Chapter 2 - Ch-1 The Beginning after the End

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Yesterday, at the funeral of my wife and children, everyone I saw was looking down, sad, crying to let out their feelings but I was the only one there not crying or even feeling sad, I was looking at their Antyesti* with an expressionless face. Everyone was thinking that I was bottling up my feelings. They told to me freely express myself without bottling up my feelings but at that moment I was not bottling up my feelings rather I was thinking about that event, about 'his' message.

{*= the ritual of the cremation in Hinduism after death.}

Looking out of the window of my farmhouse, I was watching the rain and how it covers a bright sunny day to a dark gloomy day.

I don't know what was happening to me, what was that feeling I am feeling now. Have I always been this type of mental asshole or a psychopath or a maniac or I … don't know what to even call myself.

I, a post-apocalyptic maniac lover, I'm responsible for taking their happy life and my own life. Because of my love for that world, …..why do they have to sacrificed.

As I was regretting having that feeling, a smooth and calming voice called out to me "...You don't have to blame your interest for their deaths because you are the only one responsible for that, you are the one who killed them so that your interest can become your priority."

With a mumbling voice, I said "Ah…..Yes... You are right."

I snapped back to reality as I realised how absurd(doubt) that thought was "No no no no no, what …...what I'm even thinking."

But now when I think about the moments that I spend with my family were one of the best moments of my life till now and forever, so why I was thinking was 'his' message at that time.

That time when I used to watch those movies and read those comics and novels about the "Post-Apocalacptic World" I was always thinking that the current world was unfair from the Age of Gods till now. Because in most cases your family's past will decide your whole future but in that kind of world only your achievements, your skills to survive till the end will decide your life.

Or it might be that I was fed up with my boring life and started wishing for that world to live in. So when the offer of the event came up I accepted it as an opportunity for me to be free of everything and even my family.

I was ready to stay single for the rest of my life for that event, so.. so why did she come into my life… why? Before I knew tears started falling from my eyes and their memories came flashing into my mind.

As I snap back to reality, to distract myself I switched on the T.V. and switched to the news channels to see what was happening.

All the News channels were filled with the news first victims of "Cracks" were famous businessmen Dvesh's family. As I changed the News channels further aside from the first victims of the Cracks being us, but around the world after us, that same day 107 different places there and 107 different families were the victims of the cracks.

And the people who survived being a victim of the Cracks, some of them were renowned people and some were ordinary people.

'107 families. If I include myself, then 108. Where I ha…..ve hea….rd th….at?'

"The invitation."

As thinking about where was this mentioned I remembered that, when I got that invitation, it said that (You have been selected as one of the 108 main candidates for the event).

When I was thinking about that and they were about showing the names of the people whose families were the victims of the "Cracks", I accidentally pressed the remote button and changed the channel.

On the other channel, there was a debate going on and the man wearing a monk's clothes said ("Why don't you understand that everything that is happening is just the beginning of "Ghor Kal Yug".)

When that monk said that, everyone on that programme started making that "Ahh… not this again!" face. Even when I thought about it, it was an absurd thing in itself.

Because that's not how the "Ghor Kal Yug" starts, it starts in a very violent manner, which is pouring down of acid rain which destroys the whole vegetation of the world and which in turn leads to humans becoming nothing more than cannibals for survival.

*****

Yug or Yugas, in Hindu mythology, is a period for the "Age of Mankind" from a perfect and peaceful world to a war-oriented and degenerate world with a lack of moral values.

These Yug consists of 4 yugs which make up the entity loop of the world. These 4 yugs are

1. Sat Yug (The Age of Truth): When mankind starts itself where human beings were spiritually most advanced, had great psychic powers and had very close connections to gods.

2. Treta Yug: The time when gods oversee human matters and people still remained righteous and adhered to moral ways of life.

3. Dwapar Yug: The time when humans lost all their knowledge of intelligence and bliss bodies. They start wage wars and spread the destruction everywhere.

4. Kal Yug: The time when humans only seek materialistic things and are more prone to their sins. Ghor Kal Yug which is a sub-part of Kal Yug that starts the complete decline of mankind.

