Chapter 1347: Chapter 906: Great Labyrinth

“To be honest, this is the first time I’ve been in a maze and thought it actually made sense.”

Hefting War Hammer and making his way through the corridors of the Great Labyrinth, Duanmu Huai couldn’t help but start to complain. In games, there are countless mazes like this, but many of them are ridiculously infuriating.

Take for instance a certain police station — for fuck’s sake, a police station hiding keys in statues and designing emergency exits that require three gems to open, what kind of sense does that make? That’s the kind of idea only a deranged person could come up with, right? Are these human actions?

Not to mention the three gems aren’t even in the same location, if something actually goes down, by the time you gather all the stuff you’re probably already dead.

And let’s talk about many final bosses’ lairs, torturous just like mazes, causing players endless grief. But think about it, don’t the bosses’ own minions suffer just as much? Imagine ministers having to spend seven to eight hours navigating a maze to meet the Demon King for morning court; no wonder those Demon Kings are out of the loop. By the time the Messenger Soldier delivers the messages, they’re already outdated, right?

So facing this kind of maze, players just want to say — are you out of your damn mind?!

Who would turn their own home into a maze? It’s not like we’re playing detective and solving enclosed-room murder mysteries!

By comparison, the existence of this particular Great Labyrinth makes a lot more sense. To stop the invasion of the Demon Clan, the Dwarves remodeled their city and built this great maze — at least it’s an excuse that holds water.

At the very least, it’s relatively sensible.

Of course, since it’s a maze, it’s naturally filled with traps.

Duanmu Huai, having seen all kinds of traps, is no stranger to them.

For instance…

“Rumbling!!!”

“Ahh, big brother, rolling stones!”

“I see them.”

Duanmu Huai turned his head, only to see a cylindrical stone almost as tall as the corridor rolling at them like a bowling ball. He took a deep breath, then lifted War Hammer, smashing it against the stone like a baseball!

“Bang!!”

The next moment, a circular boulder that could have crushed an adventurer into pieces exploded on impact, scattering debris all over the place.

“That’s all there is to it.”

Duanmu Huai swung War Hammer nonchalantly, humphed, and continued on. Then he pushed open a door and stepped into the next room.

Right after that……

“Whoosh!”

Giant iron bars suddenly fall, sealing off the entire room and, at the same time, a spike-covered ceiling crashes down towards Duanmu Huai!

“Move!”

Duanmu Huai clenched his right fist, transforming into a Dragon, and smashed upward with a punch, shattering the ceiling completely. Then he strode to the sealed door, kicked the thick iron gate with a small arm’s thickness, sending the iron bars and the stone door flying, before continuing forward humming a tune.

“Click.”

But as Duanmu Huai stepped out of the door, the stone slab beneath his foot suddenly vanished, and Duanmu Huai sank downward–then, with the power of a Jet Backpack, flew up from the hole and landed steadily on the ground.

“In the end, traps are just a set few tricks, think you could stump me? Impossible!”

“You’re so awesome, big brother!”

Zhenjiling, sitting on Duanmu Huai’s shoulder, clapped her hands, while Ogis at his other side also gently applauded.

Then……Duanmu Huai stopped in his tracks.

Well, no matter what, there was one kind of trap he couldn’t just breeze through directly.

“A dead end?”

Facing the dead end before him, Duanmu Huai was baffled.

I just pushed through the front door and came in here, turned a corner — and you throw a dead end at me, what are you trying to do?

If you’re going to create a dead end, why bother making a damn door?

Just to piss people off, right?

“This is why I hate mazes the most!”

Duanmu Huai immediately erupted in a tirade, in a game mazes and dead ends at least have a treasure chest, and here there’s not even a fart!

There’s no sense of achievement at all, got it?!

Dwarves don’t understand human nature, no wonder they were doomed to be killed by the Demon Clan!

Duanmu Huai silently cursed the Dwarves who built the Great Labyrinth, and had no choice but to turn back the way he came, dejected.

Although he wasn’t exactly a directionally challenged person, in a place like this……to be honest, Duanmu Huai was still a bit lost.

“Sigh……any of you got a solution?”

“Karen definitely doesn’t have maze-navigating skills.”

Zhenjiling shook her head. Letting the Horse Maiden run in circles she’s good at, but navigating a maze — she’s not born in the year of the rat.

After a moment’s thought, Ogis raised her hand.

“I can try using a Puppet to scout ahead.”

“Oh, right, now that you mention it, you do have Puppets available… Alright, give it a try.”

“Okay.”

While speaking, Miss Ogis stretched out her hand, and then, several Puppets appeared out of thin air beside her. They flew up and each entered a corridor, exploring inside.

