Majd sat deep in thought:
Did I really activate the game's settings?!
Everyone seemed uneasy.
Tala, nervously:
"How long are we going to stay here? There must be other games, right?"
Mazn:
"I think… this is it for us. Maybe we should pick a leader? Someone smart…someone who knows how games work!"
Mustafa:
"No… That's not a good decision right now."
Tala walked ahead of them with confident steps and said,
"We need someone to unite us. Someone who really understands the rules of the game and can guide us... I agree with Mazn."
While they were discussing, Mary slowly approached.
She noticed Majd's tension ,he sat alone, cracking his knuckles, looking lost, maybe even scared.
Could he be autistic? she wondered.
She asked gently,
"Majd, are you okay?"
Majd: "Yeah, I'm fine."
Mary: "Still scared?"
Majd: "No."
Mary: "Do you need any help?"
Majd: "No."
Mary: "If you ever feel like you need anything.. or someone to be with…you can tell me, okay?"
Majd gave a small nod, as if just humoring her so she would leave him alone.
Suddenly, a voice called out:
"Mazn! Mazn!"
Everyone had chosen him as their leader.
Mary whispered,
"I hope he's smart and wise… I really don't want him to drag us into trouble."
Majd smiled faintly, then quickly looked away.
They all slept after a terrifying, brutal night.
Their breaths still carried traces of the wolves, and the lingering echo of fear refused to fade.
A heavy silence filled the space, as if the world had decided to numb its pain with collective sleep.
A bright morning… eerily calm.
Suddenly, Farah's voice pierced the stillness:
"Quick! Come see this!"
They all rose like people waking from a nightmare within a nightmare.
Rushing to the windows…
They saw a barren land. Withered trees. Empty houses.
The village was nothing like last night….it looked as if death had exhaled over it.
One by one, they stepped outside.
Shock was painted across their faces.
Tala, her voice raspy:
"What happened here…?"
Their eyes instinctively turned to Mazn.
Mazn:
"I don't know… but it's clear a new adventure has begun."
In the middle of the village square sat an old man, singing a sorrowful mawwal.
His voice was cracked, as though each note dragged a piece of his heart with it.
Moayad and Mazn approached him.
Mazn:
"What happened here?!"
The old man, eyes drowning in memories:
"This place… used to be full of life.
Children laughing, farmers working, joy, crops, family…
But then, all of it vanished.
Like a mirage.
I miss my mother, my father, my grandmother… my little brothers…"
A silent tear slid down his cheek.
"Everyone who entered this place… never came out.
Screams… cries… then… eternal silence.
It became… the Village of Ghosts."
Mazn, quietly:
"So… anyone who enters… could die?"
The old man:
"I won't force you.
The choice… is yours."
Moayad:
"And if we don't enter?"
The old man:
"Nothing will change…"
A heavy silence fell.
Mary looked at the old man.
She saw his pain.
She knew it.
She felt it…because she… was like him.
Suddenly, Farah broke the silence:
"We've got nothing to lose by trying!"
Mazn:
"We can't take that risk. No one who entered… ever came back."
Tala:
"Didn't you read anything about this level?!"
Mazn:
"No… it's like someone changed the game's rules.
Someone… rewrote them."
Mustafa:
"You think the developer is watching us?!"
Mazn:
"Let's go back…
That old man is just an illusion!"
But Mary remained still, quietly staring at him.
---
Night fell.
The old man was still singing,
as if waiting for someone who would never come.
Mira tossed in bed, restless.
Her thoughts drifted to the tear on the old man's cheek…
To the story no one dared to solve.
Her sense of adventure was still wide awake.
She slipped out quietly and sat beside the old man,
who continued his sorrowful mawwal…
Mira:
"Grandpa… are you sure no one ever came back?
Did you try to enter?"
He sighed… a sound so heavy, it cracked her heart.
The old man:
"I tried… many times. But I couldn't.
It's like I'm banned from entering.
I miss my mother…
My brother, who used to call me 'Yami' instead of 'Rami'.
I miss the sour grape juice my mother used to make,
my siblings' laughter,
the old neighborhood…"
Mira smiled sadly:
"I miss my mom too… and my siblings.
But if I never make it out… maybe no one will even notice I'm gone.
But it's okay… I'll take the risk…"
The old man looked at her for a long moment.
"I hope… you can help me."
Suddenly, a raspy, hesitant voice came from behind them:
"I'll go with you."
Mary jumped, her heart racing:
"Majd?! What are you doing here?!"
He was standing behind them, cracking his fingers again…
"I couldn't sleep.
I saw you leave through the window…
So I followed you."
Mary smiled softly:
"So… I won't be alone."
She reached out her hand to him…
But he didn't take it.
Instead, he walked ahead of her,
and took the first step before her.
BOOM!
The world shifted.
As the world began to shift around them,
the ground cracked beneath their feet,
and the light scattered…
like fragments of a forgotten dream.
Mira and Majd vanished into a rift in time and space…
and all that remained behind them
was an echo.
An echo of a conscience that refused to sleep…
haunted by the need to restore life
to the heart of an old man
who had grown weary of loneliness
in a village swallowed by ruin.
Meanwhile, the others slept soundly,
unmoved by the tear of a forgotten elder,
deaf to the ache in his voice
and the weight of his longing.
And then… it came.
The voice of the game.
Restarting.
Rewriting.
---
Next Chapter:
A level with no map.
A time without logic.
And small hearts… facing a fate far too great.
Will they survive?
Or was this… their final step?
The Forgotten Code!!!!