ZZZ Enigma of the Labyrinth: Operation Bagel Map & Guide

Since August 5, 2026, Zenless Zone Zero has opened the biggest permanent addition of its version 3.1 "Long Farewell": "Labyrinth Puzzle: Operation Bagel". This is neither a chain of floors nor a timed arena. It's an extraction mode: you enter a Hollow, you loot, and anything you haven't extracted before the end of the session doesn't belong to you.

The nuance may seem trivial, yet it completely changes how you play. In the usual endgame modes, a failed run only costs you a bit of time and a few points. Here, a team wipe before extraction erases all the loot you've gathered. Operation Bagel therefore doesn't reward your best DPS's raw performance, but your risk management: knowing when one more room is worth it, and when it will cost you everything.

Good news on the organizational side: the mode shares its weekly progress with Hollow Zero. Exploring either of these activities completes the same weekly exploration task. Operation Bagel therefore doesn't add to your routine. Here's how to unlock it, how to read its mechanics, and in what order to spend what you bring back from it.

Vocabulary note: what's translated, what isn't

The mode's name is officially localized by HoYoverse: "Labyrinth Puzzle: Operation Bagel". Its internal mechanics, however, currently only circulate under their English labels. We keep them as they are, with an explanation, rather than inventing a translation that wouldn't match anything in your client.

• Hollow: the rifts eating away at New Eridu.
• Hollow Zero: the mode with which Operation Bagel shares its weekly progress.
• Ethereals: the creatures that inhabit the Hollows.
• W-Engine: an Agent's weapon, often left under its English name W-Engine by the community.
• Polychromes, Denny, Inter-Knot, Proxy, Bangboo: unchanged.

Unlocking Operation Bagel: Shepherd's commission

The mode doesn't just appear on its own in your activities menu. You first need to complete a dedicated commission, Labyrinth Commission, given by Shepherd at the Coffee Cafe on Sixth Street. It's added to your agenda as soon as you talk to her, provided you've progressed far enough: Game8 notes a requirement of Inter-Knot level 40, and you also need to have passed the interlude of chapter 1 of the main story. If you've been playing since 2.x, you meet both conditions without even thinking about it.

This commission isn't a mere formality: it acts as a disguised tutorial and has you handle most of the mode's core systems. You enter the Hollow via an HDD, search containers looking for the Labyrinth Carrot — equipment left behind by Joyous, a first-generation Void Hunter —, trigger an Alter Skill in combat, inspect points of interest in the environment, and finish with a chase against an Ethereal, complete with a Phase Dash escape.

The story takes the opportunity to set up a narrative thread that goes beyond the mode: we learn that Eous was captured by The Hound before disappearing.

The game loop: enter, collect, extract

A session comes down to six decisions, and none of them concern your rotation:

• The loadout: you equip your Agents with mode-specific gear, in addition to their usual equipment.
• The route: the Papago Hollow is explored room by room, with branching paths that don't all carry the same value.
• Collection: containers to open and loot dropped by defeated Ethereals.
• Fights to take: every fight pays off, but every fight exposes you.
• The extraction timing: you must reach an evacuation point before the time limit runs out.
• Reinvestment: what you bring out feeds the research station's facilities.

The fundamental principle to grasp from your very first session is simple: a resource you've picked up has no value until it leaves the Hollow. Upon extraction, your points are tallied, the items you've gathered move into your inventory, and rewards are handed out based on the score achieved. Before extraction, everything is just a promise.

Ulidim: the mode's real source of pressure

Operation Bagel doesn't just have a timer, it has a threat system that rises with your greed. The more rewards you rack up and the more Ethereals you take down in a row, the more you draw the attention of Ulidim, elite Ethereals with a massive health pool and punishing damage. They don't appear at random: they're the direct consequence of your choices.

Two schools of thought are already emerging, and both hold up:

• The minimal run: you target exactly what you need — a specific material, a score threshold — and head straight for evacuation before the pressure builds up. Modest returns, but nearly guaranteed.
• The greedy run: you stack up everything you find and accept that you'll have to survive until the end. If your Agents are well built, taking down an Ulidim unlocks the mode's highest rewards.

