When the elevator doors opened, they were met with a high wall covered in green plants like a bush.
Embedded in the giant wall of bushes were 7 doors with yellow question marks on them.
To the left on a regular wall was a large LED panel with a block of text.
[[CHOOSE YOUR STARTING POINT IN BECOMING A STAR AND MAKE YOUR OWN PATH THROUGH THE MAZE]]
[[From the moment you open the door, a 10-minute timer begins.]]
[[If you meet other contestants, your remaining time gets merged together.]]
[[There's a nice, special reward for the top 20 contestants to clear the puzzle.]]
[[No yelling. Please keep your voices down.]]
"Guess this is what they're using it for? A live action puzzle." Ari said while glancing around for a camera.
"This looks like one of the hay mazes we have back in Tennessee during Halloween," Jamie muttered as he pushed against the shrub-covered wall.
Ari couldn't see any cameras on the walls or on the doors, but when he glanced up, he saw a big one mounted on the ceiling.
Getting Jamie's attention, he held up a peace sign while Jamie waved with a large smile.
Then they both stood in front of the doors.
"Since they keep mentioning jackpot, I'll go with door 7. You?" Ari asked Jamie as he saw the boy walking between doors 1 and 2, craning his neck as if he could see through the walls.
"I can't decide, so I'll just come with you."
"Got any hints on how to solve this? You're the maze expert here."
"Stick to the right? We don't even know if it's a maze yet. Let's go." Jamie shrugged before pushing the door open.
And on the other side was a narrow, green, shrub-lined hallway that split into the left and the right.
A smaller LED Screen was in the middle of the wall, counting down from 10 minutes.
"You said go right?" Ari began speed walking toward the right path.
As he walked down it, it split into three different paths this time.
Glancing at Jamie, he continued on the right path as the taller boy nodded.
And one final right until he ended up at a dead end with an LED screen with infuriating text on it.
[[Just dead end, Your Journey to become a Star Ends Here 😔] ]
"Ooof." Jamie winced while grabbing the back of his head, "I guess going right was wrong. Let's backtrack."
"Okay. You lead this time." Ari waved Jamie ahead while looking closer at the shrub wall.
He doubted that the production team would throw them in here with the expectation that they would make it out on luck alone.
There had to be some hint or clue on how to get out.
As he absentmindedly followed Jamie, they ended up at another dead end, but this one had a door with an LED screen over it.
[[All Contestants Should Perform Choreography for 30 Seconds or this door will become a dead end.]]
[[Music Starts In 5]]
Cheerful, upbeat pop music began playing loudly, and Ari became grateful for the snail mask on his face.
He was sure that he would have begun frowning immediately.
As he started performing the only choreography that he knew, 'Infant Shark', Jamie seemed to be performing some sort of line dance as he twirled and clapped to the beat.
[[After the 30 seconds were over.]]
"I hope they don't make us do that again. My dancing is not that good." Jamie pushed his hat down nervously as he continued to walk forward.
Since Ari's was much worse, he kept looking around, trying to figure out a quicker way out of the maze before their time ran out.
They ran into two more puzzles following Jamie's lead.
One asked them to sing a duet. He and Jamie chose a song that they both knew, and as they sang, Jamie even added harmonies, which made their voices blend together beautifully.
The second one was an actual physical puzzle that had to be completed and shown to the camera by the LED screen.
As Jamie stood there deliberating between going left or going right, Ari glanced up at the ceiling, noticing that there was another camera hidden in the bright lights.
It was initially pointing at him and Jamie, but then it began moving at an angle and tilted directly ahead, where the LED screen telling them to pick a direction was.
Snapping his fingers as an idea popped into his mind, Ari pressed his face close to the bushes and began whispering as loudly as possible.
"Hey! Is somebody on the other side?"
"Yes?" a slightly confused voice came back, and hearing it, Ari grinned.
"Is there a door by you? I saw the camera shift from us to point toward you."
"Yes, there is! I need three people to complete the challenge."
"Nice! There are two of us here. Do you know which path you took? We're at a wall asking us to go left or right.
"I went to the right, but I backtracked three times, so I'm not sure of my exact path. My original door was 4. You?"
A whispered curse could be heard before the voice continued speaking.
"It might not match up. I have about two minutes left on my timer. You?"
"Lucky. Well, I guess you're leaving then. I'll leave too since I've been waiting for 3 minutes and you're the only one that has come by."
"No. You just stay right there. We'll come to you."
Ari instructed as he gauged the height of the maze wall before turning to Jamie, staring at his tall body and his muscled limbs.
An idea began to form in his mind, but before he said anything, he slammed his body into the wall, making sure it was sturdy.
With a mischievous smile, he turned back to Jamie.
"Aye aye, sea captain, sir." Jamie mock saluted him with a curious expression on his face.
"Can you boost me over the wall?"
"What? Why? Isn't that illegal? You could get hurt." Jamie looked utterly horrified at the thought.
Seeing the camera pivot to face him and Jamie once more, Ari held up a peace sign and smiled cheekily.
"I don't see why it would be. Didn't they say Make my own path? I'm making it. Boost me up, please."