📜 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.
***
SAFRA's pale yellow glow sharpened, cutting every shadow clean—like a surgeon's blade.
The air thickened.
The six-legged beasts and the four-eyed creatures tightened their circle, silent and patient like desert executioners awaiting permission.
Rafi felt his heartbeat pounding so hard his ears rang.
Sahim bit his lip until he tasted blood.
The smell of hot earth and fractured glass mixed with a metallic tang.
And that sound—long claws scraping crystal:
krrt… krrk…
Light carved sharp edges across the monsters' bodies as if they were molded from the shards of night itself.
Rafi swallowed.
"Astaghfirullah…"
Sahim pressed a hand to his chest.
"Ya Rabb…"
It took all the courage they had left simply to stand without collapsing.
Sahim touched Rafi's shoulder—slow, trembling.
"Bro… Wallah… if we stay together… they'll eat us in one bite."
Rafi nodded, jaw tightening.
He knew.
He hated that he knew.
"Tawakkal 'alallah, akhi… we split."
(Place our trust in Allah, my brother… we split paths.)
Sahim gave a crooked smile, tears falling as if his body were surrendering him to fate.
"Ya Rafi… if my time comes… don't let my name vanish without a prayer."
Rafi held his breath.
"Don't talk like that."
The monsters stepped closer.
Safra's light sharpened again.
No more time.
Rafi whispered fast:
"Take off your robe. Throw it left. We split thirty degrees. Find a dark gap. Yalla!"
They looked at each other. The final second of their friendship.
Rafi touched Sahim's chest, his voice cracking like a broken prayer:
"Allāh Yahfazik, ya akhi…"
(May Allah protect you, my brother…)
Sahim choked out:
"Wa Yahfazik… La tansani min du'a…"
(And protect you… don't forget me in your prayers…)
They threw their robes.
The monsters turned toward the scent.
A GAP.
Rafi shouted,
"YALLA!!"
They broke in opposite directions.
Crystal shattered beneath their feet.
Breaths burned.
Their chests felt crushed.
But—
Two monsters didn't follow the cloth.
In front of them, two porcelain-cracked creatures crawled forward, tilting their heads as if listening to the beats of their hearts.
Rafi whispered in pure fear:
"Wallah… they're reading our heat… not our scent…"
Rafi reflexively raised his phone—turned on the flashlight—white light snapped across the beasts.
Sahim threw his power bank—its metal gleaming sharply.
Some monsters veered away,
but the porcelain-faced pair kept advancing.
Not enough.
Rafi fell behind.
His breath tore in his throat.
His muscles trembled.
His balance—gone.
His steps faltered.
Sahim glanced back—
"RAFIII!! YALLA YA RAJUL! RUN!!!"
But Rafi's world tilted.
He fell to his knees.
Both hands scraped against the crystal floor as if desperately clawing for life.
The first monster reached him.
Its fangs descended.
Sahim screamed with the voice of someone staring straight at death:
"RAFI! IRSHAQ NAFSAK! RUN!!"
(RUN! SAVE YOURSELF! RUN!!)
The monster struck his shoulder.
Blood exploded into the air.
Rafi screamed, but the sound tore before it left his throat.
"YA RABB… YA RABB… A'FWAAN—!!"
(Ya Rabb… forgive me—!!)
A second claw ripped down his back.
Rafi saw Sahim's bone snap under the bite of a third creature.
His scream no longer sounded human.
In the middle of the horror—
He still cried out to his friend:
"SAHIIMMMM!!! RUUUNNNN!!"
Those were his last words.
The beast clamped its jaw around Sahim's neck.
His body jerked violently.
Blood dripped onto the crystal like red rain.
Rafi's eyes remained open, but he no longer saw.
Sahim froze—just one heartbeat—
long enough to destroy his soul.
He saw the torn robe,
the splattered blood,
the pieces of his friend dragged across the ground.
Tears shattered down his face.
He screamed—the most agonizing sound of his life:
"RAAAFIIII!!!
YA AKHIIIIIIII!!"
The monsters heard.
Every head turned.
Sahim stepped back.
Once.
Twice.
Then he ran, faster than pain, faster than despair.
Tears scalded his cheeks.
He forced his legs forward as the edges of his vision blackened.
Ahead—a narrow gap between two layers of giant crystal roots.
Cold enough to lower body heat.
Tight enough to stay unseen.
Deep enough to break the trail of scent.
A place with no reflection of Safra.
No heat of blood.
No trace of human aroma.
He squeezed in—
his knees scraping,
his arms bleeding from shards.
The monsters passed by just meters away.
Their breaths were hot.
Their claws scratched the ground.
And the sound—
the crushing sound of jaws chewing—
—chewing something he recognized.
Sahim bit his own hand until skin broke. He used pain to drown his terror, to keep himself silent.
Blood dripped onto the earth.
His shoulders shook violently.
The monsters sniffed—
paused—
Then turned away, following the easier meal: the remains of Rafi.
When they finally left, Sahim's body collapsed against the cold root.He wept—soundless.
Only tears.
Only shaking shoulders.
Only a torn prayer between clenched teeth:
"Ya Rabb… La ta'khudh nafsi…
not now…
not after I saw that…"
(Ya Rabb… Do not take my life...)
Safra kept shining its cold, merciless light. And Sahim cried until blood stained his own fingers.
—To be Continued—