Chapter 282: Into the Labyrinth
Dungeon Maker is a mid-boss level villain who appears in the latter half of Phase 3, and as is typical for a late-issue villain, she has a bizarre ability.
Her ability can be summarized in one word: she can trap her opponents in an interdimensional world using white bricks. In short, she can create a world of her own, a power that makes me dizzy just thinking about it.
…Well, it was actually a particularly bizarre ability for a villain from Phase 3 who was full of dizzying abilities. The size of the space it can create is limited, so it’s not exactly a deadly ability… but still.
Anyway, that’s how Dungeon Maker created a labyrinth in this space, and called it a dungeon.
Her primary use of her power was to exile unspecified numbers of people to these dungeons, and she was particularly notorious for trapping heroes and tormenting them with devices inside.
She later teamed up with the Scream Maker, who went by the same Maker Dolly name, to make the Labyrinth even more sinister.
The bottom line is that once you’re in this maze, you can’t get out until you know how to get out, especially if you’re new to the trap.
That’s why when I saw Stardus facing off against Dungeon Maker, I came running.
‘…But she’s clearly not ready to terrorize yet, according to the story.’
What changed her mind that she’s suddenly unleashing terror now? Is this the butterfly effect of me preventing the Moonlight Gate Catastrophe?
Regardless, it was one of the villains I had planned to take on no matter what if it appeared, so I rushed over here to help Stardus, for one reason: to get Stardus out of here alive and well.
…As for people’s reactions, well, it’s no secret that I like Stardus as a villain, so I decided not to bother. That’s why concepts are important, even if they aren’t…
“Are you okay with that?”
Anyway, as it turns out, I’ve fallen into this labyrinth with Stardus.
“Yeah…”
Inside a room somewhere, with gray and white bricks surrounding us, we opened our eyes.
This must be Dungeon Maker labyrinth.
I stood up, moving slightly away from Stardus, who was still clinging to me.
Stardus rose to her feet as well.
“Hah… So, where are we?”
She asked, looking around, her face calm again, but her ears still slightly red.
“Well, it appears to be a space somewhere, probably where we were sent by that woman’s ability earlier. From the looks of it, she’s manipulating this place from the outside, so it’s probably safe outside while we’re here.”
I explained, looking at the eerily dark white corridor that stretched out before us.
It was me, elaborating as if I had no idea, but was making a guess.
I looked back at Stardus, who was standing next to me, and smirked.
“So, Stardus. Now that we’re both in the middle of nowhere… how about we form a temporary alliance for once?”
I asked her, feeling like I’d done this before.
“Uh… I see.”
She replied to me…with a slight smile.
What the hell, why are you smiling? You’re not thinking about grabbing me by the back of the head and dragging me off in the middle of the night… That would kill us all. I can’t do that.
“Uh, why don’t we just walk over there? It looks a little dangerous, so let’s stick together.”
“Okay.”
With that meekly obedient reply, the hero and villain began to walk down the narrow corridor together through the labyrinth in hopes of stopping the larger villain.
…Somehow, with her walking so close to me our fingers were almost touching.
***
Stardus, Shin Haru, liked Egostic.
…humanly. She meant in a human way. Not the other way around.
Anyway, that thought grew stronger after the last fight with the Moonlight Lord, when she saw the possibility of another world without him. After all, everything he’d done so far had been for the good of everyone.
That’s when she realized that he wasn’t evil after all. Everything he did had meaning.
…And that meant she didn’t have to hide her feelings anymore.
She wanted to be closer to him, to know more about him, to spend more time with him…to be honest with herself.
It’s a hero’s duty to know more about the villain they’re in charge of and she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.
“Seeing as how my teleportation doesn’t work anywhere else, this world must be a specially constructed space.”
We walk through the narrow corridors of this strange white maze, made by a villain named Dungeon Maker.
…But Stardus was focusing on other things than the horror of being trapped in a labyrinth by a villain.
Such as the fact that, once again, it seemed that Egostic had come for her.
