Published: September 2, 2025
Satou here. When I was little, I was good at solving mazes printed in the corners of newspapers.
As an adult, my experience with mazes was limited to playing in those at theme parks.
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The entrance to the labyrinth was a low tower about one and a half meters tall. The tower was hidden by foliage, and unless you knew it was there, you’d hardly find it.
There were signs that people had come and gone, but the traces were small. Checking the surroundings on the map, it seemed there was a vertical shaft like a back door that monsters used to enter and exit.
I opened the door and entered the tower. Carelessly, it wasn’t locked.
I hesitated whether to change into my silver mask outfit when entering. If the magician was the same kind as Arisa, they’d see my real name. It was better not to let them know the silver mask equals Satou equation, so this time I didn’t disguise myself with the silver mask.
I checked the enemies in the maze and planned my weapons accordingly. Most were fang ants between level 5 and 8, and skeleton soldiers of level 1 to 3. There were somewhat stronger enemies like bone demon soldiers at level 18 and wood magic soldiers at level 15.
There were also rare enemies like slime-types and homunculi, but since they were below level 5, they were basically weak.
However, the logic arts skill that the homunculi possessed caught my attention. What kind of skill is that? Could it be a type of arcane magic?
If circumstances allowed, it might be a good challenge to help Liza and the others train with.
The only high-level beings were the iron demon giant at level 30 in the central hall and the magician in the master’s chamber.
So, I armed myself with a Slender Bladed Sword (saber) as a shield and a rapid-fire magic gun as a submachine gun. I didn’t bring my usual magic pistol because this looked like a stronger weapon.
Actually, it can shoot once per second for up to 50 shots with a single magic power charge, so it’s got good rapid-fire capability. But after firing continuously, it needs about 10 minutes of cooldown, so I hadn’t used it before.
I chose it this time because you can switch to "spread" shots for single shots, so I don’t have to worry about friendly fire, and even if the power is low, it’s suitable for dealing with weak enemies.
I put on the cloak I had taken off when I fell into the Underground Lake. Unlike the one I was wearing before, this was a thick but very cheap one I bought in the East Street of Seryu City. It should be good enough to prevent blood splashes.
While preparing my gear, I descended the spiral staircase.
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I passed the stairs and entered the labyrinth.
The ground here was different from the resin-like floor underground; it looked like stone pavement but somehow felt plant-like. Light leaked through the gaps in the floorboards, so visibility was assured.
The labyrinth was a blessing — no torches needed.
I heard some kind of metallic, light "cone cone" sound from somewhere. I listened for a while but couldn’t figure out what it was, so I made a mental note of it.
I wasn’t in the mood for a steady fight, so I examined the route to the master’s chamber and memorized the shortest course.
I kicked away the skeleton soldiers I encountered, destroying them, and threw bones I had collected at the fang ants to eliminate them.
Despite having the gun ready, it didn't get a single chance to be used.
By the way, these skeleton soldiers don’t have human skulls. They’re probably from the rat tribe.
This maze wasn’t a game where you clear one floor to go down to the next. Instead, blocks were connected in 3D, going deep into lower levels, then back up through upper layers and then down again — a complicated structure.
The staircase I was descending was embedded in a wall too high to reach, and the object looked like an optical illusion, making me unsure if I was going down or up.
It somehow felt like a theme park.
Thinking about that, the demon core dropped from the skeleton soldier I kicked was a little large. I always collected the cores dropped from skeleton soldiers since they were uncovered. Ant cores were impossible to retrieve.