The Spectator's Prospective Inspection

A howl of terror tore through the peaceful silence of the aerial botanical garden, suspended in the heavens. The announcement of the imminent crash echoed in our minds, transforming the serene atmosphere into a waking nightmare. Suddenly, a strange virtual window, similar to those in video games, appeared before us, floating in the air like an anomaly in the midst of lush nature.

[Introductory puzzle: The Fall of the Celestial Garden

Explanation: The botanical garden floating in the air is about to crash to earth. Prevent the crash by recovering the magic jewels that keep the structure levitating.

Time: 20 minutes

Rule: None

Failure: Death]

On top of this, the holographic chronometer floated in the air, mercilessly counting down the remaining 20 minutes.

The atmosphere, originally so peaceful and pleasant, became surreal. The garden, with its hanging plants, winding paths and aerial waterfalls, was slowly being transformed into a nightmare scene. Beneath our feet, the once majestic structure lost its balance and began to drift dangerously towards the earth. Now we were faced with an unthinkable ordeal, an enigma that would decide our survival.

Eyes met, faces confused, terrorized. Panic gradually invaded the visitors, their murmur of concern turning into a hubbub of terror.

"What's going on?" exclaimed someone, voice trembling with anxiety.

"How can a puzzle prevent a crash?" added another, her fear piercing through every syllable.

I looked at Saei. Our eyes met, reflecting disbelief at the situation. An enigma in this fairy-tale setting that had become premonitory, it all seemed too unreal to be true.

A studious-looking man, eyebrows furrowed, approached the large pillar in the center of the garden, where it seemed logical that the jewels should be deposited. His fingers grazed the smooth surface of the stone, searching for clues. He squinted, noticing a tiny, barely visible crack, from which emanated a subtle, almost imperceptible glow. He bent down to get a better look, and it was then that he discovered a fragment of a glittering jewel set into the pillar. It was as if part of the complete jewel had already been sealed there, while the rest had been scattered all over the garden.

"Wait... there's already a piece of jewel here," he murmured, stepping back slightly, overcome by a strange sense of unease.

His gaze then lifted to a series of numbers engraved just above, in the stone. A colossal number: "125 122 970 169 408 985 ???". He tried to decipher it, but the numbers seemed nonsensical, too complex, as if they belonged to another dimension. The last digits were blurred, replaced by question marks, like an unfinished code.

"What does that mean?" he threw out, his voice full of confusion. "I can't even read this number... and why is one jewel fragment already here? The rest must be scattered around the garden."

His comment immediately drew the attention of the others. There were murmurs in the crowd. Tense faces turned to the pillar, trying to make sense of this puzzling discovery.

It was then that an agitated woman, paying no attention to what he had just said, began to speak more loudly, looking determined. "It's exactly like that film we were watching earlier! The first puzzle was the same: you had to collect a precise number of jewels to stop the timer."

She swept her gaze over the assembly and resumed, full of confidence. "We all have to search for these magic jewels! If everyone searches on their own, we'll have a better chance of finding them quickly."

One man nodded emphatically. "Yes, it's our only chance to prevent this crash. If we spread out and search each on our own, we'll maximize our chances."

Panic gave way to frantic action. The passengers, once caught in a whirlwind of fear and hesitation, began running in all directions across the garden. Hanging trees with floating roots, luminescent flowers - everything around us suddenly took on an even more mysterious and dangerous aspect.

Sae and I decided to stay together. We wandered along the winding paths, observing the surroundings in search of the famous magic jewels. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to spot one. Nestled in the hollow of a giant plant whose leaves radiated a soft light, the jewel shone with an intense beige glow.

"Look, there!" I cried, picking it up. No sooner had I closed my hand around the jewel than a subtle but disconcerting change occurred.

Saei, who had wandered off slightly to explore another corner, hurried back to me. "Bun... look above your head," she said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

I frowned, puzzled. "The pointer? It's true that in the movie, he appeared after picking up a jewel..."

She nodded quickly, her gaze fixed over my head. "Exactly, and here it's clearly visible. The symbol is there, and it displays the number '1'. That's the only jewel you've found, isn't it?"

