“The inside is cleaner than I expected?”
As soon as I entered the maze, I muttered the line that somehow popped into my head, then began moving forward while glancing around.
—Whoooosh…
Thick smoke, filling the maze that had expanded several times its original exam hall size due to spatial expansion magic, obscured my vision.
Fortunately, unlike the students who would soon follow, I had something to rely on.
“Let’s see, the supervisor should be in… Sector D, right?”
That was because the supervisor was given a map with tracking magic that displayed the real-time status and locations within the maze.
—Sir Whitney, can you hear me?
“Ah, yes.”
—Confirmed. If any unusual signs appear, we will inform you immediately.
Additionally, I had a crystal orb that allowed me to communicate with the faculty outside, who were monitoring the entire maze in real-time.
At the very least, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost inside.
“It feels like playing a dungeon RPG with a map hack enabled…”
But now that I think about it, just because I won’t get lost doesn’t mean I can let my guard down.
Because, if necessary, I would have to eliminate the monsters lurking within the dark, malevolent smoke, waiting for their opportunity.
For the teachers who had been supervising the exam earlier, low-tier monsters wouldn’t even be considered a threat.
But I had no real combat experience.
‘Well, as long as I don’t make any mistakes, there shouldn’t be a problem.’
At least the fortunate thing was that I was a white mage—one of the rarest human resources, even in the empire.
Even a low-ranked white mage like me didn’t have to worry about being taken down by summoned creatures of black mages, as long as I remained cautious.
Since my family had produced white mages—the only natural enemies of black mages—for generations, we were still treated as a noble count family, even though we were on the verge of collapse.
“Judging by how quiet these things are, have they noticed my presence?”
Sure enough, the monsters that had been loudly chattering moments ago—about souls, flesh, and other nonsense—fell eerily silent as soon as I entered.
‘…Why do I feel like a human totem?’
Even when I checked the pre-provided map, the black dots marking the monsters’ locations remained completely still.
It made me realize why white mages were so highly valued.
‘Is it possible that understanding monster language is just a standard ability for white mages?’
The thought crossed my mind, and I decided that I should ask my father once he returned.
With that in mind, I resumed walking.
“Huh?”
Around the halfway point to Sector D—the area designated for the supervisor—I noticed something strange on the map and stopped in my tracks.
‘Why does the distance between me and the monsters seem to be shrinking?’
The black dots, which indicated monster positions, were gradually converging toward where I stood.
‘…What’s going on?’
Monsters instinctively avoid white magic.
Even a small artifact imbued with white magic could ward off most low-tier monsters.
That means there’s no way these creatures would voluntarily approach me, a walking generator of white magic…
“What?”
For some reason, these things were approaching at an alarmingly fast pace.
Could they have mistaken my peculiar grayish-white magic for dark magic?
‘No, that can’t be it.’
Even though my white magic was a little strange, the elders of my family and the Lumen Ordo—the association of white mages—had officially recognized me as one of their own.
Just because my magic emitted an eerie aura, it didn’t mean monsters would flock to me like moths to a flame, right?
‘I need to contact the faculty first…’
But regardless, something unexpected was clearly happening.
I grabbed the communication crystal to pause the exam for a moment.
—Bzzzt…
However, no matter how much I shook it, all I could hear was static and distorted noise.
‘…Something’s wrong.’
Now that I thought about it, the faculty should be monitoring the maze in real-time from outside.
If such a conspicuous anomaly was occurring, they would normally intervene.
But since no action was being taken, something was definitely amiss.
‘Should I focus on securing the students’ safety first?’
Right now, in this situation, I was the only one who could ensure their safety.
‘But… all the monsters are gathering toward me?’
The real problem was that the person in the most danger inside this maze right now… was me.
—AFAFAF…
As that realization sank in, a spine-chilling noise—like the sound of insects crawling—began to echo from all directions.
“…Hoo.”
