​​📍 Location: Parel Chawl & Construction Site, Mumbai.
⏳ Time: December 29, 2025 | 06:45 AM.
​Rudra's eyes snapped open, and his first instinct was to check the wall clock. It was 6:45 AM. He lunged for his cracked smartphone, his thumb trembling as he swiped the lock screen. In that moment, he wasn't a laborer; he was a boy who had spent half his life consuming manhwas, and his heart held onto a desperate, singular hope: Did a system trigger?
​He waved his hand in the empty air of his small room. "Status... Window? System?"
​Nothing happened. Only the peeling paint of the walls and the distant sound of a pressure cooker from a neighbor's room greeted him. Rudra let out a hollow breath, his shoulders slumping.
​"Damn it... it really was just an illusion," he muttered, shoving the phone into his pocket. He convinced himself that the previous night's incident was a hallucination born of exhaustion and an empty stomach. He stood up, eyes glued to his phone screen as he stepped out of his makeshift rooftop room.
​While waiting at the communal tap downstairs to splash water on his face, his gaze remained fixed on his social media feed. The internet was a circus of "The Glitch." Rumors were spreading like wildfire, with people posting low-quality, edited videos claiming to show holographic status windows appearing before them.
​Rudra scoffed, a bitter expression crossing his face. "What a load of crap. Anyone who's read a single manhwa knows a status window wouldn't show up on a camera lens. People will edit anything for clout."
​However, as he navigated toward verified news reports, his skepticism began to waver. There were raw, unedited clips from Russia showing a boxer named Victor tearing a heavy training bag in half with a single punch. Another clip from the US showed a soldier named Steele performing a vertical leap that defied every law of human biology. These weren't digital edits; the physics were too real.
​Rudra began his walk toward the construction site, his mind struggling to connect the dots. "If what's happening to Victor and Steele is real... then was last night real too?"
​The moment he arrived at the site, the usual pressure of the job slammed into him. The contractor's voice boomed across the dusty lot. "Rudra! Move it! The lift is broken today. You need to carry these cement boris up the stairs. Now!"
​Rudra hoisted a heavy bag onto his shoulder. He expected his body to protest, to feel the familiar strain in his lower back. But as he took the first step up the concrete stairs, he froze. The 50kg bag felt unusually light.
​Confused, he grabbed a second bag. Now, with 100kg balanced across his frame, he began to climb. He moved with an ease that shouldn't have been possible, reaching the upper floors without his breath even hitching.
​Once he set the bags down, he checked his pulse. It was steady. His mind began to race. In every story he had ever read, this was how it started—the physical optimization before the grand revelation.
​"If there's no system, no window... then where is this strength coming from?" he wondered, retreating to a quiet corner to avoid suspicion.
​By afternoon, the atmosphere in the city had shifted from curiosity to dread. People were taking to the streets, fueled by a mixture of fear and excitement. The word "Awakened" was being thrown around by news anchors, but no one had concrete answers. Rudra saw the panic on his screen—the world was staring into an abyss, and the government had no flashlight.
​When he finally returned to his rooftop that night, Mumbai felt eerily sunsan. The usual New Year's Eve preparations had ground to a halt. From his vantage point, he looked down at Marine Drive. The teeming crowds were gone, replaced by an uneasy silence.
​"If Victor and Steele are awakened... and I'm feeling this power... then it wasn't an illusion. But if this is power, why is it hiding?" He clenched his fist, feeling a strange, cold hum beneath his skin.
​He closed his eyes, thinking of the labor that awaited him the next morning, the endless rows of cement boris. He didn't realize that the stone he had absorbed wasn't a standard 'Awakening.' He was on a path where a 'Status Window' might not even be enough to describe what he was becoming.
​The night in Mumbai was quiet, but inside Rudra, a new question had taken root: "What am I turning into?"
​Chapter 2 data summary
​Routine: Rudra wakes up at 06:45 AM. His immediate reaction is to check for a "System" due to his manhwa influence.
​Logic Check: Rudra correctly identifies "Status Window" videos on social media as fake because they wouldn't be recordable by a phone camera.
​Physical Feat: He carries two cement boris (100kg total) up stairs with no fatigue.
​World State: Verified reports of Victor (Russia) and Steele (USA) display superhuman strength. The world is entering a state of panic.
​Terminology: Used "Bori" for cement sacks and "Sunsan" for the deserted city vibe.
​Rudra's Perception: He is stuck between believing it's an illusion (Vayam) and acknowledging his unnatural strength.