Getting Approval from Otherworld Clients - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 11.
Life is not, an egg···
A Labyrinth (4)
Confronted by a riddle, she turned back to the mural. An owl, and the figure of a goddess bearing spear and shield.
All were symbols of Athena.
‘She’s famous as the goddess of wisdom.’
So this theme was one of those that tested a hero’s intellect, then?
The sign’s inscription felt oddly familiar too.
“It’s like a riddle of the Sphinx.”
A required liberal arts course for art students: Western art history.
When the professor taught a work depicting both Sphinx and Oedipus, there was a story she’d told that lingered in memory.
“The riddle posed by the Sphinx—’What has four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?’—is famous. But in some traditions, there’s a second quiz as well.”
A second riddle the professor had offered to amuse students drowsing through the afternoon lecture.
Two sisters who give birth to each other.
“The answer was day and night···, wasn’t it?”
She remembered too that they’d been called sisters because the Greek deities corresponding to day and night were female—though weren’t they actually mother and daughter?
“But how do I input the answer? Since it won’t open when I speak, there must be another way.”
Then her eyes landed on the colorful buttons beside the door.
They ranged from the spectrum to white and black in rich variety.
‘Day is the bright time with light, night is the dark time. Light typically means white, darkness means black, so….’
That’s it.
“Maybe I have to press the white and black buttons at the same time?”
She reached her conclusion swiftly, but her fingers hesitated as she moved. What if there was a penalty for pressing the wrong answer?
But she didn’t have much time to tremble and wait.
‘I have to make a decision···!’
Acutely aware of the wall bearing down from mere inches away, she pressed the white and black buttons simultaneously.
Click!
The sound of a lock releasing rang out!
She darted through the door and crossed beyond the wall. Phew—she’d escaped becoming a thin sardine sheet.
But her relief was short-lived.
Groan-groan-groan—
The theme of testing wisdom hadn’t ended; identical murals continued beyond the door.
This was maddening—the wall she’d just escaped was already beginning to slide forward behind her···!
‘There’s still another riddle?’
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—
She ran in the opposite direction from the moving wall.
A dead end again.
This wall too had a door. But unlike before, it wasn’t just one.
Three doors: red, green, and blue.
A plaque hung above the three doors.
SOL OMNIBUS LUCET
“The sun shines upon all people···?”
Thanks to the Bента-brand Smart Watch item, though it was an unfamiliar language, she grasped its meaning instantly.
‘This time there aren’t any buttons.’
So the structure was to open the door corresponding to that inscription and escape immediately?
Groan-groan-groan-groan—
Using the hideous wall’s noise as background music, she fell into thought.
The sun, so red?
No, they might have twisted it more deliberately.
The sun’s light illuminates the earth. Thanks to that, plants grow—so green?
Or perhaps as a trap, the answer is blue, which looks furthest from the sun?
“Aaaah! I have to gamble my life on a one-in-three chance!”
The Key Ring that would return her to the Company took considerable time to activate. She couldn’t use it in this situation.
She yanked at her hair, then stopped abruptly.
A sudden thought struck her.
“Wait a moment.”
Wasn’t there a color wheel familiar to any designer? The one taught in basic theory courses on Color Theory?
“The Primary Colors of Light!”
Red, green, and blue light combined produces white light.
White light that encompasses all three colors.
The sign that read “The sun shines for all” suited the place remarkably well.
‘What if all three doors are correct?’
While she deliberated which of the three might be the answer, she realized the trap—the kind that would crush her beneath a descending wall. Perhaps Minotaur was testing whether she had the courage to open any door without hesitation, to walk through without knowing.
Ugh, that Minotaur. He has awful taste.
“Right, with that quiz earlier I pressed both buttons at once. Maybe the answer isn’t always singular…!”
Her mind had arrived at the solution, but this time she had to move her body and step into the unknown space beyond the threshold.
She worried about the penalty for pressing the wrong button, but betting her entire body felt like a far greater risk. Beads of sweat gathered on her skin.
So she drew in a deep breath and reached toward the door handle.
Whichever one her hand touched.
Whatever color it was.
Rumble—rumble—rumble!
The back of her neck scraped against the wall as it bore down on her.
Feeling the earth-packed wall against her skin, she hurled her body through the doorway.
“Gasp—!”
Thud.
She slid out as though propelled, and beyond the door came the sight of the pristine white partition wall she’d seen at the entrance of the Theme Park.
She’d returned to the blank white space, comforting in its absence of any theme.
“All doors… are the correct answer…”
The sound of the wall grinding to a halt ceased.
The tension drained from her all at once, and she lay still for a moment.
‘I can see the sky.’
Was this section of the ceiling open? Above her stretched a clear, brilliant blue. She let out a hollow laugh.
‘…Yes.’
No matter how uncertain it seemed, no matter how much doubt crept in.
Every choice I made was correct. Or rather, from the start, there were no wrong answers to choose from.
