Seeds of Discordia: New Arrival Mayhem

Liam sighed as he stood in front of the open door. He was doing some stretches to help ease the soreness and achiness running through his body. The pain he had felt earlier had already subsided, but he wasn’t sure what to expect in the next room.

Steeling himself, Liam walked down the corridor and entered the next room.

This room was a bit simpler than the last one.

It was the same width as the last one but wasn’t as long. The ceiling, however, was a bit higher and had four colored Yooperlite stones hanging from the ceiling.

The one on the far right was red. The next one was white. The third was a purplish yellow. The far left one was blue.

Compared to the lit up ones on the walls, these four had no light in them.

He looked forward and saw a doorway with a slab blocking the way out. On the Archway around the door were four unlit Yooperlite stones.

“Okay,” Liam said, drawing out the word as he looked at the room puzzling.

A platform with a stone table suddenly rose up in front of Liam after he took a couple of steps inside.

On the stone table were four buttons matching the colors of the hanging Yooperlite stones.

As Liam started to inspect the buttons, something caught his eye and ears.

The hanging Yooperlite stones were flashing separately and at different times. Each light made a different noise when it lit back up.

Confused, Liam watched until they stopped.

Even more confused, he looked at the buttons then back at the hanging stones.

They didn’t light back up.

“Hm,” Liam muttered before he pressed the blue button.

A loud buzzer noise echoed in the room as a sudden bucket worth of water dropped on Liam’s head.

“What the hell!?” Liam exclaimed shaking his arms and legs.

He glared at the buttons and the hanging stones while thinking, What the fuck am I supposed to do?

As he looked back up he saw the stones light up once more. Each making, what Liam was now able to hear, as musical notes.

He watched the lights lit up in a certain sequence.

Red, blue, purplish-yellow, red, red, white, white, purplish-yellow.

Once when the last one light up they stopped.

Liam looked at the buttons again and thought, Am I supposed to recreate the sequence? Liam shrugged. Worth a shot, I guess.

Liam repeated what he saw as he pushed the buttons in the order he remembered.

Red, blue, purplish-yellow, red, red, white, white, purplish-yellow.

After he pushed the last button he looked up and saw one of the Yooperlite Stones on the archway lit up.

“Huh,” Liam muttered. “I guess it’s a game of Simon says with Yooperlite stones.”

A grin formed on his face as he added, “A simple game like this shouldn’t be a problem.”

As he said this, the next sequence began.

Long red, short blue, two white, a long white, very short purplish-yellow, three whites, red, red.

“A bit more complicated, but manageable I think,” Liam said as he began.

Long red, short blue, two white, a long white. He went to push the purplish-yellow button, but then a loud buzzer sound echoed in the room.

“What?!” Liam shouted in complaint.

Before he could say anymore, a bolt of lightning suddenly crashed into him, shocking his whole body.

After the pain and slight numbing went away Liam complained, “What the hell happened there?! I know a pushed the right color so why did I still get zapped?”

Liam went over in his head what he did. After thinking about it he muttered, “Maybe I held it down a bit longer than I was supposed to?”

As Liam came back from his thoughts, he noticed something was off along the archway of the closed door.

After a minute of staring at it he realized what was different.

“Mother fucker,” Liam cursed.

The Yooperlite stone that had lit up after finishing the first round was dim again.

“So, if I mess up then I have to restart again?” Liam said as he glared at the door. He crossed his arms and pouted as he said with a childish tone, “This is stupid.”

A couple of sounds went off as the Yooperlite stones light up in a sequence.

“Ah crap!” Liam shouted as he unfolded his arms and looked up. “I can’t lose focus I’m still in the middle of this challenge.”

The Yooperlite stones stopped shortly after Liam paid attention again.

Shit! Liam swore mentally as he looked at the buttons. What was the order again? Blue, red white, white? Liam shook his head. No. That’s not right.

As Liam started to panic internally as he tried to desperately remember the order, the hanging Yooperlite stones lit back up.

“Huh?” Liam said with a puzzled look.

It was repeating the order again.

“Is there,” Liam started as he watched the sequence stop. “Is there no time limit on how fast I need to get it done?”

Liam waited to see if the hanging stones would light back. After a couple of minutes had passed, they started back up again.

Liam smiled. “That’s helpful.”

