### Chapter 188 – Prayer for the Maze (7)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 93
Current Location: Maze Hell
Sage’s Advice: 3]
—
While I was explaining the realization I had to the old man, who was puzzled about why I blocked something, I said,
“The Santa we just saw was a mere illusion. He had no physical presence.”
Pointing to the pristine, untouched snow, the old man immediately understood.
“There aren’t any footprints. Is that Santa some sort of master of… sand-less footprints?”
“Uh?”
“Never mind. It just felt so real that it’s hard to believe it was an illusion.”
“It’s not just about the footprints! There was no ‘presence’ at all. When a person moves, you’d naturally hear the rustle of clothes, the sounds of limbs bending — but none of that was felt.”
Just then, Eunsol returned, curious about what had transpired.
“Sounds rustling from clothes? When did your hearing become so good? You had no problem earlier, yet now you can even hear a reindeer’s breath 10 meters away while Christmas carols blare everywhere! What are you, a rabbit?”
I had no comeback. Even my own senses were baffling to comprehend amidst the carol noise. Eunsol simply said, “Good hearing?” but what I felt went beyond just a heightened sense of hearing.
Once I detected that unusual faint sound, it was like when you sense your heartbeat in a still room — my whole being tuned into that minute noise.
I felt like I’d had similar experiences a few times…
Just then, my party led me to the back of the school where I had regained my consciousness.
“This looks just like before — just trash piles to my eyes.”
“Actually, right now, it is trash. It’s the remnants of a ritual we don’t even know when occurred.”
“Why are we back? To smash it?”
“That’s one objective, but I want to see if we can uncover something first.”
“How about using advice? You know how it goes—”
“When information is lacking, it tends to yield absurd answers, right? I know that, but let’s give it a shot.”
After a brief pause, I settled on an appropriate question.
[Advice: 3 → 2]
“Is there any information to gather from this ritual?”
[It’s all in the past. Move forward 6 steps.]
“…”
“What’s with that expression? Did you get a weird answer?”
“It says it’s all in the past. It doesn’t seem to mean much now, whether we smash it or not. And it says to move forward 6 steps?”
“Then let’s walk.”
“Uh… walking means I’ll have to smash all this debris?”
“According to the Owl, it’s an already-finished ritual, right? So it shouldn’t be a problem if it’s destroyed.”
I followed the instruction and started walking.
One step, two steps, and then six steps—
— Thud!
“What’s this?”
The moment my foot landed, something material revealed itself amidst the crumbling trash, like sand collapsing. It was a small metal plate inscribed with a bizarre phrase.
‘A reward for a good boy and a punishment for a bad boy’
“I guess this is some kind of magical phrase since it’s written in English?”
Eunsol looked as though she didn’t grasp the situation at all.
“‘Reward for the good, punishment for the bad.’ That’s a phrase a slightly crazy Santa would love. So, what’s the point?”
“I think we need to use advice again.”
The old man behind me chimed in.
“Don’t ask about the ritual; ask about Santa himself. It looks like the ritual is already long over and has no meaning now, so it’s ridiculous to ask about it anymore.”
“Using advice right before a fight makes me nervous, but we won’t be fighting before midnight, right?”
“Probably not. It’s obvious that Santa will make his entrance at midnight, and your advice can be used again then, so don’t worry about it.”
Eunsol offered a different perspective.
“Just in case, keep one for later. Other questions might arise, and we can’t be sure all risks were revealed during the first attempt. What if a cannibal reindeer shows up while we’re heading back?”
“Cannibal reindeer?”
“Baa!”
Just in case, I decided to keep one for later. There might be a time when it becomes handy again.
[Advice: 2 → 1]
“Give me a hint for an appropriate response to Santa.”
[This place is not a curse room. Those who fall into hell must save themselves.]
… I was momentarily speechless. As I conveyed the message, both Eunsol and the old man also gaped in surprise.
Thinking about it, it’s obvious, but I had unconsciously overlooked it. This place is not a curse room! The way to solve it is also likely different from that of a curse room.
Eunsol muttered, as if pondering things over.
“I get what you’re saying. Since it’s not a curse room, we need a different approach.”
“That ‘different approach’ seems to be indicated in the next line: ‘Those who fall into hell must save themselves.’ That’s quite a detailed message for an Owl.”
“I get that too. As you said, Kain, the Owl was surprisingly straightforward. Those who fell into hell are the Maze, and the Maze must save itself. Of course, the Maze alone can’t do it; we’ll need to help…”
The old man synthesized everyone’s thoughts in one go.
