"Welcome to the Shadow Realm." He stared at the glowing message.
"Okay, what could be worse?"
He grabbed a sharp pen from the floor.
A scream tore through the corridor — sharp, distorted, as if ripped from a throat that wasn't human. It echoed unnaturally, stretching longer than it should, bouncing off the walls until it sounded like a dozen voices crying at once.
Adil froze, goosebumps prickling his skin. His breath caught.
"I was kidding."
Then another scream followed — higher‑pitched, shrill, like a child. But it warped mid‑echo, twisting into something hollow and broken, as though the sound itself was being devoured.
Then — silence.
'I'm not going to say anything.'
The quiet was worse than the noise. It pressed against his ears, heavy, suffocating. Adil's heart pounded, each beat too loud, each breath a risk.
With hesitation, he approached the doorframe. He peeked left. "Should I go…"
Then peeked right. "Or not…"
'What do you think, Adil? Oh, right, you're alone.' He sighed.
Finally, he stepped into the corridor. It was quiet, except for the faint flicker of lights and ghostly figures drifting aimlessly. He noticed again that a script was written on the wall, but now he could read it: "Remain silent, or you will be consumed by shadow."
He frowned at the words, but with a shrug, he moved forward.
His footsteps echoed as he walked, each sound stretching longer than it should, reminding him that silence was not just a warning — it was survival. His grip on the pen was tight.
He heard the whispers of ghostly figures, "Kill me."
Then the whisper shifted to something more strange, like giving a hint
"Eye… Old… Nothing… Golden eye burns… when the crimson moon ascends..."
"The eye is not sight… it is judgment. The cloaked one carries it, and silence is the only shield."
Then — a cold hand gripped his shoulder. Instinct took over. He spun, gripping the pen and attacking toward the figure's neck, but stopped an inch away because it was revealed to be Garu, who breathed shallowly as the pen's sharp tip touched his skin.
Adil blinked. "Garu?"
Suddenly, Garu put his hand over Adil's mouth and looked around in panic, signaling toward the script on the wall. Adil remembered it, but…
The air shifted. Shadows stirred. Ghostly figures turned toward them, drifting closer.
Garu's eyes widened. 'Too late.'
All the figures screamed, their pressure hitting like a strong wind. The purple aura around them grew, terrifying in its intensity.
One spirit lunged, passing straight through Adil's chest. Agony exploded inside him — a cold fire tearing through his veins. His vision fractured into hallucinations: walls bending, whispers clawing at his ears, faces flickering in the mist.
Beside him, Garu cried out as another figure pierced his body. He staggered, clutching his head, eyes wild."Damn it".
The figures circled, their translucent forms flickering like dying embers, waiting for another sound to strike again.
Both of them staggered, their bodies trembling from the pain and hallucinations. Without words, they began to communicate through gestures — pointing forward, signaling caution, and moving step by step down the corridor.
The silence was heavy, broken only by the faint flicker of lights above. Shadows drifted along the walls, watching.
Adil wondered if Garu could also read the shadow language like him, if he too had met the cloaked man, or if he had gotten an error while testing the system, or not.
'I would ask him after this problem.'
Adil was halfway through the cracked window when Garu's grip tightened on Adil's shoulder, pulling him back. A heartbeat later, the window exploded — a giant hand bursting through, swiping at the space Adil had just occupied. The hand recoiled into the mist, leaving the frame whole again, shards reversing into place. Only the floor betrayed the truth, sharp fragments glittering like teeth, waiting to tear flesh if they dared to move forward.
Adil's eyes widened in shock; his breath caught in his throat. The monstrous hand withdrew into the mist, and impossibly, the broken window repaired itself — shards sliding back into place as if time reversed. Yet the floor remained littered with jagged pieces of glass, crunching beneath their cautious steps as they pressed forward.
Both glance at each other, knowing every step had to be taken with caution.
"Adil stretched his neck. 'So I was right… But maybe he actually has the system. How did he know there was danger?"
Adil was lost in thought about how to pass the cracked window. It was too large to cross while crouching, and the floor was covered with broken glass that could tear his skin if he tried to crawl.
Adil took off his uniform, wrapping it around his arms.
Garu watched as Adil crawled like a commando, passing through the windows. Garu followed along, copying him.
He reached the end of the corridor and turned left. The mist churned thickly, swallowing the passage ahead. Something moved within it — heavy, deliberate. Four pale lights flickered in the fog, then sharpened into hollow eyes. A massive tiger of shadow emerged, claws scraping stone, each step shaking the floor.
Adil's chest tightened. Garu whispered, 'Goulizban.' Adil turned to him.
'Okay, enough with you flexing the system?'
He pointed sharply at the nearby door. Garu nodded, panic flashing across his face.
They moved quickly, crouching low, every step deliberate. The tiger's gaze swept the corridor, its growl vibrating through the walls. Adil reached the door, slipped inside, and Garu followed. He eased the door shut just as the beast's shadow fell across it.
For a heartbeat, silence. Then — THUD! — Claws raked the wall outside, shaking dust from the ceiling. The sound was so close it felt like the creature had struck at them directly.
Inside, Adil held his breath, every muscle locked. Garu's eyes were wide, his face pale. The tiger lingered outside, its presence pressing against the door like a living nightmare. Then, slowly, the sound of claws faded into the mist.
They had escaped — but only by seconds.
A voice whispered behind them, low and mocking: "Safe…? No one… safe… not here…" Adil and Garu froze.