I nodded, a shiver running down my spine. Although I'd expected this kind of detail after seeing the film, seeing it materialize in reality was unsettling. "So, that means we're well and truly immersed in the rules of the film... And that every gem we find is monitored, tracked, and counted in real time."

Saei crossed her arms, pondering this information. "It confirms what we feared. If we follow the same operation as in the film, every person who picks up a jewel automatically ends up with this indicator above their head. It's impossible to hide anything."

I sighed, scanning the surroundings with my eyes, as if to make sure no one was watching us. "Then we'll have to be even more careful. If we come across other people... knowing exactly what we've found could become a problem."

We continued picking up the jewels, surveying the garden in search of these magical stones. Suddenly, at the bend in the path, my gaze fell on a man. Above his head, his pointer displayed a mind-boggling number: 1,000,000,000 jewels. I stopped dead in my tracks, unable to hide my disbelief.

"A billion?" I muttered to myself, before approaching him. "You've found a giant gem, haven't you?"

The man sketched a slight smile and shrugged. "Exactly. These are worth far more than the classic jewels."

I straightened up, pondering this information. Of course, this was part of the film's rules. The biggest gems gave out staggering scores. But seeing such an example before my eyes made the theory much more tangible.

Saei, who had been following the scene, interjected, "So, it's a question of strategy as much as luck. Finding these giant gems could be a total game-changer."

I nodded, my thoughts turning to what's next. "But if someone reaches that kind of score... they become a target. If the others want to survive, they'll do anything to take his jewels."

The man watched us for a moment, then, without another word, wandered off into the meandering garden.

After five minutes of searching, a new notice appeared before us. It floated in the air, imposing.

[The maximum number of jewels has been collected!]

Everyone seemed relieved at last. With all the jewels collected, the puzzle could be completed without difficulty. The botanical garden, suspended above the void, would be saved, and the crash averted. Tense faces relaxed, and a brief glimmer of hope crossed the crowd.

The first person calmly moved towards the pillar in the middle of the garden, where the jewels were to be deposited. She approached the pillar, the gleaming stones in her hands. The moment she was within a few steps of the structure, a magical beige aura began to surround her. The ethereal energy seemed to react to her presence, gently enveloping her jewels. Suddenly, without her needing to make the slightest gesture, the stones rose into the air, as if drawn by an invisible force, and floated towards the pillar. They swirled for a moment, radiating light, before landing delicately on the pillar's surface, as if by magic.

[Required number of jewels not met].

A deafening silence filled the space. Glances were exchanged in disbelief. "What do you mean? We've all collected jewels, the maximum number has been reached," murmured someone, his voice full of confusion.

Incomprehension grew as reality dawned on us. We thought we'd done everything right, calculated everything... but something wasn't right. The minutes continued to tick by, and with them, the shadow of the crash drew closer. Murmurs of anguish began to rise.

"This can't be... What's wrong?"

Faces, previously soothed, twisted again in panic. Eyes scanned the jewels, the pointers, desperately searching for an explanation. But there was no answer. Time was running out, relentless, and the seconds lost made the atmosphere even more oppressive.

Discussions became confused, almost chaotic, as everyone realized that failure was no longer a distant hypothesis but an imminent threat.

The minutes ticked away relentlessly. The weight of time slipping away weighed down the air, and tension mounted with each passing second. We no longer had the luxury of thinking of another solution, our gazes became evasive, our hands trembled slightly. Crash was imminent, and panic was setting in.

Just then, a new message appeared in the notification window, floating in front of us, dimly illuminating our tense faces.

[Hint: ~Weakness.

Explanation: Sacrifice a weakness to save everyone and pass the puzzle].

The silence that followed this clue was chilling. A "weakness"? What did that mean?

While I was still wondering about the meaning of the clue, the man who had collected 789,000,000 jewels spoke up.

"Line up everyone, I've found the solution," he declared confidently.

Some were receptive to his request, quickly obeying, thinking that his large number of jewels had perhaps enabled him to understand the puzzle. Others were more hesitant, but time was running out, and panic urged them to cooperate, even if an element of mistrust remained.

"I know how to solve this," he lied, staring at each of us. "Trust me."

