Mika waved the hand she’d used to touch the doorknob toward Saori-chan, assuring her she wasn't hurt and there was nothing to worry about. Saori-chan inspected Mika’s hand for herself and sighed in relief once she confirmed there were no injuries.
It was heartening to see how well they got along, but...
“Mika, Saori-chan. Could I have a word?”
“Hmm? What is it, Onii-chan?”
“Is something wrong, Onii-san?”
“Look, take a look at that.”
““That? Ah...””
Following my finger, Mika and Saori-chan froze in shock. In the direction I was pointing stood an electronic display board. The timer had already begun its countdown, and the red lamp installed next to it was glowing.
In other words, they had already failed the first trap.
“W-Why is the red lamp on? I haven't even opened the door yet...”
“And the timer... it’s already moving...”
The two of them stared at the display with dazed expressions, looking as if they couldn't wrap their heads around what had happened. It seemed the shock was quite significant.
Well, I suppose I should bring them back to their senses.
“Come on, you two—pull yourselves together!”
I placed a hand on each of their shoulders and gave them a light shake, raising my voice to snap them out of it. They stiffened for an instant at my touch, then slowly turned around to look at me, their eyes gradually regaining focus.
“O-Onii-chan. Um, well, you see...”
“It looks like that doorknob was the first trap. It’s unfortunate, but you failed it.”
I cut off Mika’s flustered, stuttering attempt at an explanation and gave them the simple truth. At the mention of the word "trap," their eyes widened in disbelief.
They looked like they couldn't credit what they were hearing.
“This was... the first trap?”
“The trick to this trap is that the door looks perfectly ordinary. On top of that, Staff-san’s instruction to ‘pass through the red door’ was likely a ruse meant to lower your guard.”
The exercise was supposed to start the moment they passed through the entry gate, but because of those instructions, Mika and Saori-chan had been misled into thinking the challenge only truly began after they opened the red door.
Judging by how Mika had reached for the doorknob without a hint of caution, she had been played perfectly by Staff-san’s misdirection.
“The mechanism is quite simple—a basic electric trap. It seems that if you touch the doorknob without taking any precautions, it completes a circuit and delivers an electric shock.”
Mika and Saori-chan listened to my explanation, staring back at the red door in a daze.
Then, the reality of their failure set in. They both let out heavy sighs, their shoulders slumping.
“Sigh... How are we even supposed to deal with something like that?”
“Getting shocked just by touching the handle...”
Confused and disheartened, the two racked their brains for a way to handle the electric trap. However, perhaps due to the lingering agitation of their failure, no ideas seemed to be coming to them.
In the meantime, the time limit on the electronic display continued to tick away. At this rate, they would be disqualified before they even made it through the first room. I had no choice but to offer a hint.
“You two. Don't focus so much on just the doorknob. Broaden your field of vision and observe everything around you. Does anything feel off? Notice anything unusual?”
“...Off?”
“...Notice?”
Following my advice, Mika and Saori-chan shifted their gaze away from the door and began scanning the surroundings. Then...
“Ah, here!”
“The color of the wall is slightly different right here!”
They pointed to a spot located exactly halfway between the red and blue doors. As they approached and inspected it closely, it became clear that the color was indeed a shade different from the rest of the wall. The discolored section was roughly the size of a standard postcard. Mika took a deep breath and cautiously touched the area with her fingertip.
“Ah, this part of the wall! It moves when I push it!”
When Mika applied pressure, the right edge sank in slightly, followed by a faint click. When she pulled her finger away, the right side of the panel popped forward. It was a hidden switch cover.
With a careful hand, Mika hooked her finger on the edge and slowly swung the cover open. She peered inside and cried out.
“Ah, there’s something like a breaker switch inside! This must be the control for the electricity running to the door!”
Inside the wall was a breaker switch with a lit red lamp indicating it was energized, along with a strip of tape that read: Close lid after opening and Automatic re-energization after 5 minutes.
Seeing that, a smile finally returned to Mika's face as she reached for the breaker. She seemed genuinely thrilled to have found the solution.
“Mika-chan, be careful!”
“I know!”
Heeding Saori-chan’s warning, Mika flipped the switch. The red indicator lamp flickered and went out.
“Now it should be safe to touch the handle, right?”
“Yeah. It should... probably be okay.”
Neither seemed entirely confident as they stared at the red door with lingering anxiety. They looked at each other, silently debating who would be the one to risk it.
After a tense pause...
“...I’ll do it this time.”
Saori-chan stepped forward, volunteering to open the door.
“...Here I go.”
After a small, deep breath, Saori-chan set her expression and reached out. For a few seconds, she remained frozen with her hand gripped tight around the doorknob. Once she realized no shock was coming, she pushed the lever down and pulled the door open.
They had successfully disarmed the trap.
“We did it! Saori-chan, it’s a success!”
“Yeah!”
Mika and Saori-chan took each other's hands, cheering in shared joy at their first victory.
However...
“I’m sorry to rain on the parade, but... take a look at that.”
““That?””
I interrupted their celebration and pointed toward the display board counting down inside the doorway. The timer read 11 minutes and 23 seconds... meaning over three and a half minutes had already elapsed since the start.
And they were only through the first room.
“Wh-!? More than three minutes have passed already!?”
