Late in spring, at dusk.
The gulmohar trees on both sides of the school road are in full bloom.
The sunset glows warmly in the sky and the evening breeze carries the sweet fragrance of red flowers cascading like rain with their intoxicating flavour.
In midst of these a boy of eighteen or nineteen years old can be seen on the school road.
Surya was the name of the boy who was walking along the concrete path covered with fallen petals stopping and starting after checking his phone from time to time.
He seem to looks like just your usual ordinary Pokémon GO player...or rather not.
"It seems to be nearby."
Sure enough, Surya is indeed playing a mobile game with AR effects, but it is not your Pokémon GO.
But the game he was playing was called "Bhoot Katha" (Ghost Stories).
A very strange name and game indeed.
It suddenly appeared on Surya's phone for no apparent reason, and no relevant information could be found on the Internet too, and what is even more strange is that there was no way to uninstall it from his phone too.
After opening the game, a flat street view map will seem to appear prompting players to go to a certain place in reality just like PokémonGO.
Only then can you able to officially start the game.
And "Bhoot Katha" had marked a location at the Delhi Public School where Surya currently studies.
Because of the idea that "this might be a that standard golden finger for transmigrators", Surya started the game with a certain sense of luck.
Oh yes, Surya is your typical Transmigrator.
According to "Bhoot Katha's" time to time tips, Surya checked his position one last time and moved five meters to the right, now facing the trunk of a large gulmohar tree.
Buzz.
Suddenly as if on cue the phone starts vibrating and a message flashed.
[Start the game]
A start button appeared on the "Bhoot Katha" app UI.
"Finally."
Nervous, excited, and with a little bit of unspeakable expectation, Surya's finger pressed the start button.
The next moment, the phone screen went... black.
Surya swiped the screen a few times and pressed the power button, but there was no response.
The phone seemed to have turned into a brick in that instant.
"Are you kidding me?"
Surya cried out in his heart that he had been fooled. When he turned his eyes away from his phone with a look of pain on his face thinking he has been fooled and got played, he realized that the surrounding environment seemed to have changed a little bit.
The setting sun, which had been hanging in the west like a golden orb, completely fell below the horizon at some point.
Having lost the warm afterglow, the surroundings suddenly became dim. The scenery seemed to have opened some kind of filter.
Even the originally brilliant gulmohar forest seemed to have lost its vibrant colors.
"Something seems to be wrong in here."
Surya lowered his head and saw that there was something new under the trunk of the gulmohar tree he was facing.
It was a small clay diya (oil lamp).
It was hard to tell what was placed inside it. There were tiny yellow-green lights flickering.
"This thing wasn't there just now, it suddenly appeared, How?"
All the changes around him happened suddenly after Surya pressed the start button of the game.
After confirming this, Surya unexpectedly felt relieved realizing he might not be fooled by someone.
Sure enough, for Transmigrators, any strange thing can be accepted and they could became calm in any situation.
Maybe I have those Player's Mind skill in me.
Thinking of it jokingly he raised the phone in front of him again.
The phone screen which seem to gone suddenly dark began to show some text slowly....it is just that it is written in blood and give a horror vibe from it.
[Map unlocked: Delhi Public School.]
After clicking, there is new text.
[Game loading complete. Before you start your journey in this world, please choose one item from the following three options to obtain]
[Name: Ganga Jal (Sacred Water)]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Effect: Purification greatly improved after use, with a certain probability of understanding water breathing.]
[Description: Sacred water from the River Ganges, long treasured by someone, only half a bottle remains now.
Can be used for drinking or ritual purification.]
"Sacred water for purification... quite practical actually."
Surya nodded approvingly at the first option.
[Name: Hanuman's Sacred Shoes]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Effect: After equipping, wearer can increase movement speed to a certain extent. Moves with the power and the speed of the wind.]
[Description: An ancient shoe covered in sacred vermillion, blessed by years of devotion to Hanuman. Imbued with divine energy, it is no longer ordinary.]
"All covered in vermillion powder... looks quite divine actually."
The second option seemed decent, but Surya was not entirely convinced still though.
[Name: Panchmukhi Art (Incomplete)]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Effect: After learning, you will master the Panchmukhi Lightning Art (incomplete)]
[Description: A special option born according to your soul's origin. Ancient tantric Art after studying, you can summon brilliant lightning to aid you in battle.]
[However, due to serious incompleteness, much of the art power is lost. Perhaps you can find a way to complete this technique on future.]
Surya seeing the message did not even need a second to hesitate to choose among the three options and resolutely chose the Fragments of the Panchmukhi Art.
As a Transmigrator whose soul comes from modern times, and having been a game enthusiast in his previous life, even hesitating for a second would be disrespectful to the words "Special Option" and "Ancient Tantric Art" in the description.