### Chapter 1: *The First Serve*
The rhythmic sound of shuttlecocks hitting rackets echoed through the packed school gymnasium. Arjun Mehra stood at the edge of the court, sweat trickling down his forehead. His breath came in ragged gasps as he tried to focus. Across the net stood Raghav Singh, tall, confident, and utterly unbothered by the pressure of the tournament final.
Arjun glanced at the scoreboard: **19-10**. He was down. Badly. One more point, and Raghav would win the game.
"Come on, Arjun!" Sia shouted from the sidelines, her voice rising above the murmurs of the crowd. "You've got this!"
He knew she meant well, but deep down, he couldn't help but feel helpless. No matter how hard he tried, Raghav was just... better. Faster. Stronger. The game felt rigged from the start.
Raghav smirked as he tossed the shuttle into the air, preparing to serve the final blow. The crowd held its breath.
**Whoosh!**
The shuttle whizzed past Arjun before he even had a chance to react. His body moved, but far too late. It hit the ground with a soft thud. Game over.
The crowd erupted into applause, but all Arjun could hear was the pounding of his own heartbeat. He slumped to the floor, feeling the weight of defeat pressing down on him.
Raghav, his arms raised in victory, walked over with a smug grin. "Better luck next time, Mehra," he said, his tone dripping with condescension. "Maybe you should stick to playing for fun."
Arjun didn't respond. He didn't have the energy.
As the crowd dispersed and the gym began to empty, Sia walked over and knelt beside him. "Hey, you okay?" she asked softly, concern in her eyes.
Arjun forced a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, just… I don't know what happened out there. He's just too good."
Sia frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You played well, Arjun. But we need to work harder if we want to beat guys like Raghav. We can't give up now."
"I know," Arjun muttered. But in his heart, he wasn't sure if it would ever be enough.
---
Later that evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Arjun wandered aimlessly through the streets of the city. The sounds of the tournament still echoed in his mind, and every time he closed his eyes, he could see the shuttle zooming past him again and again.
*Maybe I'm just not cut out for this*, he thought bitterly. *No matter how much I practice, guys like Raghav will always have the edge*.
His feet led him to an old, rundown sports shop on a quiet street corner. The place was small, with a faded sign that read **"Varma's Sporting Goods"**. He'd never noticed it before, but something about it drew him in. Maybe it was curiosity. Or maybe he just didn't want to go home yet.
The bell above the door jingled as Arjun stepped inside. The shop was cramped, filled with dusty racks of old sports equipment—cricket bats, tennis rackets, footballs—everything looked ancient, like relics from another era.
"Hello?" he called out, his voice barely audible over the creaking floorboards.
From behind the counter, an old man appeared, his back slightly hunched and his eyes sharp. He wore a weathered cap and had a thick white mustache. There was something offbeat about him—his gaze seemed to pierce right through Arjun.
"Looking for something special, young man?" the old man asked in a raspy voice.
"I… I'm just browsing," Arjun replied, unsure of why he had even entered the store in the first place.
The old man's eyes narrowed as he studied Arjun. "You're a badminton player, aren't you?"
Arjun blinked in surprise. "How did you—?"
The old man let out a low chuckle and reached beneath the counter, pulling out a small wooden box. "I've seen that look on players like you before. The hunger to win, but the frustration of never quite making it."
Arjun stayed silent as the man opened the box, revealing an odd-looking shuttlecock inside. It glowed faintly with a strange, ethereal light.
"This," the man said, pushing the box toward Arjun, "is no ordinary shuttlecock. It's said to possess... certain powers."
Arjun stared at the shuttlecock, confused. "What do you mean, powers?"
The old man didn't answer. Instead, he simply smiled and pushed the box into Arjun's hands. "Take it. You'll understand soon enough."
Before Arjun could protest, the man shuffled to the back of the shop and disappeared into the shadows. Bewildered, Arjun looked down at the glowing shuttlecock in his hands. There was something eerie, yet mesmerizing about it.
He slipped it into his bag, deciding to leave before anything else strange happened. As he walked out of the shop and into the cool night air, the weight of the strange encounter lingered in his mind.
---
That night, as Arjun lay in bed, he couldn't stop thinking about the glowing shuttlecock. What did the old man mean by "powers"? Was it some kind of joke?
Unable to sleep, he reached for his bag and pulled out the shuttle. It was still glowing faintly. He turned it over in his hands, searching for some clue as to what made it so special.
Suddenly, the shuttle's glow intensified, filling the room with a blinding light. Arjun shielded his eyes, heart racing. When the light finally dimmed, a floating screen appeared before him, displaying words that made no sense:
**[PHANTOM SHUTTLE SYSTEM ACTIVATED]**
Arjun blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing. A digital interface hovered in midair, as if he had stepped into a video game.
"Congratulations," a robotic voice echoed through the room. "You have been chosen as the next wielder of the Phantom Shuttle System."
Arjun's jaw dropped. "W-What is this? A dream?"
"This is no dream," the voice replied. "You now have access to a system that will allow you to unlock your full potential as a badminton player. Do you accept?"
Arjun hesitated, his mind racing. A system? Potential? What was going on?
Before he could process it, the screen flashed again, and new words appeared:
**Mission 1: Return 500 shuttle hits in perfect form. Reward: Speed Enhancement Level 1.**
"Wait, what? 500 hits?" Arjun muttered. But before he could object, the voice spoke again.
"Mission starts now."
Suddenly, the shuttle in his hand flew up and shot toward him at lightning speed. Instinctively, Arjun grabbed his racket from beside the bed and swung at it.
*THWACK!*
The shuttle flew back, but it immediately returned, faster this time.
And so, the game began.
---
Chapter 1 ends with Arjun's initiation into the mysterious *Phantom Shuttle System*, setting the stage for his journey toward mastering badminton in ways he never imagined.
Please give review and your feedback 🙏☺️