CHAPTER 44

"Welcome to the third game! The Labyrinth!"

The audience's cheering immediately erupted once Tedie announced the name of the next game.

'That's more like it.'

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Tedie had difficulty hosting The Black Myth because of the lack of action and fights. The audience was bored, and some even blamed him as the host. Still, no matter how boring it was, such games must be done to see the children's non-combat skills.

He was concerned about the next game as he couldn't afford to bore the audience on two consecutive games, but his worries vanished when he learned what it was. And as he expected, the audience reacted more excitedly than in the previous games.

The audience's loud cheers thundered in the arena, confusing the players. They couldn't understand why the people were too thrilled.

Some thought it was because the game was delayed, building more excitement, but more perceptive children like Hirayon believed it was for a different reason.

With what Savio told him two weeks ago and the audience's loud cheers, Hirayon figured that their next game was challenging and considered great entertainment for the audience, meaning more fights and blood.

Tedie descended and stood in the middle of the stage. He then waited for the floating microphone to arrive in front of him before starting the orientation.

"Have you guys had a good rest the past two weeks?" Tedie asked as if wanting to hear responses from the children. Yet he immediately continued. "Our game today is a very thrilling one. But before I explain the rules, let me tell you why I am excited about The Labyrinth."

Tedie started walking while tapping the pickaxe into his shoulder, seemingly like it was weightless despite its actual weight. "All games held in the torneo are different every batch. Our precious team thinks, prepares, and creates different games every time. But there are two games that every batch has to experience, The Labyrinth and the Obstacle."

Loud cheers echoed again, but they immediately stopped when Tedie continued. "Does anyone know why?" He asked.

The children remained quiet while the audience yelled out their answers. "That's right! It is because those two are the most fun and challenging games that we wish every batch to experience. Everyone gets extremely excited whenever we have those two games, including me! So, without further ado, let me explain the rules." Tedie said, and a massive hologram showed the rules behind him.

GAME: THE LABYRINTH

INSTRUCTIONS: Exit the Labyrinth as fast as you can.

DURATION: 200 Minutes

RULES:

1. Find scrolls within the Labyrinth, which will guide the way to the exit.

2. Collect Monster Cores for additional points.

3. Use of Abilities is allowed.

4. Partnership or collaboration is permitted.

5. Stealing, fighting, and killing is allowed.

6. If killed, the player's scrolls and Monster Cores will be transferred to the killer.

7. The top twenty closest to the exit will be shown every 30 minutes.

8. The top ten with the most Monster Cores will be shown every 35 minutes.

9. You can't quit the game 30 minutes after it started.

10. You can give up the game by saying, 'I quit.'

"Once the game starts, you will be transferred randomly within the Labyrinth. The nearer you get to the exit, the more monsters you encounter. You can hide from them if you can, but I advise every player to kill them instead, as the number of Monster Cores you get at the end of the game will greatly affect the overall score. Look for scrolls as well because it would be extremely advantageous. Hear that?"

Tedie looked around and noticed the focused expressions of the children. He thought they looked more eager to win than the last game. "You have 200 minutes. You can check the time by thinking 'Time Check,' and a hologram of the timer will appear. The game will automatically stop once the first twenty pass through the exit, even with the remaining time in the clock. But the game would naturally stop if the 200 minutes finished and less than 20 players could exit. Simple right? Any questions?"

A few children raised their hands, and Tedie picked one.

"What kind of monsters are there?" A little boy with messy, curly brown hair asked.

Hearing that question, Tedie let out a creepy smile, showing his white, sharp canines. "Type 1 and 2 Monsters. Exciting, right?" he asked, his voice getting higher at the end, sounding thrilled and eager to witness the fights immediately.

Some children who are knowledgeable about the monsters felt their heartbeats quicken. Hearing that there are monsters made them doublethink. Even if their trainers made them undergo strict training in the past weeks for preparation, most children still fear facing monsters. They knew what they were capable of and had little to no confidence that they could win a fight with powerful creatures.

Noticing the change in the air, Tedie asked. "What's wrong, everyone?"

Although his voice held concern, his face was still thrilled, almost mocking the children's nervousness.

