"I fell in love with you with the arrow you shot, deceived in a race with the arrow I shot, ambition blinded my eyes, deception in vain, I killed my lover with the arrow I fell in love with."
This poem is related to Artemis' love for Orion. One day, Apollo tricks Artemis into testing Orion and organizes a hunting game. However, Apollo manipulates the game, causing Artemis to kill Orion with her own arrow. After Orion's death, his soul ascends to the sky, becoming a constellation. It moves its arms like this...
Aiden: "You better hurry, they're almost on us!"
The statues had reached our feet; they were about to crush us. All statues raised their weapons simultaneously.
Malik: "THEY'RE COMING!"
All statues swung their weapons at the same time, but they all stopped just in time. One statue's axe had stopped in front of Aiden's eyes; if we had been even a second late, we could all have died.
"THIS IS THE ORION CONSTELLATION!"
Aiden: "HAHAHAHA, I KNEW I COULD TRUST YOU, MY FRIEND! I'M ABOUT TO WET MY PANTS!"
Malik: "Yes, even if you didn't say it, we had figured that out. I think my nose lost its function."
"Hahahaha..."
Despite almost dying, we could still laugh, and that was a good thing. Maybe we were going insane, but did it matter? It was the first time we had laughed so much since we were sent to this cursed place.
When we solved the puzzle, all the statues stopped, and soon after, lights started to emanate from them.
Aiden: "What's happening? These things are not coming back to life, are they?"
"I don't think so, and I'm not sure if these things were alive in the first place, or they might not have been alive because I couldn't see them on my map."
Malik: "Then what's happening?"
All the statues began to crack slowly and eventually disappeared, and after the statues disappeared, gold coins fell from them.
Malik: "Hey Daichi, aren't these the coins you showed me? Didn't you say these coins belonged to your city?"
I think my lie was exposed.
"Well, I'm sorry for not saying it at first, but I actually won these coins when I defeated the boss monster in the exam area."
Malik: "You defeated the boss monster in the exam area? Wow, you're really a tough guy. Also, you don't need to feel sorry for not telling us."
Aiden: "Yeah, everyone has their secrets. Especially in a place like this."
Malik: "So what do we do with these coins? What are they for?"
Instead of explaining, I thought it would be better to show, so I touched one of the coins that fell from the statues. The coin disappeared, and the amount of money in the system increased; now I had 101 gold.
Malik: "Hey, what happened to the money?"
"I don't know what it's for, but when you touch the money, a money section opens in your system, and the coins are stored there. Also, you can summon these coins to your hand whenever you want."
Aiden: "I think you should take the money; we wouldn't have come this far without your help."
"No need for that; as you said, I just helped. If I didn't have strong teammates like you, I would probably have died by now. Can I ask what level you guys are?"
Malik: "I was level 28 before entering the maze, but now I'm level 36."
Aiden: "I reached level 37."
So they are almost level 40, and I am just a little away from level 50. I had gained two levels after killing the lion, so I should be around level 45 now. The big difference between us is probably due to the starting boss and monsters like the wyvern that I killed. Also, living in the middle of a forest, I had killed plenty of monsters. Of course, I didn't do any of this alone; I always had people or monsters helping me. If I tell them that I'm level 45, they might ask too many questions, so it's better to say something close to their levels.
" I reached level 35."
Malik: "So what do we do with these coins? You don't even know what they're for."
"For now, let's divide the coins by three and then take a break here. The temple's door doesn't seem to open unless we open it, so we can all rest easily."
Aiden and Malik nodded in agreement. After dividing the gold coins equally, we each obtained 30 gold coins.
Malik: "I wonder what these coins will be used for."
"I hope I can buy some kind of armor for myself because just walking around with this straw hat doesn't make me feel very safe."
Aiden: "By the way, why do you wear that annoying hat? I was amazed at how it didn't fall off your head when I saw you running so fast."
"Why do I wear it? Of course, for the status effect it provides."
Malik: "Hey, I'm just asking out of curiosity, but you know that after wearing hats, necklaces, rings, and similar cosmetic items once, you can hide these accessories through the system, right? This way, no matter how many accessories you wear, they are not noticeable, and your presence is not felt."
Malik and Aiden made their hidden accessories visible again. Malik's hands were full of rings, and he had a necklace around his neck, while Aiden's arms were covered with bracelets, and he even had an accessory shaped like a joke glasses. I guess I understood why the system had such a feature.
"What? Hey, are you kidding me? You must be joking. We've been here for a month, and I'm just learning about this feature now?"
Aiden: "Actually, you should have received a notification about these features when you first came to the city, like how to level up and other things."
"Oh, right, notifications..."
Damn, did they know what they were going to do from the beginning? They all seemed like cursed rich kids. I had to learn everything by myself; nothing was presented to me. I'm like those cool kids with tough lives in movies, but the only difference is that I'm extremely weak and the only living beings I talk to are goblins...
"I guess instead of reading notifications, I started wandering around directly. Anyway, do I look better like this?"
I had hidden my straw hat using the system's features.
"Okay, let's get some sleep."
We all lay down to sleep, but we made a fatal mistake. We had allowed Malik to sleep first...
Aiden: "Dude, is this guy a human or some kind of aircraft? How can a human snore like that?"
I couldn't hold back my laughter.
"Hahaha, you're lucky you didn't have to take a watch with him the first night we set up camp. We had to sleep together, and I could hardly sleep at all."
