“Wow! That’s one large gem, alright!”

  Eustace’s words were an understatement. The moment Jin laid his eyes on it and called the blond over, large couldn’t even describe it. Though it dulled to the point that one could mistake it for a rock instead of a gem despite the light from the torches nearby, it was still impressive in its own way.

  “That’s a whole bloody fortune,” Jin said. “Get that, and you’re set for life.”

  “But why is no one taking it, then?” Eustace asked.

  Before Jin could say anything, the boy climbed the statue and tried to peel it from the forehead of the seated gargantuan statue. He strained and struggled, but the gemstone remained fixed in place. But Eustace wasn’t giving up yet, for fortune, as Jin said, favours the bold, and he was no longer a coward.

  Left alone by the feet of the seated stone giant, Jin circled the dais that the statue was built on. There were some markings etched on it. It was hieroglyphs, a writing system that was once used by the great Ancient Egyptian civilisation.

  “So, this is Anpu, huh?” Jin muttered under his breath. He then opened his status screen and once again read the mission objectives. “So, we've got to solve this gift of his. But what gift? The gemstone?”

  Jin looked up. Eustace was still trying in vain to pull the gemstone out using his sword as leverage. Unfortunately, after a few attempts, the sword broke in half.

  “Fuck!” Eustace cursed before he jumped down and landed next to Jin. “Sorry, Frank. As you can see, I tried everything, including peeling it with my sword.” He even showed the broken weapon as proof.

  “Should have used your knife or dagger instead,” Jin said, patting the boy’s shoulder. “But don’t waste on futile work. Unless you have spare weapons to get rid of.”

  “So, what do we do now?” Eustace asked.

  “Come, let me show you something,” Jin said, motioning the blond to follow him closer to the dais. “This is hieroglyphs, right?”

  “What’s a hieroglyph?”

  Jin facepalmed. Looked like second opinions were out of the question. Nonetheless, after failing to score himself a gemstone of the size of his body, Eustace was now interested in the hieroglyphs carved onto the dais. Like a child who first saw a drawing book, he was both curious and excited.

  It reminded him of Eleana as a toddler. She had begged him for a fancy world history encyclopaedia far too advanced for her age. The large picture of a pyramid on the cover had captivated her. Triangle, she’d insisted, urging Jin to buy the entire set – the one with a globe on the first volume, a castle on the next, lush trees on the fourth, and various animals and bugs for the rest.

  But in the end, she didn’t even read it. A week later, her new interest shifted to collecting plushies. It was Jin instead, who felt it was a waste not to entertain himself in some world’s knowledge and trivia, to read it.

  Eustace was the same in a way, his attention changing every so often. The blond had now crawled toward the back of the dais but remained within Jin’s sight.

  “Wait. Hieroglyphs?” Something about it sat wrong with Jin. “Inside a RIFT? The rumours say that RIFT’s world mimics ours, but how far does it go? Geographical terrains and weather were one thing, but architecture and writing, too? Old Man Sid must be livid to miss this.”

  But there was one other question that kept tugging at Jin’s mind.

  The statue itself.

  It was a massive structure, its body carved in the likeness of a man, muscular and regal, draped in the trappings of ancient royalty. But its head was not human. The elongated muzzle, the large and rounded eyes, the pointed ears, and that creepy smile, too wide for any human face. No. It was a jackal’s and embedded deep in its forehead was the dull gemstone Eustace couldn't peel away.

  “Hey, Bee. Tell me something, will you? About this dimension.”

  “Within what is allowable, I will,” Bahamut replied in his usual deep and regal voice.

  “Why does this place look like it was ripped straight out of Ancient Egypt?”

  “Ancient Egypt?” There was a moment of silence before Bahamut continued, “What is this Ancient Egypt? Explain.”

  “Oh, come on. You spend hours watching Sid’s TV. You know that desert civilisation? Some four to five thousand years ago? Pharaohs, mummies and all.”

  “Oh? That one. But to call a mere five thousand years old ‘ancient’ is ludicrous. It is a mere blink of an eye.”

  “For you, Bee. Not for us. Now, answer my question, please.”

  “Simple. It is the work of the Third System Arbiter.”

  “Third System Arbiter?!”

  Jin’s words escaped before he could stop them, his voice echoing off the stone walls. Eustace snapped his head toward him, eyes wide, but Jin quickly waved him away. Muddled with questions, the last thing Jin needed was more trouble. Fortunately, after the initial surprise, Eustace went back to gawking at the sanctum’s various oddities, including an empty stone chest.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  With a sigh of relief, he repeated the same question to Bahamut.

  “Of course,” Bahamut continued, unperturbed. “I am the First. Atheron Corellan is the Third. In your language, he is known as the Ruler of the Allsentient. Earth, your world, is under his guidance with his Overseer in charge of the System.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. There are too many things that whooshed over my head.” Jin slapped his face a couple of times, refocusing his mind. “So, this Third Arbiter guy, he made all this?”

  “In a way, yes. It is by his wish, conveyed through his Overseer, that every dimension that appeared on Earth through the portal you called RIFT is made to make the human feel welcomed.”

  Jin’s head felt ready to explode. He couldn't grasp the complexity of what Bahamut told him, and every time he tried to find meaning, a massive headache throbbed at his temples. In the end, only one thing remained to say.

  “Feel welcomed, my arse. People die in here, you know. If he wants to make us humans feel welcomed, maybe he could start by not playing with our lives.”

  Bahamut didn’t answer, which made the rant one-sided. But the man didn’t take it to heart, as the First System Arbiter was answering Jin’s question as best as the godlike being could. Which by itself was a rarity, since Bahamut seldom spoke of anything that would divulge any information about the RIFT, System, Players, or anything else that he deemed ‘unanswerable at the current moment of time and stage.’