A clueless child noticed the strange silence and raised his hand. "What are Type 1 and 2 monsters?" he asked.

"Oh, there is still someone who doesn't know about the monster types." Tedie looked at his side as if looking at a hologram only visible to him.

"Since we still have time, let me give everyone a quick lesson," he said. A giant hologram appeared behind Tedie, and all the children raised their heads to see its contents.

Tedie floated toward the massive hologram and used his pickaxe to point at the words. "There are four types of monsters. As much as I want to show everyone a picture of every type, no monsters are alike. They all look different, and you can only differentiate them by assessing their strengths. Type 1 Monsters are the most common and weakest. They have enhanced body parts like several teeth, long limbs, huge hands, etc. Next are the Type 2 monsters, who can use abilities under one element. Type 3 monsters can use two elements. And the last one is Type 0, and they can think like humans. They have intellect and act independently, unlike the first three, who follow their instinct. Also, all types are classified into five levels. This means Level 1 is the weakest while Level 5 is the strongest. Get that?" He asked after giving a summarization of what was written in the hologram.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

After he was done, he flew back down and rested his pickaxe into his shoulder.

A little girl who was frowning raised her hand. When Tedie pointed at her, she spoke. "Why... why are there monsters?"

Tedie's eyes opened in surprise. "What do you mean why? Of course, there would be. Do you expect to be strong without fighting monsters?" He asked and laughed heartily, taunting the child who had asked a stupid question.

The little girl glared at the Bearman but bowed her head when he met its beastly eyes. "Let me make this clear. You're not here to play. You are here in the Torneo for three things. To get stronger, to get your freedom, and to survive. So don't be surprised next time, alright?" Tedie asked in a sweet voice. He even shook his head as if he couldn't believe what just happened.

"Any more questions?" he asked, but the rest of the children who wanted to clarify things got intimidated and kept their hands down with their eyes, avoiding Tedie's orbs. They didn't want to be shamed in front of everybody else, just like the little girl who was red in embarrassment and anger.

Even though Tedie had noticed the children's actions, he acted like he didn't and continued. "Now that everyone is ready, everyone will be teleported."

Light enveloped every child and was simultaneously teleported.

"The Labyrinth will start in 4... 3... 2... Go!" Tedie announced, and the audience cheered.

When Hirayon opened his eyes, he was in an extremely familiar place. In front of him was a wide path enclosed by gray walls. It was illuminated by torches, hung at a certain height, and a few feet apart. When he looked back, there was also a grey wall. Looking close, it looked like a large stone.

With dim lighting, Hirayon's eyes wandered from the high, rocky, uneven ceiling, bumpy but somewhat smooth walls, and slightly damp soil. The earthy, humid smell entered his system, and Hirayon's lips automatically broke out in a smile.

"I'm inside a cave."

Hirayon thought of the place he used to live before. It was a peaceful life with his mother, even though monsters lurked around.

Before living in the Water Terrioty, Hirayon thought residing in a place where monsters also lived was normal. But now he understands that he and her mother had an uncomfortable and dangerous life because they had to hide. Although he still didn't know the truth behind her mother's decisions, Hirayon knew that she definitely had a good reason, and he would find out what it was in the future.

Still, despite knowing they lived in a dangerous place, Hirayon missed it.

If he were to choose between the facility and the cave, he would surely choose the cave, for in that place, he is free. Even if he lived there without his mother, it was a better choice than the Familia Facility, especially now that he is confident that he could fight the monsters and protect himself.

To Hirayon, fighting the creatures that move following their beastly instinct is better than the children who were forced to fight for their chance to be free.

Hirayon was still reminiscing when the ground shook. Dust and rubble fell from the rocky ceiling, and Hirayon heard consecutive explosions from different directions. "Someone's already fighting."

With only one way to tread, Hirayon started walking. He passed by a few torches lighting the way until he saw two roads to his left and right. Without much thought, he went to the right and walked in the rocky and damp soil.

Occasionally, Hirayon would hear beastly roars and explosions, causing tremors. Some sounded near, but most sounded far, making Hirayon think he might've chosen the wrong direction. He wanted to meet a monster to get a Monster Core while looking for a scroll, but it seemed like successfully harmonizing his elements using Bind took all of his luck.

