(S1) Chapter 8 - The Endless Desert
Sand swallowed Henry’s boots the moment he stepped through the portal.
Loose grains shifted and slid beneath his weight. Heat struck instantly—tight and suffocating—coiling around his body like a snake wrapping fresh prey.
The air burned in his lungs.
Endless dunes stretched in every direction. North. South. East. West. Nothing but waves of gold beneath a merciless sky.
Not a tree.
Not a rock.
Not even a shadow.
“What the hell…?”
Above him the sun hung frozen in the center of the sky, a blinding white disc punching through the empty blue. The light bounced off the sand so fiercely it stabbed into his eyes. The glare alone could drive a man mad.
“Yeeaaah… I am totally out of here.”
Henry spun around to see the portal wink out of existence.
Gone.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Not knowing what to do, he waited.
“Any second now a quest notification should appear.”
“Or Layla would speak.”
“Or something would happen.”
But nothing did.
Henry rubbed the back of his neck to the sound of the desert around him holding its breath.
“So… which direction am I supposed to go from here?”
With no one answering him, he shrugged, picked a direction, and started walking.
The sand slid beneath him with every step. Climbing the first dune felt like trying to walk up a pile of flour.
Within minutes the heat became unbearable. This wasn’t the dull simulation he remembered from the helmet.
This was real.
Sunlight baked his skin. Sweat soaked through his shirt almost instantly. Wind dragged across the dunes in dry hisses, carrying needles of sand that scratched against exposed skin.
His lips cracked.
His throat tightened as Henry swallowed.
“Layla?” he called.
Nothing.
“Quest?”
Silence.
“Questline?”
Still nothing.
Henry frowned and tried again.
“Status!”
A translucent panel appeared before him.
STATUS
Name: Henry
Race: Human
Class: None
Titles: None
LVL. 0
Stat Points: 2
EXP to Next Level: 0
Health: 120 / 120
Mana: 80 / 80
Stamina: 60 / 60
Strength: 0
Agility: 0
Constitution: 10
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 0
Charisma: 0
Crit Chance: 10%
Crit Damage: 100%
Phys DR: 0%
Magic DR: 0%
Resistances: None
Attack Speed: 0%
Movement Speed: 100%
Class and Racial Abilities
Passive:
? Adaptive Potential — Every 50 total stats points invested grants +1% All damage or + 1% Pure Damage Reduction. Maximum Bonus 20%
Active:
None
Skill Abilities
Passive:
None
Active:
None
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Henry stared at his status screen before smacking his forehead.
“Oh come on…”
Why hadn’t he checked this earlier? The numbers sat exactly where they should, yet something felt wrong.
His stamina hadn’t dropped at all. No matter how far he walked or ran, it didn’t drop even once. There weren’t any debuffs affecting him either.
Which meant—
“This is still the tutorial.”
Henry slowed his steps, trying to remember the conversation he had with Colin. His voice echoed in memory.
There’s a trial door behind the king’s throne.
A silver door.
Except…
The one Henry found had been gold.
His fingers snapped.
“That’s it!”
Henry started pacing across the dune, excitement surging through him with each step.
“The door for Adventure Mode must be silver… but because I chose Real Mode, the trial changed.”
That meant the desert wasn’t random.
It was intentional.
A different test entirely.
Henry stopped walking as a new realization crept into his thoughts.
“I thought Real Mode only increased pain…”
He wiped sweat from his forehead.
“…but does it increase every sensation?”
The blazing sun answered that question for him.
“Okay… good,” he muttered.
“We are finally getting somewhere.”
He looked around again at the endless sea of dunes.
“Now where the hell do we go from here?”
Henry continued walking in the same direction as before, heading up one dune and sliding slightly down another.
The wind hissed softly across the desert, carrying grains that stung when they brushed against his skin.
Hours passed.
Nothing changed.
No towns.
No ruins.
No signs of life.
Just endless desert.
Henry’s optimism began to fade when the horizon shifted. At first it looked like a thin blur where the sky met the sand.
But the line grew taller.
And darker.
Henry squinted.
The blur rose higher and higher until it formed a massive wall of swirling dust stretching from one side of the desert to the other.
“Oh no…”
His voice cracked.
“Is that a freaking sandstorm?!”
The storm surged forward like a living creature.
Wind roared across the dunes, tearing sand from the ground and hurling it skyward. The towering wall of dust twisted and folded like waves made of earth.
Henry turned and ran.
The sand shifted beneath his feet as the wind pulled violently toward the approaching storm.
His stamina bar never dropped, but Real Mode didn’t care what the UI said.
His body grew heavier.
