A crying girl, a headless black reaper, the black sword, and a man suddenly appearing only to die.
The moment I saw this scene, I realized it was an illusion.
I thought it might be an illusion created by reading my mind when I thought, “I want to go on an adventure!”
Though my goal was exciting and fun adventures, I didn’t mean THIS spectacular of an adventure…
I wanted an adventure made only of the enjoyable fruits of classic heroic tales, without all the hardship!
But the illusion in front of me was disappointing.
Even ignoring how unpleasant the scene was, it still didn’t make sense.
Sure, the middle-aged man from the labyrinth entrance could have randomly appeared. That’s plausible.
And sure, something cutting off the neck of the black reaper who boasts physical immunity-level toughness? Also plausible since there could be space-cut traps or monsters using spatial cuts in the labyrinth.
But the black sword and the black reaper being together? That’s just weird.
The girl is holding the black sword, but there’s another black reaper?
Why are there two black reapers?
This is way too strange!
Just as I thought that, the scene before me started distorting slightly.
The scenery, which had felt so real, began to feel increasingly thin.
And once it crossed a certain threshold of thinness, the world started collapsing.
After the world collapsed, all I could see was thick fog and a worried-looking girl standing in front of me.
“Are you okay?”
Though she clearly seemed hesitant about me earlier, now she was gripping both my hands tightly with a worried expression.
And strangely enough, her Japanese came naturally to me.
The moment I heard her Japanese, I instantly realized:
Ah, I’m still inside the illusion.
Realizing I was still trapped within the illusion, I used the power of the golden tree to peer beyond it and finally understood my current state.
On a foggy floor, amidst a bed transformed from a black reaper, lay the girl sleeping peacefully.
Next to her, my own body lay slumped against an ice-cold floor, sleeping pitifully.
Why don’t I have a bed?!
It felt like Mom treated me unfairly, which made me feel a little sad.
Moreover, the black reapers making up my armor had returned to their mini reaper forms and were patting my cheeks repeatedly.
With expressions shouting “Wake up quickly!” they kept slapping my cheeks.
For some reason, seeing those faces made me not want to wake up at all.
There doesn’t seem to be any urgent situation, so waking up slowly should be fine, right?
It’s absolutely NOT because I lack a bed.
Anyway, that’s not the point.
When I lifted my head after finishing the golden tree’s ability, the girl pulled my hand cheerfully and smiled brightly.
“Let’s go! Let’s hurry and start our adventure!”
Knowing full well it was an illusion, her words sounded to me like a promise of truly exciting adventures.
Hehe.
***
The chirping of sparrows.
The warmth of a cozy bed.
The tempting aroma of delicious toast.
These were things the girl always dreamed about.
She was gradually waking up but tried hard to stay asleep just to hold onto this happy warmth and dream a little longer.
However, despite her efforts, the sunlight piercing through the curtains forced her eyes open.
“Huh?”
Thinking opening her eyes would bring her back to the cold labyrinth, she found instead the familiar scenery she’d always dreamed of.
The code confirmed it was home.
Glancing at the calendar, it was the day after she’d been sucked into the labyrinth.
“Everything… was just a dream, huh…”
The girl let a tear roll down her cheek feeling oddly complex.
The kind dog meat man, the ramen shop auntie, and everyone else who had been nice to her—all dreams.
Well, of course.
Getting caught up in such extraordinary objects isn’t fitting for someone as ordinary as me.
The girl wiped away her tears with her arm and forced a faint smile.
“Come on down!”
At that moment, her mom’s voice calling from downstairs reached her ears.
“Yes!”
Suppressing her reluctance, she responded energetically.
The start of an ordinary yet happy daily life.
***
Following the girl’s lead, we continued walking step-by-step, and as the fog grew thinner, an unfamiliar landscape began to unfold.
Unlike anything we’d seen before, the view was wide-open.
A cold wind like a blade blew across the cliff, and beneath it, the harsh winter sea roared with waves.
Above the cliff stretched a massive bridge leading endlessly toward the opposite cliff.
And across that bridge lay a vibrant city of spring.
Even from afar, one could see green grass and colorful wildflowers growing in the city on the other side.
The sight was a stark contrast to the upside-down winter environment here.
“Wow, I had no idea such a place existed inside the labyrinth!”
Even the girl guiding me looked amazed, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as if seeing it for the first time.
As we walked slowly across the bridge toward the city, the weather began to change.
The freezing cold that could freeze seawater gradually warmed.
The sharp winds cutting across the skin softened into gentle breezes.
With every step forward, it felt like spring drew nearer.
Once we entered the spring city, an unexpected scene unfolded.
Wild grasses swayed gently in the breeze along the streets, and the white buildings basked warmly under the spring sun.
Many people wandered around the blooming city, their laughter unrestrained.
It was an ordinary medieval fantasy city.
Yet unmistakably strange elements were scattered throughout.
First, the people here were unusual.
“Adventurer! Have you chosen your lodging yet? There’s a really quiet and clean inn—how about it?”
