Anna stopped replying. It seemed that she had already fallen asleep. Louise continued eating, and as he was about to drink the last bit of milk in his cup, he heard a sound from the stairs. Looking back, he saw his mom. As expected, she was the first to wake up. She had always been the untiring person in Louise's eyes until the times she would force herself too much and get sick.
Lucia saw that her son was already up and about. She asked, "Did you just wake up, or you haven't rested at all?"
Louise answered, "I've been napping in the hospital the entire time, so I'm, yeah, a little bit too awake."
"Are you sure you're okay? Want me to cook something else for you? Your sis and dad are waking up soon." Lucia went to the fridge and looked for things to cook. She already had hotdogs and bacon by the time she finished speaking.
Seeing this, Louise immediately told her, "I've already had my fill, Ma. You should just cook for Irish and Dad. By the way…"
Lucia stopped for a moment and looked at him. "By the way, what?"
"Do the words three doors ring a bell?" Louise hesitantly asked. He wanted to know whether his mom or any of his family members had also experienced finding themselves in that place.
Whether it was fortunate or not, Lucia replied with furrowed brows, "Three doors? What are you talking about?"
Seeing her reaction, Louise knew she really didn't go to that place. That was good… perhaps. He simply changed the topic to his plans tonight. "Never mind. Oh yeah, I'll be traveling to Francis' place tonight. Fred is also going there by tomorrow. We need to talk about some company stuff."
"You're going tonight right away? That's so sudden! You haven't even prepared at all, did you?" Lucia asked with a stern gaze. She sighed as she decided to just prepare food. She was already used to Louise making plans out of the blue. As a mom, though, who wouldn't be worried about their child not saying anything, especially when they would be gone for a few days…
"I kind of forgot about it until they reminded me this morning. And Fred has already booked a flight a while ago, so I can't really not go… Haha," Louise awkwardly spoke. He knew his mom was just worried about him, but… 'Too late.'
"Alright. I'll help you pack later. You should rest some more first and observe whether you're really okay or not. You still have the entire day. What would you like for lunch?" Lucia asked as she busied herself in the kitchen.
Louise thought about what he was craving, and the first thing that crossed his mind was "chicken joy" from his favorite food chain. "Let's just order online. Since I won't be here for a while, might as well."
After speaking thus, he just got up and returned upstairs. After booting up his computer, he opened his social media accounts as well as Reddit. He wanted to check whether there were things related to the three doors.
Of course, he was not disappointed. It seemed many people had also experienced the same thing. And to make things more complicated, the way they were transferred into that place was similar but also different. Some, just like him, were sent there after opening a game. However, the game Lazuli, the one he accidentally tapped, was not the only game that caused the transfer. But one thing was definite after checking a few games that caused it—they were all online games that began just yesterday.
In addition, there were also some people who transferred over to that place after clicking on an advertisement. And the ads that caused this… they were too varied, from food to drinks, to games and investment companies.
After looking over all these places, he had also seen some news. Among the many news articles being shared online, the one that caught his eye was an article called "Mass Hysteria All Over the World."
Clicking on it, he saw very distinct news regarding what he had just experienced. It specifically reported "teenagers and young adults" aged 16-25 had reported finding themselves in a place with three doors due to various reasons. In addition, the news also reported a compilation of stories about the meaning behind the three doors.
Those who entered the green door, the path of life, would be placed in a situation where they had to live. No matter whether they were a human or not, no matter whether they were an official or a beggar, there were many variations, but the ultimate goal for the green door was to survive as long as possible. According to the article, the most time people had spent in that green door was two years.
The yellow door, on the other hand, was the path of karma. Those who entered this place would find themselves facing a dilemma. It could be a moral dilemma, a decision that could decide their wealth or poverty, or a decision of their life and death. Many details were said to be unclear since, according to the article, only about 20 percent had entered the yellow door.
As for the red door, it was only labeled as the path of death. The details here were almost nonexistent. And the ultimate rumor was that those who had entered the red door would simply just die.
"Isn't this article a little too detailed?" Louise mused as he read through the article another time. If that thing started only yesterday, how come they had already collected so much data? There were even complete recollections about what had happened to some of the people who had entered the green door.
