There was a knock at the door. A voice from outside said, "Excuse me, may we come in?"
Having not slept for days, Avinash was in a deep slumber. Hearing the voice, he slowly got out of bed and opened the door.
As the door opened, he saw a servant standing there, holding some items in his hands.
The servant said, "All the items have been delivered for you."
Avinash asked, "What is this?"
The servant replied, "These include some clothes, a mana drink, and a few books that will help you understand this world better, as well as guide you in using your abilities."
Avinash silently took everything, shut the door, and spread the items out on his bed. Among them were some clothes that looked quite royal. Judging by their quality, it was evident they were extremely expensive.
There was also a bottle containing a glowing liquid, which shimmered faintly blue at intervals.
Alongside these were some books about abilities, history, and geography.
Avinash thought to himself, "Well, at least I won't have to gather information on my own. But I still don't trust anyone here."
With that, he picked up the book about abilities first. What was strange was that the language in the book was peculiar, yet he could understand it perfectly, as if he had been reading it since childhood.
A while later
Avinash closed the book and muttered to himself, "The power levels here are pretty straightforward. Starting from the weakest and most basic: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS being the strongest. But as of now, no one has reached the SSS level."
"The most fascinating thing is that every ability must be gradually upgraded. First, an ability must progress from F to F+. Everyone starts at level F, which requires constant practice. The second factor is mana. Even if you possess an S or higher-level ability, it's useless without mana."
Taking a deep breath, Avinash looked at the mana drink. He debated whether or not to drink it. After a moment's thought, he picked it up and drank it quickly.
"Doesn't seem like it made any difference. I don't feel anything," he muttered. "The taste was like salty water."
Suddenly, a blue screen appeared again, and the same messages began to display.
Loading…
Avinash silently prayed, Please, God, let it work this time. Please, please, please.
System activated.
Please register.
With this message, several empty boxes appeared in front of him. Avinash wondered how to fill them. He tried touching the blue screen, but his finger passed right through it.
Reassuring himself, he thought, "Maybe it's voice-activated."
He said his name aloud, "Avinash."
Please confirm: Yes or No.
Avinash tried to click "Yes," but again his finger passed through the screen. Frustrated, he said aloud, "Yes."
Registration successful.
Status:
Name: Avinash
Race: Human (Another Worlder)
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Ability: Gaming Window
Mana: 100/99
Downloaded Video Games: 0 (+)
Avinash was still observing the interface when his attention shifted to the other options:
Games
Game Store
Settings
Help
He commanded, "Open Games."
Another screen appeared, completely black, with a message in the center:
Not Available.
Avinash said, "Back," and then commanded, "Open Game Store."
The screen changed again, displaying icons of various games. Avinash was astonished because more than half of them were games he had already played back on Earth. It felt as if he was browsing a Play Store to install apps on a mobile device.
Everything seemed identical, except for one detail: instead of "MB" for file size, it was just "M," which struck him as odd but he decided to ignore it.
He thought to himself, Wow, what a power! Now I can play video games all day and night... but wait, this is bad.
How am I supposed to survive here by playing video games? In a world where people have extraordinary powers—some controlling elements, others flying, and wielding strange abilities—and I'll just be playing games?
He reasoned, Okay, let's try it once. Who knows? Maybe the skills from the game can be used in real life. That would be amazing!
Deciding to give it a shot, he thought, Alright, let's download a game. But which one?
He then decided, Call of Labour, and said aloud, "Search option: Call of Labour."
Suddenly, a message appeared:
Result: Call of Labour.
Avinash selected the first icon and said, "Install."
A new message appeared:
Downloading started.
Avinash's full attention was on the screen, where the download progress was moving slowly. So he returned to the main menu and began reviewing his status.
Status:
Name: Avinash
Race: Human (Another Worlder)
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Ability: Gaming Window
Mana: 100/23
Downloads: 00 (+1)
Suddenly, he noticed his mana dropping rapidly—from 23 to 22, then 21, and it kept decreasing until it reached 5.
Confused and unable to understand, the same annoying messages appeared in front of him:
Energy low.
No external energy sources found.
System is going to shut down...
Downloading failed.
System shutdown.
Avinash's eyes widened in disbelief. He slapped his forehead and muttered, "What the hell was that?!"
He suddenly realized that his body had been completely drained of mana. Then it hit him—the "M" under the game icon meant mana.
It was as if he had been dreaming of buying the Taj Mahal with pocket change!
Avinash slapped himself, muttering, "Brilliant! Just brilliant! I wasted all my mana. I should've tried a smaller game, but no, I just had to download Call of Labour! Genius!"
In another room
Someone was laughing hysterically. On the bed in front of him lay a bazooka, two handguns, grenades, an AK-47, and piles of ammunition.
Looking at the arsenal, Aniket laughed like a madman and exclaimed, "The world is in my grasp! Although... why does it feel like I'm some kind of terrorist?"
Shrugging it off, he grabbed a P-grenade and started tossing it in the air. Suddenly, it slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Alarmed, he bolted out of the room and began counting loudly, "One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten!"
Plugging his ears with his fingers, he cautiously looked back. Nothing had happened. That's when it dawned on him—it was just a pin grenade.
"All that panic for nothing," he sighed in relief.
Suddenly, a loud explosion reverberated through the house, shaking Aniket to his core. He froze, trembling, and realized the sound had come from the adjacent room.
Fuming, he yelled out, "What the hel you mother fuc—" only to stop mid-sentence when the door to the adjacent room creaked open.
A girl stepped out, coughing, her face smudged with soot. She turned to Aniket, glaring, and said, "What were you saying about my mother?"
Aniket, masking his fear with a nervous laugh, replied, "Oh, nothing, sis! I was just leaving!" He darted back into his room, clutching his chest, and whispered to himself, "Did that girl really have a beard?! She doesn't seem to know... oh my god!"
Aniket burst into laughter.
Meanwhile, the girl, inspecting the charred remains of her room, muttered, "Nonsense bastard." Touching her face, she suddenly felt something odd.
Her fingers brushed against stubble on her chin. Alarmed, she rubbed her face again and realized she had indeed grown a beard.
Kneeling to the floor in disbelief , Now she understand Aniket's expressions.
From Aniket's room, faint but mocking laughter echoed, piercing her ears.
Elsewhere
Victoria: "Your Majesty, as you instructed, we've gathered the status information of all the heroes. Without their knowledge, we've used the Appraisal Artifacts on all of them.
"As expected, each of them possesses unique abilities."
Vincent Griffin, emotionless, replied calmly, "It doesn't matter how unique their abilities are. Their fates will be determined only by their potential."
He turned slightly, his voice colder. "Anything else I need to know, Victor?"
Victoria hesitated, then said, "Two individuals have abilities that are exceedingly dangerous. We must eliminate them before they grow stronger and become a threat to us."
Pausing, he added, "But forgive me, Your Majesty... Victor is already dead."
Victoria stepped forward and declared, "I now stand you as Victoria."
Vincent Griffin turned fully, an air of regret in his tone. "A pity. As for the other... take care of them swiftly."