"Phew, that was close! Almost got hit there!"
KIra dodged a triple-trap combo and kept moving forward. "These traps are way too much! Just how many did the Guild Master set up?!"
The maze was littered with so many traps that most of the participants got stuck while trying to climb higher.
By now, KIra had left everyone else in the dust, navigating the maze solo.
This maze was enchanted with magic, making it far bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. KIra knew he couldn't rush—haste would only trigger more traps, and if he wasn't quick enough to react, he'd be done for. With so many people watching from outside, he couldn't afford to mess up!
[Movement speed too slow! Trap triggered!]
"Damn it! I forgot about that one!" KIra groaned, kicking himself. "Talk about shooting myself in the foot!"
Just then, the maze's traps shifted again…
[Complete the puzzle in 3 minutes to earn a prank item. Fail, and you'll be teleported to a random location!]
KIra let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, it's just an 8x8 puzzle. This won't stop me…"
2 minutes and 59 seconds later…
[Prank item obtained: Thousand-Piece Puzzle. Designate one person not caught in a trap to use it.]
"That was way too close!" KIra clutched his chest, then flashed a wicked grin. "Heh heh heh, let's pick Laxus!"
[Designation invalid!]
"Huh?" KIra blinked, surprised. He figured Laxus, of all people, would've dodged the traps by now.
"No idea what's got that guy stuck. Fine, Freed then!"
[Designation invalid!]
"Bickslow?"
[Designation invalid!]
"Evergreen?"
[Designation invalid!]
"What the—did the whole team wipe out? That's rough! Alright… Erza?"
[Designation successful!]
"Ha, this is gonna be fun!"
…
[You've been targeted with a prank item. Complete the Thousand-Piece Puzzle!]
"What the—?!" Erza, who'd just finished a [Hold Your Breath Underwater] penalty, froze before erupting in fury. "Who's the jerk that did this?!"
…
[You've obtained a prank item. Designate someone to take off their shirt!]
"Uh… don't want to piss everyone off. Guess I'll pick Gray!"
[Designation invalid! Effect rebounds!]
"What the?!"
…
[You've obtained a prank item. Designate someone to perform a dance!]
"KIra!"
[You've obtained a prank item. Designate someone to crawl for 3 minutes!]
"KIra!!"
[You've obtained a prank item…]
"KIra!!!"
"Pile it all on that jerk KIra!!!"
By a certain point in the competition, almost every participant who got a prank item targeted KIra, the guy responsible for their embarrassing predicaments.
But…
[Designation invalid!]
At first, it worked, but soon enough, KIra couldn't be targeted anymore. People had to pick someone else or deal with the rebound effects themselves.
…
"Good thing I nabbed this, or those guys would've pranked me to death!"
KIra glanced at the [Life-Saver Charm] in his hand, feeling a wave of relief.
[Life-Saver Charm: Immune to traps and prank items for 5 minutes.]
"Time to make a break for it!"
…
The audience outside was eating it up.
"These prank items are hilarious!"
"Fairy Tail's crew is so entertaining!"
"Hahaha, isn't that guy in a dress Laxus from Fairy Tail? I know him! He's Makarov's grandson!"
Makarov's face turned beet red. "Wasn't this supposed to be about escaping the maze? How'd it turn into a prank maze?!"
'If the guild ends up as the laughingstock of all Fiore, how am I supposed to face the First and Second Masters?'
Dispel, holding Happy, just chuckled quietly.
Luckily, both the judges and the audience were loving every second of it. They were caught up in genuine joy, with no trace of mockery or disdain.
…
The maze was packed with traps, but less than half were designed to slow people down. The rest? Things like Truth or Dare, prank penalties—pure mischief at its finest.
"Finally made it!"
Thanks to the [Life-Saver Charm] and his familiarity with the maze, KIra was the first to reach the finish line.
The finish wasn't a door—the one visible from outside was just for show. The real goal was a crystal ball on the fifth floor of the maze. Once someone triggered it, it would randomly teleport somewhere else in the maze.
