Labyrinth: Chapter 105/108

Chapter 105: Shocking the Natives of the Other World!

Carrion blocked Milim's punch.

Immediately, he distanced himself from her.

Let's try that "spell" Chishiya-san mentioned last time.

"Hey! Milim!"

Carrion shouted, "Chishiya-san said he knows you're just pretending!"

"If you cause trouble again, no snacks next time!"

His voice was so loud,

Even the people evacuating on the ground heard it.

Albis commanded the townsfolk.

"Everyone, move quickly. His Majesty is buying us time!"

Then she looked up into the sky.

What are you even saying, Carrion-sama?

That's Demon Lord Milim.

One of the oldest Demon Lords.

You think she'll stop over snacks?

In front of the crystal ball,

Clayman smiled coldly.

Where does that ridiculous confidence even come from?

Pretending?

How could that be?

He had already used the Control Orb to dominate Milim.

It had taken over a month.

You're saying she's been faking for more than a month?

Impossible!

He had tested everything—every method he could think of—and found nothing.

She couldn't possibly be acting.

But then, his smile froze.

Because on the screen, Milim actually stopped moving.

And he never gave an order to stop.

In the sky above—

Milim pursed her lips.

Her expression twisted into something halfway between awkward and mischievous.

Fun? Or food?

A real dilemma.

Carrion stood there stunned.

She's not controlled?

She's really pretending?!

He clenched his fists and growled.

"Milim, you're not actually faking, are you?"

"Huh?"

Milim looked up at the sky, put her hands behind her back, and started whistling.

"Nope, I'm not."

"I—I'm definitely being controlled. Oww, my head hurts, what do I do?"

She dramatically clutched her head in fake pain.

Carrion: "?"

Albis: "???"

Clayman: "???"

Everyone watching was stunned.

My head hurts so much!

Could your acting be any worse?

This is absurd. Truly absurd. Absurd to the point of absurdity!

But the most confused person was Clayman.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

How could this be?

Milim's totally fine?

The Orb the President gave him didn't work?

Then why did she follow his every order for a whole month?

Did she just feel like it?

Was she messing with him?

Clayman's face twitched violently.

They played me like a fool!

Unforgivable! This humiliation must be avenged!

———————

Milim struggled for a bit, but in the end… food beat fun.

She tore the orb off her neck and crushed it into powder.

Her "smart" IQ had claimed the high ground.

It was fun hanging out with Chishiya and there was food.

So, what was the point of staying here?

She'd been caught anyway.

Might as well head back and enjoy herself.

He must've missed her. Best friends always do.

So—

Milim floated forward and put a finger to her lips.

"Carrion, don't tell Chishiya about this, okay?"

"I'm gonna pretend I was never here."

With that—

Her figure shot off like a meteor.

Leaving everyone staring after her in stunned silence.

———————————

Labyrinth

Chishiya was counting money in his room.

Sometimes, life's just… magic.

Last month, he was still worried about not having enough funds to construct his Wonders.

This month? Rich.

Over 200,000 gold coins. Build? Build it all!

Build as many Wonders as he wanted!

They had capital now.

Thank you, Falmuth, for the generous donation.

And, on top of that, the Labyrinth had exploded in popularity over the past three days.

The adventurers flocking in were already writing their own guides.

Only three days since opening, and already going viral?

Chishiya tapped his chin.

Time to adapt.

He couldn't let the adventurers clear everything too easily.

But he couldn't make it too hard either.

Balance was key.

He opened his account.

Currently: 230,000 gold coins.

This reserve already surpassed most small nations.

And that wasn't counting annual revenue from Labyrinth goods and partnerships with the Chamber of Commerce.

All things considered, the average yearly profit was around 30,000 gold coins.

Not bad. For this world, it put them in the upper-middle tier.

But compared to Earth?

Still pathetic.

30,000 gold coins converted to RMB was about 1.5 billion.

Too low.

What Fortune 500 company only pulls in billions a year?

Chishiya's goal was to go big or go bankrupt.

