Date: 12th August 2025
Location: Sharda Vidyalaya Junior College, Mumbai
Time: 3:42 PM
---
The final bell rang.
Students rushed out of classrooms, shouting, laughing, pulling each other's bags. The corridor felt alive. Safe.
But below them — two floors underground — a new Gate shimmered quietly.
Unregistered. Undetected.
Its aura pulsed once.
Then vanished.
---
Principal's Office – 4:01 PM
"We've had three energy fluctuations in the past week," the academy's vice principal whispered. "Mana density in Block B is climbing."
"And no Gate report?" the principal asked.
"None. But the Government Scanner Node hasn't been recalibrated since the last outage."
The principal sighed.
"Contact the Hunter Guild. Don't tell the students."
---
Rooftop
Ayush's eyes opened suddenly.
The Nexus Core pulsed — twice.
He looked toward the west building.
> "Something's... waking up down there."
He stood.
His hand instinctively moved to his chest.
For a brief second, a vision flashed behind his eyes — broken walls, flickering dungeon light, and something crawling.
---
That Night – 10:42 PM
The school gates were locked.
Security gone.
Only silence.
Ayush crouched behind the generator shed, watching the side entrance. In his bag — a flashlight, an iron rod, and energy bars.
He didn't need armor.
The Nexus Core was warming again.
> "If this is a Gate... it hasn't officially opened. That means the creatures inside are unstable."
He slipped in through a broken service door and headed straight to the old library basement.
He passed dusty shelves, flickering tube lights, and cobwebs.
Then — he saw it.
A pulse of silver light.
It floated just above the floor.
Like a tear in space.
But it wasn't a full Gate.
It was… artificial.
"Dungeon 17-A," he whispered.
"An unsynchronized Gate."
Suddenly —
thud
He turned fast.
Footsteps.
From behind the shelf — Aarya stepped into view, holding a dimly glowing dagger.
"Didn't I tell you I'd be watching?" she said with a faint smile.
Ayush raised an eyebrow. "You followed me?"
"I followed the pressure," she replied. "Didn't expect you to jump into a live dungeon unarmed."
"It's not a real dungeon," Ayush said, walking closer. "It's a trap."
Aarya paused. "Trap?"
Ayush's eyes narrowed.
"This isn't created by the system. It's something else."
"Something testing us."
---
Inside Dungeon 17-A
They stepped through the silver veil — into darkness.
No loading screen. No welcome from the system.
Just cold stone walls and bloodstains.
The air smelled wrong — like metal and decay.
The system didn't ping.
No quest.
No timer.
Just them.
And whatever else was inside.
Suddenly —
SCREEEEECHHH
A monster lunged from the side.
Six legs. Bone armor. No eyes.
Ayush reacted first — slamming it into the wall with a green flash from his palm.
Aarya spun and sliced its neck mid-air.
The body disintegrated — not into mana shards… but black ash.
They both stepped back, breathing heavily.
"That… wasn't a system beast," Aarya said.
Ayush nodded. "It wasn't."
"It was made."
---
Deeper In
They found a circle carved into the dungeon floor. Symbols — glowing faint purple.
Words in a dead language. Nexus script.
Ayush froze.
"How do you know that symbol?" Aarya asked, eyes sharp.
Ayush stared at the rune.
"It's… personal."
He knelt and touched it.
The Nexus Core pulsed violently in his chest.
A deep voice — not heard, but felt — echoed in his soul.
> "You have returned, False King…"
Ayush fell backward, eyes wide.
The circle shattered.
A gate inside the gate opened.
And something stepped out.