Mayank opened his eyes, only to find himself lying in a black dreamlike realm.
He moved his head, hoping to see something, but only darkness met his gaze—darkness stretching infinitely in all directions, yet strangely illuminated at places, one of them being a rusted sword some meters away from him with some burned pieces of clothes nearby.
'Where am I, what happened, where is everyone? We went to the place of that explosion?'
Mayank stood up and unconsciously started walking in the direction the sword was in while his mind was unfazed by everything.
Slowly, things started to appear, a destroyed army vehicle, a dagger, some fur.
He looked at them for some moments, then moved in their direction, not able to understand anything.
After walking some distance, he saw Ankit sitting, facing in the other direction.
Mayank's face brightened as he ran towards Ankit.
"Ankit!"
He excitedly put his hand on Ankit's shoulder, but Ankit had no reaction.
"Ankit?" Mayank stared at Ankit a bit.
Ankit slowly turned back. Tears streamed down his face. In his hand lay Zero's body—still and lifeless.
"Wh... what happened?" Mayank stammered, shifting back some steps.
"Why, why did you do it?" Ankit cried out, his voice filled with rage and resentment.
"Wh... what did—" some memories raged in his brain, but he couldn't seem to comprehend them.
He clutched his head. 'What is this, no, this, me.'
He caught his head and started running, running endlessly, trying to run from what haunted him now.
"Why did you do it?"
"You killed him."
"All because of you."
As he ran, he could feel whispers from his friends piercing through his skin, but he covered his ears, pretending not to hear anything, and kept running.
"What is happening..."
After running for some time, he stumbled upon something and nearly lost his balance.
He looked down and stared for some seconds, his body frozen in place and eyes locked on something—a corpse, lying on its stomach.
He hesitated, then sat down and turned the body with his trembling hands to see the face, but his hands stopped halfway.
He stumbled back, his voice breaking. His throat dried as if his somebody choked him.
"Na... Narayan."
He stared at the corpse, a corpse that resembled his friend, a corpse that resembled Narayan.
He tried moving his shaking hand closer once again to confirm, but it was as if the dead body had come to life.
It opened its eyes and looked at Mayank, gazing deep into his soul, as it spoke with resentment,
"You... are... the... reason."
"No!"
He woke up in his bed in cold sweat, his hands tightly holding the mattress, his fingers unconsciously putting pressure on it.
His face was covered in sweat, a strange feeling climbing his spine. He breathed heavily through his mouth.
His sister stood in a corner of the room, holding one hand with the other. She ran out, shouting in happiness,
"Mom, Dad, bhaiya is awake!"
Mayank, who had just woken up, swiftly moved his gaze around the room, trying to make sense of things.
Was it a dream, a reality, a future—but he couldn't tell.
After some time, his parents came rushing, asking him if he was okay or if he needed anything, things that normal parents would do.
They sat beside him, taking care of him, followed by questions which he managed to avoid somehow.
After some hours,
the room was closed from inside, and Mayank sat on his bed.
He let out a sigh.
"It was really hard to convince them that they can leave me alone for some time."
Some memories flowed through his brain—one of everyone standing in front of him, another of Akshat punching him, and last of Ankit on his knees.
They were blurry, yet they felt real.
"Why can't I seem to remember?" Mayank groaned.
"And what was that?" He looked at his hands, which still trembled.
The dream replayed itself. It was more clear than his memories, to the point it felt like reality.
He felt a strange sensation climbing its way from his spine to his heart.
Before he could make sense of it, he felt a faint ripple in the air.
Some seconds later, the system window appeared before him.
[ System Window ]
[ Congratulations, you have received a title!!!! ]
He stared at the screen for a while, not able to understand.
'How did I get it? I don't remember anything?'
[ System Window ]
[ Title: The One Who Saw Real Power ]
---
Night slowly approached as the sun dyed the sky orange setting behind the distant hills.
"The only thing good about this system is the healing factor," Narayan sighed, gazing at the setting sun.
He still sat on the stone, repeatedly teleporting a pebble in his hand and throwing it weakly some feet away.
His gaze shifted toward the old man who was walking toward his house.
He made eye contact for a few seconds but then shifted his eyes toward his hands, trying to avoid any unnecessary talk.
"Before, I would have paid to stay at a place like this, but now I feel nothing," he clenched his fist.
At the old man's house, the man's wife brought some water for him.
"You should call that kid inside. It's getting dark and it's cold these days," she said, gazing out the window.
"I was thinking about that," the man nodded and walked out the door.
The man came out of the house and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Hey kid, come inside. It's dangerous out there."
Narayan flinched for a second and looked around in confusion.
The old man sighed, then called out again,
"I am talking to you. Come here."
Narayan hesitated for a few seconds, then walked to the edge of the field.
He reached the house and stared at it for a bit. The house was a little old, worn down by time and dust, the dull green walls faintly reflecting the fading orange rays.
Narayan sighed, then climbed the steps and entered through the door.
It felt strangely warm—warmer than outside, warmer than the abandoned building.
The interior wasn't anything special, yet it felt fulfilling.
His eyes moved around the house in a daze as a sense of relief pushed his tensed shoulders down.
"Sit down, I will bring you some food," the wife said in a soft tone, almost like a mother.
The old man put his hand on Narayan's shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry. Make yourself at home."
After two days of unexplainable things, Narayan felt that he could finally rest.
To be continued...