You open your eyes and sit up. You are in a long, dark hallway. There are torches burning on the walls, but they do not give off much light. You take off your rucksack and open it. After several seconds of furious rifling, you take out your electric torch and close your rucksack. You get up and turn the light on.

The hallway is immensely long and extraordinarily tall. The width seems to be around 15 metres. The walls are cold, plain stone. The ceiling is so far up that you can’t make out what is made of. All that you can see are the diamonds embedded in it, twinkling in the torchlight like the starry night sky.

You put your rucksack on and start walking along. There is no eerie movement in the shadows or a peculiar sound. Time appears to be frozen – you alone are not. Everything is calm and dormant – you alone are not. This place is dead, devoid of all life – you alone are not.

Up ahead in the distance you see the glitter of gold. You run towards it, full of excitement at your discovery. As you approach it, bounding along with your feet hardly touching the ground, you begin to make out the object’s shape.

The golden artifact is a life-sized statue of a man kneeling, his head bowed down. There is a single chain snaking around his wrists and neck, connected to a hoop on either wall. The chain appears to be glowing faintly.

You slow down and walk up to the statue at a regular pace, albeit panting and sweating from your dash. You inspect the chin closely. The glow is coming from some form of golden material underneath the outer metal layer, only shining through in parts where the latter has been worn off by time. You hold it in your hand, only to drop it in surprise. The chain is literally shaking, quivering with energy.

You move a bit and investigate the part of the chain that circles the statue’s neck. You drag a finger along one of the links and notice a peculiar little thing: your nail scrapes off the thin metal shell off the priceless glowing gold underneath. Intrigued and seduced by the gold, you begin erasing more and more from that link. But that proves to be a mistake, as you erase too much, and the chain explodes.

You are thrown back the force of the blast. After a bit of time, you get back up on your feet, your ears ringing. The torches have gone out, and you cannot see a thing.

You aren’t too concerned, and crouch down, groping around on the floor, looking for your electric torch. Just then, in the corner of your eye, you see movement.

The status quo is in pieces. You are no longer alone.

You scramble around, frantically trying to find the torch. When you finally do, you leap up and turn it on. Looking around, you don’t see anything. You start booking it back, only to realise something dreadful. In the vast hallway, you have no idea whether you’re headed towards the beginning or the statue.

You freeze in a panic and look around again. As you do, you spot a golden glitter in your peripheral vision. You turn to look there, but it’s gone. You’re panicking now.

More turning around confirms that the thing that moved is out of the light’s range. You bolt towards the nearest wall and press your sweat-soaked back against it. You’re breathing rapidly and looking left to right like a child in a sweetstore. Your hands tremble and quake. It’s a miracle you haven’t dropped your electric torch yet.

As you’re beginning to calm down and think rationally again, something walks into the light of the torch.

The statue.

It starts slowly approaching you. You break down and start crying, begging it for mercy, but it cannot hear you. Its cold metal face remains expressionless. It opens its eyes, its eyes of solid diamonds.

Suddenly, you begin to feel lightheaded. The statue’s face starts to distort and morph. You dry your tears and stare in terror as it finishes its transformation. Its face has become your own.

You’re frozen in shock and fear. The statue, on the other hand, plants a heavy metal hand on your shoulder. A powerful wave of nausea washes over you, and your head erupts in excruciating pain. You look up and face your killer, making eye contact. Then, everything goes black.

The Old God has awoken.