Chapter 001: Golden Temple
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"January 1, 2017. A huge meteor two-thirds the size of the earth materialized out of thin space. It traverse a course so that it will hit the Earth in 24 hours. On that day, The United Nations summoned all of the people who are the greatest in their fields to convene on what can be done amidst the imminent disaster. Under no less than 15 hours to spare, a group consisting of specialize teams was formed. Thereafter, thousands of elite personnel could be seen boarding more than a hundred huge spaceships. Equipped with the latest scientific technologies and futuristic military weaponry, the fleet of spaceships flew into the space to execute their mission. The fleet was called
- Capt. Julius Wolfhan, Jan 1, 2017.
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Nimrod woke up inside a dark and empty room. The only light shining around him, similar to that of an interrogation room.
"I, am alive?"
It was 10 o'clock in the morning. Nimrod remembered being inside the classroom while being beaten by six of his classmates, when a thundering explosions caused all the glass windows and light bulb to explode. Soon, fire occured throughout the building. Out of reflex, and fear of getting caught in the fire, the bullies nimbly went out of the classroom leaving the weakened Nimrod behind. Nimrod felt the heat coming from the fire, with both his hands grabbing a table, he pushed himself to stand. That's when he realized the horror he is currently in. Through the window, he saw the sky painted in blazing dark red. Ripples of cloud can be seen as the silhouette of fiery meteor, spanning hundreds of miles in circumference entered the atmosphere. Thousands of meteorites accompanied the horrific scene. Alas, one of these made its way towards the school and then…
"I was brought here. Could these mean, I'm not a dropout? It seemed like I also retained my physical form."
Nimrod remained calm. In fact he is delighted. Other than this being the proof that there is truth behind the stories from the Novels and Mangas he read; he also thought that is a better to be here than to be beaten to death by his classmates or be torched by a falling meteor.
"Based on the holy manuscripts I have read in the internet, it is highly probable that someone will appear to give information about my current situation. That means, I should wait here." Nimrod sat on the floor. He decided to wait.
About two hours later…
"Mmm, it seemed my assumption is incorrect. Does that mean, I need to explore this place?"
Nimrod looked at his surroundings, "It is really dark. Who knows what danger lurks within these areas."
Nimrod stood up from where he sat. That is when he noticed something.
"Mmmm?"
Currently, the spot that Nimrod is staying at has a light shining on it. The light covers approximately 2.5 meters in circumference. On closer inspections on the light source, Nimrod could see that there seemed to be a green image on the floor that reads <60%>.
"Mmm. Does this mean, the light will disappear when it reaches 0%? Then I can't wait here forever!"
Nimrod decided that it would be best to try and explore since he thought he would still lose the light if he were to wait in this place.
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"Here goes nothing."
He step outside the light for the first time…
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Nimrod is now looking at a brightly lit room. The room has four corners. Each corner has a large pillar of light. Nimrod discovered the pillars when he walked to explore the place. He spent two and a half hours walking all over the area, until he had finished exploring.
"I did not expect that the light would follow wherever I go. Although it was not easy to move because of the huge statues that blocked my way, I finally did it after walking around them."
Nimrod went over one of the huge statues. It has an unusual form. It has two large arms. Its large belly almost reaching its knees. Its head is a bit small for its huge body. If he were to name this creature depicted in the statues he would call it…
"Ogres. These statues diffinitely looks like an Ogre. And they are strategically built so that I can't move more than 2 steps without bumping into one of these."
The area is not that large, he believed he can probably reached the edge of the room within 20 minutes if he were to sprint straight ahead.
Nimrod looked at the green image on the floor.
"Only eight percent remaining. I won't dare try and wait to see what happens if these numbers reached to zero."
Of course, currently there are no immediate danger for him. However, ticking percentages and Ogre statues does not bode well for comfort and confidence. It is wise to leave before that happens.
"It is fortunate that I manage to lit all four pillars. Now I can see that there are five possible ways to get out of this place."
There are four ladders going upward, located at the walls between each pillars. When Nimrod manage to lit all four pillars, an elevator appeared at the center of the room. Immediately, Nimrod entered the elevator. Ladders has its own sense of adventure, but its no brainer to conclude that the elevator is a special gift. Nimrod went inside the elevator.
"Mmm… There are only two floors. The 13th Floor, and the B101th floor." Feeling a scense of brave adventure and for no other reason, Nimrod pressed B101th floor.
*clank
The elevator started to move downward.
*Tick
Finally, the green image on the floor has reached to zero. Following that, changes started to occur on the Ogre statues. The former grey colored stone began changing into pale green skin as life dawned to all the statues. Then…
*Graar Graar Graar
Thundering roars could be heard as hundreds of Ogres statues came to life. They walked to and fro the entire room, up and down the ladders in search for their prey. Of course, Nimrod only heard the deafeaning roar and is still oblivious to everything that has happened above him as the elevator steadily moved downward.
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B101th Floor
"Wow!" Nimrod could not help but exclaimed as the door of the elevator opened revealing a magnificent golden temple. Nimrod rushed outside the elevator, because of his amazement. He did not even notice that a huge boulder came out of no where and covered the entrance to the elevator.
"I've never seen anything like this before. Such granduer, such brilliance. With this dimensions, it should at least require 3,000 tons of gold to be built. This definitely is a 100 billion dollar temple!" Nimrod unconsciously moved towards the temple.
The temple has the size of a large dome. Its form is similar to the ancient Hebrew temple. The building is about 27 meters long, nine meters wide, and about 14 meters high. It has three huge doors, each having different symbol. From the farthest left, the symbols are sword and shield, bow and dagger, rod and book.
"Hmm, these symbols. If I am not mistaken this temple could be some kind of trial, with each door representing different attributes. Sword and shield could mean trial related to brute force, bow and dagger for precision related trial, while rod and book for trials that tests the intellect. But given the enormous amouny of funds required to build this temple, there must be serious reasons why they built this."
Thanks to his vast knowledge after reading tons of manga series and light novels, Nimrod could easily deduce the approximate meaning behind what he saw. But still, his human experience dictates that he should be very, very cautious. The probability of him being wrong is high but who would give him advice when he is the only one present in here.
"Now how should I go with this. The immediate plan should be to leave this place." Only now did Nimrod noticed that his path has been cutoff so that he has no other choice but to move forward.
"After looking around, there seemed to be no other passage for getting out of this place. That means, I need to enter the temple to get out of this place. How ironic it is really.
Nimrod turned his head to the right side of the temple, "My parents said that the only qualities I have is my average intelligence. If my assumptions are correct, this should be the door which has the highest chance of me winning, if ever there is a test."
Nimrod tried remember all the mathematical formulas and scientific knowledge he learned from school. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
*Hooooo…
He is ready. His eyes is beeming with resolve similar to the kids waiting to take their final exams.
"Rod and book it is."
Nimrod went in front of the door that has the symbol, immediately white light enveloped him and he vanished.
- end of chapter -