The Ranch

Fairytale Maze (14)

Pierre wonders, "Doesn't that mean native Germans have an automatic advantage, along with people like Kai who can speak and read the language?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure if the importance should be focused on the German or on the fairytale aspect. Can you tell me what the other ones say." Sherlock looks toward Kai and Theodore.

After reading them all out loud, they start discussing.

"There's over fifty. We need a pattern to narrow them down." Victor frowns.

"Actually, I think the answer is pretty simple." Sherlock starts. "If I recall correctly, "Frau Holle", Mother Holle, should be a story written by the Grimm brothers. Remember the first puzzle, the doors of the colosseum with popular Grimm stories? I think we have to do the same here. Find the ones written by the Grimm brothers and step on them."

"But none of these are familiar? How are we supposed to figure out if Der Krautesel, Donkey Cabbages, is even a real story?" Theodore scratches the back of his head.

"Isn't that too easy?" Kai pipes in.

"What do you mean." Basile asks.

"I know each one of these fifty books, their authors,  written date, and stories?" Kai looks at the others like that information is basic knowledge.

"...overpowered." Abel mutters.

"""Overpowered.""" They all nod in agreement.

With the overpowered-ness of a photogenic memory, Kai easily points to nine hand-sized pressure plates. They all move to one and try to step on it, but the plate doesn't budge.

"What now?" Basile turns to Sherlock.

Sherlock's eyebrows knit in focus as he bends down to inspect the plate, but after only a touch of his hand, the plate lights up. An eyebrow is raised in curiosity," Heat signature?"

Seeing Sherlock's light up, the others also bend down to touch their own. After all nine are lit, the metal door clicks open. The group gets up but immediately after, the lights disappears and the door shuts. They look between each other in realization.

"The ultimate test of trust. Sacrifice." Kai states in a low voice.

"Wait a minute." Thinking of something, Victor turns to see the door they entered still open. "Nine correct pressure plates, this room is probably meant for ten people. The others have to willing sacrifice themselves to allow someone to enter."

"Before anything else, we should go look for someone we can trust to act as the last-" As if fate is pouring a cold bucket of water over them, someone enters at this moment and the door behind him closes.

The man that enters looks to be in his thirties. He's been struggling through this entire maze and has already lost a few comrades. After getting the order to come here and participate, he took it lightly which led to his friends downfall. With one thing happening after another, this maze is deteriorating his mind. It hasn't helped that he's been left alone with his thought.

The reason why this man's experience has been so different from Tih and the others is because of the way they've solved their puzzles and scenarios. Although answering incorrectly does not lead directly to death, the future puzzles are much more dangerous, especially if you continue getting them wrong.

The reason he was able to make it here can be attributed to experience in life-threatening situations and luck. His organization doesn't allow just anyone to join. They are hand-picked by their organization from the most talented islanders. Well, maybe not the most talented. As an apprentice scout, he can't have too high a reputation.

He recognizes the children in front of him. They're the winners from the newbie tournament and a few extras. He doesn't really put them in his eyes.

This is mostly because he's comparing them to the talents in his generation that faded into the background with time. Usually, the winners of the newbie tournament become the most respected people of their generation, but this is not always the case. With them losing the idols from their generation, they've also lost respect for future newbie tournament winners.

"Have you solved the puzzle yet?" He asks nonchalantly. Now, he just wants to hurry and get out of this maze. At this point, he doesn't care if he scores a low grade on this test, he can't take much more.

They take turns glancing at each other. Kai and Sherlock glance at Victor. Victor nods and glances at all him teammates as they silently agree on something.

Victor's group silently surrounds the man while making small talk. "Oh, yeah we were taking a break. We're about to try to solve it now."

"Ha! Taking breaks in this nightmare maze is a big mistake. I'm telling you this because I feel bad."

They look between each other before showing the man a smile that's not quite a smile. Theodore cracks his knuckles in preparation.

Only when it's too late does he notice he's cornered,"Hey, you- what do you think your trying to do?! Y-you you'll regret this! I have a powerful position in head-" Before he can ramble any longer, they pounce.

Thirty seconds passes. It doesn't take long to beat the single man when he's fighting five geniuses. Victor looks at the unconscious body, "Drag him to the pressure plate."

The beaten man's hand is used for one of the pressure plates. After that problem's solved, all their faces suddenly turn serious. They're all making their own calculations in their mind to make sure the person they want goes through the door.