“Had I known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have exerted so much effort earlier.”

Watching Miss Ogis send out the Puppets, Duanmu Huai sat on the ground, yawned, and then started to complain.

“And after all those traps, I thought we were on the right track, but it turns out we weren’t… Man, that’s frustrating!”

While talking, Duanmu Huai opened up the Mage’s Mansion.

“Alright, let’s head back to rest, Miss Ogis. Remember to notify us if anything happens.”

“Yes, Master.”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s instructions, Miss Ogis nodded and then followed Duanmu Huai into the Mage’s Mansion. Although she dispatched the Puppets to scout, Miss Ogis didn’t need to oversee them. It’s pretty much like fishing; you can cast your rods in all directions and then just quietly wait for the fish to bite.

Normally, for an Adventurer, surviving in the Great Labyrinth is quite difficult, with traps lurking everywhere, and there’s also the need for supplies. But Duanmu Huai didn’t have to worry about these problems because with the Mage’s Mansion, he could rest as he pleased. Even food could be prepared by the Magic Servants within the mansion. Although the taste was a bit weird, it wasn’t too bad.

Plus, with the Mage’s Mansion being hard to detect and offering strong concealment and safety, it’s an essential for home and travel — far more stylish than taking a camper van out.

Hence, players who go down into the dungeon would usually bring a Mage who can use the Mage’s Mansion. Mages without this spell are pretty useless.

Not to mention, at the very least, you can eat your fill and freshen up before fighting a BOSS, then wake up refreshed and ready to clean up, right?

“Huuuahh…”

After a bath, Duanmu Huai stretched his body and sat down on the sofa. There was a chilled juice prepared by the Magic Servant before him. Drinking it was refreshingly pleasant. Listening to the melodious music, Duanmu Huai casually picked up a book and started flipping through it, while Miss Ogis, resembling a big cat, lay sprawled across his lap, her eyes half-closed.

“I have to say, Mary’s books are actually quite interesting.”

Duanmu Huai stroked Miss Ogis’s head while leafing through the novel written by Mary with one hand. Even though the stories in the book were based on adventures he and Mary had shared, since the perspective was from Mary, Duanmu Huai found it quite refreshing and entertaining.

It’s like Sherlock Holmes cases that are written about Sherlock but actually penned by Watson. Duanmu Huai didn’t know what Mary was thinking, but at the time, his approach was simply to go in hammer swinging without much thought — and it turns out Mary had quite the dramatic inner thoughts.

She actually had time to think about all this while I was up front bashing heads?

Well, it seems she really was too idle. I’ll have to increase her load next time.

If Mary knew what Duanmu Huai was thinking now, she would definitely burst into tears.

“Click.”

Just then, the door opened and Zhenjiling peeked in, cautiously looking around the room.

“Big brother, may Karen come in?”

“Come on in.”

Duanmu Huai nodded, and then saw Zhenjiling enter the room with a cheerful smile, sitting down beside him. It was clear that Zhenjiling had also taken a bath, as you could feel the slight dampness and fragrance coming off her as she leaned close to Duanmu Huai.

Zhenjiling wasn’t wearing the N7 Battle Armor from before, but a soft pink, fluffy pajamas that looked amusing. She took a seat beside Duanmu Huai, her tail swishing back and forth, while she curiously looked at the large cat lying in his arms.

“Has Miss Ogis fallen asleep?”

“She rests too.”

Duanmu Huai stroked Ogis’s hair, as if petting a cat, albeit, in principle, Ogis didn’t need to sleep. But she would close her eyes to rest. Most of the time, if she wasn’t reading books, she would be resting on Duanmu Huai’s shoulder, similar to a pet cat that likes to snuggle.

“Aren’t you going to rest?”

“Hehe, I’ve rested a bit already. I would love it if big brother could sleep with Karen.”

As she spoke, Zhenjiling blinked her eyes at Duanmu Huai, and her tail wrapped around his waist.

“We’ll see.”

Duanmu Huai reached out to pinch Zhenjiling’s ears, and she squinted her eyes and cozied up on him. It’s undeniable, having two adorable girls snuggling next to you feels pretty good.

“Hehehe…”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. It’s just that big brother’s body feels like a cushion, so warm and comfy.”

Zhenjiling giggled, then snuggled further into Duanmu Huai’s embrace. But at that moment, Miss Ogis suddenly opened her eyes and sat up abruptly.

“Whoa!”

“What’s the matter, Miss Ogis?”

“………….”

As Zhenjiling reeled back in surprise, Miss Ogis stared at her for a moment before turning her attention to Duanmu Huai.

“Found someone, Master.”

Then, Miss Ogis spoke.