The wrong reflex is to switch from one approach to the other midway through. Set your ceiling before you go in, then apply a simple mental rule: what you risk by opening one more room isn't that room, it's everything you're carrying. As long as your bag is light, keep exploring. As soon as it's full, the trade-off mechanically tips toward heading out.

Safe Stations, Etheric Phantoms, Alter Skills: the three tools that save a run

Safe Stations are scattered throughout the Papago Hollow. They heal, revive fallen allies and — above all — let you secure the loot you've collected. Treat them like save points: if your team is wiped out after a deposit, whatever was secured stays yours. It's the cheapest insurance the mode offers, and it's the one players most often forget about as they rush from room to room.

Etheric Phantoms let you take on the form and abilities of previously defeated Ethereals. Each form grants a combat or exploration bonus, and some let you hide from the Ulidim. This is the tool that turns a punishing run into a playable one: instead of fleeing in a straight line with an Ulidim on your heels, you camouflage yourself and calmly make your way to the extraction point.

Alter Skills come from Pyrois. Once their trigger conditions are met, they deal massive damage and can outright eliminate certain enemies on the spot. They're not there to pad out your DPS: they're meant to remove a threat that's blocking your path, typically a pack of enemies standing between you and an extraction. Save them for that.

The research station: what order to invest in

Everything you bring out of the Hollow feeds into the research station's facilities, the mode's permanent progression. Five structures have been identified at this stage:

• Smart Workshop: crafting of the mode's specific gear and tactical items, using the materials you bring back.
• R&D Center: upgrades to your Agents' combat and exploration abilities within the mode.
• Porcelloy Hub, Depot Hub, and Boojee Recycling Station: three facilities whose functions haven't been fully detailed by the community yet.

The priority order follows logically from the extraction rule. During the first week, prioritize everything related to safety, recovery, and storage over damage bonuses. A damage bonus is only worth something if you actually make it out; extra storage capacity or a more generous Safe Station secures every one of your sessions, including the failed ones. Offensive investments will come next, once your extraction rate has stabilized.

The mode's shop: what to buy first

Operation Bagel has its own shop, stocked using the resources you bring back. Three categories of items are found there, and they're far from equally urgent:

• Two Mindscapes for Pyrois: permanent upgrade tiers for the character, unavailable anywhere else. This is the purchase to secure first.
• Two overclock materials for Sol Exuvia, the associated W-Engine. Useful, but only if you actually plan to play the character.
• Wardrobe accessories for your Proxy, seasonal ones: in 3.1, Dubi-Meow for Wise and Chipi-Meow for Belle. Purely cosmetic, save these for last — but don't forget them before the seasonal rotation ends.

On top of that, there are the rewards earned directly during runs: Polychromes, Denny, W-Engine upgrade materials, chips, and progression modules. A steady stream that makes it worth not leaving the weekly task on the shelf.

Where to fit Operation Bagel into the 3.1 schedule

Version 3.1 "A Long Farewell", launched on July 29, 2026, runs until September 8, 2026. We're a little over a week in, which leaves a full month to build up the research station without rushing. Since the mode is permanent and designed to evolve in seasonal cycles, there's no reason to burn through everything this week.

The date to keep in mind is August 19, 2026: that's when phase 2 opens the banner for Sigrid, an S-Rank Ice Agent with an Attack focus, alongside a rerun banner featuring Dialyn, Yuzuha, and Harumasa. So you have roughly two weeks to let Bagel Operation top up your Polychrome stash before you need to start weighing your pulls.

For getting to grips with it, plan on three sessions. The first is played blind: you scope out the map, the Safe Stations, and the spawn rhythm of the Ulidim. The second changes only one variable — always depositing at the first Safe Station, for instance — to gauge its actual effect. The third aims for efficiency: known route, set loot cap, planned extraction.

What to remember

Bagel Operation is the first mode in Zenless Zone Zero where build optimization takes a back seat to discipline. A modest account that extracts cleanly every session will progress faster than an overpowered account that loses one run in three by trying to push for one room too many. And since progress is shared with Hollow Zero, switching over to the new mode this week costs you nothing.

Concretely, for the next seven days: clear Shepherd's commission, run one no-pressure exploratory session, lock in Pyrois's two Mindscapes in the shop, then put your early investments toward storage and safety. The damage bonuses can wait until next week — and by then, the map will hold no more secrets.