It was afternoon in Shunyagarbha City.
A group of four female students was running along the roadside at incredible speed.
One of them spoke.
“Sia, Rhea, Zoya.”
The others turned their heads toward her.
“We should check a construction site.
I think that’s the most likely place.”
Rhea, who was leading the group, immediately accelerated toward the nearest construction site.
“But, Isha, are you sure we should do this?”
Isha answered without hesitation.
“My instincts are telling me so.”
Silence followed for a second.
“That’s the worst reason I’ve ever heard,” Zoya finally said.
Isha glanced at her but didn’t slow down.
“Are you insulting me?”
Sia smiled softly before answering her question.
“I think she meant that as a compliment… in her own way.”
Isha narrowed her eyes.
“That doesn’t sound like she’s praising me.”
“Isha, do you know that instincts are a double-edged sword?” Zoya replied.
“Of course, I know.”
“Then why do you keep following them?”
“Because they’re usually right.”
“…That’s not reassuring.”
Rhea sighed.
“You know, most people use evidence before dragging their friends across half the city.”
“I do have evidence.”
The three immediately looked at her.
“What evidence?” Sia asked.
Isha pointed at her head.
“My instincts.”
A collective groan echoed among them.
“Ugh…” Sia groaned.
“Ohhh, come on…” Rhea complained.
“Aaaah…” Zoya groaned.
“That’s not evidence!” Zoya protested.
“It has a ninety-three percent success rate.”
“You’re making up percentages again.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You absolutely do.”
“I rounded up.”
“From what?” Sia asked.
Isha remained silent.
“See?” Zoya said.
“You don’t even know.”
A few seconds later, Rhea suddenly stopped.
The others nearly crashed into her.
“Why did you stop?”
Rhea pointed ahead.
A massive construction site stood before them.
“Don’t you think we should be careful before entering?
Who knows?
Maybe Isha is right,” Rhea cautioned the others.
Half-finished buildings stretched toward the sky.
Cranes towered overhead while workers moved between piles of steel and concrete.
Isha’s expression immediately brightened.
“See?
My instincts were right.”
“We haven’t found anything yet,” Zoya said.
Before anyone could respond, Isha casually jumped over the construction site’s fence.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Sia rubbed her forehead.
“Did she just commit a crime?”
“Yes,” Rhea answered.
“Should we stop her?”
Rhea watched Isha disappear between stacks of concrete.
“I think it’s too late for that.”
“But…
it’s illegal to enter a private construction site,” Sia pointed out.
Zoya covered her face with her right hand.
“Lord Vishnu, you’re the Operator!”
Then she looked at Isha through the gaps between her fingers.
“Give her some manners.
I don’t want to go to prison.
No one in my family has ever been to jail.”
She rested her left hand on Sia’s shoulder.
“I don’t want to be the first.”
Sia immediately interrupted without looking at her.
“You are an insult to crocodiles.
At least pretend you’re actually crying.”
Meanwhile, several workers could only stare at the girl who had appeared out of nowhere and was now wandering around the construction site as if she owned the place.
One worker slowly and cautiously approached.
“Little daughter, this area isn’t—”
Isha suddenly placed her index finger against her lips.
“Shhh…”
“Uncle, just two minutes.
Please…”
The worker froze.
Isha shifted her gaze around.
Sia whispered to herself, but loudly enough for the other two to hear.
“She’s wandering around like she’s the actual owner of this place.
And why is that uncle letting her make a reel there as if she’s his biological granddaughter?”
Zoya corrected her.
“She isn’t making reels there.”
“But, Zoya, it’s totally illegal.
What if someone catches her red-handed—”
“Pretend we don’t know her,” Zoya replied immediately.
“Oh, okay.”
“But why are you making your face like we’re all going to jail soon?”
…to a pile of steel beams…
…to an unfinished building…
Meanwhile—
Vikrant and Adhiraj were walking along one of the corridors of Adishunya Vishwavidyalaya.
The corridor stretched for several kilometers, lined with towering pillars and countless students moving between classes.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
Adhiraj eventually broke the silence.
“You seem distracted.”
Vikrant kept walking.
“I am thinking.”
“That’s usually a bad sign for everyone.”
Vikrant glanced at him.
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know.”
Adhiraj shook his head.
“Then what’s bothering you?”
For a few seconds, Vikrant said nothing.
Then he spoke.
“About Mr.
India.
I mean, your son.”
Adhiraj immediately corrected him.
“He is my cousin.”
“Exactly.”
“What did he do this time?”
“He’s being invisible.
Like Mr.
India.”
A student passing by them suddenly said,
“Mr.
India is my uncle.”
Both Vikrant and Adhiraj looked at him.
The student quickly walked away.
Adhiraj slowly turned in another direction.
“Vikrant, go ahead and meet the President.
I’ll catch up soon.”
Vikrant raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
Adhiraj replied calmly,
“I need to use the washroom.”
Vikrant paused.
“…The washroom?”
Adhiraj nodded once.
“Yes.”
Vikrant tilted his head.
“That sounds like a suspicious excuse.”
Adhiraj stopped walking.
He slowly turned back.
His expression was dangerously calm.
“It is not an excuse.”
Then he continued toward the washroom.
Under his breath, he muttered,
“I am surrounded by idiots.”
Meanwhile—
Indrajit and his group were in the outer region of Shunyagarbha City.
While Indrajit was staring into the distance, an unfamiliar figure appeared behind him.
A hand rested on his left shoulder.
“You’re Indrajit.
Am I right?”
