"Ah." Isaac was lying on top of rock debris. His back was bent in a way that seemed rather uncomfortable. He had to admit that it indeed was.
He could see the hole where he dropped from. There was a difference of ten meters between him and the hole. When he extended his hand, trying to gauge the distance, he realized how far it really was.
Isaac sat up, with his hand rubbing the painful back. He glanced behind him and saw the pile of rocks that didn't make his landing soft.
He grimaced and slowly stood up.
"Where am I?" Isaac thought aloud. Once, he had stood up. He noticed that he didn't fall into some random location. There seemed to be a reason for the room he was in.
The grayish and rocky walls were filled with scribbles and words. The background of the drawing was filled with extravagant castles and gardens. There were also drawings of kids playing with an item resembling a ball.
The smile on the kids' faces seemed rather creepy. The mouth was curved way more than it should be possible. Their eyes and nose were gone.
The drawing wasn't colored. Except for two tiny balls. Isaac had to squint his eyes to even notice them.
There were two balls painted. One in blue and the other in red. Two separate kids were playing with them.
The first kid was playing in the backyard of an enormous castle. While the second kid was playing in a yard of a mansion.
The first kid was skinny, while the second kid was the polar opposite and was basically a chubbier version.
Isaac turned his head around and flinched. He took a step back out of shock, and his heart almost exploded out of his chest. Soon, he regained his composure.
In front of him was a statue. The statue didn't have eyes or a nose, but it had a mouth curved into a creepy grin.
The statue had his two hands extended, both palms open, holding a ball, one each.
A blue-colored ball was on top of the left palm, and the red-colored ball was on the right palm.
When Isaac was about to touch one of the balls. Words behind the statue started glowing.
Isaac quickly pulled his hand. He had a feeling that choosing one ball randomly was a terrible choice.
He began to read the texts, "This a tale between Crown Prince and a blue ball…"
After speaking the first line of the text, he already had a weird feeling in his mouth. The story wasn't what he expected.
"The blue ball was the favorite toy of the late Crown Prince, who died from an unknown illness. He always loved to play around it, sometimes, even losing his sleep over it."
Isaac rubbed his temples, "What the hell am I reading..?"
"However, Emperor and Empress noticed something was very wrong about the blue ball."
"Whenever the Crown Prince played with it. He felt obsessed, odd, and always grumpy."
"He seemed like a whole new person. He had a reputation of being a nice kid with a great future ahead. He was kind toward servants and the common folk."
"He was supposed to become a great Emperor in the future. But, everything changed once the blue ball appeared out of nowhere."
"One day, the blue ball emerged out of nowhere. When the Crown Prince was rummaging through cabinets, trying to find his school books, he found something else."
"A blue ball. That day, he skipped his studies and played the whole day with it."
"Emperor and Empress didn't pry deeper into it. Their son was, after all, tirelessly studying without any complaints. They didn't mind if he took one day off."
"However, soon that trend continued."
"He continued playing around the ball, skipped the studies, and became polar opposite than what he used to be.''
"A few years later, he died while playing with the ball, and the ball disappeared."
"The End."
Isaac raised his eyebrow. He wasn't sure whether the story was real or not. But it was obvious that the blue ball was cursed or something.
"Maybe it was a plot of a rival noble house?" Isaac had his own wild theories. He shifted his gaze to another line of texts, this time, it was about the red ball.
"The red ball was a forgotten toy. Once owned by a noble who deserted it after growing older."
"He hid the red ball in the attic. Soon, forgotten by everyone that the ball ever existed."
"After several decades, the new owner of the mansion found the red ball. The red ball was thrilled, thinking he would be brought outside after such a long time."
"But… The owner threw the red ball away. The red ball felt great sorrow and anger."
"The End."
"What, that's it?" Isaac frowned. The red ball story ended without a proper conclusion.
Ding! Ding!
[Choose one of the balls!]
[If you choose the right one, you may enter Hidden Dungeon. If you choose the wrong one, you shall die]
"What?!" Isaac looked around the room. He was shocked to find out that it was the passage to the Hidden Dungeon. He had his own thoughts about the purpose of the room. It being Hidden Dungeon was one of them.
His gaze shifted to the balls, "Red ball seems obvious choice… Doesn't it?" He extended his hand, about to grab the red ball.
Then, he remembered the ending of the red ball. What if the red ball's story didn't end there… Instead, continued somewhere else?
Isaac looked back at the words. The red ball story was on the left side, and the blue ball story was on the right.
Even though the words were separated by a clear cut in the middle. They seemed to be connected.
Isaac turned his gaze back to the balls. When he examined them more thoroughly. He found out something.
He touched the blue ball without lifting it up from the palm. He used his nail and started peeling the color off.
Below the blue color was red!
Once he had peeled off half of the blue, the color red was more apparent.
He went to the red ball and did the same. He peeled the color off and underneath saw blue!
"I see…" Isaac looked back and forth between the balls. He quickly decided which one to choose.
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