[You have entered the sixty-third floor.] [The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has detected your presence and become enraged!] A sandstorm enveloped me before subsiding. It felt like a hand grasping me briefly before letting go. As I felt the scent of sun-dried, wind-polished sand grains, I said, “There’s no need to bother with messages now, is there, Mr. Snake?” I didn’t use Aura Telepathy. My opponent was a Constellation that controlled all mysteries and secrets. It would be easy for them to see the invisible and hear the inaudible. In short, the Constellation was an expert eavesdropper. [The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye’s scales tremble at your rudeness!] I winked. “Perhaps we can negotiate. I’m a surprisingly easy guy to talk to. Unless you want to spend eternity in hiding, let’s have a cup of tea and talk.” [The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye snarls, not falling for your tricks!] I see. They have no intention of letting me hear their voice, even if they die. The Constellation is probably being careful not to reveal their location since they saw me bring Mutia to her knees. They wouldn’t have the courage to show their face to me. Well, then... is it time for a hide-and-seek session? I looked around. High walls surrounded the labyrinth. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I could call them “walls.” At least, none of the walls I knew of seemed so high that they looked like they could reach the stratosphere with ease. The sky was closed off by a dome, resembling an eggshell that covered the ground. If I tried to climb the walls, I would probably be blocked by the dome. What about the ground? It was made of wood. A swirling pattern resembling snake scales covered the floor. I swung my sword at it to test its durability, but neither the wall nor the floor was damaged. Perhaps they were designed to be extremely durable. “Is this whole floor a labyrinth?” I muttered. “This is troublesome. You’ll keep changing your location, won’t you? I don’t know my way around here, but I’m pretty sure you do. If you run away, I have no way of getting you.” “Don’t worry about that,” a voice came from behind me. I didn’t reflexively raise my sword to attack because I recognized who the voice belonged to. “Lady Primordial Staff?” “Just call me mage since I am one,” the Primordial Staff said with a face that seemed to have never smiled. She stood about six meters away from me and yawned. “I’m not really significant. I was just the greatest mage in the world.” “I think that is a pretty impressive achievement...” “Not really. Before becoming a Pillar, I slew thirteen dragon emperors on my own, conquered seven dragon kingdoms, and was the first to reach the crack of the Absolute Point—the origin and starting point of the universe—and plant a flag there. But, that’s all I am: just a mage.” “Are you just trying to brag to me?” “Death King, do you know why very successful people are humble? The more humble they are, the more insignificant their opponents seem. They can make their opponents seem insignificant while remaining completely innocent. Only those in power can be truly humble. In that sense, it’s not surprising that successful people are humble. What do you think? Have I enlightened you?” “The only thing I’ve realized from what you just said is how bad-tempered you are, Lady Mage...” “Congratulations. You’ve already learned a lot. Clap, clap, clap.” The Primordial Staff literally said the word “clap” out loud. I sensed that the Pillar was also one hell of a wacko and sighed. “Let’s get back to the main point. Why don’t I need to worry?” The mage took out a piece of paper and wrote “main point” on it. She put the paper on the wall, took three steps back, then three steps forward, and said, “Ta-da. I’m back.” I calmly decided to ignore the fifteen seconds during which all this had happened. After all, when dealing with a weirdo, I needed to be armed with my own madness. “Okay. Lady Crazy Mage, why don’t I need to worry?” “Constellations are unfair beings. They’re so powerful that ordinary humans can’t compete with them. They aren’t only physically strong, but their very existence is great,” the Primordial Staff said as if she were a normal individual. “But even in unfairness, there is still a shred of fairness.” “Yes. No matter how difficult a riddle is, it’s still a riddle because it has an answer. No matter how difficult a labyrinth is, there is still an exit,” she said in a monotone voice. “A riddle with no answer is just a series of annoying sentences, and a labyrinth with no doors is just a series of boring paths. Then there is no difference between the lives of ‘ordinary humans’ that the Constellations look down on so much. Even if the answer or the exit is twisted and distorted, the Constellations’ role is to provide answers to a world without answers and doors to a house without any. Actually, that is the very meaning of their existence.” “Are you saying that the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye won’t run away?” “Every palace has a throne. A labyrinth is also a palace. The moment a ruler flees their throne, they cease to be one.” I glared at the walls around me. [The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye grits their teeth.] [The Labyrinth-Dwelling has activated their power!] As if responding to my defiant gaze, the world suddenly changed. The world was still made of walls. However, they were no longer blocking my view. [The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has invoked their vow with the Tower.] [Requesting holy ground designation.] [The request has been approved.] [As of this moment, the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye owns the area.] The outer layers of the walls melted. Stripped of their outer shells, the inner layers of the walls appeared to be made of glass, resembling transparent glass windows. No longer blocked by opaque walls, one could freely look inside. Whether intentionally or not, I looked at the glass and saw... “Mannequins? Figures?” Countless dolls were displayed inside the glass. