NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29 - ……This Isn't How You Draw It.
Chapter 29 ……This Isn’t How You Draw It.
“The direction itself is correct, so… Let’s not worry too much.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re doing well enough.”
Team 5, which Becky was part of, encouraged one another.
Their teamwork was exceptional, and regardless of their results, the atmosphere was heartwarming.
The progress was quite commendable.
『Observation』, 『Danger Detection』, 『Leap』… Team 5 set up their strategy to avoid battles as much as possible by equipping appropriate scrolls, and thanks to this, they’ve managed to traverse the course without any exhaustion thus far.
“There’s a checkpoint in the maze format. Let’s aim for that one.”
One member agreed with Becky’s suggestion, but another tilted their head in doubt.
“But… Something feels off. This time, the position of the scroll markings has to be precise.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
The main issue was that many of the markings on the scrolls were significantly incorrect.
They had already visited three checkpoints, but all were false leads. Either there was an issue with the position scrolls, or there was something wrong with the labyrinth.
“Did we bring the wrong scrolls?”
“No way. Do you know how hard it was to get these?”
As the teammates examined the position scroll from various angles—
Rumble, rumble, rumbleㅡ!
A tremendous noise suddenly erupted from beyond the right side of the passage wall. They couldn’t tell exactly what was happening, but something was definitely going on.
Startled, Team 5 pressed their ears against the wall to listen.
Screeeeechㅡ!
A chilling sound. Becky shook her head vigorously.
“Ugh… That sound gives me the creeps. It was really a good choice for us not to break through head-on.”
The other team members nodded. They continued walking along the corridor for a while.
Rumble, rumble, rumbleㅡ!
This time, the entire right side wall began to collapse.
“Wh-what’s going on? Why is this happening?”
“It didn’t seem like a trap was triggered. What’s this about?”
As they stood bewildered by the sudden phenomenon, they simultaneously began to notice members of another team coming into view.
The first to catch Becky’s eye was Flan.
“Hey, Flan…”
She was about to greet him cheerfully, but stopped midway.
First, it occurred to her that this was a competitive exploration evaluation. Second, it wasn’t just Flan’s team but also Team 1, which Hailey was part of.
Perhaps due to the strange occurrences inside the labyrinth, none of them had bright expressions.
The three teams silently observed one another. An awkward silence lingered for a moment.
Judging by the scene, all three teams seemed equally startled by the collapse of the walls.
“Hey there~ How’s it going?”
Breaking the silence, Hailey stepped forward with a friendly attitude.
Hailey peeked around, inspecting various things. She seemed to have a lot of interest in the other teams.
“Is everything going well for you guys? But doesn’t this labyrinth seem a bit off? It feels completely different from the labyrinth we were originally guided through.”
Hailey approached Becky’s side. Probably because Becky was the leader of Team 5. Reluctantly, she opened her mouth.
“Well… sort of.”
As she vaguely brushed it off, Becky also scrutinized Hailey’s team.
Hailey’s Team 12 was composed of transfer students who joined after Louis and Aria were absent.
With Louis as a teammate, it looked like they were navigating the challenges without significant difficulty. In all likelihood, that was the case.
More than anything, Becky was bothered by how beautiful the transfer student was. It seemed like she was close with Flan.
She remembered her saying something like she would do anything for Sir Flan… or something along those lines.
Becky speculated that the person Flan was contacting through Trivia was probably that transfer student.
“Ah~ Sir Flan! Are you here!”
The snow-white transfer student ran towards Flan with light steps.
At a glance, it looked like she was trying to hug Flan, but Flan dodged deftly, leaving her hugging the air.
However, the transfer student didn’t shrink back and continued to speak.
“Have you been well~? I’m doing fine thanks to my wonderful teammates! And if this could help, would you like to use it?”
The transfer student offered Flan three of her scrolls. Louis followed her and let out a deep sigh.
“Yusia, those are the scrolls meant for our team. Why are you giving them to another team?”
Yusia. So that was the transfer student’s name. Becky made sure to remember those three syllables.
Meanwhile, Louis, even while admonishing others, maintained a gentle smile and a courteous demeanor. Indeed, it seemed he bore no malice towards anyone.
“Oh~ Is that not allowed? I didn’t know!”
But then, unexpectedly, Trixie also stepped in and directed a comment at Yusia.
“Offering bribes is illegal. Stop it.”
“Bribes…? My sister likes those, though….”
“Do it fairly. Get going.”
Becky couldn’t immediately grasp the attitudes of either Yusia or Trixie.
