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

“Ghosts…” Hale murmured their code name.

"It's a ghost!?" the Black Knight exclaimed in surprise.

The Ghosts, a special legion directly under the royal family, only obey the orders of the royal family's high-ranking members. It is said that every member has the strength of an A-rank adventurer, and the legion commander was recently able to rival an S-rank adventurer.

Whose orders did they follow to come here? Of course, Hale knew, and he also knew he couldn't refuse.

The ghost standing at the very front, whose status and attire were clearly of higher rank, walked up to Haer. Haer did not stand up; he simply remained seated, holding Xia Que in his arms.

"The campaign has failed," Hao'er said, uttering only one sentence.

“Priest Hoel, I am the commander of the royal family’s direct legion, ‘Ghost,’ and I have been ordered to come and support you all.” He introduced himself. “I am Lycia, you should know me.”

“Ah…of course I know him,” Hale said emotionlessly. “But compared to that, isn’t there something important you haven’t said?”

“How perceptive…” Lycia smiled. “Well then, the king wants you to rest here. We have prepared tents. Please follow me.”

"..."

Hao Er silently picked up Xia Que and stood up. He didn't really want to obey these people's orders, but he now hoped that Xia Que would have a better resting environment.

"You all come too."

After uttering those words to his companion, Hale followed Lycia. Mo Yueya, having regained some strength, stood up and shakily followed Hale. The Black Knight, carrying the still weak Seria, also followed. He glanced at the group of 'ghosts' but felt no sense of security.

Something's not right... The atmosphere is weird...

However, the Black Knight dared not venture too deep, but he vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

"Why don't we leave here now?" Mo Yueya asked a question that seemed perfectly reasonable.

They are the losers now. They failed to defeat the Dragon King and even angered him. Although the Dragon King has not yet launched an attack on them, Mo Yueya does not feel safe staying here, since this place is still within the maze's boundaries.

"It's like this, adventurer," Lycia explained in a cold tone, "Our kingdom has issued a quest to help His Highness the Hero in slaying the dragon, and soon a large group of adventurers will come to assist you."

"So that's the plan..." Mo Yueya was not happy.

The kingdom, using the hero's name, issued a quest to slay the evil dragon "Dragon King." The reason that the hero needs help is enough to mobilize thousands of people to assist him. Even if it's not for helping the hero, the kingdom's quests always offer generous rewards, so there will surely be many adventurers who respond to the kingdom's quests.

The problem is this: if the hero isn't there at this crucial moment, the kingdom will face a backlash. The hero's role is to serve as a banner, attracting those who will serve the kingdom.

However, there was one thing that Mo Yueya couldn't understand, and that was about the "evil dragon." He didn't quite understand why the kingdom was going to such lengths to attack the Dragon King. What harm did the Dragon King's existence pose to the kingdom?

However, Mo Yueya has now realized something else.

We... are being monitored.

"..."

"..."

"..."

There are three people in the Demon King's office: the Demon King Xuanze, the travel-worn Aye, and... well, the book spirit, Hei Yu.

The atmosphere in the office is inexplicably awkward right now. What's going on... Oh, Kuroba isn't wearing any clothes again.

"...Alright, you don't need to say anything more. Go take a shower and come back to report." Xuanze rubbed his temples, exasperated. "And what's with that naked woman? Did she throw away her chastity to the dogs? Aiye, why did you bring someone like that back?"

"Oh, your energy is a huge help!" Aye bluntly changed the subject.

"Damn it, how dare you talk to me like that? Serena slapped me and ran away!?" Xuanze was extremely unhappy.

The situation just now was this: after Aye brought Black Feather back here, she immediately took Black Feather to find the Demon King, but she didn't expect that after Black Feather turned back into a book, he wasn't wearing those clothes. At this moment, the Demon King was processing official documents with Serena.

The Demon King stared intently at Kuroba for a long time, and everyone in the office remained silent. Then, Serena slapped the Demon King with magic, the sound echoing through the office for a while. Serena opened the window, tears welling in her eyes, and flew out, leaving the Demon King bewildered.

"Hey, let me finish first." Aye pressed on, "Demon King, the magic released in the labyrinth is indeed connected to your world. And I also found quite a few books there that I've never seen before."

