It took an entire half-hour before Louise learned everything from the people in the chat. It was intriguing, to say the least.
Each of the three doors—green, yellow, and red—had some sort of randomized event as soon as someone entered them. For the green door, the path of life, they would find themselves in a situation where they had to overcome all obstacles and survive.
Among the ten people in the group chat, at least five of them had chosen the green door, while two had chosen the yellow door. As for the remaining three, which included Louise, none of them had yet to speak about which door they took.
Of course, this was an important matter for Louise. The other two who had yet to speak about the door they chose, ChickenV (Francis) and K-pop Simp (Sid), had very different reactions. Francis was, as usual, incredibly elusive. It was incredibly hard to get any information from him. As for Sid, he acted a little too clueless.
Louise believed Francis had definitely entered the red door. There was absolutely no question needed to be asked here. He was simply the guy who would pursue the highest difficulty in any game straight on, and well… either cheat his way to win or put in enormous effort just to succeed.
This was what he knew of Francis, who had a full bag of facades for every occasion. As for Sid…
"Did he fail the red door's challenge and forget everything? Or he really didn't find himself in front of those doors?"
This was a question that couldn't be answered. In truth, there were still too many questions surrounding what just happened to him.
Why was it that almost everyone in this group chat had found themselves in that place? How about others?
There were too many things to think about, so he simply decided to focus on things that could be analyzed right away. And these things were, of course, the stories of the people in the group chat.
For instance, according to Tim's recollection—one of those who entered the green door—he was there for two years, using what he knew from modern-day technological advancements to improve the crop production of his territory. As such, in that span of time, he had risen from viscount to count, occupying a large territory.
There were many things he must have hidden in his story. He didn't say anything about the place where he found himself, he didn't talk about any of the people he met, and he just skipped over the important details regarding his actions.
It was a little too… sketchy? It felt like he was just describing the story of a novel instead of recounting his own experience.
As for the others, they all had very different experiences. They found themselves in various situations from being an adventurer in a monster-filled world to a leader of a cult. In addition, all of them stayed there for more than a year before finding themselves back.
This was yet another cause of worry and curiosity. Just how did this thing work?
The two who had entered the yellow door, on the other hand, had very similar yet distinct experiences. They found themselves in an important decision, facing a major dilemma. One of them, Frappe (Fred), had become a king—his kingdom was under great famine, and he had to make an important decision. Should he open the palace's food reserves for the poor or save it until they could gauge how long the famine would last and let the poor just die?
Looking at it, for most people, it should be a no-brainer. Of course, the palace's food reserves should be opened. However, when presented with other circumstances, things would greatly change.
The reason Fred had a hard time deciding what to do was because if he were to open the palace's reserves, the nobles would likely revolt. It was a matter of cause-and-effect. If the nobles revolted and he was killed or replaced, then this decision of his would become pointless as the nobles could just put someone on the throne and prevent the opening of the palace's reserves.
On the other hand, if he didn't give out the palace's reserves, many people would die, and a riot was bound to happen. In the end, neither of these choices would work as he wished. He was helpless in front of such a massive dilemma.
And then before he knew it, a third choice appeared… "End your life, relieving yourself from making this hard decision."
This choice became even more evident when he was presented with one of the strongest poisons in his kingdom. To drink or not to drink? It became yet another dilemma hanging over a bigger dilemma.
As for his ultimate choice, he didn't really say anything else beyond that. He just said, "I'll leave it to you guys to think about what I did."
At the end of all the story-telling, everyone simply avoided the details about what they did. And when Louise was asked… well, he just told them he went to a green door and became a pastor for a certain church.
Why? Because he had a gut feeling that saying he entered the red door would do him more harm than good. This gut feeling was a little too extreme, and so after saying that, he immediately changed the topic.
And the topic of his choosing was something he had discovered during his time in the passage.
—Moxick: Did you guys see a blood-red sky?
This question roused everyone up. It seemed that just before everyone was sent back to reality, all of them had seen this blood-red sky. Louise knew this was an omen, one that signified the beginning of the end. At the very least, he had seen countless horrors descending upon the world soon after this blood-red sky appeared. As for what it really meant, he honestly didn't know.
Taking in all the information he gathered from the group chat made Louise a little dizzy. He decided to take a break for a few minutes before going over everything once again.
He was about to go down when his phone buzzed once again. This time, it was not from the Loli Dragon Inc. chat but another group chat.
It was his group chat with Francis and Fred.
—Francis: I think we all need to meet up.
—Fred: Seems no one can hide things from you.
