WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 55 - Abandoned Mine Shaft (4)

“Enemies are approaching?”

Wang Wei sharpened his senses, a look of surprise crossing his face.

"Hmm......"

But nothing registered within the range of his senses as a mid-level Awakened. Just to be sure, he glanced over at Rahul, but he merely shook his head with a puzzled expression.

Wang Wei’s face immediately darkened.

"I don’t sense a damn thing. What are you talking about?!”

"That’s because your detection range is too short. I can clearly see the movements of those approaching from far away.”

"And you expect us to believe that?”

"Why wouldn’t you, grandson?”

The sudden provocation made the muscles in Wang Wei’s face twitch.

"You little brat…!”

"A man doesn't go back on his word, right? And considering I already opened the Entity Rift, what’s there not to believe?”

Rahul, who had been listening nearby, nodded.

"I’ll believe you. What do you want us to do?”

"We need to secure a favorable position before the enemy arrives. They outnumber us. But if we take the right position first, we can handle them.”

"You can really read the terrain of this unfamiliar place that precisely?”

“That’s right. If you don‘t believe me, verify it yourself while we move.”

Park Minho sketched a rough map on a sheet of paper as he explained.

"About 300m ahead, there’s a large cavern. Several mine shafts converge there. In the center is a hill, and we need to secure it before anyone else does.”

From Park Minho’s perspective, it was a strategy choke point. If the enemy claimed that hill first, there would be no way to break through afterward.

"Fortuantely, we’re closer.”

Wang Wei raised an objection.

“What guarantee do we have that the enemy is heading there? If they take a different route…"

"Grandson. It seems you forgot how to use proper honorifics."

“You’re really being stubborn about that at a time like this?!”

"I’m merely asking you to observe basic manners.”

"Kggh...!"

Wang Wei was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Calling this kid ‘grandfather’ would be humiliating. But breaking a promise would be dishonorable for a man of integrity.

In the end, he squeezed his eyes shut and made his choice.

"Damn it…Understood. Respected Elder."

"Now that sounds much better."

"Uuugh……! Can we please discuss the strategy already?”

“I already did. All that’s left is to move.”

Park Minho urged everyone to follow him as quickly as possible. The moment he took off, the others hurried after him.

Wang Wei voiced another complaint.

“What if an entity jumps out at us while we’re rushing around like this?!”

"There aren’t any entities nearby.”

"You can sense even that? Respected Elder.”

"Young one. Stop yapping and run.”

The translator was good enough to perfectly convey the old-man-like tone of smug superiority. Wang Wei’s face turned so red it looked ready to burst. Still, he managed to hold himself back.

"This tunnel!”

"Watch your step! There’s a drop ahead!”

"It’s a downhill slope.”

As every single thing Park Minho said turned out to be correct, nobody complained anymore.

"He’s really reading the terrain?”

"With that kind of detection range?”

"Who the hell is this guy?”

Everyone was visibly shocked. Just opening the Entity Rift had been unbelievable enough. They couldn’t understand how someone who wasn’t even an Awakened could pull off such incredible things.

Before long, the group arrived at the location Park Minho had mentioned.

A vast cavern opened before them. In the center stood a massive pile of concrete blocks stacked like a hill.

The blocks were rectangular, each roughly the size of a person, making them ideal for concealment and cover. Only now did everyone understand why Park Minho had chosen this spot.

Beyond the hill, several tunnels leading to the opposite side were visible.

"The enemy will come through there. We’ll wait here and hit them all at once.”

“Respected Elder, how long do you think it’ll take for them to arrive?”

"Why?"

"I want to set this up.”

Wang Wei held up a Claymore mine.

"Oh…”

Having seen their destructive power firsthand during his military service, Park MInho’s eyes lit up.

"Hurry, hurry! There’s still some distance between us.”

Taking several party members with him, Wang Wei climbed down the opposite side of the hill and began planting Claymores in the blind spots.

Even in battles between Awakened, guns and explosives were still extremely useful tools.

"Wang Wei, hurry up.”

"Understood.”

After planting 3 claymores, Wang Wei returned and concealed himself behind the concrete blocks.

The plan had already been explained to everyone. Each person waited in tense silence, weapons and abilities prepared.

"They're almost here. Get ready.”

In his mind, Park Minho watched the red dots approaching ever closer.

'They never imagined we’d get here first.'

Without knowing the terrain, they would have had to cautiously feel their way through the tunnels. There was no way they could have secured this position in time.

Just as Wang Wei had pointed out earlier, recklessly sprinting through the mine when an entity could appear at any moment would be suicidal.

But with the assistance of the biological system, they had successfully caught the enemy completely off guard.

-Tap, tap.

Even without a signal from Park Minho, footsteps could already be heard echoing through the tunnel ahead.

The tension reached its peak.

Hidden behind the concrete blocks, nobody dared breathe too loudly.

Then, figures from the Molting Church crawled out of the tunnel like a swarm of rats. 22 of them in total.

Perhaps because this palace was practically their home turf, confidence radiated from every one of them.

Park Minho jerked his chin toward Wang Wei. As though he’d been waiting for the signal all along, he pressed the claymore detonator.

-Boooooooom!

A blinding explosion erupted. Because they were indoors, the flash was far brighter than it would have been out in the open.

Gyaaaaaargh!”

"Aaaaaagh!”

More than a dozen Molting Church members collapsed to the ground. But the ones screaming were actually the lucky ones. Several had been caught in the blast and killed instantly.

The real hell, however, was only just beginning.

"Fire!"

"Open fireee!”

Muzzles flashed all at once from atop the concrete hill.

-Ratatatatatatatata! Baaang!

The startled cultists hurriedly deployed barrier abilities. The moment Rahul saw that, he shouted to his party members.