All or nothing.

If you're going to do something, do it right.

Of course, Chishiya also understood the comparison wasn't fair.

This world was too primitive.

What frustrated him most was the way people thought here.

Trying to popularize even simple ideas was like pulling teeth.

Take online shopping, for example.

In a world with magic, no one had thought of that?

In the real world, everything was built brick by brick, backed by generations of innovation and sweat.

Maybe the convenience of magic had just made people lazy.

With magic this convenient, shouldn't civilization be more modern?

"Tch."

Chishiya shook his head.

"Looks like I'll have to lead the tech revolution myself."

"Time to give the otherworld natives a proper shock."

———————————

Over the next few days,

Chishiya holed up in his room, completely focused on research.

Everyone else had their own theories.

But the most popular one?

Shion was bringing him new prototype dishes every day,

And Chishiya-sama was hiding to avoid food poisoning.

"Achoo—"

Chishiya rubbed his nose.

"Someone must be talking about me…"

Putting the distractions aside,

He picked up the blueprints on his desk and smiled.

"Done!"

It had taken three full days.

Using the Lord of Wisdom, he had sorted through everything useful in his memory and designed two new "systems."

Not that kind of system.

These were intelligent applications of projection magic, structured by the logic refined through the Lord of Wisdom.

They were called: [Labyrinth Forum] and [Rankings]

Using projection magic, they would be installed on every level of the Labyrinth.

Anyone entering the Labyrinth could see and interact with them.

Chishiya's design was based on modern online games.

Any adventurer could post info in the [Forum], and the company would issue official updates at set intervals.

There would be three [Rankings]:

[Progress Ranking]: Based on how many levels players had cleared.

[Boss Ranking]: Based on how quickly players defeated level bosses.

[PvP Ranking]: Arena-style ranking based on player duels inside the Labyrinth.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 106: [Forum] Function

Once these functions were completed, they dramatically increased the fun factor.

Clearing the Labyrinth would now not only yield magic beast materials, but also contribute to rankings.

High-ranking adventuring companies would receive special rewards.

This wasn't just material motivation for adventurers, but also a psychological hook.

After all, solo grinding had no real sense of competition.

But now, with the addition of the [Arena]...

Once the urge to win kicked in, things got a lot more interesting than just simple rankings.

As long as there was a ranking system in a game, people would fight tooth and nail to climb it.

Add in generous rewards and free resurrection?

Chishiya was sure it would attract a horde of adventurers.

He put the blueprints away.

Now that funds weren't an issue, he could upgrade the Labyrinth.

Currently, his treasury held 230,000 gold coins,

And over 300 million Eris.

Of course, not all of it could be converted into Reputation Points.

A portion needed to remain in reserve, especially the gold, in case he wanted to issue his own currency in the future.

After all, having a unified currency system would make things easier for adventurers.

Banks and currency exchanges were also on the future roadmap.

In his mind, the Lord of Wisdom was already logging everything.

"Upgrade the Labyrinth."

Chishiya thought.

[Upgrading the Labyrinth to Level 10 requires 50 million Reputation Points.]

"Exchange."

Given his current funds, he could afford it without breaking a sweat.

[Upgrade Successful.]
[Labyrinth Level increased to 10.]
[Number of Floors: 100]
[New Labyrinth Functions Unlocked.]

Brush, brush, brush—

A stream of system notifications appeared before him.

[Cat Car]: Can be used to recover adventurer corpses.

[Star Map Expansion]: Broadens the observable universe.

[Employee ID Card]: Allows employees to travel freely using their ID cards.

[Expanded Marketing Reach]: The Labyrinth's publicity range has widened.

[Special Room Design]: Allows the creation of rooms with unique mechanics.

[Treasure Chest Drop]: Increases player enjoyment. Defeating bosses or elite monsters now has a chance to drop bronze, silver, or gold treasure chests. Rewards are randomized.

[Boss Skill Modification]: Bosses' abilities can now rotate weekly for replayability.

From Level 3 to Level 10.