The figure followed his gaze.
“Those are your friends?” he asked in a disappointed tone.
“Any problem?” Indrajit asked.
“No, but why are they playing right now, especially with children?”
Indrajit immediately shifted his gaze elsewhere.
“Can we change the topic?” Indrajit asked.
“Uhh…
Your name?”
The figure’s eyes lingered longer than necessary on the place where Vaidehi and Yashoda were playing with the children.
Then he turned back to Indrajit, but Indrajit was avoiding his gaze.
“I’m Rohan.”
A brief silence—
“And I belong to the South Region, Sector 3, Academic Zone B, First Year, Section 1.”
Rohan introduced himself to Indrajit, but Vaidehi and Yashoda heard it as well.
Both of them turned their heads toward Rohan.
Yashoda stepped closer and said smoothly, though irritation was evident in her voice.
“I think…
you forgot to say one more thing…”
She gave him a dangerous look.
“…you belong to Mahashunya Vishwavidyalaya.”
Rohan looked at her in confusion.
“I thought you all knew that.”
Then Yashoda launched a verbal assault on him.
“Then why did you give us your complete university profile?
Was it necessary?
Tell me…
tell me…
was it necessary to give your whole family background?”
Vaidehi immediately rushed over and grabbed Yashoda from behind.
It looked as though Yashoda would kill Rohan on the spot if she let her go.
“Control, Yashoda.
Control yourself.”
Yashoda immediately turned her frustration on Vaidehi as well.
“First we had Indrajit, and now we’ve got this walking information board.”
Indrajit walked away, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Rohan noticed him before turning back to Yashoda.
“Relax.
I haven’t started reading out my Aadhaar details yet.”
An awkward silence followed.
Yashoda looked confused.
Vaidehi was still holding Yashoda by the waist to stop her from charging at Rohan.
“Wait…
what do you mean?”
“Let me tell you about my roll number and—”
Yashoda suddenly interrupted him.
“Wait!
Hey, stop, stop!”
Then she tried to break free from Vaidehi’s grip.
“Don’t encourage him, Vaidehi.
If we let him continue, he’ll start explaining his blood group and vaccination history.”
Vaidehi turned her head toward the retreating figure of Indrajit while struggling to hold Yashoda back.
“Hey, Indrajit, why are you acting blind and deaf?”
Indrajit replied without turning around.
“I’m a needle.
I have an eye, yet I cannot see.
I have no ears, so I cannot hear.”
*
*
*
At Adishunya Vishwavidyalaya, inside a hall where Devraj and several other powerful students had gathered.
Vikrant entered the hall at a leisurely pace.
His eyes slowly locked onto Devraj, who sat upon an elevated chair.
Then his gaze swept across the various students present, though he did not stop walking.
“Hey.”
“Good morning, my dear sweethea—”
“It’s afternoon,” a student replied immediately.
Vikrant paused.
“Good afternoon, my dear sweethearts.”
The next second—
Blood dripped onto the floor.
Tap— Tap— Tap—
Vikrant hung in the air, a hand tightly wrapped around his neck.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the floor.
The hall fell into pin-drop silence.
The only sound that remained was the steady drip of blood hitting the floor.
Tap— Tap— Tap—
Nobody moved,
Nobody spoke.
For a brief moment, it felt as though time itself had frozen.
Vikrant remained suspended in the air.
Blood continued to flow from the corner of his mouth.
Yet his eyes were calm,
Disturbingly calm.
The students stared at him,
Then at the hand around his neck.
Then at the person holding him.
No one dared to interfere,
No one even dared to breathe too loudly.
Vikrant slowly grabbed the wrist that was gripping his neck.
The movement was enough to draw every eye in the hall.
His gaze settled on the hand wrapped around his neck.
His expression did not change.
“Release me.”
The words were neither loud nor threatening.
Yet they carried an invisible weight that swept across the hall.
The pressure was enough to make several students tense instinctively.
The hand around Vikrant’s neck did not move.
Another drop of blood hit the floor.
Tap—
Vikrant suddenly spoke.
“…I believe…”
His voice was slightly hoarse.
“…this is the rudest greeting I have received in my life.”
Several students nearly choked.
One student looked genuinely horrified.
“Why are you making jokes right now?”
Vikrant slowly looked at him.
“Because panic would be embarrassing.”
Another drop of blood struck the floor.
Tap—
The student who had questioned Vikrant took an involuntary step back.
Nobody laughed,
Nobody even blinked.
The hall remained frozen.
Vikrant sighed.
Or at least, he tried to.
The hand around his neck made breathing somewhat difficult.
“You know, Devraj, you’re incredibly rude.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“I’m a guest, and you’re treating me like a terrorist?”
No answer came.
The hand around his neck tightened more.
Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult for Vikrant.
A faint bluish tint had begun to appear on his face, but his expression remained strangely composed.
After a moment—
Devraj tilted his head slightly.
“You look so hopeless right now.”
Vikrant coughed.
Next moment, Devraj released him.
But before Vikrant’s feet could touch the floor, Devraj swung his right leg through the air.
And then—
BOOOM.
The kick struck Vikrant’s stomach before he could even react.
Another stream of blood spilled from his mouth.
Blood splattered across the floor.
Before Vikrant could be slammed into the wall, a figure instantly appeared from somewhere and caught him effortlessly.
Vikrant looked at the figure through half-lidded eyes.
“Khhk…!”
Vikrant coughed, blood spilling from his lips.
“Senior Brother.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Then he closed his eyes.
This was supposed to be an ordinary afternoon.