Voices echoed:
"Andrés… we'll save you…"
"Don't worry… I'm here…"
The friend's trembling attempts to calm him.
"I'm fine. Trained for this."
But Andrés' swelling head, numb legs, and creeping dread betrayed his words.
Outside, Wilbur debated pulley angles while Paddy grumbled about lost profits.
By 4 AM, the pulley lifted Andrés—until his legs jammed again.
His screams echoed.
"We'll rebuild it. Try again."
Howard's voice cut through: "Stay strong. Your wife's waiting."
Andrés' fingers brushed the ring.
Hédā'ěr…
Darkness swallowed him whole.
Howard's voice echoed from above.
"Honestly… not great…"
After a brief hesitation, Andrés could no longer maintain his optimism.
"Talk to me. Tell me about your family, anything. I'll stay here with you."
Howard's voice grew closer—he'd crawled into the narrow tunnel behind Andrés.
"Family…"
"Yes. Your wife, Hédā'ěr—she's outside. Want me to relay a message?"
"She's… here?"
"Yes. She says, 'Keep fighting. I love you.' Hear that? Those are her words."
"…Tell her… I'll make it out… I promise…"
In the darkness, Takakai heard Andrés stifling sobs.
Until now, Takakai hadn't known this man—his childhood, his love story, the child he'd never meet. All he heard were trembling lies: "I'll survive," uttered with dwindling conviction.
Hour 19 – 7 AM the next day. A new pulley system was rigged.
Howard's voice wavered. The setup was rushed, corners cut. Andrés' worsening state left no time for perfection.
"Hang on!"
Andrés screamed as the ropes tugged his legs.
"Almost there!"
Faint light seeped from above.
"Push through!"
Andrés looked up, meeting Howard's sweat-drenched face.
His wife's voice crackled through the radio, pleading for his return.
Rescuers heaved the ropes, roaring with effort.
Almost free—
CRACK.
The rock wall split.
Andrés plummeted, wedged deeper than before.
Howard, struck by falling debris, passed out and was hauled away.
Darkness reclaimed everything.
Andrés groaned.
Drip—
Blood from his cracked skull fell onto Takakai's forehead.
Drip… drip…
"I'll die here… won't I?"
Voices dissolved. Scenes faded.
Takakai's consciousness merged with Andrés'—trapped, suffocating, eternal.
Andrés' breathing stopped.
His corpse stiffened, sealing his fate. Left to rot, dissolve, vanish.
Memories surfaced through the ring clutched in Takakai's hand:
A sunlit chapel. A fumbling groom. A radiant bride in white.
"Will you marry me?"
"How cliché." She smirked. "But yes."
Their rings gleamed in the light.
Now only cold darkness remained.
Am I dead? Why does this agony persist?
Day after day—inverted, immobile, decaying.
Drip—
Someone… save me…
Drip—
It hurts… I don't want…
Drip—
Hédā'ěr… forgive me…
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Takakai's mind cleared.
Screams echoed—countless souls dragged into this hellscape.
Even after Nutty Putty Cave was sealed, victims kept coming. Trapped. Rotting. Unable to die.
Was this Andrés' doing? His unending despair birthing this curse?
Or… someone else's design?
Drip—
The ring pulsed—a core Obsession granting temporary immortality.
Takakai smeared his blood on it. If I die, this artifact will respawn with me.
But how to die?
The game's icy voice cut in:
[Game session expired]
[Failure to clear this round]
[Eligibility for Truth revoked]
[May you find peace]
Takakai ignored it. He scraped his arm raw against the rocks, staining the ring.
Don't think about being trapped forever.
Don't—
CRUNCH.
Sudden pressure crushed his ribs. Air fled his lungs.
"Gh—!"