The maze was built starting with the mother skeleton replenishing its magic.

Although they didn't think the King of the Labyrinth would mind if adventurers took a few gems.

But what if?

"Are you kidding me?" Zoro asked in surprise. "You guys are really going to put the jewel back?"

"Yes."

"We're adventurers! This is a labyrinth! And the treasure chests are just sitting there unattended!"

"You really have no sense of respect," the man with the high nose rolled his eyes as he walked back. "If a group of people broke into your house, and when you weren't home, they stole all the secret stash of money you'd hidden in your closet, how would you feel?"

"?"

Zoro was momentarily at a loss for words to refute.

If it were him, he'd probably be beaten to death by these people... Hiss, no wonder the monsters were so ruthless before.

The four returned the way they came, intending to go to the "L"-shaped treasure room they had visited earlier and put the gems back.

Wait...why is there a skeleton?

The four stood facing each other in the corridor, watching the little skeleton holding three gems slowly walk step by step toward the treasure room.

He walked with his head held high, seemingly lost in thought, as if he were emptying his mind.

Only when they got closer did the skeleton realize that there were four people in the team. It was so frightened that it jumped up and broke several ribs.

After a moment, the skeleton picked up the ribs and put them back together, looking at the four humans in front of it.

After a while, he gave them a thumbs up.

Then they slowly made their way towards the treasure room.

The four members of the team exchanged glances and followed behind the skeleton, intending to investigate further.

And so, the four people and the skeleton slowly strolled through the corridor.

The skeleton was carefree, but it would always get its attention drawn to some inexplicable things along the way.

For example, he would squat down and watch the water droplets dripping from the stone cone above his head for a long time, and then suddenly remember that he still had a task to complete, so he would stand up and continue forward.

During this time, he would glance back at the four people following behind him and give them a thumbs up.

Although it was a bit inexplicable, the four of them responded with a thumbs-up.

They arrived at the "L"-shaped treasure room, where the skeleton opened the stone treasure chest that had been sitting there and put the red gem inside.

After doing all this, he stretched out his hand and counted the gems.

one two three.

Then he turned his head and counted the number of people on his fingers.

One, two, three, four.

One more is needed.

The skeleton remained frozen in that position for a long time, then suddenly seemed to remember something, raised its hands and hurriedly ran out, leaving the four people staring at each other in bewilderment.

"So, he's... restocking?"

"Possibly."

"Do we need to put it back?"

"I don't think so."

Just as the group was debating whether to let go or not, the little skeleton that had left returned, this time carrying a gem snail.

"A gem snail?!" the black man exclaimed in surprise.

Those are rare monsters from the sixth level of the Starfall Maze!

The little skeleton opened the treasure chest, held up the gem snail, and then patted its shell, seemingly urging the snail to produce another gem quickly.

The gem snail was clearly bewildered. Its two tentacles, like eyes, glanced at the four people beside it and were startled.

The adventurers were also startled.

Be gentle with the gem snail!

Otherwise he'll get stressed!

Sure enough, the stressed gem snail's shell began to turn red, and a scorching beam of light was emitted from its shell.

"Be careful!"

High-nosed Liang, as expected of an experienced warrior, immediately deployed his shield to block the incoming beam of light.

It was an energy beam of the same origin as the gemstone, and its temperature was enough to melt ordinary metals directly. That is to say, the shield in Gao Biliang's hand was made of refined iron, otherwise both the shield and his body would have been pierced through.

It's a monster in the level 30 tier, after all.

Just as the leather-hooded figure was about to throw the dagger, he remembered the background of this maze, froze, and silently put away his weapon.

Zoro had retreated outside the room the moment danger was about to strike.

Ultimately, faced with the stress of the snail rays, the four had to retreat temporarily, returning along the corridor to the section where they had previously encountered another team.

"This is fucking weird." The man with the high nose touched his hair and gasped for breath.

The monsters in this maze possess a level of intelligence that other mazes lack, so the trouble they cause is unparalleled by any other maze.

It also makes up for the fact that adventurers don't know why gems keep appearing in the treasure chests of the dungeon.

So monsters restock.

I thought the gems just appeared out of nowhere in the treasure chests.

"Shall we explore further?" the leather hooded man suddenly asked, silencing the other three.

Although the skeleton just now was a bit off, the combination of skeleton and gem snail... isn't this just the "gray march" from the witch incident?

