I walked through the gap. There was no sign of it narrowing or moving. It felt like I was walking in an ordinary long corridor. I increased my speed when I saw the end of the corridor. I entered and saw the 10-years-old Ren was standing in the middle of semicircular room.

“Ah, Onii-san, you’ve come.”

He said. He walked toward me.

“Here”

He handed me the crystal sphere. I accepted it.

“Why you handed this me right away?”

I asked. The sphere shattered like the moment I received one before.

“No, I just hand you what’s belong to you, the proof that you’re Ren Concerto. But, it’s still just a name. Your titles, your gift of appraisal, and your level are still with me.”

He said.

“Then, what should I do to get them from you?”

I asked. He looked around.

“Then, play with me.”

He casually said. He reached for his breast pocket and handed me a folded paper. He smiled and threw something to the ground. As soon as he did that, smoke rose up and covered the entire room. When the smoke was gone, the room changed. The previously blank white semicircular wall, now had 10 doors with numbers on them.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

The doors looked similar and had no sign of being a fake. I looked into the folded paper in my hand.

[1+2 = 8]

[The world where up and down are equal for the greatest number and the number of June. ]

[The answer lies beyond the other side of number 4.]

The riddle didn’t make sense at all. I scratched my head as I looked at the doors.

“The ups and down are equal for greatest number. What does it mean? The number of June is probably 6. And no matter how you think about it, 1+2 is 3 right? Are you telling me to predict the thinking pattern of a child who can’t do a math?”

I said.

“Wait, other side of 4?”

If the numbers are paired, it might guide me to the right path.

1 – 0
2 – 9
3 – 8
4 – 7
5 – 6

By putting this, I smirked. I stood up and walked toward the door number 7. I pushed the door open and saw a long corridor behind it. I nodded and made up my mind. I dashed straight into the long path which the end almost couldn’t be seen by naked eye.

I pushed the door at the end of the corridor open. There, I saw a white room with the size of 2 X 2 meters. In the middle, I saw Ren was standing while holding a present.

“Congratulation on finding the answer!! Here’s your reward.”

He said. I took the present box and opened it. Inside, I saw the crystal sphere and a letter. I absorbed the crystal first before I took the letter. As soon as I took the letter from the box, Ren threw another smoke bomb. When the smoke dissipated, the white room suddenly opened up like a cardboard box.

Beyond the room was a maze like messy room. What I meant by messy is the fact that everything is jumbled. There were doors stuck on the ceilings and floor. Even there was a door which was looked like a put on the wall as if it was a window.

4 5 7 2 = On the Floor

0 8 1 = Normal Door

3 9 = Window-like door

6 = on the Ceiling

I twitched upon seeing the position of the door. I looked at the letter in my hand and opened it.

[The way is represented as a number without pair outside the binary]

The content was just that. I screamed out my frustration as I ripped the letter half.

“Outside the binary means it’s 1 and 0 right? Then at least there are just 8 choices left.”

I muttered. I looked around. If the terms of without pair were prime number the choice would be 2, 3, 5, and 7 as choice.  If without pair mean the location then the choice would be 6 and 8. I tried to rack my brain. No good, I got no idea at all.

I hated this kind of puzzle. This puzzle was too complex!!

I gritted my teeth and ran toward the closest door, number 8. I pushed the door open and found a long corridor beyond it.

“Ah, this is the correct answer huh?”

I muttered.

I quickly ran toward the end of the corridor. There, I saw a bag containing the crystal sphere and a scroll was hung on the door. I picked the crystal sphere first and then the scroll. I opened the door and found a straight corridor with a lot of door on both sides. On each door there were 3 digits numbers.

“Is this a hotel?”

I wondered. I opened the scroll.

[This will be the Last Game]

[The smallest number isn’t a correct answer.]

[The greater number also doesn’t mean it is better]

[12 =8]

[31 = 8]

[17 = 0]

[11 = 4]

[The exit is in the value of 0]

The clue was nowhere to be helpful. Besides, the numbers on the door were three digits while the clues are written in two digits. This is ridiculous. I looked at the numbers on the doors.

090 091 092 093 094 … 117 118 119 120

Even the kanji strokes of the reading on each word were not the same. Also, how could 12 equal to 8? This was really random. The runic language on each number also couldn’t be used. Was it numerology? This was stupid.

I put down the papers I had till now.

“What was these clue anyway? Also, the first clue of 1+2 = 8 is too stupid!! Something must be wrong with his calculator!!”

I grumbled. I sighed and sat beside a door.

“Calculator? That’s it!!”

I gained the gist of the game finally. It was the number of lines of the numbers on calculator.

0 = 6 lines
1 = 2 lines
2, 3, 5 = 5 lines
4, 7 = 4 lines
6, 9 = 6 lines
8 = 7 lines

If you looked at these numbers, everything became clear. Other side of 4 is 7 which also had 3 lines. The number without pair outside the binary was 8 who has 7 lines. Also 1+ 2 = 8 was also reasonable as 1 has 2 lines and 2 has 6 lines so the sum was 7 lines which formed number 8.

I laughed and stood up. I walked toward the door number 111 without any delay. I opened the door and saw Ren was wiping the crystal sphere with a napkin.

“Took you long enough. I thought you’ll arrive here as soon as you see the clues.”

He said. I only could shrug my shoulders.

“You got me there. Who would think that it’s the number of strokes on the calculator display?”

I laughed lightly.

“Here”

He handed me the last crystal. I accepted it and when the crystal shattered, his body started to become transparent.

“Please take care of mother in my place.”

He said.

“Eh?”

I was dumbfounded. He was smiling at me before he disappeared.

“I see… He’s the real Ren huh?”

I muttered.

“If I didn’t take over the body, I wonder if he will be born instead.”

I said as I looked upward. I felt bit glad that I could meet him. I walked forward with new determination and opened the door on the other side of the room.