He waited once more for the order to reappear. Once when it did, Liam pushed the buttons in the order he remembered.

Red, blue, purplish-yellow, red, red, white, white, purplish-yellow.

Liam saw one of the Yooperlite on the archway light back up.

“Sweet,” Liam whispered as he smiled and looked back up at the hanging stones.

Long red, short blue, two white, a long white, very short purplish-yellow, three whites, red, red.

When it stopped, Liam tried to repeat what he could remember to himself, “Long red, short blue, two red.” Liam shook his head. “No that’s not right.”

Before he said the order again the stone lit back up.

Long red, short blue, two white, a long white, very short purplish-yellow, three whites, red, red.

“Ah its two white not red,” Liam muttered. “Alright, let’s see what I can remember. Long red, short blue, two white, a long white, very short...blue?”

Liam shook his head again. He didn’t feel like it was right. He waited again for the order to make its appearance again.

Liam watched the stones light up its sequence three more times. By the third time he was whispering the order along with the stones, making sure he had it.

After this run through, Liam felt confident. He pushed the buttons in the order he could remember.

Long red, short blue, two white, a long white, very short purplish-yellow, three whites, red, red.

Liam braced himself in case he got it wrong. When nothing happened, he looked at the archway and saw a second stone had lit up.

Liam did a short celebration by gripping his right hand and pulling it towards his side.

The third sequence started bringing Liam’s attention to it.

As he watched, the smile he had slowly grew into a baffled one as his jaw slowly opened.

“How in the hell is that fair?” Liam questioned as he tried to remember it.

When he couldn’t remember it all he looked back at the hanging stones and waited for it to start back up.

He watched again, but got mixed up counting how many times he had to push one color in a short time.

The third time he counted the first part and focused on that.

By the fourth time, he had the six short reds memorized and got to the tenth color before getting mixed up.

As he waited for the fifth go around nothing happened.

He gave a puzzling looked before he heard a timer start to tick.

“Oh, come on!” Liam shouted as he tried to push the buttons to what he remembered.

Six short red, white, two blue, red.

A loud buzzer sound echoed in the room.

“Oh crap!” Liam shouted a s he jumped back to dodge a jet of fire shot down where he stood.

Liam grew a smile as he was proud that he got out in time, but then frowned as water suddenly drenched him from above.

Liam glared at the hanging lights. He wasn’t happy that a second trap was waiting for him after dodging the first.

He let out a sigh as he shook the water off of himself.

“Back to the second round,” Liam grumbled.

After the lights made its way through the sequence, Liam pushed the order he remembered.

Long red, short blue, two white, a long white, very short purplish-yellow, three whites, red, red.

“At least I remembered that one,” Liam muttered under his breath. Unhappy with how this was going, Liam added, “So it will only let me watch the order five times. Got it.”

Liam watched as the Hanging stones went through the third round of sequences.

He tried to do what he did with the second round sequence and felt a bit confident by the time the fifth watch through came.

“Ok so its,” Liam started as he said the colors as he pushed the buttons. “Six short red, white, two blue, two white.”

As he finished the second white, his mind went blank. A look of panic appeared as he said, “Crap, what was next?!”

A loud buzzer sound echoed in the room.

Liam jumped back again to dodge an icicle that shot down where he stood. He jumped back once more in case water dropped on him and was elated when that missed him too.

“Ha!” Liam shouted.

Liam’s danger sense blared on top of his head, but it was too late for him to react as a small lightning bolt zapped him.

After the paralyzing effect disappeared Liam’s eyes narrowed.

He walked up to the table and started pushing the sequence to the second round, but then tensed as he realized he pushed the blue button instead of the white button.

Frustration filled him as he stood there, allowing the water to pour over him.

He let out a sigh as he muttered, “Simon says is easy I said. I’ll fly through it I thought.”

He let out a burst of anger as he shouted, “How the hell is this easy!”

Liam panted after releasing that burst of anger. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He then reprimanded himself by saying, “Trying to rush through it is only going to hurt you and you’re progress, Liam.” He cracked his neck and shook his arms. “You just need to focus. You got this.”

Liam then placed his goggles back over his eyes and stared at the hanging stones. After the first sequence finished he pressed the buttons in the correct order. Once when he was done with that the second sequence began.

Liam got through the second sequence easily this time.