Reaching another road that leads to two different paths, Hirayon decided to sit and wait until the first twenty nearest to the exit was announced. He also thought a monster might be near, so he used himself as bait and openly sat between two paths.

Closing his eyes, Hirayon waited while getting some rest. He had been training until the last minute, so he was feeling a little tired. Even the tremors and explosions didn't stop him from dozing off.

"I told him not to sleep," Savio grumbled while watching Hirayon's live video. He could already foresee the child's benefactor scolding him when Hirayon suddenly stood up.

Hirayon was already thinking of lying down when he felt a presence nearing him. Its aura was denser than the children's, making Hirayon aware that it was a monster.

Standing up, Hirayon faced the left path and readied himself. A few seconds later, a speeding monster appeared in his sight. It was running at extreme speed despite its disproportionate body.

Looking like a deformed bear, the furry monster's limbs are all in different lengths. Its left arm and leg were long, while its right side had short limbs. Using the short arm as the third leg, the monster ran with its slanted body, its long arm pointing at Hirayon. Instead of fingers, the creature had claws that can be compared to a curved knife.

Even in the distance, Hirayon could tell they were pointy and sharp, making it the monster's main weapon.

When it got nearer, Hirayon saw its furry head, and it only had a large mouth full of spiky teeth as his face. It reminded the child of when he had to run away from the cave, and he momentarily felt scared.

But when he remembered the time that passed, Hirayon strengthened his resolve and created a medium-sized Water Orb on his left hand. The water inside was swirling fast, which Hirayon managed to do after hundreds of tries. It also holds a lot of aura, powerful enough to blast off a Level 3 - Type 1 Monster. Although he can't be sure, Hirayon thinks the monster was at least a Level 2 - Type 1, so his attack should work.

Hirayon waited for it to get closer and threw the Orb. Before it could even land, Hirayon had already prepared another Water Orb and threw it toward the monster.

When the first orb hit the creature's body, the water exploded and blasted it away. Because the monster was low on the ground, the explosion also struck the ground, producing a cloud of dust.

That is what the second Water Orb was for. Hirayon wanted to make sure that the monster did not intentionally bust the orb to focus the impact on its strong arm, so he threw the second orb that would surely hit the monster after getting distracted by the first one.

He did that because even though Type 1 - 3 monsters can't think and strategize like the Type 0 ones, they still follow their instinct, helping them survive in any situation. Even with less intellect, Hirayon doesn't want to underestimate them and put himself in a disadvantageous situation later.

A few seconds after the orb disappeared in the dust, it exploded, and that's when Hirayon felt the monster's presence slowly dissipate.

Along with the dust, the creature's body turned into particles, and what was left on the ground was an oddly shaped core and a scroll.

"So we can also get scrolls from killing monsters."

Hirayon approached the objects and held the murky black Monster Core. Unlike people's cores, which were shaped like a sphere, monsters come in irregular shapes.

A few seconds later, the core suddenly disappeared, and a hologram screen appeared before Hirayon. It had two tabs showing the number of scrolls and the core he had gathered with its equivalent points.

Hirayon frowned when he realized Tedie did not mention the inventory and points. "He should've told us about it."

Just from learning that the monster core has equivalent points, Hirayon deduced that each type and level of monster would give him different points.

Initially, he thought he just needed to kill the monsters, but now he had a different plan. He doesn't need to hunt the weaker ones, as that will take him a lot of his time, and instead, aim for the strong ones to guarantee high points. This means he needs to hunt Type 2 monsters.

The only problem Hirayon had was how he would look for Type 2 monsters.

While thinking, Hirayon opened the scroll, only for it to disappear like dust.

Perplexed, Hirayon tilted his head and remembered the first tab in the hologram screen.

'Inventory.'

The hologram containing Hirayon's tally appeared, and he clicked the Scrolls tab. Hirayon expected to see the complete map of the Labyrinth, only to see most of it filled with white spaces.

Realizing what it meant, Hirayon tiredly shut his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.

"I don't think 200 minutes will be enough."

R E H I L I Y A