'Please'

  Knock.

  "Who is there?"

  Just as Masa Ed knocked the door once, he heard a feminine female voice like of an arrogant and rude maiden that also express her annoyance at him and that come from behind the door answered him.

  However knowing fully well the instruction of the nameless idiot, he didn't answer the voice, even though he felt frightened by it and strangely compelled to reply it, but proceeded as the nameless idiot instructed.

  Knock. Knock.

  In rapid succession he knocked the door two more times before the person behind it speak up once again, thereby fulfilling the instruction of the nameless idiot that is to knock the door three times only.

  "Who are you?"

  "Its I. I am trapped in here and I am here to answer three of your questions so that I can leave."

  With a shaken voice and despite the apprehension he is feeling, Masa Ed carefully answered the voice that sounded calmer this time.

  "Wrong." The voice replied, disappointing him.

  'Fuck! That was the first question.' Masa Ed knowing fully well he just fumbled the first of three questions, starts sweating all over from anxiety even though his mind that has been feeling the pressure of the atmosphere is strangely becoming calmer.

  While waiting for the voice that is taking too long to resume, resume, Masa Ed looked at the flame of his lantern, and seeing it is almost about to go out, he starts panicking—thinking if he should knock the door again, there is a possibility the voice might answer him straightaway instead of ghosting him, but shaking his head, he denied it.

  'No, that is a foolish idea. The instruction only said three times.'

  Time passed, and yet still, with the lantern flame about to go out, making everywhere almost dark, the voice did not resume, and because of this, he started panicking more by the seconds, that even his rapidly beating heart became somewhat audible.

  'Is there something I am not doing right? Should I have found the real room 33 instead of taking a shortcut? Or should I really knock again? Maybe this is the wrong approach entirely, I should have just—'

  "Who are you?"

  The voice interrupted his thought. And hearing it, he became a bit relieved that he smiled, even though faintly. However, before he replied this time, he calmed down in order to think carefully about the question.

  '...She should be asking for my name.'

  Masa Ed concluded and glancing at his lantern flame that is only a tiny bit alive, he replied:

  "Masa Ed."

  "Wrong." The voice replied straightaway.

  'Fuck! Masa Ed is an abbreviation.'

  Masa Ed quickly realized his mistake. And again like before, he has to wait for the voice that will surely take its time as usual. And realizing this also, he felt despair since his lantern flame is definitely seconds away from going out.

  However as he was about to put the lantern down since he as already giving up, he heard the feminine female voice again.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  "Who are you?"

  However, responding this time, even though is lantern flame is flickering rapidly— meaning it will go out any second, Masa Ed paused, thinking deeply if to give his full name as answer or if he should give another answer he just remembered should be the absolute right answer to that question as long as he is alive.

  He has extensively thought about the question a lot before, and was able to arrive at an answer he surely knows is the only ultimate answer, but his only misgiving is: is the person asking this question aware of that answer—will she by any means agree with him, even if he quickly explain his reasoning to her.

  'I don't know.'

  In the end, Masa Ed chose that answer. However this time, the voice did not respond to his answer unlike the previous two times.

  And observing this, Masa Ed became doubtful of his choice, but he didn't regret it, even though he has exhausted all his three chances to answer the Sebas person question correctly, and in turn enter the room behind the door where the only thing that can help him out of the strange place he found himself is.

  And strangely enough, instead of feeling more apprehensive of the horror that is coming since he has failed, Masa Ed felt refreshed, feeling peaceful and tranquil unlike what he has felt in recent time, even before he woke up in this strange place. All thanks to the person's question and its answer he remembered to be the absolute correct one that he gave her, even if she thinks is wrong.

  'What now?'

  Moving on... Masa Ed after turning around—his back now facing the door—raised his lantern up to his eye level to look at it carefully, and it was then that its flickering flame first went out, plunging him into total darkness, but instantly return to start flickering at a far more rapid pace.

  Meanwhile, ignoring this, Masa Ed thinking nothing more could be wrong first turned around to face the door and place his lantern on the floor, then standing straight in front of the door, he turn the knob of the door in order to see if it will open, but it was at that moment his lantern finally went out, plunging the corridor into total darkness.

  However he didn't have time to think too much or dilly dally, because he suddenly stepped inside the room through its doorway as the door unexpectedly opened, and as a result, he was able to avoid a towering figure that reek of human blood and that appeared behind him just as the lantern went out from reaching him and taking him as it should have been, thereby escaping what the nameless idiot called the human butcher by a hairbreadth.

  'That was fucking scary.'

  Masa Ed thought with a frightened expression, panting with his heart beating rapidly, but he suppressed it so as not to make a sound that might wake the person sleeping inside the room since its a bad idea as mentioned by the nameless idiot he now couldn't help but trust.

  'This is the right room right? No danger lurking?'

  After calming down, Masa Ed looked around the 33 meter by 33 meter white room with a touch of gold; the walls, floors and ceiling are white with golden stylized vine motif at all their corners that he could see, and a golden chandelier responsible for the minimal illumination of the room hung at the center of the ceiling.

  Moving on... His eyes doing as instructed by the nameless idiot ignored the canopy bed sitting at the corner diagonal to him that has a golden frame with its white curtain obstructing the view of who is sleeping on it as seen from the angle where he is — the door angle—then he rested them on a dressing table beside it that is quite far from it and its also against the wall it is against.

  'That should be it. Its the only table around.'

  Masa Ed concluded and he quietly starts making his way towards the dressing table in front of him, doing his best so as not to wake whoever is sleeping on the large bed diagonal to the path he is walking while also resisting the strange urge in his heart that keeps whispering—the figure on the bed is an important person you miss, and turning to look at her will end all your suffering past, present and future.

  However, Masa Ed wouldn't fall for it. And a moment later, he reached close to the the table and after carefully avoiding the stool in front of it so as not to mistakenly knock it over, he stood in front of it calmly and starts examining the contents on it closely.

  On the table as he can see are many things that should be there and are there. However unlike what he expected, the only note books on it is one black, one golden and another purple, all placed in an L shape on it.

  'What's going on here again? Where's the white notebook?'

  Not finding anything white, Masa Ed became confused that his eyes narrowed. And once again, he carefully look at everything on the table, even squinting his eyes, but still, all he saw was the three notebooks that are in no way white.

  'Where is the pen too?'

  Masa Ed became further confused as he couldn't find the pen that the nameless idiot mentioned as well. However as he slightly raised his head in order to catch his breath that has quickened and shortened, he noticed something strange in the reflection on the dressing table mirror that caught his attention.

  'What?'