Only I Am A Reader

501  The Long-Winded Maze

'I should show contentment more often.'

As simple as it was for one to be grateful, properly showing gratitude was in reality a very hard task. Wherever and whenever you were, true gratitude was even more rare than precious gems.

If someone suffered from thirst or hunger, they would easily show gratitude if they found food or water. However, once they had grown used to these 'luxuries', they would quickly forget what they were grateful for.

Instead, they would show anger once they no longer had easy access to these gifts, and even if they remained, most would quickly grow greedy for more.

Of course, there were few select people who could always remember the wrongs and rights, but Leo ended up lost due to the speed of things.

Despite everything going smoothly for him so far, he desired more and more convenience rather than showing satisfaction, and it seemed he was receiving his punishment for that at the 51st challenge.

'It's the maze challenge.'

As if Aurora didn't already have enough things to slow her down, this was yet another challenge that she had to attempt in the original novel.

Compared to some other tasks which threatened a game over, this one didn't have any risks. In fact, it wasn't impossible to pass either. It only had a single problem.

'It's like a sinkhole.'

It consumed too much time!

For Leo who had been cruising challenges while spending a few minutes at minimum, this challenge was more of a draining stage that kept him behind to make things a bit more balanced.

Undeniably, this was just how it felt from Leo's point of view, but in reality, this Gate didn't really interfere much, nor was there some insidious boss controlling it.

Although this whole challenge marathon led to the first battle against the greater evil, the Gate was only an impartial vessel that made it possible.

Otherwise, considering Leo's progress, he would have ended in a guaranteed game-over challenge. At that point, his only option would be to wait for Aurora to clear the rest of the challenges and take her out with him.

'Well, there is another method, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.'

Having just told himself to be grateful, Leo wasn't just about to imagine the worst thing that could happen.

After being at maximum speed for almost a whole day, getting into a slow challenge wasn't actually that bad. If anything, Leo was starting to feel the need for a short break.

'Let's see… How should I go about this one?'

The process of passing a maze was very simple, much like solving a maze puzzle on a piece of paper. It was just that one didn't have the luxury of looking at it from above.

The challenger didn't have the ability to try every path within a few seconds, they had to physically attempt the challenge themselves.

Unlike exploitable mazes that appeared in other novels, this maze didn't allow anyone to climb over

its walls. After all, they extended all the way up to the ceiling, so shortcuts weren't possible either.

'The obvious methods of cheating are out of the window as well.'

Unlike exploitable mazes that appeared in other novels, this maze didn't allow anyone to climb over its walls. After all, they extended all the way up to the ceiling, so shortcuts weren't possible either.

On one hand, the portal to the next challenge was already open, but on the other, that didn't help Leo much. Even if he could sense the portal's location, the path to it still remained unknown.

In the novel, Aurora had to struggle a bit trying more than a few paths before eventually receiving a few hints from her 'Light'.

In the same manner, Leo was also hoping to use his ability to expedite the process right from the beginning.

'Even if it's gonna take a while, there has to be a way to save some more time.'

With all the different approaches that he had envisioned during the fifty past challenges, Leo's mind was far from empty. He just had to filter his ideas through his imagination first before testing them out in real life.

'...Would that work?'

A few complicated processes popped up, but in the end, Leo's line of thought leaned towards the simplest option.

Hadn't Shadow Nightmares already proven their effectiveness? This was the perfect chance to test their limits even further!

'It could fail, but…'

Once again, Leo was aware of the ability's limits, but the condition-setting aspect was a good experiment subject.

'If I only supply Enigma if the Shadow Nightmare keeps moving towards the portal…'

By mixing the simple commands that he could give to the Nightmares with the conditioned Enigma, the Shadow Nightmares could practically be transformed into simulation clones.

'On a turn, enough Enigma could be provided to split into more Nightmares.'

Moreover, they didn't have to go one at a time, by setting another mixed direction, a Shadow Nightmare would form for each branched route, allowing Leo to simultaneously test every possible path!

Once the lucky Shadow Nightmare managed to find its way to the portal, it would receive even more Enigma to trace back the route that it came from. All that Leo had to do was take that path and the challenge would come to an end.

'It's all theoretical for now, but let's give it a try.'

Following the steps that he mapped out, two tame Shadow Nightmares sprung into the maze as Leo sat down at the entrance.

Naturally, he wasn't going to sit tight while waiting for the lucky Nightmare. He did feel like he needed a break, but the one thing he chose to fill up that time didn't exactly require any effort or movement.

'It's time to eat.'

Although the main theme was consumption, Leo didn't take out any actual food. Instead, he took out a few Enigma Stones from the ones that he accumulated in his Shadow Pocket!

The last time he had eaten a normal Enigma Stone, it was nothing but a bogus show, but now that Leo's limits had been renewed, he was going to test out their effect!

'This all for the sake of proper reverse-feeding.'

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