>>5762081Some mental effort later, he holds up the paper.
<span class="mu-g">"That which slithers."</span> Kaito says, reading it out loud.
Enatsu ponders, her brow furrowed as she thinks, <span class="mu-g">"Ah! Snake!"</span> she says, snapping her fingers.
Kato gives her a look, <span class="mu-g">"Well, yes."</span>
Upon confirmation, Enatsu hurriedly picks up the snake stone and the fact that no time has been deducted, means they're probably on the right track.
>Natural time progression - Puzzle 1 - 1 minute>Rolled 7 + 10 (1d50 + 10) for solving the cypher.>17 extra seconds have been deducted from the timer.Timer: <span class="mu-r">8:43</span>
As she inspects it, she notices that the bottom of the stone has actually been scraped out and the hole contains a small key.
<span class="mu-g">"A key,"</span> says Enatsu, handing it to Kato.
Kato looks it over, <span class="mu-g">"Too small for the door and the suitcase has no slots for a key. Must be for the lockbox, then."</span>
Kato hurries over to the lockbox and inserts the key, <span class="mu-g">"This probably contains the new clu-HIAAAA!?"</span>
He stumbles backwards, landing on his behind, then puts another few feet between himself at the lockbox.
Enatsu leans over the lockbox to look inside.
There, coiling around a metal box, is a snake with a spotted pattern of orange scales.
>pic related<span class="mu-g">"Don't worry. It's just a snake,"</span> says Enatsu.
<span class="mu-g">"I KNOW!"</span> shouts Kato.
The sound of Shintaro's room echoes through the room.
<span class="mu-g">"Haha! It seems like our slithering friend over here has taken ownership of the next clue. Do you dare retrieve the metal box of this fierce predator?"</span>
---
Meanwhile in the studio, you shiver in your seat.
Snakes and other reptiles are things you'd rather stay far, far away from.
You know that Enatsu is an outdoorsy person, but it would still take a certain level of guts to put your hand near a creature like that.
What if she gets bitten!?
You remember seeing a documentary where a snake's venom melted a man's hand off!
The host's voice echoes across the room again.
<span class="mu-g">"Will you risk it all? If you don't want to, then just say the word! For the low-low price of three minutes of your timer, we'll slide the same clue under the door of the escape room! Oh, I suppose you could also knock over the box and wait for the snake to get out, but then you'd have a loose snake on your hands, haha! I wouldn't recommend it!"</span>
Time remaining: <span class="mu-r">8:13</span>
<span class="mu-s">Decision</span>
>1 - Let Enatsu reach towards the metal box surrounded by the snake. >2 - Request the clue and sacrifice three minutes. >3 - Write-in 