While the core premise of this attraction was to navigate the maze while repelling attacks from the Mirror Monster, that first, blatantly obvious encounter had likely just been a tutorial. The real challenge would probably start ramping up from here.
"During the initial explanation, it mentioned something about not missing any anomalies, right?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right. It probably means... even if it's not as obvious as before, something strange will appear in our reflections, right?"
"I'd think so. But it would be pretty harsh if missing a subtle anomaly immediately counted as a strike, so it might approach in stages... Though, on the other hand, a major anomaly might cost us a strike in a single blow if we overlook it."
At the end of the day, it was just an amusement park attraction, not an ordeal like the hidden route in Forest Castle. As long as we played it properly, the difficulty should be balanced enough to clear.
It was unlikely to be brutally punishing enough that some minuscule detail, imperceptible without intense scrutiny, would slap us with an instant strike if missed.
However, considering three failures meant game over—meaning we had two free passes—I figured the maze would mostly feature obvious anomalies interspersed with a few trickier ones.
In any case, Hina-chan was terrified, so calmly spotting anomalies would be tough for her. If possible, I wanted to step up and catch them myself.
With that in mind, I took a closer look at the mirror labyrinth... The surfaces made of mirrors were essentially just the walls. The floor was normal, and while the dim ceiling was hard to make out, it didn't seem to be mirrored either.
Which meant that unless we reached a corner or a dead end, all we needed to watch out for while moving forward were the mirrors flanking us on either side.
"...Hina-chan, twenty seconds have almost passed since the first attack, so anything could happen at any moment. Stay sharp."
"Y-Yes..."
The Holy Lantern had a twenty-second cooldown. Now that it was ready for use again, an attack from the Mirror Monster could strike at any time.
Still, standing around waiting wouldn't get us anywhere, so we cautiously advanced through the maze. Even without swinging my head back and forth, the mirrors on both sides remained in the periphery of my vision. If a major anomaly appeared, I should be able to spot it—
Right as that thought crossed my mind, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the reflection of my face in the mirror to our right suddenly whip around to look straight at me.
"Eeeek!?"
"―!?"
As Hina-chan shrieked and latched onto my arm, I whipped the lantern toward the mirror on the right and activated it. Instantly, the same scream as before echoed through the hall, and a black haze seeped out from my reflection's body before fleeing deeper into the glass.
T-That scared the life out of me... Seeing my own reflection move completely out of sync with my body was pure horror. Still, that was good to know—the monster could disguise itself as our reflections, too...
"Hina-chan, are you okay?"
"Th-Th-That's horrifying... S-Sneaking up on us like that is totally unfair!"
"That startled me, too. It was a complete surprise attack..."
Trembling faintly, Hina-chan spoke with a tearful edge to her voice that made it abundantly clear how terrified she was. Since I had jumped quite a bit myself, I could completely sympathize.
However, the way she was clutching my arm was becoming a bit of an issue... To put it plainly, my arm was currently sandwiched tight against Hina-chan's voluptuous chest, leaving me utterly flustered.
Of course, from her perspective, she was just desperately clinging to the nearest arm available to escape the sheer terror of a horror attraction she couldn't handle. It was only natural.
Even so, my composure was completely shot. She was holding on so tightly that the sheer closeness made it practically impossible not to be painfully conscious of it.
That said, I felt bad telling a frightened Hina-chan to let go... and she showed zero intention of doing so anyway.
Still, at this rate, the sensation against my arm would completely wreck my focus... For now, I decided to gently float an alternative.
"...Hina-chan. Um, we probably have twenty seconds before the next attack, and it's kind of hard for us to walk like this, so maybe for a second we could..."
"I-I-Is it... n-no good like this? I-I'll make sure not to get in Kaito-senpai's way when you walk... It's just, right now I'm too scared to let go..."
"Y-Yeah. If that's what makes you feel safe, Hina-chan, then it's totally fine."
...I was helpless. There was no way I could tell her to let go when she looked up at me with teary eyes like that. Considering her state of mind, continuing through the maze with her latched onto my arm was probably for the best...
For now, I just had to push any inappropriate thoughts out of my head and direct all my focus toward our surroundings. I would simply have to write off the concentration lost to the soft, warm press against my arm as the price for keeping Hina-chan at ease.
Serious-senpai: "Guh... Even though I saw it coming, the psychic damage is real... Unlike back when Lilia clung to his arm with enough force to snap bone, there isn't a single comedic undertone here, which only makes the flirting atmosphere suffocatingly thick..."