Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

“Then we should build a library,” Ning shook his head. “Our workload will probably increase in the future, so it’s impossible for us to become teachers or anything like that.”

"Ah... what should we do then?" Li sighed, clearly very concerned about the matter.

“I think it would be better to first understand the overall cultural level of Akihabara,” Ning suggested. “If we can find some good talent, we should train them and have them become teachers… Ah, I remember now, do you remember that book spirit, Kuroba?”

"Huh? Kuroba?"

Kuroba, a black-haired girl who claims to be from the ancient Book Spirit race, is said to be able to form a contract with anyone who offers the corresponding unknown knowledge. Currently, she is browsing through the books in Ning's room at their home. This price should be enough, right?

"Oh, that's how it is!" Thinking of the book spirit girl who still lives in the house, "In that case, could we ask her to be our teacher?"

“That’s right,” Ning nodded. “I think if it’s her, there won’t be any problem. She has the necessary knowledge and the contract is in effect, so we don’t need to worry about her not doing her job properly. As for whether she’s suitable to teach, we’ll talk about that later. If not, we can find someone else to be the teacher.”

“Let’s do it that way then…” Rin agreed. “We’ll use spatial magic to teleport these things back later. Everyone, come and help.”

"Okay! Just a moment!"

"I'm coming!"

After hearing Li's call, everyone gathered here again from various parts of the cave. Li opened a portal, which led directly to the newly built warehouse in Akihabara. Then, together with the others, they moved a large amount of things from the cave to the warehouse in Akihabara. After handing over the sorting to the guild members stationed in the warehouse, they returned from the other side and sat together.

Ning took out a crystal, infused it with magic, and displayed a holographic map of the maze. She then marked a portion of the area with two different colors: gray for unexplored areas and blue for explored areas. The area radiating outwards from Akihabara, with a radius of about five kilometers, was already stained with the blue color representing the explored areas. Even so, the gray area still occupied half of the maze.

“Wow, it’s huge…” Mori said subconsciously. “I thought we’d explored quite a lot today, but it’s only this little bit…”

"There's still almost half the area that hasn't been explored?" Victor was dumbfounded.

“Actually, it’s already quite good,” Sodol said with a wry smile. “In a normal maze, you not only have to be constantly on guard against monsters, but also be careful of the traps set inside. And you might even get lost if you’re not careful. Under those circumstances, you’d be barely managing to advance a thousand meters into the maze in a day. Now, there are basically no monsters left in the maze, and the traps seem to be malfunctioning. Plus, with Li and the other two leading the way, it’s much easier.”

“Yes, you know, this was once the labyrinth where the Dragon King of Time lived.” Sodom leaned in and said, “That unpredictable and mysterious Dragon King often used the labyrinth to play tricks on adventurers, making things even more difficult with his interference.”

“Let’s just say that’s how it is,” Ning said, indicating that he was not interested in the topic. “As you can see, we’ve completed half of our work, but we’ve found almost nothing.”

Along the way, not a single monster corpse was found. Even if there were any, they were all recently eliminated. The treasure chests we saw were all looted. The situation was quite dire. The maze could be said to have been completely ransacked.

“Even so, we still need to continue exploring.” Ning marked several places with red magic dots. “To speed things up, I’ve eliminated some places that are presumed to be no longer worth exploring, and I’ve compiled the data for the remaining places. I’ve marked them with black dots on the holographic map. See?”

"I saw it."

"These are the last few places we'll be visiting," Ning said calmly. "If we still don't find anything here, we'll head back. There's no need to waste our time on this. I think you've all had enough rest. Without further ado, go and prepare yourselves; we'll leave immediately."

"understood."

Under Ning's methodical direction, everyone took their belongings and returned to the two of them. Li reopened the door and left this former home.

Next came the time to travel. Since there was no longer a need to split into two teams to explore, the atmosphere in the group improved significantly. Sen and the other two girls huddled together, chatting quietly about something, and their faint laughter could be heard from time to time. The boys gathered at the very back, partly to bring up the rear, and partly because they couldn't fit into the girls' circle.

Of course, they were also talking about topics between men. As for what they talked about, it's not convenient to reveal it here. They could brag and chat, but there's no need to talk about those things.

As for Li and Ning, they were still walking at the front of the group. This exploration team was completely unserious and looked more like a group of tourists who had come to visit. They were just short of carving "I was here" on the wall. But no one would do something so inconsiderate.