Seven new functions unlocked all at once.

Each one was enough to make Chishiya's eyes sparkle.

Especially the last three.

Weekly rotations?

This meant even if someone cleared all 100 floors, they could reset and start again.

Depending on the player, that could be either great or pointless.

Some people love reruns. Others uninstall the game after finishing it once.

But in Chishiya's opinion, the number of people who could even reach Floor 100 was probably in the single digits.

No more delay.

Chishiya stood up and immediately logged in to test the [Forum] and [Ranking] systems.

—————————————

Labyrinth – First Floor Reception Hall

A large number of adventurers were gathered.

Some handled quests at the front desk, some were forming parties, others were selling guides.

The place buzzed with energy.

"A three-man team. We've explored up to the 7th floor. Looking for a mage!"

"Any teams need a tank? I'm a warrior and I can take hits!"

"Guide to the first five floors now on sale! Great for beginners!"

"I process rare monster materials! Only 1 silver coin each. Anyone interested?"

...

In a corner of the hall,

The comedy trio were flipping through product catalogs.

"Time for us to go."

Gido looked at the excited blonde girl and sighed.

Elyun waved the catalog in front of them.

"Hey hey hey, check it out! Isn't this dress cute?"

Kaval clicked his tongue. "We're not here to shop."

"We're supposed to be exploring the Labyrinth."

Elyun replied, "It's not a conflict."

She flipped the catalog again.

"They say this shop is in the rest area on the fifth floor. We can check it out once we get there."

Since their last visit,

The three hadn't been able to forget this place.

And recently, word about Lapris had been spreading fast among adventurers.

Everyone praised its high-end service and quality of life.

Most importantly, it had the Labyrinth.

You could make money and chill at the same time.

As they chatted—

Suddenly,

A virtual window popped up in front of them.

Elyun blinked. "Eh? What's this?"

Looking around, she saw the same projection appear in front of every adventurer nearby.

Projection magic?

It looked like some kind of floating virtual interface.

Elyun focused on the glowing panel in front of her.

The homepage read:

[Welcome to Underground Labyrinth Enterprise.]
[Click here for more.]

This was a brand-new projection magic interface developed by Chishiya himself.

The core design came from the Lord of Wisdom.

Everyone entering the Labyrinth would now receive their own personal virtual panel.

It was similar to the player menus in Sword Art Online.

Through it, adventurers could view the [Forum] and [Rankings],

And even post content directly to the [Labyrinth Forum].

The trio exchanged glances.

Curiosity piqued, they tapped the panel.

The screen shifted to a profile page.

[Account: Unnamed]
[Personal Title: None]
[Ranking: None]
[Arena Tier: Bronze 0 Stars]

Two options appeared at the bottom:

[Labyrinth Forum]

[Ranking]

"Forum? What's that?"

Elyun frowned.

She tapped it.

Immediately, several posts appeared.

[I'm a Thief Level 6 with a Greatsword]: Bros, this forum's kinda dope. You can post in the main feed too.

[Sinking Fish and Falling Geese]: Anyone need a mage? I swear I'm good.

Below was a very flattering selfie.

Let's just say, a little too flattering.

[Innocent Little Boy]: Miss, miss, miss! Join our team!

[Invincible Berserker]: I'm super strong!
Beautiful lady, please team up with us!

[Handsome for Life]: Milady, allow me to carry you.

Click.

A new photo loaded.

A mohawk dude with yellow hair and a face full of stubble.

Dozens of question marks flooded the thread.

Elyun stared at the message board with sparkly eyes.

This was hilarious.

Was this another one of Chishiya-sama's inventions?

Through projection magic, everyone could communicate on a virtual platform.

The concept was incredible.

Gido and Kaval were also engrossed, flipping through posts like kids in a candy store.

They'd never seen anything like it before.

Their inner gossip-hounds were fully activated.

Kaval muttered, "Do we get to name our accounts?"

He immediately typed in: The Most Handsome Man in the World

[This ID has already been taken.]

