All of them left to search for pressure plates. Seong went back to the place he was before to see if he had missed anything, and indeed he did. There was a pressure plate on the floor, but it was only 2 inches off the ground, so unless you walked over it, you couldn’t notice it.

“There's one here,” Seong noted down and proceeded to look for the next one. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anything for the next three hours until he walked and accidentally tripped on another pressure plate.

“Ah, was this the only way I could find one?” Seong exclaimed, feeling pain in his abdomen from getting stabbed by the pressure plate.

Seong couldn’t find any other pressure plates for the rest of the time and decided to head back to the meeting point. He was the first one there and waited for the rest of them to come back.

After everyone made it back, Seong began by saying, “I found two pressure plates, what about you?”

“I found one,” Alejandro said.

Minjun added, “One for me too.”

“I got one,” Jin Ae said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Amelie said, “One for me.”

“I couldn’t find one except the first one I found before,” Ara said.

Eun-Jeoung added, “Me too.”

“So, in total, we have eight pressure plates,” Seong stated.

Jin Ae replied, “Yep, I think this is for eight people, but since Hwan is gone, this is going to be a lot more complicated.”

“How are we going to get eight robots on eight pressure plates with seven people?” Ara asked.

Seong said, “I got an idea, but I will need Minjun's help.”

“Sure, I'll help,” Minjun replied.

Seong continued, “You mentioned that a can opener can tighten screws. How about loosening them?”

“Never tried it, but it should theoretically work,” Minjun replied.

“Then let’s try it,” Seong suggested.

“We shall all meet back in four hours regardless of whether we get the robots on the pressure plates or not,” Jin Ae said.

Eun-Jeoung asked, “Wouldn’t that just waste time for people who got the robot on the pressure plate?”

“It would, but if you just hold the robot forever if the others can't get the other robots on them, then it's even more of a waste of time,” Jin Ae replied.

Everyone agreed and left. Minjun and Seong positioned themselves between the two pressure plates Seong had found to have a better chance of catching a robot.

“There is a robot there,” Minjun said.

Seong and Minjun ran towards it, but when they turned, it disappeared.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Seong said, “That didn’t happen last time. Did it get faster?”

“Yeah, I saw some robots run past me, but they weren’t that fast,” Minjun agreed.

Seong and Minjun kept walking but didn’t see any robots, yet they could evidently hear footsteps around them. When they checked in spots where they heard the sounds, there weren’t any robots. After 4 hours, they headed back for the meet.

“Did your plan work?” Amelie asked, seeing them walking towards the meet.

Seong replied, “We didn’t even get to try; the robots were much faster than before, and there were a ton of footsteps, but no robots.”

Amelie said, “That wasn’t a problem for me; I got the robot really fast and kept it on a pressure plate.”

“Me too,” Ara said.

Jin Ae said, “I had the same problem as Seong; the robot had much more speed than before, and the footsteps were as annoying.”

“I got the robot on the pressure plate, but it wasn’t that easy; it was faster than the last time I saw it but wasn’t that much of an increase,” Eun-Jeoung said.

Alejandro added, “I couldn’t get the robot either.”

“so, the robot speed and the increase of footstep are probably the pressure plates; they probably have an effect,” Jin Ae proposed an idea.

Seong said, “This academy isn’t going to give us a single easy task, will it?”

“Then how are we supposed to solve it if the speed becomes too fast for us to catch up to it and too many footsteps sounds start being made?” Eun-Jeoung asked.

Seong replied, “It's quite simple, actually, Eun-Jeoung; we just have to understand all the pressure plate effects and then make an order, and then we will solve the task.”

“What a hassle,” Alejandro said.

Amelie said, “Yeah, but we got to do it.”

“Let's start that tomorrow; we have done enough for today. Let's get some rest,” Jin Ae suggested.

Everyone agreed, ate dinner, and went to sleep.

The next day, everyone woke up early. Most of them couldn't get much sleep due to the robot's footsteps passing them throughout the night.

“Time to eat breakfast, go and brush your teeth,” Amelie said.

All of them got up, brushed their teeth, and ate their cold beans. Seong commented, “Is there any point in brushing your teeth if we eat this?”

Jin Ae said, “Don’t be disgusting.”

“I am just saying, I have to brush my teeth twice if I eat this. What kind of academy is this?” Seong replied.

Alejandro chimed in, “I agree.”

“Just eat it; it's better than being starving,” Amelie said, annoyed.

After finishing their breakfast, they proceeded into the maze. They found a robot, caught it, and used it as a tester.

Jin Ae took down notes on the effects of each pressure plate:

- Amelie's pressure plate: Produces fake footsteps sounds.

- Ara's pressure plate: Increases the speed of the robot.

- Alejandro's pressure plate: Increases the sound generated by the robot.

- Minjun's pressure plate: Appears to have no effect.

- Seong's pressure plate: Renders the robot's footsteps completely inaudible. The other pressure plate has no discernible effect.

Eun-Jeoung's pressure plate: Increases the speed of the robot.

Jin Ae's pressure plate: Increases the strength of the robot.

"That's all the pressure plates," Jin Ae said.

Alejandro sighed in relief. "Finally, it's done."

"What do you think should be the order?" Amelie asked.

Jin Ae answered, "I have another idea. Instead of doing an order, how about we find all the robots and then keep them on the pressure plates at once?"

"That would work, but we would need eight people," Amelie said.

Jin Ae replied, "Seong, what about your idea? Why don’t you try it on this robot?"

Seong nodded and went towards the robot with Minjun. They made it lie on the ground and tried to remove the screw. At the start, it didn’t budge, but after a few minutes of progressively trying, it finally began to loosen up, and the screw finally came out.

“Good job,” Ara said. “Only seven more.”

This process took about an hour and chipped the can opener a lot. “This is going to be broken soon. Do you have another way to open cans?” Seong asked.

Amelie replied, “Yeah, but that's also going to be a headache.”

“Why?” Alejandro asked.

Amelie answered, “We have to open it with brute strength.”

“Let's hope this is the ending of the maze,” Seong said as he moved the last screw.

“I’ll take it to the pressure plate and come back,” Minjun said and left.

While they waited, Eun-Jeoung asked, “Did Hwan take enough food for him to live?”

“To have a full stomach, not even close, which is good. Who goes and leaves their entire group? What a selfless person, but to live, yeah,” Amelie replied.

After Minjun came back, everyone started to look for the robots.