[Stage #14 : The Ice Maiden's Maze.]
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Stage Information: A maze that can rotate paths and floors once an hour, was left behind by a lonely queen of this 'Arctic' World. Created to make others as lonely as her, this incredible maze was sure to separate those people around them, forcing them to be alone forever.
Stage Task: Exit the maze.
Time Limit: ∞ Hours
Reward: 1050 Coins, 1 Crystal Apple and a Plum Blossoms seed.
Failure: ???
+
"Looks like we found it."
The second my foot stepped on the designated area for Stage #14, the system was quick to send a message to me, notifying me of this place.
"Again…"
Re-reading this message multiple times in the past already, I instantly knew about all the details I needed to know. And right now, I was standing in front of the front gate of the maze.
"Wear the mask, Mimi." I informed her as I took out the mask from my inventory.
As I felt Mirai's legs moving on my head, I was currently putting on the mask she made me. So long as we have this mask on, it will keep us from getting sucked into the mirror when we see our reflections.
"All done~! I'm ready, captain!" Mirai said.
"Good."
In spite of me having a mental protection skill, it wasn't at a level where I could reflect the maze's illusions, and mostly because I am sensitive to my past.
..Since there are a lot of things that I didn't want to recall whatsoever.
'The past is not so easy to forget..'
Be that as it may, the reflections make sound of the past, so it would be hard to avoid hearing my past when I head into the maze, and there is nothing I can do about it.
'Except ignoring it.'
Anyways, I must find my comrades quickly to set them free from the maze, including the others.
[You activated the Hidden Skill, 'Blessed Needle' Lv. 1.]
I called out. "Mimi."
"Hai~!"
[Player '16' has activated her Hidden Skill, 'Silk Threads' Lv. ???.]
As soon as the needles emerged in front of Mirai's eyes, she swiftly shot out her threads to poke through the holes of those needles, fully combining them into one to create a new skill.
[Combinations of 'Blessed Needle' Lv. 1 and 'Silk Threads' Lv. ??? had turned into 'Lady Luck's Threading Needle' Lv. 1!]
This was the reason why I chose 'Blessed Needle' as my reward for the Stage #10.
Combining Mirai's threads, those threading needles will increase our chances of finding our way through the maze much easier.
I spoke. "Hold them tight."
After preparing ourselves for this maze, I finally opened the gate to let myself inside this horrible maze.
Taking one step at a time, my firefly which was the stage #13's reward was illuminating the area with its light for me to see properly.
From there, I started to notice the mirror reflecting my past on it, unveiling to me what I had been through with my lives.
Whether it would be sad, agonizing, miserable, frustrating…
'Master, you could have said you have more negative emotions than positive ones.' Lucifer inwardly pointed it out to me.
I sighed from his words. 'How sickening of my emotions.'
Needless to say, I didn't allow myself to look at those reflections. Even if the mask may help me sustain the harsh past of mine, it doesn't have a durable durability.
'Actually, anything that is made by Mirai, is durable..'
The only reason that the mask isn't durable, is because I can get too immensely irrational when I—
Crack!
'Ah.. My mask broke a bit.' I thought as I rested my hand on that crack.
'The past is what infuriated me the most, from cruelty to torment… And I can't handle it when the past is right in front of me.'
…That is why the mask broke.
Eventually, Mirai told me. "Captain! Please calm yourself or else I'll have to overwork myself by making new masks again."
"I'll keep that in mind."
And as for Mirai, I was sure that she would fend off those noises of her past flawlessly, but just in case, if I sense something were to happen to her, I'll immediately stop everything just to calm her down.
Because that is my duty as her captain, and her savior..
And it is my duty not to make her overwork herself, so I better not cause her troubles.
'Or else I'll get my hair pulled out by Mimi.. No no, not that.' I nervously imagined me being bald.
———
After time and time of moving around the maze, we managed to avoid walking into a dead end thanks to our combined skill, 'Lady Luck's Threading Needle'.
