The maze was built starting with the mother skeleton replenishing its magic.

well.

Lance can now roam freely within the "core," and if he doesn't want to, he can return to the "resurrection space" of the labyrinth through the black door he came from.

But in any case, he could no longer return to the maze.

These days will continue for another seven days.

At this moment, Lance inexplicably had a feeling that "the cat at home should have eaten well," just like an old father who had gone on a long trip.

After settling things with Lance, Edmund left the "Core" and returned to the Starfall Labyrinth.

According to the rules here, the Overlord cannot enter the labyrinth of other Overlords through the "gate".

Perhaps it was to prevent righteous (and cunning) people like Lance from being harmed.

Standing on the white-brick-paved avenue, Lance gazed at the distant white tower and marveled at the magnificent scenery.

The surrounding area is full of monsters, and almost all of them can speak.

After the initial frustration of being banned for seven days subsided, Lance became interested in the core of the maze.

On the right-hand side ahead, there is a three-story building, mainly in green and red. A wooden sign with a "beer" pattern hangs at the door, swaying gently in the breeze.

There were some words written on the wooden sign. Lance's eyes couldn't recognize the script, but his mind could clearly read the contents: "Raging Rhino Tavern".

A tavern run by monsters?

In Lance's memory, in games set in a world of swords and magic, taverns are the source of information for adventurers.

A stereotypical tavern would have a charming widowed proprietress, several lively and cheerful waitresses, a taciturn bodyguard, and a grumpy old chef.

The moment Lance walked to the door of the "Raging Rhino Tavern" and pushed it open to enter.

My dream is shattered.

The green, scaly lizardman boss, the waiter who was a furry ball that probably couldn't even reach Lance's knees when he jumped, and the giant tree-man dozing off against the right wall seemed to be the bodyguard of the place.

But monsters don't die, so maybe bodyguards are completely pointless.

It was thought that this city made up for the regret that monsters could not leave the labyrinth, and that an orderly town had been built in the "core".

Lance sighed.

Even though he was reincarnated as a skeleton, his aesthetic sense didn't change along with it!

I love big-breasted elves and lewd human priestesses!

While complaining, I felt a hairy fist slam into my knee.

Looking down, he saw a white furry ball staring at him with big eyes, then it jumped up and tapped his knee.

When Lance noticed, the fluffy ball hopped forward, turning back to look at Lance every few steps.

The furball can't speak, but its body language is very rich. Is it trying to get him to follow?

Following the furball, we sat down at an empty table, and the green lizardman came over with a menu.

"Your Majesty, what would you like to drink?"

Although her voice was quite rough, her gender was easily discernible from her tone and demeanor.

This lizardman is female...

It's a bit too much for my eyes.

"Do I look like someone who can drink? By the way, can you recognize me as the ruler of the labyrinth?"

"It seems you are a newly appointed ruler." The female lizardman chuckled gruffly. "In Askali, everyone can tell the difference between a ruler and an ordinary resident at a glance."

"Does Yascali refer to this 'core'?"

"That's right." The other person nodded, then continued, "As for what to drink, we also have bone meal for the undead."

"Thank you, I don't need to order right now. I'd like to talk to you about something related to Ascali."

"It's working hours now, Your Majesty." The female lizardwoman wagged her tail. "If you'd like to ask me out, the day after tomorrow is my day off, and I'll do your makeup beautifully."

"..."

"However, if you want to know about Ascari, you can go to the 'Odd Jobs Shop' and find Conley. He is the oldest wise man here."

"Thank you. Is there anything I need to prepare? Like currency or something?"

"Ascali doesn't need this kind of thing; everything is free."

After saying this, the green lizardman put away the menu and returned to the front desk.

After all, monsters don't die, so they have to find something to do over the long years.

I opened the shop not to make money, but simply to enjoy life.

That's quite in line with the lifestyle of monsters; monsters in dungeons often fight each other, don't they?

Watching the lizardman's departing figure, Lance thought of a hellish joke.

Behind every lizardman's birth lies the story of a brave human who fought against the lizards.

He got up and left the tavern, using his status as the Overlord to inquire about things from the monsters along the way, and soon found the "Odd Jobs Shop".

