Dimensional Descent

Encryptions? Puzzles? Codified games? This was what he was best at.

Leonel ignored the first layer of encryptions and sunk deeper. The first layer was on a scale of 100 trillion atoms. The second was on a scale of 10 trillion. The third was on a scale of a trillion and was the final layer.

The interesting thing about the Memory Ore was that it had no blockades toward looking toward a deeper level. However, the deeper one delved, the more convoluted and difficult it would be to pick out the layers, almost as though one was trying to untangle a pair of earphone cords with a single pull.

However, for Leonel, it felt like he was staring down this tangled mess of cords, his eyes flashing as he followed the snaking path of one wire at a time.

‘I see… So if I had just stepped in and completed the first encryption layer, I would have ruined the rest of it. At best, I would end up completely off course and never find the later portions of [Dimensional Cleanse]. At worst, I would end up in some blackhole somewhere and never be seen or heard from again.’

Leonel chuckled at his own dark humor.

If there was one thing he loved to do, it was win. But, he was also a softy at heart and often took a backseat so he wouldn’t hurt the feelings of others. This led to an odd imbalance where sometimes he would go all out, and sometimes he would seem as though he was just taking a leisurely stroll and couldn’t be bothered with the outcome.

But, single player games like this one were different. There was no one to ‘hurt’ the feelings of here. It was him versus a puzzle some old man had probably had a lot of fun putting together. So, for a moment, he forgot about all his worries.

Leonel had almost made the very same mistake he had just warned himself against. The moment he had seen the first encryption, he had already thought of a solution and it was probably the easiest solution available. But, his instincts told him that things probably shouldn’t be so easy.

As intelligent as Leonel was, he was also aware of what was considered difficult for others and what was not. This perspective was incredibly important, especially if he wanted to be a King. He couldn’t just simply assign people impossible tasks because he thought they were ‘easy enough’ to complete.

Luckily, Leonel had good EQ and an objective, almost too systematic, view of the world to pair with it.

That first solution was something everyone but Raj would be able to think of within the first ten minutes of seeing it. And, even Raj might be able to fumble his way through in about five more minutes as long as he didn’t give up.

Simply put… the solution was too easy.

So, Leonel grew suspicious and looked deeper. As expected, it was a layered puzzle. Shifts in the first layer impacts the next and subsequent layers.

But, this made perfect sense. The Memory Ore was a whole and solid piece. It had a chemical structure that was entirely interdependent. Of course a change at the beginning would impact the rest.

The irony of it all was that if Leonel went with the first solution, the second layer would untangle in a way that made it even easier to solve. And, should he go with the first solution he thought of for the second layer, the third layer would follow the same pattern.

But, if Leonel then followed suit and completed the first solution for the third layer, the second layer would deform into a more complex form. And if he solved the second layer again, the same would happen to the first.

It would result in a cycle of ever increasing complexity without end.

The good news about accidentally following this path was that, as far as Leonel could tell, it was possible to undo it by backtracking. But, the bad news was that backtracking couldn’t be done by simply doing the reverse of what you had done.

Leonel placed down the Memory Ore on his lap and entered his Dream World. With a thought, a replica of the first three layers formed.

The first thing he did was begin to count the number of solutions for the first layer. But, after he got to ten thousand, his lip couldn’t help but continuously twitch.

Not only did each subsequent solution become harder to find, but Leonel had a feeling that there truly were an infinite number. If he tried to count them out and choose the best, he would be here for a lifetime.

‘What a clever puzzle…’

The three layers floated in space almost like chemical model made of sticks and balls. Every shift, even if it was just in one, interrupted everything else, making the task especially daunting.

At that moment, Leonel’s eyes glowed.

‘Every shift interrupts everything else… In that case, why bother starting with the first layer? No, more accurately, there’s no obligation to start there.’

If Leonel looked at each layer individually, they all seemed to have countless solutions. For every solution he thought of for the first layer, he would proceed to the second layer to count its solutions, and then do the same for the third.

The result was what felt like an overload of information. If not for Dream Sculpt to keep track of everything, Leonel would have long since been overwhelmed.

However, what would happen if he ignored the first layer and started with the others instead?

‘Interesting. The second layer still has hundreds of solutions, but it’s far less than the tens of thousands I already found for the first layer. And, better yet, there is a hard cap.

‘If I ignore the first two layers and start with the third, there are just a few dozen solutions. And, once again, there’s a hard cap…’

Leonel’s eyes glowed, calculations spinning about in his mind at an ungodly speed.

‘There it is. The real solution.’

Leonel’s eyes flashed open, his Dream Force surging into the Memory Ore.