As the assessment progressed, by the time the maze event had been underway for a full half day, more than half the examinees had encountered at least one puzzle.
Of course, given the density of the puzzles' distribution, not every team was destined to have the chance to claim one alone. Many teams encountered other groups at the same time they discovered a puzzle.
A very small number of hotheads naturally chose to fight for them, resolving the matter through force. But after weighing the pros and cons of fighting each other, most teams chose to abide by the rule of first come, first served.
Of course, some teams took a more unconventional approach and chose to merge.
Indeed, according to the Rule description, each puzzle's reward could only be awarded to one team. Even if two teams worked together to solve the same puzzle, only one side could receive the reward. In other words, after two teams merged, the six-person team's gains from solving puzzles would be cut in half.
However, once they had a basis for cooperation, a team of six would gain a combat advantage over ordinary three-person teams. Then, the merged team could simply seize the puzzles of other three-person teams and divide the spoils among themselves afterward. Directly obtaining other people's puzzles through "seizure" was clearly more efficient than painstakingly searching for undiscovered puzzles themselves. In that case, even halved gains were worthwhile.
And that was not all. Once more and more teams had solved at least one puzzle, they began to realize that the so-called puzzles offered more than just points as rewards.
In fact, the puzzles scattered throughout the maze also varied in difficulty. Easier puzzles naturally offered only points, but solving slightly harder ones would also open new passages for the examinees.