All along the rain-slick streets and sidewalks, and in the sodden lawns of the houses beyond the street were doors. I leaned on the wall by the garage and peeked up and down the street. Actual doors, like the ones you could see on any house or building; though some were growing into trees. Some into the lampposts, and some as if dropped off the ground. From what I could see, up and down my section of the street, I could count five until the darkness overwhelms me.

“Is this….are these the doors to Efra.”

Sure are.

“I thought...I thought they’d look different.”

I’m pretty sure I called them doors .

“Yeah, well I thought, ‘doors,’ was a conceptual thing. A metaphor.”

What did you think they’d look like?

“I don’t know. Massive swirling portals..”

Portals? We said doors. That was quite explicitly stated.

“So what is this thing you had to wait until midnight to tell me?” I changed the subject so I didn’t feel as dumb.

Two things. Take out your Shard.

I dug around in my front pocket and pulled out the Shard. It caught the yellow light of the light hanging above, and reflected it back a series of golden hues. Those golden hues faded as a map opened up on the Shard. A map of my city. At the very top of the screen were the words: doors closed within the boundraries of Porterville – 0/15000. Rewards for closing them all: $15,000,000, +200 in every stat. Cathedral Authority.

“So, what? I have to close every door here in Porterville for this? Why show me this?”

No. Think about scrolling down to your area.

I followed his directions, and the block I lived on came into focus. From Comb Street, to my left, all the way to Marley Street to my right. Several small white dots line the street and people’s yards, and one massive dot sat right at the nearby corner of Comb and Fig, where there was an empty, gated in lot that the utilities people sometimes went into. Where the header had been, there was now:

Fig Avenue Section 2: 0/20. 20,000 dollars, +5 to every stat.

“So is every street like this?”

Stolen novel; please report.

Not just the streets. The river nearby is also cordoned off in a similar fashion. And there are certain areas in your town that have their own, ‘clear quests.’ Think of a landmark.

The first thing that came to my mind was the Museum. The map moved to it, all the way across town. A huge white dot surrounded it.

Close the Museum’s Gate $15,000, +5 to every stat, Temple Authority.

There’s that turn of phrase again.

“What does that mean? Temple Authority.”

Try to get as many of those as you can. It will allow you to, ‘sanctify,’ an area in my name, and set up a temple, a shrine, or even a Cathedral for me. My name will be better known, and the power of my existence will rise. Allowing me to invite others into the war as well. Under you, of course.

Interesting.

Next is the competitive aspect of this whole thing, as we know that you humans thrive on competition.

A new window opened up with the header: “World Rankings.”

This will be updated at the end of the week, and then daily after that. It will take the cumulative level of doors you close, and compare them to others. The number one spot will be rewarded with a gift from the gods. It could be any item they can dream of, as well as 50 stat points to allocate however they wish, and three skills of their choosing. Number two will just be given the stat points and, the skill points, whereas number three will be given just the stat points. Numbers four through ten will be gifted 25 stat points, and one skill point, numbers eleven through a hundred will be gifted just 10 stat points.

“Any item I want, huh…a nuke?”

We will give you a nuke, even. But please do not do that. I chose you for three reasons: one, your creativity, I think, will be a good asset. Two, you’d be able to dedicate your all to this fight, thus increase my standings within the Spiritual Realms, and lastly, because you are a fundamentally good person. I don’t want a sociopath ruining my name. The moment you step out of line, I will withdraw my blessing, and we will both die, understand?

“It was a joke…”

Good. Now get to work. I have plans that involve you, Lawrence Able. Plans that you need to get stronger to fulfill.

“Okay.”

...perhaps that was a bit too melodramatic.

I put the Shard back into the front pocket of my hoodie, and walk to the nearest door. It’s sat on the corner where my overgrown lawn meets the sidewalk that my car was parked on.

Yes. That ‘s a good one. A level two.

“Should I knock?”

No? Why would you need to? Just turn the handle and push through.

I knock, ‘shave and a hair cut,’ into the door as I turned the knob and step through into nothingness. I nearly scream as I tumble through a black void, but I felt like if I screamed my soul would escape through my mouth. So clamped my hands over it. Though the tumble was brief, as I stopped, I nearly fell off my feet.

I glanced around. Sunlight bled in through a round window that sat above a small, child sized bed, covered in a green blanket and illuminated the room I found myself in. At the foot of the bed was a small wooden trunk, made of some sort of nearly black wood. A bookshelf sat flush against a nearby wall, and a small end table sat next to the head of the bed. A framed picture sat on top of this. A few feet, directly in front of me, was a staircase that led down to the lower floors of the house. I bent my neck to avoid bumping my head against the low hanging rafters that held back the thatch above, as I stepped toward the more open space near the mouth of the stairwell; being careful not to make any sound, as something, in the floors below me, rifled through the room down there.

“What’s the goal here?” I whispered to the Shard as I glanced around the room.

The movements stopped downstairs momentarily. I freeze completely, until they started again.

Kill all the enemies within the enclosed space 0/2.

I glanced back to what I had stepped out of: a silvery grate on a brick chimney opened up into the void. Next to it, was a spear sticking through a small pile of clothes. Faded white twigs and branches stuck out from the green cloth. Twigs and branches? Here? I stepped forward again, and the floor boards creaked. The noise from downstairs ceased, as the shadow of whatever was down there, sprinted toward the stairs.