Trapped in this Boring Room!

Translated by LysUltima

Syosetu 101

I was in a room that I’ve never seen before. It was 4.5 tatami mats in size;^[1] it couldn’t be called large. It was a white room. Everything was white. The walls, the ceiling, the bed, the desk, the PC, the door, and the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, those were all white. However, there were two things that weren’t white. One thing was the letters on the keyboard. The other was what was displayed on the display of the PC. Other than that, it was all white. Pure white.

“What is this place?”

I approached the display and read the letters written there.

【You cannot leave this room unless you rank first on the novel posting site, “Let’s Write a Novel”】^[2]

That’s it.

No, there was a shortcut titled “Let’s Write a Novel” on the upper left side of the screen. It was white and was very hard to see, but it was certainly there. I thought of clicking it with the mouse, but for the moment I left it and looked at the door. I thought that if what was written on the display, whether the letters “You cannot leave” were true.

I stood in front of the door, held the doorknob with my hand, and turned it.

I pushed hard, but nothing happened.

I pulled hard, but nothing happened.

There was no keyhole.

The door was still connected to the wall, and there was no rattling sound. It was stuck so well that it could’ve been welded together with the wall.

“It won’t open.”

For the first time, an unspeakable impatience was born.

I looked around at the surroundings. There was no other door, and there even weren’t any windows.

I was locked in.

I couldn’t leave.
Confinement, kidnapping…

Why?

How?

For what purpose?

Who?

For how long?
Various questions appeared in my brain and they remained without disappearing.

The inside of my mouth was dry.

My heartbeat quickened, and my breathing became rough. I licked the back of my teeth with my tounge. Calm down, calm down now.

“Fuuu…”

I took a deep breath and examined the room more closely.

Under the pillow, under the mattress, under the bed, under the desk, and even behind the monitor.

I found nothing. There was no hint that there wasn’t nothing. I just needed a hint to understand what was happening.

Still nothing.

But there was one thing.

The characters written on the display of the PC were read by me. Then, I thought of something. If I use the internet, I may understand something, or I could just ask someone for help.

I sat on the chair and went to the desk.

I took the pure white mouse in my hand but I stopped. On the display, only the shortcut for “Let’s Write a Novel” was there. Even the taskbar wasn’t there.

Should I click the shortcut or not?

If I clicked it, somehow, I felt that something absurd would happen, and this chapter would take an unpleasant turn. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I felt like it’s a trap. I moved the mouse cursor all around the screen. Particularly, the launcher didn’t start.

Odd, this isn’t a normal PC.

In the first place, this may not be even be Wind○ws.

That what I thought, so I looked​ at the PC sitting on the desk.

It was a pure white, tower-type PC case. There were no screws or ventilation openings. It was a completely sealed box. There weren’t also any cables. That also applied to the display.

Perhaps, this isn’t a PC?

It looked like a PC, but, when I touched it, it was slightly warm and there was a humming sound. Perhaps, it really was a PC.

Anyways, nothing really was done.

If I was more violent, I would’ve opened the PC or display to see the inside​. But, I did not intend to do such an irreversible thing. If I was smarter, I might’ve thought of something else, but, unfortunately, I wasn’t a wise man.

Therefore, I moved the cursor to the shortcut of “Let’s Write a Novel.”

○ ○

The site called “Let’s Write a Novel” is a novel posting site provided by Tebasaki Keikaku Co., Ltd.

Just by registering as a member, you can publish a novel on the web for free. Because of its ease of use and high readibility, the site spread around the world in a split second. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that one in every five people on the earth now uses “Let’s Write a Novel.

Even babies will complete the registration process before they first cry. Anyways, my friend couldn’t​ stop talking about it. He speaks too much. That said, my friend once said, “Anyways, this site has a high population of users, and it’s the most popular novel posting site. The top works in ‘Let’s Write a Novel’ sometimes get published in book format. So, me too, I’ll also become a pro writer.”
…End of quote.

Interested, I remembered going to that site after getting the URL and reading some recommended novels.

When I clicked the shortcut of “Let’s Write a Novel,” the site I saw at that time was displayed.

The logo of “Let’s Write a Novel.” Site info, version, ranking, user registration, login, information, new novels, related content, etc. It was the same top page that I saw on that day.

I didn’t know the details, so I wasn’t sure that it was genuine.

It’s just that, when I clicked on a novel, I could read it normally. When I pressed the browser update button several times, the lineup of newly updated novels was updated. It seemed to me that the real “Let’s Write a Novel” was displayed.
“Do you want me to take first place in the rankings here?”

While talking to myself, I recalled the day; a month ago, when my friend taught me how to write a novel.

I told him that with this feeling.

Well, I told him, without holding anything back, that I could​ write a great novel.

Honestly, I was just a normal writer.

Enter the rankings?  Anyone can do it.

I said that, and his face turned bright red and said, “I’d like to see you try!” in anger.

After that, I replied, “It was a joke, a joke,” soothing him.

Perhaps, this is his revenge?

No, he’s just a fat human with little self-consciousness; his frontal lobe isn’t big and he can’t use ESP.
It doesn’t matter.

However, there’s that possibility.

While thinking of it, I got up from the chair and stood in front of the door. I took a deep breath, clenched my fist, and hit the door.

“Oi! I was bad! I apologize, so let me leave!”

I raised my voice so that someone behind the door could hear it.

I put my ear to the door to hear the response. Strangely, there was nothing.

“I apologize for everything! Let me leave! I beg you!”

I shouted several times.

But, there was nothing.

Perhaps, there’s a wall behind the door. I thought that as I heard nothing.

“Sh*t!”

Eventually, I kicked the door and left that spot.

I came back to the PC.

When I was casually moving the mouse in frustration, I noticed the URL at the top of the browser. There, of course, was the URL of “Let’s Write a Novel.”

“Is this connected to other sites?”

Since I can connect to “Let’s Write a Novel,” I should be able to get to other sites.

I will notify the police. Recently, I’ve heard that you can know a location from an IP address. This is an obvious kidnapping. I need help.

Thinking that, I typed the URL of the world’s most famous search site and pressed enter.
A moment passed.

After that, what was displayed on the browser was the top page of “Let’s Write a Novel.”

“What is this, this…”

After that, I typed in the same URL several times and typed in as many URLs that I knew.

Finally, I typed in a bunch of characters.

However, they were all redirected to the top page of “Let’s Write a Novel.”

Perhaps, if I try to access a site other than “Let’s Write a Novel,” there’s a program to redirect me there.

“Ahh, jeez.”

I felt frustrated and helpless, so I got up from the chair.

I sat on the bed and lied down. While looking at the ceiling, I closed my eyes.

And then, I thought.

Whether the characters written on the display of the PC were true or not. In other words, whether I could leave if I ranked first in the novel posting site, “Let’s Write a Novel.”

There was no guarantee that those characters were related to the door or even this room. But, that was my only hint.

Can I write?

Well, I also read these kinds of novels from middle school to high school, and sometimes I tried writing myself. I have never applied for a prize or something like that, but I can say that I’m not an amateur at all. And, most of the works here are amateur works.

Well, there seem to be some people who have gotten their books published and are pros that write on a high level…
Anyways, it won’t be too hard to get first place in the rankings.

I shouted towards to the outside of the room, “I’ll write! I’ll get first place! So be sure to let me leave this place!”

I headed towards the computer.

[1] 4.5 tatami is 2.73m x 2.73m.
[2] The website is Shousetsu o Kakou; a Syosetu copy.