"The Louge Gas has gotten thicker here."
The words escaped Simon's lips as he saw the Earth Scale Eel cave once more. The red mist that was once a slight fog became like a cloud with each step.
This would complicate things for Simon. With this, he would need to spend less time in the Hollow World to avoid anything lethal.
(Hmmm.)
Simon rubbed his temples in contemplation. Another obstacle had arisen in his mind. How was he even supposed to get inside the cave again in the first place?!
(Alina might be crazy enough to not ask questions and attend to me, but this...)
His fingers glided against where the cave once was. Although it was properly concealed now, there was still a slit that was noticeable if you stared long enough.
However obvious this might have looked to him, he knew it would not be this easy. Just to test this theory, he stuck the jagged dagger into the slit and tried to force it open.
Just as Simon had guessed, it didn't move a single inch.
(Figures.)
He pulled the dagger out, knowing that trying to use brute strength would just be wasting his valuable time. He inspected the wall closely and everything around it.
At the foot, there were no scratch marks present, meaning that this door would not slide open. More importantly, there were slight cracks in the walls every few steps next to the cave.
Simon's eyes narrowed, taking in every clue he could find. Eventually, he noticed behind the slit was a slab of smooth stone. It was clear to him that this must have been placed afterwards; it even had a different color compared to the rest of the wall.
He forced his fingers into the slit of the wall, lightly tapping against the stone slab. It budged, barely, but movement meant the best-case scenario for him.
He kept his index finger on the surface of the slab, sensing the spiritual energy around it.
(I see. It's still natural, so that means this must be someone's ability.)
Although the spiritual energy inside the stone was still natural, the energy around it wasn't. There was a thick, orange layer over it, causing Simon to hum in thought.
He stepped back, pacing around as he thought.
(Someone who has the ability to change the terrain... At least, this is what it appears to be. It would explain how the actual cave is so evenly built, and how this wall has cracks in it. In this case, that should mean that my surroundings are the key to unlocking this puzzle.)
Simon turned his attention back to the cracks in the wall. If anything, this would be the most suspicious out of everything. In the actual cave, he remembered the trick of the wall changing every two steps.
He approached the first crack, putting his hand against it and counting.
"One. Two. Three."
Sure enough, the crack had a massively different formation compared to the rest. His first instinct was to push the crack in, so he did.
With a crisp sound, the crack followed his weight, revealing itself to be a pressure plate. At the same time, a low hum shadowed him, almost as if it were a clock.
Simon didn't move, instead waiting patiently as he counted the seconds. Instinctively, he matched his breathing with every tick, his heart falling in sync as he counted inwardly.
(Fifty... Fifty-one...)
After one hundred and seventy-three seconds, the plate shot out again. It made him recoil slightly before he caught himself, nearly slipping onto the train tracks below.
"Haha. So that's how it is?" he muttered.
To be honest, I feel as if Simon had been quite ignorant here. However, if not for his arrogance, then I don't think he would've solved the mystery of this door.
Sometimes your worst features can be your best. Other times, your best features can be your worst. Humans are so full of contradictions.
As Simon caught himself, he noticed the metal below him was quite loose. Shifting his weight, he glanced down at the train tracks and floor. He was quick to notice that the floor was evenly eroded on all sides.
(So it's not just the wall?)
In just a few moments, he had already found multiple pressure plates. He deduced that most were fake as the hum of the clock did not come as he pressed down on them.
While it didn't seem like a problem, it was bigger than he had expected. If he wanted to activate these triggers all at once, given how spread out they were, he would have to be extremely quick about it.
(I can get maybe one hundred and fifty seconds. That will leave time to spare. The question is — once I activate them, will the door close after the time is over?)
He would rather risk this than anything else. If this did happen, there must have been a way to leave from inside. However, there was no telling if the pattern would somehow switch on the second attempt.
So, he spent the next ten minutes finding the patterns of the pressure plates. It was quite a tedious process having to go through each plate one by one.
For each pressure plate on the cracked stone, there was one in the opposite direction. The distance between the plates on the stone and ground shifted, multiplying with each one.
By the end, it took him ten minutes to find each one. Now all that was left to do was activate the sixteen plates.
Simon inhaled deeply before slamming the first one into the wall.
(One.)
At the same time, the low hum of the clock began to tick down as he pressed each plate.
He had to move from the wall, then to the ground repeatedly, as they wouldn't activate any other way.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
(Six.)
At this point, the objects were only getting further and further, leaving him with no time to spare for mistakes.
There were only thirty seconds left after all.
(Sixteen!)
With all of his might, he shifted his efforts into his legs, panting as the rock wall began to open.
The stone slab from the other side lifted itself, and the walls spread apart just large enough to look like a door.
However, the mechanism soon began to close as he inched closer.
With a final-ditch effort, he flung himself into the cave.