### Chapter 190 – Prayer for the Maze (9)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 94
Current Location: Maze Hell
Sage’s Advice: 3]
—
The fifth argument of the demonic Santa was, “How can you call yourself Santa without Rudolph?”
Whoa! Are we bringing Rudolph into this? I totally lost track of the game here!
Should I have brought Perro along to assert that he’s Grandpa’s Rudolph? But what if Perro starts yanking on Grandpa’s hair in the process? What if Grandpa gets so mad he takes a swing at Perro?
…
Focus, man. The atmosphere’s going nuts, and it’s making me think wild thoughts. Without Perro, it’s a pointless discussion. Besides, controlling Perro delicately isn’t exactly easy considering ‘Songyi’ isn’t around.
Grandpa suddenly threw out a vague rebuttal.
“Hey, of course I have Rudolph.”
Han Kain: Huh?
Kim Mooksung: Do something! Right now!
Kim Ahri: Hold on, let me buy some time!
What on earth is Ahri trying to pull? Did she sense that Grandpa just winged it? Santa started laughing derisively.
“Oh! Have you run out of prepared excuses? Of course, an imposter Santa wouldn’t have the proper preparations! You should know how serious the crime of impersonating Santa is!”
“I’m telling you, I do have Rudolph! Unlike you, I’m not a magician who conjures up Rudolph on the spot! Are you saying magic is a must for Santa?”
“Then where exactly is this Rudolph of yours? If my eyes are working, I don’t see your Rudolph anywhere—”
— Vrooom! Crash!
An ’82 Ford Granada smashed through the ‘main entrance’ that Santa had just entered. The car came barreling in at breakneck speed, drifting smoothly as it knocked over the reindeer that had been peacefully posing next to Santa.
“Gwaah!”
“Come here! Come here!”
The reindeer flew through the air with a scream, while Santa shouted in despair. Who’s the real villain here?!
Amid all this chaos, Ahri was grinning cheerfully.
“Rudolph’s here!”
Now I’m lost.
“What kind of crazy nonsense is this? Who calls a car Rudolph?”
“Hey! Why can’t a car be Rudolph?”
“Do you really think that makes sense?”
“The world is advancing! It’s an age where porcelain from China gets shipped all the way to America, while old-school Santas like you are still flying around on sleighs! Today’s Rudolph is a car and an airplane!”
“Hah! You don’t even see the frightened kids, do you?”
Naturally! Up until now, the kids had been chuckling at the ramblings of the crazy old men, but once that car crashed in through the entrance, they were completely rattled!
“Seriously, what a bunch of morons! It was a mistake trying to converse with these lunatics! You don’t deserve to live! I’ll blast your heads one by one!”
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way.
“Hey! What? You can’t do this? I even brought a car!”
“Who would let something this insane happen?”
I figured I was just going to give up since Ahri and I were losing our minds, but then music started to play.
“Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer~”
Huh?
The school filled with shock, while Maze walked toward the ’82 Ford Granada with a nonchalant expression, holding something in her hand.
From young children to teachers, from hotel parties to even Santa himself, everyone’s gaze shifted to Maze as if wondering what kind of madness would happen next.
What popped out from Maze’s hand was a cherry from a Christmas cake.
“On a foggy Christmas Eve, Santa said—Rudolph’s nose is bright, so lead the sleigh tonight!”
— Wham!
The cherry hit Ahri’s nose.
“Now I’m Rudolph, right? My nose is bright now, isn’t it?”
And just like that, changes began to unfold.
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
May your days be filled with joy
And a Happy New Year!
The carol switched to Korean. The magical carol that hadn’t stopped since the moment we arrived at school began to lose its power.
Ahri’s shocked exclamation broke through.
“Did… did that work? All I had to do was stick a cherry on my nose?”
Santa’s body began to crumble like sand. A weary voice echoed.
“I… I knew the air was off since I first arrived at this school…. I never expected it to be filled with nothing but crazy brats, young and old…”
Isn’t it a little off for a child-killing Santa to say that?
But there was one person filled with joy and excitement.
“Did you see that? Did you see? When I stuck the cherry on, Santa started to die! Wow! Maybe I really am a genius, right?”
“… Yeah. That was really surprising.”
“Hahaha! I’m a genius among geniuses! Should I consider becoming an exorcist? That sounds like it would be so much fun!”
You were already doing that, by the way. A total veteran at it!
“Come on everyone! Isn’t anyone clapping for me?”
— Clap! Clap! Clap!
Bit by bit, everyone began to clap for Maze with blank expressions. Maze, with cheeks flushed with excitement, picked off the cherries from the cake and started sticking them on everyone’s noses.
I—dubbed Rudolph 4—barely kept my sanity intact while watching Santa, who looked utterly deflated as he gazed at the tiny doll that remained after his massive blow-up.
Somehow, the magical power of the carol had faded. Kids were happily laughing and chatting, and amidst it all, a girl was bursting with joy, roaring with victory.
This has to be a happy ending, right?
Slowly, the space began to collapse. The nightmare-filled Maze Hell started to vanish beyond the fabric of time.