However, what was undeniable was how composed Flan appeared, surrounded by two girls who looked like works of art.
Any other guy would be delighted in this situation, but Flan showed no hint of joy or nervousness.
No, he seemed unaware that someone was even trying to get close to him. Even now, he was solely focused on examining the position scroll.
Feeling oddly disheartened, Becky stomped on the ground in frustration.
“Hey, Becky.”
Amidst her brooding, Hailey’s voice rang out. Becky shook her head hard to clear her thoughts before answering.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Can we talk for a moment, just the two of us?”
Without a word, Becky complied with Hailey’s suggestion. The two of them distanced themselves a little from the other team members.
“What’s this about?”
“Don’t you want to score high?”
“Well, everyone does.”
“Then, how about we… work together?”
Hailey gestured towards Flan’s Team 11 with her eyes. Becky, following her gaze, unconsciously frowned.
“For what?”
“The labyrinth’s state is really odd right now~ If luck isn’t on their side, Team 11 might run into some accidents, don’t you think?”
“Hey… No.”
Becky shook her head vehemently.
Though Hailey was speaking indirectly, she was essentially suggesting a joint attack to Becky. And Becky wasn’t inclined to go along with such methods.
[ Can you all hear my voice? ]
Just then, Professor Violet’s voice started echoing inside the labyrinth.
The students’ gazes naturally wandered into the empty space.
[ Assuming you can hear me, I’ll continue. The current state inside the labyrinth is very unusual. ]
Most students nodded, as if they had expected this. They were already feeling that something was off inside the labyrinth.
[ We can’t observe the interior right now, so evaluations are on hold. I will personally teleport each of you outside, so do nothing and just wait. ]
Violet’s voice was firmer than usual, even more so than usual.
[ I’m giving you a strict warning. Protection spells probably won’t work either. If something goes wrong, you’ll die, so absolutely do nothing. ]
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.
If anyone were to sustain fatal injuries during this exploration evaluation, it would mean actual death.
“How long until we’re teleported out?”
“What if we’re standing still and an accident happens, and we get caught up in it? Will we just die without doing anything?”
The gathered students began to panic. Louis was the first to step up and try to calm them.
“Everyone, calm down. Nothing bad will happen.”
However, it was too much to ask for the students to be reassured with just a few words.
The fear of death is far greater than one might imagine, and surely none of the students here wanted to die.
It was ultimately the teleportation magic that calmed the students.
“Whoa… What’s this?”
Martin was the first to disappear, enveloped in a pure white light.
“Oh, thank goodness!”
“Me too!”
After that, the other students were wrapped in white light one by one. First, it was Becky’s two teammates.
As students began to be teleported out one by one, the faces of those left behind started to show relief.
“Uh… Sir Flan! I’ll go ahead first!”
Yusia was teleported.
“Everyone will be fine. See you outside.”
Louis was teleported. As the students were teleported one by one, the last ones remaining were Hailey, Flan, and Becky. Just the three of them.
There was no conversation between the three.
Flan was completely absorbed in his thoughts, paying no mind to the other two, and Becky couldn’t easily speak because Hailey’s gaze towards Flan was oddly intense.
[ Just three left, right? ]
[ The labyrinth’s condition is getting stranger… Professor Leonard, can they hear my voice… ]
[ It should be work… ]
Violet’s voice gradually faded and then completely disappeared.
“Looks like something’s not working well~”
Hailey brushed her hair back and commented. Then she gave Flan and Becky a peculiar look
.
“I don’t want to die stuck between a couple. Hmm.”
“Wh-who’s a couple?”
Becky immediately retorted to Hailey’s comment. But Hailey just shrugged.
“Would Flan think so too? Flan, what do you think of Becky?”
“What are you even talking about…!”
Even as she raised her voice, Becky glanced at Flan from the corner of her eye.
What did Flan think of her? Honestly, she couldn’t deny being curious.
However, at that moment—
“…!”
Becky’s eyes widened, and she took a step back without realizing it. The 『Danger Detection』 scroll she had tucked inside her clothes began to vibrate.
Rumble, rumble, rumbleㅡ!
Before she could even comprehend or react, the ground where the three stood collapsed entirely.
There was no time for screams or a quick response.
The entire ground of the labyrinth crumbled like puzzle pieces, and the three of them began plummeting into endless darkness.
ㅡㅡㅡ.
It was wrong.
Her thought processes halted. The idea that she was going to die filled her mind entirely.
Becky simply stared wide-eyed, gazing at the receding light.
