"..." Everyone fell silent, staring blankly at the waterfall cliff before them.

This was troublesome.

To the right was a waterfall. To the left, another. So which way to go?

All eyes immediately turned to Dora.

Dora blinked curiously. Usually quiet, she could only convey through her eyes and expression: *Why are you all looking at me?*

"Could we see your map?" someone asked directly.

Truthfully, that was already polite. Let me, the companion, dissect it properly:

"Ahem! Hey, Dora! Are you even sure you can read a map?!"

As I said it, Dora’s expression flickered with hurt. She pulled out the map, about to unfold it for us.

But she hesitated slightly, as if remembering something.

I gave her a kind smile and nodded, encouraging her to share it.

For some reason, I felt Dora was hiding something—entering the dungeon, reading the map, even now, revealing it.

She struggled internally, her face pained, but finally spread the map before us.

A far more detailed dungeon route map appeared, clearly marking three entrances and the final destination zone.

Three paths—E1, E2, E3—led to the end. We were on E3.

I noticed each path ended at a different spot. They wouldn’t converge. Our groups were meant to split from the start.

Sharon hadn’t told us that outside.

"This is weird," someone pointed at our approximate location on the map.

"Look, we have left and right paths here, but the map shows only one?"

The E3 route should’ve been a single path until the final stretch.

So why did we face two paths right from the start?

"Actually... I sensed magic along the way," Dora said—a rare full sentence that made us all listen closely.

I glanced at her. *Why didn’t you say this earlier?*

Was she studying the map because of the magic?

"Someone cast a spell... very hidden. I doubted myself several times. But now, it’s definitely magic."

Dora’s tone turned serious, her playful demeanor gone. Magic was her expertise.

Her earnestness won our instant trust—we knew nothing of magic.

"Can you dispel it?" we asked.

"Yes. The magic is weak—just an illusion spell. Easy to break. But..."

"But what?"

A giant question mark hung over our heads. Magic felt like a mysterious vortex. Our only hope was this brawny light-mage warrior.

Dora rubbed her nose awkwardly.

"But I can’t pinpoint where the magic’s coming from. I only sense it vaguely..."

That’s as good as useless!

I pressed my forehead. If Dora weren’t so huge and strong, I’d have jumped up to flick her forehead!

Sharon must’ve known E3 needed magic to solve—that’s why she assigned Dora.

But now, our leader didn’t know how to break it!

Do all muscleheads lack brains?!

Utterly helpless.

"Maybe we can backtrack for clues," someone suggested.

With no better ideas, we retreated to the fork.

One path led left to the waterfall. One right. And a sign on the wall read: "Go right. Left is a waterfall cliff."

Wait!

My eyes snapped back to the sign. I froze.

What was this?

Beneath the words, a faint shadow hinted at another line!

"Dora, lend me the gem," I said, reaching for the big girl’s light source. But Dora refused to hand over her precious gem—even though I was super cute, my cuteness maxed out!

"Then... could you light this spot for me?" I pointed at the sign. It was too high. I stood on tiptoe, but my fingers couldn’t reach the bottom edge.

Dora stepped over. To my shock, she scooped me up.

"Holy crap—eeek!"

I almost yelped like a boy. Luckily, I switched to a girlish squeal.

But this was bad!

I wore a short skirt. A short skirt!

Lifted like this, the hem would ride up. Everyone would see my... private parts!

Boys and girls are different down there—I learned that in high school!

If they discovered I was a boy, Dora would kill me!

I squirmed wildly, twisting my legs.

Dora set me down gently, thinking I was uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?!" I glared at her. Dora rubbed her nose innocently. "I just... wanted to lift you so you could read the sign..."

"Couldn’t you take the sign down for me?!" I yelled, clutching my skirt.

Dora froze. Then, after a long pause:

"Oh! Right!"

"..."

She handed me the sign and dutifully aimed the gem at it. Now I could see the tiny words below.

I nearly spat blood when I read them.

Beneath the bold "Go right," faint text hid:

"Lost? Hahaha... Good! Say ‘Lord Ankexikaao is so handsome!’ three times for the correct path! Note: Must be shouted by a cute girl!"

...This Ankexikaao guy is a total pervert! Definitely a pervert!