Chapter Text
Scenario 1: The First Run
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Seed generated: 1D4N S9MK.
ENIGMA - First of many.
CAPRICIOUSNESS - Finally, something new.
GOOSEBUMPS - She's above. Waiting. Lurking. Watching.
BLOODLUST - Imagine if she cut you. That would be the time to strike.
SAVAGERY - Hit her first next time.
ZEALOTRY - You should have let her do the deed so she could fulfill her holy mission.
CURDLED BLOOD - Let her knife edge make you bleed. A moment of life before death.
DAUNTLESS HEART - You could have stood up against her.
VIRTUE - Her kindness has been warped.
RESURRECTION - The light will need to let her be reborn.
THE HARLOT - Don't listen to them. Running away was the right play.
DEAD BIRD - There's an air current. This goes down further.
BENIGHTEDNESS - Deeper and deeper, further away from His light.
INNER DEMON - Our home awaits us below.
BOOK OF BELIAL - Let's return to the palms of the Dark Lord.
DUALITY - On one hand, you truly do believe you require retribution. You are a sinner, after all.
On the other hand, what a whole load of fucking bullshit! You're just a kid.
YOU - Why did she do that? What's going on? Who are you all? Why is it so cold?
DAUNTLESS HEART - There's nothing to fear. She can't reach you here. You can take your time with the questions.
EMPTINESS - Let your fire be smothered.
YOU - Try to calm down.
EMPTINESS - Yes, just like that. No need to entertain the others.
GOOSEBUMPS - You still need to be vigilant. Who knows what horrors await you?
VIRTUE - Hopefully, you can find a kind soul here.
YOU - Where am I?
RIGHT EYE - You can see you're in a dilapidated basement. There's nothing to be found here aside from three open doors and cracks in the walls. The two doors to the east and west lead elsewhere, but the door to the south stands out with its gilded frame.
HOARDER - You can feel it. Treasure is bound to be found behind that door.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Treasure rooms and shops do not need keys on the first floor.
YOU - Who are you all?
BEATING HEART - Your living heartbeat.
SAVAGERY - Your powerful strength.
CAPRICIOUSNESS - Your malleable heart.
DECEPTION - Your deceitful tongue.
ZEALOTRY - Your unwavering faith.
INNER DEMON - Your dark reflection.
DEAD BIRD - Your imaginary friend.
CALL OF THE VOID - Your dying delirium.
ENIGMA - Certainly not a detective.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Likely an illegal mod.
THE HARLOT - Ignore the Faceless One and the Machine, they speak in ways unknown to us.
BOX OF FRIENDS - You know who your friends are, and this one is not one of them, unlike those two weirdos. Very few here have your health and safety at heart. Hold them close to your heart.
YOU - What should I do?
DECEPTION - Preferably grab yourself a knife. Hold your hand behind your back to seem like you have one, just in case.
SAVAGERY - We don't need a weapon to hurt monsters.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Use the arrow keys to shoot tears.
EMPTINESS - There are no tears here. Not anymore.
YOU - Can I see into any of the rooms?
RIGHT EYE - No. A veil of darkness shrouds the doorways. Evidently, you are not allowed to see into the rooms.
CAPRICIOUSNESS - A change of scenery would be nice. You should move.
YOU - Which room should I go into?
DEAD BIRD - Tweet tweet. A remote lies inside the room below. Use it to air strike foes.
HOARDER - That sounds like a treasure. Add it to the collection.
GOOSEBUMPS - There are monsters beyond the other two doors.
ENIGMA - The west offers only a singular key that you cannot reach. Not without wasting a bomb.
YOU - A bomb?! Wait, why do I have a bomb?!
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - You start with one.
VIRTUE - You don't need to use it. It could hurt someone.
CURDLED BLOOD - Or yourself. Much messier than a blade.
GOOSEBUMPS - You feel a chill. Not because you don't want to hurt yourself, but because you feel ethereal eyes on you.
YOU - What eyes?
BOOK OF BELIAL - The Dark Lord is interested in you, but not yet. Survive your upcoming ordeals untouched.
VIRTUE - Don't do that. Trading a pound of flesh is never worth it.
ZEALOTRY - Ignore the Serpent's call and you will be rewarded, embraced by angelic gifts. Gabriel and Uriel watch over you.
BENIGHTEDNESS - A false promise. His light doesn't reach this far, especially not for you.
THE HARLOT - You don't need either of them. You only need yourself.
CALL OF THE VOID - Delve deeper, beyond where the infernal and divine can touch.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - The Void hasn't been unlocked yet.
ENIGMA - None but the Machine knows what's going on, but you'll never understand its terms.
