– After the Slaughter, Before the Storm
Kolkata – Sector 9, once a bustling marketplace, now lay in eerie silence.
The stench of blood filled the air.
Crushed buildings, shattered lampposts, scorch marks, and broken hunter weapons littered the ground. Dozens of massive, mutilated corpses of Red Gorillas were strewn across the streets—each one a towering monster, now lifeless and still.
Bright orange vests dotted the landscape—Disaster Cleanup Unit 47 had arrived.
"Start with the big ones!" shouted a man in a respirator mask. "Preserve the cores! Any active bio-signature and you pull back immediately!"
Gigantic robotic arms began lifting bodies, while other workers sprayed acidic disinfectant foam onto the blood-soaked streets to prevent monster-borne disease. Huge trucks with sealed containers hummed quietly in the background.
---
High above the chaos, standing on the edge of a broken rooftop, Arya Desoza looked down at the cleanup operation.
He wore a long black jacket, still smoking lightly from the lightning magic he had unleashed. His silver hair fluttered in the wind, his expression cold and unreadable.
Behind him stood his elite team:
– Mahesh Rana, twirling a fire crystal between his fingers, leaning casually against a broken pillar.
– Alisa Ansade, calmly re-rolling her silver thread magic into a neat spool, her shopping bag still dangling on her arm.
– Adi Mane, the silent blade-user, quietly checking his weapon for damage.
– Varna Hari, sitting with a bandage around his shoulder, watching the cleanup with tired eyes.
> "That's all of them," Adi finally said.
"All red gorillas are dead. But…" he glanced around, "I don't like this. It was too easy."
Arya narrowed his eyes at the words, thinking the same.
> "Red gorillas aren't smart enough to use group tactics," Arya muttered. "But this group fought like soldiers."
> Mahesh scoffed. "Maybe they evolved. Or maybe some priest dropped them in from a gate again like in Mumbai."
> "Or worse…" Alisa said, voice low. "Maybe someone's controlling them."
They all fell into silence.
Something was off.
> "A high-rank gate doesn't just open randomly inside the city," Arya said finally. "Someone let them in. Or wanted us to test something."
He looked toward the dark sky.
> "Get ready," Arya ordered. "We rest tonight. Tomorrow, we investigate."
> "Again?" Mahesh groaned. "Boss, let us breathe—"
> "No breathing," Arya said sharply. "Not until we find out who's behind this."
---
Far away, under the city, a faint hum echoed beneath the ruins—something was waking up.
But for now… the city exhaled.
The battle was over.
The war had just begun.
Absolutely! Let's shift the scene back to Harvin, immediately after he receives the system message and completes the temporary treatment for Vasu.
– The Price of Weakness
Harvin sat silently beside Vasu, his hands trembling slightly after injecting the temporary antidote. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead—not from exhaustion, but from fear. Vasu's breathing had steadied, the swelling reduced… for now.
> "It's only temporary," Harvin whispered to himself.
"This medicine… won't hold for long."
Suddenly—
Ding!
A translucent blue screen flashed before his eyes.
---
> [SYSTEM NOTICE]
Daily Quest: BEGINNER SURVIVAL TRAINING
✅ 100 Push-ups
✅ 100 Sit-ups
✅ 100 Squats
✅ 10 KM Running
❗Failure Penalty: Forced teleportation to hostile world for 6 hours survival test.
⏳ Time Remaining: 00:00
⚠️ Penalty Activated!
---
Harvin barely had time to read the words before the world around him started distorting. His heart stopped. "Wait—no! Not now! Vasu needs me—!"
Too late.
A blinding white light swallowed him whole.
– Survival World: Trial of the Forsaken
Harvin landed hard on dry, cracked soil. The sky above him was blood-red, with two suns blazing hot over a barren, twisted wasteland. A hot wind blew across the field, carrying the stench of decay.
> [System Alert]
Penalty World: Forsaken Zone – Infected Wastes
Objective: Survive 6 hours
Timer: 05:59:58
Harvin groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. His arms and legs were sore from the unfinished workout. He looked around. The land was lifeless—until he heard the low gurgling sound.
From the shadows, creatures began to emerge.
Twisted humans with rotting flesh, eyes glowing blue—Infected, mindless and fast.
They had already caught his scent.
Harvin's heart pounded. He had no weapons. He was just E-rank, with no combat skills.
But he had one thing.
> "I… have to survive," he muttered.
"For Vasu."
And he ran.