Aye brought up the books she couldn't understand, and Xuanze glanced at them, revealing a very surprised expression.

"Really?...Aren't these all comics?...Why did this guy bring this stuff?" Xuanze was dumbfounded. "What's the point of bringing these useless books? At least bring my phone first. Ah...Don't mind me, I wasn't talking about you."

Xuanze started to complain to himself, but then realized he was wrong, so he paused. He now knew his guess was correct; there were still people or things on the other side of the maze, and he needed to find that person quickly.

"And this one?" Xuanze raised his chin and pointed at Hei Yu.

“Rude human,” Kuroba said coldly. “Don’t you know what manners are?”

"...Let me put it another way, can I just blast her?" Xuanze revealed an extremely cold smile.

"Wait, wait, wait! Demon King!" Aye quickly stopped Xuanze. "You've heard of the Book of Myriad Principles, right?! She is that Book of Myriad Principles, 'Black Feather'."

"Huh...?" Xuanze tilted his head and looked Hei Yu up and down again. "Then can you prove your identity?"

"Before that, please pay the price."

Naked, Kuroba approached Xuanze, grabbing his collar. Their faces were close, staring at each other. Aye suddenly felt like she had done something wrong; perhaps the Demon King and Kuroba were never really compatible.

“…Heh, then I’ll give you a little treat first.” Xuanze grinned mischievously, then pressed his head against her forehead. “‘Synchronization’.”

At first, Hei Yu maintained her cold expression, but after a while, things changed. Hei Yu's whole body began to heat up and turn red. She tried to break free from Xuan Ze, but Xuan Ze held her tightly and she couldn't leave. Gradually, her reaction became more and more intense.

"Ugh!? Huh?! Waaah!? Wait... wait a minute?! Don't do that!?"

"Stop synchronization."

Xuanze stopped synchronizing with her just as she was about to reach her limit. Heiyu collapsed onto Xuanze, looking at him with moist eyes, as if blaming him.

Even Aiye, who was standing to the side watching, couldn't bear to watch any longer. She immediately grabbed the black coat that Xuanze had placed aside and covered Heiyu with it, then pulled her out.

"Whoa... Lord Demon King, what have you done?" Aye was dumbfounded. "You actually did this to a girl? She was almost at her limit!"

"I don't care about those things..." Xuanze's sleepiness returned. "Anyway... I've already checked... what happened to this guy... you can see for yourself later..."

After saying that, Xuanze fell asleep.

"...What on earth happened...?"

Aye sighed helplessly.

Interlude Earth

This is the story of a girl from another world and a boy from Earth.

Clothes sorted out, OK.

Hairstyle, OK.

The makeup should be okay now, right?

If I go to see him like this, will it seem like I'm being frivolous?

But that's all we can do... at least it doesn't look too strange.

Earth... This is only my second time here...

Is that person alright?

Thinking about these things, she walked on the streets of Shanghai in the summer. She wasn't dressed in anything particularly fashionable or flashy; she was just wearing a plain white dress.

To her now, she seemed like just an ordinary young girl. No one turned around to look at her as they passed by; they just glanced at her casually and walked on.

To others, she was just a girl who appeared and disappeared, with a faint presence. But that's fine, it's fine if she looks ordinary.

She walked down the street under the scorching sun, yet not a drop of sweat fell from her eyes, as if she had transcended this world. No, she never belonged to this world.

She walked step by step toward her destination, a hospital. The person she was looking for was there. She walked straight in, without going through any formalities, and just went straight in.

Everything here was new and exciting to her, but she couldn't act childish, that would be too embarrassing, even though no one would notice her anyway.

She had heard that person explain how to use the elevator, so she naturally took the elevator upstairs. It finally stopped on the fourth floor, and after wandering around for a while, she finally found the ward.

She tidied herself up before opening the door and going inside.

The ward was clean, tidy, and very quiet, allowing patients to rest well. There were two beds in the ward, one of which was empty, with an unnamed flower on it.

Sitting on the other bed was a boy with black hair and yellow skin, a typical Chinese. He looked very thin, and his skin was somewhat pale, an unhealthy complexion.