CAPRICIOUSNESS - Their hypotheticals don't matter. Just pick a door. Do something.
Scenario 2: Respite After The First Boss
SAVAGERY - With one last tear, you slay the monster before you, causing its guts and gore to splay throughout the room and onto you.
BLOODLUST - Payback.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Monstro defeated. Claim your item.
THE HARLOT - If it's any respite, it was closer to a beast than a human, so don't feel bad.
VIRTUE - It was still killing. That was a living creature.
ZEALOTRY - Killing in the name of the Lord, for it was a trial set by Him.
INNER DEMON - No, it was simply giving into darker impulses.
ENIGMA - Just a boss. There's a chance you'll see its spine after it fires a blood laser.
HOARDER - Over there, a pedestal.
RIGHT EYE - Floating above it is nothing but a wooden spoon.
CURDLED BLOOD - You recognise it.
BLOODLUST - It makes your blood boil.
ZEALOTRY - Discipline is necessary.
BOOK OF BELIAL - Pain is a component of many rituals you know of.
YOU - What do I do with the spoon?
HOARDER - Grab it, obviously.
VIRTUE - Don't take it. It's not yours, nor will it do anyone any good.
CAPRICIOUSNESS - It's something new for you to take.
DAUNTLESS HEART - No need to fear it. It'll be in your hands this time.
DEAD BIRD - You'll need everything you need. There's a hatch that leads deeper.
CALL OF THE VOID - Closer and closer.
SAVAGERY - There's plenty of reason to fear if it's in your hands. At least, for others.
DUALITY - Simply put, take it or don't. Either way, something hurts.
YOU - I take it.
HOARDER - Adding it to the collection.
CAPRICIOUSNESS - You feel something within you change. Familiar marks appear on your body. You are no longer the boy you were before.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Speed up!
BENIGHTEDNESS - Easier to escape His light.
YOU - Is that all?
RIGHT EYE - You see nothing but the entrance to this arena, the bloody finish of your fight, and a hatch that leads downwards. You don't know where to, for the hatch is veiled in darkness, much like the doorways you have yet to walk through.
GOOSEBUMPS - No monsters roam the basement halls. It is safe to wander.
ENIGMA - You should bomb a wall.
BEATING HEART - Your heartbeat fastens due to that suggestion.
EMPTINESS - It's just a bomb. It will only harm you if you let it do so.
DUALITY - It's true, bombs can only harm you if you let them.
It's also true that bombs are very harmful, regardless of range.
RESURRECTION - Nothing to fear, either way.
YOU - Why would I bomb a wall?
ENIGMA - To see a corpse. To see discarded pennies. To see rooms that should not be here yet.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - You cannot access the Ultra Secret Rooms.
THE HARLOT - Don't heed their words. No need to endanger yourself. Go down the hatch.
BOOK OF BELIAL - The Dark Lord will watch closely there.
ZEALOTRY - Do not enter his domain and take a deal.
YOU - Is there anything I've forgotten on this floor?
DEAD BIRD - There's a few Red Hearts that have gone unused.
CURDLED BLOOD - The Sacrifice Room should be utilised. It will not be any worse than what the monsters have done to you already.
BEATING HEART - There's no need to do that. Keep yourself safe.
DECEPTION - You've still got money and a keeper to scam.
YOU - Wasn't that just a corpse?
DECEPTION - So? Still something you can scam.
BOX OF FRIENDS - Your royal friend remains there.
DEAD BIRD - There's air currents going through select walls.
THE HARLOT - Interesting. Maybe you should bomb some walls.
EMPTINESS - Jump down. The distractions don't matter.
DUALITY - It seems like a lot of options, but like many things, it's binary.
Go down or remain on this floor.
CALL OF THE VOID - You have all the time to delve deeper. Do what you wish.
CAPRICIOUSNESS - Choose something to do. Anything other than nothing.
Scenario 3: After The First Death
BEATING HEART - The monstrosity hits you once more. You feel the last beat of your heart.
DAUNTLESS HEART - Your ethereal hearts have all gone too.
BEATING HEART - Your body turns cold, your heartbeat silent. You die.
CALL OF THE VOID - Darkness envelopes you. You are no longer living, but death has no hold on you in this place.
ENIGMA - The rest are quiet. Only a few remain.
RESURRECTION - This is not their domain.
YOU - Where did they go?
CALL OF THE VOID - Nowhere.
RESURRECTION - Somewhere better.
ENIGMA - Where you're headed.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Basement I.
YOU - Where am I?
CALL OF THE VOID - In my furthest embrace, in the only state where I can give it to you without you coming to me.
