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#332. Side story 2. The girl in the marble (8)
“Who’s there?”
The owner of the voice was Noah.
Curiosity answered urgently, fearing that Noah might just pass by.
“There! There are people!”
“Sister? Did you follow me in? No, why on earth…?”
“Hey, I have some business to do in this labyrinth too!”
To be exact, I have business for you.
Because you hold everything about me.
There was a brief silence on the other side of the wall.
Then again, a voice was heard along with a sigh.
“Whew… There are no monsters or anything, but the structure is so complex that you could end up lost forever. Let’s join up!”
Rustle, rustle.
There was a sound of something being taken out and unfolded.
“I’ve been in and out of this labyrinth a few times and drawn up a map. It’s only a small area compared to the entire labyrinth, but if you keep communicating and moving, you should be able to join up.”
Map making.
Since the stability and success rate of labyrinth exploration depend on the presence or absence of a map, it could be said to be a skill that any virtuous explorer must learn.
'It's a map, it's pretty full-fledged. It's detailed even though it's just a reflection of my current characteristics.'
Curiosa was secretly impressed.
“Did that older brother come with you too?”
“Brother?”
“That white-haired brother.”
“Oh, we came together.”
“Then you probably fell into another starting point of the labyrinth. This is a place you can never escape from without the help of an expert… This is a big problem.”
Curiosa thought for a moment and then answered.
“I think he’ll be okay.”
“Aren’t you worried since we’re in a group?”
Worried? Me? That kid?
I thought about the guy's face for a moment and thought about it…
Don't worry about anything!
This was because the guy was the kind of creature that would come out alive even if thrown into a volcanic crater, saying things like, "It was fine, except it was a little warm."
'My nose is three inches long, so who cares about anyone else?'
That was Curiosa's idea.
The girl from the past and the woman from the future began to move with the goal of joining.
“If you look at your current location, you can see a corner ahead, right? Just turn right there!”
“Oh, I see it ahead. I checked.”
There were no major problems with movement.
The two sometimes drifted apart due to the structure of the maze, but they kept getting closer again, using each other's voices and maps as landmarks.
Whenever a long passageway appeared and Noah paused for a moment to give instructions, Curiossa filled the silence between the walls by asking questions she had not been able to ask in the cabin.
“Are you on good terms with your younger sibling?”
“Your little brother? Um, um, um, that’s… .”
The movement continued like that for several hours.
In fact, the real threat that would destroy the dungeon explorers was neither a terrifying monster nor a deadly trap.
It was loneliness.
An emotion that all humans naturally harbor, and which becomes more amplified the more they are chewed over.
The loneliness that comes from staying in a confined space for a long time is enough to shake the spirits of even experienced explorers.
As if a hideous peppermint chocolate cookie was crumbling in Curiosa's hands.
So helpless.
In that respect, the mirror maze, where it was difficult to even maintain a proper sense of direction due to the mirrors everywhere you looked, could be said to be the perfect place for those who entered to be mentally tortured.
And again in that regard.
“We fought a lot. We fought over food all the time, we teased each other, we hit each other.”
“Yeah, yeah, my brother is the main character.”
The conversation between the two people was having a positive effect on each other.
There was no room for loneliness between the girl and the woman.
“But when I look at it, my heart aches. He’s my only blood relative in the world, so I have to take care of him. My older sister has to take care of him. Who else would?”
I used to love my younger brother.
Curiosa felt that this point was the same as her current self.
Then suddenly I realized.
'uh…?'
Noah's image in the mirror, which had been as hazy as fog, suddenly became very clear.
Curiosa was embarrassed.
Noah in the mirror was also embarrassed.
As if to let you know once again that the object currently being reflected is Curiosa herself.
Why is the image so clear?
What variables have occurred compared to before?
‘If there is anything different from when I first entered the labyrinth…’
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If I had to choose one, there was one.
I had more conversations with Noah.
The more this happened, the more I became convinced that the 'real me' was not the 'Curiosa' of the present, but the 'Noah' of the past.
No matter how much I thought about it, that was all there was to it.
“… Sister? Are you alive and breathing well there?”
“Uh, uh, okay.”
When there was no response, a voice came straight from beyond the wall, perhaps worried.
As soon as I came to my senses, a question arose.
Why didn't I ask this?
“Is there anything reflected in that mirror?”
“Is it a mirror? Of course it reflects my image, right? Although it’s a little different from my real appearance!”
I feel like my heart is beating fast.
Curiosa continued asking questions.
“Different? How?”
“It’s me, but it’s cooler!”
“Specifically?”
“Well, isn’t it just cooler?”
"no."
“I am amazed when I see it!”
Noah's description was truly catastrophic.
As an adult, I was able to roughly picture in my head what was on the other side, using my deductive reasoning skills, which had been honed through my experience and my incomprehensible conversations with the white-haired kid.
It was a girl explorer.
