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Chapter 187

Caught off-guard by the sudden start of the college-wide exam, the students grumbled as they urgently prepared. The idea of a labyrinth exploration being the college-wide exam of Borsippa, a college specializing in technical skills, seemed absurd. They knew about the ongoing tensions with Demon Force, but the students just couldn\'t fathom the logic behind it.

Isn’t this all just to give Lee Se-Hoon an advantage?

He\'s supposed to be strong enough to spar with Jake Myers, so he\'s probably going to get the best score among the first-year students in Borsippa...

This is ridiculous.

In previous years, each college would just select their honor student when their exam ended. This year, however, an honor student had to be chosen from the entire grade. Because of that, competition between the colleges intensified, and ambitious deans could easily favor specific students with their college-wide exams.

But despite knowing that, all the students could do was grumble to themselves. They quickly finished their preparations and stepped outside their dorms.

Whoosh!

The landscape before them abruptly changed, defying their expectations.

“...Huh?”

They found themselves surrounded by walls towering over a hundred meters high. Realizing they were trapped in the labyrinth, the students became bewildered.

Then, a small void pocket appeared in front of them from out of nowhere.

“...”

Confused, the students picked up the void pocket and examined its contents: common materials, crafting tools frequently used in their respective departments, and a small map. The odd assortment puzzled them.

Are we supposed to use these?

This isn’t what I expected...

They had expected to face off against golems or summoned creatures in the labyrinth. However, it seemed they were wrong.

Mulling over the situation, the students soon heard Eun-Ha’s voice echo once again throughout the labyrinth.

—The void pocket given to each of you contains materials and tools to assist with your labyrinth exploration. The map highlights special areas within the labyrinth. Move carefully and make wise decisions based on the marks on the map.

At her instructions, the scattered students quickly unfolded their maps. The map, which was mostly obscured except for its current location, marked several special areas with symbols and descriptions.

[Material Warehouse] [Production Facility] [Transportation Device]

Staring at the map, which showed them the facilities provided within the labyrinth, the students finally understood the situation. They were wrong; the college-wide exam didn\'t explicitly favor Se-Hoon—it was a themed test that involved the labyrinth!

It was still equally preposterous, but some students were able to swiftly assess the situation.

If it’s just a themed test, then even those with lesser combat skills should have a chance.

They probably stocked the material warehouses and production facilities with items useful for exploration. I should head to one of them first!

Despite the unique setting and method, the students now understood that their respective skill sets would still be put to the test appropriately. No longer grumbling, they moved quickly toward the facilities marked on the map.

And all of their actions were observed by Helena from the control room.

“Phew... At least they caught on quickly.”

She had been worried that the students wouldn’t grasp the test\'s purpose, but fortunately, they understood almost immediately. It gave her a sense of relief, from avoiding a major disaster at the start of the exam.

“I\'m glad everything is going smoothly,” Eun-Ha calmly remarked beside her.

Helena stared at Eun-Ha, knowing it was her who conceived this outlandishly unconventional exam in the first place.

I thought she was insane at first...

While the idea of putting the students of Borsippa, a technical college, into a labyrinth was outlandish itself, the structure of the labyrinth Eun-Ha envisioned was even more so.

“I want it to be a labyrinth that students from all departments can tackle equally.”

Individual differences in navigating the labyrinth aside, she desired uniformity in the advantages each technical skill provided. In other words, the labyrinth had to balance the technical expertise of the dozens of departments within Borsippa.

It was a problem faced every year, but tackling it with the labyrinth magnified its challenge. However, to the reasonable concerns and objections from numerous guidance professors, including Helena, Eun-Ha simply responded with one sentence.

“The Chairman likes this novel idea, so I think we should proceed with it.”

If Eun-Ha had been the only one standing behind the idea of using a labyrinth for the exam, they would have voted against it. However, when Babel\'s chairman, Ludwig, supported the idea, opposition from the professors was no longer viable.

Thus, the professors from each department brainstormed together for weeks, enduring numerous trials and errors, to create the current labyrinth.

“...hic.” A professor standing to the side silently wiped away his tears.

“Gosh, you’re really acting like a child.”

Seeing a professor in his sixties wipe away tears upon seeing the completed labyrinth, Helena shook her head and turned her attention back to the large monitor in the control room.

It was tough, but... the end result doesn’t seem bad at all.

