Suzie hurried up the slope with the wasps right on her tail, the buzzes warning her not to look back.

  Their blazing heat crept onto her skin, causing her to squeal, demanding she spike her pace. More wasps emerged from the torches in the corner of her vision, which only made the escape path more narrow.

  It wasn’t long until she had to swat away the wasps that appeared before her, screeching every time she did so. Ignoring the burn marks on her arms and wrists, she forced herself to push forward, even though flame wasps clouded her line of sight.

  While surrounded, the wasps perched on her, almost causing her to lose balance due to the sudden influx of heat. She desperately tried swiping them away. Only more took their place.

  Sharp points of pain repeatedly assaulted her skin. Patches of fire already clung to her, peeling and blackening her flesh.

  The desire to stop and roll was tempting. As she considered the risky maneuver, a breeze of wind brushed past her.

  “I’m close!?” Witnessing the entrance of the cave right in front of her, she ceased defending herself entirely and gambled on a full sprint. The wasps quickly seized her face and ears. Her form resembled a human torch, but she believed as long as she could make it out, she could still put out the flames by rolling.

  Now only meters away from freedom, a repetitive, thunderous cracking rippled throughout her entire body.

  The burning sensation in her legs skyrocketed as the bones in her arms bent at an inhuman angle. The whiteness of her bones was exposed for all the wasps to see.

  While trying to raise herself, a dominant pain paralyzed her. Not a second went by without her howling cries echoing.

  Stinging, burning, bones splitting—she felt all of it. Wasps wiggled their way into her ears, nose, and mouth, charring her insides. Even her eyes were no longer safe as her eyelids crisped and chipped away with ease, robbing her of her sight.

  Her throat was beyond dry. The wasps’ mandibles pinched her sclera and ripped it apart. She twitched and struggled as the wasps tortured her.

  In the midst of her torment, her dull hearing picked up footsteps. A faint spark of hope tingled in her. She opened her mouth to scream one final plea, only to find her vocal cords nonexistent. Blood dripped from her nose and mouth, her movements gradually dimmed and weakened until they ceased.

  Hezekiah couldn’t take his eyes off the sight. Knots twisted in his stomach when her faint struggle was no longer evident.

  Did she really have to suffer in such a state?

  He didn’t mind it with Hyonda and the old man, but when he saw her in such a condition, he realized just how brutal the violation of this rule was.

  She didn’t deserve that. She didn’t really do anything.

  An anchor weighed on him as the wasps gradually ascended from her body. Her form was unrecognizable, and her skin was beyond saving.

  The cave dived into sudden darkness, startling Hezekiah. The temperature plummeted back to what it was initially.

  Hezekiah wearily checked his surroundings, finding the cave void of any wasps.

  In the next moment, the torches regained their flames, framed exactly as they were when he first arrived. Despite the lack of smoke the wasps emitted, the scent of roasted flesh still remained.

  Not wanting to look anymore, he exited the cave. When he finally reached the grass, he dropped to his knees.

  Letting the tension seep away into the ground, he observed his injured leg—the one Hyonda had pierced earlier.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  His pant leg was entirely stained with blood. Finally having a chance, he tore a piece of fabric from his shirt and wrapped it around his leg.

  Once again being met with the dark sky, he replayed all the events since his revival.

  “It’s impossible to return to normal life, isn’t it?” His shoulders dropped as a cool wind brushed past him, providing temporary relief and comfort.

  I’ve survived, but what about everyone else? Was it not thanks to me that they went from lab rats to corpses?

  His fingers clawed through the dirt before exhaling deeply, looking back into the brightly lit cave.

  It couldn’t be helped. Something like this would’ve happened eventually. But shouldn’t I at least have tried to write a rule during that moment? Was there any true reason not to?

  His thoughts lingered for a while, wrapping an arm around his knee before relieving a rough breath.

  What does it matter? She was annoying anyways.

  He manifested the notebook paper in front of him, expecting to see the list of rules. What appeared instead was an image within Hyonda’s Cave. The scene was crystal clear. Feeling his thoughts connect to the image, the scene began shifting, as if it were a camera.

  One surprise after another. I never would’ve thought I was some sort of surveillance camera.

  Wishing to see the rules, the live feed disappeared, and the set of instructions took its place. He held the tip of the pen against the page. Although the paper floated, it felt as if a sturdy wall was behind it.

  Before he could write anything, a note appeared at the bottom of the page:

  – Provide an Alias to write more instructions

  – Alias:

  Hezekiah scratched his head at the strange request but wrote a name without thinking too much about it.

  – Your Alias is now Knat. From this point forward, all locations in the world can be regulated by you. In order to provide the first set of instructions for a location, a physical presence is required.

  So that’s how it works. Doesn’t this mean I can use this at Headquarters... and save my sister?

  While deep in thought, the sound of grass being crushed caught his ears. Swinging his neck toward the source, a deer with teeth caked in blood met him, its stance declaring it was ready to pounce.

  Hezekiah lightly closed his eyes, rose to his feet, and casually changed the pen into its flame form.

  “So you really were still around. Good. I was about to leave anyway. But first, I should at least take care of you,” Hezekiah said before taking a step forward.

  The deer immediately backed away, bleating when it saw the unusual midnight-colored flame. The once-green grass was now scorched black. Screeching at its intense heat, it bolted into the forest at breakneck speed.

  “No, you don’t!” Jetting out his hand toward the deer, the flame shot out like a viper. Trees were reduced to nothingness and bushes vaporized to nonexistence in a flash. The flame continued to grow, reaching a size comparable to a bus.

  Hezekiah withdrew the flame, cautious not to cause too much damage to the environment, leaving a blackened trail destitute of any life behind.

  “Well, I tried. At any rate, at least disappearances won’t be a problem anymore, at least from them anyway.”

  Relaxing his expression after erasing the creature, his mind drifted to the manifested copy. Withdrawing it from his pocket, he read the rules over again. He wondered what the point was of having a physical duplicate when he could technically see them whenever he wanted to.

  But after discovering that the rules don’t affect him, and that he was now granted the ability to do this anywhere, its intention became clear. It wasn’t for him, but was meant to serve as a warning for others.

  The Rule of Suffering—that's the entity that chose me. What does it want exactly, and what is this ability’s purpose?

  Making his way to the cave, he held the sheet of paper against the wall at the entrance. A white light flashed outside its edges. Slowly easing his hand off, the black notebook paper remained firm in its position.

  Thought so. Of course it would make it easy for me to place anywhere.

  A smile edged at the corner of his lips, observing its red ink shining radiantly in the dark.

  -- Rules for Hyonda’s Cave --

  1. No killing allowed

  2. Remove the torches off the walls

  3. You cannot commit violence

  4. If you see someone trapped, you must let them go

  5. Each step you take, you must remain still for ten minutes

  – Knat

  It’s doubtful anyone will come by here, and they’ll probably think of the rules as a joke if they do. But at least there’s a chance of survival in case some accident befalls them.

  Feeling his injured leg getting weaker, he knew he had to return to the city soon.

  Once again heading east, he eventually stumbled upon the part of the forest he was familiar with. Relieved to see the familiar tree formations and bright city lights in the distance, he picked up his pace.