"WHAT?! Who's the shameless bastard that beat me to it?!"

"What names did you two pick?" he asked, turning to Elyun and Kidd.

He peeked at their profiles.

Gido's ID: The Great King
Elyun's ID: Sailor Moon

(To be continued.)

Chapter 107: The World's First

Kaval: ?

"Wait, what kind of names are you two using?!"

"Watch and learn. I'm gonna be legendary."

He grinned and slowly typed in his ID.

[Blast Cool]

"It looks like we can add friends too."

Elyun tapped the "Add Friend" button on her panel.

Kaval and Kidd both received friend requests from Sailor Moon.

For a while,

The entire hall was full of laughter and noise.

This was the first time they'd seen something like this.

No one had ever imagined projection magic could be used this way.

Whoever came up with it must be a genius.

———

On the other side of the hall,

A white-haired elf was tiptoeing toward the Labyrinth entrance, using her staff to hide her face.

Trying very hard not to be seen.

"Frieren-sama!"

Frieren froze in place.

Then quickly put on her usual dignified act.

"Fern... What a coincidence."

Fern was clearly not buying it.

"Frieren-sama, are you done with your lessons today?"

"You pushed all your teaching duties onto me and then tried to sneak off?"

Frieren: ( ´-﹏-` )

She poked her fingers together, awkward.

"But Fern, it's the Labyrinth. There could be treasure chests inside."

"That's such a tragedy."

"There might even be rare magic items!"

Fern responded flatly, "Doesn't Chishiya-san already have a stockpile of magic books and tools?"

Frieren shook her head.

Wagging her finger, full of seniority.

"Fern, exploring a Labyrinth is only fun if you do it yourself."

"And..."

Her eyes sparkled.

"You never know what you'll find."

Frieren raised her staff, visibly excited.

"..."

She's hopeless. Sometimes she acts just like a kid.

Fern sighed.

"I'll allow it, but just this once."

Frieren beamed, stood on her tiptoes, and patted Fern on the head.

"Fern is too cute."

"Even if you say that, this is only for today!"

The two of them opened the [Labyrinth Forum].

Ten minutes passed.

More and more adventurers began posting content.

There were even videos now.

Fern clicked one out of curiosity.

The uploader's ID was [I Love to Drink a Little Wine].

The video began.

Gobta's big, round head filled the screen.

He held his magic device backward for a selfie.

"Look, the guy behind me. In order to get dinner, he broke into the Night Spider's cave."

"When the spiders realized someone had invaded their home, the whole family—mom, dad, and baby—came out to defend it."

"Unfortunately, due to the power gap, they were no match for him."

"In the end, all three were... brutally slaughtered!"

In the background, a red-haired boy with an axe was casually dismantling a spider corpse.

He looked up at the camera, visibly confused.

Fern: ?

Frieren: ??

Wait a minute... isn't that Stark?

Why aren't they training?

And what is with this weird video format?

Gobta had edited the video like an episode of Today's Statement, giving it a bizarre crime documentary vibe.

Did he just narrate a monster fight like it was a homicide investigation?

Is anyone actually watching this?

The two of them scrolled down.

They regretted it immediately.

The comments were booming.

The video already had over 100,000 likes!

[HAHAHA! Brutal slaughter! I'm crying!]

[This goblin's a genius. Who taught him to record videos like this?!]

[How do I post a video? Can someone teach me?]

[+1]

The comment section was full of chaos and melon-eaters.

People from this world had never seen anything like this.

And now they were completely hooked.

Fern and Frieren exchanged a glance.

This... This is nuts.

This world has officially lost its mind.

Have they already been left behind by the times?

Just then—

An official notification popped up.

[Underground Labyrinth Enterprise: Welcome to the Labyrinth City of Lapris.]
[You may post videos, pictures, text, and other content on the Forum.]
[Record your most beautiful life moments.]
[Our company will award titles to creators of high-quality content.]
[Top 10 most popular submissions will receive rewards.]
[First official influencer: @I Love to Drink a Little Wine]
[Everyone is welcome to participate.]

