Episode 2: The unexpected person
"We don't know when the trial will start, so I think we should head to Amravati's largest ground—the Science Core Ground near Rukmini Nagar," I said, looking around at the group. "It's a huge open area. That will give us an advantage against the zombies. Plus, I know a secure place nearby where we can stay, with enough food and water to last us the full seven days."
"Why? Can't we just hide here until the trial ends?" someone questioned from the back.
I turned to face them. "You think hiding will work? That's not how this sub-trial is designed. We have to kill every last zombie in the city before the trial ends. If we don't, we face the penalty—and trust me, we don't want to find out what that is."
A cold silence followed. Then, I swiped my screen, revealing a glowing blue interface. "Look," I said, "there's an option here that tracks how many zombies each of us kills."
Everyone leaned in, eyes widening.
"So, here's the plan," I continued, now wearing a slight grin. "We turn this into a competition."
Their expressions shifted from confusion to curiosity.
"Whoever kills the most zombies by the end of the trial," I said, "gets 100 coins from each of us. That's a big reward—and it'll push us to clear the city faster. No slacking. No hiding."
The tension in the air transformed. Uncertainty turned into motivation.
Shruti, quiet until now, finally nodded. "I'm in. It's a good idea. We should all do this."
One by one, the others nodded too.
"Then it's settled," I said, turning toward the northwest. "Let's move."
And just like that—
The real hunt began.
.
.
.
The group moved quickly through the deserted streets of Amravati. The sky hung heavy with ash-gray clouds.
The Science Core Ground stretched out like a battlefield waiting to awaken. A pulsating glow lit the air—and then, from thin air, the portal tore open. Black mist spilled out.
Zombies began to emerge.
Anushka's heart pounded. This was it—the moment from my novel is now a reality. Everything was real.
Suddenly, amidst the chaos, she spotted a lone figure in a violet coat fighting off the horde with skill and precision. sharp blades glinted in the light.
As she keeps killing the zombies by the blade she brought and it was the cheapest which no one brought.
Hours later, the group took shelter behind the ground at a place known as Melghat Hat. It was stockpiled with food and water—just as Anushka remembered writing it.
People began comparing kills, but no one revealed actual numbers.
No one knew who was leading.
But Anushka quietly stared at her screen:
26,999 kills. One short of her personal milestone.
She grabbed her blade and left the shelter without a word.
Anushka spotted the last zombie staggering across the open field.
But two figures had already arrived.
It was the same guy she saw before and another guy who was as skill and precision just like the guy she saw before.
She dashed forward—but before she could strike, a blade cut cleanly through the zombie.
Someone had beaten her to it.
"Who the hell...?" she growled, but her voice trailed off when she saw those two strangers.
She didn't recognize any of them.
But the one in the violet jacket… his face—it was familiar in a way that made her freeze.
No memories. Just a deep, unsettling feeling.
Suddenly, the guy in violet jacket grabs the collar of the one who killed the last zombie. He was a college student because he was wearing his uniform.
"Who are you?" the guy in the violet jacket demanded. "How did you know the portal would open here? I've never seen you in my future visions. What are you?"
The college guy struggling to speak.
"Let go, and I might be able to answer."
the guy in violet jacket hesitated, then loosened his grip.
"My name's Shourya Meshram. I was just passing by. Saw the portal, came rushing."
The guy in violet jacket activated—his silver-rank skill:
{Personal ability- Truth Seer Lv. 7- is activated.}
{The statement told is true.}
Shourya smirked. "But I know things you don't this time."
The violet jacket guy narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I know the changed future. And I know everything about you, Reyansh Gawai. Make me your ally, and I'll help you survive—"
WHACK.
A punch landed square on Shourya's face.
"You bastard!" Anushka shouted. "That was supposed to be my 27,000th kill!"
Shourya fell back, stunned.
"You… what? Where did you come from?"
"I was standing here the whole time."
