Alice in Borderland

Chapter 106

Breathless, I look up at the wooden beams and metal bars of the climbing frame as soon as the soles of my feet touch the ground and I try to moderate my rapid breathing. I take a moment to catch my breath, because if I'm discovered before I reach the save room, I'll need a good air capacity. Of course, I could spend the rest of my time in the arena solving the game, but I'd rather face an intellectual challenge than an armed hunter.I hear a noise behind me and turn around so I can watch the young woman in the cheerleading uniform swinging down one of the poles in a relaxed manner. We look intently in our respective directions, as we are about to part ways. I am still amazed that she has left the choice of hunter territory to me.
Without another word, she heads for the territory to our left, and I want to say something after her, but not a single word leaves my lips. Instead, I look to the corridor on the right and swallow nervously. Maybe we shouldn't have split up, but it might have been the smarter choice. The hunter with the gun and the one with the knife will surely keep checking to see how many people have made it into the save rooms to know how many are still in the arena and possibly in their territory.I hear the chainsaw howling from the back, but I stay relatively quiet and head for the other side of the warehouse. The noise has moved away from me, so the assumption that its playful approach warns the participants and makes it harder for it to find a victim was correct. The only question is whether the hunter is doing it on purpose so as not to have to kill anyone or whether he simply doesn't realize it. But in Borderland I've often been disappointed by people's moral decisions and ulterior motives. The hunter probably didn't like the fact that we were hiding under his nose on the high stand, just waiting to see us climb down.
I quickly and quietly cover the straight sections, peering carefully around the corners of the wall to make sure I'm alone. My choice of the right-hand area was a risky one, but I'm still confident. The firearm could be harmless if the hunter empties his magazine and hasn't got any supplies. He will also attack from a distance, which offers better chances of running away than with a knife, at least if you make it safely around the next corner of the room. While the hunter can kill unnoticed in the area on the left, I can hear when a shot is fired and can make out his current position. All details that can make it easier for me to reach the save room alive.The only disadvantage is that I can forget to access the high ground after one of the participants has been shot down in cold blood. I make progress without difficulty and bend my head around the last wall I've drawn. My eyes immediately scan for danger and when I see a person scurry past on the other side of the room, I quickly retreat and my eyes snap alertly open. The section leading to the save rooms offers no privacy, no painted walls. You have to overcome yourself to show yourself to be so unprotected and immediately disappear into one of the rooms
During my quick glance, I noticed that there are lights above the doors that are either green or red. They indicate that four of the rooms are already occupied and participants are trying their luck there.I take a sneaky peek around the corner of the room before deciding to run off. My heart rate skyrockets and I reach out my trembling hand for the approaching door handle. I immediately disappear into the room and slam the door behind me. I've done it, finally there are no more hunters lurking behind me. I carefully step away from the door and look around the room.A time display with red numbers begins to run down, telling me that the game will continue for another eighteen minutes. My time to get out of the save room should be more than enough, so I carefully examine my task.There is wood paneling on the side walls, two squares from floor to ceiling. These are decorated with small white boxes showing small sections of painted pictures. Two wall puzzles.

During my quick glance, I noticed that there are lights above the doors that are either green or red. They indicate that four of the rooms My concerns about the individual hurdles were that I might come across a puzzle that I wasn't familiar with. But looking at the walls makes me understand that no prior knowledge is required. The task is simple and understandable for every participant.The small white boxes have to be moved one after the other, leaving a free space in each picture to make this possible. I walk to the first picture and count the boxes to realize that there are sixty-nine bricks in each mural. My fingers run over the ornate colors and I take a step back to get an overview of the first painting. An old-fashioned and simple picture showing a sunset.

This means that the yellowish colors must be placed in the middle row of boxes and the sunbeams in the top image. The bottom picture should result in a dark mountain range. I approach the picture and move the first block to the left. I try to move the boxes quickly, because you have to put every single brick in the right place. The difficulty of a wall puzzle is that you don't just put the picture together, you have to move one box after the other past the other.I'm glad I'm in a storage room because the ceilings are low, so I can still reach the top row with my arm outstretched and move it along without too much effort. In a higher room, I would have had to keep climbing up slightly, because there is nothing in this room to stand on. However, the screen is wide and standing directly in front of it doesn't allow me to see everything, which is why I sometimes have to step back to get a new overview.