His legs burned.
His lungs struggled for breath.
The storm started to swallow the sun, the daylight vanishing beneath a choking amber haze.
Henry tried to push forward—
—but the wind slammed into him.
“AAAAAAAH!”
The sandstorm crashed over him like an ocean wave.
Grains of sand tore across his skin like a thousand tiny knives. He coughed violently as dust filled his mouth and throat.
Henry clawed desperately at the ground, trying to keep from being buried alive.
Sand poured over his legs.
His arms.
His chest.
He forced himself upward.
Finally he broke through the surface.
But there was no sunlight anymore.
The world had turned into a howling storm of dust.
Henry covered his face with his arms as sand battered his body. Every breath filled his lungs with grit.
He staggered forward blindly.
One step.
Then another.
He had no idea where he was going.
Only that standing still meant death.
?
Hours later, Henry collapsed onto the sand.
His lips had split open from dehydration. Every breath scraped painfully through his dry throat.
The storm had passed.
The desert was silent again.
Henry rolled onto his back and stared at the sky.
The sun hadn’t moved.
Not even slightly.
Despite walking for hours… it remained exactly where it had been.
“Okay… that’s not normal.”
A terrible thought crept into his mind.
What if this is a glitch?
His stomach twisted.
If the trial was broken, he might have to delete his character and start over again.
Then a worse thought appeared.
“What if… I’m trapped?”
Henry sat up abruptly.
“I can log out, right?”
Panic tightened his chest.
He focused his thoughts.
Return to Mind Palace.
The world dissolved.
?
Snow fell softly outside the cabin windows.
Henry blinked.
Warm firelight flickered across the wooden walls as Layla’s cheerful voice greeted him.
“Welcome back, Henry!”
He exhaled deeply.
Relief washed over him.
Henry walked to the screen door and threw it open. Cold air rushed inside as snowflakes drifted across his skin.
“Now that feels amazing,” he said, laughing.
The cool wind erased the desert heat instantly.
He shut the door and extinguished the fireplace with a thought.
A glass of water appeared in his hand.
Henry drank it greedily.
Then another.
Then a third.
Finally he collapsed onto the loveseat and sighed.
His lips were no longer cracked.
The burning sensation in his skin had vanished.
“Layla,” he asked, “why are my injuries gone?”
“That is because you are currently inside your Mind Palace,” she replied. “Once you return to the game world, your previous physical condition will be restored.”
Henry grimaced.
“Great…”
He rubbed his chin.
“Why didn’t you respond earlier when I called you?”
“After character creation, I am restricted from guiding you further. I will only announce system notifications such as quests, equipment, or class abilities.”
Henry frowned.
“And why didn’t I get a quest?”
“That is… unknown.”
Henry leaned back thoughtfully.
“So the desert wasn’t a bug.”
Maybe it was the trial itself.
But how was he supposed to complete it?
“Layla, open the forums.”
A bright screen appeared in front of him displaying the Horizon’s End forums.
Guild rankings.
New dungeon discoveries.
Player achievements.
Henry skimmed through the posts.
“Search: Real Mode hidden trial.”
Several old threads appeared.
Most were from over a year ago.
One user had written:
Bro what a waste of time! I walked that stupid desert for hours.
Another replied:
LOL. Everyone knows that place is bugged.
The first user responded:
THEN WHY HAVEN’T THEY FIXED IT?!
Someone else wrote:
Because the devs enjoy watching people like you suffer.
Henry sighed.
The rest of the thread devolved into insults. Nothing helpful in the slightest.
“Layla, call Colin.”
The phone rang.
A moment later Colin answered.
“Hello, Henry?”
Henry rubbed his temples.
“Colin… what the hell is going on?”
“Calm down,” Colin replied. “Tell me what happened.”
“I found the door behind the throne,” Henry said. “But it wasn’t silver. It was gold.”
“Hm.”
“Then it dropped me into an endless desert with no quest, no villages, and no answers.”
Colin thought for a second before speaking.
“That actually sounds promising.”
Henry stared at the ceiling in disbelief.
“Promising?! Did you miss the part where I almost died in a sandstorm?”
Colin laughed softly.
“Think about it. The harder the trial, the better the reward.”
Henry groaned.
That was not the answer he wanted.
“Are you in the game yet?” he asked.
“Almost,” Colin replied. “Keep searching for clues. I’ll contact you soon.”
The call ended.
Henry stared at the ceiling for a long moment, sighing.
“Well…”
He stood.
“Looks like I’m going back.”
“Enjoy your trip, sir!” Layla said brightly.
Then the world dissolved once more.
