Su Man froze, and dumbly repeated his words: “Your foot… is healed too?”

“Mm…” Lu Yuwen lowered his head and stared at that lame foot of his, also finding it hard to believe.

This foot of his had been congenitally malformed. After surgical treatment, he was able to walk and it did not affect his daily life — but his gait had inevitably remained uneven, unsightly.

From childhood all the way through school, he was always the last one to leave the classroom after class was dismissed.

Because he did not want others staring at him limping along.

He never expected that because of the maze, a foot that had been lame for over twenty years would simply… heal like this.

Though Su Man had said before that the maze could improve a person’s physical condition, this kind of change was just too… too fantastical…

Su Man, meanwhile, thought of something else —

So it turned out the maze could not only heal recent injuries; even old injuries from before could be healed!

If Lu Yuwen’s foot could recover, then couldn’t Bai Youwei’s legs recover too?!

Thinking of this, Su Man grew even more excited. Unable to hold herself back, she threw her arms tightly around Lu Yuwen and said happily: “That’s wonderful! Lu Yuwen! That’s wonderful! It’s truly wonderful!…”

Lu Yuwen was caught in her embrace, his face flushing slightly red.

Although going through life-and-death trials together did indeed tend to give rise to different kinds of feelings, Su Man’s enthusiasm still caught him completely off guard. He felt a complicated awkwardness in his heart — and at the same time, a warmth. He hadn’t expected Su Man to care about him like this.

Lu Yuwen hesitantly extended both arms and… embraced Su Man in return.

Su Man suddenly pulled away from him, excited: “Quick, look — how many puzzle pieces did you get?”

He blinked, momentarily stunned, then opened his palm. In it lay two puzzle pieces.

“This thing… is a puzzle piece?” Lu Yuwen gently ran his fingers over the thin, silver metal shards, then tried to fit the two pieces together — but the raised and recessed interlocking edges couldn’t connect.

“I’ve never gotten this many puzzle pieces!” Su Man was overjoyed. “Lu Yuwen, we were the first people to clear this maze, so together we got five puzzle pieces! Five! Even if we die five times in the game, we won’t have to worry!”

Lu Yuwen couldn’t help but laugh. “You — thinking about dying that quickly already…”

Su Man held the puzzle pieces and smiled. But as she smiled, her eyes reddened again, her nose stinging sharply, and tears fell unbidden.

She laughed and cried at the same time, unable to articulate what exactly she was feeling.

Lu Yuwen put an arm around her shoulders and patted her gently, comforting her.

At that moment, the surroundings shifted once more, leaving only an expanse of pure white — and a single door, impossibly tall, glowing with white light.

“The Maze War has progressed past 55%. Standby competitors, please proceed to the registration grounds.”

A strange announcement appeared in their ears out of nowhere.

Lu Yuwen furrowed his brow with suspicion and asked Su Man: “What’s this registration about for clearing the maze?”

Su Man also looked bewildered, shaking her head softly. “I don’t know. This has never happened before after I walked out of a maze…”

Lu Yuwen surveyed their surroundings once more, and his gaze returned to the glowing door.

Aside from entering it, they had nowhere else to go.

“Let’s go. Head in and see what’s happening.”

“Mm…”

The two walked side by side through that door —

A blinding white light hit them head-on.

Su Man and Lu Yuwen instinctively shut their eyes. Once their eyes adjusted to the light, the two found themselves inside an enormous white room.

More accurately, it was better described as a plaza than a room — it was simply that vast, yet enclosed on all sides, including a ceiling that stretched beyond sight.

Everything in view was white.

Floor, walls, ceiling — all composed of white square tiles, with a texture somewhere between metal and glass, difficult to describe.

A sparse scattering of people stood about the room, and they were currently eyeing the newcomers with wariness.

Su Man was startled to discover that this place was… almost entirely filled with foreigners.

—