After the end of Kal Yug, the cycle repeats itself forming a "Yug Cycle" also known as "Mahayug (Great Yug)". And this cycle repeats itself for 2000 times to complete a cosmic cycle known as "The Kalp".

*****

So after hearing that monk, a heated argument started between all debaters about how old fashion thinking he has and how absurd that concept is in the age of science.

The moment that argument started I switched off the T.V. to cool down my mind. While laying down on my bed I dozed off for while until a loud scream from outside.

Hearing that scream, I noticed that scream came from outside the house. I ran outside the house while running as fast as I can.

The moment I opened the door, what I saw was completely horrifying, the two security guards that were standing at the gate were melting down from the rain while their screams can be loudly heard as they were crying for help.

The red rain down was pouring down as it melts everything that comes in contact with it. The moment I come in contact with the rain, the drop of rain made burnt marks on my skin while passing through my clothes.

That instant I closed the door ignoring the screams of the guards to save my own skin. I move away from the door to avoid any further damage to myself.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The same moment I got away from the door, I felt a sharp pain in my head as if someone was simultaneously expanding and contacting my brain again and again. I passed out because the pain was too much for me to handle.

*****

As I opened my eyes, the pain in my head was longer there. I could no longer feel the pain of the burnt marks that I received from the rain.

As I try to stand up, I lost my balance but got supported by some furniture and was able to stand up.

'Wait, I don't recall having any type of furniture close to the door.'

When I noticed my surroundings, everything was bitch black. I couldn't see anything even my own hand. I searched my clothes looking for my phone for some light, I remembered that I left it on the bed when I move towards the door. I touch the furniture that was around me to navigate myself but I noticed that it was completely covered in dust.

While touching everything around me I navigate myself forward. Until I reach a wall which apparently has a window. The moment I touched the window pane, it was covered in a very thick layer of dust that blocked the outside view. I try to open the window but it was stuck. I applied more force to open it and it opened.

The moment the window opened, I covered my eyes because the outside light was blinding my view. A few seconds later, when my eyes adjusted to the light, the outside view was completely different from what I imagined.

The outside view was like a desert. The outside garden that I had in my farmhouse was not there. What was there was just sand covering everything. The only thing I was sand and that deserted view as far as my eyes could see.

Suddenly, the outside deserted view turned into a pitch-black view and the light coming from the sun was not even available.

The moment the outside view changed, the pop-up game screen again appeared in front of me displaying a message. The screen does not affect the surroundings as the light emitting from it does not brighten up my surroundings.

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[[[NOTICE]]]

[[[THE EVENT "SURVIVE KALYUG" HAS BEEN STARTED.]]]

[[[OBJECTIVES : SURVIVE THE FIRST WAVE OF MONSTERS FOR 30 MINUTES TO REACH THE STARTING SCENARIO OF THE EVENT.]]]

[[[TIME REMAINING : 30:00]]] --------→ [[[TIME REMAINING : 29:59]]]

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[[[NOTICE]]]

[[[AS ONE OF THE MAIN CANDIDATE OF THE EVENT, THE BASIC OBJECTIVES OF THE EVENT WILL NOT BE FOLLOWED]]]

[[[YOU WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO 3 TESTS TO PROVE YOUR WORTH AS ONE OF THE MAIN CANDIDATE OF THE EVENT]]]

[[[OBJECTIVES : ]]]

[[[CLEAR THE 3 TESTS]]]

[[[1. TEST OF ???]]]

[[[2. TEST OF ???]]]

[[[3. TEST OF ???]]]

[[[AFTER COMPLETING THE TESTS YOU'LL BE GIVEN SPECIAL PERKS AND REWARDS AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO MOVE TO THE SCENARIOS.]]]

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[[[MISSION]]]

[[[THE 1ST TEST OF ???.]]]

[[[THE FIRST TEST WILL BE STARTING IN 3 MINUTES. FIND A WEAPON TO SURVIVE.]]]

[[[OBJECTIVE : SURVIVE]]]

[[[FAILURE : DEATH OF USER]]]

[[[COMPLETION : FULL BODY HEAL (INCLUDING STAMINA) , ESCAPE OF VOID SPACE]]]

[[[TIME TO START : 3:00]]] --------→ [[[TIME REMAINING : 2:59]]]

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