Chapter 309: Seventy-Sixth Floor, Maze of Choices (4)
[Escape the maze. Time remaining: 4 hours 20 minutes.]
It suddenly occurred to me that this floor might not be particularly complicated. Perhaps the maze didn’t actually expand infinitely. Regardless, the fact that doors behind me would automatically close each time I moved forward was important.
Having focused so intently on identifying differences between the doors, I had overlooked an obvious thing, mainly because spot-the-difference mechanisms weren’t all that unusual in other trials.
This seems to be the key, though
What if the door closing meant that the room from two doors ago had somehow shifted so that it was now presented before me again?
It would suggest that I could have been walking through the same area repeatedly, caught in a loop like Penrose’s staircase—an illusion where one endlessly climbs or descends without truly advancing.
I couldn’t say for sure. It was merely a sudden notion, an instinct that surfaced without warning.
Still, assuming it is true...
Then, if I were to choose the correct door, the one leading to the exit, the cycle of identical rooms wouldn’t repeat. The maze would only loop when I took a wrong turn. Perhaps the door two rooms behind only shut when I chose the incorrect path.
Either way, I had a few things to verify.
Thankfully, identifying repetition would be straightforward: I could just leave a mark.
When I first arrived on this floor, I had actually considered trying to break through the room’s walls.