"Even I didn't notice you…" Reyansh muttered.
Anushka dusted her gloves. "You were too busy playing detective. Anyway, both of you owe me 100 coins."
Shourya blinked. "Why would we?"
"Because of you, I missed my kill."
Reyansh sighed. Shourya laughed, then transferred the coins casually. Because 100 coins were not a big deal Reyansh but for Shourya, he gave it casually like it was not a big deal for him too. There is a mysterious vibe coming from this guy. I should stay away from him before he causes any more trouble.
Anyways, I have got my coins so I'm leaving. While living Anushka gave a smile and said, "I hope we never meet each other again".
"She's got a temper," Shourya said.
"She is hiding something," Reyansh replied.
"Huh? What do you mean by that? Shourya asked.
She said she was standing right here the whole time but none of us has noticed her presence until she punched me. I can sometime forget about the people presence just like I do while reading, but for Reyansh, how come he didn't sense her presence this whole time? He is the main character of the novel I have read and, in this timeline, he must have restarted the game but somehow my world and the fiction world of that author got merge and now I'm in this mess.
If my memory serves me right then there were only two readers of that novel but that novel was still on going and the future depends on what the author will write in the future. At least I hope that the author is alive.
This were the thought of Shourya while Anushka was going on her way.
"I'm not taking you with me.", Reyansh breaks through the silence.
"Wait, what?" Shourya panicked.
"If you managed to find me till the 5th trial then I will on my decision", Reyansh said.
"So, you still have doubt on my abilities, I guess. Okay then I will find you till the 5th trial." Shourya said and leave the ground while Reyansh stayed behind alone at the ground surrounded by the corpses of the zombies and the people who died fighting them.
Reyansh signed and said, "So I have to clean this mess again."
The future has changed. There are so many different people that I have never mate. Is it a good thing or not? I have never seen the both of them in any of the future vision I have seen. Should I trust them? I don't think so. These types of questions were going through Reyansh head while cleaning the ground filled with corpses.
In the meantime,
When Anushka was going back to her friends in melghat hat, she slaps her face to confirm if she was dreaming or what and said, "what in the world did I just see? Is he really the Reyansh Gawai which I know? But how could that be possible? He is just a character which I created. Well, he is not just a character but the Main protagonist of my novel. He came to life and started exiting in my world. If he is alive then that means his other allies are alive too and so the other characters. It will be the best if I don't get involve with that guy."
"What are you doing there Anushka?" Anagha shouted from afar.
Was that Anagha's voice? I turned and saw Anagha running towards me. She grabs my hand took me back at melghat hat. I don't know why she came rushing and took me back, I thought that there is some kind of problem back in the melghat hat but I was wrong to worry about it.
She took me back because we had a guest who was unknown to all of us and was insisting, he want to stay with us till this sub-trial ends.
That guy was none other but,
Shourya Meshram.
He was besides shruti and then he suddenly shouted,
"Who is your leader?"
"We don't have a leader." Shruti replied.
"Then who has been leading this large amount students without any adult?" Shourya questioned.
"It was me and a friend of mine"
"Who is that friend of yours? I want to discuss something about with them."
"She is not present at the movement."
"I'm right here Shruti. Are we having some kind of trouble with this guy over here?" Anushka spoke from the back.
Shourya eyes widened, "What is this girl doing here?" Shourya pointed towards me with his trembling hand because he failed to notice my presence this time too.
"Oh! She is the friend I have been talking about." Shruti confirmed.
"What?"
"Nice to meet you again, Shourya Meshram." Anushka teased. "So, what is it that you want to discuss about?"
"I can't talk about it here. We need to go somewhere else to talk in private" Shourya responded.
"Is it really necessary?" Anushka asked with goosebumps all over her body.
"Yes, it is."
Then I followed him all the back to the same place where I punched him. Did he take me here to get his revenge or what? Or did he did he figured out I might be the author? I'm not sure what reason he has but I can't let my guard down around him.
