Host, Please Be Honest! What Exactly Are You?

One step forth, another step forth.

The men all felt their senses heighten with a strange peculiarity in the air.

Zzzz~

Their earpieces gave off a static buzzing noise that made everyone's expression turn grim.

"Leader, it looks like they have some blocking device around these parts..."

"Hmmm," the leader responded. "Everyone, stay alert and vigilant."

They might be headed into a trap, or this might be a usual ritual that the Tian boy does around these hours of the night.

Compared to the former, everyone felt that it should be the latter.

Still, they had to be on the lookout for any strange occurrences.

Thinking like this, they quickly took out their noisy earpieces and reached for their weapons, planning for the worst.

But why?

Why did it feel that the further they advanced, the narrower and elongated the hallways became?

Sniff. Sniff.

The air... Why was it strange?

They didn't know how to say it, but the entire hallway felt odd and gave them a disturbing feeling.

"Leader, this place is too strange." One of them finally spoke out.

The leader was silent, but his eyes agreed to this.

He had already begun being that things were getting slightly out of control.

Left, right, meet a fork on the road, right, right, left, left, up, down, another fork, left, left, left...

They seemed to be walking for miles!

"Cutfish... What about the house plans! Are you sure you got it right?!"

The man named Cutfish couldn't help nodding his head vigorously. "I swear on my life! These are the directions. But I don't know why; I feel this mansion's house plan is bigger than what we acquired!"

Everyone almost rolled their eyes.

Do you need to remind them of this?

Even they felt they were moving along the hallways of some master palace rather than a mansion.

That is, how can it be so long?

Where are the rooms? Why is the whole place filled with Hallways here, hallways there, staircases here and there?

At this rate, how would they be able to reach their target successfully?

Would've it have been before to enter through the felt door inside?

No wonder the girl Alice had said that she sometimes got lost when trying to snoop around.

Before... Snake thought she was incompetent, probably never living in so h a grand mansion before.

But now, he knew he was wrong.

With such a confusing setup, even they had problems finding their way out of this maze.

Maze!... Maze!... That's it!

Ding!

Snake and everyone else's eyes lit up, understanding that this architectural design should be a part of the hidden features of the mansion.

Who knows... Maybe the Tians had done it themselves in private after burning the estate.

What's important now is that they needed to find a way out!

Even finding a window would be beneficial.

.

The leader remained expressionless.

Even at this moment, he didn't seem phased.

"Recall movements." He commanded. And very quickly, many began replacing it all.

"Leader, I think in the places where we came across 2 paths, we might've taken the paths that kept us in this loop!" Snake said, pointing at the hallway walls.

Though they were the same, out of habit, he had marked them whenever they took a bend.

This alone proved they were going in a loop... Maybe around the mansion.

It was a pretty broad/fatty mansion, so if they went around it for heaven knows how long, then it was not surprising that they felt like they had been marching for years.

And looking at both the left and right walls that were marked by himself, it seems like they not only went around in circles but also made several U-turns.

Luckily, they had figured things out fast. Or wouldn't the morning meet them here at this rate?

Having a deep look at things, the 'connectivity blockage' might only be around the maze to further trap intruders here.

No one would contact them via phone, earpiece, or any other methods because of the specially designed walls that probably blocked the signal

Yes!

They had attributed it all to the walls and ceilings.

'The Tian couple probably did these things,' they thought.

Intruders could probably starve here for what they think were days if they lost track of time.

There were no windows, and everything was the same.

It caused a psychological burden. And without a highly efficient brain, leaving such a maze might be troublesome.

They also noticed that some hallways were slightly wider while others were narrower.

It was all part of the illusion to make some feel that they were going around the same places.

Heh.

Everyone squinted their eyes at the scene before them

Look back, look forth.

What a clever maze! Too bad it wasn't enough to hold them down.

The leader took a few steps forward before facing the group.

"Retract all steps, to 3 road-forks... There, we'll take the opposite direction."

No one knew how the leader had calculated things but agreed to it.

Like so, they made a U-turn.

Down the little steps, along the many hallways, up another step of little steps, moving last to the fork on the road and choosing the initial oath they came from, etc.

They followed the leader's instructions.

And soon, they were 3-Forks-on-the-road back, passing what seemed like 20 different hallways.

Sigh... Has anyone been more pitiful than them?

Back to the Fork on the road.

"Though we have passed over 12 forks on the road, this should be the first one we started from."

He estimated so much after seeing the many marks Snake left on the walls.

At this point, he had respect for the Tian couple who came up with this dastardly method. But for the Tian boy, he had no appreciation for it at all.

That is, they've been here for so long and even infiltrated this far, but the boy hadn't even noticed yet?

How weak!

He was probably sound asleep on his bed, depending on his few guards to keep him safe.

"This time, go left."

Left it was.

Last time, they chose the right, wanting to move along the perimeter of the building, thinking they would see windows on the right that would allow them to peek out of the mansion.

They had to also ensure that those 2 patrolling guards won't be coming in anytime soon.

And the moonlight did give them some form of clarity, subconsciously reminding them of how much time they had left to complete the mission.

But all that was their wishful thinking. They had done right but didn't see any window.

So this time, going left, they should be able to see one.

They felt that the direction was criss-crossed and going in the opposite paths from what one would expect, only confusing many if not careful.

.

Step by step, the group went in the opposite direction from their earlier ways.

And soon enough, they finally saw a change!

Everyone smiled at each other while standing at the many locked doors on both sides of the hallway.

Alright. They still didn't see any windows.

But wasn't this better than the looped and similar hallways they spotted?

Everyone smiled.

At least these were all too different.

And judging from the doors and the floor, they could see that this place was constantly visited by many.

The door handles had normal minor scratches from overuse, and the walls with little stains that wouldn't be easily detectable with untrained eyes.

All these were evidence that these places got used regularly.

But maybe the reassuring fact was that their earpieces were having signs of reconnecting. .the static noise would go and come bit by bit.

And on the other side, those in the vehicles outside had finally connected with them.

[Boss...zzzz... Boh- zzzz...]

It wasn't clear, but they tried their best to pass along a short message that summarized it all.

They were fine—so there was no need to initiate any rescue plans.

Everyone felt a stone in their hearts go to rest.

They still chose to turn off their earpieces, knowing they probably won't get full range until they leave this place.

The blocking device from the neighboring lopped hallways should be the cause for the signal interfaces.

And keeping the earpieces singing and buzzing in this manner would only give them a headache.

'Switch them off." The leader commanded while observing all doors from both sides.

With the way they've been going, who knows if they would only meet a dead end at the front or a single hallway that would loop them back into that annoying maze?

From his conclusions, these books were used every day and should be able to lead them out of this mess.

... But which one?

Tick-Tock.

The block was rocking the night away. And the tension in the room was as heavy as a person trying to defuse a bomb

Blue wire, red wire, yellow wire... Which one?

They didn't have all day.

So they had to pick one now!

The leader looked at the most likely used door.

"Ruby. Unlock it."

"Already on it, leader," Ruby responded, taking a pin from her hair.

~Chz-Chz-Chack!

The door was unlocked.

They thought their miseries would end. But little did they know that they were just playing a game to someone's interest.

Well, how about making them have nightmares?

Hehehhehe~

Dorian chucked dangerously in the dark.

Wasn't it his duty to change all evil people into good?

Looking at its host, the system felt pity for these killers.

[Host, why do you use this statement when convenient for you?]