It takes two

The top of the tower fell silent for a moment.

Then someone moved.

A burly bald man was the first to approach the edge. Confidently declaring himself an expert rock climber, he began climbing down under the other applicants' watchful eyes.

But just as the applicants thought the bald man might reach the bottom, several hideous magical beasts flew in from the distance, tore him apart, and devoured him.

The sight dashed any hopes the applicants had of taking the easy way out.

Odin looked away and began slowly walking across the stone floor, lightly testing each section with the sole of his shoe.

Solid.

Solid.

Still solid.

When he reached the northwest corner, the sound beneath his feet changed.

Instead of a dull, solid thud, there was a light, hollow sound, like stepping on an empty panel.

Odin crouched and ran a hand over the floor.

The stone's surface looked the same as everywhere else, but an almost invisible seam ran along its edge.

He tried applying force, only to discover that this trapdoor could no longer be used.

That meant an applicant had already entered through it.

"I found two trapdoors."

Ponzu's voice came from the other side.

Odin stood and walked over.

Ponzu was crouching in the southeast corner of the tower roof, pointing at the ground.

Several bees circled her, beating their wings over a particular patch of floor.

"My bees are sensitive to airflow," she said. "There's air coming up from below here."

Odin crouched and indeed felt an extremely faint current of air.

He glanced at Ponzu. "One each?"

Ponzu smiled. "Working with you has been pretty pleasant. You can have one. Go ahead and pick first."

Odin nodded.

He moved to the section on the left, jumped, and stamped down on it.

The floor flipped, spinning Odin down into the tower.

Darkness surged in from every direction, swallowing the light overhead.

A few seconds later, other lights came on, and Odin began examining his surroundings.

He found himself in a small stone room with an iron door ahead.

Clunk, clunk-

Before Odin could make out the writing on it, the sound of the floor turning came from above.

Odin immediately sensed trouble. He had wanted to act alone, but now it seemed this was a route for multiple people.

He turned and saw Ponzu's slightly bewildered face.

"Hey, we meet again," Odin said.

"Looks like we'll be working together again." Ponzu did not give it much thought and smiled at Odin.

Odin said nothing, merely nodding toward the iron door to direct Ponzu's attention there.

[The iron door can be opened once two people are present.]

"Clearly, this is a two-person route." Odin sounded a little resigned. "Let's get started."

"No problem." Ponzu followed Odin to the iron door and opened it.

As the iron door swung open, a corridor appeared before them.

The corridor was narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

The walls were rough stone, with a wall lamp every ten meters casting a dim yellow glow.

Stone slabs covered the floor. Some were already loose and clicked when stepped on.

Odin and Ponzu surveyed their surroundings.

There were no doors or branches, only one way to go-forward.

He took a step.

After about twenty meters, the stone slab under his foot suddenly sank.

Odin reacted instantly, pushing off with his left foot and springing backward.

The moment he landed, the slab he had just stepped on flipped over completely, revealing a deep pit below. Several rusty iron spikes stood at the bottom, their tips gleaming dark red in the lamplight.

Ponzu sucked in a sharp breath.

Odin glanced at the pit, then at the overturned slab.

"Looks like it's all traps," Odin told Ponzu. "Be careful."

He skirted the pit and continued forward.

Ponzu followed close behind, placing every footstep on a slab he had already stepped on.

They went another thirty meters.

The corridor ended.

A door stood before them.

It was an iron door with a thick panel and a rusty iron ring for a handle. A note had been stuck to it with clear tape.

The note read:

"Answer correctly and the door opens. Answer incorrectly and wait to die."

Below that was another line:

"Which Hunter Exam is this?"

Odin paused.

He had not expected the mechanisms in Trick Tower to be so simple.

"The 287th," Odin said.

A click sounded behind the door, like a spring-loaded lock releasing.

They pushed the door open, revealing another corridor beyond.

This one was not straight, but circular.

The center of the circular corridor was open, exposing the structure of several floors below-all circular as well.

Ring after ring extended downward, like an enormous well.

Odin walked to the edge and looked down.

Every floor had doors, with no telling what lay behind them.

"This tower..." Ponzu also approached the edge. "It's like a giant puzzle box."

Odin nodded, looked away, and started along the circular corridor.

With no idea what mechanisms awaited them, Odin chose to keep walking.

They passed a door with a skull painted on it.

They passed a junction where three paths led in different directions.

Neither of them stopped.

They kept going.

The circular corridor stretched beneath their feet, one circuit, then two, then three.

They counted the floors they ran past.

Five floors.

Ten floors.

Fifteen floors.

On the twentieth floor, he stopped.

Not because he was tired, but because the corridor ahead had changed.

It was no longer circular.

It was a wide, straight passage, with twelve doors arranged symmetrically along both sides.

Each door was numbered, from 1 to 12.

Odin and Ponzu stood at the entrance to the corridor, in no hurry to enter.

They observed.

The floor was entirely stone slabs, with signs of wear along the joints.

The doors were all iron, but their handles differed. Door 1 had a round handle, door 2 had a horizontal bar, door 3 had an iron ring...

His gaze swept over every detail.

Neither knew what would happen once these doors opened. If they recklessly opened the wrong one, they could be in serious trouble.

That was why, after Ponzu's bees checked the earlier doors, they had chosen not to open any of them.

This time was no exception.

Odin nodded to Ponzu. She wasted no time, having already sent her bees into action.

The bees flew in front of the twelve doors ahead. A few minutes later, a swarm settled in front of door 6.

"This should be the one."

Odin walked over and grasped the handle of door 6.

The iron ring was icy cold.

He turned it gently.

Click.

The door opened.

Beyond it was not a corridor, but a room.

The room was small, roughly twenty square meters, with stone-slab walls and no windows.

A lamp hung from the center of the ceiling, casting a stark white light.

A table stood in the middle of the room.

On the table sat a machine with a screen displaying a countdown:

71:42:33

The digits kept ticking down, second by second.

Below the screen was a round, red button.

Odin stared at the machine for a few seconds.

"The time," he said. "It started counting down when Beans announced the rules."

Ponzu stood behind him. "So what do we have to do to clear this floor?"

"Maybe destroy the machine," Odin said. "But destroying it might trigger another mechanism."