Stop! That's the wrong entrance

  Kato walked over to a diminutive, stripped wooden door. The scent of resin hung thick in the air and only mounted as he approached. He doubted it was relevant and without further thought he swung the door open.

  Bare faced bricks greeted him.

  He sighed. It was going to be a long day.

  “Ahaha,” a small voice cackled in the background, “so stripped lead to stripped don’t you see? your door is behind of this one a multiple of three.”

  Kato noddedto himself, feeling proud. ‘I really am getting better at tuning people out.’

  The voice faded into background static again and Kato walked to the next door, he looked at it briefly. It wasn’t a multiple of three. But… rules were for suckers, and he wasn’t going to be suckered by an empty room. No siree.

  It was a much darker colour than the one before, practically black. The light seemed to coil around the stalwart frame desperately seeking succour but ultimately being strangled and devoured by the persistent darkness.

  He stared at it a moment longer, ‘weird.’

  Shallow wooden panels had been lovingly hand-crafted, intricate engravings spiralled across its surface each detail melding into one grandeur whole. A civilisation was depicted. Farmers tending fields. Artisans crafting goods. Merchants peddling wares. Soldiers training. All the hallmarks of a powerful nation built onto a single door and atop it all a man with a crown of thorns knelt, crying.

  He frowned slightly, 'how wasteful.' It must have cost a fortune, the piece alone could have been a kingdoms treasure. But now it was in his way.

  He swung the door open.

  Bare faced brick greeted him.

  The voice crackled into life again, “It seems you have again chosen wrong. Perhaps the stress of the moment has made your brain get gone. So, take a moment to pause and listen to my song. It was a multiple of three, not two, not one.”

  ‘Great.’ Kato thought, ‘are they going to feel the need to comment on each decision.’

  He went to the next door in line and stood in front of it. His hand reached out to the handle.

  “Do you think this is a joke you can’t just-”

  He swung the door open.

  “This… this isn’t how you do it. I will explain once more as it seems you aren’t sure. Skip two from the stripped door then do that once more. Follow again and again and you will find the right door’ The voice sung again but it came out slightly strained and on edge.

  Kato opened the next door, ‘As expected.’ He sighed.

  “Ahaha so now you see. It wasn’t that door. No. No. No. It couldn’t be. It must be one made not from tree.”

  Kato walked to the next door in line. It was wood. ‘Or maybe that is just what they want me to think!’ He moved to open it again.

  The voice crackled into life once more, “this is not how you play the game. Here you can find your fortune and find your fame. The heritage of a seed is what you mustn’t claim.”

  Kato opened the door, ‘great, nothing again.’

  He walked to the next door, the candles pulsed violently turning shades of red, several going out. ‘Huh, weird room.’

  He opened the door; more candles went out.

  The next in line was again made of wood, this time a slight pale white, seeming to radiate light into the surroundings. Kato swung it open.

  He was starting to make really good progress now and could likely be done with this little detour in less than twenty minutes. He smiled slightly to himself, ‘games not very fun but it sure is easy.’

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  A light chill crept through the air.

  “Maybe. You. Forgot.” The voice crackled menacingly. “The right door is not made from tree.”

  “Ok…” Kato’s voice trailed off into the nothing, ‘Not sure why it felt the need to say that, probably just mad I’m not falling for any of its little tricks.’

  He opened the next door.

  The chill deepened and wind began to pick up at the edges of his clothes.

  He sighed. It was starting to get old. Not everything needed to cause you discomfort, otherwise suffering would start to mean less and less. Then again maybe it was best to keep that to himself after all he saw no reason to help the church.

  “Ok I get it,” he turned and spoke to the empty room, “I’m doing it wrong; I’ll do better.”

  “Thank you,” the voice crackled out.

  ‘They must want me to do it within a certain time limit.’ He nodded firmly to himself. ‘Makes sense’

  Kato took off sprinting, doors flew open one after another, bricks and empty voids blurring together. The background static grew from constant noise to erratic bursts as if frenzied.

  “No. NO. NO!” The voice screamed. “This isn’t right. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!”

  ‘Still too slow?’ Kato tried to speed up further as he charged down the line. His body was turning and shifting in mechanical perfection as blocked off opening after blocked off opening was revealed.