Mika’s eyes bugged out as she stared at the display in horror. Saori-chan hurriedly looked at the timer installed above the door they had just opened and cried out.
“B-But this timer is still in the thirteen-minute range! Why are the times different!?”
Saori-chan turned back to me, frantic for an answer as to why there was such a discrepancy.
“Why? Think back. What did Staff-san say at the entry gate? He said the countdown would start once you passed through the entrance.”
“The entrance... Ah!”
“Exactly. He said 'entrance.' He never once said the timer started when you passed through the door. In other words, you two were caught by Staff-san’s wordplay—you let him mislead you.”
““...””
Mika and Saori-chan stood in silence, wearing frustrated expressions as they glared at the timer visible through the doorway.
Still, it was an impressively designed trap for newcomers. By hiding a misdirection within the rules and providing an empty room at the start, it created the false impression that the challenge only began once they were 'inside.' It was highly effective against rookie explorers or anyone whose guard was down. Since the mechanism wasn't flashy, it served as a stern lesson to maintain vigilance even in the most mundane moments.
Seeing the girls look so dejected made me want to offer a word of praise to the Dungeon Association members who had designed this course.
The counter dipped below the eleven-minute mark. Mika and Saori-chan were clearly downcast after realizing they'd been trapped from the very first step, but with no time to spare, we pushed them along into the next room.
“Come on, you two, there’s no time to waste. You can reflect and verify everything once we’re out of here.”
“Everyone makes mistakes at first. Don't let it get to you too much,” Yuji added.
“He’s right,” Hiiragi-san said. “Even we only learned by making the same kinds of mistakes you are. Failing during training is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“...Okay.”
“...Yes.”
Our encouragement seemed to do the trick. Mika and Saori-chan managed to pull themselves together enough to continue. They shook their heads to clear their thoughts and lightly slapped their cheeks with both hands to reset their focus.
“...Alright, I’m okay. Shall we head into the next room?”
“Yeah.”
They started by peeking cautiously through the open door to observe the next area. Having failed once, they were much more thorough in their scouting.
After observing the room from the doorway for about ten seconds, Mika made up her mind and stepped into the second room. She took a couple of cautious steps inside, covering about two meters. Finding no immediate danger, she let out a sigh of relief and beckoned us over.
“It’s fine so far. There don't seem to be any traps here.”
“Thank goodness... I was worried they’d set something right at the entrance again.”
“Come on, Saori-chan, you come over too.”
“U-Uh-huh.”
Encouraged by Mika, Saori-chan stepped into the room.
Then...
“Waph!?”
“Saori-chan!?”
The moment Saori-chan crossed the threshold, the wall panel above the door detached. Using the upper frame as a pivot, it swung down in a sudden arc, slamming into Saori-chan’s upper body.
I moved instantly, catching Saori-chan as she was knocked backward and checking her for injuries.
“Are you okay, Saori-chan?”
“H-Haah... Yes. I’m okay.”
Saori-chan looked like she had no idea what had just happened. I decided to explain it to her.
“Unfortunately, Saori-chan, you just triggered the trap for the second room.”
“...Eh? A trap?”
“Yep. A trap. Anyway... you're really not hurt?”
“Ah, yes. I’m fine. Something hit me with a lot of force, but it was soft, so it didn't actually hurt...”
“I see. I'm glad you're safe.”
I helped her stand on her own, relieved she was unharmed.
The facility managers had clearly prioritized safety to prevent actual injuries... though I had caught her before she could hit the floor, anyway.
“Looks like a time-delay trap that triggers when the second person enters,” Yuji noted.
“The kind that preys on a lapse in focus,” Hiiragi-san added, inspecting the panel. “You think that because the first person was safe, the second will be too. The wall is made of soft sponge, so they’ve clearly accounted for safety.”
“It’s a lesson: even if you're not the point person, don't let your guard down,” Yuji concluded.
As expected of the Beginner Zone, it was packed with fundamental lessons that every explorer needed to master.
While Yuji and Hiiragi-san discussed the mechanism, Mika crawled back under the swinging sponge wall that was now blocking the upper half of the doorway.
“I'm so sorry, Saori-chan. If only I had checked more thoroughly...”
“No, it wasn't just your fault, Mika-chan. I was the one who let my guard down. And look—the wall only covers the top half. If I’d been ready to crouch, I could have easily dodged it.”
Saori-chan pointed to the wall, insisting that the failure was shared.
In truth, both of them had lacked the necessary attention to detail. It wasn't about who was to blame; they had both been caught.
“Mika, Saori-chan. I hate to break up the moment, but...”
I pointed to the electronic display. The counter had already dropped below ten minutes.
“Time is running out. Shall we move on?”
“...Okay.”
“...Yes.”
The time limit was arguably the most dangerous trap of all. With displays in every room, watching the seconds tick away induced a sense of panic that led to sloppy mistakes. If they hadn't been rushed, Mika and the others likely would have spotted both traps they'd failed so far.
In the end, while Mika and Saori-chan continued to challenge the subsequent rooms valiantly, they were unable to clear a single one. By the time they reached the sixth room, the remaining time had dwindled to less than three and a half minutes.
Three and a half minutes, huh... Well, I suppose it’s our turn now.