Ugly Bastard System

The next door opened with a click.

Ruri was part elated, and part angry.

Elated, because she managed to overcome the adverse situation with just her quick wit.

She forcibly snatched the free coupon from Takeshi, tore it in places and turned it into a cross which could be folded into a cube, then she scratched letters that denoted the colors into the faces with a coin. All within 5 minutes.

As for her being angry—

"Oi, you guys can hear me, can't you? Why did you put in such complicated puzzles and not even share any pen and paper to jot down stuff? You think everyone has perfect memory?!!"

She could have simply abandoned the puzzle, went outside to the girl who was sitting outside and selling tickets and demand answers... but to many that could have been seen like a child throwing tantrums because she couldn't solve it.

But now... she had the leverage. She solved the puzzle regardless, now it was time to roast them.

"Hah. Not that you managed to cause much trouble for me, but don't you think you are unfairly cheating people out of their money?"

A carefully hidden door opened and a girl came out. She looked... quite embarrased. That made Ruri even somewhat less angry. She still folded her arms and looked straight into the eyes of that girl.

"Ahaha... sorry... we kinda slipped on that part," the girl scratched the back of her head with and awkward laugh. "We can provide a single paper and pen to you... but that would mean we will have to somewhat reduce the puzzle solving time. So... give us a few minutes to set up everything, okay? Till then, we have water. You want some?"

Ruri gladly took the water bottle the girl offered to her. It was kinda hot inside—she kinda fogot in her excitement. She took a few sip and then offered the bottle to Miki, who looked rather languid. She shouldn’t have brought her inside.

As for the third member of the party—she squinted her eyes and looked at Takeshi who was down on his knees, just because of a coupon.

Scum. Did he really want to go to that place again that much? Hmph! Boys.

After a few minutes, the girl gave her a pen and only a single sheet of paper, apologized for the trouble and vanished behind the hidden door. It would be enough, Ruri supposed. Things get much easier to process when you do not have to remember every details.

The door to the next room opened.

Ruri saw a small table that had a weird egg shaped plushy on it. And a note.

Congratulations for conquering three rooms! Keep it up!!!

Oh, so there were prizes after completing certain levels?

"Waaahhh! It's Kururu chan!!!" Miki jumped in joy. Ruri remembered that it was a mascot character from that Magigal Utena Chan show.

"You can have it, Mi chan."

"Really?! Ruri chan you're the best!!!" Miki hugged her in joy. Cute.

Now Ruri focused on the screen on the wall. It was time to move ahead.

She overcame the last trial with much more adversities. Now she even had weapons with her—pen and paper. She could do it!

The screen showed a 10 by 9 grid that was filled with red, green and blue colors. There was a sentence below it, and a counter.

What is the magic password?

Time left: 04:57

...Huh? That's all?

Was there some pattern in the colors? There had to be!!!

Ruri paid careful attention to the colors. Did they somehow mean anything? They looked so random...

04:12

Red, Blue, Blue, Blue, Green, then again Blue, Blue, Blue? How was she supposed to figure out anything from that?

She turned to the others.

"Hey. You guys see any pattern in them?"

"...No?"

"It looks pretty! Kinda like Conpeito!!!"

Ah... these two were useless...

03:21 

Ruri wrote down the colors using letters.

RBBBGBBBGR

RRGRRRRGRR

GGGRBRGRRG

BRBGRRBGRB

BBGBBBGBRR

RGRRBGGGRR

RGRBGRRGBR

BGBRBBGBBB

GBRBRBBGGG

Hm... the green boxes could be joined to form lines... or not. Damn it.

2:47

What if she replaced the color with numbers and added them... but was the password even a number?

2:23

The green boxes... they do not look that random... there must be something! They are always kinda evenly spread! They sometimes come in groups of three! Does that mean anything?! ...But then again, the red and blue ones repeat too. Damn!

