When the World Held Its Breath
The Nightmare Beast stood as the axis of ruin. Flames gathered around its horns until they rivaled the sun itself. The ground beneath it cracked and bled fire; fissures spidered outward like veins of apocalypse.
Every tree had already been reduced to ash. Every stone was warped and half-melted. Even the air itself seemed to scream under the pressure of such fury.
And yet, amid all this chaos, Ahmed stood.
Wobbling, shaking, caked in mud and half-burned, he looked like the most pitiful survivor in history. His knees knocked together. His hair smoked faintly. His lips quivered like a man already drafting his obituary.
But there, deep in his chest, beneath the layers of panic and absurdity, something stirred.
Not fire. Not mud.
Something else.
Something the System did not announce.
The Beast Feels It
The Nightmare Beast froze mid-charge, its molten eyes narrowing. For the first time since the battle began, hesitation flickered across its monstrous face.
It lowered its horns again, flames roaring brighter than before, as though determined to smother this unseen spark before it could grow.
Liuyue's sharp eyes widened. She had seen Ahmed stumble. She had seen him scream, flail, trip, and survive. But this was different. This was… focus.
"Ahmed…" she whispered, tightening her grip on her blade.
The Spark Grows
Ahmed clutched his chest, eyes wild. "What is this?! My heart's gonna explode! Am I… am I dying?!"
🔊 [NOTICE: HEART RATE – EXTREMELY UNSAFE.]
🔊 [RECOMMENDATION: STOP BEING YOU.]
Ahmed wailed. "That's not medical advice! That's slander!"
But even as he screamed, the spark pulsed. It wasn't just fear anymore. It was something raw, primal, unfiltered. Something that demanded he stand—not because he wanted to, but because he must.
For Liuyue.
For survival.
For spite against the System itself.
Liuyue's Revelation
Her breath caught. She had fought alongside masters of countless schools, warriors with perfect discipline, prodigies with boundless talent. But what she saw now was neither discipline nor talent.
It was defiance.
Not against the beast alone, but against everything—the world, the rules, even the heavens themselves.
And suddenly, Liuyue understood:
Chaos does not bow. Chaos survives because it refuses to accept what should be.
Her sword trembled, not with fear, but with anticipation. She would not stop him. She would protect this spark, no matter the cost.
The Countdown Torments
The System chimed.
🔊 [NOTICE: BEGINNER PACK FULL POWER AVAILABLE IN… 8 MINUTES.]
Ahmed's eyes bulged. "Are you serious right now?! I finally feel something, and you're still telling me I need to wait EIGHTEEN MINUTES?! Do you think this thing is gonna politely schedule me a lunch break?!"
The beast snorted, flames blasting outward in a shockwave.
🔊 [FACT-CHECK: BEAST DOES NOT RESPECT BREAKS.]
Ahmed howled, "I HATE THIS SYSTEM!"
The Charge
The Nightmare Beast roared, lowering its horns for the final strike. The flames condensed into a singular line of death. The earth quaked, unable to withstand the coming annihilation.
Ahmed's body screamed at him to run. To dive into the mud again. To crawl, beg, anything.
But that spark within him pulsed louder.
He clenched his fists. His legs bent. His lips moved.
"I… I won't trip this time."
And He Tripped
The beast charged. The ground split.
Ahmed braced himself, fire reflected in his wide eyes. He took one step forward—
—and immediately tripped on the exact same cursed patch of mud.
He hit the ground face-first with a splat, limbs splayed like a broken starfish.
The beast's horn, burning like a comet, skimmed directly over his back, missing him by less than the width of a hair.
The battlefield exploded in fire behind him.
Even Chaos Has Patterns
For a long second, silence. Smoke curled around Ahmed's prone body.
Then he lifted his head from the mud and spat out sludge. "I… I did it?!"
🔊 [FACT-CHECK: YOU DID NOTHING. MUD DID EVERYTHING.]
Ahmed shrieked, "STOP GIVING CREDIT TO THE MUD!"
But Liuyue saw more than mud. She saw the way his fall had perfectly aligned with the beast's strike. She saw how, against all logic, his chaos had once again woven survival out of certain death.
She whispered: "No… not luck. Instinct."
The Spark Ignites
Ahmed struggled upright again, mud dripping from every angle. His arms shook. His knees bled. But his eyes—his ridiculous, terrified eyes—burned with something new.
The spark inside him flared.
Not light. Not fire.
But chaos itself.
The System stuttered.
🔊 [ERROR.]
🔊 [NOTICE: UNKNOWN ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED.]
🔊 [ANALYSIS… FAILED.]
Liuyue's blade hummed, resonating against this raw, unseen power.
The Nightmare Beast snarled, pawing the ground. It could sense it too—that this pathetic man, this mud-loving fool, now carried something beyond comprehension.
Ahmed's Defiance
Ahmed raised a trembling fist toward the beast.
"I don't care what you are. I don't care if you're fire, if you're vengeance, if you're some nightmare tutorial monster. I'm Ahmed ibn—"
He hesitated.
"What's my last name again?!"
🔊 [NOTICE: RECORDS NOT FOUND.]
Ahmed screamed, "I DON'T EVEN HAVE A LAST NAME?!"
The beast roared, unimpressed.
Liuyue's Stand
She stepped beside him, blade raised, her presence steady as the world cracked around them.
"You don't need a name," she said quietly. "You only need the will to stand."
Ahmed blinked at her. His lips quivered. "…You mean that?"
She nodded.
And for the first time, Ahmed smiled through the fear. It was crooked, pitiful, absurd—yet genuine.
Epilogue Cliffhanger:– The Spark Erupts
The beast lowered its horns once more, flames burning brighter than the heavens.
Ahmed's spark surged in answer, no longer a flicker but a blaze of chaotic energy. His body shook, his mud-streaked fists clenched, and the System screamed error after error.
The countdown continued—seventeen minutes left.
But Ahmed's awakening would not wait that long.
Something inside him finally erupted.
Liuyue's eyes widened. The beast's roar faltered.
And Ahmed, chaos incarnate, whispered through clenched teeth—
"Not this time."
The spark burst free.
[TO BE CONTINUED....]