CRASH!
Whoosh~ Whoosh~
In the middle of the raging river Ganga, where the glaring light of the sun bounced off the surface like shattered gold, a small wooden basket bobbed helplessly. Waves slammed against it, rocking it side to side, threatening to tip it over with every furious pulse of the current.
Inside the basket lay a newborn, wrapped in soft crimson cloth, face damp with sweat and river mist. His fists clenched tightly, his eyes shut... until—
"HUEEEEKK!!!"
The baby screamed. Loud. Like someone just slapped a WiFi router out of his soul.
And inside that tiny body — a storm of confusion was raging.
[Vijay's POV]
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.
...Nope. Still a baby.
WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. F—
I couldn't even finish the thought because holy crap, I was crying like a banshee.
Like, real crying. Not emotional-tears-at-anime-ending crying. More like "I don't know how to control my bladder or motor functions anymore" kind of crying.
My whole body felt wrong.
My spine? Felt like it was made of overcooked noodles.
My arms? Useless flailing flippers.
My legs? Missing? Wait—no, they were there. Just... embarrassingly chonky.
And don't get me started on the weird wetness. Am I sweating? Am I peeing? Is this what rebirth feels like?! It's like respawning with zero stat points.
I opened my mouth to yell "DA FUCK IS HAPPENING?!?"
...but what came out was:
"WAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
God.
Help.
Me.
And just when I thought things couldn't get worse—
THWACK!
Something sharp stabbed into my side.
Like a needle? A thorn? A divine GPS injection? I didn't know — but it hurt like karma.
A pulse rippled through my chest.
Then everything stopped.
The crying. The river. Even the screaming wind.
For one impossible moment — time paused.
And then—
[System Notification]
[Module System Activated]
[Host: Karna]
[Age: 0]
[Modules Loaded: None]
…HUH!?
HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH????????
HOST: KARNA?!
NO. NO. NO NO NO NO NO.
I thrashed violently in the basket. Which, for the record, was about as useful as a magikarp flopping on a cutting board. I was a baby, okay? No leverage. No balance. Just panic.
"I'm Karna?! THE Karna?! Sutaputra Karna?! Golden boy? Sunspawn? Mr. Fate's Favorite Punching Bag???"
What kind of divine gacha roll did I hit?!
This wasn't a rebirth — it was hardcore mythological permadeath mode!
I wanted to scream again, but my baby lungs were already overclocked.
The basket spun violently as another wave smacked it from the side.
I swear I saw a fish roll its eyes at me.
"Tragic loser, huh? Not if I survive this damn prologue."
Then my eyes went to the thing poking my ass.
My back pressed against something hard and metallic. Wait—was that… coins?!
Gold?!
No! The whole basket was filled with—GOLD COINS.
Shiny, royal-grade, guilt-coated gold coins.
Each one stamped with a royal insignia, probably from the Kunti Collection™: "Sorry-I-abandoned-you Edition."
I wriggled like a possessed burrito, trying to sit up and escape the pokey betrayal of wealth stabbing me in my divine diaper zone.
"She left me in a river… on Hard Mode… with starter loot!?"
I wasn't sure whether to cry harder or file a divine complaint with Human Resources of Heaven.
There I was: Baby Karna. Butt-bruised, drenched, abandoned, and floating toward god-knows-where with nothing but an emotional damage meter and a blinged-out coffin of coins.
I glanced (well, mentally) at the only thing that made any logical sense — the glowing Module System interface still etched in my mind like a cursed loading screen.
[Module System Interface]
[Host: Karna]
[Age: 0]
[Modules Loaded: None]
[Status: Infant - Cannot Load Modules Until Age 6]
[Please survive until then.]
(P.S. No refunds.)
"Please survive until then?"
EXCUSE ME???
Isn't that the bare minimum tutorial advice?! Like, 'Press W to walk' level of basic??
"Please survive until then."No refunds.No help.No divine narrator voice to explain anything.
Just me, a wet diaper (hopefully metaphorical), and a glorified PowerPoint slide floating in my mind.
God-tier reincarnation, huh?
I'd seen isekais where the MC got cheat swords, ten wives, and a kingdom in three chapters. And what did I get? Abandonment trauma speedrun.
If this was a game, I wasn't the protagonist.
I was the damn side quest.
The "Tragic Origin Story NPC" who drops emotional loot when he dies.
Another wave slapped the basket, nearly tipping it over. Water splashed onto my face.
I sputtered.
I was seriously going to die in the tutorial phase, wasn't I?
Suddenly, a loud splash echoed nearby.
What the—?
My basket jerked violently to the side. A shadow loomed over me.
Then—
Hands.
Rough, calloused, big hands scooped the basket from the water and pulled it into a wooden boat. I was still crying like a cursed ringtone, but inside?
Sweet. Baby. Relief.
I was no longer at the mercy of the Ganga Express. At least for now.
"Radha! Radha! Come quick!" a deep male voice called out.
