The Unseen Player

A gasp rippled through the room

Five doors, towering and ominous, materialized from the shadows at the far end of the chamber. Each bore a unique symbol:

a skull, a snake, a flower, a flame and a clock

"Choose wisely, for each student has but one attempt per door. Failure to enter the safe door will incur consequences you would be wise to avoid. You have two minutes per room. Enjoy, students."

A two-minute hourglass materialized above the doors, its sand cascading like a silent countdown. Fear, defiance, and curiosity played across the faces of the students.

This was not just a test, it was a game, a puzzle waiting to be cracked. Ken's mind, a silent predator, stalked the symbols, each a clue whispering potential trials

As the sand cascaded relentlessly in the hourglass, a nervous energy crackled in the air. 

Airi, however, seemed unfazed by the ticking clock, her smile like a beacon of optimism amidst the growing anxiety.

"Skull for me," she chirped, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Who thinks there'll be puzzles? Maybe traps? I love a good adrenaline rush!"

The boisterous boys, emboldened by Airi's enthusiasm, exchanged excited glances. "Snake it is for me," declared the leader

Meanwhile, the silver-eyed girl studied the symbols with an almost predatory gleam. "Flower," she murmured, her voice low and hypnotic

The wizened woman remained a silent observer, her face shrouded in shadow, her thoughts veiled behind her eyes.

Ken watched and observed. He noted Airi's impulsiveness, the boys' bluster, the girl's calculated ambition. Each presented a piece of the puzzle, a glimpse into their strengths and weaknesses.

He observed their choices – Airi skipping towards the skull door, the boys jostling in front of the snake, 

The girl glided gracefully towards the flower.

The leader of the boisterous boys, ever the bravado-laden showman, puffed out his chest and swaggered towards the snake door.

 A cocky grin stretched across his face, masking a flicker of nervous anticipation in his eyes.

"Snake it is"

He entered, an unforeseen and devastating turn of events unfolded: a swift and lethal bullet pierced through the air, finding its mark directly in his skull, abruptly ending his life.

A collective gasp erupted from the room. Airi's playful grin vanished, replaced by a look of pure shock. The boisterous boys exchanged horrified glances, their bravado dissolving into a pale imitation of terror. 

Even the old woman, her features etched with the wisdom of ages, seemed a fraction paler in the flickering candlelight.

Ken, however, remained stoic. His cold gaze, however, flickered for a moment, betraying a flicker of surprise.

This unexpected turn of events had shattered the fragile sense of control, exposing the students to the raw, unforgiving nature of the University. The game had begun, and the stakes had just risen to a deadly level.

As the sand in the hourglass dwindled to its final grains, Ken knew his time was running out. He couldn't afford to wait, to observe further. He had to make a choice, a calculated gamble in this game of life and death.

As the old woman, sprinted towards the flame door, a collective gasp rippled through the chamber. Her words, "I can't take this anymore"

"If I die, I die an old woman," hung in the air

The remaining students, their fear momentarily eclipsed by a surge of adrenaline, followed her lead in a chaotic rush. 

The boys, their bravado rekindled by the woman's boldness, jostled each other in their haste. Even the silver-eyed girl, her calculating facade momentarily crumbling, joined the stampede, her eyes fixed on the flickering flames.

Ken, however, remained strangely calm. His cold gaze, though narrowed in focus, held a hint of grudging respect for the old woman's audacious move. 

She had gambled, and against all odds, she had won. The flame door, pulsating with its chaotic energy, had revealed its true nature – not a furnace of destruction, but a portal to safety.

The students, spurred by the old woman's desperate gamble, stampeded towards the flame door.

Shoves and panicked cries filled the air, elbows meeting ribs and curses mingling with prayers. Ken, however, remained a calm eye in the storm. He navigated the throng with practiced ease

Then, the world imploded in a torrent of light and searing heat. When their vision cleared, they found themselves not in the promised freedom, but in another chamber, identical to the previous one. 

Another two minutes have begun

The same five doors, bearing the same cryptic symbols, loomed before them. A collective groan arose from the students, their euphoria dashed by the University's cruel trick.

Ken intended to move, but on his own terms. He had no interest in leading the blind; he craved control, mastery over the game the University had thrust upon them.

He talked to himself, "Forget the symbols," he said, his voice a steady hiss.

"They're distractions. The University hides its secrets in the details, in the whispers of the room itself. Observe, analyze, predict. That is the key to unlocking these doors."