He looked much more veteran-like, with more professional equipment than before and scars visible all over his tanned skin.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. Why do I look different in the mirror? Is the mirror distorting my appearance? Is it intentionally trying to confuse visitors?”
“… … .”
“There were many theories I could come up with, but in the end, my thoughts were leaning in one direction. I wondered, ‘Could it be that the person I see in the mirror is the person I think I am?’”
Curiosa felt sick to her stomach.
Because Noah's words were exactly in line with the guess he had just been making in his head.
'That's exactly what I guessed.'
Maybe Noah was just a representative of my 'present' self, with an appearance that resembled my past.
In a cabin with a familiar structure.
As if he was pretending to be an explorer, a familiar profession.
That's why I was angry.
“Ever since I was little, I dreamed of becoming an explorer who travels around the world.”
No, that can't be true.
That should never happen.
Explorer is a profession that my current 'fake self' has, which stems from my experience of being forced to travel around various places because of my doctorate.
You shouldn't be saying things like your dream of being an explorer.
“Your dream isn’t to be an explorer or something.”
"yes?"
“You must have dreamed of something else.”
“My dream was to be an explorer.”
“Don’t lie.”
“No. I’m not an explorer….”
“No, no──!”
The space shook violently.
As her shoulders rose and fell, Curiosa felt a sense of apology.
After an awkward silence, the answer came.
“I don’t know why you’re suddenly acting like that, but… it makes me feel bad when you talk like that about someone else’s dream.”
“Oh, no, that’s not it. I… .”
Unfortunately, there was no time to make excuses.
Because in that moment, the floor and walls began to rotate and the structure of the labyrinth began to change.
Kukugugugu──! Boom!
Finally the change stopped.
“Noah? Noah! What the hell!”
Noah's voice could no longer be heard from the other side of the wall, as if he had gone somewhere far away.
Curiosa was gripped by vanity.
“I didn’t mean to make you angry….”
“I think that was right.”
“Huh…? This voice….”
runt?
Curiosa walked to the mirror at the end of the passage and tapped it with her knuckles.
Tong, tong.
“Are you here?”
“That’s right. It’s on the other side.”
The structure of the labyrinth changed and the locations appeared to be touching each other.
“It looks like there was no need to worry since your voice is fine. But it seems like my thoughts were right?”
“I overheard the last part of the conversation. I was not far from them.”
Ray added,
He said he saw Curiosa's emotions reflected beyond the mirrored wall.
The emotion you were holding in your vessel was clearly anger, and it was clear that you intended to upset Noah.
“No, I don’t think so…”
“Feelings don’t lie.”
“… … .”
Curiosa kept her mouth shut.
I didn't dare to refute it.
The ability to see emotions with your eyes.
Maybe it was because the kid was the one who could understand someone's feelings much better than the person involved.
“And Noah didn’t lie either.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s not a lie that your original dream was to be an explorer.”
“What do you know?”
Curiosa flared up again.
It was a sharp remark, but Ray didn't seem to mind and didn't react much.
There was a moment of silence as he sorted out what he wanted to say, and then a voice was heard.
“Curiosa, this is a space where the memories of your past and present self are combined. I don’t have the ability to clearly distinguish which parts have been influenced by the past and which parts have been influenced by the present.”
“… … .”
“But one thing is clear: Noah and you share the same feelings.”
The emotion Ray was talking about was a purple curiosity and exploratory spirit.
“No, that can’t be….”
“You’ve always been a curious person since you were little. It’s just that the Doctor’s influence has amplified that curiosity to an abnormal degree.”
At that time, the structure of the labyrinth began to change again.
Kugugugu──!
“What the hell are you talking about─!”
“You haven’t changed at all.”
Ray's voice quickly faded away before I could ask a proper question.
thud!
The structural change is complete.
A thick silence flowed around.
'I haven't changed?'
Ray's voice rings like an echo.
Curiosa, who was left alone, stood there blankly for a while.
Then he started walking.
I felt like I had to move my body at least to get rid of all the heat in my head.
Noah's original emotion of curiosity.
It was just amplified by the doctor's remark.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand what it meant.
If there was a kid in front of me, I would stretch my cheeks and ask him what that meant.
Knock, knock, knock──
Curiosa walked endlessly.
There was no destination there.
Deep in thought, he wandered aimlessly through the labyrinth as if his every step had a purpose.
A few minutes passed.
Several dozen minutes passed.
Several hours passed.
Meanwhile.
Curiossa's resistance to Ray's words slowly dulled.
"Noah and you have the same kind of feelings."
“… … .”
widely.
The steps stopped.
Curiosa had to admit.
That he understood what was being said, but he was pretending not to understand.
'If what the little boy said was really true.'
This means that Noah's explorer behavior is not simply a reflection of my current characteristics.
Noah was naturally curious and dreamed of becoming an explorer who traveled the world.
“This is driving me crazy… Is curiosity something I’ve always had…?”
Curiosa let out a hollow laugh.