The horn came. The end came.
Ahmed's scream reached a pitch only dogs could hear. His arms windmilled uselessly, his legs kicked against dirt, and his eyes bulged so wide they looked ready to eject from his skull.
And then—slip.
The mud, faithful as ever, struck again. His foot flew out, his body toppled backward, and the beast's horn cleaved through empty air.
The Nightmare Beast crashed headfirst into the crater wall with the force of a landslide. Rocks shattered. Smoke billowed. The ground quaked.
Ahmed blinked up at the sky from the mud. "…Am I… alive?"
🔊 [NOTICE: HOST HAS DODGED CERTAIN DEATH THROUGH… MUD.]
Ahmed sat up slowly, eyes trembling. "Don't you dare say it like that. Say it with respect!"
🔊 [FACT-CHECK: MUD HAS HIGHER SURVIVAL RATE THAN HOST.]
Ahmed pointed a shaking finger at the clouds. "I swear if I live, I'm suing this System for slander!"
Liuyue's Steady Flame
Liuyue stood poised, her sword humming with qi, her expression unreadable.
The explosion, the devastation, Ahmed's endless shrieking—none of it shook her composure.
She simply assessed the beast as it clawed itself out of the crater wall. Blood dripped from its horn. Its scales cracked. Its breathing came in ragged, flame-filled growls.
It was not weaker. It was angrier.
She thought quietly to herself:
Every move he makes defies reason. Chaos itself shields him. Yet chaos… cannot last forever.
Her gaze slid briefly to Ahmed, who was frantically slapping mud off his tunic like a man trying to erase evidence of his own stupidity.
She sighed. And yet, here he stands.
The Beast's Humiliation Evolves
The Nightmare Beast pulled itself free, eyes blazing, mane burning. Its roar shook the air.
But beneath the rage… was shame.
This was no longer a fight between predator and prey. This was personal humiliation.
🔊 [NOTICE: BEAST'S PRIDE HAS EVOLVED.]
🔊 [NEW STATUS: Vengeance Incarnate.]
The beast's aura flared, warping the scorched battlefield. Flames bled from its claws. The air shimmered. Its eyes locked onto Ahmed with terrifying focus.
🔊 [CHANCE OF HOST SURVIVAL: -999%.]
Ahmed's jaw dropped. "Negative… nine-hundred percent?! That's not a number! That's a hate crime!"
The Countdown Mockery
The System chimed.
🔊 [NOTICE: BEGINNER PACK FULL POWER AVAILABLE IN… 23 MINUTES, 47 SECONDS.]
Ahmed froze. His scream caught in his throat.
"TWENTY-THREE MINUTES?!" He flailed at the sky. "A nuclear disaster just happened! The whole forest is gone! I lost my pants! And you're telling me that only saved me a minute and thirteen seconds?!"
🔊 [FACT-CHECK: TIME IS UNAFFECTED BY HOST'S SUFFERING.]
Ahmed clawed at his face. "Then what's the point of pain if it doesn't buy me discounts?! That's not fair!"
Liuyue, without breaking her stance, murmured softly, "Focus. The beast will not wait for your complaints."
Ahmed shouted back, "Complaining is literally the only thing I'm good at!"
The Chase Begins
The Nightmare Beast lunged again.
Ahmed scrambled to his feet and bolted. Arms flapping, legs wheeling, voice screeching like a terrified rooster, he sprinted across the charred clearing.
The beast's claws slammed down behind him, shaking the ground. A flaming tail swept, narrowly missing him by inches.
Ahmed shrieked, "SISTER, HELP ME! I'M TOO YOUNG AND TOO HANDSOME TO DIE AAAAAAAAA!"
Liuyue darted forward, intercepting a claw strike with her glowing blade. Sparks and flame exploded around her.
Her voice rang steady: "Run faster."
"I AM RUNNING FASTER!" Ahmed howled. "If I run any faster, I'll time travel!"
The Improvised Weapons
Desperate, Ahmed scooped up whatever he could find on the ground. Rocks. Charred branches. A half-burned squirrel carcass (he dropped that one instantly).
He hurled a stone at the beast's head.
The rock bounced off its nose.
The beast paused. Growled.
🔊 [NOTICE: HOST DAMAGE: 0%. HOST INSULT: MAXIMUM.]
The Nightmare Beast roared so loudly Ahmed's knees buckled.
Ahmed threw another rock. Then another. "Stay back! I have infinite ammo!"
Liuyue, still dueling claws and flame, muttered under her breath, "…He is taunting it with pebbles."
The Beast Strikes Back
The beast's patience snapped. Flames erupted from its maw, surging forward in a blazing torrent.
Ahmed froze. "Oh, no. Oh no no no no. That's the big one again. Sister, it's the big one!"
Liuyue shouted, "Dodge!"
Ahmed flung himself sideways into the mud. The firestorm blasted past, scorching a trench through the battlefield.
Ahmed popped his head up from the muck, face smeared, eyes wide. "I've discovered my ultimate skill!"
Liuyue parried another claw. "Which is?"
Ahmed spread his arms proudly. "Mud Style: Infinite Cowardice!"
The System chimed immediately.
🔊 [NOTICE: NEW TECHNIQUE REGISTERED. RANK: PATHETIC.]
Ahmed sobbed into the mud. "You didn't have to actually name it!"
The Clock Ticks On
The beast turned its blazing eyes toward Ahmed again.
🔊 [BEGINNER PACK FULL POWER AVAILABLE IN… 22 MINUTES.]
Ahmed screamed louder than the monster this time. "TWENTY-TWO?! You mean I have to survive twenty-two MORE minutes of this?
"Liuyue deflected another swipe. "Yes."
Ahmed flailed. "Sister, that's not encouragement, that's a death sentence!"
Liuyue's Gamble
Liuyue narrowed her eyes, silver light dancing around her blade.
She had to buy time. Not for herself—she could stand against the beast for minutes, maybe longer.
But Ahmed? He would die in seconds without the Beginner Pack's awakening.
And so, for the first time, she made a decision she never thought she would:
She would trust the mud-loving fool.
"Ahmed," she called out, her voice sharp, cutting through the roar of battle.
Ahmed, who was currently screaming at a smoking crater, snapped his head toward her. "What?!"
"You must survive."
"I'M TRYING!" Ahmed screeched. "But the mud is doing all the work!"
"No." Her eyes locked with his. Calm. Unyielding. "Survive because you must."
Ahmed froze. His mouth opened. For one heartbeat, he almost looked serious.
Then the Nightmare Beast roared, and he screamed again, sprinting in circles.
Liuyue sighed. "…Perhaps destiny itself is laughing."
Epilogue Cliffhanger :– The Final Lunge
The beast gathered flames around its horns once again, brighter than ever before. The air warped. The ground split beneath it. This was no longer an attack—this was annihilation incarnate.
Ahmed fell to his knees. His face drained of blood. "Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. That's not the big one. That's the biggest one."
🔊 [NOTICE: BEGINNER PACK FULL POWER AVAILABLE IN… 21 MINUTES.]
Ahmed raised trembling hands. "I DON'T HAVE TWENTY-ONE MINUTES! I DON'T EVEN HAVE TWENTY-ONE HEARTBEATS!"
The beast roared. The flames surged.
Ahmed tripped once again on the same cursed patch of mud.
[TO BE CONTINUED....]