Recognizing the sound as that of low-tier monsters resembling bugs, I let out a quiet sigh and summoned my grayish-white magic to my hands.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
Finally, as I spotted grotesque figures emerging from the mist at a forked path ahead, I braced myself and prepared for battle.
“…This is actually a good opportunity to get some real combat experience.”
The grotesque monsters slowly revealed themselves through the thick smoke, threatening to overwhelm me.
But I steeled my nerves.
*****
Time passed, and several dozen minutes had gone by since the exam began.
“Um, Adele… doesn’t something feel off?”
One of the students in Group C, who had been following their leader Adele Felgrave through the maze, spoke up with an uneasy expression.
“The maze is way too quiet…”
“Now that you mention it… We haven’t seen a single monster, not even an ant.”
“That… doesn’t make sense, does it?”
As anxiety spread among the students, they began whispering among themselves.
“Hmph, that’s obvious.”
Adele, who had stopped in front of her group, shrugged her shoulders and spoke with a confident smirk, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
“It’s because I’ve been continuously casting a spell to repel monsters.”
“What!?”
“Wait, is that even possible?”
As soon as Adele nonchalantly made her statement, the students gasped in astonishment.
Enjoying the admiration, she added with a proud expression,
“Who do you think I am? And who do you think my father is?”
“Ah…”
“Knowing a simple monster repelling spell is a given, isn’t it?”
For a brief moment, the students recalled what they had learned in their academy lessons—that monsters had high resistance to magic, meaning that only white magic or physical force could be effective against them, with a few exceptions.
However, Adele’s confident demeanor, her background as the heir to a prestigious mage family, and the actual situation unfolding before their eyes made them unconsciously nod in agreement.
“Unlike that black-haired gorilla, we don’t need to foolishly fight monsters. We’re heading straight to the center of the labyrinth.”
As the realization that they might not just pass but even get a perfect score dawned on them, their eyes sparkled with excitement.
Seeing this, Adele smirked arrogantly and continued walking forward.
“After all, the condition to pass this test is simply to retrieve the token from the labyrinth’s center.”
“S-So… does that mean…?”
“As long as you follow me properly, not just the second-year record, but even the third-year overall record might be broken.”
With those words, the students—now practically her followers—rushed after her in unison, causing a satisfied smile to appear on Adele’s face.
‘I brought it just in case, but I never expected that even the academy’s magic detectors wouldn’t be able to sense it.’
Just as Adele murmured to herself, the reason the maze had suddenly fallen silent wasn’t because of some nonexistent “great monster-repelling spell.”
‘As expected, Father’s artifact is incredible. Hehe.’
It was because the anti-magic necklace, personally crafted by her father—Winston Felgrave, the most renowned and brilliant mage of the current Magic Tower—was discreetly exerting its power.
Since monsters, which were creatures summoned through black mages’ power, ultimately fell under the category of magic infused with dark energy, Adele’s assumption that the artifact would affect them had proven to be quite accurate.
‘But… the effect is too strong, and that’s a problem in itself.’
However, as Adele walked forward with light steps, her expression gradually darkened.
‘At this rate, I might draw suspicion…’
Originally, her plan was to activate the artifact just enough to weaken the spells within the maze and subtly diminish the monsters’ power without making it obvious.
But whether the artifact was too powerful or something else had gone wrong, the monsters weren’t showing up at all.
As a result, there was a high possibility that the faculty or the supervisor, Whitney, would start finding the situation suspicious.
‘I should probably lower the output a bit… huh?’
With that thought, Adele subtly reached for the necklace, intending to minimize the artifact’s output.
But as she glanced downward, her eyes widened in shock.
—Ssssshhhhh…
For some unknown reason, the necklace had turned pitch black and was emitting an ominous smoke.
“W-What is this…?”
“Hm?”
“…Ah, no, it’s nothing. I must have seen wrong.”
Startled by the unexpected situation, Adele briefly lost her composure.
However, she quickly regained her noble demeanor, muttering in an elegant tone while swiftly covering the necklace with her hand.
‘T-This has never happened before… Why now…?’
