"When something extraordinary happens, expect it to happen"
"Whaaa!"
It was like I'm inside of a single-person elevator and went from the 50th floor down to the ground floor with ten times the speed of an ordinary elevator on earth. I just held on to the glass walls while my other hand is holding my shaky knees down while the extreme ride continued. It is very dark because I am in an underground elevator. I scream and it echoed as I closed my eyes because of terror. After about a minute, the elevator made from glass I was riding in stopped, its sliding door opened automatically. I came out shaking and numb with tension from the roller coaster ride. What an unexpected thing has come. Each of us stepped on the circles found on the ground and this suddenly happened. I took a deep breath first to catch my breath and calm the beat of my heart. I was wondering where they went to—if they also encountered that ride. After taking back my senses, I walked. While walking, it is dim with only torches attached to the wall illuminating my path. The walls and floor are made of concrete. The hallway only fits one person at a time so this place can be claustrophobic to some. Since I no longer knew which direction I was going, it is a good thing that this shallow corridor has one direction that I just must follow. I have no idea where this path will bring me but I have no choice.
I walked a long way, maybe about half a kilometer. When I reached the dead end, a wooden door showed. I grabbed the handle to open it and luckily it wasn't locked or broken. The door creaked, which meant it was old. When I opened it, I squinted my eyes because of the sun. Wait, we're supposed to be underground, but there's a sun?
I lowered my hand that I used to block the sun and I was amazed at what I saw. I turned to my right then I saw First who had just come out of the door. I turned to the left and they were all there. Mind you there are 18 doors, and we are ordered by ordinal number names.
I looked up, there was the sun. A vast land, that's what I see now. We are currently below 150 meters deep in the pit we are at the bottom of it. It is a massive and deep hole where we're standing now. We were all brought here below and the only way to get back from the surface about 150 meters above is by using the doors earlier and the glass elevator. We gathered I saw mixed expressions on them.
"Are you okay, Seventh?" I asked him. His hair is disheveled, and his knees were shaking as he walked towards us.
"Agh! That's so sick!" A sick ride that drove us to be a sick person.
"Too scary," Fourth cried and hugged me.
"Whooo! That was insane. I feel like my brain has been swept away!" Aeith's energy is unparalleled.
"So much fun! I'll go for another one!" Ninezen boasts and teased Seventh who's still catching his breath.
"Guys! Is everyone okay?" Fifzen checked out on us. He and Sevenzen are running towards us.
Thirtwen replied, "We're good, hopefully."
Some of the girls burst into tears from the shock on the roller coaster ride so their corresponding partners checked their pairs. I'm still shaking when I think about it but I'm doing better.
"Are you okay?" It's First. I could see in his eyes the concern and he even held my arm.
I nodded. "You?"
He smiled and sighed. "I'm glad you're okay. Me? It was a great ride, actually." And he even managed to grin a little.
So, he must be an adventurer to the point that he was able to say, 'great ride' instead of 'death ride'.
"Did you enjoy that?"
"Once in a lifetime experience," he smiled. He patted my head and messed up my hair.
"That was insane," Ninth commented while having difficulty in walking.
He was hurt when we played volleyball. There was a white towel around his right arm and his dark brown slacks were half-lifted with a white towel around his left leg.
"What now?" Third mumbled in a calm tone.
***
LOCATION: Open landscape TIME: Morning
We are still here, standing, sitting on the dirty ground. Some are quiet, reserving their energy for the next game. Some are chattering to come up with various predictions and strategies for the incoming game. But we're all getting nervous, irritated, bored. Fourth, Aeith, and I sat on the dry, grassy ground. Even when the sun is up, we don't sweat because the breeze is cold. Fourth and Aeith talked about their memories. It's a bit chaotic but some are getting clear. Gradually their memories came back, I am happy with them.
"Hey, there's a glow," Thirtwen pointed to the ground a little farther from where we are sitting.
We saw something like a mirror shining because of the sunlight. Suddenly the shiny object disappeared and became a hologram—Author. Everyone stood and approached where Author was.
"A pleasant greeting to everyone."
Surprisingly, the image of the hologram and Author's voice is crystal clear even in a bright and open space like this.