  A new mechanical voice blared out, “Twenty-five doors reached, unlucky challenger but the room will now be reset, should’ve listened to the clues better.” The unopened doors shifted and switched positions. Their colours and materials melted and morphed into something unrecognisable.

  Kato grinned slightly. He had done it. He’d unlocked the second stage and oh it was just so easy.

  Another candle went out.

  “No stop it now! It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t care!” The voice screamed out again. “This rearrangement means nothing he wasn’t EVEN following the rules to begin with!”

  Kato frowned. There was no need to be rude here. Just because he had found the most efficient way to progress here. No need at all.

  The voice spat out again, “follow the rules. Follow the guide or there will be consequences that you really won’t like.”

  Kato’s eyes narrowed, “you can’t change the rules now, that's cheating.”

  “That’s cheating? THAT’S CHEATING!? Do you not understand that you aren’t supposed to open each and every door?”

  Kato’s frown deepened. He opened another door. Silence flooded the room and the last of the candles blinked out.

  A faint murmuring began to swell, jagged and uneven. Then came the scrape of metallic boots, slow and deliberate as feet dragged across the wooden floor.

  A slight, maniacal giggle filled the room.

  ‘What is wrong with this guy?’

  Kato instinctively stepped back. The sound of footsteps once slow and deliberate had morphed into an animalistic charge, rushing towards him through the darkness. Moments later the sharp whistle of metal tore through the air, shredding the space where he had just stood.

  Kato twisted his body sharply and sprinted back through the corridor that had brought him here. The sickening crunch of bones colliding echoed behind him but it was growing fainter and fainter with every step.

  The dim light level began to brighten as he shot further into the illuminated corridor. It brought small comfort but Kato didn’t dare look back. He charged forwards his eyes fixed on his one path to victory.

  Sprinting forward Kato barrelled into the sofa and with a rough shove smashed it against the wall.

  “You again,” Darren grunted as he materialised once more.

  Without thinking Kato pushed him back unsheathing the blade at his waist in one fluid motion before spinning back to face the corridor, sword in hand.

  “Kids have no manners these days,” Darren muttered off to the side, but Kato paid him no mind.

  His eyes locked onto the figure that was now charging at him.

  It was an amalgamation ripped straight from a mourner’s darkest nightmare.

  Its body if it could even be called that was a hollow shell of bones, barely held together by strips of rotting and faded purple cloth that clung scant against its frame.

  Empty eye sockets glowed faintly red, their baleful gaze fixed on him. Each bone ground and shifted against its neighbours. Its movements were unnatural and wrong and with each step more and more fragments of itself fell to the ground, cracking upon impact as the creature fought against its own form.

  But yet it persisted, its broken charge relentless. Desperate in its mission. With a resolve of steel that even death couldn’t stop.

  A short sword glinted in its bony grasp. It was a stark contrast to the decrepit form that wielded it. The blade was immaculate, in a pristine condition that almost seemed to glow in the light. As if untouched by the decay that surrounded it. A sharp whistle accompanied the beast's loping charge as the edge whistled through the air without even being swung.

  Kato gulped and braced himself in a defensive position.

  The skeleton swung.

  Kato parried. The clash of metal reverberated through the room. The skeletal figure staggered back, its movements jerky and uneven as it wobbled in place.

  But it steadied itself fast, lurching forward once again and swinging all within an instant.

  Kato darted back and with a fierce kick sent the sofa flying across the smooth floor. With a vicious snap accompanied by the sound of shattering bones it collided with the creature’s legs. The abomination went down in a clatter collapsing to the floor, its blade skittering along the ground.

  From his side, a sharp inhale cut through the tension.

  Kato paid it no mind, he stepped forward, his blade raised as he prepared to crush the foul undead thing’s skull.

  Bang!

  A sharp pain erupted in Kato’s gut as a fist struck him hard and fast.

  A sharp coughing fit erupted to his side as Darren struggled to breathe.

  An undead hand walked along the floor and grabbed the handle of a familiar blade.

  “Damn kid!” Darren rasped “told you not to touch my sofa!” The man didn’t have his health, but he had his pride.

  The skeleton rose again, weapon in hand. It was relentless and united with Darren in its pride as both advanced-on Kato’s winded form.

  Chapter 1

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