RUDRA was born again.
Not metaphorically. Not spiritually. Literally reborn into someone else's dead body.
The boy's name was Danny. Eighteen. Pale. Red haired. Bony. Not built for war. And yet he'd been targeted. Murdered. Even the Asura who tried saving him got butchered.
This wasn't a random death. It was an execution.
The mechanical sound of some system activation echoed in Danny's brain while he was unconscious.
System Notification : [Soul Integration Complete.]
[New Body Acquired: Danny ]
[Previous Life Memories: Accessible.]
[Current Status: Alive but Bound.
Danny's eyes snapped open.
Fluorescent light stabbed through my skull like needles. A white ceiling loomed above sterile, cold. Medical equipment buzzed nearby. Tubes tugged at my arm, veins bulging with unfamiliar pressure.
Hospital, I realised, barely able to string thoughts together.
Then darkness.
When consciousness returned, someone was shaking me gently, insistently.
"Get up, boy." A voice, deep and weary, echoed in my ears.
I blinked. A middle aged man in a white coat. The kind of face that's seen more corpses than birthdays. "Doctor?" I croaked.
"Yes. But I'm the one asking questions."
"Shoot," I rasped. My voice was wrong softer, thinner. Not mine. This body was younger.
"What happened to you? You were found in pretty bad shape near the Ganga ghat."
I dove into Danny's broken memories. Flashes. Panic. Cold water. Pain.
"I… drowned, I think."
He frowned. Didn't press. "You're lucky. Anyway, we're discharging you today."
"What about the fees?"
His face softened. "Government hospital. No charge for basic treatment."
"Free life. Huh. That's new," I muttered.
Sitting up was a challenge. This body groaned with every movement. One sensation overpowered the rest a burning pressure under my stomach.
"Toilet. Now," I grunted.
He pointed. A door, stained and silent. Blood? Paan? Didn't matter.
I stumbled toward it, unsteady and alien in these limbs.
Relief hit like divine grace. "Ahh... there's no better feeling," I muttered.
Then I looked up.
A cracked mirror hung above the sink, crooked and accusing. A stranger stared back.
This is Danny.
Thin. Pale. Around 5'8". He looked half alive skin stretched over bone, no fat, no strength. Bright red hair, wild and jarring. Eyes too old for eighteen.
He moved when I moved. A puppet in my place.
Let's see what future you're hiding, Danny.
Old instincts kicked in. I lifted his right palm, ready to read what destiny had planned.
Then "WHAT THE HELL?!"
Nothing.
No life line. No fate line. No heart, head, or death line. Just blank, smooth skin.
I rubbed it. Squinted. Shifted the light. Still nothing.
"A palmist… with a hand like a fucking wasteland," I whispered, horrified.
Then it hit me.
No future. Because the boy is dead. His soul's gone. This body doesn't carry destiny anymore. I'm just… squatting in it.
Before the weight of that truth could crush me, the bathroom door creaked open.
"What happened, boy?" The doctor's voice held equal parts concern and mischief. "Did your dick disappear or something?"
I spun around, cheeks burning. "No! Hell, no!"
He raised an eyebrow. Smirking. "Then why scream like a Bollywood actress mid climax?"
Think fast. "Saw a lizard. Got startled," I lied.
"A lizard?"
I nodded quickly. "It… fell on my hand. While I was… handling business."
He paused, then burst out laughing. "Well, that makes more sense. Be careful, son. Around here, lizards are the apex predators."
I gave up trying to salvage my pride.
The discharge was swift after that. A nurse handed over oversized clothes, bleach scented and rough. The hospital gown went into the trash.
Outside, the wind slapped my face like a challenge. Air felt raw more real in this new skin.
Danny was gone.
Rudra had returned.
But without a palm line to guide me, I'd have to carve my future from scratch.
Standing at the hospital gate, wind snapping at my clothes, I hit my first real problem.
Where do I go?
No memory of Danny's home. No idea about his friends or family. Just a ghost in someone else's shell.
Then I saw it.
A small black dot hovered before my eyes. Perfectly still.
I blinked. Still there.
Closed one eye. Then the other. Still there.
Even when both were shut, it burned in the dark like a brand on my mind.
"What the hell is this? Brain damage?" I muttered.
On instinct, I focused on it and it moved.
Left. Right. Up. Diagonal. Like a cursor. Following thought, not sight.
My Danny's heart skipped a beat. It was linked to me.
Should I touch it?
Screw it. I'd already died once.
I pushed.
Click. A sharp sound echoed in my skull. Metallic. Not human.
Then a voice followed flat, robotic: "Welcome, Grandmaster."
A low hum rippled through my bones. A glowing interface exploded into view floating, translucent, alive. Runes danced across the screen, half digital, half divine. It looked like a cursed grimoire built by a hacker god.
[ACTIVATING INTERFACE...]
[USER: DANNY][FAMILY NAME: NOT AVAILABLE]
[SOUL BINDING: COMPLETE]
[MESSAGE FROM Asura: AVAILABLE]
Of course. That freak wasn't done with me yet.
I clicked the notification.
[RUDRA, remember our deal. You have 30 days to find the person who killed me.Fail and this system ends your soul permanently.Succeed and the system evolves. The body becomes yours, and you get your revenge.ENJOY THE GIFT. – Asura]
"Tch... the bastard's still haunting me," I muttered.
But it was useful. Deadly. Motivating.
Quest: [Find the killer.]
Problem? I didn't know this kid. No address. No people. No past.
Then the interface blinked again:
[PERSONAL FILE: DANNY – AVAILABLE]
Finally. Something to work with.
"Let's see what you were hiding, Danny," I whispered, eyes narrowing as I dived into a dead boy's secrets.
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