Aiden: "I guess it would have been weirder if such a big guy didn't make such a sound."
We continued joking and laughing, and chatting.
Aiden: "Hey Daichi, what do you think will happen from now on? Will everything end when we get out of this maze? Or will all of this never end?"
I didn't know the answers to the questions he asked, so I couldn't answer.
"Hey, we're going to get out of this maze together and survive. Isn't that what matters? Besides, maybe we'll meet a few nice girls."
Aiden: "Hahaha, I guess that will be a bit difficult for you, hahaha."
"Hey, what does that mean now? I may not have fancy armor or a huge sword like you, but I'm as cool as you guys, okay? Haven't you seen how I broke that lion's leg? Bang, then Thud, then Bam!"
Talking with Aiden was really nice; we had chatted and laughed for hours, and we had forgotten about sleeping. The weirdest thing was that despite all the noise, Malik didn't wake up at all. He really had a deep sleep.
Aiden: "Thanks for everything, buddy, really. Before I came here, I was trying to survive alone and wasn't talking to many people because I was scared. Do you remember how I spoke when we first met in the maze? I acted like a leader, but my only goal was not to appear as a weak loser. But then I realized that you and Malik were the real leaders. I'm really happy to have met you and Malik."
" I'm happy to have met you guys. I never thought I could make two friends like you in a place like this."
We should have noticed when the snoring stopped, but Malik had already woken up and heard our conversation.
Malik: "Hey, are you talking about emotional stuff without me? Come here."
Malik rolled over and squeezed between us, hugging us tightly, as if there was an elephant on top of us. This was the most deadly moment since we entered the labyrinth.
After finishing our conversation, we decided to prepare and hit the road again. It felt like we had been walking and fighting for days. We had become so accustomed to fighting together that we could coordinate without speaking to defeat simple monster groups and even some seemingly powerful monsters. Our synergy was at its peak, and with this, we were able to make progress quickly. We didn't encounter many places similar to the temple we had seen before on the way, and we didn't encounter a formidable opponent like the Black Lion again. So, I guess we were quite lucky. Of course, my [Mini Map] ability played a significant role because we avoided dangerous-looking creatures wandering alone and stayed away from the paths we had taken before, progressing without getting lost. Finally, we reached a vast open area. In the center of this area, there was a large crystal surrounded by stairs on all four sides, hanging in the air and glowing in a sparkling white color.
[Congratulations, you are the first to reach the exit of the labyrinth. Therefore, your experience point gain is doubled for one hour. When you touch the crystal, you will complete the mission and return to your last location.]
Malik: "So, all we have to do is touch this crystal? This seems really easy."
Aiden: "What's easy, fool? Do you think they will let us go so easily?"
"Aiden is right. Most likely, we will encounter the boss monster guarding the exit as soon as we enter. Do you remember the name of the labyrinth? The Labyrinth of Şahmaran."
Malik: "Yes, I remember. So?"
"So, since we haven't encountered Şahmaran yet, she should be somewhere around here. There must be something limiting her from leaving this area, so she will attack us as soon as we step into this region. Şahmaran is a creature, half snake and half woman, and that's all I know about her."
Aiden: "I guess we have no choice but to go in. We could wait for others to come, but we don't know how much time we have to get out of this labyrinth."
Malik: "He's right, and even if someone comes, there is a possibility that they will be bad people like Gabirel. We need to hurry if we don't want to end up like Elara."
I wanted to wait a bit longer to make a plan, but they were right. Besides, I don't have enough information about the monster to make any plans.
"Get ready; we're going in."
We stepped into the area where the crystal was, but it seemed like there was nothing around. We continued to advance towards the crystal with the fastest and quietest steps we could take. There was a considerable distance between us and the crystal, but as long as we could see the crystal with our naked eye, we could reach it. However, as I said before, things didn't go well.
"Did you guys see this thing too?"
Malik: "See what?"
Aiden: "Yes, I saw it too! Something is moving!"
"Guys, RUN!"
We all started running towards the crystal at full speed, realizing that something huge and dangerous was chasing us. As we got very close to the crystal, our path was suddenly cut off; it was Şahmaran.
Malik: "WHAT IS THIS THING!"
A massive snake, several meters in length, had wrapped around the crystal, preventing us from reaching it. Its upper body resembled a naked woman, and it had long black hair. It looked at us with poisonous green eyes and hissed with its snake-like tongue.
"GET READY TO ATTACK, DODGE!"
As the snake reared up to attack, we started running away at full speed, using nearby objects to somehow evade its attacks, but it was too fast. Every time we got close to the crystal, it blocked our path again, especially for someone as heavy as Malik, avoiding it was difficult, and as I predicted, it happened. Malik was sent flying meters away with a blow from Şahmaran's tail.
"MALIK!"
Malik: "I'M OKAY! *Coughing sounds*"
Aiden: "Malik is covered in blood, and he doesn't look like he can run!"
I shouted at Malik with all my strength.
"HEY MALIK, CAN YOU MOVE!?"
Malik, still coughing up blood, gathered all his strength to answer.
"YES! I WON'T LET A MONSTER KILL ME!"
"All right, let's do this."
Malik was heavily injured, and Aiden and I could end up in the same situation at any moment. No, we probably would easily die from such a blow, as we were not as durable as Malik. So, what was this adrenaline-filled feeling I was experiencing? Fear? No, it was excitement.
"DON'T WORRY, GUYS, I HAVE A PLAN..."