"Surely, that you're already aware of what's happening right now."
"We don't really know what we're doing here," Seventh philosophized.
"To make everything direct... Wealth level stage 3 will begin!"
I swallowed. Yes, I already know when Author warned us that at any time the game would start again but I did not immediately expect that today stage 3 would happen in this new setting.
"Eh, why here?" Sectwen asked as she frowned and brushed her long light brown hair to keep it away from the wind that blows her hair.
Author did not speak immediately. To our surprise, it was immediately replaced by amazement and my eyes widened. In this vast and quiet land where we stand, there are walls that rise from the ground. I don't know how, but that's what I see. It was as if a plant had grown in just twenty seconds. We didn't even feel a quake from the ground, but the sound of concrete rising from the ground is distinct.
"The categories will be land, air, and water. First, you will be having category 1, the land category. As you can see, there is an extraordinary labyrinth."
So, these walls coming from the ground that grew out is a labyrinth?
"18 players, 2 teams, 9 members each team. The game will be the same as the gold team vs. the silver team. "
Yes, a maze was formed by walls that rose from the ground. A question that I also answered. The walls are approximately 5 meters high. There is moss and overgrown with small plants.
Gold team – Forzen (14th), Sixzen (16th), Aeizen (18th), Twentieth (20th), Sectwen (22nd), Fifzen (15th), Sevenzen (17th), Ninezen (19th), Thirtwen (23rd)
Silver team – Second (2nd), Fourth (4th), Sixth (6th), Aeith (8th), First (1st), Third (3rd), Fifth (5th), Seventh (7th), Ninth (9th)
"The gold team will enter the left entrance, while the Silver team will enter the right entrance. The goal is simple, it is to find the treasure that hides inside the labyrinth. The first team one who found it wins."
What treasure?
I did not hesitate to ask. "How can we find that? Then, what treasure?"
"There' will be riddle cards that will help you. Remember, when something extraordinary happens, expect it to happen. The game will start momentarily."
And Author disappeared for a while.
I felt strange in my body, so I looked at myself and pondered. I also looked at others. In an instant, I am wearing a simple silver tracksuit and white rubber shoes. The gold team wears a gold tracksuit and white rubber shoes. The fabric is a bit stretchy and comfortable which makes it easy to move.
The battle between basketball and volleyball was not just by schools but by male vs. male and female vs. female, but now it is about private schools (gold team) vs. public schools (silver team). At the looks of the maze and its area, this will be another extraordinary game. Everything we played here on nth planet is games made to be unusual. When something extraordinary happens, expect it to happen.
"Looks like everyone's ready" Author is there again. It only waited for us to get dressed uniformly prior to the game.
"Additional information about the game: Get the map after you enter the door. It is to help you to find riddles written on a card. There is a total of 5 cards. Decode those codes that will help you to find the treasure. There are 2 labyrinths, one for each team. The two labyrinths will merge as one when you reached the last station, which is near to the treasure..."
Hmm…. There are two mazes. And when you get to the end where the treasure is, the maze will converge and become just one. This is how I interpreted Author's description.
"Two teams, proceed to your assigned entrances."
We walked closer to the entrance, to the right. Our door is silver, on the other team is gold.
"This game is a matter of life and death ... After I count, run as much as you can and find the treasure that hides inside the labyrinth... Wealth level stage 3 will start in 10, 9, 8,"
Another life and death! Because in our previous games, six of our comrades had already died.
The door is opening. We have positioned ourselves to take off.
"7, 6, 5, 4,"
"We can do this," Seventh encouraged us. He went in front of us and bent over. I hope I have that confidence.
"3, 2, 1, go!"
We ran even though I don't really know why we are running so fast. We must find some cards first and answer the riddle to find the treasure that was said. Fourth almost tripped but she was able to cling to me right away.
"Are you good?" She nodded at me and smiled. We continued running.
We have to strengthen our minds, heart, and body.
As we pass through the maze or labyrinth, I can now see it closely. It is 1.5 meters wide. The brick walls are about 5 meters high. I turned around and the silver door is closing. We can no longer go back or retreat to what we've started. Again, we are trapped but this time it is inside the maze.
