Coming soon. Completeness: 98%

I’m trapped in a time loop, and it feels like there’s no escape.

My name is Liu Weiwei, a newly appointed researcher at the Guining Provincial Museum. Just a few days ago, my mentor invited me to join a top-secret expedition to explore a newly discovered ancient tomb, one that had been uncovered by a tomb-robbing gang. Little did I know that accepting this offer would lead me into a nightmare beyond comprehension.

The tomb was hidden deep within a mountain in rural western China, its entrance a gaping hole in an old, abandoned mine. I arrived at the camp during a heavy thunderstorm and was introduced to the crew, who had just finished a long day of setting things up. After the rain stopped, we took a walk around the area. But that very night, something changed — something beyond reason. As darkness swallowed the mountain, a sense of unease settled over the camp like a thick fog.

The first time it happened, I thought it was a dream.

I was walking back to my tent when the ground shook violently. I struggled to keep my balance, and in the next moment, I found myself lying on the ground inside the tent, back at the mine’s entrance. The rain was still pouring, lightning cracking through the sky. My colleagues were all there too, looking equally confused. I checked my watch — it was 7:00 PM again, the exact time I had first arrived.

No matter where I go or what I try to do, time resets itself after a while, always bringing us back to that same moment: November 3, 2024, 7:00 PM. Each new loop brings subtle changes — things aren't always exactly the same — but there is one horrifying certainty.

At exactly 8:40 PM, a massive earthquake strikes. The entire mountain trembles as the mine and the tomb collapse inward. Immediately after, I can’t breathe. There’s no sound, only total darkness. I lose all my senses. Maybe this is what death feels like…

And then, just as suddenly, I wake up.

Back to 7:00 PM. Back to the beginning.

It’s maddening. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve lived through this cursed cycle. Each time, we try something different. We try contacting the outside world, fleeing the camp, even sabotaging the dig. But nothing works. Every single time, I find myself at the mine’s entrance again, forced to relive that fateful night.

But amidst the chaos of repetition, we’ve begun to uncover clues. Patterns. Something inside the tomb is at the heart of this nightmare.

One night, during one of the countless loops, we ventured deeper into the tomb chamber than we had ever dared before. That’s when we saw it — a golden sword, wedged deep into a massive stone. The sword was ancient, its blade etched with symbols I couldn’t decipher. It radiated an unsettling energy, as if it were speaking to us, waiting for something.

We believe that this sword, and whatever it guards, is the key to our salvation — or perhaps our eternal damnation.

We have a theory: if we can remove the sword and take it out of the collapsing tomb, we might be able to break the loop. But time is our enemy. Each loop resets before we can make any meaningful progress. The earthquake comes, destroying everything in its path, and we start over once more.

Now, as I write this, the clock ticks towards 8:40 PM again. The tremors are coming, and I can feel the weight of the earth closing in around me. Will we ever escape this endless night? Or are we doomed to relive this moment over and over, forever trapped in the grasp of time?

Tomorrow, we’ll try again. Tomorrow, maybe we’ll succeed.