“Now come on you bastard,” Liam muttered as he watched the third sequence light up.

After watching it go through twice, Liam attempted to try it out.

Six short red, white, two blue, two white, pause. Six short red, white, two blue, two white, purplish-yellow, long purplish-yellow.

When nothing happened, Liam raised a hand in the air and yelled, “Hell yeah!”

He then flinched as the lights repeated what he pressed and gave the order a familiar tune.

Liam stared at the stones for a moment and said, “Did it just have me do the beginning part of Inspector Gadget?”

Liam shook his head as he thought to himself, Nah, there’s no way it did. He then prepared himself for, what he hoped was, the last round of this.

As Liam watched the lights go through its sequence, he had a thought. I didn’t notice before till the last round, but maybe I should also try focusing on the sound. It might help me get through this quicker.

Forgoing the first round of listening due to his random thought process, Liam waited for the second listen attempt to begin.

Nothing happened.

“Oh no,” Liam groaned as a ticking sound started to echo.

He waited for the timer to end and took another bolt of lightning to his head.

After he shook of the pain from the bolt, he inwardly chastised himself for not paying attention.

He got ready to watch the third round sequence, but he not only watched, but listened as well.

Liam stared blankly at the hanging stones before pressing the order he not only saw but heard as well.

After it confirmed he pressed the buttons in the right order, it played back the tune he just did.

“It is the beginning part of Inspector Gadget!” Liam shouted. “I wasn’t going crazy!”

Liam shook his head as he mentally prepared himself for the final round.

Okay, what tune are you going to have play this time for Simon Says. He thought as he listened and watched the colors to the final round.

After the sequence finished Liam once more stared at the hanging stones in disbelief.

“There’s no way,” Liam said in shock. “Its not true…is it? There’s just no way the challenge just…”

Liam stopped himself as he heard the timer start to tick down.

Shaking his head, Liam pressed the buttons in the same order he saw them. However, he decided to sing along to test out what he believed the challenge made him play.

Five very short white, two red, blue, pause. Five very short white, two red, purplish-yellow, pause. Five very short white, two red, blue, purplish-yellow, long purplish-yellow, long purplish-yellow.

“Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you,” Liam sang in a whisper.

The hanging Yooperlite stones all lit up and flashed like a disco ball as sounds started to play the entire song. It was, in fact, the song from Liam’s home world, Earth.

“I can’t believe a fucking Dungeon Floor just Rick Rolled me,” Liam stated with disbelief.

He then noticed the Yooperlite stone along the archway all lit up. The slab blocking the way to the next area slid down. A notification appearing in front of him.

 

“Congratulations! You have completed the 3rd Challenge!”

 

Liam shook his head as he closed the notification while making his way to the door.

“I think I’ve seen it all now,” Liam muttered, not wanting to stay another second in the room.

As he walked towards the door, multiple chimes echoed in his mind. He pulled up the notification boxes and read what they said.

 

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Intelligence Sub-stat Mental Absorption has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Intelligence Sub-stat Mental Absorption has reached level 12! Progression to level 13: 100%!”

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Intelligence Sub-stat Mental Absorption has reached level 13! Progression to level 14: 0%!”

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Intelligence Sub-stat Perception has reached level 18! Progression to level 19: 60%!”

“Congratulations! Mind Stat Wisdom Sub-stat Common Sense has reached level 10! Progression to level 11: 0%!”

“Congratulations! Ailment Resistance – Paralyze has reached level 4! Progression to level 5: 43%!”

 

Liam stopped moving right in front of the archway as he stared at his notifications.

After all, the memorizing would level his Mental Absorption which helped with memory. Also having to make sure to keep his sight on the constant changes no matter if they were obvious or subtle helped level his Perception.

The one he was really confused about was why his Common Sense leveled.

“What was Common Sense about again?” Liam asked himself as he pulled up the description from his stat page.

 

“Common Sense – This Sub-stat helps people understand cultures, what and when it is best to say something and what and when not to. It also helps a person know where certain things come from.”

 

Liam’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the description. He was thoroughly confused now.

Why would it level here? Liam asked himself. There was nothing cultur…

“Oh god damn it!” Liam shouted as realization struck. He turned around to face the room. “You god damn trolling challenge room! You can go to hell!”

He then turned away and stomped out of the room in a huff.