"The map!" Fifth shouted and picked up the paper that was folded and lying on the side of the wall. We will take the map, pick up and answer the riddles and find the treasure.
Our team stopped running and we approached Fifth who is holding and reading the map.
I am awed at the map. It might look like an ordinary thick paper when touched that it gets crumpled and torn, but its image is 3D-like. Unlike the ordinary map, which is a top view. The view shows us where we are right now. And the angle is what angle our eyes see, not the top view. Its view is like a point of view—according to our perspective. However, this map seems almost useless. There are blind spots that not the whole maze and its surrounding area can be seen. Probably with it in the game, the purpose of this type of map is to give as a harder time. There are hidden surprises waiting for us as we go treasure hunting so maybe this is just the image that can be seen on the map. Author says, there are extraordinary things that will happen, so we have to be prepared.
"What are we going to do?" Fourth asked worriedly.
We were still standing here and staring until the map would reveal something if there were but there's none. Aside from the fact that we have nothing to gain from the map we hold now, we are trapped in the maze. We refrain from going in various directions that can get us the loss of our path.
"Look," Third pointed at the top of the map Fifth was holding while he is sitting.
I bent down to see it well. A text suddenly appeared above it. It's not just that the image on the map looks 3D, it's now like a touchscreen gadget because text pops out automatically.
Go to the left
This is the text that showed. I turned to the front, I didn't see two directions in which we could turn, but the road is straight.
"Let's run, maybe there's a detour there," Sixth suggested which we followed.
We all ran to find what the map is referring to. After a few seconds, we saw two directions, left and right.
"That's it," Aeith gasped. "Let's go!"
We ran again towards the left. I am confused. Is it that easy to find the riddles? Because there is a map that guides us in the direction, it doesn't matter that we answer the riddle and then look for the treasure. While running, I caught a glimpse of the map Third was holding. Its image is changing, its image is where we are now. The map magically changes its position and image as it updates our current location but does not see the entirety of the maze. We continued to run.
"Ah!" I heard Fourth's voice. I turned and saw her.
Her two feet were submerged in the mud. Everyone stopped running and we helped her from getting stuck because the mud is thick and tight.
"It's not mud anymore, that's a quicksand," Ninth informed us.
"Help me," Fourth sobbed. She is alarmed. I recall that the same thing happened to Aeizen during volleyball. We witnessed how the mud almost swallowed her alive.
We calm Fourth down first and at the same time we would pull her up. Fourth followed our instructions. Even though her arms are already red, she endured the pain until she was completely lifted. Glad that her case wasn't severe. We took a deep breath and resumed walking.
I frowned because I haven't seen any mud on our way lately. Fourth and I were in the last row of the team, but why didn't anyone else fall as a victim before her? I thought that maybe the quicksand also spurts out of nowhere here inside the maze and you will be surprised who's the next target. We have to be careful and vigilant at all times. Everyone stopped when our leader, Third, stopped. He is the one that we chose to be the silver team's leader because he already possesses the traits of a leader.
"There's a card," he picked up at his feet the card he was saying.
"That's probably the first one!" Aeith exclaimed.
"Something's written again," Fifth said and read the new writing at the top of the map.
Go to the right
We wasted no time and we saw two directions again. Third is holding the first card we found. It's just the size of an ordinary calling card, printed and it is silver in color. Third hid the first card in his tracksuit's pocket. We turn right and run.
"What the!" we heard a boy's voice that seemed to writhe in pain. It's Seventh. We saw him sitting and frowning while holding his butt.
"Be careful guys, there's moss there, I didn't see it. When I fell, my ass hit the rock... Aw!" he warned us as he pointed at the moss with pebbles and rocks near where we were standing. He slowly stood up and shook the dirt off his tracksuit.
"Ahaha, poor you!" Aeith made fun of him. We stared at her. "Oh, hehe sorry."
"The second card," First picked up what he saw was the second card stuck to one of the rocks. Third took it and hid it again in his pocket.
"Come on," Fifth led a hand on Seventh because it looked like the effect of his fall was bad.
We avoided stepping on the moss and ran slowly over the rocky ground. I notice that every time we turn, there is an accident waiting for us. When someone had an accident, we pick up a new card. When we learned the pattern, we immediately read what was written on the map.
