Location: Dharavi (Uncharted Zones), Mumbai
Date & Time: January 9, 2025 | 04:15 PM (IST)
In this forgotten corner of Dharavi, the persistent hum of N.D.A.I. drones was absent. These were the dark, suffocating alleys where even the sunlight struggled to reach. The air was thick with the overwhelming stench of waste and dampness—a place where a normal person would find it hard to even breathe.
Rudra stood against a crumbling brick wall. He had already pulled the dented bronze baseball bat from his guitar case, gripping it tightly. He scanned his surroundings, but he couldn't see any 'ferals' or mutants. Everything was eerily, unnervingly quiet.
"There's no one here," Rudra thought to himself. "Where are they hiding?"
"You idiot," Ruin Soul's voice echoed in his head, dripping with a mix of annoyance and dark humor. "You're still relying on those eyes of yours? Use your senses. You aren't a normal human anymore."
Rudra took a long, steady breath and closed his eyes. He pushed [Primal Adaptation] to its limit. Suddenly, the world within a 100-meter radius opened up in his mind like a detailed radar. The distant barking of dogs, the trickle of water in a gutter... and then, from about 50 meters away, a sound pierced through the noise.
"Let me go! Help! Is anyone there... ahh!"
It was the scream of a girl, drenched in pure terror. Rudra's eyes snapped open. His heart rate spiked. He quickly reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out his black face mask, and slipped it on. He adjusted his oversized hoodie, tightened his grip on the bronze bat, and sprinted toward the source of the scream.
It was a dead-end alley. Near a pile of garbage, a man had pinned a girl against the wall. His eyes held a faint, unnatural blue glow, and his hands looked larger and more grotesque than a normal human's. He was completely feral, intoxicated by the raw mana in his veins.
"Low E-Ranker," Ruin Soul analyzed instantly. "His MP is less than 1,000. Just a street thug who got a taste of power and lost his mind."
The girl was weeping, struggling to break free, but the thug's grip was like iron.
Inside Rudra, the trauma of the past seven days, the fear of the system, and the sheer helplessness he had felt for a month exploded like a volcano. He approached from behind with ghost-like silence and, without a single word of warning, swung the bronze bat through the air.
CRACK!
The bat slammed directly into the thug's shoulder. The sound of shattering bone echoed through the narrow alley. The man collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony. The girl, paralyzed by fear for a second, scrambled up and sprinted out of the alley without looking back.
"Who... who the hell are you?" the thug groaned, trying to use his mana to push himself up from the ground.
But Rudra wasn't done. He raised the bat and brought it down on the man's ribs. "Bastard!" (Smash!) "Animal!" (Smash!) Rudra cursed with every hit, his voice muffled by the mask but dripping with venom. The bat was tearing through skin and bone. "You think a little power makes you a god? (Smash!)"
Blood splattered onto his dark hoodie. The feral mutant now lay in a semi-conscious heap, spitting out thick blood. Rudra's hand remained frozen in mid-air, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.
"Hahahaha!" Ruin Soul laughed loudly in his mind. "Alright, that's enough! Are you going to beat this trash to death? You have more hunting to do; don't waste all your time and energy here. Come on, take his energy."
Rudra took a few deep breaths to calm his racing mind. He noticed that the bronze bat was in terrible shape. The front end was completely flattened, and the metal was beginning to crack. One or two more solid hits, and the weapon would be completely useless.
He lowered the bat and placed his right hand on the chest of the dying thug.
[Gluttony] activated.
A dark, cold stream of energy flowed out of the thug and into Rudra's veins. The man's body withered instantly, his last breath fading into nothingness. Rudra clenched his fist, feeling a surge of raw power settling into his core.
"Just one more," Ruin Soul calculated. "You have about 4,300 MP stored now. Just one more E-Rank feral, and you'll officially cross the threshold into D-Rank."
Rudra picked up his broken bat. The confusion that had clouded his eyes earlier was gone. He spent the next two hours scouring the deeper, darker parts of Dharavi. Behind an abandoned factory, he finally found his next prey—another E-Rank mutant scavenging through the trash.
This time, Rudra showed no rage. This wasn't an emotional outburst; it was a cold, calculated hunt. Using his superior speed and stealth, he moved behind the creature and delivered a single, precise, lethal blow to the back of its skull. The feral dropped to the ground without a sound.
Rudra immediately used [Gluttony] to drain the remaining energy.
As the final drop of mana entered his system, a violent jolt shot through Rudra's body. His muscles tightened for a split second, and the mana flowing in his veins settled into a new, much denser form. His hearing and vision sharpened to an entirely new level.
He had officially become a D-Ranker. His energy had finally crossed the 5,000 MP mark.
Rudra looked at his hands with a cold, thin smile. "So this is D-Rank power. I feel twice as strong as I did an hour ago."
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, kid," Ruin Soul said, delivering a cold reality check to dampen his spirits. "You think you've become a god? Your MP is barely at 5,000. Remember those Hell Gates the system mentioned? An A-Ranker's MP is over 1 million. To them, you're still nothing more than an ant."
Rudra's smile vanished instantly. He looked at the mangled bronze bat in his hand and dropped it onto the dirt. Ruin Soul was right. The game of survival had only just begun, and he had no time to celebrate. He needed better weapons, and he needed much more power.
Chapter Summary
Location: Uncharted Zones of Dharavi, Mumbai | January 9, 2025.
The Hunt: Rudra saves a girl by brutally beating a feral E-Rank thug. He then hunts a second mutant with cold, calculated precision.
The Evolution: By devouring the energy of two E-Rank mutants, Rudra's MP crosses the 5,000 mark. He officially ascends to D-Rank (Soldier Level).
The Weapon: The bronze baseball bat, a gift from his father, is finally destroyed and discarded. Rudra is now currently weaponless.
Mental State: Rudra transitions from emotional rage to a cold, predatory focus. He realizes the vast power gap between him and the top-tier 'Dungers' of the world.
Bhai, Rudra ab D-Rank par toh pahunch gaya hai par uske paas koi weapon nahi bacha. Uska bio-data update ho gaya hai:
Rank: D-Rank (Threshold crossed).
Weapon: None (Bronze Bat discarded).
Current Goal: Searching for a new weapon and more power.