———

In the Office

Welcome, [The Most Handsome Man in the World].

Chishiya logged into his account and scrolled through the forum posts.

As expected—it was a hit.

The people of this world were truly starving for entertainment.

They had projection magic and all this technology, yet life was still mind-numbingly dull.

All it took was porting over a few TikTok features, and they fell for it hard.

Give it a few more weeks, and the full streaming era would begin.

And if so, he would be the first-ever livestreamer in another world.

In the future, Underground Labyrinth Enterprise would expand into the broadcasting business.

Build the largest livestream platform in all of fantasy.

Raise a few idol streamers and traffic would skyrocket.

It could even push the company's valuation into the stratosphere.

But speaking of which—

Gobta was a total livestreaming genius.

That goblin was hilarious.

Chishiya had only given him a loose script, and yet the performance was so natural it felt improvised.

The guy had host material. He'd definitely be nurtured further.

"Chishiya!!"

Just as he was plotting more expansions,

The door burst open.

A pink-haired girl in a crop top flew at him and tackled him into a hug.

She wrapped around his neck, rubbing her face against his.

"Eh? You've gotten stronger."

Milim sniffed him curiously.

Then blinked in surprise.

It had only been about a month, and Chishiya had actually awakened?

And his magic power had exploded.

This growth rate was nuts!

"Milim? Weren't you on the job? What are you doing here?"

"Hahaha..."

Milim let go, grinning awkwardly as she spun around.

"It's fine, it's fine. It's been a while, so let's not talk about that."

Figures...

Chishiya could already guess what happened. This walking disaster definitely picked a fight with Carrion.

But clearly, Carrion followed instructions.

The original disaster arc had been completely avoided.

Perfect. Less mess to clean up.

He was a businessman, not some interdimensional janitor.

Milim leaned in close.

"Chishiya, what fun stuff have you come up with lately?"

She'd already seen the virtual panel earlier.

The [Forum] function was cute, but not really her thing.

What did catch her attention... was the [Arena].

They could actually fight.

And fighting raised your rank.

Now that was her kind of fun.

There was no way she wasn't joining in.

Not only joining—she was going to the top of the leaderboard!

(To be continued.)

Chapter 108: I Want a Domineering Nickname!

Looking at her sparkly eyes, Chishiya Shuntaro instantly guessed what she wanted.

"You want to join?"

"Uh-huh!" Milim nodded enthusiastically.

Well, letting her participate wasn't out of the question.

It could even help train the adventurers a bit.

With Milim's strength, reaching the top of the rankings would be easy.

But… her ID had to change.

She couldn't just waltz in with her name out in the open.

If people realized their opponent was Milim, who'd even dare queue up?

Milim was basically the equivalent of bringing a Tiger Tank to a medieval battlefield... only to get hit by an interstellar battleship from the other side.

What kind of PvP is that?

Chishiya took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, you can join."

"Really?!"

Milim practically launched herself into the air with joy.

She didn't expect him to agree so easily.

Chishiya added, "But on one condition."

"Huh? What condition?" She tilted her head.

"You have to pretend."

"Pretend? Why?"

Pretending wasn't her style.

If she was going to compete, she wanted to go all out—full name, full power, no holding back.

Milim was still a bit of a kid at heart.

And like any kid, she loved attention.

Not that Chishiya could blame her.

Who didn't like to show off? He did too, occasionally.

But if she showed off too much, he'd never be able to run this as a business again.

So…

Chishiya began what he called "reasonable persuasion." Others might call it high-level PUA.

"Milim, you know the strongest people are the ones who don't show off, right?"

"The more unassuming someone looks, the more terrifying they usually are."

He wasn't sure if Milim was following, but her eyes started going in circles.

She had no idea she was being gaslit into going incognito.

"Ahem..."

Once he felt she was fully cooked, Chishiya wrapped it up.

"Long story short, you're just too flashy. If you show up like yourself, everyone else will run away screaming."

"So you've got to tone it down. That's what real experts do."