We lined up, our eyes full of concern. He watched us intently, scrutinizing every face, every detail. Then, after a careful inspection, he suddenly pointed to one of us with cold assurance.

"He's the one who must be eliminated," he declared firmly.

Murmurs of confusion rose again. Some didn't understand his reasoning, but I had already grasped everything. The person he had just pointed out was the one with the fewest jewels.

The man explained calmly, sure of himself. "I chose this person because he has the fewest jewels. It's obvious, he's the 'weakness' mentioned in the clue."

He swept his gaze over the crowd before continuing, "You can see why our pointers display the number of jewels each person has collected. It's so we can identify who's dead weight. It makes sense."

While he seemed totally convinced of his deduction, voices of protest quickly rose among us.

"Wait, you don't know that!" shouted someone from the back of the crowd. "Maybe it doesn't mean you have to kill someone just because they didn't pick up enough jewels!"

"What if that's not weakness?" added another, clearly annoyed by the turn of events. "There are other ways of looking at it. Maybe the weakness the clue speaks of is of a different kind, something deeper."

The debate erupted violently, with everyone expressing their own interpretation of the clue. Some were quick to support the man's idea, arguing that time was running out and drastic decisions had to be made to save everyone.

"It's a question of survival! We have to follow logic. Whoever has contributed the least has to go, it's that simple!" someone shouted, clearly panicking.

But others were vehemently opposed to this solution. "It's absurd!" exclaimed one woman. "You can't sacrifice someone just because they haven't collected enough jewels. It's unfair!"

The debate inflamed spirits, divided opinions. The timer in the floating botanical garden continued to run down, and the remaining minutes seemed to vanish under the mounting pressure.

The man behind the debate, visibly annoyed, then turned to the woman who had brought up the film. "You there. You mentioned a similarity with a bloody film you've seen, didn't you? How did the characters solve the puzzle then?

She hesitated, biting her lip, before answering in an unsure voice. "I... I don't know."

"Are you kidding me? You don't know?!" he roared, beside himself. "You mean you don't remember anything? Did you sleep or something during the scene?"

His aggressiveness silenced the other murmurs around us, and a heavy silence settled in. Yet even with memories of the film, solving this puzzle was impossible. In the film, there had been only one survivor, which meant that no common solution had been found.

I remembered this scene, where Ryō, with his usual calm, was observing the same situation we were now facing. The characters, just like us, after being given the clue that a weakness had to be eliminated in order to advance began to get into a bloody brawl. Finally, he had spoken, in a cold but clear tone indicating that only the one with the most jewels would survive, unless someone stole the jewels from the other remaining survivors.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. Part of me was convinced that he knew perfectly well how to solve this puzzle, but preferred to keep the answer to himself, leaving no chance of survival for anyone else.

Saei turned back to me, her eyes searching mine for answers. "What do we do, Bun?"

The world we'd originally known had changed, and this clue had revealed the true side of each person. The heated debates were degenerating into uncontrollable chaos.

Suddenly, a man stepped forward from the person who had proposed killing the person with the fewest jewels. Without a word, he struck him hard on the head with an iron bar. A cry of surprise and horror spread through the airy botanical garden.

This was the trigger that plunged everyone into a bloody war. People split into factions, some advocating cooperation, others opting for violence as a means of resolving the crisis.

Saei, witnessing this descent into hell, was wondering whether to intervene. I looked again at the puzzle, the chilling clue still there. I told her not to do anything. We had to stay out of it and find a way to solve the puzzle.

Screams and sounds of struggle echoed through the cabin, but in the midst of this chaos, I began to think. I had to find a way out of this madness. My gaze swept frantically over the scene, observing every nook and cranny in search of a clue or a solution. 

Then my eyes fell on a multitude of notifications scrolling by the second in front of me. They indicated that the number of survivors was rapidly dwindling. 

[23 survivors left...]

[22 survivors remaining...] 

[21 survivors remaining...]

Then finally, one last notification.

[20 survivors remaining...]

The countdown chilled my blood. The botanical garden continued its descent, and people were being eliminated, one by one. Then an idea occurred to me. An intuition. Something I hadn't considered before.

I turned quickly to Saei, my heart beating wildly. 

"Saei, I think I may have the solution to this puzzle."