Kristián Šimek

Somebody once said, that one positive thing about hitting the Bottom is, that you can't go down anymore, just up. I sadly have to disagree. There is a small hatch, just in the corner of the Bottom, you may not notice it when you are not actively searching for it, once you find it though, it becomes bigger and bigger as you get closer. In the end, there are some stairs leading into the darkness and a hooded figure, offering you three boxes. "Pick one" he says. The boxes are labeled, so you can read what the content is. One box is labeled "MEMES", the second "Friendship" and the last one "Acceptance". Being an approved meme lord, my choice was obvious. "Interesting choice" said the hooded figure and then he disappeared. As I tried to comprehend what I just saw I opened the box. There were two items. A rusty old lantern and a brand-new shotgun. There was a note at the bottom saying "Choose one". I was getting bored of constantly choosing stuff, so I went for the lantern, just for the meme. As I grabbed it, the shotgun disappeared. I stood up and walked closer to the stairs. A sign appeared. Welcome! We are Eager to welcome you in the

Dungeon of Depression

I was frightened at first, the walls were wet, stairs slippery, rooms dark, but I had the light of MEMES on my side, so I carried on. I explored the dungeon, but I couldn't find anything, no items, no enemies, nothing. I was becoming annoyed and thinking that the fifth floor would be my last and then I will give up, I slowly walked down the stairs.

When I reached Floor number five, I instantly recognized, that something is different. And indeed, it was. The fifth floor was a bustling city, filled with people and life. It was enormous, so big, that when you entered through the roof of the room, you couldn't even see the bottom of this floor. I was happy, that I finally found somebody. Down on the streets I met some people I know, they were usually shop owners or farmers, who worked at the sixth floor as I learned from them. I was introduced to one of the elders and he told me, that the DC (Depression City as they call it) ends on floor number nine. I asked what was the deepest anybody has ever gone. He replied with "Adventurers go to floor number ten, somebody even dares on the eleventh floor, but nobody who went deeper ever returned."

I was frightened. Was it my destiny to become a farmer on floor number eight? The elder sensed my fright and said. "Down here, we choose our roles based on the item you chose up there. What did you choose?" I showed him my rusty lantern. He nodded with joy and said "An adventurer! I haven't seen a lot of you guys lately, its nice to have a change." He told me to go to somebody named Metal Mighty who will gear me up and prepare me for my first adventure run, I thanked him and left the room quickly.

Metal Mighty turned out to be a friend of mine, a very good one actually. He told me all about the dangers of floor number nine and ten and dared me, never to go deeper than eleventh floor. I swore to him I won't and then he gave me a dagger and a semi-automatic assault rifle, that was specially modified to fight off depression monsters. I didn't know what a "depression monster" is, so Mighty had to fill me in. "Depression monster is basically a soul of a person, that was lost in Great Depression and is now trying to turn everybody into depression monsters as well." I understood, maybe even better than he thought. I thanked Mighty for the advice and gear and I went to sleep.

Weeks passed, and I became pretty decent at exploring the dungeon. Due to some magic, it shifted itself every time, so you could never know for sure where you are. Due to the constantly changing positions of rooms, it was also impossible to draw a map. I looted and looted and looted, I helped with expanding the city and became a renowned citizen. But I always wondered, what is below floor eleven? I couldn't help myself, and despite all the warnings, I packed all my gear, said "C ya!" to Mighty and walked down the stairs again.

It was a long walk, but finally I made it. Floor eleven. I said hello to a fellow adventurer that just exited the eleventh floor, looking exhausted as hell, and when I told him I am going deeper, he just shook his head and said "whatever you want to do man..." I walked down the stairs, suddenly all of the walls disappeared. I continued walking, and I found an obstacle I couldn't walk around. Stairs ended right here. They just lead into the VOID.

I was broken. I turned around to go back, but my path disappeared. I was now standing on a flying chunk of stairs in the middle of nothing. As I watched my little flying island fade away into the void I thought to myself that I should have tried climbing from the Bottom after all.

Then the stairs collapsed, and now I am here, floating in endless nothingness of the VOID, telling my story to anybody who can potentially hear it. I beg you, if you ever fall all the way to the Bottom and see a hatch, guarded by a hooded figure, try to climb up. It's not worth it to explore the Dungeon of Depression.