“So what’s the plan? Are you telling the Maze to take down Santa?”
“Unless the Maze has about ten hidden superpowers, that’s not the plan.”
“This is becoming a headache. At first, we thought we had to catch Santa before Christmas, only to find out he’s just an illusion before Christmas. Next, we thought we had to break the ritual, but it’s already over and only debris is left. So Santa’s officially going to show up on Christmas, huh?”
Looking at the gathered information, I can’t deny that statement. After all, we hadn’t found a way to stop Santa from appearing on Christmas. Ultimately, it meant our only option would be to deal with him once he’s already there.
In the midst of this chaotic atmosphere, I looked at the clock and realized it was already nearing 7 PM.
“There’s less than 5 hours left until Santa shows up.”
“…”
“Rather than just thinking and pondering, let’s act based on what we’ve uncovered.”
“What’re you talking about? We haven’t figured out a thing; what should we do?”
“Why not? We realized something important. It’s telling us to involve the Maze!”
“Ah?”
“This.”
“Hmm?”
“Take this too. The Maze might recognize it.”
I brought out the bizarre metal piece I found at the center of the ritual, along with that phrasing Santa would probably like.
‘A reward for a good boy and a punishment for a bad boy’
Midnight was fast approaching. I felt my heart racing a bit. Now the challenge was how to explain this to the Maze.
… Then an idea struck me. Why is Santa coming to the school?
To deliver presents!
—
Soon it would be time for Santa to make his appearance. The atmosphere on the first floor felt distinctly different from yesterday. While the kids were once brimming with excitement about the presents Santa would bring, today they looked thrilled with the thought of pulling ‘fun pranks.’
Would our plan work out smoothly?
I felt strongly that ‘this direction’ might be the solution. We couldn’t find a way to stop Santa before he appeared. Santa is a tricky being to deal with in terms of strength. Ultimately, in this hell, the Maze must save itself.
Having combined all these elements, I concluded that I had to creatively break the unusual situation of ‘the Devil Santa appearing on Christmas’ without fighting him.
“Kain, Kain, Kain, Kain!”
“Maze? What’s up?”
“… Do you think it’ll work out? I’m a bit scared.”
Most of the boys and girls on the first floor were now perceiving the situation merely as a fun prank. If the kids began to fear Santa, it would be difficult to carry out the plan normally, so my only option was to lie. I managed to persuade the Maze, who holds absolute influence among the children, so I was able to keep things under control.
However, the only girl among the kids that vaguely understood our current situation, Maze, couldn’t hide her anxiety.
“It’ll work out.”
If it doesn’t, we’ll just have to figure it out again.
“It’s just… so weird! The idea that Santa might suddenly kill us all.”
When I wrote down my last advice to reassure Maze, the Owl informed me.
[Seeing is believing.]
When it comes to convincing someone about the existence of supernatural phenomena, showing them the power once is far more certain than a thousand words. No matter how much I had babbled for 30 minutes, Maze would’ve just reacted with, “Are you crazy?” but after one moment of teleportation, she was utterly convinced.
Once again, I swung the pen a bit and wrote ‘don’t worry’ in Maze’s view, and she calmed down.
[Date: Day 93] → [Date: Day 94]
…
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way.
Oh! What fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
—
The carols began to play.
A little while ago, I had told Maze not to worry, but deep down, I could feel an agonizing fear creeping in.
— Thud!
Santa entered. Simultaneously, the kids shouted.
“Merry Christmas!”
Santa’s eyes widened, then he beamed and exclaimed.
“Merry Christmas! Thank you all so much! It seems there are many good children here. I’m truly delighted! But…”
Santa’s mouth stretched across his face. While the kids at the back tried to pass it off as a hallucination, I could feel the shock from the kids in the front row.
“But Christmas presents are only for good kids. No one can know for sure if you’ll all be good, right? So—”
In that moment, the Maze stood up.
“Santa! We’ve already gotten our presents! Hey, everyone!”
As she spoke those words, the kids pulled out boxes they had hidden behind them. From those boxes emerged all sorts of gifts that the school’s teachers had been running around to collect over the past few hours!
For the first time since entering the Maze, Santa’s expression shifted to one of bewilderment. Now it was time for the finishing blow.
“Hey! Who are you lot? My kids have already gotten their presents — isn’t it a bit too late for you to show up?”
In contrast to the monstrous Santa, whose red robe was soft and his massive gift sack in hand, the kind old man exuded warmth.
And so, the Santa of Mooksung made his appearance.
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