As he continued observing the arena, Ryota spoke:
“From what I’ve observed so far, I can deduce a few things.
“First, there’s the shape of the arena and the distribution of the smaller pillars.
Their arrangement isn’t entirely random, despite how it appears.
“It’s almost as though they’ve been arranged into numerous interconnected hexagonal formations, with the one thing distinguishing each hexagon from the others being a central pillar completely devoid of cracks…
“There’s also something I’ve noticed about the cracks around the smaller pillars.
There’s a certain detail to it, though I’m not entirely certain of it yet.
“I noticed that the competitors always seemed to show signs of panic moments before the pillars fell!
“That’s extremely strange.
No matter how sharp your senses are, that still defies logic.
“Especially when you realize that this was happening with nearly all of the competitors!
“From this, we can infer that there’s some kind of specific warning that alerts the competitors immediately before a pillar falls. Most likely, it’s a loud cracking sound that occurs roughly one second before the collapse…”
Evander:
“And why did you specifically consider the cracking sound to be the warning?”
Ryota:
“As for that…
“It’s my personal intuition.
But I genuinely can’t see any other logical reason for the variation in these cracks except to deceive the competitors.
“Especially since I suspect that the more heavily cracked pillars produce a louder warning sound before they fall!”
Evander:
“And why do you think that?”
Ryota:
“The competitors’ reactions!
“They were more frantic and panicked the closer they were to the more heavily cracked pillars, right before those pillars fell.”
Evander’s expression tightened in shock, and he muttered:
“How did you even notice something like that…?”
Ryota continued:
“And the second thing is that recurring pattern…
“I noticed that the pillars don’t fall randomly.
Their falls are clearly connected to the arrangement of the hexagonal formations!
“Whenever a pillar falls, it must fall toward one of the central pillars of the hexagonal formations that it is part of.
“But here’s the insidious part: the pillar doesn’t fall directly toward the central pillar. It falls toward it, but at an angle leaning either to the right or the left.”
Evander:
“But how can we determine which way is right or left in the first place? This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“I mean, which direction exactly are they supposed to fall?!”
Ryota:
“The concepts of right and left here are most likely determined by looking toward the nearest massive pillar and comparing the distance between them.
“In short, just look toward the nearest massive pillar, and you’ll know the direction of the fall yourself.”
Evander:
“And what about the recurring pattern you mentioned?”
Ryota:
“I was just about to get to that…
“Now that you understand everything I’ve explained so far, I’ve noticed a pattern that repeats consistently with almost every fall.
“If a pillar falls toward the right, then five seconds later, the pillar opposite it within the hexagonal formation of that same central pillar must fall toward the left.
“And this is where the test’s insidious trick comes into play.
“If you evade the first falling pillar without knowing about this trick, you’ll most likely, and almost instinctively, flee directly toward the exact place where the second pillar will fall!
“And this is where the strange meaning behind the phrase, ‘Follow the elders, even if their words make no sense,’ comes into play, because…”
Evander interrupted, completing Ryota’s words:
“Because the ‘elders’ refer to the smaller pillars, and the meaning here is that even though they’re small pillars, they’re still massive compared to us.
“And following them even if their words seem nonsensical means that, in reality, approaching the completely intact pillars—the central pillars—would be the worst decision, despite how logical it may appear.
“Because you’d actually be more exposed to being struck by the falling pillars!
“Whereas if you move alongside the more heavily cracked pillars—which is a decision that completely defies logic—you’ll have roughly one second to hear a loud, clear sound before immediately fleeing in the opposite direction.
“And this is where the difference between those who know the pattern and those who don’t comes in.
“Someone who doesn’t know the pattern, after escaping the first falling pillar and fleeing in the opposite direction, will momentarily feel safe.
They’ll catch their breath, and because of that sense of safety, their reaction will become even slower.
“And then, when the second pillar falls, they’ll most likely become the first victim.
“But those who know this pattern only need to focus on avoiding the first pillar and fleeing in the opposite direction toward the safe area.
“However, because they know that the area is only temporarily safe and that its safety won’t last more than five seconds, they won’t take more than two or three seconds to escape the first danger and catch their breath.
“Or, in general, they can simply wait until they hear the cracking sound of the second pillar, then immediately return to the location where the first pillar fell—or simply move away and flee from the danger of the second pillar’s fall.”
Ryota continued, his tone changing as his expression grew more serious:
“In reality…
“There’s a flaw in your strategy.
“The second pillar… most likely doesn’t make a sound before it falls!”
His pupils contracted to their limit, and Evander spoke in a broken voice:
“Are you… sure?”
“Yes… And without relying solely on luck, only a few monsters possessing extraordinary warrior instincts have any chance of surviving in this situation.”
Ryota then stood up and spoke firmly:
“Anyway, this information is everything I’ve been able to deduce from observing this relatively small section of the arena.
“And no matter how hard I try to focus, I can’t see any farther than this.
I don’t even have the slightest bit of information about those who have passed beyond my line of sight and already reached the first massive pillar.
“At the same time, I don’t think we’ll discover any other important information simply by continuing to observe from here.
“I think it’s time to take a real step forward and test these assumptions in practice.
“Evander!
Mizushi!
Get ready!
“We’re entering the arena now!!”
Evander stood as he spoke:
“In that case, we need to hurry.”
He moved toward the edge of the sign, but before he jumped, he noticed that Mizushi was still silent after his conversation with Ryota a short while ago.
He looked toward him, his eyes narrowing slightly, and thought:
“Is he still lost in that thought…?”
Evander called out to him:
“Mizushi! Let’s go!”
No answer…
Evander called out to him again:
“Mizushi!
We’re already late!
“We need to get moving!”
No answer…
Evander continued calling Mizushi several more times, but Mizushi still didn’t respond…
Ryota looked toward Mizushi, his eyes narrowing slightly…
He had noticed something…
Or rather, a mistake…
But he chose to remain silent…
Finally, he spoke in a calm tone and called out to him:
“Mizushi…”
Mizushi looked toward him, exhaustion already evident in his eyes, as though he were someone who hadn’t slept for days.
Ryota continued:
“Let’s move…”