Avoid 19-rated content

Chapter 68

I spat out lines once again. It seemed like this would continue until Andrea actually hugged me. In that case, it was better to quickly hug and end it before the system created more embarrassing moments.

I opened my arms towards Andrea and tried to convey my intention with shimmering eyes due to tears.

'Hurry up and hug me quickly, baby.'

But something surprising happened. Andrea took a step back!

.....Andrea?

"Umm, Del, I, I'll go ahead. I'll gather the herbs."

"Andrea!"

He quickly walked away and soon disappeared into the maze. Left alone, I tried to understand what had just happened.

"He ran away, right? Huh? Words are coming out?"

As the target disappeared, the forced lines that were coming out also stopped. I moved my lips a few times, then let out a long sigh.

"Ha...Living life is so hard..."

***

It was surprisingly easy to escape from the maze. With a large hourglass floating in the sky, there was no chance of losing my way. It meant that Andrea's exaggerated fear of the maze was nonsense. I burst into laughter thinking about Andrea trembling because he was afraid of the maze and then running away when I asked him to hug me. It was ridiculous how he acted so fearfully and then abruptly changed his demeanor when I asked for a hug.

When I came out of the maze I noticed that about one-third of the hourglass sand remained. Other apprentice magicians were wandering around the magical plant area, but Andrea seemed to be heading towards an area where there were planted flowers and fruit trees. After a moment of contemplation, I decided to walk towards Andrea.

However, as soon as Andrea came into view, my mouth moved on its own.

"Andudea! Hug me tightly, make it okay," (Andrea's name in a cute way)

This line seemed to repeat until Andrea hugged me. I shouted as I ran towards him, and he, startled, started running at full speed. Perhaps due to his exceptional physical abilities, he quickly distanced himself from me. As Andrea moved away, the lines stopped coming out of my mouth.

At this point, it would be better if Andrea just hugged me once. I wouldn't want to flail my arms around and utter such words in front of others...

Anyway, with Andrea now gone and nowhere to be seen, I changed my direction towards the magical plant area. Even from a distance, I could see grotesque and strange-looking plants. There were giant fly traps, flowers with terrifying teeth, trees with stems made of snake scales, and reed grass that shimmered with rainbow colors whenever the wind blew. I had no intention of lifting my foot in that direction.

Maybe I should just go somewhere else...

After a moment of contemplation, I headed towards the area where fairies and spirits were flying around. It was an exceptionally beautiful and ordinary garden, except for the fact that fairies and various colored lights fluttered instead of butterflies. A beam of light gently tapped my nose as it passed by. It seemed to be a spirit. They say that if you resonate with mana, you can see spirits, but since my mana was from another world, it seemed I could only perceive them as light.

"Hello, fairy friends, spirit friends."

I greeted them politely and entered the area. Tiny fairy beings with faces full of curiosity circled around me.

"What are you?"
"What are you?"

The fairies repeated the same words, playfully echoing each other.

"Do you happen to have any poisonous plants here? I need to pick five poisonous plants."

"Poisonous plants?"
"Five poisonous plants!"

The fairies chuckled as if they had heard a funny story.

"This guy's mana is unique!"
"Really unique!"
"Fascinating!"

The fairies approached me, clapping their hands. Up close, the fairies were incredibly beautiful, but none of them had teeth. The soft pink gums visible in their smiling mouths seemed a bit strange. Perhaps they didn't have teeth because they didn't need to chew and consume anything. At least they won't bite me. I tried to think positively as I bowed and greeted them.

"Please. Could you tell me where I can find some poisonous plants?"

"There are no poisonous plants here! We feed on the vitality of plants, and eating the vitality of poisonous plants gives us stomachaches!"

"Stomachaches hurt!"
"No poisonous plants here!"

The fairies shouted excitedly.

"I see. Then I will take my leave."

As I nonchalantly greeted them again, the fairies' wing flapping became faster.

"Where are you going?"
"Why are you leaving?"
"We're curious about your mana!"
"Curious!"

Several fairies' wing-flapping sounds merged into one giant sound.

Wooong...

It sounded like a buzzing wasp, and a sense of dread crept over me.

"Let's try eating mana!"
"Eat it~"
"Fascinating!"
"Curious!"

A cold sweat ran down my back. Come to think of it, they mentioned that human mana is a component of vitality. Since fairies live on vitality, it seemed plausible that they could consume human mana as well.

"Uh, fairy friends...? I need to go."

"Don't leave!"
"Where are you going?"
"Give us your mana!"

The toothless fairies rushed towards me, mouths wide open. There was no separate horror movie. Without the luxury of screaming, I turned around and ran. Fortunately, the entrance I had come through wasn't far. However, something strange happened. The entrance, engulfed in a dazzling light, completely disappeared.

"W-what!"

Instead of the door that was there before, a tall and dense bush blocked my path like a wall. The fairies surrounded me, making a buzzing sound as they flapped their wings, shouting loudly.

"The door has changed."
"The door reflects the spirits' hearts."
"Spirits are curious about your mana too."
"Can't you see the spirits?"
"Mana is different!"

It seemed both fairies and spirits were highly interested in my mana. What kind of terrifying creatures gather in front of a magical garden like this? I glanced at the hourglass floating in the sky. The sand was almost gone. Even if the time limit expired, Heron or Cain would likely come looking for me. So, I just needed to endure until then.

System!

I tried calling the system that had similar mana to mine that could help me, but the system remained silent. Yeah, this fucking gay game had no other interest in anything other then me off my clothes and getting eaten. I had to overcome this challenge alone. I took a deep breath.

"Hey, fairy friends, spirit friends!"

I shouted loudly towards the fairies that filled the pitch-black air.

"Do you want to taste my mana?"

A resounding chorus of "Yes!" "Yes!" erupted from all around. I nodded and shouted,

"First come, first served to the first 10!"