◈
I expected this.
The mana flow within the labyrinth was unusual, particularly around the ground, making it unstable, so predicting this wasn’t hard.
It was just that Violet’s teleportation had some issues, causing my plan to go slightly awry.
Apart from me, there were two others falling as well. I saw Becky and Hailey not far off.
After a moment’s thought, I poured all my remaining mana into ‘maintenance.’
The falling body ripped through the darkness at a terrifying speed. The sound of cutting through the air threatened to tear my eardrums apart.
Yet despite that, my body didn’t falter pathetically. The densely woven mana shield prevented my form from losing its composure.
Thanks to this, I could clearly observe Becky and Hailey.
Hailey seemed to have fainted early on, her head lolled to the side, while Becky stared blankly with unfocused eyes.
By the time I had expended all my mana—
“Impossible, right…?”
Becky mumbled something with unfocused eyes. Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but snort in disbelief.
“Pathetic.”
I reached into my pocket and grabbed an artifact. The mana contained within this crystal orb given by Violet was not insignificant.
Just as I closed the distance with Becky, to the point where she was within reach.
Crunch-!
Clenching my fist, I shattered the crystal orb.
◈
Becky caught a glimpse of Flan.
Honestly, it didn’t matter anymore. Her fears were dulling.
She was gradually accepting that she was on the verge of death.
In her next life, she wanted to be born a magic prodigy. If that was too much to ask, then at least to be born a noble.
If even that was too much to ask… then she didn’t want to be reborn at all.
Flan’s figure remained in her sight.
Oddly enough, the distance between them was narrowing. Another surprising thing was that even in freefall, there was nothing to criticize about his dignity and composure.
…Yes, a ‘magic prodigy’ stood right in front of her.
“I wish I could be like you…”
Becky muttered unconsciously. In the empty gaze of the girl, the figure of the boy was reflected.
“It would be nice if I could use magic as well as you.”
But still.
“Forever, it’s impossible, right…?”
The sound of cutting through the air was growing familiar, and Becky quietly closed her eyes.
Facing death with eyes open was indeed terrifying. She waited quietly, eyes shut, for this humble life to end.
“Pathetic.”
Crackle.
Crackㅡ!
A blinding flash struck Becky’s closed eyelids. Simultaneously, the sensation of falling vanished at once.
The sound that had threatened to tear her eardrums was no longer there.
Had she finally died?
As she opened her eyes cautiously, feeling uneasy, Becky’s thought process froze.
“…Huh?”
She was floating.
The falling rocks, Hailey perched on one of the rock fragments, everything around her… It was as if time had stopped, hanging in midair.
Blue light sparkled like stardust, illuminating the surroundings. Mesmerized by the fantastical scene, Becky found herself gaping.
“What is… Why…?”
She gulped and looked around.
It was the same upon closer inspection. Everything seemed suspended, as if time had frozen at a particular moment.
And at that moment.
“Becky.”
The cold voice came from above. There, surrounded by blue light, was Flan.
Even in this darkness, he was still composed.
With a flick of Flan’s finger, Becky’s body floated.
Until their eyes met, as her body rose to his level, Becky couldn’t comprehend a single thing happening around her.
A stone among those stuck in the air bumped into Becky’s head.
“Ouch!”
She immediately rubbed her head from the sharp pain, but it brought her back to the reality that she was alive. Becky squinted one eye, studying Flan.
He was as firm and calm as always.
“For a magician, nothing is impossible.”
“H-huh…?”
[Ah, can you hear me? Three of you left, right? Wait for 3 minutes.]
Violet’s voice came through again.
“Three minutes…”
Flan mumbled quietly, stroking his chin.
Then suddenly, he reached inside Becky’s uniform jacket.
His hand brushed against Becky’s chest as if it were nothing, and a beat later, her face flushed red.
“Wh-what the…?! Hey! What are you doing!”
“Three minutes is enough.”
Flan pulled the Trivia out of Becky’s inner pocket. Then he flipped through Trivia’s pages irritably.
“Look, Becky.”
He called Becky’s name once more.
His red eyes sparkled. Bathed in blue light, his sharp features… were rather impressive.
As she stared blankly at Flan’s face, Trivia was thrust in front of her.
The page was filled with the formula for Magic Missile.
These were the formulas Becky had roughly drawn based on what she observed from Flan’s mock battle.
“This formula.”
In this blue space, fixed in place as if it were a piece of art.
In that peculiar moment where even time seemed to be held captive.
Flan spoke softly.
“…This isn’t how you draw it.”