A Battlefield Painted in Madness
The crater had ceased being a battlefield. It was now something far stranger—an abstract painting of chaos scrawled across the earth itself. Mud geysers stood frozen mid-eruption, suspended in the air like sculptures. Boulders hovered, trembling as if debating whether to fall up or down. The air shimmered with distorted colors, like the sky itself had been torn and badly patched with children's paint.
At the center of it all, Ahmed stood trembling, his body steaming, his eyes bloodshot and wide. His fists were clenched, his chest heaving. He glowed faintly—not with divinity, not with heroism—but with a chaotic halo of filth and impossibility.
The Nightmare Beast had halted mid-charge. Its body still burned like the heart of a star, but its steps faltered, flames dimming in uncertain flickers. For the first time, the monster seemed… cautious.
Ahmed spat mud, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and whispered through clenched teeth:
"Your fire doesn't scare me anymore."
Then the spark erupted.
The Chaos Unleashed
It was not light, nor flame, nor shadow.
It was chaos incarnate.
The explosion consumed the battlefield, not with destruction, but with disobedience to reality itself. Trees that had burned to ash sprouted back instantly—upside down, with their roots dangling in the air. The cracked earth rippled like water, swallowing flames whole.
The Nightmare Beast roared, its majestic form twisting under the chaotic wave. Its horns bent the wrong direction. Its tail flopped forward over its head. Its flames sputtered like wet matches.
And Ahmed? He floated an inch off the ground, his body spasming, his eyes rolling. The System's voice screamed in panic:
🔊 [ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.]
🔊 [NOTICE: HOST IS NO LONGER RECOGNIZABLE AS HOST.]
🔊 [CLASSIFICATION: CHAOS INCARNATE.]
🔊 [BACKUP REQUIRED. INITIATING UPDATE.]
Liuyue staggered back, shielding her face. "Ahmed, what have you done?!"
"I—I don't know!" Ahmed screamed, spinning in midair like a broken fan. "I think I hacked reality by accident!"
The Nightmare Beast Defeated
The chaos wave reached its peak.
The Nightmare Beast tried to roar once more, summoning flames to counter the storm. But its fire sputtered, collapsed, and then—it popped. Literally popped, like a soap bubble.
The great terror of the tutorial dissolved into nothingness. No glorious death cry. No dignified collapse. Just pop.
Silence followed.
Ahmed floated down to the cracked earth, legs wobbling, expression blank. He looked around at the chaos he had created, then muttered:
"…Did I just win?"
Liuyue stared, stunned beyond words. Finally, she whispered: "Yes. The Nightmare Beast… is gone."
Ahmed blinked. Then he grinned wildly. Then he fell face-first into the mud with a wet splat.
The System's Return
For a long moment, silence. Just the sound of sizzling earth and Ahmed coughing in the mud.
Then—
A voice. Smooth. Feminine. Mocking.
"Oh, my darling chaos-bug. Did you really think you could break me?"
Ahmed froze. His eyes shot open. He slowly turned his head.
Standing a few feet away was… her.
A woman, tall and sharp, with hair that flickered like glitching data, eyes glowing a cruel neon. She wore a dress that seemed stitched from the System's interface itself—lines of glowing commands woven into silk. Her smile was wide, too wide, full of teeth and menace.
The System.
She had taken form.
Ahmed pointed at her, horrified. "WHAT—WHAT IS THAT?!"
Liuyue blinked. "…What?"
Ahmed stammered, "Y-You don't see her?! The—THE DEMON-LADY!"
Liuyue frowned. "Ahmed. There is no one there."
The woman smirked, leaning down so close Ahmed could feel the static on his face. "Of course she can't see me, honey. You're the only one lucky enough to have me by your side. Forever."
Ahmed's jaw dropped. "Wha—forever?! No! Nope! Forget it! I—I want a divorce!"
