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Credit: Brandon X.

This is part of a larger riddle room puzzle. Other rooms:

You have just woken up. You recall the night before, being driven from your home to a luxurious hotel by some people of a company or organization or something-The Ofgelenkt Institute something or other. They requested you to be part of their testing program-with a reward of up to 500,000 dollars! After signing a few papers, you were off and away! But now you look up. You are in a barren room, with just a few pieces of furniture and pictures and stuff. You are confused, until you hear the intercom from a hidden speaker:

“You have been selected for your special skills to go through a testing program. This program will challenge your intelligence in thinking in a different way. As you can see, you are locked in a room with four doors out, labeled over the entrances. There are clues around the room to help you select the right door. If you get knocked out(choose the wrong door), you get $200 for your participation."

“We wish you luck, and may you be guided in the right direction.” The intercom shuts off suddenly.

You begin looking around the room. On the opposite end of the room, you see the four doors, with 1, 2, 3, and 4 above them, and you notice the table with the buttons in front of them, labeled with the logo of a fish on a sea of red, with the words Ofgelenkt Institute printed in pretty cursive on it.

enter image description here

(the logo of Ofgelenkt Institute)

You continue looking around the room. On one side, you see a table with a trifold on it. There are a lot of photos with captions on it.

  • One is a picture of the Terracotta Warriors. Its label: The terracotta warriors were constructed to escort the Chinese Emperor Qin Shihuandi(秦始皇) to the afterlife, fighting battles for him

  • Another picture is of a man you do not recognize. Its caption: John Marzaroli, founder and former CEO if Ofgelenkt Institute, had died of a heart attack when starting a branch of his institute in China. (this caption had a logo on it)

  • Another picture is of a tomb. Its caption: This is a picture of the tomb of Yue Fei(岳飛) and his son. Kneeling before him are statues of the people who got him killed, which were once spit on by visitors until it was recently outlawed.

  • Another picture is of a battlefield covered in shells. Its caption: This picture is from the Battle of Triangle Hill during the Korean War. A Chinese soldier of the name of Huang Jiguang( 黄继光) sacrificed himself by blocking American machine gun fire(hurling himself at a machine gun), allowing his comrades to win the battle.

  • The next image was a picture of some Chinese characters put in a certain way. The Caption:This is a picture of the only existing calligraphy made by famous poet Li Bai(李白). He is possibly one of the most famous poets in China and lived to the age of 61, supposedly dying of drowning in the Yangtze River.

To your right, you see a bookshelf with 3 shelves. It is labeled with the logo of the Ofgelenkt Institute. It has a sticker on it, saying Item A1Z26. You walk over to it and look at the shelves:

  • The first shelf contains The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of The Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
  • The second shelf contains Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling
  • The third shelf contains Flatland by Edwin Abott Abott, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The books all have the logo of the Ofgelenkt Institute, as well as a number, found in this order(left to right, top to bottom):

3, 21, 18, 22, 5, 2, 1, 12, and 12

You look behind you. There is a map of the world in it, labeled Product Shipping Code:

3-15-13-13-15-14-19-5-12-12-5-18.

There are several pins in it. You look at the countries that have been pinned:

United States

Japan

Mexico

South Korea

Netherlands

Germany

India

Underneath the map, it says:

Item A1B2

You unpin the map, and turn it over. It says:

Made in the United States

Product of Ofgelenkt Institute

The logo is there as well.

As you keep walking around, you notice books strewn across the floor.

  • The first book: Aliens: Har vi møtt dem? (Aliens: Have We Met Them?) by Davis Erino, Translated by Ikke Bruk

  • The second book:死亡和失踪(Death and Disappearance), by Seth Oshico, Translated by 选择这.

  • The third book: Spanish For Beginners, by Juana Estratagema

  • The fourth book: À cause du renne (Because of the Reindeer) by Henry Borichos, Translated by Francis Jamais

  • The fifth book: Neden Savaşıyoruz (Dünya Tarihi Üzerine Bir Araştırma) (Why We Fight (A Research on World History)) by Vera Cabull, translated by John Dokunmayin

Of course, you would love to obtain the 500,000 dollars. So, which door do you go through?

Hint #1:

Lucky numbers

Hint #2:

What do the stories on the trifold all have in common?

P.S. This is supposed to be part of a much larger puzzle, which have different rooms that are linked to one another. This is the first room. Other rooms might be posted later.

