The final kill took 0.8 seconds.
Rudra's fingers moved before thought.
Flash-step. Cancel animation. Skill chain. Headshot.
The arena boss collapsed into fragments of light.
VICTORY.
The stadium inside the VR world erupted. Millions watching. Fireworks exploded across a digital sky.
A global notification echoed:
WORLD CHAMPION: RUDRA_17
Rudra removed the headset slowly.
Silence.
No cheering. No lights. Just the dim bulb of his bedroom and the sound of traffic outside.
He checked the time. 1:47 AM.
Board exams in two months.
His phone buzzed.
Dad: "Sleep. Stop wasting your life."
He exhaled.
In the game, he was a king.
Here, he was just another student from Kolkata with expectations he couldn't meet.
He reached for the console to shut it down.
The screen flickered.
Glitched.
Then displayed a message he had never seen before.
ERROR: WORLD MERGE INITIATED.
Rudra frowned. "What kind of event promotion is this?"
The room temperature dropped.
The light bulb above him flickered.
The screen cracked with a sound like breaking glass.
But the glass didn't fall.
It spread.
Like a spiderweb of glowing code crawling across reality.
Rudra stood up slowly.
Outside his window, someone screamed.
Not a normal scream.
A terrified one.
A blue notification appeared in mid-air.
Not on the screen.
In the room.
Floating.
WELCOME, PLAYER RUDRA.
TUTORIAL STAGE: EARTH.
SURVIVE: 30 DAYS.
"…This isn't funny."
The wall exploded inward.
Something massive crashed into his neighbor's house.
Dust filled the air.
From the broken concrete, it stood.
Three meters tall.
Black skin like armor. Six red eyes. A jaw split vertically.
Rudra's gamer instincts activated instantly.
Boss-type enemy.
No visible HP bar.
No weapon.
No armor.
Just pajamas and bare hands.
Another notification appeared.
CLASS ASSIGNMENT IN PROGRESS…
He froze.
"Class?"
Outside, people were running. Crying. Some glowing.
Above their heads, faint blue text hovered.
Healer.
Warrior.
Mage.
His heart pounded.
The monster turned its six eyes toward him.
Locked on.
HIDDEN CONDITION MET.
The text turned gold.
UNIQUE CLASS UNLOCKED: GLITCH SOVEREIGN
A surge of information flooded his mind.
System manipulation. Minor code distortion. Limited override authority.
But one warning repeated:
Excessive interference will alert the Admin.
The monster lunged.
Rudra reacted on instinct.
"Pause."
For one impossible second—
Everything stopped.
Dust hung mid-air.
The monster froze mid-leap.
Even sound died.
Rudra stared at his trembling hand.
"Okay… not hallucinating."
The second ended.
Time snapped back.
The monster continued its attack—
But Rudra had already moved.
He grabbed a metal study lamp and swung it with all his strength at the creature's exposed eye.
Impact.
It roared.
A faint red bar flickered above its head.
HP: 92%
"So it does have HP."
Good.
He smiled.
Fear was still there.
But something else replaced it.
Focus.
The same focus he had in championship finals.
Another notification flashed.
You are the first Glitch Sovereign.
The System is observing.
Across the city, more monsters spawned.
Across the world, more players awakened.
And somewhere beyond visible space—
A presence opened its eyes.
ADMIN STATUS: ACTIVE.
Anomaly Detected.
Rudra ducked another attack and whispered under his breath:
"If this is a game…"
His eyes sharpened.
"…Then I'll clear it."
End of Chapter 1