She laughed, rich and sharp. "There is no divorce, darling. We're bound. My chaos-incarnate. My anomaly. My precious little bug in the code."
Ahmed scrambled backward in the mud. "NO. No, no, no! You're… You're—WHORINA!"
The System's smile faltered. Her eyes narrowed. Her voice dropped to a hiss.
"…Dare call me that again, and you will suffer torment beyond comprehension, idiot."
Ahmed gulped. Then immediately shouted: "WHORINA!"
A boot of pure data manifested from nowhere and kicked him straight into a mud puddle.
Liuyue stared at him, bewildered, as Ahmed thrashed against nothing. "What… are you doing?"
Ahmed flailed wildly. "SHE KICKED ME! SHE'S REAL! HELP ME!"
Liuyue sighed. "You are truly insane."
Beginner Pack Unlocked
The System—Whorina—straightened her dress and clapped mockingly. "Congratulations, darling. You survived the tutorial. Which means…"
A glowing chest appeared before Ahmed, hovering in the mud. Runes danced across its surface.
"…Your Beginner Pack has unlocked."
Ahmed's eyes widened. "Finally! Finally something good! My power-up!" He scrambled to the chest, mud dripping from his face, and threw it open with trembling hands.
Inside—
A single pill.
Shiny. Round. Completely ordinary.
Ahmed blinked. "…What… is this?"
Whorina smirked. "A growth pill. Take it, and you will grow tall and silky."
He screamed. "TALL AND SILKY?! That's not a power-up! That's a shampoo advertisement!"
Whorina laughed cruelly. "Oh, but it will make you so majestic. Imagine it—tall, with silky hair flowing behind you as you run screaming from your next opponent."
Ahmed fell to his knees. "This… This is the cruelest thing you've ever done."
Liuyue peeked into the chest. "Is that truly all? One useless pill?"
Whorina smiled sweetly. "Of course not. There's also… a pamphlet. 'How to Survive While Useless: A Beginner's Guide.'"
Ahmed screamed into the sky.
The Arrival of Tsu-Nan
As his wail echoed across the chaos-scorched battlefield, a shadow appeared at the crater's edge.
A man descended slowly, each step deliberate, each movement flowing like water. His robes shimmered with patterns of galaxies. His hair was white, his eyes ancient and calm. His presence pressed down heavier than the beast's had.
Tsu-Nan. The Master Cultivator.
Liuyue stiffened instantly, bowing her head. "Great Master…"
Ahmed, still clutching the useless pill, stared. "…Who's this old guy?!"
Tsu-Nan's gaze landed on him like a falling mountain. "So. You are the anomaly."
Ahmed blinked. "No, no—I'm Ahmed. Just Ahmed."
The cultivator's lips curved in the faintest smile. "I shall make you suffer until you understand what it means to exist."
Ahmed went pale. "Wait, WHAT?! No, no, I'm good! I don't need to suffer anymore!
The System kicked him in the ribs again.
Tsu-Nan ignored it, eyes closing in thought. "Your chaos disturbs the balance. It must be honed… through torment."
Ahmed collapsed in the mud, sobbing. "Why… why is it always torment?!"
Epilogue Cliffhanger :- The New Beginning
The Nightmare Beast was gone. The tutorial had ended.
But Ahmed's suffering had only just begun.
He had awakened his spark, his chaotic essence. He had bent reality itself. He had survived the impossible.
And for his trouble, he gained:– A useless pill that made him tall and silky.– An evil System-wife who mocked him relentlessly.– A master cultivator who promised him endless suffering.
Ahmed lifted his face from the mud, tears and filth dripping down.
"This… This isn't a tutorial. This is hell."
Whorina bent down, stroking his cheek with cruel tenderness. "Oh, honey. Hell is just the next stage."
And Tsu-Nan's voice rumbled like thunder:
"Your torment begins now."
The crater darkened.
The true story began.
[TO BE CONTINUED....] NEW ARC BEGIN...