Around a big round table by a serene lake, I’ve gathered all the party members.
In Shiva Mode, I explain how the competition with Numbers will work.
“…so one week from today, the expedition tournament between the two teams will take place in the Olympius Ruins.”
Each member listens with a grave expression. Char’s hand shoots up in the air.
“I have a question! May we bring snacks?”
“You may bring anything necessary for the expedition. Snacks are a key resource to satisfying hunger and ensuring your top performance. There is no cost limit, so feel free to bring as many snacks as you like.”
“Yay!” Char and Flay look stoked.
Laius, Marianne, and Iris act indifferent. C’mon guys, get with the vibe.
I brought my copy along, too, but he’s asleep face down on the table. Why’d I even bother…
“Another way to look at it is that you have a whole week to prepare. If there’s anything you want to do, I can help,” I offer.
Laius responds dubiously, “I appreciate that but aren’t you supposed to be like a referee? Should you really be taking sides?”
“Nobody said I couldn’t.”
Again, Char’s hand shoots up in the air. She’s so polite. Adorbs.
“I understand that in order to win the contest, we need to retrieve an object that a school official has hidden in the labyrinth. I believe that if we can anticipate where the treasure might be placed, it will bring us closer to victory.”
How about stealing that information from the headmistress’s office? I almost utter, but I swallow my words.
Laius counters, “But the labyrinth is so big, the Academy doesn’t even have the entire place mapped out. They probably have a floorplan of the parts that are explored, but since we don’t have access to it, I don’t see how we can predict where the goods might be.”
“If you want a map, I can give you one.”
“Hwa?” Laius lets out a funny sound.
Marianne and the others look puzzled.
“This should give you the basic idea.”
I conjure up a three-dimensional hologram in the air.
It’s a transparent model─an accurate rendition of the sixty-level underground maze.
“How the hell are you able to just whip up stuff like this?!” shouts the prince.
It wasn’t that hard. It’s designed based on the data collected from the thousands of surveillance barriers I’d sent out.
“Amazing as always, Shiva! But…won’t it be cheating if our team uses this?” Char says hesitantly.
Her righteousness is endearing.
“Don’t worry, Charlotte. Numbers also entered the labyrinth on their own to do some stuff.”
Alexei could probably make a map, too. Given that he’s possessed by the Devil Lord and all.
“Which means the battle has already begun!” Char declares. “In order to defend justice, we, too, must be prepared to get our hands dirty!” Her eyes are bright and full of vigor. Again, adorbs.
“Yeah, but that place is huge. How are we supposed to predict where the treasure could be?”
As usual, Laius has nothing positive to contribute.
I look at Professor Tear. She sighs. “Since the mission is for students, they won’t hide the treasure that far deep. For graduation tests, you’ll never have to go below the thirtieth level. In fact, even the teachers aren’t capable of going any further. I’m guessing the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth floor at most.”
That narrows the scope by half.
I pitch in, “I doubt they’d just leave it in the middle of some passageway. It’ll probably be at a dead end or in a clearing.”
“If I were the exam supervisor, I’d take team battles into consideration and plant the treasure where a boss fight is anticipated,” the professor adds.
Rather than a simple game of “finders winners,” fighting for the prize or joining forces to defeat a big monster and then fighting for the prize will definitely make the game more challenging.
Planting the loot in the upper levels would be plain boring. There aren’t even any big monsters up there.
I go through the map between the twentieth (broadening the range just to be sure) and thirtieth floor, and place a red dot to mark where the boss monsters are.
“Just in case, I’ll mark the clearings in blue. There, that should do it.”
Still, that’s a lot of markers. But now we can finally devise a strategy.
“You can race through the first twenty floors at full speed,” I suggest. “Then pass through all the blue points and fight the monsters at the red points along the way. How’s that?”
“It will be a long journey, but this seems to be the only option,” says Marianne.
“I have no objections,” agrees Iris.
“It’ll take days… No, at least a week.” Laius slumps his shoulders.
Char’s hand shoots up a third time. “In that case, our next step is obviously to memorize the map.”
“We have to memorize it?!”
Ignoring Laius’s groan, Char continues, “I’d love to start right away with a simulated mock expedition, but would that be against the rules?”
“I’m sure it’s not a problem if nobody finds out about it.”
Too late, anyway. Alexei and I have already been in the labyrinth. But I guess we should consider the possibility of getting caught. We don’t want to catch hell from a certain Ms. Zero Tolerance for Dishonesty.
“How about a VR simulation?”
I think I can whip up some VR goggles and recreate the labyrinth setting.
But it’ll be kind of a hassle and there won’t be actual monsters. A simulation would give them a feel for the run-through, but not for real battles.
So…
Shhh-Shwaaaa.
Here I am, standing on the ocean shore where the cool waves are lapping at my feet. There’s not a soul in sight on the expansive beach.
The sun is blazing. It feels like mid-summer out here.
Beyond the open sea, a small flat island peeks out just barely above the water. In its center stands a temple-like structure─the entrance to the mock labyrinth. The maze inside is an exact replica of the original dungeon. I’ve even populated it with monster-ish thingies.
Yep. I’ve created a Labyrinth Simulator that’s no different from exploring the real Olympius Ruins.
This is going to be the team’s training ground.
The expedition party stares at me in bewilderment as I (in Shiva Mode) explain the plan to them.
“I need to stop getting my mind blown by every little thing you do,” mutters Laius.
“Why the beach, though?” Marianne wonders.
“There is plenty of space…” observes Iris.
Laius, Marianne, and Iris all look baffled.
Don’t they get it? After they’re done training…
“Beach episode!” squeals Char, starry-eyed.