NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 92 - Puzzles

Inside the eerie labyrinth lay countless books to choose from. Everywhere that my eyes met, there was a book according to a topic. Ancient as it looked, someone wrote all the contents for the readers.

It had myriad subjects that did not concern me, except for the ten books stationed in front. Those volumes, which also had titles on the front page, made my eye sparkling with joy. I did not know why, but the windows explained it all.

[The library contains all of your questions and desires. Answering four riddles and an entrance would lead you somewhere you yearn.]

[Do you accept the riddle?]

[Yes/No]

Match also witnessed the popped up windows as she hid behind me. I, who knew that these screens were no threat to our existence, stood tall in front of the box.

My fingers tapped the wind and pressed yes to the question. After a few seconds, the screen changed and revealed all four riddles at once if I clicked the tab.

[First Riddle]

[Second Riddle]

[Third Riddle]

[Fourth Riddle]

Every time that my finger touched the tab, that rectangular box would glow a vibrant light. Each case had different colours, which made it more questionable.

I tried opening the first riddle, since it was the first one that appeared in front of me. The rectangular tab glowed a yellow hue that resembled something that I knew. A faint chiming sound would follow upon opening the cube, telling me I opened the box.

[First Riddle: I am bright but not clever. I burn, but I am not a bonfire. I sound like I am a celebrity, but I am not famous. I twinkle, but I am not an eye. I can be seen at night, but I am not the moon. What am I?]

Match went to me and asked, "Red, do you know the answer?"

I shook my head and replied, "No… I don't. Riddles are not my forte."

The two of us pondered the riddle for thirty minutes, and yet nothing came to our senses. No matter how hard we thought about the answer, Match and I couldn't find the answer.

And then, a light bulb appeared on top of Match's head, telling me she had something in mind. "I know! The system told us that the answer is from those ten books on the table. We should check it out!"

I seconded her decision as the two of us went to the table.

It was what the automated voice told us. Ten books had diverse titles and words written on the book cover. Each of them was effortless to understand. Match and I picked the books and organised them while sitting on the ground.

"What do we have here?" I mumbled, as I read the texts out loud. "Hill, star, fire, light, past, present, future, mountain, time , and your word. Well, this makes little sense at all!"

Match nodded to herself, agreeing with what I just remarked. "Yes. I don't know what those even are! "

After countless minutes idling around, I stood up and went back to the entrance, where we saw the four altars. Upon blinking my eyes, the four pillars had the exact colour that the riddles had. It was a hint that the books we would use could be the key to unlocking this damn place.

I returned to the library and met Match once again. "Have you found anything yet, Match?"

Although Match was still a little girl, she had a knack for thinking. I did not want to make her useless, since this puzzle required our efforts to complete it.

I sat beside the girl and browsed through the nearly dozen books on the floor while rereading the entire riddle. Since the books here were the key to unlock the passageway, Match and I needed to guess something for starters.

That was what I believed.

"Why don't we try voting for an answer before thinking about the actual answer. Does it make sense?" I asked.

Match nodded and went along with my plan. I grabbed a random book with the title "light," which was the closest that I could think of, and went to the altar. I rested the tome on the golden stone and waited for something to happen.

Little did I know that the book we placed was wrong. Instead of a pleasant sound, a frightening groan echoed inside the cave, with arrows hovering in our direction. We did not know where these bolts came from, but Match and I needed to act fast if we still wanted to survive.

I snatched Match back to the library and took refuge inside. After a few seconds, the arrows had finally died down, ending the duration of the trap.

[Because you placed the wrong book on the golden altar, a trap activated itself. Be sure that the volume you would set is the correct one. Please read the riddles once again before answering them. ]

"Damn you!" I exclaimed, while tempting myself to throw the book clipped in my hand. Match knew what I wanted to do, so she stopped me by caressing my arms.

It was enough to calm down my senses as the two of us resumed solving the puzzle.

"So guessing is a no-no for us," I murmured, and held the three books in my hand. "I have an intelligent guess, but, uh… the traps."

After getting a taste of those ridiculous arrows flying out of nowhere, Match and I became hesitant about our decisions. As soon as Match heard the word "guess" from my mouth, she shook her head and hid inside the mountain of books.

However, despite the fear swelling inside of us, we must overcome this trial. We needed a boat made from the dwarves, after all.

"Match, trust me on this, okay? I may not be that intelligent, but I think I finally got the right answer!" I assured the little girl, cowering in fear.

After my few attempts at pulling her out from the cave of books, Match went back to my side and played the role of an adviser. She would vote if my answer was close enough to the riddle.

"I think fire, light, and star probably are our best bet! What do you think?" I asked, while sliding the books from my hand to the other.

Match pondered the options I set in front of her. She knew that if we made a mistake like before, who knows what would happen to the other traps installed for us. We might not even survive that, considering that we got out of that place because of some luck! Although my right eye glowed for a second, activating those traps would still pose a problem to us.

"The answer couldn't be fire, since flames burn everything. It also does not twinkle like the ones mentioned in the description. We already guessed light, and it was the wrong word. So I think the answer that we're looking for is this book, 'Star'," Match explained, while handing me the book with the name "star," on the front.

I gave her a nod and went back to the entrance, where the four altars waited for our arrival. As soon as we stepped foot on the other side, the bolts-which should have been lying around the place, disappeared. It almost looked like someone cleaned the entire cave up before we knew it!

Match and I paid it no concern and went straight to the golden altar. It invited us to come closer to its presence, with the book grasped in our hands.

I gingerly laid the book down on the space and waited for a few seconds. I also activated my right eye in case something horrible would happen. But despite my preparations, there was nothing that killed us. Only the quivering sounds of the ground, paired with the chiming echoes coming from the altar, resounded inside the cavern.

[First Riddle Complete!]

[I am bright but not clever. I burn, but I am not a bonfire. I sound like I am a celebrity, but I am not famous. I twinkle, but I am not an eye. I can be seen at night, but I am not the moon. What am I?]

[The answer is a STAR]

The steady altar went down on the burrow. It was as if the ground sucked the entire thing out of its existence. But Match and I knew we did something right, since the system and the environment told us about it.

"I did not know that would work!" I said.

But Match did not feel delighted after hearing my comment. "What do you mean you didn't know! You don't have faith in me, Red!"

The little girl pouted while withdrawing to the library. It took me several minutes before grabbing back the attention of Match. It was thanks to her we solved the first riddle that the cavern gave us. Although the situation became intense, everything became entertaining…

Like we were inside a game.