The road stretched ahead in a slow curve, busy with traffic and the distant movement of people.
Right there among them, Zeroth King stood calmly on the roadside.
He was still reading.
The paper in his hand remained steady, as if even the wind had decided not to interfere with it.
“…City: Shunyagarbha.”
His eyes moved line by line, fully absorbed in the structure of the address.
“…And this is Vishwagarbha.”
He slowly raised his head, then shifted it to the right.
“So, where’s Shunyagarbha?”
There was a man on his right side.
“I don’t know,” the man immediately replied.
Silence followed—
Not a dramatic silence,
Just a simple, honest one.
Zeroth King blinked once.
Then again—
He looked back at the paper.
Then at the road,
Then at the man.
“…You are inside Vishwagarbha City?”
“Yes,” the man nodded quickly.
Zeroth King paused for a moment, as if processing a missing variable in an equation.
Then he asked again.
Calmly—
“Why does this route system mention Shunyagarbha here?”
Another person nearby spoke, carefully.
“Shunyagarbha is a different city.”
Zeroth King turned slightly toward him.
“How far?”
A pause—
The man scratched his head.
“…Very far.”
Zeroth King nodded once, as if confirming a simple fact.
“Distance is acceptable.”
He looked back at the paper.
Then added, almost quietly.
“As long as the direction exists.”
The people around him exchanged looks.
They still didn’t understand him.
The first man rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Bro, you’re not asking like a lost man.”
Zeroth King and the second man looked at him.
“You’re asking like someone who fully expects the world itself will cooperate.”
Second man nodded his head immediately.
“Exactly.
Brother, be careful.
And I can say—you are not from this universe, so be very careful.”
A brief silence followed—
Zeroth King didn’t react immediately.
He only looked at the hand on his shoulder.
Then at the man’s face—
Finally, he spoke in a calm tone.
“I am aware of my origin.”
A pause—
Then he added, still neutral.
“But that does not change the requirement of reaching the destination.”
The hand slowly withdrew from his shoulder.
Then the man walked away without a single word.
But, Zeroth King did not react.
He returned his gaze to the paper again.
“…Shunyagarbha.”
*
*
*
In Shunyagarbha City—
The door of the restaurant opened.
Ananya and Abhay stepped out together.
Abhay pulled out his phone from his pant pocket and glanced at the screen.
Then he said, while walking beside Ananya,
“The current time is 62:25, so I need to go somewhere.”
Ananya nodded.
“Okay, take care.”
Shravani’s group stepped out of the restaurant shortly after.
Ahead of them, Abhay and Ananya were already walking in different directions.
Shravani was in front with her group, moving away from the restaurant.
Barsha followed beside her, while Nirvaan and Yuvraj trailed slightly behind, still talking in low voices about the team quest.
The next second—
Yuvraj stopped there.
And looked toward a rooftop of a building.
Nirvaan and Barsha stopped too.
Then turned toward him.
“I think I saw something there.”
Yuvraj swallowed—
“That wasn’t a human.”
A realization hit him a moment later.
“Wait…
for what we’re all here?”
“Shh…” Shravani warned softly.
Silence fell instantly—
Shravani slowly turned to the others.
“If anyone has a phone, contact the university immediately.
And remember it, don’t say we’re in trouble.
Say it, we have some information about the Black Feather.”
Barsha asked in a low voice.
“Shravani, what do you mean?
Do you have intention to kill all of us?”
“Just do that what I said earlier.
If you want to survive.”
Nobody moved—
For a brief moment, even the sounds of the city seemed distant.
Vehicles passed on the road,
People continued walking.
Yet none of it felt normal anymore.
Barsha instinctively glanced toward the rooftop.
Nothing was there.
No movement.
No figure.
No shadow. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Just emptiness—
Which somehow felt worse.
Nirvaan lowered his voice,
“Yuvraj…
are you sure?”
Yuvraj didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes shifted on Nirvaan.
Then—
“Yes.”
A pause—
“I only saw it for a moment.”
Another pause—
“But it had been looking at us too.”
A scarier silence rested through the team.
Nobody liked that answer.
Shravani’s expression remained unchanged.
“Contact the Mahashunya Vishwavidyalaya.”
No one argued this time.
A phone was already in Nirvaan’s hand.
The phone was already connected to the university due to Intelligence security of university and high advanced AI.
“We have information related to Black Feather.” Nirvaan informed, fear was clearly in his voice.
Before another word could leave his mouth.
A serious voice came through the phone.
“You sound afraid.
Is there any danger?”
“Y-yes!”
“Okay, we are sending reinforcements immediately.”
A brief silence followed.
Meanwhile—
Inside Mahashunya Vishwavidyalaya’s Intelligence Center.
The Intelligence Center never slept.
Vast halls stretched beyond sight.
Floating displays formed layers upon layers across the air.
Millions of data streams crossed the network every second.
Student movements.
Quest reports.
Anomaly sightings.
Awakened signatures.
Emergency requests.
Most never reached human eyes.
The AI filtered them long before a student saw them.
A student quickly reported it to another unit.
