Aurora, Ruby, and Rita arrived at the dwarf kingdom. After hiding their carriage, they walked down the huge stairs, getting deep inside the ground, feeling the temperature gradually dropping. They kept going until they arrived at the entrance of the giant maze.

Aurora saw two dwarves guarding the entrance, in front of a giant stone door. The dwarves were holding spears, wearing iron helmets, and had long bushy beards. They were short, but looked tough. They stood motionless, but their eyes were alert, scanning the newcomers.

They stopped Aurora and the others.

"I'm sorry, strangers," the guard said. "We can't let you in unless you solve this entrance puzzle. Solving puzzles was the absolute rule in this place. If you can't respect that, we have no choice but to ask you to leave."

Aurora exchanged a glance with Ruby and Rita, and they all nodded in agreement. They were ready for any challenge.

"Alright," Aurora said. "Give me the puzzle."

The dwarf handed her a piece of paper. On it was a maze puzzle that seemed deceptively simple.

To enter the labyrinth, you need to solve a maze puzzle? Aurora thought. Kinda fitting.

"What is this?" Ruby asked, looking at the paper too.

"It's a maze puzzle," Aurora replied. "We need to find the way out of the maze to enter the labyrinth."

Ruby squinted at the paper. "It looks easy enough. We should be able to solve it quickly."

"Really? Then why didn't you give it a try?" Aurora said, handing the paper to Ruby.

It turned out that it wasn't that easy for Ruby. She stared hard at the paper, trying to find the exit. Aurora stood beside her, just smiling. With a quick glance, she knew the answer already, but she didn't feel like spoiling it for Ruby. Behind them, Rita seemed to be trying to solve the puzzle too.

After a while Finally, Ruby saw the solution.

"I think I found it!" she exclaimed, pointing to the path that led to the center of the maze.

The dwarves looked impressed. "You have solved the puzzle," one of them said. "You may enter the labyrinth."

Aurora, Ruby, and Rita stepped inside the giant door. The bustling town of dwarves spread out before them, with the buildings carved out of the stone with intricate carvings, trees and flowers lining the streets. The air was filled with the sound of hammers and chisels, as the dwarves went about their business.

As they made their way deeper into the city, Aurora, Ruby, and Rita couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement building within them. This was a weird kingdom, and they could see a bunch of puzzle stations spread across the town, but that meant things were different. And that could be fun. Sometimes.

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"I guess this was the first layer of the town?" Rita said. "I heard this labyrinth has five layers."

"So the dwarf empress was in the middle of the labyrinth then? In the fifth layer?" Aurora said, trying to remember her conversation with the purple guy.

"Alright, let's go there then!" Ruby said, excited.

"Not so fast," Aurora said. "Let's ask around about Lumi first."

"Who is Lumi?" Ruby asked.

"A special dwarf girl," Aurora said started to walk again. "Hopefully, she's willing to help us."

"What's so special about her?" Ruby asked, walking beside her.

"I'm not sure," Aurora said. "But at least she should have more knowledge about this place than me."

"I see! We will reach the fifth layer faster with her help then?" Ruby said, finally showing full interest.

Aurora nodded. "That's the idea. Anyway, excuse me." Aurora stopped a dwarf woman. "Sorry to bother you, but I want to ask you something."

"Oh, hello there. You're a human girl, I see," she said. "Are you taking a vacation here?"

"Yes," Aurora said. "Anyway, we're looking for a dwarf girl named Lumi. Lumi Melody. Do you know her?"

"Hm... I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with that name," the dwarf said. "Who is she? Your friend?"

"Yes, something like that," Aurora said, smiling. "Anyway, thank you and sorry to bother you."

The dwarf lady nodded and continued on her way, while Aurora sighed in disappointment.

"Want me to ask around too?" Ruby asked.

"Sure, if you don't mind," Aurora said.

"Of course! Come on, Rita, you're helping too," Ruby said.

"Alright, miss," Rita said.

As her friends asked around, Aurora stood there lost in thought. She had something on her mind.

She had expected Lumi to be well known around there.

Someone who got here from a puzzle game should be smart, right? Aurora thought. Probably a lot smarter than me. So it's kind of weird that her name isn't well known.

Is she not in this layer? Aurora thought some more. Still, that's even more weird. If she managed to go to a higher layer, for example, if she got to the fifth layer quickly, she would be treated as a legendary dwarf, right?

This made Aurora even more confused.

After a while, Ruby and Rita came back.

"I'm sorry, Aurora, but nobody knows that name for some reason," Ruby said. "Are you sure she was special?"

"It's the same for me too, miss," Rita said. "Nobody recognizes that name."

"This is really weird," Aurora said, didn't get it. "Is she hiding her identity or something...?"

"Excuse me," A dirty dwarf said, came close to them. His beard was so long it was touching the ground.

"Oh, hello there sir," Aurora said. "What could we do for you?"

"It seems like you were looking for someone," the dwarf said. "Someone called Lumi, I think? I am willing to tell you where she is."

"Really?" Ruby said. "You know her?"

"Sure do," the dwarf said, nodding his head. "But for this information, you need to pay me some food. And drinks if you can. Some ale will be great."

The dwarf in front of her was kind of suspicious, but Aurora didn't have any other hint for where Lumi was. So she pulled out some bread and drinks from Serena's bag.

"Here," Aurora said, giving the food and drink to the dwarf. "Tell me then."

"Oh, thank you!" the dwarf said, immediately eating the bread and drinking the ale.

"Hey, tell us already," Ruby said, a little annoyed.

"Ah, right, sorry," the dwarf said, while his mouth was full. "That useless Dwarf was living in the slump area. Just go straight from here, and you will find a small house she's living in."

"Useless?" Aurora blinked, confused. "Are you sure she was who we were looking for?"

"You said Lumi, right?" the dwarf said. "Lumi Melody? That's her. Or are you looking for a different dwarf?"

"No, that's her, but..." Aurora shook her head. "Anyway, thank you. We will check it ourselves then."

They followed the dwarf's direction and soon found themselves in the slump area. It was a stark contrast to the bustling streets they had just walked through. The buildings here were in disrepair, and the streets were littered with garbage.

"Hey, Aurora," Ruby said. "He called her useless. Are you sure she was the one you were looking for?"

"I don't know," Aurora said, looking confused too.

Lumi should have been a transmigrator like her, so she should have had vast knowledge about the game "Puzzle Empress." Not to mention she should have known about the modern world too. So this situation was pretty weird.

Not only was she not well-known, but she was being called useless? Why? Aurora thought. What does that even mean? What actually happened here?

They eventually found the small house the dwarf had mentioned. It was by far the worst house around. The door was not fitted correctly, and the windows were broken.

"This place looks abandoned," Ruby said, frowning. "This might be a bad idea."

"I knew," Aurora said. "But let's check it out anyway."

She then knocked on the door. There was no reaction. Aurora knocked again. Finally, someone reacted from inside.

"Who is it?" a small girl's voice came from the house.

"Are you Lumi?" Aurora asked. "Can we talk for a little?"

There was a moment of silence, and then a sound of someone moving could be heard inside followed by the opening of the door.

A small girl, smaller than Ruby with dirty red hair appeared behind the door.

"Yes...?" she said. "You're looking for me?"

***