The boy was holding a book, looking at its contents intently. She knew it was a photo album; the boy had told her about it before, a record of items from a certain time, place, person, or event.

He looked at the photos, occasionally letting out a smile. Not wanting to disturb him, she pulled up a stool and sat down to wait for him, her eyes catching glimpses of the pictures inside.

The person in the photo is a little girl.

It might take a long time for the boy to slowly look through this photo album, but that doesn't matter anymore. For her, waiting has become a part of her life. She's long been used to waiting.

Time moved slowly by, and the ward was quiet except for the steady ticking of the second hand, a sound that wasn't irritating. Waiting for him like this wasn't so bad.

He didn't know how much time had passed before the boy closed the photo album, returned from that world to his hospital room, and faced reality.

"Hi~" she waved to him.

"...? Oh, it's you." The boy finally noticed her. "When did you get here? You didn't even say hello."

"Uh... I don't want to disturb someone's daydream." She turned her head away. "Besides... you're smiling so happily, how could I possibly bother you..."

"Have it?"

"There's none?"

"Maybe so."

"You dare say you didn't?"

"Okay, okay, I have it."

The two of them kept arguing about the issue, having a conversation like elementary school students, but they both seemed to be having a good time.

"Okay, let's not talk about that." She changed the subject. "Are you alright? Have you had any problems since you got back?"

"Hmm... there shouldn't be any problems now." The boy thought for a moment, "The most important thing is still my parents and sister..."

"Then why did you send a stranger here?" She couldn't understand what the boy was trying to do.

"Haha... she's a bit special..." the boy chuckled dryly. "As for the rest, it's the same as always... nothing major."

"Is that so..." She looked into his eyes, "Isn't the biggest problem that there aren't any major problems?"

"It's just AIDS..." the boy shrugged. "Everyone has to die sooner or later. Besides, I've already done what I was supposed to do in my life."

"That's not true, you idiot!"

She roughly grabbed the collar of the hospital gown and pulled the boy in front of her, which was unlike her usual behavior, and wouldn't that upset the patient?

“You know perfectly well…!” She stared intently into the boy’s eyes, rejecting any of his pretense. “Don’t you cherish your family? Then keep living! If you… if you ask, I will definitely help you!”

"Calm down, calm down." The boy comforted her with a wry smile. "These are two different things. I don't want to go against the laws of nature anymore. I'm already exhausted... Please let me take a break."

"but……!"

“No buts. I’m very grateful that you went to such lengths for me.” This time, it was the boy’s turn to stare at her. “But, isn’t this not what you truly think?”

"You knew perfectly well, you bastard!?" She grabbed his collar and shook him back and forth. "You big liar! You promised to stay with me?! Didn't you say you'd be my friend?! Then why did you leave without permission?!"

"Oh dear... there's nothing I can do... you're a god, and I'm just a human."

"........."

She was speechless, for what the boy said was the truth, an unchangeable truth. As a god of that world, she could not interfere with the phenomena or people of this world. She also understood that she was wasting her time, because he would never accept it.

"Well... let's just say you took it to heart." The boy shrugged.

"I didn't hear you," she said, feigning ignorance.

"Playing dumb won't help."

The boy lightly tapped her head, like a gentle pat. He was no longer the same person he once was; if it were before, it would have hurt for a long time. She thought to herself, touching the spot where he had been tapped.

"So, how is the child?" the boy asked.

"How about what?"

"That's the child."

The boy looked at the empty bed, and she finally understood what he meant.

"Uh...it's alright..." She turned her head away.

I simply can't bring myself to say that I'm entangled in all sorts of troubles, and that I've even almost lost my life several times. I have absolutely no idea how to tell him.

"I think it should be fine if it's her," the boy said with a confident smile. "After all, I personally taught her."

"Haha...maybe." She was feeling very guilty at the moment, so she deliberately changed the subject, "What were you looking at just now?"

"Oh, you mean this?" The boy picked up the photo album and handed it to her. "This photo album, I've told you about it before, haven't I? The person in this photo album is her. Her family gave it to me."

She took the photo album and, as was her habit, flipped through it like a book, seeing the photos inside.