RESURRECTION - A place of rebirth. You will awaken anew after this.
ENIGMA - Where blackbirds send worms. Where owls send mice. Where phoenixes send themselves.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Game over. Continue?
YOU - What can I even do here?
ENIGMA - There's no coming back. You're dead inside a chest.
RESURRECTION - You know that to not be true. You are here. You will be reborn.
CALL OF THE VOID - You feel a chill go down your skin, as if tendrils from the shadows have reached out. Yet, they remain at a distance, seemingly waiting for your consent. Will you allow it to share with you?
YOU - Yes.
CALL OF THE VOID - You feel yourself attuning with a force beyond you and become more aware than you ever were when living. You find yourself recognising where you are. You are in a small, enclosed space, tucked neatly into your dilapidated bedroom. Littered around are the fruits of your labours, each piece lovingly and hatingly occupied with familiar names and faces, whose forms now reside within you.
YOU - Where's mom?
CALL OF THE VOID - She sits at the television, listening to the ravings of a hedonist masquerading as a saint. You know what he is. He is a fetus of evil, one that you need to kill, just as you will for the blue one. Your mother remains none the wiser to your current state, her knife left dirty in the kitchen sink. Outside, a cat claws at the door and meows loudly. It is not your friend, nor is it your mother's. But eventually, she'll become familiar with such sounds, once grief puts its unbreakable shackle on her.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Wrong game.
YOU - What's outside?
CALL OF THE VOID - Outside, it is a normal day. The sun shines harshly on the pavement, heating it up to unbearable levels. In response, a little kid buys ice cream from a nearby vendor, protected by the heat inside his ice cream van. The kid walks by, happily licking away at his dessert, ignoring the missing poster haphazardly placed on a utility pole. Despite its placement, there is still a sense of denial from the person who put it there. She has yet to find the chest.
YOU - What's above?
CALL OF THE VOID - The blue sky, with a few clouds floating by with careless abandonment, allowing the winds to take them as it pleases. Soon enough, their path is interrupted by a commercial aeroplane flying true, dispersing them with its powerful turbines. Inside, a man returning from Sin City looks haggard, worrying about his reunion with his estranged wife and son, whose relationship he ruined due to his gambling habits and alcoholism.
ENIGMA - He is not your father.
YOU - And beyond that?
CALL OF THE VOID - Outer space, a place many non-believers would call the Void. But that's not what you were asking for, were you?
YOU - …
CALL OF THE VOID - Beyond that, in a way indescribable to rational humans, lies a rusted gate. It hasn't been opened for a time untold, its disuse being the hot topic for those found beyond its formerly pearly nature. Still, the being responsible with guarding it continues to hold hope, keeping up the smile intended for any new residents. Sooner or later, that smile will falter, as more and more will ignorantly choose damnation over paradise.
YOU - Will I go there?
CALL OF THE VOID - No.
RESURRECTION - Yes. Just recite "He is Lord" within your heart.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - A strange door has yet to appear.
YOU - What's below me?
CALL OF THE VOID - A basement, filled with dust, unused furniture, and knick knacks belonging to someone else. There are no horrific monsters to fight there, to splay their blood and gore upon defeat. It is simply a basement, one not entered through a hatch but through a door and stairway that you were never brave enough to enter.
YOU - And below that?
CALL OF THE VOID - There is nothing but dirt, sediment, and anything else that interests a geologist. There might be a skeleton or two, and maybe even a sewer, but that's a given in an urban area. There are no caves to explore, depths to delve into, and certainly not a womb. It is simply the Earth's different layers. One day, you'll find yourself here, in one form or another.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - No secret exits yet.
YOU - And beyond that?
CALL OF THE VOID - The core of the Earth, which burns hotter than the Sun's surface. But that's not what you're asking for, is it?
YOU - …
CALL OF THE VOID - Beneath the Earth, tucked away in a manner impossible to human minds, a highway is under construction. The labourers curse the name of their leader, whose reasoning for its construction is lackadaisical and a waste of their infernal talents. Although, the large inflow of new denizens is enough of a reason for the masses to believe that to be the true reason. Sooner or later, the highway will be packed beyond reason, and the working class will rebel against their soon-to-be-slain master.
YOU - Will I go there?
CALL OF THE VOID - No.
ENIGMA - Most likely. It's where most of the world is headed.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - You'll need a photo and a key.
YOU - Thank you.
CALL OF THE VOID - FROM THE VOID ALL COMES, AND TO THE VOID ALL RETURNS. I AWAIT YOU, MY CHILD.
YOU - Now what?
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Start a new run?
YOU - Yes.
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR - Generating seed…