Noah stared at the two big, ornate buttons on the tablet screen, still hesitating to touch either. At last, he felt he’d glimpsed the logic of this place—or at least, a sliver of it. The tougher the task, the bigger the reward. Per aspera ad astra, or something like that.
But it told him nothing about whoever had built the dungeon. You could find he same sadomasochistic principles in various religions. Practically all of them, really. Except for the Flying Spaghetti Meatballs, orbiting Saturn. Noah still hadn’t decided whether to take that faith seriously...
Either way, he’d found a way to open the doors.
But what did the second button mean? Increase power? Whose power? The label was vague, probably on purpose. And why power instead of strength?
Then again, strength implies muscles, which he no longer possessed. Maybe power was the better fit here. As with “charge,” maybe the word choice mattered.
With no better explanation in sight, Noah tapped the link to the points system.
Welcome! If you’re seeing this information, it means you haven’t wasted your time. Your existence has just been enriched with our auxiliary tools! Want to improve or expand these tools? You will need Points!
Points are a quantified expression of your actions. The more significant or difficult your accomplishments, the more Points you’ll receive. You can spend Points on various rewards, which will change depending on circumstances. All rewards are listed in the Dotsy app, which will remain unlocked from now on.
Note: Points cannot be transferred or gifted to other persons. Unused points will be voided at the end of the session.
Administration
Noah’s eyes practically gleamed. The short message said far more than it seemed at first glance: apparently, he was taking part in a session—one that would inevitably end. And for the second time the admins hinted at “other persons.” Somewhere, perhaps beyond the black doors, others like him existed.
Checking the tablet’s app list, he did indeed find a new icon labeled Dotsy. Opening it brought up the same window with the two stylized buttons.
His precious reward...
* * *
Armed with the pole, Noah stood two paces from the black doors, bracing himself for the worst. Finally, he summoned his nerve and tapped the on-screen button. A brief triumphant jingle played, and a pop-up confirmed the doors had been unlocked. The doors themselves didn’t twitch, still as black and unwelcoming as ever. He listened, hoping to catch footsteps or voices beyond.
Nope. Not so much as a scrape.
He checked the tablet again: his two points were down to one… yet the "Open the black doors" button was still there.
Perhaps there were more doors like these? If so, maybe it was smart he hadn’t blown the second point on power. Who knew whether two more buckets would earn him anything at all.
He reached out and touched the handle with a fingertip. No icy bite this time. Encouraged, he gripped and tried to open. A harsh groan of rusted hinges rolled through the cave. Like the first time, Noah froze in place. But he’d expected something like this. When the last echoes died, the usual deathly silence resumed. After a moment, he pulled again and didn’t stop until the door stood fully open.
Beyond yawned pitch darkness. He’d half expected that. Noah lifted a lantern and thrust the light ahead. It revealed a dark gray corridor receding into the black. Just bare stone walls, no doors on either side. He walked forward a dozen steps, but the end didn’t appear. Noah stopped, torn between pressing on or going back to explore the new things he'd unlocked.
He still had one unspent point he'd use to "increase power". Noah also needed to record a new video for his three loyal fans before they forgot about his existence. And he should check whether two more buckets of glowing water would net him two more points...
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He started to turn back, but then heard it: a faint clink of chains, far ahead in the unlit corridor. Noah had grown used to tomb-quiet tunnels, so the new sound spooked him. Chains did not bode well... at least not in horror movies or video games.
Noah waited tensely for it to repeat.
Nope. Nothing.
He glanced back at the familiar section of the cave. Return, or go on?
“The more significant or difficult your accomplishments, the more Points you’ll receive…”
The line wouldn’t leave his head. Turning back would be easy. Walking into danger? Much harder. Who could say how many points he’d need to finish the session successfully?
Hearing no other sounds, he tightened his grip on the pole and the lantern handle, gritted his teeth, and moved forward.
Ten steps. Twenty. The corridor kept going. The lantern light found the same rough stone again and again—nothing for the eye to catch on. And still that grave-like quiet... Whatever had rattled those chains wasn’t eager to do it twice.
Fifty steps. Counting toward sixty, Noah finally halted. Smooth outlines of a door appeared out of the dark. The corridor ended right here.
So he’d guessed right: another door that would cost a point...
He raised a finger to test the handle when a metallic jingle sounded from the other side. And a moment later, the scrape of movement and a muffled groan. As if whoever was there felt Noah’s presence.
Then came a voice, shaky and confused:
“Wha… what is this… how did I… Hey! Hey, is anyone there?! Can someone help me?! God, how did I get here? Why?!”
Male. Young, by the sound of it.
Noah felt a jolt of joy and unease. Another arrival like him?
“Is anyone there?!” the voice bellowed again. “Can someone help me out of these chains?!”
Wait—chains?
Something was off. Weren’t they all supposed to start under the same conditions? At the edge of the abyss, with the buckets?
Noah’s fingers hovered over the handle, then drew back.
If this guy’s session began differently, maybe there was a reason.
“Heyyy!” the voice roared, raw with anger now. “Is there a single living soul in this dump?! I know you’re hiding, you damn admins! I can hear you breathing! Ha, hear that?! I can hear you scratching in your little holes! Cowards! Come out, at least one of you!”
Noah lowered his hand completely. That wasn’t how a brand-new arrival talked. Whoever this man was, he’d been here a while. He might even know far more than Noah did. Whichever way he looked at it, opening these doors felt mandatory.
Before the echoes of the rant could fade, another sound muscled in—a loud clank of machinery. From the deep, resonant timbre, whatever moved was massive. Gears whirred. Chains rattled again—differently this time, more… systematic.
Then the voice returned, now edged with panic:
“Holy God, what the HELL is that?! Hey! Somebody!!! Help me!!! Hurry, help me before—”
The rest dissolved in a scream, rising over the bestial howl of accelerating parts. And then the scream itself warped—less human, more other. In a sick flash, Noah recognized it.
He’d heard that scream before. Many times.
It was the sound the glowing water made when his fingers touched it.
Noah didn’t hesitate. He seized the handle and pressed down. Unlike the previous set, these doors didn’t bite with cold. They swung open easily.
The sight beyond... he had never seen anything like it.
A vast chamber held not one, but two abysses. One gaped high in the ceiling. From it hung four thick chains, supporting something like a half-open cage. Around the cage sprawled an apparatus whose purpose he couldn’t grasp: a forest of gears and odd, glowing discs, all spinning as if determined to snap their own axles.
Inside the cage, bound by a web of finer chains, hung a shape that still barely resembled a human. The body seemed to be melting before Noah's eyes. Streams of luminous liquid bled from it, falling in ribbons into the second abyss yawning in the floor beneath the cage. Right there, as Noah watched, the prisoner’s hands, torso—everything—lost its last clean edges and sluiced through the bars. The terrible scream cut off, the mechanism began to wind down, gears slowing, chains settling.
Half a minute later, the final cog stopped and the last vibrations faded.
Deathly silence took the chamber, but only for a heartbeat.
With a dull clunk, the empty cage and its entire rig began to descend into the lower abyss, carrying every secret with it. Another deep clank; the four great chains locked in place—this time, for a long while.
Only then did Noah remember to breathe—or pretend to. The execution ended too fast; he’d had no chance to act. And it left so many clashing thoughts that, under other circumstances, he would have thrown up.
Now he only stood there, frozen, replaying the final moments.
The glowing water… was all of it made this way?