Fortunately, the thick smoke inside the maze helped conceal the eerie smoke coming from the artifact.
But that didn’t mean the problem was solved, and cold sweat started forming on Adele’s forehead.
“Ah! Look over there! The door to the central chamber!”
But before she could dwell on it any longer, a teammate who had been keeping watch ahead delivered some good news.
“There aren’t even any monsters guarding it! Adele, you’re amazing!”
“Hmph, hmm.”
Clearing her throat at the student’s excited remark, Adele feigned composure and started boosting her team’s morale.
“Well, this much is only natural. Now, if we just retrieve the token inside, we’ll all pass this exam—”
—…!
“…Huh? Everyone! Take your positions!”
A sudden tremor shook the ground beneath them, cutting off Adele’s sentence.
She swiftly commanded her teammates into a defensive stance.
“……”
Tense silence settled over them as they braced themselves.
—Woooom…
Then, within the quiet atmosphere, the thick mist in front of them began swirling and gathering in one place.
Seeing this, Adele’s lips curled into a faint smile.
‘…Looks like the gatekeeper is being summoned properly. This should help ease any suspicions.’
With that thought, she let out a small sigh of relief and began casting all the offensive spells she could use.
‘A gatekeeper should be a low- to mid-tier monster at best. No matter how high its magic resistance is, my magic—Adele Felgrave’s magic—will definitely work against it.’
With confidence, she envisioned herself effortlessly overpowering the guardian with overwhelming performance, breaking records despite the penalty imposed on her.
‘Hah, let’s see if the Lindgard family can still look down on me after this.’
But the moment the swirling mist started forming into a solid shape, revealing the entity standing before them…
“…Huh?”
Adele’s triumphant expression gradually froze in shock.
“A-Adele…?”
“T-That thing looks… weird.”
Her teammates, who had been nervously swallowing their fears behind her, felt the same unease.
—Screeeech…
Because standing before them wasn’t the insect-like low-tier monsters or beast-like mid-tier creatures they had seen in textbooks.
“…Isn’t that a high-tier monster at minimum?”
It was a headless knight clad in black armor, engraved with ominous symbols.
“E-Everyone, retreat! That’s not something you can handle—”
As the monstrous entity slowly turned its body toward them, Adele realized that something was seriously wrong and hastily gave the order to retreat, stepping back.
—Sliiing…
At that very moment, the headless knight raised its sharp blade, pointing it directly at her.
“…Ah.”
Before she could even react, the knight kicked off the ground and charged toward her.
—Whoooosh…
More precisely, it was charging toward the artifact hanging around her neck, which was still emitting dark smoke.
*****
“What the hell is going on now?”
Dripping with sweat, I slumped down in a corner of the maze to catch my breath.
Then, spotting a strange new marker on the map, I scowled.
“…Why does it look so ominous?”
In the very center of the maze, an ominous and enormous marker—something far larger and more sinister than anything I had seen before—had just appeared.
‘Does this have something to do with that tremor I felt earlier…?’
I frowned, glaring at the dark aura on the map that seemed like it would engulf everything.
Then—
“Ah.”
I spotted the blue dots within that ominous marker, and every hair on my body stood on end.
“…This is bad.”
Because those blue dots represented none other than the students taking the exam inside the maze.
‘I don’t have time to think about anything else. I need to save the students first—’
Determined to rush to their aid, I quickly got up to move.
“……”
But the moment I took in the sight before me, my legs nearly gave out, and I almost collapsed back to the ground.
—Grrrr?
—Kruoooh?
Despite eliminating them over and over, the monsters had multiplied into a massive swarm, completely surrounding me.
—Why… are you running away?
—Come on… fulfill your duty to us…
And to make things worse, these grotesque creatures, which had been relentlessly chasing me, were now bowing low to the ground and pressing their disgusting faces against me—like puppies trying to nuzzle their master.
“…What the actual hell is going on?”
For the first time ever, I longed for the comforting sight of the monitoring screen that used to separate me from these creepy creatures.
Cliche Novel 