The two of them walked at the front of the group, exchanging a few words every now and then. Now that Ning had the Magic Eye of Reason, she no longer needed to do any troublesome guard work.

"Do you remember what Sodom said just now?" Ning suddenly asked.

“Hmm…I remember,” Li nodded. “Like you, I’ve always cared a lot about that sentence.”

When Sodom gathered to explain earlier, he said something that caught everyone's attention: the unpredictable Dragon King of Time would use the labyrinth to toy with adventurers who came to it. It was this statement that caught the attention of the two of them.

This must have been a rumor circulating among adventurers not long ago. However, under certain circumstances, these rumors are quite credible. If we combine them with the speculations of the two women, then many things can be explained.

"So, the maze has a control panel... right?" Li swallowed.

“It’s just a rumor, but it’s highly credible,” Ning said, much more rationally. “The problem is that we have no way of verifying its existence right now. Can you look again and see if there’s anything else in the memories that Reilfa gave you?”

"I'll try my best..."

Li nodded, activating her full magical eye to rapidly search the information in her mind. Sometimes, people do remember these things, but because they are not frequently used, they are placed deep within their memory. Perhaps those memories are simply buried deep within. However, no matter how hard she searched, Li couldn't find any relevant memories.

She looked at Ning, sighed, and shook her head helplessly. Ning, understanding, didn't blame her, but silently tightened her grip on her hand. It wasn't her fault, and besides, they were searching for something that might not even exist.

Although they didn't find any information about the labyrinth management station, Reason's Mystic Eyes detected something else, such as... ten monsters with a level of 400 or higher...

"?! Everyone! Prepare for battle! Ten monsters are approaching!"

"……what happened?"

Li's voice became urgent, sounding no joke at all. Ning immediately went into battle mode, and the adventurer siblings took out their weapons. Under Li's reminder, the group all tensed up and became alert to their surroundings.

"Where did they all come from?" Ning asked.

"There are three on the left side of the intersection ahead, one on the right, two above, and four behind, and they are all the same kind of monster," Li said, revealing the information he had obtained from the Demon Eye.

"Heh, looks like we're surrounded." Ning's magic immediately went into a burning state. "Then I'll strike first!"

Boom! A tidal surge!

Three aquamarine magic circles were instantly formed, and the three enormous water spheres flew in three different directions, followed by explosions. Two monsters directly above them leaped out from what appeared to be ventilation shafts, and Mori and Shiokawa launched a counterattack simultaneously.

"Summon! Lord of the Dead!"

"The five stars shattered!"

Mori drew the soft sword that was coiled around her waist as a belt, and swung it with a five-pointed star-shaped slash, cutting down the enemy coming towards her. Purple magical light gathered and gradually took the shape of a girl. The aura of death rushed over, and a strange door suddenly opened behind the girl who was surrounded by purple mist, forcibly sucking in another monster.

This quick judgment and ability to act are truly worthy of a guard member carefully selected by Akihabara.

The cries of their companions reached the ears of the other monsters, who rushed out without hesitation. However, what greeted them was a huge water sphere that exploded after completely engulfing them, scattering their shattered corpses on the ground.

"Ning! It's not over yet!" Li hurriedly reminded him.

Swish, swish, swish! "?!"

If it weren't for Li's reminder, Ning would have almost not had time to dodge the three high-pressure water blades that were flying at precise speed. Li, who was standing behind her, immediately caught the three water blades with his half-dragon hand, and of course, he was unharmed.

"No wonder we couldn't kill them." Ning stared at the monsters that had appeared.

Their bodies are entirely composed of water, with a jellyfish-like appearance. They are recently created monsters, pure elements, water spirits. Spirits are absolutely different from fairies; spirits are creatures formed from some pure element, and in terms of combat power, these spirits are probably more than ten times stronger than fairies. However, ten of them have appeared simultaneously, all above level 500.

Something's not right... Li and Ning realized at the same time.

But what they need to solve more is the immediate problem.

"Li, use spatial magic to separate us."

"okay."

Following Ning's instructions, Li used spatial magic to instantly create a completely isolating barrier, shutting Ning out. At this moment, Ning's hair and eyes had turned pure golden yellow, and she was surrounded by a large amount of lightning.

"Pure water element? That's perfect." Ning grinned mischievously. "I also have a pure elemental state... Well then, goodbye."

Lightning Nova!