1:34

What if she separated the colored boxes? Would it form three letters! Are they some Kanji she didn't know?!!

0:46

Ahhhhhh seriously what is it?!!

...

...

...

Ruri hopelessly watched as the timer ticked away. There was nothing that came to her mind.

Even after she got a pen and paper...

0:00

Time Up!!!

Congratulations on making this far!!!

Rooms conquered: 3/10

Highest record: 3/10

That girl again came out of another hidden door.

"Ah... well, the festival just began so you kids are the first ones to enter. Thanks for pointing out the pen and paper thing, by the way. "

Ruri intensely looked at the girl.

"What is the answer here?"

"Eh? Ah—sorry, but we can't tell anyone anything until the festival is over. Later on, there will be a report on the school website, so you can check the answers there."

That... made sense. But still...

Ruri and others came outside crestfallen, where Sayuri and her uncle were waiting.

"Everyone, what's wrong?" Sayuri asked with visible concern on her face.

"We... lost..."

Ruri and Takeshi looked sad—although for different reasons, and they were also affecting Miki, who just got her favorite plush toy.

"Ah well, people sometimes do not get what they want. You can always try next time, okay?" Sayuri patted her head.

"...Un. Sayuri san, Uncle, do you see any pattern in this?" Ruri held out the paper to them.

"Ah... I'm sorry, I can't." Sayuri replied.

"Me neither. Is this the one that stopped you, Ruri?" Her uncle asked.

"Hm. They said I'll have to wait until the end of the festival to know the answer." Ruri replied

"...Then it cannot be helped," her uncle said, "let's go then. We can come back here again after we visit all the other places."

"Un."

As they were about to move...

"Excuse me... You will have to return the pen I'm afraid..." the ticket selling girl awkwardly told them.

"Ah—sorry!" Ruri returned the pen to her.

The girl patted her head and whispered in her ears, "That part where you used that coupon to solve the cube puzzle was really amazing. But still, you were kinda rude to that boy as you snatched his coupon. Be sure to apologize to him later on, okay?"

Ruri looked at the girl dumbfoundedly. How did she—she was outside, right?!!

The girl smiled and pointed at the laptop that was in front of her.

The... compartments had cameras. Oh... that made sense. But that meant—Ruri felt her face heating up.

"Don't worry, we will delete that part when you were... pulling that boy's pants." The girl winked.

Ahhhhh... this is so embarrassing!!!!!!

"T-thanks!"

"Hey. It might feel a little personal but I still want to ask. Just think of it as a question from your elder sister. Do you like that boy?"

"W-wha?!! N-no!!! Who would—" Ruri reigned in her shouting. What if he heard her? She felt her cheeks heating up.

"Oh? You were quite angry when he looked all sad after you took away that free coupon. That was for the butler and maid cafe, right? I can guess what happened."

"N-no, it's not like that..." Ruri fidgeted with her fingers.

"No hiding, girl... I can see it in your eyes. Listen. The longer in denial you will be the greater will be the chances of him being snatched away. This is an advice from a senior who's dating her childhood friend for five years. That kid... will surely grow up to look extremely handsome within 2 to 3 years. You better reign in him before other girls become serious in romance and start noticing him. I can tell that you will grow up to be pretty too, so make good use of your charms too. Do not be a stereotypical loser childhood friend, be a winner like me!" The girl tapped her chest in pride.

"...I'll keep that in mind. I will return to challenge again."

"See ya later then!"

"See ya!"

Ruri decided to visit the other places before challenging this place again. But still...

What was that puzzle about? It didn't make any sense...

She wondered if that Ogre would know the answer.

She would ask him if she ran into him again.

But for now—

"...T-Takeshi kun."

"Hm?"

"...I'm sorry."

"...It's fine. I'm not angry."

"But—"

"It's fine, really."

"O-oh. I'll treat you to Hachi san's Takoyaki later, okay?"

This time, Takeshi returned a big smile. "Okay!"