The Eternal Goal
The golden afternoon sun hung low over the dusty pitch, casting long shadows of five friends lost in the heat of the football game. At the center of it all was Akash, a local football prodigy. With a lean, athletic build and unruly dark hair that always seemed to find its way into his eyes, he moved with an effortless grace. He wasn't just fast; he was precise, his mind always three steps ahead of the play.
"Try and keep up, Priya!" Akash laughed, his teeth flashing white against his tanned face as he executed a perfect nutmeg.
"Don't get cocky, Akash!." Her eyes are bright with competition. She was lean and lithe, moving like a fluid. Strikingly beautiful even under a layer of dust and sweat, she pivoted on a dime, her ponytail whipping behind her as she recovered with a burst of speed that nearly closed the gap.
Behind her, acting as a final, immovable wall, stood Rohan. He was tall and broad-shouldered, his muscular frame cutting an imposing figure against the sunset. While the others darted like dragonflies, Rohan moved with the power of a landslide. "You have to get past me first, little brother," Rohan challenged, his voice a low rumble as he braced for the collision.
On the sidelines, leaning comfortably against the gnarled trunk of an old banyan tree, stood Deepak. He was noticeably chubby, with a round, cheerful face and a t-shirt that always seemed a bit too snug. He was the group's self-appointed "tactical analyst," preferring to save his energy for witty barbs rather than sprints.
"High knees, Anjali! You're running like you've got bricks in your socks!" Deepak hollered, pausing only to bolt down a samosa he'd been hoarding.
Anjali, short enough to be overlooked but far too loud to be ignored, skidded to a halt. She was a hummingbird in a jersey—fast, feisty, and impossible to pin down. "At least I'm upright, you giant potato!" she fired back. "Why don't you come out here and show us a 'tactical' sprint, or are you afraid of causing an earthquake?"
Deepak let out a hearty laugh, unbothered. "I'm the tactical mastermind, Anji! You run; I direct!"
The game reached its fever pitch. Akash controlled the ball with a velvet touch, spinning away from Rohan. He saw Anjali darting into an opening near the goal.
"Anji, quick," Priya roared from behind. Akash swung his leg back, the muscles in his calf tensing as he prepared to launch a perfect cross. Anjali leaped, her small frame suspended in the air for a header, her eyes wide with the thrill of the incoming goal.
Then, the universe flinched. The vibrant cacophony of laughter, the thud of the ball and Deepak's muffled chewing vanished into a vacuum. The brilliant orange sun didn't just set; it blinked out like a broken bulb. Time became a solid, crystalline thing.
Akash was caught mid-follow-through, his body leaning dangerously forward. Anjali was frozen a foot above the ground, her hair splayed out like a halo. Deepak's mouth was open, a crumb of crust suspended inches from his lips.
Total, absolute darkness smothered the field. There was no wind, no heat, no smell of dry earth—only a terrifying, silent void where five friends were trapped in the amber of a single, eternal second, waiting for a goal that would never land.
The void was not the end; it was a transition. As the darkness shattered, Akash stood in the center of a wide open area, his breath catching as an eerie, alien silence pressed in. On three sides, the horizon was blocked by forests—towering, coal-black trunks with sharp leaves. The fourth side rose into a mountain slope, dotted with trees and rocks.
Suddenly, a sensation like an electric shock vibrated through his skull. It wasn't a sound coming from the air; it was a voice echoing directly inside his mind.
"HUMANS FROM EARTH. THE MIGRATION IS COMPLETE. I AM THE PRIMORDIAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF THIS TRIAL REALM. YOU SHALL ADDRESS ME AS THE OVERSEER."
The Overseer spoke, its tone cold, vast, and absolute.
"ALL INDIVIDUALS AGED 18 TO 60 HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO TRIAL REALMS. EACH REALM HAS BEEN ALLOCATED A POPULATION OF 100,000 CANDIDATES."
"YOU ARE NOW THE LORDS OF THIS TRIAL REALM. TO ENSURE A FAIR START, ALL ILLNESSES AND DISABILITIES HAVE BEEN PURGED."
"WARNING: DANGER IS EVERYWHERE. MOVE WITH CAUTION. DYING HERE IS REAL DEATH."
"IN YOUR HAND LIES THE LORD'S CORE. YOU HAVE 3 HOURS TO PLACE IT IN A STRATEGIC SPOT TO ESTABLISH YOUR TERRITORY. FAIL, AND YOUR LORD TITLE WILL BE REVOKED. YOU WILL BE LEFT AS HELPLESS PREY."
"SUMMON YOUR LORD'S PANEL WITH YOUR THOUGHT TO REVIEW YOUR ATTRIBUTES AND STATUS. EXPLORE THE INTERFACE TO GRASP YOUR NEW REALITY."
The voice vanished, leaving behind a glowing red timer in the corner of his vision: 02:59:59.
Instead of rushing, Akash felt a wave of bitter anger wash over him. He felt like a piece on a board, moved by a hand he couldn't see. He slumped down on a nearby mossy rock, his shoulders sagging.
"A pawn," he whispered, his voice sounding hollow in the silence. "We're just pawns in some cosmic game."
He didn't dare to move, or perhaps he just didn't care. The "fair start" felt like a cruel joke as if their lives were now just entertainment. For ten minutes, he sat in stony silence, staring at the glowing blue crystal in his palm.
Eventually, the survival instinct kicked in. He couldn't sit here and wait to become "nutrients." He needed to know the rules of this new, forced reality.
"Lord's Panel," he thought.
A translucent blue screen shimmered into existence. It was clean and intuitive, divided into several tabs:
In the uppermost left corner, a subtle chronometer pulsed, indicating the local time: 08:11 AM.
Personal Attributes
Territory (Locked)
Realm Chat
Friends (Locked)
Store (Locked)
He focused on Personal Attributes. And the window changed.
[Personal Attributes]
[Name]: Akash77
[Race]: Human
[Physique]: 6 (Physical Foundation : Strength, Speed, Stamina,etc.)
[Spirit]: 5 (Mental Power : Perception, Reaction Speed, Memory, and Willpower.etc)
[Magic]: 4 (Supernatural Potential: Magical capabilities like control over elements, manipulating Physique/Spirit, Resistance to curses etc.)
[Skills]: None
[Talent]: (Locked)
[Inventory]: (Locked)
[Spirit Coins]: 0
[Average adult earth human attribute is 4. Limit is 10]
He stared at the numbers, a small, lopsided smile forming on his face.
Physique (5): "All those evening football matches and daily runs actually paid off." He felt solid. A '5' meant he was officially fitter than the average guy.
Spirit (6):This was his pride. His mind is sharp, almost like he'd had three cups of strong tea. He could hear the faint whistle of wind through the mountain crags and pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. In a place where "danger is everywhere," having a high Spirit was like having a built-in radar.
Magic (4): "A straight-up average Joe," he chuckled dryly. He was behind the curve compared to those 'chosen one' types in the chat, but he wasn't worried. He didn't even know how to snap his fingers to make a spark, let alone cast a spell. It was a starting point, not a life sentence.
He was a 'balanced' build with a sharp mind but a weak mystical spark. He wasn't behind the curve, just standing on a different part of it, but he needed to know what the others were facing.