Ten minutes later, all thirteen of them had finished climbing the stone wall.
Looking down at the massive maze below, Agil couldn't help but sigh.
"A maze this big would take a massive effort to clear from scratch."
Indeed, a labyrinth with a 500-meter radius would be hard to get through quickly, even with a map.
"So ALS is planning to conquer an unexplored maze at night?" Shivata asked in confusion.
ALS's recruitment squad leader, Okotan, replied with a bitter smile, "As far as I know... yes. Apparently, they got information about the labyrinth from a beta tester, so the guild leader is overly confident and said they'd break through it in just one hour."
"Seriously, I don't even know what to say about those guys anymore."
The group advanced along the top of the 20-meter-high stone wall, and before long, they arrived in front of the labyrinth tower.
The fifth-floor labyrinth tower was a cylindrical structure about 100 meters tall and 30 meters in diameter—modest in size.
It was now almost 4:30 in the afternoon.
In the distance, the realistic yet illusory sun was slowly descending toward the horizon, estimated to disappear completely in about two hours.
The slightly orange sunlight bathed the dark blue labyrinth tower and the people standing before it, casting a subtle, indescribable atmosphere.
Everyone took a break in front of the labyrinth tower's entrance to rest and adjust their status.
Asuna took out some homemade food and shared it with the group—ever since she had tasted Tarlan's buns on the second floor, she had been inspired to start cooking herself, and had since become quite skilled.
She brought over a basket containing some dairy-based snacks and two pork cutlets, walked up to Akimi, and handed it to him.
As for why dairy and pork cutlets—well, it wasn't because Akimi particularly liked them.
It was simply that the milk from the giant milk cow made dairy products cheap to produce, and pork was sold at a low price.
That was all.
Akimi took the basket and, after tasting a few bites, stopped.
He looked up at the top of the labyrinth tower with a serious expression.
"W-What's wrong? Does it not taste good?" Asuna asked with a bit of concern.
"No, it's delicious..." Akimi shook his head and smiled at her, then resumed eating.
Hearing Akimi's words, Asuna finally let out a breath of relief.
Now, however, Akimi was starting to feel uneasy—trying to take down a floor boss with just thirteen people was still far too difficult, and the danger level would skyrocket.
One wrong move could mean death.
Up until now, all of the floor bosses had differed from their beta test versions, either in abilities or other aspects.
On the first floor, the kobold lord's weapon change had resulted in Diabel's death.
On the second floor, the previously unheard-of Bull King had nearly cost the raid party more than ten lives.
The bosses on the third and fourth floors had also unleashed large-scale poison attacks and massive floods that hadn't been seen in the beta.
The bosses now had far higher stats than during the beta, and their unpredictable behavior made the challenge several levels harder.
The only current intel was that the fifth-floor boss looked the same as it did during the beta.
Beyond that, everything was unknown.
And the unknown is the source of fear—that's what was weighing on Akimi's mind.
To be honest, he really wanted to tell Asuna, "You don't need to go any further—leave the boss to us."
But he couldn't bring himself to say that.
Because he knew very well that Asuna's motivation to push forward now likely came from the idealistic speech he had once given her—especially the line, "Let's break through this world together."
Sigh.
After finishing the food in the basket, Akimi handed the now-empty basket back to Asuna.
He looked at her face with a complicated expression and said quietly, "Asuna…"
"Hmm?" Asuna stowed the basket back into her inventory without even looking up.
"What is it?"
Akimi opened his mouth a few times, but in the end, didn't say what he was thinking.
Instead, he simply said:
"It's nothing. Just... when we're fighting the boss later, if anything goes wrong, I want you to leave the boss room immediately. Can you promise me that?"
"Why?"
Asuna's expression was calm.
After hesitating for a long moment, Akimi finally said, "To be honest... I'm a very selfish person."
"I've always felt like the lives of those people stuck on the lower floors, waiting for this game to be cleared, had nothing to do with me. What happens to them—I didn't care."
"But you're different, Asuna."
Akimi clenched his fist, his gaze falling.
"No matter what happens, no matter the situation—I want you to survive. To me, your safety is more important than anything."
"I…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Asuna gently placed her hand over his mouth.
Akimi froze, staring at her in confusion.
Asuna's face was a little flushed, clearly caught off guard by the boy's blunt confession.
She reached out her fair, delicate hand and took hold of his slightly larger one, and said softly:
"Hmm... wasn't it you who said I should clear this game together with you? What now? Thinking of quitting halfway while the loading bar is still going? That's not a very good habit, you know."
"As for my safety—you already said you'd protect me, didn't you? As long as we beat the boss as fast as possible, I won't be in any danger, right?"
With that, Asuna even gave him a playful wink.
Akimi froze for a moment, then suddenly pulled Asuna into his arms.
Leaning close to her ear, he whispered softly:
"I understand. I'll keep my promise."
"Eh?!"
Asuna was startled by his sudden action, and then her face grew redder and redder—blushing from her neck all the way up to her forehead.
She felt like she was going to faint, and in a daze, she instinctively wrapped her arms around Akimi's waist.
"Whoa——! She hugged him back!"
Not far away, the eleven onlookers gasped in amazement.
"Next up should be the kiss, right?"
"Mm-hmm! That's how the standard sequence goes."
"Ehehe…"
Hearing the peanut gallery's comments, Asuna stammered toward Akimi:
"L-L-Let go! Y-You idiot!"
By now, her face was redder than a plate of spicy crawfish—it looked like she might start bleeding from embarrassment.
And whether it was just his imagination or not, Akimi, with his head resting against Asuna's slender neck, thought he caught a whiff of a fragrance.
(According to scientific studies, if you can smell a woman's natural scent beyond perfumes and hygiene products, it could mean your genes are biologically compatible with hers. Of course, please don't go around sniffing people—that's illegal.)
That scent was hard to describe, but oddly alluring.
Just as Akimi was about to enjoy it a little longer—
—he felt a sharp blow to his stomach.
It wasn't enough to cause any HP loss, but it was definitely a solid hit.
Maintaining her punching posture, Asuna smiled coldly and said through gritted teeth:
"Didn't I already. Tell. You. To let go?"
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