"You can relax; I won't do anything or take my revenge for a mere punch even though my face is still swollen." Shourya said.
"Sorry about that, my anger took over me" Anushka apologized.
While they were walking, they saw something in the middle of the ground, it was dark so they can't see it clearly but then I suddenly started to burn. It was a pile of corpses burning down to ashes. It was okay until they saw Reyansh Gawai coming at us with his sword. But before we could dough him, he jumped over us and killed the zombies who were behind us.
The expression he was making was full of anger and disgust.
"Tsk, you two, why do you both keep getting in my way? If I saw your face again, I will kill you."
"Hiccups! Hiccups! Hiccups! Hiccups! Hiccups!" I can stop my hiccups because I know, he will kill anyone who gets in his way. He is not treating us but more like he is predicting our future.
He lived the ground. I think he is going to the next place where the 2nd trial will begin.
"I think he is going to the place where the 2nd trial will take place" Shourya shared to me.
. . .
.
.
.
"Huh?" I was shocked "how can you tell that? "I asked.
"The result of the sub-trial will come tomorrow. The zombies Reyansh just killed were the last zombies. We had cleared the sub-trial."
"Really?"
"Why are you acting so innocent? Like you know anything about this world, huh? I know that, you have read 'Restarting my world in a Game', haven't you?"
"You know about it? I have read it on a novel app. But the author stopped uploading their next episodes when I had started in 10th standard. I know what will happen till the 4th trial because the author has only uploaded 67 episodes. Have you read it, too?"
"Yeah, I have read it but not on a novel app but on the website which was made by that author."
He knows about the website! They maybe he is one of my readers. That means there are three people who knows about what will happen in the future.
He knows the future so it will beneficial for me to keep him by my side. He might be useful and his swordsmanship is better than me. By the way, where did he get that sword of his?
"Hey, if you don't mind can I ask you where did you got that sword?"
"Oh this, is was a gift from an unknown sponsor after I killed two A-rank goblins in the first trial."
"Wait, what! An A-rank goblin appearing at the 1st trial is impossible."
"Yeah, I thought the same too. There are lots of things we don't know about this world. It fills like two different novels are merge together."
"That means there are two different authors who knows the future"
So, the this which are different from my work is because of that another author beside me which means I need to find the person as soon as I can.
"Um. Hey, I forgot to asked you what your name is." Shourya said while Anushka was still thinking about how she will find another author.
"What! You don't know? Anyways I'm Anushka Rangari and no need to introduce yourself because I know who you are. I think we should go back. Result of the sub-trial might be coming out soon…."
"Okay" Shourya replied.
We both went back to melghat hat. My friends drag me to the corner and start asking me questions like- 'why did he want to speech in private with you?', 'did he do something with you?' etc.
"It's nothing to be all worked up about. He just wants to be our ally, that's all" I replied we a normal tone.
"I don't think that, we should trust him so easily." Anjali said. "Yeah, she is right about it", followed by Shravasti.
"Guys, I never said that we should trust him form the beginning. He said that he had read the novel on an unknown website on which the author has been uploading the chapters weekly but he also said that, the novel was never complete. Which means that he knows what will come in the near future."
Before anyone could respond, a blinding white light enveloped everyone's screens simultaneously. A cold, robotic voice echoed not from their devices, but seemingly from the sky itself:
[SUB-TRIAL COMPLETE.]
[CALCULATING RESULTS...]
[RANKINGS WILL NOW BE DISPLAYED.]
The light on my screen solidified into a list of names. My heart hammered against my ribs. I was first. Of course I was. But my eyes scrolled down, and my blood ran cold.
Shourya's name was second.
And directly below his, in third place, was a name I never wrote, never imagined, and never wanted to see here:
[3. REYANSH GAWAI - 27,001 KILLS]
He was here. He was ranked. And he was in the city with us.
...….TO BE CONTINUE...…