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said “countless”. There were so many that the glass walls seemed endless. They were also so tall that they reached the dome in the sky. This was a labyrinth of glass. The dolls were densely packed in rows, layered upon layers, and stacked in piles, filling every window. [They cast the shadow and withdraw it at will. All hail.] ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝓷𝓮𝓽 A mannequin hanging in the nearest glass wall suddenly raised its head. Its mouth opened. “They cast the shadow and withdraw it at will. All hail.” The other motionless dolls to the left, right, and above the mannequin also opened their mouths. “They cast the shadow and withdraw it at will. All hail.” The mannequins lined up in a straight line on both sides of the passageway, the dead ends, and the corners. I could see tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of mannequins, but I was sure that there were countless more I couldn’t see. Through the glass windows, they all opened their mouths. “If you intend to search for me, go ahead.” Thousands of voices played their own tune, creating a cacophony of sound. “My true self is among these.” In this place, where hundreds of millions—perhaps even more—of dolls were on display, the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye was hiding. I smiled. “This game of hide-and-seek is too unfair to the seeker.” “This is quite fair, actually,” the doll displayed on the glass wall to my right said. “If you can’t find me, admit defeat and go down a floor. Or you’re welcome to wander my glass palace forever!” The dolls varied in their level of craftsmanship. There were a mixture of perfectly finished or unfinished products, the latter looking as if they had just been carved. Countless puppets hung from strings, each in a different pose. Each doll had its own unique characteristics. Some were life-size and so intricate that they seemed alive. They also had faces and pupils, yet their expressions remained unchanged, as if time had frozen around them. Other dolls were simple mannequins or wooden puppets. They were faceless, expressionless marionettes with their joints exposed. However, they all had one thing in common. Each doll held a piece of paper with a message written on it. —I am a murderer who killed my neighbor’s child. —I deceived my best friend. —I had an affair with a priest at the shrine. —I plotted to poison the Monkey Grand Duke. —I hate the noble who took me in. —I conspired with my ruler’s enemy and destroyed my family. That was the only thing they had in common. The dolls’ papers had different messages. Some were serious, others were trivial. I easily understood their meaning. “They’re all secrets. Everyone has a secret that they don’t want others to know. That is what the messages are about, to infer about the identity of the dolls.” The puppet in front of me opened its mouth. The creaking sound it made was probably the mocking laugh intended by the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye. “You certainly catch up quickly. These are all those who have made wishes to me. They’ve relied on my power at least once. The domain of my power is so vast compared to yours. You just became a Constellation!” “I don’t really want to create this kind of world, though...” Hamustra had the great library. Mutia’s world was the sand temple, and it seemed that Hishimit Kritz had a glass exhibition hall as their world. “What kind of wishes do you usually grant?” I asked. “‘Please tell me the weakness of that despicable bastard I hate,’ ‘make sure no one finds out about the things I’ve done,’ ‘please let me kill that person without anyone finding out,’ ‘even if they dig into my past, make sure they never discover what happened that summer,’ ‘please make me seem completely innocent.’” Seven mannequins let out a mocking laughter at the same time. “The wishes that everyone has prayed for deep in their hearts at least once reach my domain. You humans have many secrets you want to reveal, but you have even more secrets you want to hide!” Hishimit Kritz. The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye. Snake. Egg. Labyrinth. Secret. Riddle. Contradiction. Secret keeper. Lock and key. Exposure. Those were the words that described the Constellation. “Of course, I keep secrets as humans desire. Under my power, they enjoy the blessing of never having their deepest secrets revealed. However, the secrets they hide are displayed here in all their raw truth!” I nodded. “So that’s why you included the trauma penalty in my Skill.” The seven mannequins tilted their heads. “Hm?” “A person’s past is the summary of their secrets. The past that holds the deepest wounds is the most exquisite key to understanding that person.” I took a deep breath. “The Tower master said that this power comes from her All Life. If I trace it back, I’d be able to reach her ancestor, who was Hamustra’s apostle. At the same time, the part about peeking into people’s past is your power’s influence.” The mannequins burst into laughter. “Ah, I see! Yes, that’s right! Yes, a person’s past is a memory and a story, but at the same time, it’s also a secret. You have exposed it brilliantly.” In the corner of my view, I saw a mannequin raising its hand. Its wooden fingers pointed in a certain direction. “A smart exposé must be rewarded. Rejoice. I will give you a small gift.” “Is that a hint about where you are?” I went in the direction the mannequin’s finger pointed. There, I found another mannequin that was pointing somewhere else. After I repeated this sixteen times, I arrived at my destination. Through the thin glass, a marionette moved its lips. Its features were intricate. I knew its voice and face very well. “How is it, young Constellation? Don’t you want to know this person’s secret?” There, a marionette identical to the Paladin was on display.