Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 370



Only Noblemtl

53rd floor (5)

A light came on in his dark mind. Alan, who was waking up, realized that the coordinates had changed through [space manipulation].

‘I thought the Tower of Light meant sunlight.’

The red land is dark because of the dark clouds. Sometimes, sunlight breaks through the gaps and illuminates the land, which mostly resembles a long cylinder.

Alan deliberately stimulated the dark clouds on the mountaintop to summon lightning, creating a huge hole, and of course the sunlight was as thick as a tower.

‘If I summon lightning from anywhere and clear the clouds, will it transfer?’

There must be a reason why the arrow of light pointed to the mountain. Now that I look at it, the lines of light in my left eye were gone. I could guess that they had finished their job as a key and disappeared.

Alan looked around. Sophia, Ivan, and Fyodor’s vital signs were changing rapidly, while the rest were still silent.

As soon as Sophia opened her eyes, she stood up with her ice stick. The first thing she did was look at Alan.

“These children who haven’t reached the level of maturity are in a state of apnea. Should I wake them up?”

“Let’s leave it for now. It looks fine to me.”

Sophia nodded. A hundred years of experience had told her that Alan’s vision was exceptional.

“You too, get up and stop being lazy.”

“Master, I will rest for a bit.”

“hurry!”

It was refreshing to see Sophia, with her middle-aged appearance, treat two old men with white hair like children. Fyodor and Ivan stood up straight, patting each other on the back.

Meanwhile, Alan looked around. The place that resembled an auditorium immediately reminded him of ruins. The paint was peeling off, the concrete was cracked, and the plywood on the walls had fallen down or rotted away.

The sliding doors on the left and right that connected the auditorium and the outside space were worn away, but they were still the same. A dark passageway could be seen through the hole.

“Shall we go out?”

“Let’s do that. There needs to be someone to guard this place…”

At Sophia’s words, Fyodor and Ivan smiled and sat down on their chairs.

“I will protect the children. No one will come near them.”

“My back isn’t in good shape either, so this is a good opportunity. Oh my.”

Even as he said that, the material of the chair was actually ice that radiated cold air. Sophia rolled her eyes as she heard Ivan’s sly groan.

Alan looked at the buffalo lying still. The animal’s head also turned toward its owner. The sleeping box and the panther were lying next to it.

‘Is it a difference in self?’

He pulled out the card and flicked it. Two Oros V1s appeared and flanked his comrades, and the automaton that resembled a jumping spider opened its belly to reveal a dish antenna. The antenna spun around and followed Alan.

“Let’s go.”

Alan and Sophia exited the auditorium. A passageway with a gray marble floor appeared, and the mess of the auditorium was still there.

The windows were a mess, just like the passage. When Alan tapped them with his cane, the glass that had been dangling fell off. When the tinted glass disappeared, a raw landscape came into view.

“This is above the clouds.”

“yes.”

The buildings were built on an island made of clouds. As the clouds moved, the buildings followed and floated across the sky.

The building connected to the passage was the largest and most striking. Beyond the glass windows that served as a cover, a structure resembling a turtle shell made its majestic appearance.

Alan walked slowly down the hallway and took out a card. Small, compressed spiders suddenly appeared and rushed ahead of him.

Sophia’s eyes lit up as she watched the spider leave to scout.

“Runes, perhaps? Such desirable knowledge.”

“This is a secret.”

“Even if it’s a corresponding treasure? What about my magic or training methods?”

Alan shook his head firmly. He had intended to keep [space manipulation] and [molecular assembly] a secret if possible. Or else, by Alan’s subjective standards, he would show knowledge that was several times better than the runes.

“How do you manage the horsepower consumed to maintain the compressed state?”

“I wrote runes by twisting space.”

“How is this different from saying, ‘Use a cup to drink water’?”

But that’s true. I just shrugged because further explanation is a trade secret.

As we exited the long passage, another corridor appeared. This one was also in ruins. It looked as if it had been abandoned for decades. As I was looking around the dark corridors on both sides, the spiders that had gone out to scout out sent me a video.

Alan shared the video.

“Can you see it?”

“A facility related to Catan? There’s nothing left.”

As Sophia had said, the interior of the huge facility was completely empty. There was no bookshelf, no medicine cabinet, and not even a trash can.

“I have to see it with my own eyes.”

The result was the same. After an hour of running around, all I got out of it was frustration and frustration.

“It would have been less boring if there had been a monster…”

“When you explore a labyrinth, you become accustomed to coming up empty-handed.”

“You are right. I must find a way to wake the children and find an escape route.”

Sophia still had some lingering feelings for Ivan, so she called him over and instructed him to explore the inside of the building.

With the two people gone, Alan, who was left alone, activated both Ma-an and Yeong-an at the same time. As expected, the same scenery came into view.

‘There is a solution in this case.’

When faced with a new problem, repeating a previous solution often works.

Alan unfolded his memory of the event he experienced on the pillar of Icehenge. What happened then was truly extraordinary. Depending on which eye was open, the space his body was in changed.

I opened only my left eye, which contained Catan’s technology, and waited quietly. Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes…

‘Am I wrong?’

The moment I turned around to try something else, I saw an old man looking at me from the end of the hallway. His wrinkled face looked very familiar.

Alan approached him. He also walked slowly. He stopped about a meter away.

“hello.”

The lips were a firm seal.

“Have you lost your ability to speak? Or is it just an illusion?”

The old man remained silent and raised his hand. He slowly extended it toward the artificial eye.

