The Tower of Dawn

September 15, 2025, Sunny

Jason Wright sat in front of his laptop at home, typing away at a line of code that no one else would understand.

After a few moments, he stretched his back.

"Mission accomplished!"

He had been working for months on cracking the electronic key system for cars, and now, it was finally finished!

With this software, he could hack into a car's electronic system and start the engine. It wasn't exactly legitimate, but as long as it made money, that was all that mattered.

Jason stood up and pulled open the curtains in the living room. After being cooped up in his room for so long, the light outside stung his eyes, and he had to squint.

"This software will sell like hotcakes on the dark web. Finally, I can take a proper vacation," Jason thought, gazing out the window with a sense of longing.

Ding-dong, ding-dong!

The sound of the doorbell rang, breaking his thoughts.

Jason turned in surprise to look at the front door.

This was strange; since he moved in, the doorbell had never rung. Now, hearing it unexpectedly, he felt uneasy.

"Who is it?" he asked cautiously.

"Delivery," came the voice of the delivery guy from outside.

"A delivery? You must have the wrong address. I haven't ordered anything," Jason frowned. He never shopped online, always took measures to keep his privacy intact, especially to avoid leaving traces on the internet. How could a delivery be sent to his address?

"Sir, the address is correct," the delivery guy insisted.

"Alright, leave it by the door," Jason decided, still unsure about the delivery. He chose to play it safe and instructed the driver to leave the package outside.

He kept an eye on the delivery man through the peephole until he was sure the guy had left before opening the door.

Jason brought the package inside and shook it lightly—it seemed to contain something.

He opened the small box to find a black card. Jason picked it up and examined it for a while. It was made of some kind of metal, but the material was unrecognizable. On the front, there was a highly detailed spiral design resembling a spinning top, and on the back, a string of numbers: "6911."

"ID 6911?" he muttered, looking at the card curiously.

As he pondered, he noticed there was an envelope at the bottom of the box.

He opened it to find a piece of parchment paper.

Written on the paper were the words: "The end is near. Please take the card and go to the location."

The message also included a set of coordinates—longitude and latitude. Jason quickly recognized the numbers as geographic coordinates.

Jason chuckled softly, thinking it was some kind of elaborate prank. He tossed the card and the parchment aside and returned to his laptop, still preoccupied with his software, eager to see how well it would sell on the dark web so he could make some money and enjoy a carefree life.

But then a thought struck him. A year ago, he had purchased a membership for something called "Dawn Tower" on the dark web. The product's description had been: "When darkness falls, Dawn Tower will be the last light."

The price had been ridiculously low—only 0.1 dollars.

It seemed like a small impulse purchase at the time, but now, thinking back, it made him uneasy. When he bought it, he hadn't even entered any personal information, so how did the delivery of this black card happen?

As he searched for "Dawn Tower" online again, he was shocked to find that the product had completely disappeared.

Jason stood frozen for a moment, the sudden arrival of the black card throwing him off his course.

But then he remembered: he was supposed to go on vacation soon. If it was some sort of prank, going to check it out wouldn't hurt.

He grabbed the parchment and jotted down the coordinates.

After a quick trip to the bathroom to wash his messy hair, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was only 25 years old, but his months of sleepless coding had made him look like a man in his thirties.

After spending half an hour tidying himself up, he packed his essentials—his laptop, phone, clothes, wallet, and, of course, the black card.

He had already eaten through most of his food from staying in the house for several days, so he decided to buy more once he reached his destination.

It was 9 a.m. by the time he hailed a cab to the airport, bought a ticket, and boarded a flight.

By 1 p.m., Jason was stepping off the plane and into a strange city. The people and surroundings felt unfamiliar—like a vacation, an adventure, or even wandering.

Since it was supposed to be the "end of the world," he figured it was better to trust the cryptic message and buy supplies just in case.

He went to a large supermarket, stocking up on food: MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat), energy bars, chocolate, beef jerky, bottled water, and more.

The amount of food was so much that he had to buy two wheeled suitcases to carry it all.

When he left the store, Jason found himself struggling to carry both suitcases, with a travel bag on his back, looking like a man who had lost his mind. But he knew exactly what he was doing. Even if things went sideways, he had enough supplies to last a long time.

Checking his map, he confirmed that his destination was near Liberty Park, so he hailed another cab.

The driver glanced at his piled-up luggage and asked, "Where to, kid?"

"Just... camping," Jason replied vaguely. He didn't want to tell anyone about the crazy situation; even he wasn't sure what was really happening, and telling someone else would just make him sound like a lunatic.

When the cab finally arrived at Liberty Park, Jason unloaded his bags and looked across the street. The park seemed completely ordinary, with groups of elderly people playing instruments and chatting.

But something didn't feel right. Where was this so-called "Dawn Tower"?

As Jason stood there, uncertain, he noticed another man—also dragging a suitcase—walking around, looking out of place. The man was in his thirties, wearing a black hat, scanning the area as though searching for something.

Jason approached him.

"Hey, are you looking for this?" he asked, holding up the black card.

The man turned and appraised Jason for a moment.

"You believe in this too?" the man replied coldly.

Jason realized then that he had found someone else in the same situation.

"Well, I'm here on vacation, I guess. Name's Jason. How about you?"

"Call me Hank," the man said shortly.

Jason took note of Hank's muscular build, even under casual clothing. His presence exuded an aura of strength and sharpness, as if he were a trained soldier. Jason didn't doubt it—this guy had likely received professional military training.

"So, Hank, have you discovered anything?" Jason asked, looking around the park, which appeared completely normal.

"Not yet. Let's walk deeper into the park," Hank said, shrugging.

The two of them continued to explore. The park was located on a small hill, and the path up and down was taking a toll on Jason, who was already out of breath from carrying his heavy bags.

"Let's take a break," Jason panted, sitting down on the grass.

Hank glanced back at him, then casually sat down too.

"So, how'd you end up with this black card?" Jason asked.

Hank looked at him but didn't answer. He seemed reluctant to talk.

After a short rest, they continued their search.

It was 5 p.m. by now.

They had checked the whole park, but there was no sign of anything resembling a "Dawn Tower." There were no towers, no strange buildings—just normal parkland.

"Is there anywhere else we haven't checked?" Hank asked, looking back at Jason.

Jason stared at his map, confused. They had covered everything... unless there was something underground?

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Jason's mind.

"Wait! There's one place we haven't checked!"

"Where?" Hank asked, intrigued.

"An old Cold War bomb shelter!" Jason replied excitedly.

"A shelter?" Hank thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I think there's one nearby. Let's go!"

The two of them quickly made their way toward the park's only known underground shelter.