The altar cracked behind me.
The sand trembled beneath my feet, dry grains vibrating with something deeper—older—like the heartbeat of a dead god restarting in slow, shuddering intervals.
Then I saw it.
Or rather, I saw what it wanted me to see.
The seal didn't open. It split. Like a wound. And from that wound came something that should not have existed.
A worm.
Not a normal worm. Not even a fantasy hellworm or desert leviathan. This thing was... wrong. Its body was pitch black, the kind of black that devoured light, not reflected it. Segmented like an insect, but each segment was stitched together with what looked like screaming faces—not carved, not painted. Actual, writhing, whispering faces.
And it reeked. Not of rot. Of guilt.
I stumbled backward, bile in my throat. The cultists dropped to their knees, either worshiping it or pissing themselves—I couldn't tell which.
Then I saw it: a massive iron chain lodged in the thing's mouth like a bit, trailing off into the sand. But the chain didn't end. It curved—upward, into thin air, and vanished. Like it was connected to a part of reality I couldn't perceive.
[WARNING: SEAL GUARDIAN "ZAGG'ZUL THE STARVED" HAS BREACHED THE INNER REALM]
[CLASS: NIGHTMARE WORM (SEALED)]
[STRENGTH LEVEL: UNRANKABLE]
[NOTE: FLEEING IS A VALID STRATEGY. BUT NOT A HEROIC ONE.]
"Oh, hell no," I said, turning on my heel and bolting.
[QUEST FAILED: ESCAPE THE BLACK SANDS SANCTUARY – PRIMARY OBJECTIVE UNFULFILLED]
[-100 HERO POINTS FOR ABANDONING MISSION]
[-25 BONUS DEDUCTION: EXCESSIVE SELF-PRESERVATION]
[STATUS DEBUFF: "COWARD'S BRAND" (1 HOUR)]
[Description: You have fled from a moment of righteous duty. Minor stat penalties. Audience disapproval increased.]
"Worth it!" I yelled as I tripped over a chunk of obsidian and tumbled down the side of the ritual dune.
Sand filled my mouth. A cultist screamed behind me. Or maybe that was the worm. Maybe it was both. I didn't look back.
I kept running.
The wind howled as if laughing at me. The System text blared in my vision, obnoxiously chipper even while judging me.
[RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS ISN'T HEROIC, CAIN!]
"Neither is dying, jackass!"
[LANGUAGE PENALTY: -5 POINTS]
[CURRENT HERO POINTS: 130]
[CURRENT ALIGNMENT: THE UNWILLING (MORAL STABILITY: 48%)]
Great. I was a hypocrite and a coward, and now the multiverse knew it.
A faint ping rang in my ear.
[DIMENSIONAL VIEWER COMMENT HIGHLIGHTED:]
"Bro really said 'I'm out' and dipped mid-quest 💀💀💀"
– User: JusticeEnjoyer777
I wanted to scream. Instead, I just kept running.
I finally stopped when the dunes turned into cracked, black stone. I collapsed beside a twisted, dead tree and wheezed like I was dying again.
The chain… it was still burning in my mind. That worm wasn't free. It was bound. But by what?
[ANALYSIS: ENTITY ZAGG'ZUL IS CONTAINED VIA DIVINE BINDING – SOURCE: UNKNOWN]
[NOTE: THE ENTITY ATTEMPTED TO BREACH VIA FALSE SUMMONING. CONTAINMENT INTEGRITY: 89%]
[WARNING: REPEATED EXPOSURE TO NIGHTMARE ENTITIES MAY CAUSE SOUL ROT]
"Fantastic. First I'm the wrong kind of chosen one, now I've got soul rot on the bingo card."
I sat up. The Cultists were gone—either dead, eaten, or converted into something much worse. The sky hadn't changed. Still blood red. Still starless. But I was alive.
[DEBUFF ACTIVE: COWARD'S BRAND]
[STATS TEMPORARILY REDUCED – CHARISMA -2, COURAGE -5, SYSTEM SYNC -10%]
[VIEWER RESPONSE: -12% APPROVAL]
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: REDEEM YOURSELF]
Objective: Perform a selfless act with no reward, witnessed by at least one sentient being.
Reward: Removal of debuff, +50 Hero Points, Viewer Trust Recovery
Of course. Now I had to do charity work to prove I wasn't a walking moral hazard.
I dropped my head into my hands. My breath came in uneven huffs.
"I didn't sign up for this," I muttered.
[FALSE. YOU DIDN'T SIGN ANYTHING, BUT YOU DID DIE.]
[CONGRATULATIONS ON CHOOSING THE PARADOX HERO PATH! REMEMBER: MORALITY ISN'T A SPEEDRUN.]
"Do you ever shut up?"
[NOPE! :D]
I stared up at the sky.
The chain wasn't gone. Not really. I could still feel it in the air. Taut. Watching. Like something was on the other end, waiting for me to pull it.
But for now?
I just had to figure out how to be a good person.
Or at least pretend to be one.