If it had been his first meeting with Katan, he would have accepted it with joy and respect. However, Alan remembered that Katan had planted a psychic fragment.

He took a step back. Only then did a subtle change appear on Katan’s face. According to Alan’s big data, it was a slight displeasure.

“No.”

[upstart.]

Katan spoke first. It was not a sound wave, but a thought wave that struck directly into his brain.

“You told me not to trust anyone.”

[Who told you? The main body?]

“It’s a powder that came from the snowfield.”

[I see you really like him. I wonder why.]

Catan approached, and Alan retreated. If anyone saw it, it would have been a strange sight to see Alan walking backwards alone. He even talked to himself, so it was perfect for people to call him crazy.

[The snow field’s powder is only the weakest. If you think it’s the same as me, you’re mistaken.]

“Um… Was this the kind of person you were originally?”

[What do you expect from an explorer immersed in the temptations of the labyrinth?]

“What would the body think if it heard that?”

[What do you know? If you appeared in front of me, I would strangle you right away, but it’s too bad I can’t.]

Alan took a step back, taking in the sight of the ruined corridor. It was not strange that his heart was filled with hatred, considering that it had been more than 25 years since Katan died and he had been alone.

“I’ve seen many papers saying that the powder is trying to kill the main body. It’s true.”

[so?]

“I was thinking about quitting. It’s annoying if I have trouble acquiring knowledge because I’m fighting.”

Alan, to be precise, the backstep of the power suit was very good. He was able to move around the inside steadily while maintaining a suitable distance from Katan’s powder.

“Why do you keep walking? By any chance···.”

In an instant, Katan’s particle suddenly got closer. Naturally, the power suit reacted and distanced itself.

[Aesongi, you have a good sense.]

“Did you know that? The main body died 25 years ago.”

[I’ve been stuck here for 25 years? I died very well. I feel relieved.]

“How can you feel refreshed without a body? Or is it an expression of mental exaltation?”

Alan closed his left eye and opened only his right. He could not see Katan in his spirit eye. It meant that he was not a spirit. When he opened only his left eye again, he was gone.

“A narrow-minded person···.”

[This guy!]

The powder appeared through the wall. It was an appearance that had been hidden until now in order to induce a letdown.

The hand touched Alan’s body, and bounced off in vain. It was somewhat of an expected result.

‘We infiltrated the snowfield but were unable to take control.’

Even then, he could not enter the mental barrier that was implemented as a wall. However, Allen is now at a depth of 6, and his mental power has grown tremendously through Taylor’s training method.

To be honest, I only hung out with it for a little while because I found the powder’s unique reaction very interesting.

The powder crossed its arms and looked out the window. The sunlight was bright and the clouds were white.

“Are you acting again?”

[···.]

“Are you upset?”

The powder’s eyebrows twitched. Even though it was a fragment of a mind that had been torn off, it responded like a person. Perhaps because it was torn off, its controllability had diminished.

[How are you alive?]

“Do you mean to discuss ontological concepts?”

[···How can someone with excessive magical power walk around normally?]

“well···.”

A vein appeared on the forehead of the body. I wish I could take it to the surface and study it.

“···I received a lot of help. I was also lucky.”

[That’s not it. Have you never met anything that tries to kill you?]

“There were a lot.”

[Who is the one who keeps on attacking without any reason?]

“There wasn’t any.”

The powder’s head tilted slightly. A moment passed as they observed each other.

“Why do you ask?”

[That’s because they’re not the type of people to give up easily. What’s their plan?]

“Please tell me who it is.”

[There is a group that claims that unauthorized knowledge leads to destruction. They are called the Purifiers.]

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

[Since it’s a secret organization, they might have changed it again. That way, it’s easier to cause confusion and lowers the chances of being targeted.]

Alan asked, thinking of Kamai and Jacob.

“Did you suffer from hypermania?”

[no.]

“Have you been attacked by the Purifier?”

[okay.]

This meant that the reason for the attack was not due to excessive magical power. Those who received or would receive the title of ‘Ka’ were more likely to be killed because they hated the transformation that was happening.

Alan brought up another topic.

“I mean the flesh. It was torn to shreds.”

[I guessed so.]

“The tailor has a head. It’s on his shoulders.”

[I ended up doing something wrong.]

“You treated me very affectionately. Were you by any chance a lover?”

[What is a stalker’s lover···.]

“But why did you become so friendly? Is this a ploy to make me let my guard down and infiltrate me again?”

[Trust people.]

Given his actions so far, it would have been difficult to build trust. Furthermore, I didn’t even know the reason for his sudden kindness.

“Let’s put the answer aside for a moment. Why did you leave the body alone, knowing that it would fall apart?”

[There is something like that.]

“···.”

[I don’t know either. The main body isn’t left in my memory.]

“Don’t you even know which floor you got your special body from?”

[58th floor.]

Alan’s heart pounded faster than ever. His emotions surged, his control fading, and a flood of magical energy poured out, wreaking havoc on the surroundings.

As a loud noise occurred, Sophia appeared from the other side, sliding on the ice.

“What’s going on?”

“I did a little experiment. Did you find an escape route?”

“Not yet.”

Katan’s powder was tearing at Sophia’s face. Even though he was standing right in front of her, Sophia’s eyes were only following Alan.

The powder hand waved around the place where Sophia’s head was. However, there was no sign of it. Even though he noticed Alan’s gaze, he shamelessly continued his actions.