Go to the right
This is again written at the top of the map. We ran until we could see two directions again, we turned right. Out of fear, I warned everyone not to run first because we might be in danger again. We just kept walking slowly but surely. Miraculously nothing bad was happening yet. It's not that I want to trouble, I'm just making sure.
"We can run now because it takes so long when we just walk." Seventh suggested while he's limping.
We made sure that he was okay to run then they agreed with him but something unexpected happened. I was about to take a step to run again when I heard concrete crumbling and a man shout.
"Help!" I looked around to see who is missing among us. It's Fifth! Where is he?
Everyone looked back and saw the collapsed part of what we were stepping on. We bent down and saw two hands clinging to the uncrumpled part of the concrete. We saw Fifth. This is it, something bad will happen if we rush.
"Brad! Hold my hand!"
All the boys rushed and came to the rescue. They lifted Fifth up. We soon breathed a sigh of relief when they rescued Fifth. They took a deep breath and Fifth is still pale.
We were surprised when the part where Fifth stood before collapsed. All of a sudden, it fell to pieces. Luckily, Fifth was able to hold on, otherwise, he would be gone now. Bending down earlier to see what was below the ground where he fell, we saw that beneath it was a sky. I don't know if this maze is floating in the sky, if so, we also don't know how that happened. This causes us to be more cautious than ever.
***
We are currently sitting and circling in the middle of the maze passage. We rested for a while because we also ran a long way. Third pulled out of his pocket the 2 cards he had found. According to Author, there are 5 of them so we need a long run again. For now, we will first talk about the card and to answer the riddles. This is what's written on the first card.
1. Death throe - 2 syllables
What are the first 2 letters of the words when pronounced?
The second card shows:
2. Hay - a word of greetings or expression.
Remove the H, you will get the missing letter.
That's what's written on the two cards.
"What does that mean?" Fourth asked yet we're all confused. We all shrugged and stared blankly at the cards that lay in front of us.
"Oh, so that's the spelling of 'throe'. I thought R-O-W, haha!" Seventh have something in his mind but it turned out to be wordplay.
"Shut up. I'm concentrating." Aeith scolded him.
"'When the H is removed from 'hay', only the letters A and Y will be left. It does not say 'missing letters' but 'missing letter', it means only one letter. Either A or Y is the missing letter?" doubtful answer of Fifth.
"No. The answer won't be taken lightly. The riddles are deep." Sixth objected. I'm glad that she's starting to contribute a conversation to the team.
They continued their discussion, but nothing seems to fit as of now. Everyone stopped speaking for a few seconds, so I looked up while thinking deeply.
"Why?" Aeith and Fourth stared at me. "W-Why?!"
"Hays, you also don't know the answer, Second? You're the one we hope who can answer these," Aeith sighed heavily as if she's hopeless.
"You're serious, why me?" I shrugged them off. I didn't expect that I would be the one they expected to answer the riddles we are reading today. I don't know why, but my brain isn't flowing very well. I might be totally useless this time. I've thought about it a few times but still have no sensible clue. It's just fun because we all work together to answer the riddles. Everyone is thinking deeply and sharing opinions that may be the answer to our question.
"We're just wasting our time." I gazed at First because of what he said.
"He's right," Ninth agreed.
"Okay, so far, we haven't solved any riddles." Third opened the map and there's another direction written on the map. "We must proceed now to the left." He stood up and shook the dirt off his clothes. "Let's go."
After he said that, everyone stood up and ran to find our third turn. We are running to turn left. While running, Seventh was so close to the side that I turned my back on him.
"What's the problem?" I asked.
His eyes narrowed and he grabbed his butt. "There's something on my ass,"
He frowned like he was in pain or what. His butt must be hurting from the fell a while ago.
"Here," I held out my hand to him.
"It's okay, it'll go away too." He smiled at me then he started walking and running.
At first, we all stopped running because of fatigue. It looks like we ran longer now than before. I bent down and got on my knees, catching my breath. I felt someone approaching me, it's First by the way. He was also panting, and I could even see a drop of sweat dripping down his forehead.