That voice... it was strong, earthy. Familiar in the way distant memory feels like déjà vu.That had to be Adhiratha, my adoptive father from every version of the Mahabharata.
Through blurry baby eyes, I squinted as a woman with a warm, tired smile rushed over, eyes widening at the sight of me.
"Dear gods..." she gasped, kneeling beside the basket.
She looked younger than I expected. Her hair was tied back messily, her clothes soaked from the river spray, and her eyes — brown, wide, full of aching wonder — locked onto mine.
"A child… in a basket? With gold?!"
"Radha, is this some trick?" the man muttered, already looking around suspiciously, as if expecting Gandharvas to leap out and say "Gotcha!"
"It's no trick," Radha whispered, lifting me into her arms. Her warmth flooded into me instantly.Real, raw, human warmth. Not divine. Not scripted.
Just love.
She rocked me gently, and against my will — despite the system's existential trolling, the coin-shaped butt trauma, and the looming weight of mythological doom —I relaxed.
For a second.
Until Radha whispered, "Look, he even has earrings. Golden… from birth?"
Earrings?!
I reflexively tried to touch my ears — forgot I had T-Rex baby arms.
But yeah. Of course.
Kavacha and Kundala — Karna's signature divine armour and earrings, gifted by the sun god. Literal plot devices.
"Such radiance… He's no ordinary child," Radha murmured.
"No kidding," I thought. "He's cursed with protagonist difficulty."
As Radha cradled me tighter, humming softly, something clicked inside me — like an emotional checkpoint.
She didn't care about caste. About status. About the scandal.She didn't even ask who my real mother was.To her, I wasn't some divine mistake.
I was just… her baby.
And for all the gods, kings, and warriors who would call me names in the years to come — in that moment, in her arms?
I felt safe.
I felt wanted.
For a brief moment, I let it all go — the panic, the rage, the betrayal, the absurdity of reincarnating as Karna with a glorified Excel sheet for a system.
I let it go because Radha was humming.
It was off-key, probably made up on the spot, but it wrapped around me like a lullaby born of love rather than music. Her touch wasn't celestial or divine — it was human, and somehow that made it feel even more sacred.
I knew this moment wouldn't last.
The world outside that boat? Ruthless. Cruel. Written in stone tablets soaked in blood and pride. My path? Already scripted by fate with a dagger instead of ink.
But right now…
I wasn't Karna.
I wasn't Vijay.
I wasn't even "Host."
I was just her son.
Back in the physical world, Radha gently wiped the river mist from my cheeks with the edge of her wet shawl. Her touch was soft, reverent — not like I was a foundling, but something precious the gods themselves had entrusted her with.
Adhiratha still looked suspicious.
"You really think this child came from the heavens?" he muttered, eyeing the gold coins like they might explode. "What if this is a trap? Left by nobles to trick us? We could be accused of stealing!"
Radha looked at him calmly.
"And if the gods did send him… would you refuse him?"
Adhiratha hesitated.
Then finally — reluctantly — he sighed and crouched beside us. "If this is a divine test… I guess we'll fail it together, then."
Radha smiled.
I had to respect the man. He wasn't blind to danger. He knew what taking me in could cost. But still — he chose kindness.
No, scratch that.
He chose courage.
The boat rocked gently as they paddled toward the muddy riverbank where their humble hut sat nestled among the trees. The village beyond was small — smoke curling from chulhas, women carrying pots, a cow mooing angrily as a kid tugged its tail.
And here I was.
Freshly reincarnated.
Divine accessories equipped.
Module System activated (in demo mode).
Emotionally scarred.
And still leaking from at least three orifices.
[System Tip]
🟨 Early Growth Period BeginsDuration: 6 years▶ Objective: Survive. Observe. Learn.🛑 Module access locked until: Age 6👶🏻 Status: Infant (Limited Awareness)
(P.S. You may still internally monologue like a sarcastic adult. We don't judge.)
"Gee. Thanks, System," I grumbled inwardly.
As the boat bumped against the shallows, Radha lifted me gently and stepped into the water.
Her feet sank slightly in the mud, but she didn't hesitate. She held me close like I was the most natural thing in her life.
She didn't know I had the sun god's blood in my veins.
She didn't know I'd one day grow up to fight gods and kings.
She didn't even know that this small bundle of flesh in her arms would be remembered — for centuries — as a hero, a villain, a tragedy.
To her, I was just a child in need.
And honestly?
That was the most heroic thing I'd seen since I got here.
That night, nestled in a simple reed cradle in a dim hut filled with the scent of cow dung and warm milk, I stared at the thatched roof above.
My infant body was exhausted.But my mind? Racing.
Reincarnation was real. The Mahabharata was real.And I was Karna.
I knew how the story went.
I knew how it ended.
But I also had something the original Karna didn't.
Knowledge.
Context.
And a glitchy, emotionally sensitive Module System that just might let me bend fate a little.
My name was Vijay Singh.
But now?
And I swear by every flame of Surya's sun…
This time, Karna won't die forgotten.
This time, I will fight fate — even if I have to burn the heavens to ash.