I Got A Title: Lord Of The Time!-Chapter 99: Discussion and the orange door

Everyone fell silent after Aran’s answer.

"So, after opening the door, you immediately woke up in the dark forest?" Silia asked.

Aran nodded and shrugged, and then began to explain fully what he had felt at that moment:

"Yes. When I opened the door, the scene before my eyes instantly went dark, and then I already woke up in the dark forest."

Royal placed a finger on his chin and reasoned:

"Perhaps the blue door throws a person into a dream if one concentrates on the views of the dark forest? Since Aran was closest and could see the local scenery better than us, he entered a drowsy state faster, and his body didn’t have time to realize it, which is why it kept standing?"

Lin nodded and agreed with Royal, but then asked another question:

"Then what hit us on the back of the head? Why did we have to experience a blow to the back of the head to fall into the dream state, while Aran only had to look more at the views of the dark forest?"

Aran laughed.

"Ha‑ha‑ha! So, you even had to take a blow to the back of the head? Did it hurt?"

Silia and the others ignored Aran’s mockery. She opened her mouth and suggested:

"Perhaps the blow to the back of the head is given to those who noticed a little of the dark forest scenery? And to Aran, who stared at the scenery too long, the blow wasn’t needed?"

"That seems to be the truth," Royal nodded, agreeing with Silia’s assumption.

"In any case, we experienced quite a lot in that place. Maybe each of us should talk about our own experience?" Aran looked at everyone with a smile and asked.

"I don’t mind," Lin agreed, knowing that it would be more useful to the group than keeping silent.

With Lin’s consent, Egro and Yulan immediately agreed, and Royal and Silia agreed not at once. They carefully reviewed everything in their heads, and when they came to an answer, they nodded to Aran.

"As I already told you. I took a axe from that man, who turned out to be the only living person in that place. Later, a ritual of five strange men crossed my path..."

Royal’s and Egro’s faces twisted when they heard mention of the five strange men. Aran, Silia, and Yulan, naturally, remained puzzled and had not encountered any ritual.

"In short, those people became a Distorted creature of level: Monster, and I had to run away from them until I met a Demon," Lin shrugged and continued: "And then I died."

"That’s... unusual. It is very different from what I encountered," Silia was slightly surprised by Lin’s story and decided to voice her version:

"I also met an ownerless campfire along the way and went farther through the dark forest, finding a small cave where there was a skeleton and writing on the walls, written in blood. It said that the Distortion would destroy everyone and that everything was inevitable. In short, I decided to stay there for a while, but then realized the exit had been blocked by someone and completely closed with some stone."

"Having no weapon at hand, I sat alone and tried to get out, but failed. I had to sit there alone and slowly die from lack of food and water. I don’t know how long I spent there. Anyway, it’s no longer important, I died."

The story Silia told was markedly different from what Lin had experienced, causing everyone to feel that that place was much stranger and scarier.

"Ha‑ha. That’s interesting... My situation is about the same as Silia’s, only I immediately ran out of the cave, and then met a Demon who killed me," Aran said with a grin.

"Uh‑uh‑uh... You all have such death stories..." Yulan smiled awkwardly and told her version:

"After I successfully passed the three houses, I wandered through the dark forest until I slipped and fell off a slope. That’s where I died..."

Egro shook his head while listening to the various stories. He merely looked at Lin and said:

"My story is the same as Lin’s. Only I died at the hands of the five men, becoming a bloody mess, but at the end of life, I saw the Demon..."

"I have the same. But I died at the Demon’s hands," Royal quickly added his version.

"How unusual..." Aran smiled when he heard everyone’s variations, and then suggested:

"Everyone had similar situations, and they all led to death. Also that strange Distorted creature of level: Demon, it literally hunted each of us. Only some managed to meet it, and some did not."

"What bothers me more is that behind that door there is a big forest that seemed endless," Royal added.

"Then the hypothesis that behind these doors are projections of worlds is true?" Egro asked.

"It seems it really is so," Silia answered.

Everyone was silent for a while and thought about the world in which they had died.

Aran sighed and pointed into the distance at the orange door.

"In any case — it was interesting. I think we can move on, namely to the orange door."

No one objected, Royal got up from his place and carefully reviewed the path to the orange door, saying:

"Then, let’s go. It’s not that far."

Everyone nodded and followed Royal.

They quietly walked along bridges and stairs, not daring to discuss anything. Because losing concentration in this place could lead to serious consequences that no one wanted to face...

Royal took a new path leading to the orange door. They had to cross several bridges and stairs, which would eventually lead them to the coveted door.

When, after a few minutes, they came to a large ledge on which the orange door was located, the group stopped and quietly watched it.

"Who will open it now?" Silia asked.

"Ha‑ha‑ha," Aran’s familiar laugh was heard; he looked at the orange door with excitement and answered: "Naturally, I will open it. I want to be the first to see what these huge doors hide..."

He approached the door and opened it!

Click!

The door opened as easily as the other two doors and showed the group its interior scenery!

There was a bright corridor!

The same as the one from which the group had come into this room!

"Interesting... Is this the natural continuation of that place? Or is it another floor?"

"Or maybe it’s a trick?" Yulan suggested anxiously.

Aran shook his head, denying the girl’s assumption, and pointed at himself with his finger, answering:

"I think not. Because — see? I’m fine!"

"And if it’s triggered later? And are there the same tests here as that one with the riddles?" Egro asked.

"Then it will be even more interesting!"

"..."

Royal shook his head.

"This room seems the most normal of all present. Of course, there are more doors above, but they are quite far away, and their sizes roughly coincide with the blue and red doors, which possibly may indicate the terrain inside."

"The black and orange doors are the same size, and in each of them there are corridors."

"You think this is a natural continuation?" Silia asked.

Royal nodded.

"Then why are we standing here? If something happens there, we can quickly come back," Aran, as the boldest, stepped through the door and paused slightly, expecting consequences.

But nothing happened.

Everything was calm.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.