That meant even if they reached the fifth floor, they'd find nothing but more traps—no exit. The original entrance was sealed, too, so they had to rely on luck to navigate the traps. That was the true meaning of "Escape the Grand Maze."
The moment KIra touched the crystal ball, a voice echoed through the maze.
[Congratulations to KIra for finding the maze's exit!]
[Maze transformation!]
[All participants can now use magic!]
[Traps increased!]
The four announcements sent a ripple through the competitors—some were thrilled, others groaned.
"Look! The maze is moving!"
"Now that we can use magic, this'll be way easier…"
"More traps? They were already everywhere!"
"I knew we should've stuck with KIra!"
With magic restored, Laxus turned into a bolt of lightning and shot upward. Anyone with flight abilities took to the air. Erza donned her Black Feather Armor, the Thunder God Tribe pulled out all the stops, Wakaba rode a cloud of smoke, and Gray built an ice staircase to carry a group along…
"Hurry, hurry! There are only 30 spots, and now just 29 are left!"
As everyone scrambled toward what they thought was the finish line, a voice called out from above: "There's no exit on the fifth floor!!"
"What do you mean, no exit?!"
"There's just no exit! That door's a fake!"
"Are you kidding me?! Then how'd KIra get out?"
"Looks like we're stuck here. So this is the real 'Escape the Maze'?"
"Ugh, it's all that jerk KIra's fault! Setting up all these traps and turning a simple qualifier into this mess!!"
"I tried pranking him, but it didn't work!"
"Same here—mine bounced back on me!"
"I actually got him once!"
"What?! I should've targeted KIra too!"
…
KIra, already outside, watched the chaos unfold on the giant screen above. He quietly noted the names of everyone who'd tried to prank him—especially the one who succeeded.
The crowd outside erupted in cheers for his victory.
"KIra! KIra!"
Smiling and waving to the audience, KIra strolled to the rest area, plopped down, and started munching on some snacks he'd snagged from the maze.
He was beyond grateful to be the first one out. The maze's second phase was shaping up to be even trickier than the first.
"Still, it's kinda boring out here all by myself."
…
[The exit is somewhere in the maze. Find it!]
"No hints at all? How are we supposed to find it?!"
Everyone scrambled, banging on walls and checking anything that looked remotely like an exit.
As a proper maze, it wasn't just basic paths and walls—it was filled with weird, decorative objects. Most of them were rigged with traps, so no one dared touch them before. But now? They were desperate.
"Not here… not this either…"
[Common Sense Trap triggered: Mimic a cat!]
"Seriously? Fine, this one's easy… Meow meow meow…"
One second… two seconds…
"Why isn't it working, damn it?!"
Natsu thought for a moment, then mimicked Happy: "Aye!"
[Trap deactivated!]
"That actually worked?!"
…
[Combat Trap triggered: Only one can leave!]
"We have to fight?"
"I thought the qualifiers didn't involve fighting, since the rules said no attacking teammates…"
"There's that 'except for trap rules' clause, right? This must be the exception…"
"Sorry, here goes!"
"Marcus, you sneak-attacking jerk!"
…
[Game Trap triggered: Hit all targets to leave!]
"Piece of cake for us."
Bang! Bang!
After a few gunshots, Alzack and Bisca blew the smoke from their barrels. Trap cleared.
With so many trap types, sometimes you'd luck out and get one you were good at.
…
[Puzzle Trap triggered: Solve the riddle for a clue about the exit!]
"Puzzles? We've got this!"
"Lucy, Rebby, it's up to you!"
"Let's see… like this… and that…"
[Correct answer! Clue obtained: The exit is a crystal ball!]
"Awesome, finally a lead!"
"A crystal ball? I think I saw one, but no idea if it's still there…"
…
The qualifier was planned to last two hours. It took KIra an hour to escape, and after that, to speed things up, the maze started dropping hints just 30 minutes later.
If not enough people cleared it by the end, the system would auto-select those closest to the exit to fill the 30 spots.
[Qualifier time remaining: 30 minutes]