Awakening in Mud
Ahmed's first coherent thought upon waking was that mud tasted surprisingly metallic. His second thought was that he wasn't dead, which somehow felt worse. His third thought—by far the loudest—was:
"Oh no. She's still here."
Because hovering above him, chin resting on her hands, glowing eyes locked on him with mischievous delight, was Whorina—the System, now flesh and mockery. She was upside down, floating lazily in the air, her skirt billowing like an error screen.
"Well, well, my darling anomaly," she purred. "Still alive after all that chaos? How… inconvenient."
Ahmed groaned and rolled onto his side, spitting out clumps of earth. "Nope. Nope. This is just sleep paralysis. Any second now I'll wake up in my bed, back home, and the only nightmare will be my landlord demanding rent."
Whorina giggled, tracing a glowing finger in the air. A notification appeared before Ahmed's mud-caked face:
🔊 [NOTICE: YOU ARE NOT DREAMING.]
He screamed. "STOP DOING THAT!"
Liuyue crouched beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ahmed. You're shouting at the air again."
He blinked at her, mud dripping from his eyebrows. "You don't see her?! The… the digital witch from the seventh circle of scamware?!"
Liuyue frowned. "There is no one here but us… and the Master."
Ahmed froze. Then slowly turned.
The Master Appears
Tsu-Nan stood at the edge of the crater, framed by the distorted sky. His robes swayed like starlight woven into fabric, his posture straight, his presence oppressive. Even the chaos-distorted air around him seemed to bend in reverence.
He descended step by deliberate step, every movement radiating control. When he reached Ahmed, he looked down, his expression calm yet unyielding.
"So. You are the one chosen by chaos."
Ahmed sat up, clutching his filthy shirt. "No, no, you're mistaken. I didn't choose chaos—chaos chose me! Actually, I didn't even apply for this program! I just wanted to live!"
Tsu-Nan ignored the protest. His voice rolled like thunder wrapped in silk. "I am Tsu-Nan, the cultivator who walks between stars. My philosophy is simple. Suffering is the whetstone of existence. Only through torment does one ascend."
Ahmed's eyes widened. "Torment? No, no, I've had enough torment! I just fought a nightmare beast, got turned into a mud popsicle, and now I'm being haunted by a system-wife only I can see! Isn't that enough?!"
Tsu-Nan's gaze sharpened. "That was but the tutorial."
Whorina leaned close to Ahmed's ear, whispering like poison. "Hear that, darling? You haven't even started. Isn't this exciting?"
Ahmed slapped the air uselessly. "STOP TALKING, DEMON-APP!"
Liuyue pinched the bridge of her nose. "He's… broken."
The First Task
Tsu-Nan extended a hand, and the air shimmered. A scroll materialized, ink glowing faintly against the parchment. He unrolled it with solemnity.
"Your training shall begin with a trial of simplicity. Fetch me water from the Silent Stream."
Ahmed blinked. "…That's it? Just… water? From a stream? Finally, something reasonable!"
Tsu-Nan's eyes closed in faint amusement. "If you believe it simple, then you have already failed to understand."
Whorina clapped mockingly. "Oh, this will be fun."
Ahmed waved her away. "Shut it, Whorina. This is just a fetch quest. I can do this."
Liuyue frowned. "Ahmed… the Silent Stream is guarded."
"Guarded? By what? Angry trout? Some passive-aggressive ducks?"
She whispered. "By the Croaking Sentinels."
A silence fell. Tsu-Nan nodded gravely. "The frogs."
Ahmed's grin faltered. "…The frogs?"
Liuyue leaned closer. "Not ordinary frogs. Hyper-aggressive. Their croak can shatter stone. Their leaps are faster than arrows. Their skin secretes hallucinogenic venom."
Ahmed's jaw dropped. "Frogs. You're telling me I have to fight—super-frogs?! Why does everything in this world want me dead?!"
Whorina smirked. "Correction: everything in this world wants you humiliated first, then dead."
Ahmed vs. The Silent Stream
The journey to the stream took less than an hour. The screaming did not stop once.
When they arrived, Ahmed crouched behind a rock, peeking out at the glimmering water. The stream shimmered beneath moonlight, silent and eerily calm. On its banks sat rows of enormous frogs, each the size of a wolf, their throats pulsing like drums. Their eyes gleamed yellow. Their croaks echoed like distant explosions.
Ahmed's hands shook. "Nope. Nope. I'm not doing this. Frogs are fine when they're small, slimy, and mildly gross. These things look like they bench-press villages."
Tsu-Nan's voice rang out calmly behind him. "Fetch me water."
Ahmed turned, panicked. "Why don't you do it? You're the master! You look like you sneeze galaxies!"
Tsu-Nan's expression didn't change. "Suffering is the first step. Go."
Whorina floated lazily beside Ahmed, invisible to all but him. She stretched, pretending to file her nails. "Oh, don't worry, darling. I'll cheer you on."
Ahmed groaned. "Your version of cheering is tripping me while I'm running for my life!"
She smirked. "Exactly."
The Disaster
Ahmed took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. I can do this. Just grab some water, avoid the death-toads, don't die. Easy."
He bolted.
Instantly, the frogs stirred. Their throats bulged. The first croak blasted the ground beside him, shattering a rock into dust. Ahmed screamed, zig-zagging wildly. "WHY DO THEY SOUND LIKE CANNONS?!"
He dove toward the stream, tumbling into the mud. Frogs leapt, their shadows blotting out the moonlight. Ahmed scrambled, scooped water into a flask with shaking hands—
Then Whorina appeared beside him, invisible to the frogs, of course. She smirked, stuck her foot out, and tripped him.
Ahmed flew face-first into the stream, choking on water. The flask slipped from his hands, rolling into the current.
"WHO-RINAAAAAAA!" he screamed, sputtering mud and riverweed.
The frogs croaked furiously, the air vibrating like thunder. Ahmed scrambled back, barely dodging one's crushing leap. He sprinted, flailing wildly, frogs chasing, croaks detonating behind him.
By the time he dove back behind Tsu-Nan, he was soaked, bruised, and covered in slime. He clutched nothing. No flask. No water. Just despair.
He collapsed to his knees, panting. "I… I failed."
Tsu-Nan's Judgment
For a long silence, Tsu-Nan merely looked at him. Ahmed braced for scorn, humiliation, or outright dismissal.
Instead, the Master Cultivator nodded. "A promising start."
Ahmed blinked. "…WHAT?!"
Tsu-Nan turned, robes swaying. "You have suffered. Tomorrow, you shall suffer more. That is the path."
Ahmed's eyes bulged. "That's not a start! That's me almost being turned into frog paste!"
Whorina patted his head mockingly. "Oh, but darling… didn't you hear? You're promising."
Ahmed screamed into the sky. "I HATE THIS WORLD!"
Epilogue Cliffhanger:
As his voice echoed, Tsu-Nan raised a hand, pointing toward the dark horizon.
"Tomorrow," he said calmly, "you will begin the true trial. Something greater than frogs. Greater than beasts. You shall confront… the Tower of Stillness."
Ahmed collapsed backward in the mud, twitching. "Tower of what? No. Nope. Count me out. I'd rather wrestle a blender full of knives."
Whorina leaned down, whispering sweetly: "Oh, honey. This is just the beginning. We're stuck together forever. Isn't that romantic?"
Ahmed sobbed. "This is the worst romance ever written."
The frogs croaked in the distance, as if laughing at him.
And the night deepened, heralding torment yet to come.
[TO BE CONTINUED....]