Ning gently tapped the ground with her foot, triggering a huge golden magic circle that had unknowingly appeared. Raging lightning swept across the ground towards the water spirits. The water spirits, seeing this terrifying scene, went mad and tried to escape. However, the magic circle had already expanded to their feet, and they had nowhere to run.

Boom boom boom boom...

Chapter 17 The Mysterious Monster

"Whoa, thank goodness I used magic to stabilize the space..." Li was still immersed in the aftereffects of the magic she had just unleashed. "Couldn't you have controlled the power a little? It almost destroyed our entire area."

"So, I already stopped in time, otherwise they would have escaped." Ning gave her a perfunctory reply, focusing her attention on the elves in front of her.

Those lying before them were elves who had collapsed after taking a powerful lightning nova from Ning. Normally, these pure elemental monsters should vanish instantly after being defeated, leaving no trace.

But what about these elves? You see, Ning's magic is different from that of ordinary people; very few people can survive being directly devoured by it.

"That's strange... these monsters show no signs of dissipating at all."

Mori and Shiokawa squatted down beside the spirits, observing them carefully. They didn't detect anything suspicious, but they could still tell that the water spirits were not dead.

"What do we do now?" Sodom asked.

"...Let's leave it alone." Ning came to this conclusion after thinking for a while. "This matter is probably not as simple as we think. Let's talk as we walk."

And so, the group continued onward, leaving the water spirit unattended. Since Akihabara was located almost at the center of the labyrinth, their exploration had always been conducted from the inside out. Therefore, through their continuous exploration, they had begun to approach the outer perimeter of the labyrinth, which was the exit.

The monsters mostly come from outside, so you encounter more and more monsters on the road, and the frequency is getting higher and higher. Sometimes you even encounter a large group of monsters in a row. Moreover, these monsters all have the same characteristic, which is that they are pure elements.

Yes, the monsters they encountered were basically composed of the purest elements, and most of them were elves. They also exhibited the same behavior as the water elves they encountered, that is, they did not dissipate and did not die.

Although Ning said he would tell them the situation on the way, he hadn't made any confirmation yet because the information was even less than he had imagined. They might even have to explore outside the maze this time.

However, it's now basically confirmed that's the case; there's no doubt about it.

"There are so many monsters on the road..." Shiokawa wiped the sweat from his brow. "I'm almost at my limit..."

The constant monster attacks along the way meant the group barely had a chance to rest, feeling like they were fighting a relentless battle. The number of enemies showed no signs of decreasing, while they were running out of ammunition and supplies.

Especially Shiokawa, who only has five of her twenty-seven summoning spells left. If there are more battles to come, she'll really be overwhelmed.

"Thanks to everyone, the exploration has gone smoothly." Mori unfolded the holographic map of the maze. "The gray areas on the map have become very small. We're almost there, just a little bit more, and we'll be able to complete the exploration mission and return."

"But we still haven't found the three missing people..." Qing Kong said with some melancholy.

Their mission in entering the maze wasn't just to explore it, but also to search for the three missing people. However, even now, they haven't found any clues about them. Because of this, Qing Kong feels that it might be hopeless... those people...

"We can only pray they're alright, Qing Kong." Lao Liu patted his shoulder to encourage him. "When we get back, I'll treat you to a few drinks!"

"Forget it, I'm not in the mood." Qing Kong slapped Lao Liu's hand away. "Everyone is busy rebuilding right now, no time to enjoy life."

"Sigh, I understand what you mean, it was my fault."

Reminded by Qing Kong, Lao Liu realized the inappropriateness of her words. Everyone's attention turned to Ning, who was deep in thought. She was no longer reading the book, but silently pondering something, and she had almost figured out what it was all about.

"Ning?" Li asked. "You said you were going to talk as we walked, but you didn't say anything along the way."

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I forgot about you guys." Ning said with a wry smile, "I think I was too engrossed in thinking and forgot to explain what was going on to you."

“It’s alright,” Viktor nodded. “Please tell us, we’re also very curious about what’s going on.”

"Hmm, do you know what demons are?" Ning asked first.

“Monsters?” Hek replied. “I know, they’re a higher level of monsters, the kind of monsters that have intelligence.”

"Only half right," Ning said calmly. "True demons evolve into intelligent monsters after reaching a certain level of strength, and they are quite different from demons. The reason why we defeated these elves but they didn't disappear is already very clear."