Milim nodded slowly, dazed. "Is… is that so?"

"Okay... I'll listen to you then."

After all, Chishiya was her best friend.

He must have his reasons.

"Come on, let's get you a cool name."

Chishiya pulled up her panel.

Milim leaned in eagerly.

"Yes, yes! I want something domineering!"

If she had to hide her identity, then her ID had to sound like a boss.

Something that would shock everyone at first glance.

That was her bottom line.

Chishiya nodded and began typing.

"One word at a time. Milk... candy... fun... lots... of it…"

Click, click, confirm.

[Milk Candy Fun] has logged in.

"There! Now that's a strong name," Chishiya said proudly, showing her the result.

Milim: "?"

She stared blankly at the screen.

Then at Chishiya.

Her brain was full of question marks.

Where's the "domineering" part?

She jumped up and squeezed his waist in protest.

"What's so domineering about this name?!"

"Change it! Change it now!"

Good thing Chishiya's physique had improved after awakening. Otherwise, she might've cracked a rib.

He calmly explained, "You don't get it."

"Powerful people always pick names like this."

"The more contrasty and silly it looks, the more intimidating it is."

"Eh? Really?"

Milim slowly let go.

Deep in thought.

Contrast equals power?

This was the first time she'd heard of such a thing.

And Chishiya wasn't exactly wrong.

Back in his world, the most cracked players always had ridiculous names.

He gave a few examples.

"Like, you trust me, right? There's Patrick the Bandit from Bikini Bottom."

"Even Happy Superman is still Superman... even when he's not happy."

"These are what real bosses go by."

Milim's head was spinning.

What kind of explanation was this?

"Ahem…"

Chishiya rubbed his nose, a bit guilty.

But the plan was set.

As long as Milim went in using the ID [Milk Candy Fun], people would think she was just a kid.

Her opponents would lower their guard.

Then boom—one punch, lights out.

Clip that moment, upload it to the [Forum]... viral hit guaranteed.

Once she reached the top of the rankings,

That contrast between her ID and her strength would become the ultimate clickbait.

Milim continued to stare at her ID in silence.

Expression, complicated.

"If you really don't like it, we can change it," Chishiya said with a sigh.

"It's the first time I've made an ID for someone... It's fine if it's not perfect."

Milim looked at his face. A little pitiful. A little self-conscious.

She hesitated.

"Wh-Who said I didn't like it?!"

"[Milk Candy Fun]... I... I think it's super domineering!"

"I love it, okay!"

Her voice trembled from effort.

She was clearly lying.

But this was Chishiya's first-ever ID creation...

And it was for her.

It felt special.

She convinced herself it was fine.

"I see. That's great."

Chishiya smiled.

"As long as you like it. I won't bring it up again."

"I need to brief everyone on their next assignments. Want to come?"

Milim watched him wave and smile, but felt something was off.

Wait a second...

Was I just scammed?

"Would you like some strawberry cake?" Chishiya added casually.

Milim: "!"

Drool dripped from the corner of her mouth.

All doubt, gone.

Cake > Questions.

"Wait for me! I'm coming too!"

————————————

Meeting Hall

Everyone was excitedly playing with the virtual panels in front of them.

After wrapping up affairs in Falmuth, Diablo had returned and was lounging on a sofa nearby.

On another couch, Milim and Rim were happily swinging their legs while devouring strawberry cake.

Benimaru looked up.

"Chishiya-sama, can we also join the Arena?"

Chishiya nodded.

"Of course. These new features aren't just for adventurers. Anyone can participate."

"If you make it into the rankings, I'll personally give you a reward."

"But just one reminder. If you do compete, be sure to change your name and mask your identity."

Except Milim, obviously.

Benimaru, Shion, and Diablo—

These three were full-on battle junkies.

They all nodded in agreement.

They didn't care about covering their faces or hiding their names.

What mattered was earning a reward personally prepared by Chishiya.

And more importantly...

It was a chance to show off their strength.

To him.

(To be continued.)