Mira Klaus

"Get over here before I change my mind!" Guardian's scary voice awoke Dante from his stupor.

"Please don't! I'm coming!" Dante said while running with his top speed toward her.

He already profited from her at this point, but a chat with Guardian of the Elevator was a hard-earned privilege. If he lost this chance because he could not arrive at her side in time, he would probably cry until the morning.

Dante sat on the armchair at the opposite of her and eyed her with a sincere smile on his face.

During her speech today, Dante had only examined her sneakily. However, now, looking at her up close under the stars, he realized how unique of a woman she was.

The Guardian wore a sleeveless white dress tonight, causing her curvy body lines to shine out even more. Adding her waist length raven black hair on top of that, she portrayed the meaning of beauty. She looked like she was in her thirties, but even a teenage girl would be jealous of her face which was a magnificent piece of art in itself.

Before talking with her, she was just a beautiful woman for Dante, but now, she became a unique woman.

A beautiful woman was just a beautiful woman after all. There was a tone of them out there. A unique woman should possess a unique personality alongside her beauty. Personality was the key factor which determined a woman's quality.

As Dante kept looking at the 'unique woman' in front of him, these were the thoughts about beautiful women that was passing through his mind.

He had not gotten to know other women yet, but he still thought that way about her. Who knows, maybe Dante was a lady-killer before losing his memories.

However, strangely enough, he didn't have any lewd or possessive feelings toward her. Even Dante himself felt strange about what he felt.

'I'm just an admirer of beauty.' He thought. He didn't think further about the topic.

Somehow, Dante had begun to like discovering himself from zero. It was a peculiar feeling.

"I decided to answer some of your questions. That was your intention for coming here, right?" The Guardian said and looked into Dante's eyes for the first time.

'Still not believing me?'

"Yes, I would like to start with asking your name," Dante met eyes with her.

The Guardian averted her eyes to the side and didn't answer first.

"Aren't we friends now? You shouldn't have a problem with telling me your name. My name is Dante by the way."

"Friends?" The Guardian suddenly stared Dante intently, and her eyes glimmered white for a moment.

"Blessing of the Guardian!" Her eyes narrowed. There was silence between them before she started to talk again. "It can only be an achievement in this situation. What did you do?" She asked with curiosity in her voice.

'So, participants can even do things like this! Good!'

"I didn't do anything. You did. Just now when you invited me, The System sent me a message. 'Achievement unlocked, be friends with The Guardian of the Elevator' it said. The Blessing of the Guardian was one of the rewards." Dante said, hiding nothing from her.

"So it was like this. Because of my status, you unknowingly benefitted from this incident. That means..."

"Yes, that means you and me are considering each other as friends." Dante cut her words.

Hearing what he said, The Guardian unexpectedly averted her eyes again.

'Wh-what is this? Why are you blushing? Am I your first friend or something?'

Dante sipped from his tea-cup. The Guardian of the Elevator was blushing like a little girl in front of him. He felt awkward, and couldn't find anything to say.

"Mira Klaus." She said after defeating her own naive feelings and looked back to Dante with her usual scary poker face. There was silence in present again.

'I'm changing my thoughts about you being a unique woman. You are just a weird woman.'

Her eyes were glimmering with a white light occasionally while looking intently to Dante's face.

"Um... Nice to meet you?"

Mira, "..."

'Stop doing that! I am feeling naked as you do!'

"Even though you have the Blessing of the Guardian on you, your stats are still unusual for a level 1 participant. I guess the other reward you had obtained gave your stats a permanent boost. Your last name... You don't have one. It is my first time seeing someone without a last name."

"Is it strange?" Naturally, Dante was curious about his last name.

"If your last name's space had been blank, I could have told you a few reasons. There can't be an error in The System either. However, your profile data states clearly, you don't have a last name. That means you also didn't have a last name even before you entered the labyrinth. It is indeed strange."

"What does that mean? It is just a last name, isn't it?" Dante's curiosity intensified. At first thought, lack of last name shouldn't have importance, but still, he had a strange feeling about it.

"I don't have any idea. Only your memories can give you a clear answer."

Dante's desire to know himself grew to a new height. As time past, the number of questions about himself was increasing, but the answers were hidden in his memories.

"I have asked The System many questions before coming here. Most of the time, it showed me an empty window. It is also calling us as 'participants.' Why is that?" Dante started to ask the questions which was bugging him.

"Your first question is the common problem for the newcomers. If you want proper answers, you have to know how to ask first. You have to give System some information before waiting for an answer."

"For example, if you asked to The System 'where can I start leveling up' like most of the newcomers do, you'll get a blank window. However, if you ask the location of a specific place, it should give you an answer, but getting an answer is still not a guarantee." Mira said.

'So it was like this. Logical enough.'

"As for your second question, there are a few possible answers for it. Most acceptable one is like this."

"We have come to this place with our own volition, and we want something from The Labyrinth of the First. This place is nothing but a contest ground for us humans." Mira said with a serious tone.

Dante was shocked. He didn't expect an answer like this.

"If it is like that, then, what might we possibly want? Entering a dangerous place like this without any memories... This is madness."

Mira shook her head, "In this labyrinth, answers usually give birth to new questions. You'll understand this in the future. The answers are available for only the strong."

'There is no choice but to become stronger. I refuse to die without knowing anything about myself and my purpose in coming here.' Dante thought.

He clenched his fists unconsciously. There was a weird smile on his face at the same time. He was eager to kill the creatures which had his memory fragments.

Seeing his behavior, Mira's corners of the lips curved upward slightly.

"You don't have to be too serious about what I had just said. It is a conjecture after all." She said.

"Mira, you are The Guardian of the Elevator. That means you must be super powerful. I believe you have collected most of your memory fragments so far. Can you tell me about the outside world?" Dante asked excitedly.

He didn't even know anything about this world yet, but he was asking questions about the outside world.

Mira should laugh at him based on her previous behaviors. However, she didn't answer immediately and pouted her lips.

'What again?'

"You are obviously a brat, but you are still daring to call me by my name. You are not allowed to do that. You must call me 'big sister' from now on! Otherwise, this conversation ends here!"

"What? I'm sorry, but participants' profile data doesn't show a person's age. I may even be older than you."

"I don't care! You are looking like a sixteen years old brat. Based on this, you must call me big sister."

Dante was reasonably annoyed this time. Despite being a desperate loner, she proclaimed herself as his big sister. Maybe she was looking older, but unmistakably, she was the more childish one here. If someone needs to be the little one here, 'She' was the little one, not him.

However, Dante clenched his teeth and did the unexpected. "All right, big sister Mira, can you please answer my question?" He said.

"Hmph! Maybe another time! After you learn how to behave like a little brother!" Mira turned to the side with crossed arms.

'Tch! Loner!'

"Brat!"

…

'Did I say it out loud?'