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"You still have your whole life left, and there are many good things in life that can happen—like marriage, love, and others… You understand, right? Haha."
The old man looked at the boy sitting at the other end of the table and laughed before chugging a glass of wine.
Good things, huh… Did anything good ever happen…
The boy stared at the dark sky through a window behind the man.
"Hah."
---
It was a small, empty room, its corners swallowed by darkness, the only source of light being the small window on the metal door.
The only thing in the room was a giant wooden table, and on the table was a boy—a boy in his teenage years, his limbs tied by chains.
His body was thin, as if he had been starving for days. His face looked as if he had lost all hope. He stared at the ground endlessly, his mind blank.
'creak'
The heavy iron door slowly opened, and a man entered the room with two other men following him.
They were covered in iron armour. The armours resembled medieval armour but were slightly longer around the ears.
The boy slowly lifted his gaze and looked at the shiny armour with empty eyes.
Now… what will you do today…
The man in front slowly walked toward him and stared at his body with pity.
"You know, you have the most potential out of any other soldier, and you might have taken my position and become a general in two years… but what a shame."
The boy looked the man in the eyes and slowly muttered, "I don't… need your pity… bastard."
A small grin crept onto the man's face.
"And I thought I should show you some mercy."
The man turned back and walked toward the door, then stopped and nodded at the two soldiers.
They said nothing. They walked outside the room and returned after some time, carrying two large wooden barrels.
The general stood near the door as the soldiers poured something like oil over the boy from the barrels.
After emptying them, the soldiers left the room.
The general stared at the boy for a few moments, then moved closer.
"This is a special type of oil that will burn you slowly and painfully… but don't worry, the priests will heal you like always."
The boy didn't reply. He only stared into the dark corners of the room.
When will this all be over…
The general walked outside without any further conversation and picked up a burning torch.
"Don't lose yourself so quickly. There are still five days left," he said, throwing the torch at the boy.
The oil ignited the instant the flame touched it.
The fire slowly spread across his body and over the chains.
Slowly, his body burned—from his legs to his waist, then his chest, his head, and finally his hands.
First his skin burned.
Then his veins.
Then his bones.
He wanted to scream, but no words left his mouth.
'Aghhhhh… I wanna die… please…'
His body shook violently in pain, but it was useless.
'When will this end… aghhhhh…'
No tears came ou as his eyes had already burned.
'Please… end this…'
---
Place: A school in Udaipur, Rajasthan
Time: 8:30 AM
A sheet of paper fluttered gently on the classroom door, the corners curled from the heat. In neat handwriting, it read:
"Class – 12th Science | Total Students – 10."
The classroom was small and unremarkable, its white walls bare except for a few faded posters of equations and formulas. Ten wooden desks were neatly arranged in rows, sunlight streaming through the windows in golden slivers that danced on the tiled floor. The faint hum of the ceiling fan mixed with the soft scratch of pens, the shuffling of notebooks, and the murmur of students.
At the corner desk, a boy sat alone, hunched over a notebook, scribbling solutions to math problems with quiet focus. In the middle of the room, two students whispered about leaving early for the gym. Nearby, three other boys were animatedly discussing their recent physics test, comparing answers and groaning over the questions they'd gotten wrong. Laughter echoed softly as they nudged each other, the classroom alive with casual energy.
At the back, four girls chatted, voices light and carefree.
"It's Diwali break… why are we even having extra classes now?" one of them asked, shrugging.
"Don't worry too much," another replied, smiling softly. "In three months, all of this will just be memories."
Everything seemed ordinary. Routine. Predictable.
Then, without warning, the air in the room seemed to ripple. A faint electric hum filled the space, making the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. Every student instinctively turned forward, eyes wide.
A glowing blue screen with a gold outline appeared, hovering in midair. It shimmered like liquid light, edges flickering gently as if breathing, casting reflections across the desks and walls. It looked impossibly vivid, almost three-dimensional, like a hologram materializing from nothing.
Text appeared, line by line, golden letters illuminating the room with a soft glow:
[You have awakened…]
[Your unique ability will now be determined…]
[Warning – your ability depends on your luck.]
[The rank of your ability will be determined by the number of manga, manhwa, and comics you have read until now.]
Mayank, one of the boys in the middle of the classroom, blinked, jaw slack. "Really…?" he muttered under his breath, a small tremor of excitement running through his fingers.
The screen shifted, rotating slightly as if aware of him. A new window appeared, edges swirling like liquid fire, and his personal status unfolded before him:
[Congratulations! You are a Rare Dual Ability User]
[Status Window]
Name: Mayank Kumar Nagda
Race: Human
Unique Ability:
1) Flame Weapon Summon (C-Rank)
2) Battle Instinct (C-Rank)
Skills: None
Title: None
Click to see stats....
Wide-eyed, he nudged the boy sitting quietly in the corner. "Narayan, do you see this?"
Narayan, the boy who was sitting quietly in the corner, glanced up, expression calm but tinged with disbelief. "Is this… for real?"
He ran a hand through his hair and muttered under his breath, Feels like one of those trash system manhwas… where some random guy awakens an OP power… Nah. I don't have that kind of luck.
A faint window appeared before him, edges shimmering softly as if reacting to his gaze:
[Status Window]
Name: Narayan Singh Chouhan
Race: Human
Unique Ability: Teleportation (B-Rank)
Skills:None
Title: None
Click to see stats....
Narayan's eyes flicked over the glowing text. "Just as I thought… still, it's better than I expected."
He thought, Teleportation, huh… not flashy, but useful. Could be fun…
Whispers and murmurs spread across the room like wildfire. Most of the students had never read a single manga or manhwa in their lives, and the idea that their abilities were tied to stories they'd consumed seemed absurd.
Across the city, across the country, across the world, countless others watched similar screens appear. The dawn of a new hierarchy was beginning—and for Narayan and Mayank, an ordinary morning in a small Udaipur classroom was about to become anything but ordinary.
To be continued...
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