Despite varying themes, Borsippa\'s previous college exams had all followed a certain template. Each field of study adhered to standard structures and forms, categorizing the completed items based on the same quality and grade of information.

And while that wasn\'t inherently bad, fixated structures often proved vulnerable on unpredictable battlefields.

“Wait, it\'s still charging...!”

“Ahhh!”

Initially, before the students could even use the weapons they had made, golems or summoned creatures would repeatedly send them back to the starting point. The unfamiliarity made them make mistakes they wouldn\'t have otherwise.

However, as time passed, they each began adapting, understanding what was efficient and how they should handle the challenges more adeptly. Some even discovered talents they hadn’t known they possessed.

“What...? Who knew they had talent in this area...”

“They might as well switch to that field entirely...”

Periodically discovering previously unnoticed talents of the students, the professors watched the exam take place in admiration. Thankfully, the college-wide exam was proceeding smoothly, despite earlier worries. But just when they had that thought, a voice called out.

“Dean Ryu!”

An assistant monitoring the labyrinth ran over to where Helena and Eun-Ha were standing.

“We have a problem! The control authority over the labyrinth...!”

Seeing the assistant\'s serious expression, Helena and Eun-Ha’s faces hardened. Could it be another attack by the Demon Force? However, Helena quickly regained her composure and scoffed at the possibility. After all, Ludwig himself was the one controlling the labyrinth.

They’ve chosen the wrong timing this time.

Even if the Ten Evils attacked, there was no way they could steal control of the labyrinth from Ludwig. Confident that was the case, Helena listened to the assistant’s next words.

“Lee Se-Hoon has managed to copy the control authority!”

“...Huh?”

“...What?”

The truth was beyond imagination.

***

“Hmm...”

Upon entering the labyrinth, instead of rushing around like the other students, Se-Hoon took his time observing his surroundings.

At first glance, it looks like a single connected maze, but it’s actually like a puzzle.

Under normal circumstances, it would have fallen in pieces, but high-level spatial magic was seamlessly connecting them. And there was only one person in the world who could use such advanced spatial magic on a labyrinth of this size.

It has to be Ludwig, that old man.

Deducing who the creator of the labyrinth was, Se-Hoon was now also able to figure out how the labyrinth had appeared above the city overnight.

He superimposed a void dimension above the city.

Externally, everything looked like a single space, but the labyrinth was actually overlapping the original space. Except for Borsipa\'s students and staff, other people likely saw only the cityscape, not the labyrinth.

This kind of technique is usually used for secret passages or vaults... but this is on a completely different scale.

Creating such a structure, not just for a building but for an entire city, was a true demonstration of the power of a Perfect One. Realizing the extent of Ludwig’s power once again, Se-Hoon approached the wall and touched its surface.

Hmm. If it\'s like this...

Unlike most students, who focused on using the internal facilities to create the necessary tools to navigate the labyrinth, Se-Hoon thought differently. If reaching the labyrinth’s center was the goal, why not create something to control the labyrinth itself?

If there\'s a core that controls everything, it means this labyrinth is ultimately just one construct.

If the walls were just solid barriers, then he just had to navigate around them. And if not, there was no need to do such a thing in the first place. Checking the map to locate nearby facilities, Se-Hoon headed straight for the area labeled “Transportation Device.”

Woong-

Arriving, a massive gate prevented Se-Hoon from entering the place marked ‘Transportation Device.’ He looked to the side. Beside the gate, there was a transparent box with visible contents. According to the instructions written on it, Se-Hoon needed to create and submit a specific item inside the box to open the door.

I guess if you\'re not confident in navigating through the maze, you can just solve the problem to get through.

In simple terms, it was an option to take a shortcut by solving a puzzle. It allowed Se-Hoon to gain a bit of insight into the nature of the exam. Suddenly, a semi-transparent panel appeared in the air with words written on it.

[Direct the lights inside the box toward a single point.]

Following the appearance of the panel, dozens of lights appeared inside the transparent box. Assessing the positions of the scattered lights, Se-Hoon took out an iron ingot from the void pocket.

“Let’s see...”

Instead of going to a production facility, he gathered his mana to perform alchemical forging, something he hadn’t done in a while.

Woong-

The mana array in the iron ingot resonated with his mana, making it fluid and malleable. Se-Hoon then carefully shaped the ingot with his hands.

In no time, he had created an intricate frame with branches extending in all directions. With the forging done, he polished the surfaces to a mirror-like finish using White Light.

