Rohan and Aman lived in a cramped middle-class neighborhood tucked between a busy highway and an old railway line.
Narrow lanes zigzagged between concrete apartment blocks, their walls stained by rain and dust. Small tea stalls sat on corners, always smelling of ginger and smoke. Kids played cricket with broken bats in empty plots, shouting until sunset.
Balconies overflowed with drying clothes.
Scooters were parked everywhere.
At night, distant train horns mixed with barking dogs and late TV noises drifting through open windows.
It wasn't special.
But it was home.
Rohan and Aman sat on the edge of Rohan's bed, the room lit only by the yellow glow of a single bulb.
Rohan stared at the floor.
"Why would he do that?" he muttered. "He had nothing to gain."
Aman leaned back against the wall, arms crossed.
"Fear," Aman said. "Or greed. Maybe someone promised him something."
Rohan clenched his fist.
"He almost made us lose the floor."
A quiet moment passed.
Outside, traffic hummed.
Aman finally spoke, voice low.
"Doesn't matter now."
Rohan looked up.
Aman met his eyes.
Rohan nodded slowly.
"…Someone will take care of him."
Arthur saw it the moment it happened.
A red alert tore across his interface.
Not combat.
Not system damage.
Something worse.
[ANOMALY DETECTED]
[PLAYER BEHAVIOR: HOSTILE TARGETING]
[CAUSE: EXTERNAL QUEST INFLUENCE]
Arthur's eyes hardened.
He opened the trace.
A foreign signature pulsed in the data stream.
Cold.
Twisted.
[QUEST SOURCE IDENTIFIED]
— EVIL CONSTELLATION —
Arthur went silent.
"So that's how you play," he murmured.
Arthur's fingers hovered over the override panel.
"System," he said quietly.
"Should I intervene?"
The Tower answered after a brief pause.
Multiple predictive branches unfolded.
Probability trees collapsed.
Then a calm reply surfaced.
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Constellations are not classified as primary adversaries.
Arthur frowned.
New lines followed.
Their interference is permitted within regulated bounds.
Excessive Manager intervention will destabilize narrative flow.
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"And the real enemy?" he asked.
The interface flickered once.
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS]
Information restricted.
Current Manager clearance insufficient.
Arthur's eyes darkened.
"So I'm not allowed to know yet."
Another line appeared.
Disclosure condition:
Granted upon successful completion of Floor 10
and audience with High Authority.
Arthur let out a quiet breath.
Floor 10 again.
Everything led back there.
He gave a dry smile.
"Always dangling answers just out of reach."
Arthur turned away from the screen.
"Fine," he said softly.
"I'll build your floors."
"But when I reach ten…"
His gaze sharpened.
"…you'd better start talking."