“A student said he might be able to help us with the Black Feather incident, but he is currently in danger.”
A female voice came from the other side.
“Okay, leave it to the RCU.”
The female student immediately forwarded the report to another unit.
“Take action on the reported location immediately.
The Surveillance Unit has already flagged it.”
A sudden pause followed—
“I’m going to report this to the DSO too.”
“Okay, we are informing S-rank or higher-ranked students near that location about the current situation.”
The female student then notified the DSO.
Inside a different large hall many big screens were there and five students were.
A voice asked softly.
“What do you think, Rambika?”
“I think we should send all students there.”
Rambika suggested.
“You’re right, Rambika.” A male student confirmed.
Rambika stepped closer to a screen.
A smile appeared on her face.
“Looks like the pieces are moving.”
She folded her arms.
“Now it’s your turn, Vikrant.”
The smile widened slightly.
“Good luck.”
Meanwhile, on Shravani’s side—
Nirvaan slipped the phone back into his pocket after reporting to the university.
Then—
Yuvraj slowly looked upward again.
His expression changed.
The color drained from his face.
“Guys…”
His voice was unusually quiet.
“…don’t turn around suddenly.”
Every muscle in Barsha’s body stiffened.
Nirvaan swallowed.
“What happened?”
Yuvraj kept staring ahead.
His eyes focused on the reflection in a nearby glass window.
A reflection behind them.
Standing among the crowd.
Watching—
“…I don’t think it’s on the rooftop anymore.”
*
*
*
The afternoon sun hung high above the construction site.
Concrete, steel, and glass reflected the light in every direction.
Workers were moving in the distance, while the constant sounds of machinery were echoing through the area.
Isha was walking forward without hesitation.
Behind her, her friends stood there, occasionally looking across the far side of the construction site.
Isha suddenly stopped mid step.
“Wait.
What?
Something is wrong in front of me…?”
She slowly took another step.
“No…
everything looks normal.”
Another step again—But before her foot could fully touch the ground, it stopped mid-air.
“Why is my instinct warning me?
The moment I put my foot down…”
“Something bad will happen.”
She looked ahead at the vast construction site.
“What is the meaning of this?”
She slowly lowered her foot.
But there was nothing beneath it. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
No ground.
No support.
It felt as though the land had never existed in the first place.
Her face suddenly became serious.
She spun around and summoned her sword instantly.
A silver flash crossed the air.
The blade passed through the old man’s neck.
His head separated from his body, yet no blood appeared.
The figure dissolved into countless fragments of light.
Then vanished.
Isha lowered her sword.
A brief silence followed.
Then—
Nothing changed.
The workers were still working.
The cranes were still moving.
The sounds of machinery still echoed across the construction site.
Rhea blinked.
“…Isha?”
Isha didn’t answer.
Her expression slowly hardened.
The warning inside her mind hadn’t stopped.
Not even slightly.
In fact—
It was becoming stronger.
A lot stronger.
Her eyes slowly swept across the surroundings.
The unfinished buildings.
The workers.
The steel beams.
The concrete roads.
Everything.
Sia looked at her.
“What happened?”
Isha calmly answered her question.
“We’ve been inside an illusion this entire time.”
Zoya frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Isha’s gaze remained fixed on the construction site.
A cold feeling spread through her chest.
Then—
“The construction site is actually an illusion.”
The words fell heavily.
Nobody spoke—
Nobody moved—
Rhea slowly looked around.
“What are you saying?”
Isha pointed toward the ground.
“My foot never touched the ground.”
Then toward a building.
“The building is wrong.”
Then toward a crane.
“The crane is wrong.”
Then toward a worker.
“The worker is wrong.”
Her grip tightened around the sword.
“Everything here is wrong.”
The workers stopped moving.
One by one.
Every single one of them.
Then they slowly turned their heads toward Isha.
The sounds of machinery vanished.
The cranes stopped.
Even the distant noise of the city was gone.
Only silence remained.
An unnatural silence—
Rhea remained calm.
Too calm—
“Alright.”
Her voice was polite.
Dangerously polite—
“Whoever has created this illusion…”
She slowly looked around at the construction site.
“Would you be kind enough to grant us a glimpse of yourself?”
Then—
A figure appeared between them.
No footsteps.
No sound.
No warning.
One moment, there was nothing.
The next instant—
Someone was standing there.
As though he had always been present.
The figure stood quietly with both hands behind his back.
His face was obscured by the surrounding darkness.
Even his outline seemed unstable, as though reality couldn’t decide how to perceive them.
The silence lingered for a moment longer.
Then—
The figure slowly tilted his head.
A soft chuckle echoed through the site.
“You found it.”
The voice was calm.
Almost pleased—
“I hadn’t expected anyone to figure it out so quickly.”
The figure’s gaze settled on Isha.
Yet the figure simply stood there.
Not attacking.
Not moving.
Just watching them.
“One A-Ranker and three B-Rankers, huh?”
The board is set.
The players are gathering.
The observers are watching.
And someone has already made the first move.
See you in the next chapter.