While Ahri gazed at Maze with a teary-eyed expression of affection, Grandpa and I both wore equally exhausted looks.
“… Good job.”
“You too, buddy.”
“Your quick thinking is impressive. I never imagined you’d handle Santa’s ramblings so well.”
Just as we were basking in the victorious atmosphere and awaiting some rest, everything suddenly came to a halt.
Snowflakes flurried, carols now sounded in Korean. Amid the confusion, teachers were dumbfounded as they tried to figure out how to manage the aftermath, while the kids were having too much fun to care. Then every sound ceased and the collapsing space stopped crumbling.
Just as Grandpa and I turned to one another in confusion, a familiar yet ‘different’ voice echoed through the scene.
“You really came to save me.”
It was a hazy atmosphere. Ahri’s eyes widened in shock for a moment, while Maze approached and embraced her.
“Mom? You actually recognize me now?”
“Of course. It was odd that I hadn’t noticed until now amidst the hotel’s trickery. We look so much alike!”
This is strange.
“Mom…?”
It’s weird. For the first time, seeing Maze act ‘motherly’ sent waves of conflicting emotions through Ahri, causing her to tear up, while Grandpa and I just stared in shock.
“Wait! Are you in your ‘right mind’ right now?”
Only then did Ahri catch onto the anomaly and back away in surprise. I didn’t quite understand what had occurred in the hotel’s maze, but Maze had managed to produce Ahri while having lost her intelligence!
Up until recently, we were in a phase from Maze’s distant childhood, before Ahri was created, so it made sense she was sharp. But the Maze before us now was nothing like ‘young Maze’ or even the Maze who had lost her intelligence.
She held a smile that Maze had never shown in this location.
“It’s silly, isn’t it? A daughter surprised to see her mother is sane.”
“… It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mother.”
“Come over here.”
“…”
“Aren’t you coming?”
Eventually unable to refuse, Ahri approached. Maze gently cupped Ahri’s face with both hands, observing her closely as if examining her.
“You haven’t found the ‘Mirror Room’ yet, have you?”
“No.”
“Be careful when you find it. It’s far more dangerous than you think.”
“Wait! Can you give me more details? What about it is dangerous?”
“Gai, that ‘See you later! Everything will be fine’ you just said was kind of cool.”
“… You remember that from the first attempt?”
“It feels weird hearing you talk to me formally. It’s one of the things I dislike about Korean. It’s hard for me to describe the Mirror Room. You all haven’t found it yet. All I can offer is some advice.”
Maze seemed thoughtful for a moment before continuing.
“I wanted to achieve many purposes in that place, but in return, I lost everything.”
“Excuse me?”
Instead of answering about the Mirror Room, Maze shifted the topic.
“Ahh… I never expected to get another chance at the hotel! I truly didn’t know.”
“Who knows?”
“Oh! Indeed. Whether you use that ticket or not depends on you guys. But you will ultimately meet me again.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Instead of replying right away, Maze simply smiled. Does she have a reason to be confident?
“Our blessings aren’t given without reason. You already know that, right?”
“It’s given to those who deserve it. Honestly, I thought I chose it myself.”
“I received ‘Justice’. What does that mean?”
“…”
“You probably have heard some bad things about me. I’m not denying any of those. But just one thing I can declare.”
“What do you—”
“I’ve always wanted to save the world. Even if it meant staining my hands with blood!”
A strange light ignited in Maze’s eyes that could not be explained. Following that nostalgic smile, a flame of passion burned in her gaze.
Finally grasping it deep within my heart.
This person is neither the child Ahri knows nor the pure girl who had been together with us in this hell. She has carved out an unfathomable consciousness, navigating through countless unknown horrors on Earth.
They say blessings are bestowed upon the right people. The ‘Fortune Patron’ already told us that.
From my experiences over the past few months, it seemed Elena’s brand of justice resembled ‘Law’. Then, what would Maze’s form of justice look like if her mind was intact?
If Maze had to soil her hands with blood to save the world, then what on Earth had happened to it?
—
As the frozen world began to crack open again, Maze bore a blank stare, looking around.
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“Pain. Tragedy. Trauma. There was a time I believed I could get used to feeling these things repeating in my life. I thought even the most painful memories could feel insignificant after being repeated over and over again.”
“…”
“It turned out I was wrong. On Christmas day, all my friends and teachers died. I was the only one hiding among the corpses until the Administration Bureau rescued me.”
“You must have gone through something terrible.”
“I thought it was just something far in the past. But after falling into ‘Hell’, I realized I never truly overcame that pain. I only forced myself to forget, burying it beyond the veil of oblivion. This hell is never a place that becomes familiar with the passage of time….”
“… That sounds tough.”
“Thank you. That’s sincere. And if I’m resurrected in the future, I’ll need to choose one of the inheritances I had long ago.”
“I’ve heard that sort of thing might happen.”
“Just know that my mental state might not be the best at that time. If I’m uncertain about what to pick, insistently tell me to choose the ‘Clock’.”
“The ‘Clock’.”
In the last moment, Maze looked at Ahri and smiled brightly.
“I love you!”
And then, hell collapsed.
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