Third's tone of voice grew louder. We turned to where his index finger was pointing at and saw a lot of black dots flying. Wait, black dots? Then we saw Seventh running, about 5 meters away from us. He ran with us a bit late maybe because he's butt is still in pain.
"Run! They're bees!" he shouted while running towards us.
"Run!" they shouted.
I know that bees are scary especially if they are in full forces. They are many and they are in clusters when they attack but why would they attack us? Then it entered my mind that Seventh might have broken or disturbed their hives.
"Run!" only then did I shout when we they were already running. My brain processed slowly.
*bbbbbzzzzzz*
"Duck!" Third ordered us. We bent down covering our ears. It's a trend in our school that it is said that when there is a bee, cover your ears to prevent it from entering ears.
"Ahhh!" Fourth screamed and Aeith hugged her.
When we could no longer hear bees, we removed our hands and stood up.
"N-No more?" Fourth double-checked. Third nodded in response.
"Hey! What are you doing there, and the bee attacked us ?!" Aeith scolded her classmate, Seventh.
"When my ass ached, I clung to the beehive..." So, that's really the story behind the attack. He took something from the pocket of his tracksuit. "Here, the third card."
Third took the third card. After everyone read it, he hid it for safety.
"I saw that glued to the beehive," Seventh added.
"That's enough. Let's proceed to the next one," Ninth cut the conversation out with a serious but determined face.
***
We continued walking until we turned left. With each turn we made, I am curious what will happen if we turned in the other direction and disobeyed what was written on the map.
"Be alert," the leader warned us, so we all watched every step we took.
It's just amazing but confusing at the same time because nothing bad is happening to us after the bee attack incident We continued to run-walk-rest but nothing really. This is our fourth turn. While looking around, something caught my eye that was something glowing glued at the top of the wall. I called them and pointed the thing out. And that confirmed was the 4th card.
"How are we going to get that?" Fifth wondered.
The wall is also about 5 meters high, and the card is about 2.5 to 3 meters, which means that two people need to climb on top of each other to get the card.
"Who is the tallest of you?" I asked so they all looked at me and at themselves.
They lined up and we looked at them. Ninth is the tallest followed by First, Seventh, Fifth and Third. Their height difference only matters for about 2-3 centimeters. Next, I asked First and Ninth
"What is the weight of you two?"
"63 kilograms," Ninth replied first.
"67" – First answered.
I don't know how they found out that, maybe some of their memories came back as well. And since they already knew why I even asked, First sat up and bent forward. Ninth sat on First's shoulder. Ninth immediately removed the adhesive card from the wall. The leader took it and showed it to us then hid it again.
"Come on, we still have to find the 5th card," Third authoritatively commanded us. We obeyed his command and continued walking.
"Argh" I saw Ninth holding his right hand.
Seventh and I approached him. "What happened?"
"Stop!" He suddenly prevented us from approaching him as he blocked his left hand. "Everyone, stop walking." Everyone was stunned in motion because of what he said.
He took a piece of branch that he had just found at his feet and seemed to be stabbing the one in front of him that we could not see. In an instant, the end of the branch was cut off, turned black and smoky.
"What is that?" Fourth asked.
"There's an invisible barrier that can burn an object that touches it."
He pierced the barrier again and within two seconds it became visible, silver as steel. It immediately became invisible after two seconds. That's why his right hand was red, he was burnt.
"How the heck?!" Seventh's hysterical question.
"My hand penetrated the barrier and then I got burned. I think there's a time pattern when this barrier disappears." Ninth added.
"Let's observe and distinguish its time pattern." Third suggested.
Because of the invisible barrier that comes visible at a certain time, we first sat on the maze's ground to rest and waited for the result of the time pattern when we could penetrate that barrier. Ninth and First were assigned by Third to figure out that time pattern. Third will be the one to carry orders. The remaining members will be responsible to answer the riddles. Third took the cards out of his pocket and laid them on the floor.
1. Death throe - 2 syllables
What are the first 2 letters of the words when pronounced?
2. Hay - a word of greetings or expression.
Remove the H, you will get the missing letter.
3. Carbon and Oxygen
4. Chromatic color that produces a pleasant harmony to a chromatic painting.
Amond is the world where amond lies.
When you touch it once again, you'll die.
Hopefully we can answer all these riddles on time.