📜 READER RULES
"A Realm Where Cowards Get Lost Twice"
1. This story uses a system structure.
Not a tax system, not a coding system— a choice-based survival system.
And every choice has consequences. (Yes, even the stupid ones.)
2. You must be as honorable as a grandmaster in desert chess.
Once your finger touches a pawn—no takebacks.
No crying. No "I didn't mean it."
Live with your decision.
3. Do NOT read all paths.
You're not an omniscient deity. Choose one route and stay loyal.
If you peek at the others, the jinn will judge your commitment issues.
The protagonist's fate is now in your hands.
If they die, that's between you and your conscience.
Do not DM the author at 2 a.m. to blame the plot twist.
5. Confused? Terrified? Regretting your choices?
Perfect.
That means the system works.
Proceed.
6. You may laugh, scream, or re-evaluate your life choices.
You may NOT go back and redo the chapter.
This is not a dating sim.
This is destiny—with lag.
***
The moment their steps crossed the path's boundary, the world changed.
VENA's light stopped one handspan above the ground.
ZURQ shrank as if swallowed by fog.
SAFRA became nothing more than a pale yellow line stuck in midair.
Beneath their feet—
the earth was cold, damp, like the surface of an old jar abandoned in a cellar.
Dark blue moss flickered faintly along the trunks of green-black trees, like tiny eyes evaluating them.
Rafi checked his own breathing.
Sahim rubbed the back of his neck, shivering from scalp to heel.
"Bro…" Sahim whispered,
"this isn't a forest. This is a prison of light."
Rafi swallowed.
"Quiet. Move slowly. Focus."
Sahim nodded, though his voice cracked:
"I swear bro… I feel like an NPC that spawned in the wrong dungeon level."
"Krek…
Klik…
Krek—klik…"
The sound was tiny… but too neat.
Too rhythmic.
Too close.
Rafi held his breath.
Sahim turned around slowly—very slowly…
…and saw a small skull crawling out from behind the roots.
No flesh.
No eyes.
Just bone gleaming faint blue from the mosslight.
Another one followed behind it.
krek… klik…
Then five.
Then ten.
Then so many that the ground sounded like a drawer of kitchenware shattering all at once.
Sahim grabbed Rafi's shoulder, voice thin:
"Bro… are these like… a squad of skeletal aunties?"
Rafi didn't answer. Because every skull turned at the same time, tilting their heads as if listening to an unheard command.
THEY RAN.
The skulls launched forward like glass marbles hurled from a rooftop.
Rafi jerked up his Nabat.
"SAHIM!! ONLY USE IT IF WE'RE ABOUT TO DIE!!"
But one skull had already leapt at his face.
CRACK!
Instinctively, Rafi blocked with his arm. His elbow felt like it hit a boulder.
"ASTAGHFIRULLAH THAT HURTS!!"
Panicking, Sahim threw a Nabat flower at the ground.
WHUFF—
A thin mist appeared. The skulls jerked, their movements slowing for a heartbeat—just enough for an opening.
"BRO, DON'T WASTE IT!" Rafi barked while stumbling backward, breath ragged.
"LIMITED STOCK!!"
The first skull jumped again. Rafi kicked its FOREHEAD—
PRANG!!
The bone shattered like frozen glass. Another skull slammed into Sahim's bisht, dragging him backward.
"BRO IT'S TAKING ME—YA ALLAAAH—!!"
Rafi smashed the skull's face with his bag, hands trembling from adrenaline.
PRANG!
"Breathe! Sahim! Keep your breathing steady!" Rafi yelled.
"What breathing?! I'M DYING BROOO!!"
Three skulls leapt at once—Rafi and Sahim ducked. One hit a tree and shattered on its own. Another latched onto Sahim's shoe.
"LET GO BRO!!! LET HIM GO!!"
Rafi smashed its skull again—too hard this time—its bones exploded into shards. Their breathing grew heavier—almost collapsing. Rafi bent over, hands on his knees.
"Bro… this… this is hell-level cardio…"
Sahim nearly fainted.
"Water… Bro… I'll drink my own sweat if I must—my throat is dying."
Rafi collapsed beside him.
"Ya Allah… if we wore heart monitors, they'd explode."
From the shattered skulls, thin lights rose. Tiny crystals appeared—dozens— then gathered, layered, spinning…
They floated upward like a spiral of fireflies. Sahim stared, stunned.