Because the needles saw us the correct paths by pointing in the right direction, we were able to pass the first floor of this maze.
"Mimi, do you feel anything?" I asked her while touching the wall.
Mirai then responded as she moved the needles around. "Nothing yet, captain."
It had been a while since we entered this maze, and yet we didn't find any trace of our comrades nor anyone from 'The Rebels' Guild.
In addition to that, there wasn't a single soul within this maze, nowhere that I could spot a player walking around here. It could definitely be that they were already trapped inside the mirrors, along with my guild members.
'How unfortunate.' I thought as I halted my step.
…Maybe it wasn't the right choice to stop midway…
"This.."
Crack!
Slightly wide-eyed, I jolted a little when right in front of me, I suddenly witnessed the reflection of the death of my previous comrades in my past.
Crackling!
My different names were called out to me by their dying voices..
..I could hear their cries all so perfectly as they were close to their death's doors.
..And I found myself standing amidst them, watching them dying right in front of my eyes.
'Yes.. I know I failed to protect them.' I clenched my fists regretfully, closing my eyes shut to not look back at the past.
Crack…
"Captain?" Mirai called since she was concerned about me.
"It's nothing. Let's continue."
Even if I failed, I'll make up for it by protecting my current comrades.
No matter the cost, I'll do anything to repay them for the kindness they show to me from helping me in every single one of my lives.
"I don't deserve their generosity." I murmured under my lips as I averted my eyes from the mirror.
"Captain~ What did we say about those words leaving your lips?" Mirai pouted.
After that, I smiled faintly when I didn't think about Mirai overhearing me. "Are you angry?"
"Of course, I am! Who wouldn't?!"
"Haha.."
"Hmph. Captain, you are our saviors. We survived because of you. It's only right for us to repay you with our lives."
"..."
"You saved me from my father's family and let me reunite with my mother. There is nothing comparable for the things you did for me!"
Crack..
"Oh, hey Asher." I waved my hand at Asher who appeared unexpectedly with a blonde guy right next to her.
"Hontoni..! Can't you listen to me for once without finding ways to change the subject?"
As Mirai was furious about me always getting out of this kind of conversation, I was currently staring at Asher's direction, wondering who the other person was next to her.
"Hide the needles, Mimi." I mumbled to Mirai before noticing the needles were swiftly being pulled back to her.
While she was hiding herself and the threading needles, I was using my skill to check the guy beside Asher.
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Name: Felix William Nash
Age: 23
Level: 20
Health: 1700
Mana: 450
Stamina: 1700
Hidden Skills: 'Charm' Lv. 5, 'Heaven-Sent' Lv. 2, 'Celestial Perception' Lv. 2
Skills: 'Fencing' Lv. 3, 'Starlight Thrust' Lv. 2, 'Star Shell' Lv. 2
Stats:
Strength Lv. 7
Agility Lv. 7
Intelligence Lv. 7
Dexterity Lv. 7
Luck Lv. 29
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I mused when I read Felix's status. 'What the.. 29 in luck? How crazy is he when he already has powerful luck based skills?'
'Honestly, other than luck, he's very weak. But it looks like he's a lucky fellow.. too lucky to be exact. Then could it be that he has that 'Numbers'?'
'Possibly.. And what is up with that costume?'
Narrowing my gaze to stare at Felix, I could sense already that this person was an insane guy.
'Is this the prince charming the female players were on about? Don't tell me he got Asher as a fan.'
Annoyed by my gaze, Asher grumbled at me. "Don't look at me with those glances, JoonChul. And no, I'll never be a part of his fandom. Gross."
"You read my mind."
"Sigh… Even with a mask, I can tell it's you." While Asher spoke, she walked closer to me as if she didn't want to stay beside Felix.
"Aren't you going to ask me about my name~?" Felix posed, daring enough to try to look fabulous in my sight.
"..."
"..."