She brushed the dust from her clothes and got to her feet.
“…I’m a designer. Since I was hired for design work, I should stick to what I do best.”
They didn’t recruit me to bash strange monsters or dodge falling blades.
Did I really need to possess the fighting prowess of a werewolf?
Rumble—rumble—
The thick walls of the Labyrinth moved again, filling the space with sound.
The structure shifted periodically as the Labyrinth rearranged itself. This noise was going to give her trauma!
“…!”
The sound was ominous, but it brought an unexpectedly good result.
As the alley changed and a new passage opened, Hena’s bright, beaming face appeared before her.
In her hand, Ariadne’s Golden Thread.
“Ihyeon! Phew, I was worried it would be such a complicated Labyrinth. I’m so glad we found each other again safely!”
“Yes, Hena. Are you hurt at all?”
“Oh, nothing serious. Just a scratch, really!”
The end of the thread Hena held had split into two strands.
One pointed toward her, while the other stretched down a passage in the opposite direction.
“I followed the winding turns, but eventually, the thread led me to you!”
She explained that she’d fortunately found the thread Ihyeon had dropped.
When she asked it to find her teammates and began unraveling the end, the thread trembled as if uncertain which way to go, she said.
Then the strand split into two directions, pointing both ways at once.
“One points toward you, and the other seems to point toward our team leader!”
…Yes, paths could branch in multiple directions too.
“Should we follow where the third strand is pointing?”
“Yes, let’s go find our team leader!”
After they traveled only a short distance, the structure of the Labyrinth shifted, and through the gap between the rearranged walls, a familiar silver-haired superior appeared.
He looked somewhat tired, but was otherwise unharmed.
……She should have some leftover Wet Tissue from the Cafe in her bag. She ought to offer it to him to wipe his hands.
“Anything happen?”
Pascal rubbed his blood-stained hands on the tissue he’d been given, and asked.
No, quite a lot actually.
I nearly died twice…….
But she couldn’t complain to the team leader who’d stood and fought for his team. Instead, she made light conversation to ease the mood, and together they walked forward in comfortable silence.
“There’s nothing difficult left now!”
The remaining path unfolded smoothly.
They followed the route the Golden Thread guided them through, unraveling the Labyrinth as they went.
‘Three times falling into traps, and you start to see how they work.’
At the entrance where the theme changed, the first tile registered weight—that’s when the trap seemed to trigger.
Once I learned to skip over that tile, there were no more close calls.
“Whoa! The exit’s right there!”
Beyond the straight path loomed an arched doorway, open and clear, with the outside visible through it.
The Sea—something I’d come to miss during my time trapped in the Labyrinth. A briny salt smell drifted through the opening.
But it didn’t last.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
…The Labyrinth’s structure shifted, and what had been the exit became a solid wall.
‘Well, no rush. I can take my time.’
There was nothing urgent waiting anyway. I turned to follow the corrected path of Ariadne’s Golden Thread.
Pascal’s low muttering reached my ears.
“…I’m done with this.”
The team leader’s face remained calm as he drew back his fist.
Bang!
……The wall crumbled in an instant with a deafening crash.
Rubble and dust cascaded down. Beyond the haze, the familiar seascape appeared once more.
“Bill the Company. Blerr will cover it.”
…….
Why didn’t you stop me from going through all that trouble to retrieve the Thread?!
* * *
Back at the Company, we gathered in the Conference Room.
True—as reckless as that wolf is, he wouldn’t demolish the client’s entire Theme Park without reason.
I made an effort to forgive my superior with that thought in mind, and focused on the beam projector screen.
Branding Direction Strategy Meeting
Client Direction
– An unsolvable world of mystery
– Thrilling action and adventure
Labyrinth Grand Opening Experience
– Action through monster hunting
– Excitement from sudden trap activation
The team members discussed while watching the beam screen.
“What if we emphasize adventure and go with a branding concept of exploring ancient ruins?”
“We could also lean into the thrill factor and go the horror theme park route.”
“How about emphasizing the unsolvable Labyrinth and aiming for a sense of mystery?”
Various opinions circulated around the table.
They were all reasonable approaches that faithfully reflected the client’s requirements.
‘But if we go that direction, people under the curse will die in droves.’
Unable to escape the Labyrinth, losing their lives in brutal combat, their bodies pierced by thrilling devices….
The bull-headed prince would end up killing his own people by his own hand.
‘Is there another way?’
I searched for a solution, drawing on my experience in the Labyrinth.
A better direction—one that could persuade the client.
“…!”
A thought struck me suddenly, crystallizing in my mind.
‘…If it’s this, maybe it could work.’
All that wasted time crawling around the Labyrinth hadn’t been entirely useless after all.
I raised my hand quietly and spoke.
“What if we presented a counter-proposal to the client?”
Planning and design.
Yes—it was time for me to do what I did best.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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