“This should do.”

Placing the finished creation inside the transparent box, Se-Hoon watched intently. Within the box, the scattered lights were reflected off the structure\'s branches, converging towards the center. At some point later, the light flashed brightly and the door beside him slowly started to open.

Thud-

With a heavy sound, the gate revealed the scenery beyond. Surveying it, he soon crossed over to the other side.

Whoosh!

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, he found himself on the other side. Checking the map, he noted that his distance to the center had decreased by about tenfold.

In that case, he ideally just needed to submit nine more items for the remaining puzzles. However, the requirements were sure to become more challenging, and the shortcut could likely end up not being much of an advantage in reducing distance, making it not an effortless task.

“Ah, I get it.”

Thanks to it though, he had completed the rough sketch of the entire labyrinth while passing through it just now. Thinking of his next step, he quickly headed to a material warehouse marked on the map.

There were dozens of stalls lined up inside. From among them, Se-Hoon chose one shadowy ore and one bright white ore: Rare materials known as Shadow Imprint Stone and Light Prison Crystal.

They weren\'t particularly extraordinary items, but...

Anything can be useful if used correctly.

Holding the Shadow Imprint Stone and Light Prison Crystal in his hands, he infused his darkness mana, Moonlit Shadow, into them.

Woong-

The stones drank up the darkness mana, and he once again used alchemical forging to create an alloy with the two materials. The end result was a unique thin, dish-like object that served as both a dish and a mirror. The bottom of the inside surface was as smooth as a mirror, while the sides had black lines forming a swirling pattern around the center.

Satisfied with the result, he used Shadow Thread to carve a magic array inside before imbuing Incantation Inscription onto it.

“Echo Spell, Form Fixation, Space Projection...”

The effects of the incantations melded into the mirror’s surface.

With all preparations complete, Se-Hoon headed back to the transportation device.

Vrrrrm-

Upon approaching, the gate opened naturally, suggesting he could move freely through the gate now that he had solved the puzzle. Pausing before its gates, he raised the dish above his head and stepped through.

Crack!

The mirror within immediately shattered, scattering shards inside the dish. Wasting no time, Se-Hoon dumped the shards onto the ground and observed the pattern inscribed on the floor.

The shards’ spread-out pattern resembled a keyhole.

Smiling, Se-Hoon infused his mana into it.

Woong!

The pattern glowed, and he felt a faint sense of spatial distortion just as the surroundings rapidly changed. The entire view of the labyrinth and the cityscape overlapping mystically appeared in front of him, indicating that he had successfully copied the authority to control the labyrinth.

Just as I expected.

When he first used the transportation device, he noticed two odd sensations. Upon entering the gate, he experienced a sensation of a force pushing him back and a force enveloping him from above.

From just those two fleeting sensations, he understood the exact mechanism of the transportation device.

It temporarily grants the students who submit the required items the authority to use spatial teleportation within that passage of the labyrinth.

Designed to prevent students who hadn\'t submitted items from using the transportation devices, Se-Hoon realized that if he could copy the authority, he could use it freely to teleport anywhere in the labyrinth.

Of course, copying such a complex authority wouldn’t be easy. Even a partial replication required him to manually compensate for any deficiencies. And a single error could result in misdirection or even ejection from the labyrinth.

“I guess it’s time to finish it.”

However, being the one who understood Ludwig’s spatial magic better than anyone else, Se-Hoon proceeded boldly. Activating the pattern on the floor, it glowed brighter and the scenery beyond the gate shifted rapidly, eventually revealing an entirely new location.

Looking up, the massive core floated above the central region of the labyrinth could be seen right in front of him.

Crack!

“Ugh...”

When he crossed through the gate, a massive crack formed on the dish, and a sharp pain pierced through his head. The spell\'s replication appeared imperfect, necessitating significant mental computation on the spot due to spatial teleportation. It had nearly induced vertigo.

If the distance had been any greater, my head might have exploded or I might have become trapped between spaces.

Thinking he needed to be more careful next time, he discarded the dish and approached the core. But just as he was about to grab the flag beneath it—

Cling!

He instinctively deflected something with his hand. Turning around, he noticed ice shards scattered around him in all directions.

Are these... ice nails?

Unmistakably, someone had just thrown an ice nail at him. Turning in the direction it came from, he saw a familiar figure.

“It seems I’m still a bit late.”

Amir was standing there, looking troubled, with ice daggers in both hands.