Airi, her hand hovering over the flame symbol door, her eyes reflecting its fiery glow, was about to repeat the gambit that had saved them once before.

"Wait," Ken said, his voice that cut through the chamber's tense silence.

"Don't rush. Two identical safe doors? Too convenient, wouldn't you say?" 

"But it worked before," Airi argued, her voice betraying a flicker of uncertainty. "Why wouldn't it again?"

Ken shook his head "Predictability. A repeat play, no matter how successful, is simply another pattern. Think beyond the obvious. The University wouldn't be that dumb."

The silver-eyed girl stepped forward. "He's right," she said, her voice as sharp as a honed blade. "The University expects us to repeat our mistakes. We need to show them we are not so easily manipulated."

Seeing the shift, Airi lowered her hand, the fire symbol losing its allure. "So which door then?"

"Give me a moment." Ken responded.

The students stared through the crack in the flame door, victory smelling like burned metal and hope. 

But Ken kept his eyes sharp. This wasn't over yet. He scanned the room, looking for the next clue in the University's twisted game.

In the corner, like a forgotten toy, huddled an old lady, the very same old lady who saved them in the first round. Her face was hidden under wrinkles and a dusty shawl, eyes fixed on the wall.

Ken's curiosity tickled him, a weird feeling in his usual cold zone. Was this another University trick, a puppet dangling to distract them?

Ken's icy gaze met the old woman "Why the flames last round?" he asked, his voice low but laced with curiosity.

The woman, shrouded in her worn shawl, remained silent for a moment, her eyes reflecting the dying embers of the fire door. 

Then, she spoke, her voice raspy like dry leaves. "Time, child," she rasped, "is a fickle thing. For some, it burns bright, a roaring furnace. For others, it dwindles like a dying ember, leaving only ash and memories."

Ken's mind, usually a cold chessboard of logic, felt a flicker of something unfamiliar. He noticed the woman's hand, clutching the shawl tighter, revealing a glimpse of pale skin marked by the delicate tracings of age

Suddenly, things clicked for Ken.

Sixty seconds. The relentless hourglass whispered its countdown, each grain a tick of the University's mocking metronome. 

He glanced at the hourglass, its final sands swirling like a miniature typhoon. The University reveled in predictable patterns, mirrored emotions in their doors. Fire reflected the woman's fading life, chaos mirroring her defiant choice. Now, the hourglass…

"It was a mirror not of life's decline, but of its final, desperate bloom." Ken muttered to himself. "Like a riddle?

His eyes narrowed, piecing together the puzzle.

"Time, a relentless foe, an unstoppable tide. Yet, within its flow, existed a loophole – the final sixty seconds, a fleeting moment before the sands ran dry" Ken again whispered to himself

He stared at the Time door.

But Ken knew the University wouldn't make it obvious. 

Ken marched towards the flower door. No hesitation, no whispered instructions. He threw the door open

It was the safe door

Yet, on the students' faces, relief bloomed brighter than any desert rose. They had cracked the University's code, outsmarted their twisted game.

The students then stampeded their way inside the door

Airi, breathless stared at Ken

"How?" she whispered, the echoes of her question resonating through the stunned silence.

"The old Lady" Ken replied. 

"She wasn't a student, she was one of the game masters. Her words, her age, they were clues. The University thrives on predictability, but they wouldn't make it obvious. The key wouldn't be in a door mirroring resilience, but in the final flicker before extinction. The flower door"

"The final flame. The University loves symmetry, mirroring emotions in their doors. The fire door, the woman's dying time. And the time door, the final gasp before the flower runs dry."

Ken had outsmarted the University, not with brute force, but a gamble born from empathy and a conductor who understood the symphony of fear and time itself.

The old woman, draped in her worn shawl like a tattered tapestry, slowly rose to her feet, her gaze fixed on Ken.

The old lady then asked for Ken's name

"Yamada, Ken" He replied

The woman studied him, her gaze tracing the lines etched on his face as if memorizing a delicate map. A strange reverence touched her eyes, like encountering a rare artifact untouched by time. 

"Ken Yamada," she repeated, her voice a murmur lost in the chamber's shifting currents. "A clever name, child. A mind like a finely honed blade, cutting through deceit and unraveling secrets."

The door then shut between them, leaving the old lady alone in the previous room

The game was far from over, and Ken Yamada was ready to play the next round, his eyes glinting with an icy fire that mirrored the dying embers of the University's cryptic riddle.