Chapter 119 (1/2)

Chapter 119. Result of Stage 1 (2)

The scream belonged to Lara Wolff. Seol Jihu stopped the conversation and hurriedly crossed over to the next room. There, he saw a short-haired girl full of sweat on her forehead. Although she was panting as if she had raced here at full speed, she still looked extremely happy.

“I figured it out! I figured it out!”

Lara wiped her forehead and shook the paper in her hand. When Seol Jihu walked closer and inspected it, he noticed that it was a map. He turned to Snake Eyes, who promptly raised her hands. “I don't know. She took the map and suddenly ran around like a crazy b.i.t.c.h.”

Snake Eyes gestured at the door with her chin. It was the door they had opened to enter this room.

'She went back the way we came from?'

Seol Jihu also had a guess, so he asked, “Where did you go?”

“What did you figure out? So noisy.” Straight Face also asked.

Lara made a V-sign with her hand, “I went back the way we came from.” Then, she folded her middle finger, “And I found out where we are.”

In other words, she had figured out the general shape of Stage 1.

Straight Face stepped out, “Say it.”

“Excuse me?”

“You said you figured it out, right? Tell us how this place is laid out then.”

Lara was dumbfounded by her tone that resembled a loan shark. She seemed to be saying, 'it's going to get ugly if it's nothing important.' However, she quickly got her act together.

“It's simple. The shape of Stage 1 is most likely a rectangle.”

“Rectangle?”

“Yes. You went straight from the first room. That was to check the length of the labyrinth, right?”

“…Hnng,” Straight Face let out a nasal hum. “Looks like you're not completely stupid.”

“It was a piece of cake.”

“Strange. I remember a certain someone saying she would act independently just an hour or two ago…”

“Keuk—” Lara clenched her teeth. “T-That's!”

But when Straight Face waved her hand, shutting down her protest, Lara continued her explanation. “We went through 40 rooms from the first one we started in before the frontal door disappeared, so it should be right to a.s.sume the labyrinth has a vertical length of 40 rooms.”

Snake Eyes rolled her eyes. “Huh… you're right. Then, including the room where we turned left, how many doors did Prince Charming open…?”

“120. He opened 120 doors, and none of the rooms had a door on the right side. And there wasn't a frontal door in the 120th room.”

“Aah, so if the labyrinth really is a rectangle, then we should be at the top-left corner.”

“Isn't it too early to decide?” Straight Face spoke up at that moment with her unique, condescending smile. “If my memory serves right, there were three doors in the room where we changed direction.”

“Ah, you're right. There was a door on the right too.” Snake Eyes agreed with a nod. Lara stared at Straight Face for a brief moment before grabbing the end of her hair. Then, she narrowed her eyes as she fiddled with her hair.

“Oh… Didn't I just tell you where I went…?” She made her voice airy, clearly imitating someone. Straight Face's expression stiffened. Seeing this, Lara quickly put her hand down. “R-Right, so I went back to open the door on the right.”

Seol Jihu, who was quietly watching the scene play out from the side, showed a hint of surprise. From the looks of it, Lara had gone all the way back, while he and Straight Face were talking. Although the group had cleaned up the rooms, she had run through 120 rooms and back?

'Well, it is a straight line.'

“Despite how I look, I am an Archer.” Lara smiled gently at Seol Jihu before continuing, “That's when I confirmed my conjecture. That room had two doors just like this one – one where I entered from and one on the right.”

“Ah,” Seol Jihu's mouth opened with a brief mutter. “So that room must be the top-right room.”

“Exactly!”

“So there are 122 rooms going horizontally and 40 rooms going vertically — a 40 by 122 structure.”

“That's right, a.s.suming the room we were summoned to doesn't count.”

Lara raised the map so everyone could see. The map had a ㄱ-shaped pathway. Sophie spoke up after examining the map closely, “It's like a game of Snake.”

“Huh? Me?”

Sophie covered her mouth and giggled at Snake Eyes' question, then shook her head, “It was a game I used to play on my electronic dictionary when I was little. You control a snake that goes around eating food that is randomly generated.”

With an explanation, Sophie pointed at the map. “Among the rooms that are left, where do you think is the exit?”

“How should I know?”

“…Right, then we'll have no choice but to check each room….”

Sophie pointed at the room on the top-left corner, the one they were in. “Opening doors randomly will only make the game more complicated. Since we don't know where the exit is, the best course of action would be to plan the most efficient way to visit each room. Like this….”

Sophie moved her finger down to the bottom-left corner, then to the right, up, left, then back down. Just like a coiled-up snake, she spun her finger in a counterclockwise direction, drawing a whirlpool, before finally ending in the centermost room.

Snake Eyes frowned, “h.e.l.l, so we have to go through every room?”

“That's only if we don't find the exit until we reach the center. But this is one of the most efficient ways.”

“I agree. Looks like it's obvious what we should do.” Seol Jihu agreed. The group had been running without a headlight, but they now had a clear direction.

When Seol Jihu gave Lara a look of praise, Lara twisted her body. “It's nothing much. Anyone could have figured this out if we just checked the room on the right before going left….”

“Still, there might have been monsters in it.”

“Yes, to be honest, I was really worried… but I didn't think it was right for just the three of you to put yourselves in danger.”

Sophie smiled faintly. Seol Jihu glanced at Straight Face in secret.

“…Ha,” Seeing the glance that seemed to say, 'Are they still freeloading?', Straight Face let out an empty laugh like it wasn't enough to satisfy her.

“Who knows? We still haven't seen the 39 rooms on the rightmost side.”

Lara's shoulders dropped and a sigh came out. “Can't you just say 'well done'? You don't even have to mean it.”

“Where'd you drop your conscience? Don't act so haughty after opening a single door.”

Lara shook her head, expressing her disagreement.

“Tsk.” With a click of her tongue, Straight Face turned to Snake Eyes, “You.”

“…Hm? Me?”

“Let's go.”