At the same time, I turned my head at Asher and at the same time, she also shifted her gaze at me. Then, as if we read each other's mind, we immediately walked past this crazy fella.
"Hey, mates! Don't leave me behind!"
"Do you hear something?" Asher spoke to me.
I replied. "Nope, not at all."
"You can't do this to me!" Felix exclaimed, seeming like he was running to catch up with us.
Eventually while he was doing that, I whispered to Asher. "Why did you team up with that guy?"
She responded back. "You think I wanted to?! I only follow because he somehow got a skill that can track the exit of this place."
"Really? Cool."
"You don't seem surprised or interested. Did you think I was lying?"
"This is who I am."
..And I already knew of Felix's skills which made it so less surprising to me.
"Why are we even talking like we're friends?" Asher grunted.
By then, I shrugged before perceiving an arm being wrapped around my left shoulder, getting myself embraced by the person behind me, along with Asher.
"You mates must be friends."
This Felix guy..
'I want to kill him.' I mused as I was quite irritated by Felix's rude manner.
In a blink of an eye, Asher and I both had the same thought when we uttered at the exact time.
"Piss off."
I glared at Felix while Asher did the same, sending out death threats with just our glances which resulted in Felix letting us go instantly.
"Urk… Are you siblings?" Felix nervously pointed out. "You both look awfully evil and act evil."
"Shut up, Blondie." Asher scowled, pushing him back.
After continuing in our walk, Asher then asked me. "By the way, where's your friends?"
"None of your business. What's about you? Are you still going solo? You must have grown a lot." I snickered because I already checked out her status.
Judging from her status I saw earlier…
Without a doubt, Asher appeared to have gained quite a lot of skills while we've last seen each other, not only that, she must have also killed a dozen of players in the past days.
Asher responded. "Meh, it's so-so, I guess."
Patter…
"And where are you going?"
I wasn't asking Asher, I was actually asking the person behind us.
Felix, who was sneaking away from Asher and me when we were casually having a conversation, had started running after being caught.
I should stop him by myself, but Asher already got the job done by herself.
In that moment, Asher soon disappeared from my side, and was fast enough to reappear right in front of Felix which stopped him from running any further.
'I can see that she's gotten quite used to her portals.' I looked at her with eyes that were observing a good potential teammate.
"Where are you going, teabag?"
"Eek..! It's not what it looks like, sweetheart."
"Tsk, tsk. Did you forget that I'll kill you if you try to escape again?"
Swing!
Taking her scythe from her storage, Asher swayed her weapon near Felix's neck. As intimidating as she was, she was quick to make Felix raise his hands up to surrender.
…Or was he?
In an instance, Felix pulled out a rapier from his inventory, thrusting it at Asher's vital part as if to show he hadn't given up yet.
"Is he stupid?" I muttered to myself.
Lucifer answered me even though I already knew. 'Yes, he is.'
Thud!
With a kick that seemed too strong, Asher managed to knock Felix out cold without using her weapon much and not harming him one bit.
'I pitied this fool.' I exhaled a long, long sigh. 'And I'm disappointed that he was given that 'Numbers'.'
"Let's go, JoonChul."
"Wait.. Are you really planning to drag him while he's unconscious?" I asked while I had my eyes on Asher doing strange things.
"Yeah, so? You wanna leave or not?"
"..."
At this point, who cares anymore?
"Mimi, the needles." I spoke to Mirai after making her wait for so long on my head.
"Hai, Captain!"
In an instance, Mirai shot out the threading needles and began searching for my comrades, including the exit to the maze.
This time, we got two people following us, and I couldn't let my guard down either since Asher isn't trustworthy yet..
'I don't want such a potential person to be killed early yet. She'll be useful in the future, so I must keep her alive.'
'..But as for that blond guy, should I just kill him already?'
'...No. I'm sure Asher has plans on using that guy. And I'm curious to see it with my own eyes as well.' I smirked inwardly.