<span style="font-style: italic">So the column that breaks becomes smaller? In that case, I just need to try to climb each one to find the one that doesn't break.</span>Abyss was feeling confident until she noticed that the rest of the columns have become thinner as well. Then the real meaning of the shrinking columns hit her: she had a limited number of guesses before the columns disappear entirely. As it was, there was no way for her to tell the difference between each of the columns.<span style="font-style: italic">Let's see.. if I just randomly guess a few more times, I can have a 25% chance of getting it right each time... but no, I mustn't rely on chance. There's a concrete solution for everything, but what is it... <br/><br/>Ah, that's right! I have the rope! It looks like each column has a metal part that doesn't break, so I can tie a part of the rope around each column before I climb it to keep track of all of them. That would give me four chances to find the right column.</span>Yet this solution also seemed to have a catch. Examining the shrunken columns, Abyss wondered if she really had four more chances to find the column. By now, she couldn't remember how thick the columns were originally, but it didn't seem like the columns could stand more than two more of those shrinkings.<span style="font-style: italic">In that case, I have to figure out what the right column is in the next turn.. That's the only way to be safe.</span><br/><br/>Abyss smiled to herself. The solution had just become clear to her. Taking the rope, she wrapped them around all four columns, each rope touching the area that would break if the column were to collapse.<span style="font-style: italic">Since the columns are arranged in a square, if I tugged on this rope, the squeezing force should be distributed evenly between the four columns, breaking the three weak columns. After that, the real column will be the one that the rope is still tied to!</span>Finishing her preparations, she pulled hard on the rope tied around the columns.