NoveLight ™
The purple doll, a monster tasked with testing challengers, stood still with its eyes closed, waiting for the next contender.
After a while, the heavy door began to open slowly with a grinding sound. This time, the challenger seemed to possess considerable strength, pushing the heavy door aside with ease.
The moment the doll saw the challenger who had entered, it sensed that something was gravely wrong.
A figure just over a meter tall, wielding two short swords, with a gait utterly unprepared for combat.
Despite this seemingly harmless appearance, the yellow glow emanating from the eyes within the helmet triggered an unfamiliar emotion within the doll—one that humans call "fear," as if it were staring directly at death.
Desperately, the doll scratched at the wall, attempting to flee even though it knew escape was impossible. In the blink of an eye, as the small figure clenched its fist, the doll’s body shattered into pieces.
The purple doll was relieved, even though it had allowed the challenger to bypass the trial in an unconventional manner. No longer did it have to confront that terrifying creature.
Time passed, and the pieces of the shattered doll and mirror reassembled. The room returned to its perfect state, ready to challenge the next contender.
As the door opened again with a familiar grinding sound, an ominous footstep mingled with it.
Tap-tap.
Light, carefree footsteps.
The nightmare was starting again.
The purple doll, now sprouting grotesque eyes all over its body, charged at the challenger, swinging its sharp claws. But it no longer felt fear, only a desperate will to fight.
The Black Reaper armor, in automatic hunting mode, unleashed a series of elegant slashes as it retreated, weaving through the boss room like a choreographed dance. Eventually, I "accidentally" discovered a mirror in the room's corner and shattered it, ending the battle.
With the mirror destroyed, the purple doll staggered back to its starting position, where it slumped down, closed its eyes, and began to dissolve into dust, as if conveying an overwhelming sense of resignation.
Standing in the center of the now ordinary stone chamber, I reviewed my checklist.
Gray Reaper’s First Boss Room Scenario:
Perfect!
It was thrilling to experience such an intense boss fight, even if the doll seemed desperate to escape. Initially, I was disappointed; my first labyrinth boss battle ended with a fearful retreat. I almost considered unleashing the Mini Reaper Garden to wipe everything out.
But just before I summoned it, I realized I could simply go back and redo it—like saving and reloading in a game.
I attacked, and attacked, and attacked, until eventually, the doll understood my intent. It was a strange boss Object, one that didn’t seem to die even after shattering repeatedly.
The destruction condition visible to me was different: "Destroy the Core of the First Floor Boss."
The mirror wasn’t the core, so I sought it out with my “Shining Antennae” ability and smashed it, allowing me to proceed to the next floor.
The middle-aged man, whom the girl called “Dog Meat Guy,” wandered the first floor of the labyrinth frantically.
Even now, he could hear her bright voice calling out to him, “Dog Meat Guy!” as if she were right there beside him. It was a strange nickname, one she’d given him after he’d tried to convince her to turn back.
The nickname suited him in a way, as he had once abandoned the labyrinth out of fear. But now, as he searched, he found no trace of the girl.
He had left a carefully crafted map of the labyrinth disguised as a trinket at the general store, so she should have had no trouble navigating. But now, it was a crisis.
The green torch flames were a phenomenon he’d never seen before, and the blade-legged swallows were a dangerous addition to the first floor. It was as if the labyrinth had shifted against them, with bodies torn to pieces by swallows and campsites devoid of people.
Yet, there was no sign of the girl.
Then he found it: fragments of a rugged bag he had disguised as old to avoid tempting greedy hands. It was the bag he’d given her, torn apart.
He glanced at the ceiling, realizing he was in a room marked as dangerous on the map.
“Did she lose the map?” he muttered, though relieved to see no sign of injury. The remains of a mangled wolf lay nearby—likely killed by a new, more dangerous monster.
Checking his map, he saw that only the boss room remained unexplored. Grim-faced, he pushed the door open.
Inside, he found not a fearsome boss but an ordinary stone chamber, with a staircase descending to the second floor as if the boss fight had already concluded.
Warily, he entered, only to find a misshapen doll in the center, exuding an aura of resentment as if to cry, “You tricked me!”
“Is this the boss? What’s going on?” he muttered, bewildered at the sight of a boss that could not permanently die. Green torch flames and a boss that stayed dead—everything he knew was unraveling.
Having completed the first floor successfully, I descended to the second floor, feeling the space around me warp with each step.
Upon reaching the bottom, I was transported to a wholly different environment. Intense cold seeped in through the helmet’s slits, and snowflakes rose from the ground into the sky.
There was no time to marvel at the strange landscape.
Far away, a Mini Reaper was in distress. I could feel its disjointed thoughts.
“Mama!”
The Black Reapers were also agitated, begging me to hurry. Their little hands popped out from my helmet, tapping my face urgently.
“Enough!”
I pushed them back, then dashed across the snowy plain, the screams of agony growing louder.
There, I found a massive Black Reaper tormenting a cluster of spiders, all while clutching a human inside it.
The Reaper had elongated limbs, sharp teeth, and eyes that looked like they’d been crudely gouged. Flames burned a corpse-like white.
The Reaper was feeding on the spiders' emotions—something I’d never been able to do myself, though I felt no envy. Judging by the grotesque display, their emotions were bitter and unpleasant.
As I watched, the Reaper's body began to bloat, an allergic reaction from ingesting the Object’s emotions.
"That's bad for you! Stop eating that!"
At my command, the Black Reaper turned and, not recognizing me, swung its giant arm to attack.
A fight ensued between the monstrous Reaper and my armor. Though our attacks were powerful, our defenses were so strong that neither could land a decisive blow.
How should I handle this rebellious Reaper?
I didn’t want to use my spatial-cutting powers on it, so I decided to bind it instead.
“Purge!”
The armor scattered like a scene from a mecha anime, and I landed on the ground as the Reaper swung its massive fist down at me. I grabbed space itself and held it still.
Frozen mid-attack, the Reaper was now within my control.
I warped space, lowering its head to my eye level, and pushed my intent into it.
“I am your mother!”
Flooding it with positive emotions, the Reaper seemed to recognize me, letting out a startled cry.
“It can’t be!” its gaze seemed to say, as its body cracked and fissured. The white flames consumed it, causing it to explode into snow-like ashes.
In the center of the explosion, the unconscious girl and the Black Reaper lay holding each other tightly, finally at peace.