Make sure your "custom_story_settings.cfg" looks like this:
<Main
ImgFile = ""
Name = "Escape"
Author = "VJ"
MapsFolder = "maps/"
StartMap = "work.map"
StartPos = "PlayerStartArea_1"
/>
In your "maps" folder, you should have 2 files, "work.map" and "work.hps".
Also make sure that the endings of all of those files don't somehow be ".txt". Just making sure, but I think you already had it right.
For your custom story to work, you need, editable in the "LevelEditor", "work.map" to have a plane (something for the player to stand on) and in the "Areas" category, place a "PlayerStartArea" on the plane. It should now be called "PlayerStartArea_1" like it says in the "custom_story_settings.cfg".
How with the file called "wall.hps" (and yes it has to have the same name as the level), you need to open it with Notepad or Notepad++ and type this in:
That's all you need for it to run. I hope it helps.