"Grenades!”

At Rahul’s command, 3 or 4 grenades were thrown at the same location.

-Boooooom! Booom!

The barrage of explosions, the barrier finally gave way, shattering like a pane of glass.

At this rate, it looked like the Molting Church was about to be wiped out.

But then a young man who appeared to be their leader stepped forward and raised his hand. A mass of tentacles erupted from his shadow.

-Shwaaaaaa.

The thick bundle of tentacles wrapped around itself, shielding the cultists from bullets and Awakened attacks alike.

Boooom! Boom!

The concrete blocks didn’t shatter outright, but cracks spread through them, and the entire structure trembled ominously.

"Watch out!”

"What incredible power!”

Faced with such overwhelming force, their attack naturally lost momentum. The Molting Church seized the opportunity to gather their wounded and begin retreating.

Then a grenade thrown by someone detonated.

-Boooom!

The young man quickly moved his tentacles to block the shrapnel. But the shockwave flipped back the hood of the robe covering his face.

At the moment, Seol Suyeon’s breath caught in her throat.

"...!”

The revealed face belonged to none other than her younger brother, Seol Suhyeok.

-Whoosh! Boom!

Even amidst the flying bullets and roaring explosions, Seol Suyeon could only stare blankly ahead.

There was no mistake. His face had become a little more mature since the last time she’d seen him, but it was undoubtedly the brother she remembered.

Yet before she could even call out to him, Seol Suhyeok gathered the cultists and began retreating into the tunnel.

Park Minho quickly grabbed Seol Suyeon, who had gone completely blank in the middle of the fight.

"You’re going to get shot!”

But the shock had left her unable to respond.

She had never imagined he’d reappear as a member of the Molting Church. And judging by how the others followed him, he seemed to be one of their higher-ranking figures.

'What happened to you? Suhyeok.’

Meanwhile, the hot-headed Wang Wei leapt forward, intending to pursue the fleeing enemies. Park Minho hurriedly stopped him.

"Wait! Something’s wrong with their movements.”

Looking at the situation unfolding in his mind, Park Minho noticed that the red dots weren't simply fleeing. They would stop periodically, then continue running.

He explained what that meant.

"It looks like they’re setting traps as they retreat. If we chase them directly, who knows what might blow up.”

"But we can’t just let them get away!”

“It’s fine. I told you, I know the terrain. There isn’t only one tunnel. We can take a detour and keep pursuing them.”

Being able to track both the terrain and enemy positions in real time was practically a cheat code from the enemy’s perspective.

Avoiding the traps the Molting Church had hastily set up, Park Minho continued the pursuit.

* * *

The one leading the Molting Church cultists was Seol Suhyeok. He had entered the battle brimming with confidence, only to find himself retreating from an ambush he had never anticipated.

And there were far too many things that didn’t make sense.

"Why haven’t they gone off?”

At Seol Suhyeok’s question, the cultists fleeing alongside him looked equally confused. They had been certain the enemy would rush after them, so they had quickly set up improvised traps using their abilities.

“Maybe they gave up chasing us?”

Seol Suhyeok shook his head.

"No. These are people who knew the terrain well enough to set up an ambush in advance. They’re definitely following us through a different route.”

"But how…? Weren’t only cult members supposed to be able to use the Entity Rifts?”

“I don’t know. Could our information have leaked?”

"Are you saying someone betrayed us…?!”

"For now, we need to get back to the High Priest as quickly as possible.”

By the time Seol Suhyeok returned with the four survivors who had barely escaped, the High Priest looked visibly shaken.

"What happened?!”

Seol Suhyeok gave a detailed report of everything that had occurred. The High Priest grabbed his head.

"The enemy was waiting for you in advance?”

"Yes."

If that were true, that would be a serious problem. It meant the enemy had come specifically to interfere with the ritual.

"High Priest, what do we do now?”

At Seol Suhyeok’s question, the High Priest wore a pained expression before finally sighing.

“It’s over. We have to withdraw. We can’t continue such a delicate ritual while fending off enemies.”

"High Priest…”

"It pains me to say it, but we have no choice. If we hesitate, things will become even more dangerous. We’ll have to be satisfied with ruining Floor 8.”

At this point, they decided to abandon their ultimate objective and instead forced the spikes embedded within the biological system into a runaway state.

“I don’t know who these people are, but they won’t be leaving this place alive.”

* * *

Following Park Minho’s guidance, the allied parties finally reached their destination. The sight before them left everyone speechless.

"My God…what is that?”

"Flesh……?"

"There are spikes driven into it.”

The appearance of the biological system that managed Floor 8 filled them all with dread.

Around them lay equipment and supplies abandoned by the Molting Church in their hasty retreat.

"So what do we do now?”

At Wang Wei’s question, Park Minho pointed toward the spikes.

“We need to remove those and restore the biological system to normal.”

“Can we just pull them out?”

"No, there’s an order to it. I know the procedure, so don’t worry.”

The real issue was finding someone capable of handling anomalous objects like this.

"Nicola, do you think you can remove them? They aren’t being held in place by physical force.”

Nicola examined the spikes for a moment before nodding.

"I think I get it…they use the same principles as the bindings I work with. If I reverse the process, I should be able to pull them out.”

"Good."

Now they just had to follow the instructions provided by the biological system.

But just as Nicola approached the spike, something completely unexpected happened.

-Bzzzzt!

Several of the spikes suddenly turned orange, like iron heated in a forge, radiating intense heat. At the same time, the biological system writhed in agony as though it were being burned alive.

[&$@#$@^&...!!]

And then a flood of hallucinations surged into Park Minho’s mind.

The biological system was desperately presenting a new proposal.

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