The so-called "wise Conley" is actually a red octopus with a black top hat on its head, which is floating in a water tank. It is not very big, and its tentacles may be less than a meter long.

There were quite a few people who wanted to see him, and it took a while for Lance to get a turn (or maybe other monsters gave him the opportunity because he was the Overlord).

"Greetings, Lord Lance."

The octopus removed its formalities and nodded to Lance.

His voice was slow, aged, and carried a strong sense of destiny; it was as if Lance was seeing an old fortune teller under a bridge.

"Have I ever mentioned my name?" Lance asked curiously.

"It's just a skill for making a living, please excuse my poor performance." Conley chuckled lightly, his voice distant.

What do you usually eat?

"That's not why you came to see me, is it?"

Tell me, I'm very curious.

"...dried fish or water."

The little guy is quite easy to take care of.

"Getting back to the point," Lance cleared his throat. "I want to know everything about Ascali."

"I can tell you everything I know, but you must pass the test," Conley said slowly.

"test?"

"Tell me a joke that will make me laugh." Conley climbed to the edge of the water tank, and you could see the corners of his mouth slightly upturned under his whiskers. "But I don't think there are any jokes in this world that can make me laugh."

So you're just nitpicking, huh?

"Have you heard the skull joke?" Lance asked.

"That seems interesting." Conley was quite intrigued. "Could you tell me one?"

"After taking a bath, the skeleton suddenly dared to challenge the dragon, because the hot water made him exude a sense of strength."

After telling the joke, Lance just stared at Conley.

A few seconds later.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

The octopus laughed so hard that its entire body tilted back.

Lance looked at him with disdain and then told a skull joke.

"The skeleton was chased to a graveyard by adventurers, but pretended to be a skeleton and was not discovered, thus escaping death."

"Hahahaha...cough cough cough, stop talking hahahaha!"

"The skeleton wanted to build muscle, so it took bones from its companion and attached them to its own body, thus successfully building muscle."

"Hahahaha... glug glug."

Conley flipped over in the water tank, soaking in the water, and his laughter turned into the sound of blowing bubbles.

With such a low level of humor, how dare they spout such nonsense!

Lance still has many skull jokes he hasn't told yet; if he were to tell them all at once, he'd probably laugh himself to death.

After waiting for a while, the octopus caught its breath and lay weakly on the surface of the tank, its voice even more feeble than before.

"Your joke is terrible..."

"Can you tell me about Ascali now?"

"Of course, but before we begin, I want to say that the following events are purely my personal opinions, and they are all stories that I dreamed about."

Is this... layering armor?

Who are you layering armor on?

"Lord Lance," the octopus said, his eyes fixed on him, the atmosphere suddenly shifting from cheerful to somewhat eerie, "How long has it been since you last had a dream?"

"What do you mean?" Lance became wary.

Immortals do not need to sleep, and therefore do not dream.

The octopus in front of me... wait, what's this drowsiness...?

He couldn't even finish a complete sentence.

Lance lost consciousness.

......

After an unknown amount of time, Lance suddenly woke up with a start.

He could feel his body floating in the air, with no point of leverage around him, so he couldn't exert any strength at all.

This is a dark, psychedelic space constantly accompanied by green aurora borealis.

Just as Lance was wondering, an aged voice came from the darkness in front of him:

"Lord Lance, this is your dream. I'm sorry, but we can only discuss our next steps in this way."

"Are you that octopus from earlier?"

"Actually, my true form is a squid..."

Where are you? I can't see you.

"Don't worry about that," the squid said slowly. "I've been waiting for you. I'll tell you everything I know."

A squid that can forcibly drag people into dreams... That's interesting.

Let's reconsider the previous practice of stacking armor.

In other words, what he knows is taboo here and can only be expressed through your dreams.

"Alright, let's begin." Lance sat cross-legged in the space.

Due to the ethereal force of gravity, the body slowly rotated at irregular angles.

"This story begins with the birth of the world."

"Does it really have to start from such a distant timeline?"

"Yes, Lord Lance."

"Okay, go ahead and say it."

It would be nice to have popcorn and cola, but unfortunately, skeletons can't eat.

As the squid's voice slowly drifted over, images began to appear in the surrounding dark space.

"The origin of everything comes from the 'creation dream'."