Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength-Chapter 1211 - 1205: Rules

"Ronald, it's a trap!"

After the initial shock, Patricia was the first to react, immediately starting to carefully observe her surroundings.

Both she and Ronald had some experience.

As time turned to night, the maze in Joluno City indeed differed from the daytime, with plenty of such variable structures.

Ronald advised:

"Let's make sure we don't separate and move cautiously."

Having said this sole requirement, Ronald led Patricia toward the other end of the corridor.

He wanted to verify a key element.

Did the maze change according to the actual construction of the buildings, and then alter internally with mechanisms? Or did it ignore the conditions of reality, like a magical labyrinth from a fairy tale that didn't adhere to real-world logic?

This point was crucial for the subsequent strategy and needed to be thoroughly investigated before proceeding.

"I hope it's just a difference in physical structure..."

Ronald whispered a prayer as he led Patricia to the end of the corridor.

He tried pushing open the door and found that, like the others, it wasn't locked. This seemed to be an attribute of the maze itself.

However, behind the open door, Ronald saw not the night street he hoped for, but an indoor corridor strikingly similar to the one behind them.

"..."

"The corridor we came through absolutely couldn't be longer than this."

Ronald remained silent, while Patricia bluntly pointed out their current predicament.

The fact was —

If the maze strictly followed the physical structure of the building, then reaching the position where Ronald and Patricia now stood should have revealed a street view of the night, not an entirely new corridor.

Could it be a matter of visual deception at an angle, or was there already an issue with the spiral staircase just now?

Ronald pondered various other possibilities.

Unfortunately, he had been tremendously cautious throughout the maze exploration, and neither scenario seemed to have occurred.

...

Since this was already the reality, then bravely embrace the challenge!

Ronald wasn't completely discouraged by the dismal situation.

On the contrary, he quickly adjusted his mindset and encouraged the girl beside him with a similarly invigorating tone:

"Patricia, we seem to be trapped in a magical maze right now. Pay attention to every element around us and proceed with caution. We will definitely break through!"

The emotions of people are contagious.

Ronald spoke with such an enthusiastic tone that the swordsman felt his attitude and naturally smiled:

"Of course, we can definitely solve this."

"After all, even the Berlonwich station was something we solved together, wasn't it?"

"..."

After some mutual encouragement, Ronald and Patricia immediately took action.

Even though the Gold Feather maze was evidently one that didn't adhere to physical planning, they traversed it boldly, memorizing every node and corresponding change.

Ronald and Patricia cooperated flawlessly.

Ronald, cautious and meticulous, led the team with a rigorous exploration style, while Patricia's analytical skills, supported by her powerful memory, shone through.

The swordsman girl's family legacy was closely related to mathematics.

With years of training, she naturally developed a keen analytical ability and logical processing skills. Thus, handling the chaotic labyrinth data was a breeze for her!

After more than an hour of effort,

Ronald and Patricia arrived at a spiral stairway exit in the maze.

It was at this moment that Patricia consolidated all the data Ronald had discovered and finally tentatively figured out a vague pattern of changes.

"Ronald, I think I have a bit of a grasp now!"

Ronald immediately stopped, his face showing undisguised excitement:

"Patricia, what do you think the odds are?"

The swordsman girl smiled slightly, taking a step forward to lead, shifting Ronald's previous guiding role:

"No matter the odds, we have to try to know the result."

Without hesitation, Ronald relinquished his leadership role:

"In that case, you lead the way, and I'll focus on observing our surroundings."

The roles of Ronald and Patricia switched, and as the swordsman led the way, she showed no hesitation, each step forward imbued with her confidence.

And so, Ronald was led through several corridors and up and down spiral staircases with odd operations.

Upon taking the spiral staircase one last time,

Patricia suddenly stopped and then said to Ronald:

"Ronald, if my calculations are correct, going up this time we should see a corridor with branching paths."

As she finished her words, Patricia continued upwards, and Ronald nodded and immediately followed:

"If that's the case, then I look forward to it."

"..."

All the spiral staircases in the Gold Feather maze were confirmed to have uniform lengths by Ronald and Patricia during their exploration.

However, this time walking on the stairs,

Due to the anticipation and anxiety in their hearts, both Ronald and Patricia couldn't help but feel like the road became long, taking almost twice as much time as before!

Yet, the exit was soon reached even so.

As the lead, Patricia took a deep breath after leaving the spiral staircase before reaching out to push open the door in front of her.

Ka ka ka—

The door opened with a gentle push.

And what unfolded before them was a corridor with branching paths.

Patricia's prediction was absolutely correct!

In other words, they successfully held the key to navigating this maze!

"We made it, I was right after all!"

Among the two, it was clear that Patricia was more excited.

The sense of achievement from having her hard-earned calculations match reality brought her more joy than defeating enemies in battle. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Even in the whimsical backdrop of this labyrinth storybook, Patricia exhibited a girlish glee akin to receiving a gift.

Ronald refrained from interrupting Patricia in her rare moment of joyous satisfaction.

It wasn't until her excitement settled that he approached to offer congratulations:

"Congratulations, Patricia, you were right."

"So now, can you enlighten me?"

"Of course!" Patricia nodded happily and then explained, "The change in this maze follows clear rules, derived precisely from the maze itself."

"Each time we use the spiral staircase, it's like typing on a typewriter with keys corresponding to the maze's final transformation. So by frequently moving up and down the staircase, we can control the maze's structure indirectly!"

After hearing Patricia's description of the maze rules, Ronald listened attentively.

Even though these rules seemed to have room for optimization,

the objective in navigating the maze wasn't to pursue an absolutely simplified formula, as long as they could achieve their goal.

So, Ronald decisively concluded:

"Time is of the essence, let's get started right away!"