Chapter 43: The Entrance to the Tomb of Heart (1)

The moment those words left his mouth, Cerus’s hand immediately moved toward the axe hanging at his side.

Before he could even grab it, Axan spoke. "No."

Cerus stopped moving at once.

"You are not allowed to use your axe," Axan added.

The disappointment on Cerus’s face appeared right away. "But—"

"Respect our God."

Cerus looked at the statue, then at his axe, then back at the statue again. For a long moment, he seemed to be having a serious internal battle.

In the end, he let out a dramatic sigh and lowered his weapon. "Alright," he mumbled.

Judging by his expression, however, he had definitely been planning to smash the wall first and ask questions later.

"Maybe... we should touch the statue?" Maeve suggested. "You know, maybe it’s connected to the door somehow."

The triplets looked at the statue for a while before Ikarus finally said, "How about you touch it?"

Maeve gasped and opened her mouth wide. "What? Me?!" She pointed at herself. "Why?!"

Out of everyone standing in this room, why did she have to be the one touching that creepy thing?

Axan answered before anyone else could. "Because you have the highest luck among all of us. We don’t know what might happen if someone touches that statue carelessly."

Exactly! They had no idea what would happen! So why did she have to be the test subject?!

What if she accidentally pressed a hidden button and triggered a trap?

[Special Talent: Lucky Charm Activated!]

Pinky spun happily in the air. [You increase everyone’s luck by 50%, Host! Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to open the door because you’re putting everyone’s lives on the line too!]

Pinky’s last words were enough to send Maeve straight into the prison of doubt.

After thinking about it for a moment, she decided to ask, "But what if I trigger a trap instead, and then we all die together?"

Axan was the first to answer. "Then we will meet the Sky Mother together."

Maeve twitched the corner of her eye because Axan’s answer was far too resigned.

"I’d rather not die," Ikarus said.

Maeve’s eyes immediately lit up because finally there was someone with common sense!

"If we die," Ikarus continued, "then the hopes of everyone waiting for us will die too."

Maeve nodded rapidly. Yes! Exactly! That was the right attitude!

"But if we really have to die together, so be it," Ikarus added calmly. "It’s not like there’s anything we can do to put our souls back into our dead bodies."

"Oh, for Sky Mother’s sake! Why are you two so negative?!" Cerus burst out. "Shouldn’t we try to survive the trap first before accepting our fate?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Ikarus and Axan exchanged glances, then nodded at the same time.

"Yeah," Ikarus said. "That sounds reasonable."

Axan nodded as well.

Maeve stared at them in confusion. Hadn’t that been the obvious answer from the beginning?

Axan then looked at her. "Which part do you want to touch?"

Maeve was shocked once again by the question. If she could choose, she would rather not touch anything at all.

However, since they looked like they were depending on her, she still had to do her best to push aside her fear and make a choice.

"How about..." She thought for a moment. Her eyes moved down from the statue’s creepy face and stopped at the left side of its chest, where the heart would be. "...that spot?"

Axan raised an eyebrow. He wondered why Maeve had chosen that spot, but decided not to say anything.

"Try it, then," Axan said. He stepped closer to the statue, giving her enough space to reach it.

Maeve, on the other hand, couldn’t bring herself to touch the damn thing. Every time she tried to reach for it, her hand pulled back on its own. She had tried several times, but her subconscious was simply too scared to touch it!

Well, it wasn’t her fault! It was Sakar’s fault for choosing such a terrifying appearance.

"We can touch it together," Axan suddenly said. "It won’t be as scary if you’re not doing it alone."

Maeve clicked her tongue softly. "I’m not scared..."

The words sounded much less convincing than she wanted them to. Still, despite her weak protest, she allowed Axan to take her hand.

Slowly, he guided it toward the statue and with every inch they got closer, Maeve felt her heart beat a little faster.

Maeve held her breath and closed her eyes as her hand finally touched the statue’s chest. At first, nothing happened, but then she felt something move beneath her palm.

When she pushed a little harder, it felt as though something inside the statue had been pressed inward. Moments later, a soft click echoed through the chamber.

Maeve slowly opened one eye, and then the other one.

"It’s a... button?" Maeve whispered to herself.

The moment those words left her mouth, the wall in front of her began to rumble.

She immediately froze in place and couldn’t even blink because she thought she had triggered some kind of trap.

Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard that it felt like it was trying to escape from her chest. Without thinking, she moved closer to Axan and grabbed the front of his clothes with both hands.

"A-Are we going to get buried alive?" Maeve asked nervously.

[Ding! Ding!]

[Hidden Quest Completed: Finding the Main Entrance to the Tomb of the Heart!]

[Reward: 1,000 Coins]

[Remaining Coins: 2,150]

Not long after Pinky announced the reward, the massive stone wall in front of them slowly slid to the side, revealing a hidden passage that led deeper into the Tomb.

A strong gust of wind rushed toward them, instantly extinguishing the flames on their makeshift torches.

Maeve let out a small scream when everything was swallowed by darkness. She clung to Axan tightly because she was genuinely afraid that something strange might grab her from the darkness.

The sound of the moving wall echoed throughout the corridor, and after a while, it finally stopped.

"Oh, it’s beautiful," His voice was so soft that Maeve almost thought she had imagined it.