…that for the first time in a very long time, she had a chance to be alone with him like this.
The last time she was with him, they met in the basement of the HanEun Group. It was a similar situation, but unlike that time when she was wary, she had something else on her mind.
…And, I wonder why.
“Hmm…What is this place?”
Smiling quietly, she glanced up to see the side of Egostic face looking ahead.
Her heart pounds even though he’s a villain and just walking beside him makes her feel at ease. She wanted to be by his side even more.
“…Hey, Egostic.”
And finally, just as she was about to say something to him.
“…! Watch out!”
Egostic, who was walking beside her, grabbed her arm and stopped.
And at that moment.
-Wababababak.
A hail of arrows rained down from in front of where she was standing.
…Actually, she had a strange feeling and knew there was a trap ahead, but she had been thinking about saving Egostic but it seemed that his intuition was similar to her own.
“…It seems like there are a lot of traps here, so let’s go further.”
“…Okay.”
And with that, she followed Egostic forward, his cloak flapping, as they continued to walk through the maze of corridors.
Behind him, she walked through the labyrinth corridors, urging herself to trust him.
Of course, this labyrinth was not so easy.
It wasn’t just that it kept changing shape, it was also filled with all sorts of bizarre contraptions, like a giant spider jumping out of nowhere and spikes coming out of the walls.
…In other words, she didn’t have much of a chance to talk to him.
“…..”
And the more she thought about it, the more her mood sank.
Something about him being a villain, focused on getting out of here fast, and not being able to tell him what she wanted to say.
At this rate, they’d end up walking out of this labyrinth without saying much to each other, and the day would end with him running away.
And more than that, her heart was breaking.
“Let’s take a turn here this time.”
…It was Egostic who said that in a cool manner, as if he wasn’t conscious of it at all.
No, I mean, it’s obvious, but… It felt a little weird, like she was the only one who cared about him.
That’s why Stardus was unwittingly annoyed with him….If he could just look this way, he’d see what’s going on.
As she continued to build up those nervous feelings, they walked briskly until they came to a dead end and a wooden door.
“Let’s go this way.”
“Uh.”
With that, they opened the door and went inside.
“Hmm…”
A pitch-black, blindingly dark room opened up.
It was filled with strange hissing and the sound of axes being swung.
“…Something tells me this place is more dangerous than before, so stay close to me just in case.”
“Yeah…”
Before entering the dark corridor Stardus suddenly thought to herself.
‘…Isn’t this my chance?’
Now that Egostic doesn’t care about her at all, what would he do if she approached him first?
She was already slightly delirious from her constant unspoken companionship with him so she decided to do something drastic, something she wouldn’t have done in her right mind.
Hmm.
“….?”
Just before entering the dark hallway Stardus reached out and clasped Egostic hand with hers.
At that moment, she felt his slightly cold hand in hers.
As she held his hand, he stammered, “Uh…” as if he didn’t understand what was happening.
Stardus turned her head away, avoiding eye contact with him, and spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper.
“…You said we are in danger so I thought we should walk together and this is the only way to be sure.”
“Uh…”
“…Why not?”
“…Why not, yeah, sure. It’s safe, it’s good, yeah, let’s do this.”
And just like that, Egostic answer flew.
The two of them, hand in hand, headed down the dark hallway.
…At that moment Stardus was glad it was dark and noisy.
“….”
The darkness would hide her blushing face and the pounding of her heart.
***
[??????]
[Where did those two go?]
[Save Starmango!!!]
[I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind]
[EMERGENCY!!! Super Emergency!!!!! Crazy woman killed Egostic and Stardus!!]
[Sweetheart Mangostick, I love that you’re a sweetheart, but you should have brought your camera!!!]
*
The Dungeon Maker, leaning her hand on the tower of white blocks that had sprung up in the place of Egostic and Stardus, closed her eyes and muttered to herself as she manipulated the dungeon.
“No, why are they having a fling in there?”
Of course, her words were spoken in such a grumbling manner.
