Shoujo Grand Summoning

Time slowly ebbed on...

It's hard to tell the time when everything's green in color. It's even harder to tell the time inside a dark cave like this.

Wu Yan had Impeccable Memory so he's sure they spent an entire day inside this place.

Wu Yan and Sylph spent an entire day looking for something in this vast cave.

They were looking for clues that will shed light on the door to the core palace.

Alas, they found nothing at the end of the day.

Rather, it's more accurate to say they are far from achieving anything significant. This place is too big so they only searched about 10% of this place.

In other words, searching this entire cave will take more than 10 days.

10 days that they don't have.

Wu Yan & Sylph are already in this place for 2 days now. They have 8 days left...

They are in a race against time.

"Ugh..."

Sighing for the nth time. Wu Yan rubbed his aching temples.

"The Guardian Tree is seriously... Does it want us to waste our 10 days? It keeps throwing so many distractions at us..."

"And that's why it's called a trial."

Sylph looked around despite explaining. It seems she is still focused on finding a clue.

"If it were that easy to get the treasures inside the Domain of Gods then we would have exhausted the treasures here over so many generations."

"You do have a point there..."

Wu Yan nodded. He scanned his surrounding, the identical doors made him feel dizzy. He sank into his inner consciousness.

"Natsuki, can you do something about this?"

"Maybe if I can go out. I am still stuck inside you so there's nothing I can do."

Natsuki also sounded a bit frustrated.

"Moreover, even if I somehow materialized myself, what can I do without magic?"

Wu Yan floated a bitter look.

"Do we really have no choice but to keep searching?"

Natsuki stayed quiet. After a few seconds, she voiced her thoughts.

"There are no solutions in the System?"

"Indeed, there are many other items in the System. I once fell into a labyrinth in one of the transcript worlds, I used a magical compass that always pointed to the correct way..."

"Use that one!"

Natsuki connected her consciousness with Wu Yan's mind. She accessed his memories. Then, Natsuki lost her words.

"Now you know why, right?"

Wu Yan grumbled. He took out a compass.

This compass is the same compass he used in the world of [Hayate the Combat Butler]. It can guide the user once a vague input like "enter" or "leave" appears in the mind of the user. It will then direct the user to the desired destination.

This item is perfect for their current situation.

Wu Yan can just think: "I want to enter the core palace.", let the compass do the rest of the job, right?

If only it was that simple...

If Sylph looked at Wu Yan, she would find him holding a compass that's going bonkers.

"This..."

Natsuki turned grim.

"Are you telling me these doors all lead to the core palace?!"

"I don't know."

Wu Yan honestly answered her.

"According to Sylph, the Guardian Tree can open up portals to the core palace. With such powers, I reckon the doors here can all lead to the core palace. As long as the Tree wants it this way, the correct door can be any one of the many doors here. We are not dealing with a static door."

"Even the System's item isn't useful in a situation like this..."

"What can we do to find the correct door?"

Natsuki started complaining.

Anyone would be frustrated by the prospect of searching all the doors when the true door isn't static. They might even throw a tantrum over this.

"Sylph said it wouldn't be a trial if it is that easy to pass..."

Wu Yan slapped his own cheeks.

"From another viewpoint, this confirms Sylph's theory."

"The Guardian Tree must be trying to give us a hint, bulldozing our way through this won't help."

Natsuki mused out loud after hearing Wu Yan's opinion.

"Then, what do you plan on doing?"

Wu Yan closed his eyes. He entered his thinking mode.

The environment is as quiet as it is dark. The doors lined up like a series of doors containing caskets behind them. It looked like a scene from a horror show where it's totally possible for monsters to jump out at any moment. An average girl would be scared out of their wits, she would probably stick to Wu Yan in search of safety.

Sylph ignored all this. She continued searching with deadly focus. Even the dark cave couldn't hide her unique and beautiful aura.

The only one lucky enough to enjoy this scene is currently running through various options in his mind. Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"Searching like this will yield nothing."

Wu Yan denied her effort. Sylph stopped before turning around with a confused look.

"Do you have any suggestions?"

Sylph asked him a question similar to Natsuki's. Wu Yan looked at one of the doors.

"I don't care if this is fake or real. Since it's a door, we should try opening it, right?!"

Sylph flinched, she locked her eyebrows in a frown.

"Isn't that a bit reckless?"

"Still better than fumbling around like this."

He stepped forward.

"Maybe the clue is behind the doors? I don't see why we shouldn't try..."

Sylph relaxed her furrowed brows. Seeing Wu Yan's grin finally made her nod.

"I see, it's worth a shot..."

"Nn..."

Wu Yan locked onto the door nearest to him.

"Let me try this one."

He's not sure what is behind the door. But, he's the one with powers here. Plus, he's the only guy here so the duty falls on him to take the vanguard position.

Sylph is also aware of her own weakness. If something does happen, she will only hinder Wu Yan's action. She obediently backed away.

Wu Yan gave Sylph a cocksure look. Then, he marched over to the door.

He pressed his palm against the door. It's cold and hard, he remembered the times he spent in SAO, specifically, when he found the Floor Boss' room.

It felt the same, the door's heavy and cold. Every time, he readied himself before giving the door that final push.

Now then, what is waiting for me beyond this door?

Wu Yan pushed the door wide open with a mighty shove.

Bwoom

An intense ray of light struck Wu Yan.