They were rescued, and then, as soon as they turned around, a group of them came to their house and ate and took everything.

That's so unfair!

"Let's explore one more area," the man with the high nose sighed, then added, "and draw up a part of the map; that should get us some of the mission rewards too."

The plan seemed reasonable, and the other three nodded in agreement.

They are now in the third ring of the maze; the fourth ring is just ahead.

To be honest, although the maze is divided into rings by high walls, the scenery in each ring is actually quite the same, with not many distinctive features.

Furthermore, there are basically no monsters in the first four rings.

Furthermore, no staircase leading to the second floor could be found; perhaps it was in the lord's room at the deepest level.

Don't wait until the adventurers actually find the lord's room, only to find a skeleton dressed in a purple and black armored robe sitting inside, spreading its arms and saying to you, "You're courting death."

How offensive!

"Wait a minute." The leather-hooded man suddenly reached out to stop his teammate, frowning as he looked around the corner. "Something's coming."

The four of them stared intently ahead.

Until a huge skeleton hound came into view.

Zoro was utterly terrified.

"That big dog has a plaque hanging around its neck," the man with the high nose said, pointing at Bruce's neck.

Skeleton hounds, being skeletons, would fall into the category of "friendly" monsters.

The three of them were naturally not that wary, especially since Bruce was sitting there in a dog-like posture, tilting his head and looking at them.

The three of them stepped forward and then saw that the sign read, "They are very obedient now, but they may not be so in the future."

"Thank goodness, I almost reached out and touched it." The black man breathed a sigh of relief, his hoarse voice revealing his relief.

The man with the high nose bridge gloated and complained:

"This dog is so big, are you going to jump up and touch its knee?"

Zoro, who was behind them, finally came to his senses and shouted to the three of them:

"What are you doing! That dog is dangerous! Come back now!"

"I don't see anything dangerous about it." The leather hooded man turned to look at Zoro. "You must not have been to the Starfall Labyrinth lately. The skeleton is the guardian of the labyrinth."

"Bullshit!" Zoro cursed in exasperation. His sense of danger had already kicked in, and he was barely suppressing his urge to run away as he spoke, "This dog can use magic, fly, and even wield a sword while standing!"

"You mean a dog standing up and wielding a sword?" The man with the high nose burst out laughing, pointing at Zoro and mocking, "What's the difference between that and a human!"

The three members of the team all turned to look at Zoro, as if they were watching a joke.

Zoro was furious, and when he looked up, he found that the skeleton hound was also looking at him.

While the three men had their backs to him, Bruce suddenly changed his posture, stood up, and clapped at Zoro.

"Look! He's clapping!" Zoro's eyes widened in disbelief.

When the three of them turned around, Bruce had already resumed his sitting posture, tilting his head with clear eyes.

Zoro couldn't take it anymore. He was going to stay in the safe zone for a while. Staying with this group might mean he'd die any second.

After thinking it over, I retreated to the area behind the sign that read "SAFE". I had just sat down and hadn't even had a chance to catch my breath.

A fireball was launched at him.

Fortunately, Zoro was lucky; the fireball only hit the ground in front of him.

The scene erupted in uproar.

"This dog really can use magic."

"Judging from the looks of it, its level shouldn't be low."

"That's pretty impressive."

The three nodded and commented.

"Do you still have time for making sarcastic remarks! Attack him now!" Zoro yelled at them, dodging another fireball as he spoke.

"However, what is unexpected is that the dignified King of Escape would choose to prove his words in this way."

The black man sighed.

"What do you mean!" Zoro roared as he dodged the attacks, his agility maxed out.

"Didn't you provoke us by entering the combat zone?"

"This is supposed to be a safe zone! Now even the safe zone isn't safe! This maze is really weird!"

The leather-hooded man was about to mock the other person for not reading the notice, when the area marked "SAFE" was clearly a combat zone.

and many more.

The announcement looks like they kicked it over...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

What are these adventurers doing...? Lance watched the four-person team through the camera.

They just grabbed the gems and left, treating the maze like their own home.

However, the adventurer who was hiding in the safe zone and using his skills seemed to be in great pain.

Lance looked at the panel.

[The talent "Belzahar's Blessing" has been activated]

[Level Up: LV.33 → LV.34]

He was promoted a rank thanks to him.

Yes, it seems to be really painful.