som-i seemed still bitter about the viral video of her falling earlier because of me. Ever since I made a comment, she had been nagging me, making it really annoying.
Soon team leader Jang Hyeon-ah added on.
“When I was in elementary school, I used to be quite overweight due to medication side effects. I thought it would be good if my body trembled naturally while exercising to burn more calories, you know?”
So she wanted a machine that would shake her body like those vibrating belt devices? That could make sense.
While I was understanding many things, Jang Hyeon-ah snapped at me.
“Forget the twisted reasons you might think of and focus on the exploration. Do you think exploring the Great Labyrinth is a game? This place can really injure and kill you if you’re careless.”
The authority of the team leader in this exploration seemed quite immense. In fact, Jang Hyeon-ah was using that authority to assign tasks to the timid Baek-Yeoul.
“Baek-Yeoul, it seems like there are about three traps ahead, so go check them out.”
Baek-Yeoul was often the test subject for trap detection.
Since the ‘Unlucky’ Baek-Yeoul was bound to trigger all the traps.
“Creeeak!”
See that?
Just by taking a single step, a brick on the floor made a clanking sound, and whish whoosh! Arrows showered down from the ceiling.
Baek-Yeoul’s face turned pale, and she kept moving.
“Hideek!”
Clank-!
Flames shot from the wall, and the ground gave way beneath her.
And thus, all three traps activated.
Only then did the team leader and her friend Jeon Som-i step carefully onto safe tiles.
“Ugh, it’s annoying to have to activate every single trap just because of some idiot. If we just ignored it, we’d end up triggering an explosion or something out of the blue.”
“Right, Hyeon-ah. If Jayeon had come, it would have been a breeze. How could they assign someone like this to our team at school? It’s really frustrating.”
Baek-Yeoul, feeling angry because of the scolding from the experienced explorers, balled her fists. She was biting her lips, as if she wanted to say something back.
But when Jang Hyeon-ah asked, “Why, do you have a complaint? Do you want to drop out of exploration?” Baek-Yeoul could only bite her lip tighter and shake her head.
As we explored the entrance of the Great Labyrinth, two paths appeared.
Left or right—
After a moment of contemplation, the team leader spoke.
“We’re going left.”
Why left?
“Vibration Unni, I think the right is the correct path?”
“Ah, damn it! Hey! Hanam-jin! What do you know to talk back to the team leader? Have you ever explored a maze? We’ve been doing this for over three months!”
“Som-i, shut it. Hey you. Just follow my lead. Here, I’m the king and the president. We’re going left. Got it?”
And so, we ended up taking the left path.
However, in my eyes, the scribbles on the wall were translating themselves.
【The left path is blocked by a landslide…!】
【If you want to go to the dining hall, please use the right path…!】
Sure enough, the left path was indeed blocked.
It meant the wall had collapsed, making it impossible to enter.
“I told you to go right.”
“Ah, damn it, what’s with this collapse of all things?!”
“Looks like we have to go back to the right. How unlucky can one be?”
The seniors’ eyes glared at Baek-Yeoul.
It seemed to imply that choosing the blocked path was due to Baek-Yeoul’s bad luck.
“If only the male loser had suggested we go right….”
This time, Baek-Yeoul, feeling a bit wronged, also retorted.
Then, the female seniors collectively erupted in anger as if they had been waiting for this moment.
“What did you say?”
“Unbelievable.”
I felt the same way about it.
There was no choice but to say what I had wanted to.
“I can’t take this anymore. From now on, I’m the team leader. From now on, I’m the president and king; if you don’t follow my orders, there will be consequences.”
“What? You think you can just change the team leader like that? Who do you think you are, a high school kid with no brains! Don’t cross the line!”
Smack!
Jeon Som-i slapped my head.
I thought it was necessary to punish those who crossed the line.
“How dare you talk back to the president of the maze? Hanam-jin Kick!”
I swatted Jeon Som-i’s cheek, who was barking like a chihuahua. She sat down abruptly, looking shocked as she rubbed her cheek.
“Y-you crazy bastard! How dare you hit a senior? Are you looking for death? Do you care about your midterm exam grades?”
What’s the point of doing well on the midterm exams?
In a year, the world would be wrecked anyway.
A school diploma is no better than toilet paper.
“Hyeon-ah! This can’t stand! Let’s just kick this guy out! This jerk! How dare he act like he’s one of us without even graduating yet? Doesn’t he understand the fear of active explorers? Can he not respect his seniors!”
Jeon Som-i was barking at me.
Just hearing her made it seem like she could grab my hair, but perhaps knowing I had caught a few Level 3 wanted criminals made her hold back.
A barking dog doesn’t bite—the feeling.
At that moment, Jang Hyeon-ah, arms crossed, spoke leisurely.
“Hanam-jin, right? If you’re that confident, go ahead. You lead the team.”
“Hey! Jang Hyeon-ah! What are you saying?! Can’t you see I just got slapped? My cheek! I got slapped!!!”
“Name: Jeon Som-i
Possession: ‘Slippery Lv.2’ – Slippery like a top-notch loach.
Condition: ‘Anger’ – Extremely angry about being slapped. She is also furious at Jang Hyeon-ah for arbitrarily making decisions without her considering that Jeon Som-i has a lower popularity.”
“Name: Jang Hyeon-ah
Possession: ‘Vibration Lv.3’ – Can emit vibrations as precise as a construction site machine.
Condition: ‘Ridiculous’ – It’s funny to see a clueless junior boast loudly. Also relieved that Jeon Som-i, whom she hated, got slapped.”
I thought they were friends, but maybe not.
What is friendship anyway?
Swish-.
Jang Hyeon-ah opened her thin eyes.
“Hanam-jin, from the afternoon, you’ll be taking over as team leader and exploring the Great Labyrinth. But if there are no results, you’ll have to bear the responsibility and consequences. Maybe you’ll have to apologize by taking everything off and lying face down?”
Wanting to see me lying completely exposed and face down must have made her a perv for sure.
“If, on the other hand, I produce results, might I ask you something? I’m curious about what you had for breakfast when you stayed in the hotel with Wang Ja-hyeon last week.”
I planned to extract information about Wang Ja-hyeon and the Je Wang Group from these girls.
Potentially information that could take down Seo Do-cheol as well.
However, model girl Jeon Som-i looked shocked and, instead, asked me back.
“What are you talking about? Hyeon-ah met Ja-hyeon last week? What do you mean by that? Jang Hyeon-ah, didn’t you take a leave saying you were going back to your hometown last week?”
“…What nonsense is that? Why would I meet Ja-hyeon? I went to the countryside last week.”
When I mentioned going to the hotel with Wang Ja-hyeon, Jang Hyeon-ah became extremely bewildered.
It seemed the information I got from Nuna Jin-ramen was indeed accurate.
Anyway, I wanted to avoid the subtly awkward atmosphere blooming between the seniors and instead gazed at the fairy alphabet engraved on the dining hall wall.
【Near the dining hall, there is the princess’s bedroom, so please eat quietly…!】
The princess’s bedroom in Fairyland.
Surely, there has to be at least one relic there, right?