"Huh?" Sodom recalled, "I remember... the ambassador said that these monsters are at least level 300 or higher. You mean... they are demons?"

“That’s certainly a fair interpretation.” Ning nodded. “Such strength is considered an anomaly among monsters in the entire world, thus fulfilling the first condition for becoming a monster. The second condition is intelligence. Along the way, we explored and defeated the monsters that attacked us, including many elves. These elves also exhibited the aforementioned characteristics, and from my observation, their behavior showed a degree of intelligence.”

"Huh?" Everyone made a strange sound.

“Like that group of water spirits we encountered not long ago,” Ning explained, giving an example to help them understand. “They deliberately banded together and surrounded us. Not only them, but other spirits did the same thing, and I suspect there’s something organizing them behind the scenes.”

“It seems that’s true…” Sodol also recalled the situation during the battle. “During the battle just now, I noticed that the earth goblin seemed to use a feint, but the technique was too crude and I saw through it.”

"Whoa, is it that scary?" Mori became a little frightened.

"So..." Li Lian thought of something terrible, "These things were all premeditated?"

“Yes,” Ning also thought of this problem. “With this level of intelligence, these elves alone couldn’t do something like this, could they? Organizing an attack, launching a surprise attack, that’s a huge problem… Have new intelligent beings already emerged so soon after the apocalypse?”

“I see. No wonder they didn’t disappear after we defeated them. They’re not monsters anymore.” Victor began to worry. “If that’s the case, there must be a lot of elves like that outside.”

"Ha, we don't really know what's going on outside either," Ning pondered. "We also don't know how large these elves are, and there's another problem: we don't know why these elves keep attacking the maze."

Ning pondered for a long time but couldn't figure out the reason, or motive, for these monsters and elves attacking the labyrinth. The reason was simply that they had too little information. They had only just begun to make contact with these elves and weren't prepared... Many things were uncertain.

"In short, let's put our exploration on hold for now," Ning said. "Based on what we've discovered so far, there's no need to continue exploring. There's probably nothing else in the maze besides rocks, and a large group of alien monsters and demons. I'll continue exploring with Li. You guys just go back the way you came and familiarize yourselves with the maze. If you encounter any problems, just smash the map crystal, and we'll be there soon."

“Eh? Is this enough for us?” Sodom asked.

“Yes, what we’re about to do is very dangerous,” Ning glanced at Li. “You’ll only be a hindrance to us if you stay here, so I personally suggest you go back. Besides, we’ve already taken what we needed, and it’s getting late. It’s time to go back, everyone.”

Although they didn't want to admit it, they both clearly realized that they had done their best and that was the end of it. Continuing to move forward would only hold these two back and put themselves in danger.

"Well then, Ambassador, Miss Ning, please be careful." "Let's head back and report to everyone." "It's about time we went back and tried some of the mountain pig meat!"

The group obediently bid farewell to the two and set off on their way back to Akihabara. Their strength was considerable, and with Shiokawa still having several summoning attempts remaining, they should be able to handle any monsters they encountered along the way. Getting lost was not a concern, as each of them had crystals given to them by Ning; unless someone didn't know how to use them, getting lost in this maze would be virtually impossible.

After watching the exploration team members disappear into the darkness of the maze, Ning and Li looked at each other in unison and then smiled unconsciously.

"What are you laughing at?" Ning asked with a smile.

"Oh my, I didn't expect Ning to treat other people so normally," Li said with a smile.

"What? Are you jealous?" Ning raised her eyebrows and grinned mischievously.

"No, no, how could I be jealous?" Li quickly interrupted the topic. "By the way, what are we going to do next? Go out?"

Li pointed out the way out, which naturally meant leaving the maze and going outside. The maze had already been explored by Li and Ning long ago. Li used her magic eye to scan the entire maze, while Ning released magical energy fluctuations to sweep across it and categorize the different fluctuations. This was enough for them to have a pretty good grasp of the maze's condition. The reason they came out to check was to confirm the truth and reduce errors.

Why are the two of them still here? Because there are still some questions, and they want to gather relevant information.

The labyrinth was in terrible condition. There was clearly nothing there, but for some reason, these elves and monsters were stubborn and kept trying to enter and attack the labyrinth. This was one of the suspicious points.

Another point of contention is the issue of the maze's loop mechanism. This mechanism should exist, but something went wrong and it stopped working. The two women want to find the control console that controls the maze.