"Bro… they're forming… a pattern?
These crystals… it's like they have a will?"
Rafi raised one eyebrow, still panting hard.
The tiny crystals spun tighter, converging, elongating… forming a ring of light the size of a human face.
An image flickered inside it:
flowing water.
a river.
clear. Real.
Rafi didn't approach.
Sahim held his breath, eyes widening.
"Bro… what is that? CCTV? A hologram? A jinn window?"
Rafi picked up a small stick and gently poked the glowing ring.
The stick didn't bounce back.
Didn't burn.
Didn't snap.
Instead—
its tip vanished, as if dipped into calm water. Sahim jumped back two steps.
"BRO!! DID THE STICK GET CUT OFF?!"
Rafi yanked it back.
The tip was intact.
Cold.
Slightly wet—like it had been dipped in a real river.
Rafi's breath shook.
"This isn't a reflection… not a projection.
This is a portal, Bro."
Sahim panicked harder.
"A safe portal or a death portal?! The difference is THIN, BRO! VERY THIN!!"
The portal trembled. Its image rippled… then shrank a full centimeter. Rafi's expression changed instantly.
"Bro… it's running out of time. It's shrinking."
Sahim tried to look from the side—the image remained the same, like a window into another place.
"Bro…" his voice was thin, full of thirst and despair,
"…that's a river… a real river…
If we don't get water we're dead."
The portal shrank again—faster.
"BRO???!!!"
"OKAY—GO!! NOW!!"
With one desperate breath, they shoved each other forward like reckless children:
THEY JUMPED IN.
And the portal sealed shut behind their heels. They crashed onto the ground. The water before them was impossibly clear—every ripple moved like liquid glass pushed by the wind.
No blue moss here.
No watching eyes.
Sahim scrambled forward.
"Bro… Bro… that's real water right? Not poison?"
Rafi didn't immediately approach. He grabbed Sahim's collar and pulled him behind a low crystal shrub.
"DO NOT DRINK WATER FROM THIS WORLD YET. Observe first!"
His tone was sharp—fear + thirst + survival mode. From behind the shrub, they watched the river:
The water was clear.
Flow smooth like drifting glass.
No odd smell.
No strange reflections of VENA, ZURQ, or SAFRA.
Rafi swallowed hard. He dipped the stick's tip again.
It didn't dissolve.
Didn't discolor.
Slowly—very slowly—he dipped a fingertip.
Cold.
Flowing.
No static shock.
No metallic bite.
No hallucinatory mist.
"Bro…" he whispered, barely audible,
"…so far it's safe. But we drink hidden. Not out in the open."
Sahim nodded fast—eyes already red from thirst. Still crouched, they scooped water with both hands… but didn't drink yet.
Sahim froze before it reached his lips. His eyes widened.
"Bro…" his voice trembled,
"…look around…"
Rafi slowly lifted his head above the shrub.
Across the river—
Silver-veined flowers leaned as if waiting for someone.
Small fruits glimmered as though freshly washed.
And…
several creatures stood frozen in strange poses:
One stared at the water without blinking.
One stood atop a stone like a statue.
One had half its body submerged yet absolutely motionless—
like living decor.
A thin, sleek monster tilted its head, ear pointed toward the river, as if awaiting some unheard signal. Rafi covered his mouth with his hand.
"Ya Rabb… this place…
isn't just a river.
It's… a ritual zone or something."
Sahim trembled, water dripping from his fingers.
"Bro… do we drink?
Or not?
I'm dying of thirst but I also… don't wanna become a forest decoration."
Rafi pulled him lower, voice only a breath:
"We watch them first.
If they drink—we drink.
If they just stand there—we run."
The river flowed softly.
The monsters did not move.
The wind held its breath.
Then the river's surface shivered. Blue moss from Dhul-Wujūd—which shouldn't be able to live here—lit up on the water: one spark… two…creeping along the surface, then climbing the trunk before them.
And from behind that trunk…
two eyes opened.
Childlike.
Unblinking.
Staring at them with no expression.
Rafi whispered, his voice barely escaping:
"…Bro…
do we have to fight again?"
Sahim gripped the Nabat—hand shaking like it might fall off. The SAFRA light, once faint, shone a thin beam across the creature's face.
It shifted—
and stepped closer.
—To be Continued—