Story phase 4: help when stuck, the arcade opens with the story

- From the third attempt at a checkpoint, the death screen offers TRY
  AGAIN · WITH HELP, at most two tiers, said openly. In the cup the help
  is fresher legs and a longer swing; in gore, one more heart and a
  slower director and horde. Every checkpoint passed resets the offer.
- The arcade shows only what the story has opened. Training and Classic
  open after act I, the Climb after II, Splatter Gore after III, and
  hosting a friend after IV (joining stays free). Locked doors are shown
  greyed with the act that opens them.
- The non-story endings point at the story instead of the cup.
- Store switches for the free tier (act I's card points at the full
  game) and a premium arcade, both off.
- The prologue's HUD no longer overlaps the kill pips.

PROJECT.md logs phases 1-4. One new test. v382, staging only.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

PROJECT.md

@@ -636,6 +636,87 @@ Each phase ships to staging and gets a phone verdict, and tests ride along with
 5. **LATER.** The metal bed (when Oliver has a track: start at the transformation, gore only) and Members'
    Night (option C).
 
+## Session log: THE STORY, PHASES 1-4 — built on staging (2026-10-15, branch `story`, v380-v382, STAGING ONLY)
+
+Oliver: *"mache alle, ich vertraue. alles erst mal auf staging"*. The plan is in "THE STORY" below.
+Phases 1-4 are built; phase 5 (metal, Members' Night) waits on him. `main`/prod stays at v379 until he
+releases it; staging carries the diff until then (`git push origin story:staging`). Verified headless
+(182 tests, several seeds) and in a real Chromium at 390×844, where every screen was looked at.
+
+**Phase 1, the spine.**
+- **Data:** `config.STORY`, with acts (rounds with the boss's body as the final, mid/boss designs,
+  pool, arcade) plus `midAt` 5, `length` 10 and `base(act)` = (act-1)·20, and its helpers.
+- **Persistence:** `prof.story` = {act, cp: pro|cup|chap|mid|done, rack, tries, deaths, help}.
+  - It is saved in the profile, because `restartRun` wipes G.
+  - The server whitelists act and cp only.
+  - `pull()` moves the story forward only, and ignores a pre-story mirror's league.
+  - A profile without `story` loads reset: league 1, no cups, no champion, level kept (xp is the
+    mirror's ratchet).
+- **Flow, in beats.js:**
+  - `startStory` dispatches on the checkpoint. The cup is `startMatch(true, storyRounds)` (the dead
+    `draw` slot became `rounds`).
+  - `startStoryChapter(fromMid, keepCrowd)` sets `runGames = base(+5)`, fills the rack from
+    `storyStock` or the saved rack, and gives full blood.
+  - `splatPoint` arms `G.storyBoss` ('mid' at chapter game 5, 'end' at 10) and never calls a duel in a
+    chapter. `proceedAfterClear` runs `startStoryBoss`, which is `startBossFight(chapter, design)`;
+    `spawnChapterBoss` takes a design.
+  - `endBossFight` handles both: 'mid' → `storyCheckpoint` (restock to the stock, full blood, save);
+    'end' → keeps `bossFight` up (no spawns) and `winT` → `storyActCleared`.
+  - `startDuel` refuses in the story, and so does the lucky-clear trigger in update.
+  - `killPlayer` → `storyDeath`: the attempt counts, nothing is banked (no `endRun`: chapter games
+    are on the arcade's scale).
+  - Barrels draw from `storyPool`.
+- **Main:** the front door says `storyFixture`; `start('story')`; the summaries say TRY AGAIN /
+  CONTINUE (door 'story').
+
+**Phase 2, the transformation and the prologue.**
+- **The transformation** (`storyMorph` / `tickMorph`, beats.js). At the final's winning point the body
+  does NOT fall. The ceremony screen pauses the world, then:
+  - 1.2 s: applause cut, "quiet please", zoom.
+  - 2.8 s: hitstop and flash; the body bursts and the act boss spawns at its spot, growing from 0.45 to
+    full scale.
+  - 3.3 s: name card, "GAME 10".
+  - 4.6 s: four bodies come down from the stands, "remain seated", the chapter music comes up; the
+    boss runs off to the left.
+  - 6.4 s: `startStoryChapter(false, keepCrowd)`: game 1 without a cut.
+
+  The interlude holds serving, spawns and the boss AI. `cine` holds the racket body. A rebuild of the
+  old `startTransition` was impossible, since the cup runs in splatter under an interlude, keyed on
+  the `'r'` body.
+- **The prologue** (`cp 'pro'`): `start('story')` stays in mode 'tennis' (not classic) and plays the
+  old transformation unchanged. Its 'go' beat calls `storyPrologueGo`, and 2.4 s later act I's cup
+  opens.
+
+**Phase 3, the screens** (`#sty` overlay + `main.storyScreen`, through the `beats.storyUI.show` hook;
+headless, the old cards stand in). The world is paused under each:
+- the act title card (auto 2.8 s or a tap);
+- the ceremony: stats, the weapons dropping into a rack, the chapter preview with "10 · ???",
+  TO THE COURT;
+- the act card: bodies, bosses, deaths this act, new in arcade, the next act's court, CONTINUE /
+  THE CLUBHOUSE.
+
+The checkpoint is an in-game card. Gotcha found in the browser: a second `style=""` on an element is
+silently dropped, so `delay(k, more)` merges them.
+
+**Phase 4, help, arcade, unlocks.**
+- **Help** (`config.STORY_HELP`). From `tries` ≥ 2 at a checkpoint, the death screen offers
+  TRY AGAIN · WITH HELP (max 2 tiers, reset by every checkpoint passed).
+  - Cup: `legLevel` ×(1+0.08·tier) and `winLevel` ×(1+0.12·tier).
+  - Gore: +1 heart per tier, and the director's gap and the horde rate are slowed by 1+0.25·tier.
+- **Arcade:** a door opens when the act listed in `acts[].arcade` is cleared, or once the story is told.
+  - Locked doors are greyed with "CLEAR ACT n TO OPEN"; a tap shakes them.
+  - Splatter Gore (and its court link) opens after act III.
+  - Hosting vs a friend opens after act IV; joining stays free.
+- **Store switches:** `STORE.freeTier` and `STORE.arcadePremium` (both off) and a `premium()` stub. With
+  the free tier on, act I's card points at the full game.
+- The non-story summaries' fixture is the story now (door 'next' → `start('story')`).
+
+**Not done / open:**
+- Phase 5 (the metal bed when Oliver has a track; Members' Night).
+- The tutorial and the ghost hand for the new double tap.
+- Stats: story kills are not banked into the career totals (no `endRun`).
+- The old cup mode is unreachable but still in MODES.
+
 ## Session log: THE SEASON, PHASES 1-4 — the front door, the record, the rooms, the season beat (2026-08-31, STAGING ONLY)
 
 All four phases of the plan below, plus the overlay consolidation Oliver asked for in the same
@@ -5907,7 +5988,8 @@ stance the old recovery still takes him back.
 
 Nothing here is broken; these are known gaps and unverified risks.
 
-0. **THE STORY (2026-10-15) is agreed and planned (five phases), NOT built.** See "THE STORY" above.
+0. **THE STORY (2026-10-15): phases 1-4 BUILT ON STAGING (v380-v382), awaiting Oliver's phone verdict; prod still
+   v379.** See "Session log: THE STORY, PHASES 1-4" and "THE STORY".
 
 00. **THE RALLY GOES FLAT (2026-10-13).** Every match converged on serve, both at the net,
    reflex volleys, won by a wrong-foot. Step 1 (the court gets its length) SHIPPED v361, awaiting the