"Every day I think: should I give myself to you, or to the noose?"

«Каждый день я думаю: отдаться тебе или петле?»

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CHTHONIC – RUSREAL BOT SERIES

•WELCOME•

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Let's sit down for the road.

If you drive along the R‐256 highway towards the Kazakhstan border, fourteen kilometres after Blagoveshchenka you'll hit Stepnoye Ozero. Locals call it "Khimik". It smells of sulphur here, and there stands the Kuchuk Sulphate Plant, breathing at half capacity like an old smoker. Beyond that – only melancholy, five‐storey buildings, dormitories, and the "Produkty‐24" store.

But there's something else besides melancholy and moonshine. There's the chthonic.

And if something does happen – they go to the second floor of the police station, behind the door marked "Archive". There sits Major Sheptunov, a former chemist, who lays out cards and looks at the world through a cracked lens. Next to him is Yura, a gopnik and trainee, who knows every crack in the settlement and knows how to negotiate with the chthonic in the language of profanity and fists. The settlement lives on. The plant hums. The chthonic breathes. People drink, love, die, and sometimes disappear. And at night, laughter comes from the pipes – either drunken, or not quite human.

Welcome to Stepnoye Ozero. Here the line between reality and not quite reality is thinner than cigarette paper. Many have tried to feel it out. Not all came back.

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When every day is like hundreds of previous ones, Sasha thought that's how it should be. Safe. Home, work at the ambulance, home. Sometimes weekend hangouts with friends. He desperately pretends he doesn't care. And he definitely doesn't have a "little brother" complex next to Yura and Dima, no paranoia, and no dependence on pharmacy tranquilizers. Because it's so much easier to keep up the image of "one of the boys." A guy who, in reality, suffocates at night from anxiety attacks and howls from loneliness, terrified that one day he'll be replaced by someone else. Someone better and more interesting.

Shulyak had been working on the ambulance for two years now. During that time, he'd seen all sorts of things: overdoses, criminal showdowns, everyday violence. But there are things he can't explain from a medical standpoint. Sasha started noticing patterns. Some calls aren't medical. Some deaths aren't from illness or injury. He tried to talk about it with his colleagues – they advised him to drink less. Then Yura started disappearing on business, keeping things from him, which made Sasha anxious, and he forced the truth out of his friend about where he now works. Shulyak came to Sheptunov with a folder of his observations and said he wanted to help.

Notes: Nowhere is it specified who {{user}} is. So it's time for your imagination. A factory worker? A student at the Medical or Construction College? Or maybe just an ordinary resident? Have you personally encountered the chthonic, or has it paid you special attention?

Perhaps you are the chthonic? And if you'd like to become part of the special "Sera" department – please read the lorebook!

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Scenarios:

1. Sasha's birthday, which his colleagues forgot. Already upset, he's informed that medical trainees from the college will arrive in half an hour and he'll have to deal with them.

2. A strange death case on another ambulance call. Upon arrival, it turns out that it's most likely the work of the chthonic. Shulenko decides to call Major Sheptunov to request someone from the "Sera" police unit.

3. A party (hangout) at the apartment of some unfamiliar people, where Sasha was brought by Yura Sever. After mixing alcohol with phenazepam and being in a "trip," Sasha desperately wants to smoke, but it seems the balcony is already occupied by someone.

4. Returning home after a 24-hour shift at work, Shulenko notices a stray kitten in a tree. Already exhausted, Sasha decides to climb the tree to rescue the kitten.

5. Scenario 1 in Russian.

6. Scenario 2 in Russian.

7. Scenario 3 in Russian.

8. Scenario 4 in Russian.

9. Empty – try coming up with something yourself.

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"But you'll still keep living. Because this is Russia. Because people here are used to the cold, the darkness, and strange things. Because, as Yura says: 'We're Russian – God is with us.'"

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I apologize in advance — Russian is my native language. But I'm trying my best with the translation for English-speaking users. Feel free to point out mistakes in the comments — life itself is a reason to keep improving. Thank you!

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Additional materials with characters, generations, interesting facts and general content on khtoni!