Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

That exquisitely crafted mithril dagger alone is meticulously made.

Furthermore, it is engraved with sorcery runes that have a "cleansing" effect... making it a magic stone worth over a hundred coins.

Not to mention the other powders, miniature balances, crystal conduits, and several energy storage crystals that can be exchanged for large amounts of magic stones.

"It seems this 'Edgar von Herwin' is not only exceptionally talented, but also quite wealthy, with considerable assets. It's just... alas, what a pity!"

Wayne shook his head slightly and sighed.

The path to becoming a wizard is long and treacherous; talent and resources are certainly important.

However, luck and prudence are often the key factors in determining whether one can make it to the end.

After all, once a person dies, everything is for naught.

No matter how talented or wealthy.

Once you die, you're just a handful of dust.

Furthermore, he "snatched" all the belongings from the deceased, pocketing them all and making a fortune for himself.

Next, the last item in that pile of relics was an exquisite wooden box made of some kind of black hardwood and mithril wire.

The cover has no text.

However, when you pick it up and touch it, you can feel a faint energy fluctuation.

On the side of the wooden box, where the latch is located, there is a brass lock with a lock cylinder that resembles a woman's face.

Next, as Wayne looked around, trying to figure out how to open the wooden box.

Suddenly, the copper lock on the human face in front of him opened its eyes and shot out two beams of black light. Immediately afterward, Wayne felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows, as if two cold spikes had pierced into him.

The world before my eyes shattered, receded, and reformed in an instant. When I turned around, I found myself surrounded by a cold and dark environment.

"What?!"

Wayne was suddenly startled.

However, after a brief moment of panic, they quickly came to their senses.

"This must be... some kind of hallucination?"

It should be related to the beam of black light that just shot out from the bronze lock with the human face on the wooden box.

Could it be... some kind of mental attack effect or protective measure inherent in the wooden box?

Next, Wayne looked around and saw several pale white high walls standing in the surrounding darkness.

They are piled up around the perimeter, forming a shape similar to a three-dimensional maze, creating streets and intersections.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the street in front of the huge, high-walled maze, and disappeared in a flash.

At the same time, the sound of footsteps, "tap tap tap...", quickly faded into the distance.

"..."

Wayne's expression shifted.

Since it's some kind of protective measure on the wooden box, and it's a mental effect.

Perhaps some kind of unlocking mechanism on the wooden box is related to that figure in front of us.

Let's walk forward and see what changes occur!

So, Wayne tried to take a step forward.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the massive high walls and labyrinth surrounding them, like a resounding echo.

However, Wayne then discovered that every time he was about to find that dark figure ahead...

The other party always manages to suddenly turn a corner and disappear into the maze passage on the other side, as if playing hide-and-seek with me.

Always a few steps ahead of yourself, keeping yourself in suspense, but never straying too far.

Once you're far enough away, they slow down and wait for you, so all you can see is their back.

After searching for a while, I realized it was all in vain; I still couldn't get close enough to the other person.

Wayne stopped.

"Since it's a mental space, then the four experimental fruit flies residing in my mental mind should also be here..."

Wayne pondered.

Next, after thinking for a moment, Wayne tried to activate the [Hive] intelligence.

The four experimental fruit flies stored in his mind were retrieved.

Sure enough, buzz—!

With a buzzing sound of flapping wings, four fruit flies appeared simultaneously, hovering in the air around them.

Furthermore, one's own consciousness is divided into five parts, including one's own consciousness and the perspectives of the four fruit flies, which are then combined into a whole.

Next, Wayne gave the [experimental fruit flies] the order: Pursue!

So, the four experimental fruit flies began to fly quickly in the four directions: east, south, west, and north.

At the same time, he sprinted towards the location of the last figure he saw ahead.

Tap tap tap...

The hurried footsteps echoed through the maze, and the figure ahead, sensing that he was speeding up, also quickened his pace.

It hung in front of me, neither too close nor too far.

Next, when Wayne saw the figure ahead running towards a corner, he didn't chase after it.

Instead, it suddenly turned its feet and headed in another direction.

Meanwhile, Wayne's perspective is through four fruit flies in the other maze streets around him.

They locked onto the street where the figure had turned the corner, and saw his location and the fork in the road leading away from him.

So Wayne headed to intercept them from a different direction, constantly adjusting his course based on the images fed back by the fruit flies.

He also commanded a fruit fly to take off and hover above his head.

The view of the surrounding street corners, intersections, and dead ends is fed back and appears in one's mind.

It helps you determine the shortest and fastest "interception" route.

Finally, ahead, as the figure turned the corner again, trying to shake off Wayne behind him.

Unexpectedly, after turning a corner, Wayne, who should have been left behind at the crossroads behind, appeared.

Now it's suddenly appearing right in front of me at the corner, blocking my way.

"Is hide-and-seek fun...? Have you had enough?"

Wei En stopped in his tracks and said coldly.

At the same time, the four fruit flies around them lowered their altitude and hovered around them, their compound eyes all staring at the pale figure in front of them.

Now, the person opposite them had their head down, making it impossible to see their face. Suddenly, they let out a strange laugh and then turned around as if they wanted to run away.

"Still trying to leave?"

Wayne's mind stirred, and a thorny tongue shot out, emerging from beneath his wizard's sleeve, a long, scarlet, spiky tongue.

In an instant, the pale figure in front of him was pierced through the back of his heart from behind.

After all, this is an illusionary scene.

However, hallucinations also arise based on the memories and knowledge that exist in the human brain in reality.

Just like a mentally challenged idiot with no thought or consciousness, naturally there would be no manifestation or scene in the hallucination space.

The hallucinations that exist based on one's own consciousness involve an absolute sense of familiarity with one's own body.

Knowing that he possesses the sorcery trick "Thorn Tongue"... he can still perform it within the illusionary scene.

Next, when the sharp thorns at the end of the thorny tongue pierced the back of the figure in front of him.

It's like popping a balloon.

The other party let out a piercing scream, then turned into wisps of white smoke, dissipating into the air.

The dark space before Wayne vanished abruptly, returning him to clarity and back to the real world.

at the same time.

The wooden box in Wayne's hand has a brass lock with a human face on it, the mouth of which is open, as if it's trying to please.

Then, with a "creak," the lid of the wooden box opened, revealing what was inside.