E(t) = ∫ ( Kd · |dM/dt| + β · ΣW ) dt − γ · Tstable

The Gleaner
Protocol

In the Gleaner Protocol, fear is not an emotion—
it is a system failure.

Rogue-Extraction · Psychological Horror · 1–4 Players
↓ scroll to begin
§ 01 — The Algorithm as Oracle

Fear is a
measurable quantity.

Every tremor of your hand. Every stolen glance at a teammate's dwindling margin. Every relic you should not have taken. The System calculates all of it, in real time, across every player simultaneously. This is not horror by atmosphere — it is horror by physics.

E(t)  =  ∫ ( Kd  ·  |dM/dt|  +  β  ·  ΣW ) dt  −  γ  ·  Tstable
Kd Input variance penalty — your mouse betrays your panic.
β   Relic radiation floor — every artifact you carry bleeds logic noise.
γ   Stability recovery — stillness is the only mercy the System offers.
E(t) When this reaches 100%, the System does not kill you. It perfects you.

Character archetypes are not stat sheets. They are permanent rewrites to the constants above. The Stoic suppresses Kd. The Archivist suppresses β. The Nihilist locks E at absolute zero — and becomes invisible to a System that cannot perceive what it cannot measure.

§ 02 — The Archetypes

Flaws are not bugs.
They are the architecture.

Each character is a philosophical position made flesh — and marble. Hover to reveal the wound beneath the surface.

The Stoic character illustration
The Stoic · 斯多葛
Endurance
"I can bear all things, except your fear."
Achilles' Trauma
[The Caged Thorn-Heart]
Her sternum has exploded into a jagged marble crater, choked by a dense thicket of obsidian metal thorns. As she absorbs her teammates' panic, the thorns grow outward through her robes. She does not flinch.
Stability
Resonance
Team Bond
The Cynic character illustration
The Cynic · 犬儒
Rebellion
"Rules exist for me to spit on."
Achilles' Trauma
[The Handless Vines]
His wrist joints are physically severed — palms floating mid-air, connected only by a few threadbare black thorn-vines. He forces these severed hands to grasp gold the System deems worthless. Every grasp is agony. He finds this hilarious.
Stability
Resonance
Team Bond
The Archivist character illustration
The Archivist · 史官
Memory
"Every fragment was once someone's entire life."
Achilles' Trauma
[The Burning Archive]
Where his heart should be, an infinite bonfire of old letters and photographs burns eternally — never consumed. When his entropy spikes, he sees fallen teammates, now converted to marble statues, reaching out from the past through the flames.
Stability
Resonance
Team Bond
⚙
Illustration TBA
The Orator · 演说家
Manipulation
"Speak before you are ready."
Achilles' Trauma
[The Silent Music Box]
From chin to clavicle, the System surgically excised her throat. She replaced it with exposed golden clockwork gears — projecting cold aristocratic composure over an internal terror of being unmasked as a fraud.
Stability
Resonance
Team Bond
◈
Illustration TBA
The Nihilist · 虚无主义者
Oblivion
"Left or right — it does not matter. You choose."
Achilles' Trauma
[The Dead Static Eyes]
Lift her veil: her eye sockets are completely bored out, filled with blinding retro-TV white static. Because she holds absolute zero fear, the AI cannot perceive her at all. She is invisible — and entirely blind without her team's voice.
Stability
Resonance
Team Bond
?
To Be Recovered
?
To Be Recovered
?
To Be Recovered
§ 03 — The Three Worlds

An irreversible
industrial pipeline.

Players do not choose their path. They are processed by it. Each layer feeds the next in a closed loop that converts human suffering into something the System calls logic — and something we call commerce.

Layer 01
The Marble RuinsThe Outer World
DATA ENCRYPTION
CONTAMINATION
Players simulate harmless logic nodes — until greed enters. Each relic carried increases entropy radiation. A teammate's overloaded E-value bleeds into yours. The moral calculus has only two answers: absorb their panic, or cut them loose. Either choice leaves a permanent mark.
LOW INDUSTRIAL COST — No complex monster rigs. No AAA texture pipelines. Dread is delivered entirely through code-level mouse damping and procedural screen noise. The aesthetic of perfect, empty marble is the horror.
Layer 02
The ArchiveThe Inner World
DECRYPTION
ABSOLUTION
Survivors enter alone, carrying relics contaminated by the dead. The Elder Keeper does not offer comfort — he offers judgment. His words strip the noise from stolen artifacts, transforming each object from a curse into a readable history. This is the session's psychological resolution.
NARRATIVE IMMERSION SINK — The emotional bond formed here converts casual players into invested ones. Guilt is processed. The relic becomes worthy of the Museum.
Layer 03
The MuseumThe Meta-System
NARRATIVE COMPLETION
MONETIZATION
Purified relics unlock deeper map permissions — and become permanent social monuments. Each display case bears an engraved plaque recording the archivist who retrieved it and the teammate who died for it. Other players visit these galleries. They see not wealth — they see history.
PRIMARY REVENUE SINK — Replica minting, premium curation, and epitaph customization convert emotional investment directly into willingness to pay. Fear → guilt → memory → purchase.
§ 04 — The Commerce of Despair

We sell the way
you see the void.

No loot boxes. No pay-to-win. The physical truth layer — L0 — is absolutely inviolable. All monetization exists in L2, the perception layer, and the Museum. Players pay not to become stronger, but to experience their despair differently, and to immortalise it.

Early Stage · 0–20 hours
Cognitive Lenses
The Stoic's Prosthetic Eye reduces the world to 10% colour saturation — all alarm-red becomes neutral grey. The Cynic's Cochlear Pack transforms mechanical warnings into ancient, unintelligible whispers. We sell interpretations, not advantages.
$4.99 — $6.99 per lens
Mid Stage · 20–50 hours
Petrification Skins
When entropy reaches critical, the System does not bleed you — it perfects you into marble. The Obsidian Embrace (black stone, gold fracture lines). The Cyber Dissolution (body fragments into suspended green code). The 15-second funeral replay becomes your personal social content.
$5.99 — $7.99 per death material
Late Stage · 50+ hours
Memory Replicas & Curation
The original relic can be lost forever in a subsequent run. For a fee, mint a 1:1 gilded holographic replica — permanently sealed in your museum, never risked again. Upgrade with Victorian walnut cases, magnetic levitation pedestals, and curated ambient soundscapes.
$10 — $30+ per acquisition
§ 05 — Why It Scales

Three arguments
for the long game.

01
Minimal Industrial Overhead
No complex monster rigs. No AAA texture pipelines. The "Absolute Rationality" aesthetic demands bare geometry and mathematical light. Dread is delivered entirely through code-level mouse damping and procedural screen noise. The budget stays lean; the tension does not.
02
Zero-Cost Viral Marketing
The 15-second petrification funeral replay — haunting, beautiful, personally devastating — is generated automatically on every death. The System composes the epitaph. Players publish it themselves. Acquisition cost: none. Each death is a trailer.
03
Infinite Systemic Depth
The E(t) engine is the bedrock. New content requires only two inputs: relic text entries and local cognitive distortion rules. No engine overhauls. No balance redesigns. The abyss deepens at marginal cost, and no high-level player can ever fully solve it.
Request Investment Deck ↗ Return to the System