Scary Reddit Stories

Wizards Of The Shadow: A Text Adventure From Hell

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" My son yelped running into my bedroom.

"What's going on?" I croaked. It is not often that my son disturbs me at 11 o'clock at night.

"Come!" He squeaked. He motioned for me to leave the room with him. I got out of bed to follow him. My son, Miles, has a communication disorder. He understands things perfectly well, and is sharp as a tac, but he has a hard time expressing himself. Miles is 24 and lives with me because he needs a little help taking care of himself. I am more than glad to live with the guy. I love him to bits, and he has kept me company after my wife's death. He is a computer whiz, so he writes computer programs from home.

We walked into his bedroom together. He pointed to the computer monitor on his desk. I looked. There was this image of a skull formed from ASCII characters.

I asked, "Is this one of those video games you've been working on?" In his free time, Miles likes to play and create those old-style text-based games: those ones where all your information and interactions in the game are through text. Think Zork or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He has something of an obsession.

"No. Internet," explained Miles. That was his way of saying that he found the game on the internet.

"Why are you showing me this then?" I quizzed.

"Watch," commanded Miles. He sat down at his desk and restarted the game. The intro screen read:

Wizards of the Shadow 1.0

Copyright (c) 2016 Crypticorpz

You wake up. The room is dark, but you determine that you are being held captive in a large dungeon. The only light comes from outside the grated door. Type 'help' for a list of commands.

"Hey Miles, I'm glad that you are enjoying the game, but I really need to get to sleep." I turned to leave.

Grabbing my arm, he asserted, "Watch!"

"Okay. Okay." Miles seemed very serious, so I obliged.

Miles typed in:

>yell

The game produced more text:

No one responds. You are in the dungeon alone. A hooded figure approaches the door from outside the room. "Good. You are awake. We caught you practicing diablerie to hex your chickens. You should know that unauthorized diablerie is punishable by death by the Order of the Shadow. However, you have proven to be quite skilled. So, we have decided to give you a test. If you pass, then you can join us: the Wizards of the Shadow. Fail, and you join your ancestors in the grave. Let me know when you are ready."

>look

The game produced this image of the hooded figure.

>ready

"Diablerie, as you know, is a power that comes partially from within. So, the first test will examine your psyche: the parts that you are aware of, and the parts that are hidden, otherwise known as the Shadow. Answer each question to the best of your ability. What is your favorite childhood memory?"

The game asked a few more benign questions. And Miles gave some inane answers. But then this came up:

"Do you blame yourself for your mother's death?"

>no

"Why not? You do know that she used pills to cope with you, right?

Miles gave me a long, frightened glance. My wife, his mother, died two years ago from opiate overdose. She was addicted.