Even the person trying to lure me in stood out.
Every single person in this city was extremely short, like children.
No matter where I looked, only people either slightly shorter or taller than me filled the area.
Thanks to this, my height of about 1 meter seemed perfectly normal.
What was strange wasn’t just their appearances.
Their language use was odd too.
From Korean, Japanese, English, German, French… languages I could understand to ones I couldn’t, they all poured out somehow, yet I could hear and comprehend them effortlessly.
It was much more comfortable than guessing emotions based on what people said.
While being dragged along by the woman advertising the inn, I couldn’t help but smile, thinking this would surely be an interesting adventure.
***
An arrow shot skyward pierced deep into the torso of the White Tiger-patterned Tyrannosaurus.
The tyrannosaur let out a cry of pain, curling its body and lowering its head.
“Now’s our chance!”
The elf archer, with pointed ears and standing at about 120 cm, shouted loudly toward me.
Hearing his call, I leaped high into the air and drove dual swords into the center of the tyrannosaur’s head.
At that moment, the tyrannosaur, having expended all its strength, collapsed onto the ground.
Thus fell the Labyrinth Floor 97 Boss, the White Tiger-patterned Tyrannosaurus.
Somehow, I had already reached the 97th floor of this illusory labyrinth.
Everything about this illusory world suited me perfectly.
The silent dual swordsman who never spoke became famous as the “Silent Dual Swordsman.”
In the city, statues modeled after me as the “Silent Dual Swordsman” were erected.
Within the city’s restaurants, only pudding, marshmallows, and pudding-like delicacies were sold.
Boss monsters that appeared were only the tyrannosaurs I loved, and objectively, the coolest ones.
My fellow adventurers trusted me so much they followed my instructions without question.
Even when I pulled pranks like tipping chairs or tripping people, it was the same.
“Mom!”
It was such a perfect labyrinth…
“Mom!!”
Such a truly happy and ideal labyrinth…
“Mom, wake up!”
An urgent cry from the black reaper rang out.
Without even wiping away the tears streaming down my face, I simply raised my hands toward the sky.
“Why are you doing this?”
Our party’s smallest member, the wizard standing at only 80 cm, looked at me worriedly.
“Farewell, my own happy T-rex adventure.”
With that, I tore apart the empty air.
The pleasant dream shattered, revealing not a tyrannosaur but the labyrinth boss before my eyes.
***
PAPAPAPAK!
Black arrows rained down from the sky at supersonic speed.
Solid stone floors exploded as if hit by bombs.
BEEEEP!
But from the black arrows came an urgent “beep” sound.
Though these arrows possessed enough force to comically pierce through anything without physical immunity, they were useless since they missed.
The giant spider’s body, transparent like flawless glass, loomed large.
On top of the spider’s body hung the upper half of a human with skin whiter than fresh snow.
White tendrils extending from the human’s body grotesquely pierced into the spider’s body.
DING.
A clear bell sound rang out from the staff held by the spider-human hybrid.
An illusion-inducing bell sound affecting both objects and humans alike.
Among the black reapers fiercely facing off against the spider-human, some wavered and collapsed.
They had been lured into a fake reaper garden where Mom played no tricks and remained endlessly kind.
The already insufficient number of black reapers to handle the spider-human dwindled further.
There’s no way we can stop this spider-human anymore!
The black reapers turned their heads to look toward Mom, who remained lying down.
TCHITCHI.
One black reaper anxiously called out to Mom while tapping her cheeks, but she wouldn’t wake up.
[She cannot wake up.]
[Already ten years have passed within the dream.]
[Anyone indulging so long in comforting illusions will never return.]
The spider-human mocked the black reapers telepathically without speaking.
[And even if she does wake up, your master, enslaved by desire, will never defeat me.]
Ignoring the mockery, the black reapers steadfastly guarded the girl.
At that moment, the labyrinth sky suddenly split open, revealing a wall made of sand behind it.
Though the traces disappeared instantly, the space maintaining the second floor of the labyrinth had been torn apart.
[Could this be the power of the Eye?]
Startled, the spider-human looked toward the gray reaper lying on the floor with hands extended toward the sky.
Those hands began to turn black, spreading an ominous aura centered around the gray reaper.
Anyone touched by this aura would be overwhelmed by profound sadness and longing, swept away by an overwhelming emotional storm.
Before long, the figure covered entirely in black rose slowly from the ground, exuding a fearsome atmosphere that could terrify anyone who saw it.
Seeing the monstrous figure with a halo above its head and red flames flowing like tears, the spider-human frantically shook the bell.
DING DING DING.
But the horrifying creature shedding fiery tears had no reaction to the bell.
[Eh… How?]
With white flames engulfing its entire body, the spider-human panicked and wildly shook the bell, but the black monster merely approached step by step.
DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING.
And then, crushed by the enraged monster, it was compressed into a tiny tyrannosaur shape.
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/darkmtl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")
