Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

The maze wasn’t hard. You could use a flood-fill algorithm to find the best pathway, but the difficult part was the walls would ruin the order at set times. Moreover, stepping on trap triggers would also bring forth danger.

"Counting down... 10, 9..."

The eerie voice rang out again.

When the timer was up, the maze will automatically change if we haven’t found the correct path.

Once the walls move, the rats below would swarm out. We’ll be stuck in this room and get bitten to death by rats.

Violette had started to panic. She was so afraid she didn’t move at all.

"5, 4, 3..."

Just as the timer was about to end, I stepped on a piece of brick in the corner.

In the shortest amount of time, I solved the equation on the upper part of the maze, then... I chose the corresponding location of the brick tile.

The walls in the room moved. However, at the same time, the other wall also opened on its own. Countless rats climbed up from below the surface.

I swiftly ducked into the next room and looked back at Violette. "Hurry up!"

But the rats were out. She was afraid... She couldn’t move.

"Ten seconds, the wall will close on its own. Hurry!" I yelled at her.

She was so afraid she was jumping all over the place. The rats on the floor went after her.

"Help me, Sophia..."

She was afraid of rats. She didn’t know where to step when the entire floor was filled with them.

In her state of panic, she accidentally stepped on another trigger. The walls started moving.

There was no time.

"Violette..."

In that exact moment, a thought flashed across my mind.

Let her fend for herself...

I watched as the wall gradually started closing. I looked at the desperate look in Violette’s eyes as she called for help.

"Damn it..."

My head throbbed for a bit and I swiftly returned to the room before the walls closed up.

The dagger in my hand pierced through a mouse’s body. I reached out to drag one off her back before killing it on the ground.

The woman held onto me as she screamed and cried relentlessly.

I felt like I was starting to become numb. I couldn’t really understand the fear she had... but I could tell that she was incredibly afraid.

I glanced on both sides. After

missing this opportunity, it’ll be very

difficult someone opened the door from the outside.

Waiting for them to arrive was less

likely to happen than killing all of

these rats, but the amount of them that were climbing out were increasing. It was impossible to kill them all...

Just as I was worn out from killing, the wall in front started slowly opening after a loud snap.

On the other side was a room full of dead jackals...

Did that lunatic treat this maze like some zoo?

As the wall gradually opened to reveal the room, I saw... Dexter covered in blood, eyes glazed over from endless killing.

My body stiffened for a split second.

I stood upright and squeezed the rat on my shoulder to death with a mouth at him but I couldn’t make a single noise.

Dexter stood amongst the dead bodies. The uniform he was wearing was drenched in red. He looked like Satan from hell-bathed in blood.

Since the night he disappeared... he should’ve been going on a non-stop killing spree.

At the sight of me, he finally gave in and fell to his knees.

The bloodstains didn’t cover his intense gaze.

He flashed me a smile and spoke with a hoarse voice,

"Sophia... They’re all dead..."

They’re all dead.

We can safely walk to the exit to the next floor.

My throat suddenly hurt like crazy. I gradually walked toward him.

That boy who should be glowing, is my boy, Dexter...

Those mice appeared reluctant to venture into different areas. Only after Violette escaped did the mice peek out from the gap.

The room’s wall abruptly shifted again, completely blocking the path we came from. The confined area became saturated with the unmistakable scent of blood.

Dexter was undoubtedly exhausted. After an entire day and night of relentless killing, he simply couldn’t hold on any longer.

"Sophia..." I approached him, and he glanced up at me.

I remained silent and simply rubbed his head. His body seemed to tense up. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his gaze at me grew increasingly intense.

"Take a rest. I’ll be right by your side for the remaining journey," I assured softly. I then turned around and glanced at the surroundings of the room.

Dexter stood up, steadying himself. He slowly walked to the wall. "I utilized the wall-tracing technique to carefully follow the edge of the solid wall all the way ahead. There are a total of 187 small rooms on the entire floor. The central position serves as the exit. Our current location is due north."

I agreed with him and sketched the entire maze’s floor plan on the wall using blood. In the last room with the mice, there was a floor plan of the maze. It felt like I had memorized it just by looking at it.

I pointed due north. "We’re here now. The maze undergoes automatic changes every ten minutes, maintaining the same overall structure. But the path to our exit is often subject to random variations.

"So, we can’t simply wait for the maze to change on its own. We must proactively search for the mechanism that unlocks the specific wall we require."

I gestured toward the center, indicating the shortest straight line between the two points. To reach it, we’d need to head all the way south to the center point.

Violette looked at me in shock. It took her a while to react, and then she asked in a low voice, "Sophia... did you memorize the floor plan of the maze on the ground just now?"

I nodded without further explanation.

Violette took a deep breath and asked once more, "We don’t have watches. Why are you so certain that it changes every ten minutes?"

"My resting heart rate is 68 beats per minute. From the first time the wall automatically moved to the second time, my heart beat 683 times. Excluding any discrepancies, it should’ve been ten minutes," I whispered while observing around cautiously.

Violette looked at me with a blank expression and remained silent for a long time. Meanwhile, Dexter was leaning against the wall, devoid of any visible emotional expression. He stood there in silence. "Indeed... The mechanism automatically activates every ten minutes in a clockwise direction." Dexter’s voice came out hoarse. He relied on automatic activation to eliminate obstacles and made his way here. "How can we determine the direction in this cage?" Violette asked, puzzled.

Everything was dark with no windows, only artificial lighting. Time was measured by the rhythm of heartbeats. How could we possibly discern direction in such a place?

"From the vents on the 18th floor, I could spot a glimmer of light emerging with the sunrise, transitioning from darkness to dawn," Dexter explained. This was how he determined the direction.

"How many days and nights have you been awake?" I inquired, furrowing my brows as I reached out to touch Dexter’s forehead.

His eyes were bloodshot and filled with exhaustion. He said with a hint of nervousness, "I’m utterly exhausted, Sophia."

"Trust me. Get some sleep," I comforted him.

Dexter gently tugged at my clothes. "Sophia..."

He didn’t seem certain that I was worried about him. He asked, "Are you concerned about me?"

"I am," I replied firmly. I was indeed worried.

After I fell, I couldn’t understand why, but I started feeling emotionally numb. Yet, I also experienced every emotion more intensely.

He was taken aback for a moment, his gaze intensifying as he looked at me. "Do you truly worry about me as much as you do for Georgie?"

He appeared extremely determined to get an answer.

I was stunned. Gazing into his eyes, I shook my head. "It’s not the same."

His Adam’s apple shifted as his gaze intensified.

"Close your eyes and rest for a while." I turned around to search for clues about the room.

Violette rushed to Dexter’s side, her eyes wide with shock. She asked in a hushed tone, "Dexter... have you noticed Sophia’s transformation? Is she truly the same Sophia we once knew?"

Dexter’s voice was hoarse but resolute. "She is. Regardless of whatever changes, it’s still her."

Violette glanced back at Dexter, her mind filled with a whirlwind of emotions.

"Are Zion and the others okay?" Violette asked quietly as she squatted on the ground.