He copied the link and immediately sent it to the Loli Dragon Inc. group chat. And then it occurred to him.
—Moxick: Look at this news. And, I'd like to ask, is everyone here around 16-25?
—Loli Protector: 16-25 what?
—Moxick: Age, la.
—Loli Protector: You, me, @Frappe, @ChickenV, and @Garbage Collector are all 23/turning 23 this year. As for the others…
—ChickenV: Hmm. This article is certainly interesting. Makes you wonder who wrote it and how they compiled so much data in such a small amount of time.
—Garbage Collector: What? Isn't K-pop Simp 26 or 27?
—Moxick: And the rest are within 16-25?
—Loli Protector: Oh, our youngest should be Kellvin. @A Bad Conartist. He just turned 16 last month, I think.
—Moxick: Hm.
—ChickenV: You're also verifying the news?
—K-pop Simp: What's happening?
—Loli Protector: You really didn't see any three doors, Sid?
—K-pop Simp: What are you guys talking about?
—Moxick: Check the link.
…
After closing the group chat, he immediately bumped the other group chat with Francis and Fred. All three of them enjoyed a fair share of conspiracies. And now, there was a new one about to unfold before their eyes.
—Louise: Looks like meeting tomorrow is just the right timing.
—Fred: That's true. I've checked the article and the website. PotatoNews is actually a satire site. This is weird.
—Louise: Wait, what? But there are also other news outlets providing details regarding this.
—Fred: True. But after looking things up, only this article provides so much detail that it's eerie. And based on what the others experienced, what the article says should be about 70 or 80 percent true.
—Francis: Let's talk about it tomorrow. Gather more information for now.
—Louise: Gotcha.
—Fred: Oke.
…
There seemed to be a massive conspiracy brewing around the world. And it seemed some people already knew more details than necessary regarding what was happening.
Louise looked back to the last conversation he had with Ymir. The latter told him that an apocalypse-like event would also happen to his world. As for what event it was exactly, no one really knew. As for the reason why it would happen, Ymir's answer was very simple.
"Why don't you look back to your time in the passage?"
And after thinking things through, Louise discovered many things. Every time he died, he would be sent to another place, assuming the identity of a person or an entity that was about to die. Sometimes, he had control over his body, while other times, he could only watch.
He would only spend around 30 or so minutes in every place he got sent into before death would befall him. And the amount of time he spent in every place he got sent to amounted to around 20 days in total.
This amount of time was more than enough for him to observe his surroundings. He was able to look at what was happening around him, the people there to oversee his death, as well as the details about the places he got sent into.
One thing in common was that there was a blood-red sky, and there would be many calamities occurring at the same time, forcing whatever inhabitant of that place—be it humans or other types of living entities—to the brink of extinction. Sometimes, they would be invaded by a myriad of species, while at other times, they would be overrun by demons.
It was absolute hell. And as he experienced the many different worlds undergoing so many calamities, he played many different roles from a defender of his race to a betrayer. And then he died. Again and again and again and again—until he no longer feared death.
Thinking about what he had experienced in the passage and connecting it with Ymir's words, it seemed Earth was about to be subjected to some kind of apocalypse. And humanity, as well as every existence living on Earth, would be forced to the brink of extinction. As for what kind of apocalypse was about to occur, there was simply no way to find out until it was there.
And so the most important part in this case was, how much time did they have before things would happen? For this question, at least Ymir had an answer.
"From the moment you come back to the appearance of the blood-red sky, you have two months. Of course, we will see each other again before that."
This was the only answer Ymir gave, nothing else. But it was enough for Louise, at least for the meantime. If the blood-red sky appeared way ahead of time, then he wouldn't know what to do. And thinking of what had happened to the places he had gone to…
At that moment, Louise felt a little fear. Unknowingly, he had booked a flight to a certain country of a certain friend from online. This impulsive action of his came about from the realization that there were only two months before the world would become different from what it was today. "Two months, huh? Might as well do what I can do and see how it goes."
He sighed as he stared at the monitor. For now, he had to prepare for the bus ride tonight.