  With that, Jin turned his gaze to Eustace, who had wandered away from his side and was now scouring the base of the statue a little too close for comfort. Not wanting any harm to come to the ever-curious blond, Jin hurried to his side – only to find something that left them both stunned. They hunched over the gargantuan stone toe, straining to decipher the markings etched into its surface.

  "So, Anpu is Anubis from Ancient Egypt, you say," Eustace muttered, tracing the carvings with his fingers. "And these doodles reflect some kind of story that will help us solve the puzzle in front of us?"

  "Hieroglyphs," Jin corrected, his voice steady. "The Ancient Egyptians used a mix of logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements to convey meaning. And yes, that includes stories too.”

  Eustace let out a low whistle. "You sure know your stuff, Frank. I’m not doubting you, but how can you be so sure? And you told me you could even read those scribbles, I mean, hiero-something on the stone. You don’t strike me as someone who’s into history or archaeology."

  Jin chuckled. "It’s because of my uhmm… my niece. She’s always been inquisitive, ever since she was young. Always asking me about things she learned in school, especially history. So, I studied a little. That way, whenever she asked me something, I’d have an answer. The last thing you want is a kid asking you a question and hearing, ‘I don’t know,’ right?"

  A smile appeared on Eustace's face after listening to Jin’s long-winded explanation. "Lucky kid. Very lucky." But that smile faded as soon as it appeared. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I wish my brothers and sisters had done the same for me. But all they ever did was…"

  He didn’t finish, but the pained expression on Eustace’s face was all too familiar to Jin. He didn’t press further, instead focusing on the hieroglyphs before them.

  With some effort, Jin deciphered the symbols on the statue’s toe. They depicted a harvest season, where people – likely this dimension’s inhabitants – were enjoying the fruits of their labour. But what followed sent a chill down both men’s spines.

  "So, according to this," Jin said, "there was a war. Many people died. And to keep his treasures from being looted by the invading army, the pharaoh ordered the high priest to conduct a ritual to hide them."

  Eustace exhaled before shaking his head. "I don’t know, Frank, but the deeper we get into deciphering these hieroglyphs, the more I feel like we need to get out of here. Fast."

  "I did tell you guys earlier, didn’t I?" Jin said. "Worse, the RIFT’s evolving, remember? But even if you realise it now and want to bail out, do you think the others will listen? I promised Ironshield to return with everyone."

  Eustace let out another sigh, longer this time, accompanied by a slow shake of his head. “We still got some time, right?”

  “Time?” Jin scoffed. “There’s time. And that’s why we’re stuck here like an idiot, waiting for those fools to solve the problem.”

  “Then why don’t you solve it? You’re smarter than them all put together.”

  Jin let out a bittersweet smile. “Ironshield mentioned it's one of the Players' unspoken rules,” he said before turning his attention to the centre of the sanctum, where the source of their impasse lay. “But, if there’s still no progress, might as well break that stupid rule.”

  "You should,” Eustace replied. “Did you manage to decipher the rest, Frank?"

  "Been a while since I’ve done this, so I need a little more time," Jin replied, moving to a large, square stone slab that served as a seat for the statue.

  More stories about how the war went. Then, once they reached the back of the dais where little light shone on, forcing Eustace to pick a nearby torch to help Jin with the reading, they continued.

  "More rituals. These folks really love that, huh? Now, let me see. Hall… stone in the middle… armies… river? No, not a river. Something that flows. This doesn’t make sense. Help me, Eustace. What’s a liquid that flows?"

  "Pee, maybe?” Eustace answered with a grin on his face. “They may have been scared shitless coming in here. I know I would. But it could also be tears. Even if they made it this far, being brave and all, those poor bastards could be crying their hearts out for failing to get the treasures."

  Jin found the explanation amusing. But before he could comment on them, a couple of shouts echoed inside the sanctum. The two turned to see the group that had assigned themselves to solving the RIFT’s puzzle, now on the verge of chaos again. All that arguing, bickering, and hurling insults, and yet, they hadn’t made an inkling of progress.

  To make matters worse, Wong Ka Fei and Emilia began picking sides. As they stood facing each other, their argument escalated until the former slapped the red-haired girl. The sudden jolt of pain silenced her, blood trickling from the corner of her lips. A drop fell onto the stone puzzle the group had been working on.

  Jin shot to his feet. "I'd better stop them before – wait. Blood. That’s it. It’s blood, Eustace!"

  No reply.

  Surprised by the silence, Jin turned to Eustace – only to find him frozen. The blond’s freckled face was as white as fresh linen, his teeth chattering violently, his body shaking uncontrollably. His eyes were locked in a glazed, unblinking stare. A single, unheeded tear tracked down his bloodless cheeks.

  Curious, Jin followed his gaze. Upwards.

  Anpu’s face, carved from black stone, cracked into a deep, unnatural sneer, revealing a set of jagged canines. Its dull, lifeless eyeballs shifted. From between the cracks, a deep crimson iris glowed to life.

  << Mission Objective: Anpu’s Gift – Solved! >>

  A deep, resonant chant echoed through the hall, as if whispered by a thousand voices from the stone itself:

  ‘By blood I awoken,

  by greed I judge,

  No gold within sight,

  only endless deceit,

  The price does payeth, and...’

  << Congratulations to all Players. Anpu will now bestow you, its gift. >>

  A thunderous echo shook the sanctum hall, paralysing everyone inside.

  'Thy gift… is death!'