—Francis: Of course, I'm the greatest.
—Fred: I'll book a flight now. I'll be there tomorrow. @Louise, how about you?
Louise thought for a moment and smiled. Of course, Francis knew and understood both of them the most.
The three of them had worked together on many things. They were the ones who had sprung up the online novel-writing business in their country, partnering with one of the companies Louise originally worked with. Of course, this success didn't come easy. They had schemed their way to the top and trampled over a lot of people.
Ha, but that would be another story for another day. In short, the three of them were very close and knew each other well enough to know which door all three of them had entered.
—Louise: Might as well. But I have a gut feeling we must speak less about it until we all meet up.
—Francis: Indeed, the new J*V site I've found even got subtitles. Better keep it a secret.
—Louise: (Y)
—Fred: I've just booked a ticket. My flight is at 10 a.m., I should be there at 11.
—Francis: How about you, Louise?
—Louise: Do I really have to… Hahahaha. I'll travel around 2 a.m. via bus, so I'll be there around 5 or so?
—Francis: Bish. Then just take a taxi after you arrive.
—Louise: No
—Francis: Feck off.
—Louise: Feck u.
Upon closing the group chat, Louise was even more sure. He was right not to talk about the red door. It seemed the government was already monitoring everyone. Was there more to this than he imagined?
He put his phone inside his pocket and went downstairs. It was already 10 a.m., yet his entire family was still asleep. That journey to the hospital really made everyone tired. He looked for some bread, whipped up some butter, and made a cup of hot milk.
He ate in silence while deep in thought. This time, he remembered something he had completely forgotten.
He had yet to swallow the piece of bread he was chewing when he hurriedly took out his phone and checked Discord. As expected, there were already too many notifications. And the most prominent one was the chat with Anna. He helplessly muttered, "Over 100 messages… Do you really have nothing to do?"
—Kyporith: Are you still alive?
You ghosted me?
Are you okay?
If you still don't reply soon, you'll be bald?
I feel nervous. Did anything happen to you?
Hey!
Hey!!
Moxie!!!
If you reply, I'll send a selfie for you!
Hey…
You're making me cry.
Where are you?
—Moxie: Hey, I'm still alive… Sorry.
Louise had a wry smile as he read through all the chats she sent over the course of the night. He was a little overwhelmed as he realized how important his existence was to her. Ever since they met in a game, they had been talking to each other every single day. It could be about anything and everything, and Louise never really failed to not message her for so long.
Of course, there were times when both of them were too busy. After all, she knew Louise already had someone else he was in love with back then. But their friendship was knitted closely in that they talked a lot, so much so that they relied on each other during bad days.
For her to break down like this…
"Did she enter the red door?"
This was the first thought that Louise had. Of course, there were already times when she broke down. Usually, when she was on that time of the month, she would be a little delicate. During those times, she would recollect all the painful memories she had in her life, making the atmosphere of their chat a little too gloomy.
This time, however, was a little different. To even say something like sending a selfie, she just sounded desperate. And the cause of this was most definitely the three doors.
—Kyporith: You bastard! I thought you died! There was this place with three doors… And I entered one, and then, and then I saw you.
—Moxie: You saw me? What?
Neither of them had seen each other at all. So how could she…
—Kyporith: You were chatting with me. I even saw our chat that time. You said you could no longer take it. And then you said goodbye… And then your wrist…
—Moxie: I killed myself?
—Kyporith: Yes! So I was worried! I was really worried.
—Moxie: Wait, what door did you enter? Scratch that, don't say anything else. Don't worry. I'm alive. Here's a picture of both my wrists.
Louise took two pictures and sent them to her. He didn't know why, but he felt it was the only way to reassure her that he was really okay. One thing he knew, though, was that she had entered the red door. And what she experienced was unlike what he had experienced.
He saw that she was typing. He was afraid that she would type what door she had entered, so he immediately messaged her.
—Moxie: Don't type it!
I already have an idea. Calm down first, okay? I'm fine.
—Kyporith: Really?
—Moxie: Yeah. Absolutely fine. Hmm. Have you slept since last night?
—Kyporith: No. I was really worried. There were just… so many things that happened. And I really thought you were dead.
—Moxie: I'm alive now, ain't I? So where's the selfie?
—Kyporith: Tsk… When I wake up. I suddenly feel so tired. Goodnight, Moxie.
"This girl." Louise smiled. It seemed she had really exhausted herself after all that thinking. But this conversation with her just led to more questions. Just what did she experience in that red door?