My front door leads to a comic strip

The maze, fifth level.

Sangfu was panicking. She sped through the mist, and behind her she could hear the rustling sound of some kind of creature crawling rapidly on the ground.

It was like a demonic sound piercing the ears, yet there was not a trace of it in sight; it was truly terrifying.

Her throat tightened, and she tried her best to calm her breathing. Recalling her master's instructions before she left, she felt a little regretful for exploring the dungeon alone.

The white mist obscured her vision, and her pointed ears, hidden under her hood, twitched alertly as she quickly scanned her surroundings for any movement.

Suddenly, the sound behind me stopped, like a horror video suddenly pausing when a ghost appears.

"!"

Click—the sudden silence made her uneasy. She held her breath, glanced back, and her pupils contracted slightly.

A sticky, tearing sound of flesh and blood came from afar, followed by—

"Ah! What is this thing? No—"

Clearly, an unfortunate squad had met with misfortune, and Sanf's eyelids twitched.

Without hesitation, she used magic to continue running forward to avoid being caught by the monsters.

Tread-tap-

Footsteps echoed through the maze of stone walls. She ran for an unknown distance before finally stopping in a valley, panting heavily and supporting herself on her knees.

"...Have they caught up yet?"

His forehead was covered in sweat, and he licked his chapped lips. His throat felt like it was on fire.

She took out the water bottle from her waist and listened carefully to the sounds around her.

Only after confirming that the creatures had not been recovered did he breathe a sigh of relief and tilt his head back to gulp down water.

"Finally... I'm alive again."

Her voice was hoarse, as if she had survived a disaster.

Snapped.

She slumped to the ground, put the kettle aside, and with trembling fingers reached for the scroll she always carried—this was the task her master had given her.

My master is collecting all the magic that has appeared in human history.

However, since these spells are scattered throughout labyrinthine ruins around the world, they had no choice but to send their disciples out to search for them.

Sangfu stroked the scroll, exhaled, and thought to herself:

"The maze I chose is already quite remote, so why are there such powerful monsters here?"

"Logically, the fewer people there are, the weaker the monsters should be, since they can't evolve by eating people..."

A possibility occurred to her, and her knuckles tightened sharply. "Could it have climbed up from below?"

"Judging from the sound, it's probably an ant, given its tiny size..."

This is understandable; although the power of an individual is weak, the power of a group is not to be ignored.

She sighed inwardly at her bad luck, knowing she could only wait a few more years until the ants reached higher floors or were attacked by newly arrived adventurers.

My master has been collecting magic for over a thousand years, so he doesn't care about this little bit of time.

but……

"Gurgle~"

My stomach protested at just the right moment.

She dusted herself off, took out two or three gold coins from her pocket, weighed them in her palm, and her clear eyes swept over them:

"Although I can wait for them to disappear, if there's nothing to eat, I'm afraid I'll starve to death before they do."

"Do you want to go back?"

He clenched his other hand into a fist, feeling somewhat unwilling.

As the disciple of Seria, the strongest mage on the continent, it's one thing to be unable to defeat the enemy, but how can you not even find food...?

Just as she was struggling with her decision, she suddenly heard the voices of several people talking from the other side of the valley, seemingly whispering through the mist:

"Have you heard? A strange man has appeared on the 5th floor. It's said that he has an endless supply of food."

The word "?" instantly caught Sangfu's attention.

She listened intently, trying to keep her breathing as low as possible.

A strange smell drifted through the mist—like the aroma of toasted bread.

Then they heard the other end continue:

"Endless, really?"

"Of course it's true."

"Although it's unclear how he did it, every adventurer who has met him says so."

"Like cream bread, donuts, and other foods I've never heard of before."

"Butter bread?"

Sangfu frowned slightly. She had only ever heard of bread; what was this cream?

And donuts...

Her thoughts were wandering when the other person's next words instantly snapped her back to attention.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that there were two elves in that team..."

Hmm? Sangfu raised an eyebrow. Elves, or two of them?

Admittedly, even though she had little interest in food, the thought of seeing it arose in her mind at this moment.

The timing of their appearance was too coincidental, and the number of people involved was incorrect, which reminded her of her mission.

If they are from a noble family and came here for the magic, then they will inevitably become rivals in the future.

Winning the competition is fine, but what if you lose...?

No!

Thinking of the possibility of mission failure, she took a deep breath, resolutely stepped out of the fog, her steps firm, wanting to talk to that team.

"Hey, you guys."

She saw a well-equipped squad and immediately pulled down her hood, revealing her elven ears, and quickly asked about the location of the two elves.

The team members were also taken aback when they saw her.

……

the other side.

The campfire crackled, and sparks flew up from time to time.

"It's been a pleasure working with you. Here, this is your reward. Thank you for your tireless efforts in spreading the word these past few days."

Gu Yuan stood by the fire, a gentle smile on his face, and handed ten silver coins to a girl dressed in leather armor.

The girl's name is Amy, and she is the leader of a small team. It is thanks to the help of these people that the number of customers buying bread keeps increasing.

Amy smiled and took the silver coin, running her fingertips over its surface before nodding and saying:

"You're welcome. It's what we should do, especially since that bread was really delicious."

"Could the price be lowered a bit? It's too expensive."

She pouted slightly, her face showing a hint of coquettishness.

Gu Yuan smiled. He had only wanted to make quick money. Before entering the maze, he was still thinking about how to sell food to adventurers who were about to starve or die of thirst.

Once inside, it became clear that such people were extremely rare. Instead of waiting passively and gambling on probability, it's better to take the initiative.

Sure enough, in just three days, he has already sold more than 300 gold coins, which is more than an ordinary adventurer's lifetime earnings.

Seeing the somewhat perfunctory smile on Gu Yuan's face, Ai Mei couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

But then I thought that it would be unwise to spend all my money to satisfy my appetite before even leaving the maze, so I let it go.

She put away the silver coins, turned around, and prepared to continue her adventure, while also searching for treasure to make money.

Just then, the fog in front of them suddenly distorted for a moment.

Tap tap tap—!

A series of hurried footsteps sounded as they approached.

A person stumbled out of the mist, his face ashen, his lips trembling, and cried out in utter terror:

"No...something's wrong, Captain! There's a monster!"

His clothes were tattered and his body was covered in blood.

Before he could finish speaking, he staggered, as if he had lost his balance, and fell forward to the ground.

"ah--!"

He clutched his thigh, his body trembling violently, his face contorted in a grimace. Then, one by one, blood-red ants burst forth from his skin.

It's like a scene from a horror movie where flesh and blood are completely devoured.

Amy's expression froze instantly.

Sasasa—

A chilling crawling sound came from not far away, starting as a drizzle, then turning into a downpour, waves crashing, growing ever closer…