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  • $\begingroup$ Is Qin Shihuandi written by mistake since wikipedia names him Qin Shi Huang? $\endgroup$
    – Abbas
    Commented Aug 20, 2019 at 7:29
  • $\begingroup$ @Abbas It’s the same thing, but it isn’t important to the riddle. $\endgroup$
    – Xcoder
    Commented Aug 20, 2019 at 17:59

1 Answer 1

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Answer:

Door 2

1) The Logo:

Obviously, the fish is a RED HERRING. The word ‎"Ofgelenkt" means "DISTRACTED" in Luxembourgish. @Abbas noted in comments that all stuff with logo is of no use.

2) The Trifold:

No idea yet. Perhaps we need to look for the years?

3) The Bookshelf: (WITH LOGO)

3.1) The Books:

3.1.1) Top Shelf:

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series. Order in series of the three books is 3-4-5.

3.1.2) Middle Shelf:

JK Rowling's Harry Potter Series. Order in series of the three books is 1-4-6.

3.1.3) Bottom Shelf:

IDK...

3.2) The Numbers with the Logo:

Decipher it using A1Z26 renders CURVEBALL.

4) The Map: (WITH LOGO)

4.1) Product Shipping Code:

Decipher it using A1Z26 renders COMMON SENNETT. Looks useful, but no idea how.

4.2) Pinned Countries:

No idea. Yet.

4.3) Backside:

?

5) Books on the floor (I wrote Floors on the Book :P):

5.1) The first book: Aliens: Har vi møtt dem? (Aliens: Have We Met Them?) by Davis Erino, Translated by Ikke Bruk

Davis Erino ~ A DIVERSION
Ikke Bruk > Do Not Use (Norwegian)

5.2) The second book:死亡和失踪(Death and Disappearance), by Seth Oshico, Translated by 选择这.

Seth Oshico ~ CHOOSE THIS
选择这 > Choose this (Chinese)

5.3) The third book: Spanish For Beginners, by Juana Estratagema

???

5.4) The fourth book: À cause du renne (Because of the Reindeer) by Henry Borichos, Translated by Francis Jamais

Henry Borichos ~ ???
(Francis) Jamais > NEVER (French)

5.5) The fifth book: Neden Savaşıyoruz (Dünya Tarihi Üzerine Bir Araştırma) (Why We Fight (A Research on World History)) by Vera Cabull, translated by John Dokunma

Vera Cabull ~ A CURVEBALL
(John) Dokunmayin > DON'T TOUCH (Turkish)
Just for fun: John Dokunma ~ MANHOOD JUNK

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  • $\begingroup$ I would assume rot13(Nalguvat naq rirelguvat gung unf n ynory bs Bstryraxg zhfg or n erq ureevat. Rkprcg pbzzba fraargg.). So rot13(V guvax gur pyhrf yvr va gur gnoyr jvgu gevsbyq naq gur obbxf ylvat ba gur sybbe.) $\endgroup$
    – Abbas
    Commented Aug 20, 2019 at 8:09
  • $\begingroup$ This is a very good start! I think you missed the “Common Sennett” part, though. Also, think about the Chinese language and culture more, and focus on the title of that book. $\endgroup$
    – Xcoder
    Commented Aug 20, 2019 at 18:04
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, also...sorry for the typos with “John Dokunma”. Has been fixed. $\endgroup$
    – Xcoder
    Commented Aug 20, 2019 at 18:08
  • $\begingroup$ I had been waiting for your answer, if you hadn't answered today, I would've posted it myself, having rot13(genafyngrq gur Puvarfr grkg qhr gb n fvzcyr sbepr bs unovg.). Also I'm curious rot13(ubj pbhyq lbh ahzore gur frpbaq obbx ba sybbe nf zrnavat sbe gur frpbaq qbbe, fvapr rirelbar jbhyq nffvta rnpu obbx n qvssrerag ahzore.), making me think this requires further explanation, from you or @Xcoder (in case this is indeed the intended answer). $\endgroup$
    – Abbas
    Commented Aug 21, 2019 at 17:32
  • $\begingroup$ Also did you by any chance read the poem by the poet mentioned earlier? I think that has some significance, not sure what exactly. $\endgroup$
    – Abbas
    Commented Aug 21, 2019 at 17:35

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